Mist

Mistake

A few hours later, we make it to the base. Many people greet us and help out the people stuck inside the sub. We have a moment of silence for the deaths of the three soldiers. Someone asks why we resurfaced. All of us that were on the sub give each other the same look:  don’t tell the truth.

I tell them, “It was a gas leak. When we surfaced, a couple of Unity snipers spotted us.”

They ask, “And the shooting randomly stopped?”

I think back and nod. They look very concerned at me and order people to unpack the sub. I realize now why they stopped: they tracked us. I gather my supplies and am directed to a room by a friendly human. The room is white and empty. I feel kind of sick to my stomach. I sit on the floor and drown in thoughts. Was it my fault?

Then, I imagine the flowers back on my home planet. Tears form in my eyes. Why am I so sad about something so stupid. I curl up in a ball and look at the wall, the blank wall. I think about the others I met, they came and left so quickly.

The door opens and Pulcra is standing in the doorway. She sees me and I try to stop crying. She sits by me and doesn’t say a word, but it makes me feel happier. She has a pretty smile and it brings my hopes up. When I die, I want to die looking at that smile.

She doesn’t touch me at all, she sits at a distance. I forget my thoughts and worries and I say, “What's it like being a Blackcoat?” already knowing small parts of it with her stories.

She smiles at me and says,“Just imagine being a spy, working with other spies, and doing super secret things like lying and stealing and get called a hero for it. It's fun. I once captured three planets for the Warriors without any casualties. I was placed on an Empiric Human Planet and they thought I was one of them.” she rubs her neck and makes a sheer sigh.  

“I became vice-president for the world with help from many other Blackcoats on the planet. The president was assassinated by an unknown assailant and the investigation pointed to a certain species that lived close to us. As the president, I sent word to Empirics to invade this per the rules of assassinations of rulers.” she whispers something to herself.

“Empirics gave it the right away and the species was so angry they invaded our planet. I declared the planet too small to fend itself off and gave over my rule. People were so angry with me, but I broke Empiric rules and created a secret counter-invasion. It made the Empiric council take away planets from Empiric humans while the planets were being evacuated. The human Warriors invaded those planets and gained over three planets, but I did it!”

I mostly didn't understand it, but it sounded interesting. She says, “What's your backstory?”

I smile at her and say, “Just imagine a life where your job is to find a rock and make money from it.”

She laughs and I continue, “My life is like most others, but even if it’s ordinary, it’s perfect for me because I’m happy.”

She smiles. I clear my throat, “I was what you call a mineral finder and tester. I traveled the galaxy trying to uncover new minerals, testing their uses, and selling them to companies. I’m sent to a different planet every two years and I've been doing it for eight years. Every day was like new discovery, and I'm making that discovery, so I like it.”

I wipe my face and start on my life before my job, “I lived on the planet Vivere, which is a popular for its huge mountains covered in flowers. It’s small, beautiful, and the color are so vivid. It never got invaded once, so I lived a peaceful life.”

“I had a mom, dad, and two older siblings. My brother was like a giant child. He loved everyone, gave everybody a smile, and said weird jokes. We always got along. My sister mostly loved herself. She was beautiful, and most guys considered her more beautiful than all the flowers on the planet combined. My brother died in the military. My sister left and never came back from the military.”

I pause for a few moments smiling at the heroism of my family and the lack of it with me, “I became interested in minerals because the city we lived in had a cave and the minerals there were a sight to behold. I was drafted in the Military at 20, dragged into a war primarily fought on bodies of water. After I was trained, I was transferred to a boring ship and didn't fight. The war ended and we were sent home. That's when I got the job. I said a final goodbyes to my parents and left.”

I stop and look at Pulcra who has her jaw wide open. She smiles and she says, “I was stationed in that war too and didn't fight. I heard were only four casualties, all accidental. I’m not sure why were we even in that war.” She says loudly

For the next 30 minutes, we research the war we toured in and found out it was a cold war. An alarm starts to ring and the P.A. system shouts in a robotic voice, “GET YOUR ARMOR ON AND WEAPON. PREPARE FOR BATTLE.” It repeats over and over. We grab our armor and meet up at the battle plan meeting. A slender alien addresses the plan, speaking in a hoarse voice “The plan is to mosh the enemy and send Pawn drones in with the first wave of soldiers.”

I lean and whisper to the Blackcoat, “What's a Pawn drone?”

She whispers back, “It's a nanobot soldiers inject themselves with that takes over the brain and controls the whole body. “

The alien continues, “The Pawns will be chosen randomly. The second wave will have shotguns. After the 1st wave of Pawns hits the enemy, the 2nd wave is required to crouch on one knee and fire at any enemy that breaks passed the 1st. The 3rd wave will have shields and spears to keep back anything that makes it passed the 2nd. The 4th wave will have swords to make sure nothing passes the 3rd. The 5th-10th waves will be equipped with mortars and fire as many missiles on the other group as possible. The 5th and 6th waves need to set up ramps over the 4th. The 11th-12th waves will be heavy vehicles and will give the 2nd and 1st waves more help. All the waves will be chosen depending on your skill and weapon.” I look around nervously as everyone knows what to do, I look down at my shotgun. “Crap.”  I say to myself.