Previously…
Having survived what was considered a suicide mission during the Entoma containment breach, the pilots involved knew they’d be called to speak to the Assembly. Before they did that, they had to report back to MX Hub, where Zander’s team was released back to Fractured Dreams.
Being back home with time before they were summoned, there were a few major events slated, one of which was Zander marrying Selda/Maker in a VR wedding. The bittersweetness of getting more closure with his Selda would help him heal. It also laid the foundation for Maker to become her own person, no longer just a copy of Selda. The wedding came after a bachelor party where Maker recreated Zander’s friend, Devin, to party with him. It was good seeing his friend again, even if only a simulation, and again helped him set down the burden of leaving his old life behind.
Maker wasn’t the only one with a momentous change in their life. Crish had chosen and Zander accepted them. A day after Maker’s wedding, Crish and Zander connected, allowing the change to happen. Crish wasn’t the fastest Changer to get through the metamorphosis, though they were still the second fastest. When she emerged, Crish looked roughly the same besides her new obviously feminine attributes. Crish had become able to change her appearance at will, much like a certain Marvel comic-book character. Zander was shocked by this, but Crish was elated. As she declared, she might be what all Changers should aspire to become.
A few other personal family changes came during their time on MX Hub, too. Ping finally asked Zander to be more intimate. She explained why she’d been so hesitant, having had too many one-night stands in her past. Zander and the others welcomed her warmly, bringing her fully into their family. The other change was with Gravtina— she’d stolen a moment with Zander and Lavella in Lavella’s office. She wanted more, but she didn’t want to upset her father, either. Being the last of her clan, she didn’t want to sever her relationship with her father. While she and Zander mostly snuck kisses, they also were able to steal away for a time or two while others kept a close eye on her father.
When the Assembly called for them, Zander had to enlist Lavella to buy them some extra time for Dreams’ refit to finish. That also let Lavella and Vakdreak travel with them to the Assembly Hub, as they both had business to see to. Lavella was going to sell the tournament and game to the entertainment council, and Vakdreak had two new mecha inventions— which Zander got some credit for— to sell to the Assembly.
Their trip to the Assembly Hub only had a small bump when Veldiami had them pause for a quick extermination mission. Zander wanted it to gel the pilots, as two of their friends from the outbreak had joined them, giving them two full fingers on Dreams. The mission was simple and easy, but it helped make sure that everyone was capable of following orders as well as being a good shake down for the two new juggernauts. It also let them test out the new wide beam particle cannon, which everyone loved against the small Entoma.
Upon reaching Assembly Hub, they found out that rumors and conjecture had run wild ahead of them. With Zander’s adherence to the Antecedents being questioned, everyone felt the uncertainty that he might be branded a heretic. They had a staged dinner so the flatpress could catch him eating with the Antecedents’ utensil of choice— a spork— but that wasn’t going to be enough, especially not with the Assembly calling for them the next morning.
The meetings with the Assembly quickly showed the division in the galactic ruling body. His enemies were led by an Angelic and a Dwarf who questioned everything they could. His allies were surprisingly led by the sole Dragon pilot, far too large to ever fit in a mecha. Zander’s lovers and captain used their old favors to bring others in to support him. Even with the help, he had to use a card he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to use: hinting broadly that Maker had created the training based on old programming from her broken ship.
That hint was a big swing in toward them accepting what he was saying, but it left a ticking bomb in its wake. Maker’s ship had already been gutted to help make Dreams more than she had been. The Assembly’s greatest minds were trying to see if they could piece the old AI together or even get access to other files. If they managed that before she could leave fragments of training behind, then their lie would be exposed. The only upside was that her advanced nature was revealed and the Assembly was willing to work with her, hoping she could boost the current Hub AI to become more than they were.
Before Maker could achieve her goal, Zander’s enemies went a step too far. They tried to kill him and ended up hurting Lavella in an assassination attempt. Zander captured one of the pair involved so the perpetrator could be found by Hub Security. Zander would give them the chance, but warned the head of security that he would deal with it himself if they failed.
Veldiami and the captains for the two Assembly ships whose pilots trained with Zander were summoned. That was when the Assembly voted on another suicide mission for Zander and his friends— they gave them free rein to complete the mission of taking back a lost world. Zander was quick to accept the Assembly’s folly when they gave him the freedom to use any tactic to complete his mission. It was all he needed to prove his point and make the Assembly acknowledge what he’d been trying to show them. If he did that, this would be the first big step toward fulfilling his promise to Selda: wiping out all Entoma in her name.
Chapter One
Zander was in the gym, working out with his pilots out when Dreams spoke over the speakers, “Zander, there is unrest on Antecedents’ Will and Assembled Fist. The pilots were given the mission briefing and the reception was poorer than expected.”
Grunting, Zander stood up, having just finished his set on the bench. “Copy that, Dreams. Send word that I want all the pilots in training capsules in thirty minutes. I won’t let them give up before we even begin.”
The others stopped their workouts, getting up to clean up and get dressed.
“Zander, do you think you can calm them down?” Rasisar asked. The Vampire was still standing near the bench with Zander having been his spotter.
“Calm? I don’t know, but they won’t break on me today,” Zander said gruffly. “Come on. We need a united front to help forge them back into shape.”
Crish was waiting for her turn at one of the vibes. She gave Zander a grim smile when he approached, raking a hand through her purple hair. “What do you need from us?”
“Just the trust you’ve already given me,” Zander said, pausing to kiss her briefly. “We need to show that while we might be worried, we aren’t afraid.”
Kayo stepped out of the vibe shower, giving it to Crish. “That we can do.” Her tails fanned out behind her before curling around his waist as she collected a kiss from him. “We’re behind you.”
“Even if the mission is daunting, we believe,” Arlizarista said. The short, lithe Elf glanced at the duo with a fleeting flash of something, but that changed into a grim expression.
The others chimed in one by one as they traded places in the vibe showers. In a few minutes, they were all dressed and marching down the halls to the mecha bay where the training capsules waited.
Zee, Veldiami wants to know if you need her to help, Maker asked silently.
No, I’ve got this. Though I will ask you to make sure the captains get a transcript of what I say to their pilots. This way, if anyone goes to bitch, they know exactly what was said and done. I don’t figure most will, but the true holdouts might.
Copy that, Zee.
Zander paused when he led the others into the bay. Gravtina was in her booth, looking over a schematic. She looked up and smiled at him before her brow furrowed when she saw that it was all of them. She’d thought she’d have the bay because they were taking the day off. “Drop in. I’ll be there shortly,” Zander told his group when Gravtina stepped out of the booth.
“Zander, is everything okay?” Gravtina asked when he approached her.
“A small problem with the newbies on the other ships,” Zander said. “I’ll be fixing it, but it means we’ll be using the training capsules. Is that going to cause you a problem?”
“No. I was just going over the new weapons and retrieval systems to make sure I’m as up-to-date on them as I can be. I still need to adjust the program to handle them. It can install and remove them, but it takes longer than it should. I can make it more efficient.”
He gave her a smile. “Thank you. Before we get to Frentlap, I’m going to see if we can’t sneak away again.”
Gravtina licked her lips, her heart racing at the thought. “It’ll be harder without Lavella here to distract my father.”
“We’ll manage,” Zander murmured. “It just might take some doing.”
“Okay. Good luck with the others.”
“It’ll be fine, though I may need to put my boot up some asses,” he said, then gave her a wink. “See you later.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Gravtina murmured as she watched him go.
Zander felt a little less angry when he stripped down. He understood why the pilots who hadn’t fought with him before were worried. This was beyond the mission to Valphom, which was viewed as a suicide mission. All three ships would possibly never make it home, much less the pilots. Every pilot here was as good as dead as far as the Assembly was concerned. He was sure that even those who’d backed him expected mass casualties, if not outright failure. However, they didn’t understand what an angry badger meant, nor how hard it was to kill one.
Stopping onto the edge of his capsule’s hatch, Zander met Gravtina’s eyes. He gave her another wink, then stepped into the gel. A second later, he was in a briefing room, one large enough for every pilot going on the mission. The room was divided to put each pilot behind their lead pilot and to keep each finger grouped to their fist.
Maker was standing beside him, looking grim. “You ready?”
“Time to break them down and rebuild them,” Zander said flatly. “If they accept it as death before they even start, they’ll be a liability. I need to force them to accept the chance of coming back alive.” Taking a deep breath, he nodded. “Bring them in.”
A moment later, the room was filled with pilots. Zander stood in the middle, his face thunderous as he turned slowly to look over each of them. Nato and Orblar tried to project confidence, but there were cracks in their masks. The only pilots who weren’t looking panicked were those who’d been on Valphom, though they still looked worried. His pilots looked grimly determined, with Olivert and Petnamia being the only ones showing signs of stress.
“You got your orders, and you began to panic,” Zander barked at them. “Weeks out and already you want to lay down and die?”
“It’s a death sentence,” a Gremlin behind one of Orblar’s leads said.
“So was Valphom!” Zander shouted at him. “We lost two out of thirty. Two when we should have all died.”
Silence fell, as none of them had ever seen Zander this mad before. During their joint training, they’d heard him yell and cajole in equal measure to show them how to fight on the move, but none of them had seen this level of anger. Even his pilots looked shocked at his outburst.
“What will you do?” Zander asked flatly. “Refuse the order? Stay on the ship and refuse to drop? And then what? Because we won’t!” He motioned behind him to his pilots. “We’ll drop and continue to return until the mission is done. And then where will you be? Dishonored and a coward who will never be taken by anyone ever!”
The pilot who’d spoken hunched in on himself, wanting to disappear.
“Nato,” Zander said, turning to him. “How many did you expect to lose on Valphom before you let me lead you?”
“Everyone, with only one or two behemoths killed,” Nato replied.
“And after you gave me the lead, and I showed you how to fight?”
“Less, but still a finger or two,” Nato admitted.
“And after we dropped?”
Nato’s smile was vicious. “None, sir!”
“Because I don’t just command you. I lead,” Zander said, turning back to the others. “I will lead you into the thick of the fight. I will take the worst of the attack and blunt it myself if needed.”
“He fought a behemoth alone,” Ajax said from behind Nato. “He didn’t send one of us as sacrifices. He faced it and bought us time. Even Nato wouldn’t be so quick to do that, and I trust Nato with my life and every mission.”
“I understand the fear,” Arlizarista said. “I fought in a scout before Zander became our lead. Our previous lead would’ve thrown me like a treat to any Entome, much less a behemoth, to save himself. Now, I will fight with everything in my body if he tells me to, all because I know he will march through fire and death to pull me back out if I still breathe.”
“But—”
“Enough!” Zander cut the next speaker from Orblar’s crew off. “You have to choose for yourself: will you live in disgrace, or fight to do the impossible? We might die— we can die on any mission— but this one is one that will be told and sung about for the rest of time. It’ll be the first planet retaken from the Entoma, the first push back against the tide of bugs! Do you want to be the footnote of disgrace, or part of the song?!”
Everyone fell quiet again, unsure of what to say to the impassioned speech.
Zander exhaled roughly, running a hand over his head before he spoke softer, “I get it. I fought the least of them on foot. I had my lover and friends ripped apart around me while we fought to survive. I know the fear of facing death even in a situation where everyone expects you to die. We faced it on Valphom, but I had my friends with me and we slaughtered the bugs in droves. We lost two… one to a moment of panic, and one who was just unlucky. I can’t promise that I will bring you all back out.” He looked over the room slowly. “But I will do my damnedest to try. We have a real chance to do what has never been done, to change the course of history and make the Antecedents smile down on us. I can’t drag you into battle— if I do, you’ll die as surely as you believe right now.
“If you walk behind me,” he smiled viciously, “we’ll cleanse a fallen world of every last bug. Those who fight will be praised through the Assembly for what we do. Even if you fall, your name will be memorialized for all time. If you refuse to adapt, refuse to fight, you’ll be left behind and your only legacy will be dishonor. The one thing worse to a pilot than death will be your badge to wear for the rest of your life, and that will undoubtedly follow even your families. You have to choose, and I’m asking if you will train to fight beside us or lay down and die right now. If you refuse to even try, just leave. I won’t ask you again. This choice will define you, and only you can make it.”
Zander lifted his chin as he looked at his pilots. “Are you with me?”
All of them stood and saluted him. “Sir, yes, sir!”
The pilots of Antecedents’ Will were shocked to again witness an Assembly level of discipline from a mercenary crew.
Zander turned at Assembled Fist. “Two fingers are new, and I know you’re worried, but I give you my word that I will fight for your lives with everything in me. Are you with me?”
Nato and the pilots who’d gone to Valphom were on their feet instantly. The others were a little slower, but all of them stood, even the Goblin who’d been complaining about the new tactics during the last training they’d had. He didn’t want to be the only pilot to back out.
Zander turned lastly to the majority of the room, who sat behind Orblar. “Are you going to let a merc crew and a cruiser ship have more courage and determination than you?”
Orblar flew up to salute him. A dozen others were just as quick to stand, and then one by one, more got to their feet. Out of the sixty pilots, two didn’t stand, one of them being the Gremlin who’d spoken up earlier.
Zander met their eyes. They were the two who’d bitched and moaned about the tactics being against the Antecedents’ teachings when the ships had trained back on the Hub. They were making their choice plainly visible now. “So be it. Maker, have the ship eject them from their pods. Notify Rilla that these two are insubordinate and refuse to accept the mission. I request they be quarantined until the mission is over for their own safety.”
“What?! You can’t do that!” the Gremlin cried out, jumping to his feet. “You aren’t our lead pilot!”
Zander’s grin became malevolent. “Wrong! I am the lead for the mission! Read your orders fully next time… if any ship will ever take you again after this.”
The other pilot jerked to her feet, the Mongoose Animaz speaking quickly, “No, wait! I was just thinking. I want to fight! I do!”
The Gremlin vanished and Zander was suddenly standing directly in front of the Animaz. “Be certain. You need to accept the training and fully believe. If you doubt, you’ll stop. If you do, you won’t just die— you’ll drag others with you because they’ll try to save you. If you can’t fully invest, you should join the Gremlin.”
The woman stared up at Zander and swallowed. “I will do my best, sir.”
“Rakil,” Orblar said, zipping over to them, “I will do what I can to bring you back out alive, too, but be sure.”
Rakil stood up straight and snapped a textbook salute, fist to chest, to Orblar. “Ma’am, I am sure. Let me prove my sincerity.”
Zander clapped Rakil’s shoulder. “You’ll get the chance. Today was going to be a day off, but that’s been canceled. Everyone, get ready. We’re dropping on Frentlap in ten minutes. The planet has been copied for us to train on, along with the bugs known to be there. We’re going to make sure we’re ready for what we can be. We aren’t stopping until everyone can follow movement and firing as called by your leads.”
No one complained about the chance to train. Most even accepted the idea, wanting to see if they really could survive the mission.