Wake Up

The Present

     Frederick heard him before ever seeing him.

     “Up and at ‘em, soldiers. Rise and shine!”

     Sleep wasn’t something he had ever truly known as an Unimus. As a soldier, he never had the luxury. Stasis was all he had needed. Or wanted. There was always the chance an enemy could get the drop on them while they were asleep, so he and his team had trained themselves to rely only on stasis to prevent that eventuality while in the field. There was no struggle to escape the comfort of stillness. No pain Subconscious one moment, conscious the next.

     The biostatic gel began to drain from the tube’s bottom allowing Frederick to blink away the liquid still clinging to his eyes. That was the one part he didn’t like about stasis. The gel used to place them in suspended animation was exclusive to the built-in wall-mounted version reverse engineered from an unimus’ built in ability. It might be more effective, but it wasn’t portable. Unreliable during field ops.

     A blonde male in fatigues was watching him from outside the pod. A human. No weapons on his person. Even separated by glass, he could smell ozone on the soldier. He didn’t need weapons when he was one. An insignia on his shoulder that identified him as a chaplain. A stylized x on the opposite shoulder proclaiming his religion.

     Opening the pod, Frederick Von Bjorn stood at attention. At his side, Kaia likewise saluted. The empty spaces where others would be gnawed at Fred’s consciousness like a starved animal.

     “Faz Brigade standing by, sir!” the two of them exclaimed.

     It felt hollow with just the two of them.

     “My name is Chaplain Henry Scott,” the human barked. He sounded tired in spite of the authoritative tone he had on. “As per Operation Redress and Project White Flag, you have been reassigned from the dismantled and defunct Unimus Electorate to complete any and all field ops suited to your unique talents and abilities.” He didn’t need to remind them. But protocol dictated it, and Fred didn’t begrudge the human for just doing his job. “While you are allowed to decline the mission, the Republic of Oros will expel you from the country for doing so effective immediately. Do you understand?”

     “Affirmative chaplain sir!”

     “And you understand that if you deviate from the mission objective, you will be disavowed and branded an enemy of the state effective immediately. Do you understand?”

     “Affirmative!”

     “Do you understand that if you fall behind, you will be left behind, and it will be considered deviating from the mission objective?”

     “Affirmative!”

     The Chaplain’s shoulders fell from their rigid pose, finally finished with reciting the rhetoric Frederick has heard since the TechnoWar’s end. Not only did he sound tired, but he looked like it as well. Frederick had seen it all too often; He was a man who had seen too much, done too much to the detriment of his mind. A casualty of war in every way that mattered except the physical.

     Then, Chaplain Scott said something neither Frederick or Kaia had ever expected to hear. “Upon the successful completion of this mission you will be rewarded with limited citizenship within the Republic of Oros, and granted a home in one of the many Sanctuary Cities scattered throughout the aforementioned Republic at your discretion. Do you understand?”

     “...”

     “Do you understand?” the Chaplain repeated louder and firmer than before.

     “Sir yes sir!” came their reply.

     Chaplain Scott nodded in satisfaction. “Considering the current state of the squad, I took the liberty of recruiting some eager volunteers.” He moved towards a door, opening it. On the other side a pair of Unimus entered, one male and one female standing at attention.

     “Private Ann Wolfe reporting for duty!”

     “Private Roger Gomeric Wolfe, reporting for duty!”

     “We don’t need them,” Frederick interjected. Kaia began to protest as well, only for Henry Scott to silence them both.

     “I beg to differ,” the chaplain produced a remote from his breast pocket and queued up a projector. Stills of the Faz Brigade’s past came to life. “Sergeant Crevan Teach. Lieutenant Buster Harlan. Specialist William Tafton. All casualties prior to your joining the Republic, all preventable.”

     “Tafton was a damn traitor and got what was coming for him.” Kaia managed to say before Fred could. “There was nothing preventable about that.”

     “Nevertheless, he was executed before he could be tried and discharged.” the chaplain continued icily, never breaking momentum. His eyes were no longer tired. They seemed to be staring daggers now. “The only reason such action was tolerated was because the mission had just ended. I don’t intend for you to have such leeway on our next one.”

     The man smiled thinly. “That’s right, for this mission, I’ll be accompanying the Brigade as well.”

     Frederick growled. “Over my dead body. The Faz Brigade hasn’t needed anyone aside from Unimus in all its years of operation.”

     Chaplain Scott gestured towards the departed. “Evidence to the contrary.”

     That shut the conversation down.

     Their handler left, giving the two of them the privacy needed to change into their combat fatigues while under the supervision of the new members of the Brigade. Pulling his clothes from a dresser, Frederick surreptitiously analyzed the recruits as they all got dressed.

     Ann was obviously younger than her brother. With vibrant green hair, an alluring figure and well defined muscles, her bored expression hid everything else from his gaze. Roger was less guarded; the unimus kept glancing towards his sister. Worry or concern, perhaps even a combination of both. It looked odd coupled with his bulky frame and muscles.

     An epiphany struck, Fred realized that the two looked familiar. He combed through his internal data, trying to match their faces to everyone throughout his memory logs.

     “Whatcha looking at?” Ann asked tersely, standing before him suddenly.

     In his diligence to identify her, he had stared absently in her direction.

     “I know you.” He answered simply.

     A faint smile graced Ann’s face, and behind them, Roger frowned in disapproval.

     “You joined the military.” Fred continued. It wasn’t a question.

     “I did. And I finally joined the Brigade.” She bragged.

     “You say that like it should be something to be proud of.”

     “Why wouldn’t I be?”

     Frederick gestured around them. “Is what we’re doing something you feel like you should be proud of? Fighting for what you believe in, getting co-opted by the opposing government when your side gets obliterated and let out every couple months or years to play janitor for field ops mission control underestimated and sent a squad in unequipped for the horror they were heading into face first and die after kissing their mom and dad goodbye?”

     “Well, good thing I don’t have to deal with that last part now.” Ann said glibly.

     “Ann…” Roger murmured in a concerned tone. He stepped forward to pull his sister back.

     “No, I want to know,” Ann shook off her brother’s arm. “I idolized you. I wanted to be like you. Now you disapprove of me joining the Brigade?”

     “Your brother has the right idea, I think.” Frederick replied. “Let me guess, he only signed on to look out for you.”

     “And what if he did?”

     “Have you ever watched the life slip away from the eyes of a loved one? Or forced to execute someone you thought was your comrade?”

     “Well, no.”

     “Have you ever even been deployed before?”

     “I don’t see why that has anything –” Ann started to say.

     Frederick mowed over her, however. “Have you ever considered that in order to make the hopes and dreams of others a reality, you might have to snuff out the hopes and dreams of everyone on the other end of your weapon?”

     “...”

     “Can you live with that kind of blood on your hands?”

     “I’m willing to find out for myself and not let anyone but me change my mind.” Ann growled. “So thank you for inspiring me, and I’d ask that you try not to un-inspire me.”

     “Fair enough.”

     Ann walked off, leaving Roger to give Fred an apologetic glance before following her.

     In the silence, Frederick had a realization about their upcoming mission. While Chaplain Scott had informed them of being needed, he had neglected to inform the Brigade of their objectives. It wasn’t the first time they were sent in blind, but it was the exception rather than the norm.

     The status quo had changed. Where once the Faz Brigade had been the stars of the Unimus Electorate, they now operated as janitorial for the Republic of Oros. It wasn’t ideal, but it was as close as they could get under the circumstances. The Electorate had been a champion of the downtrodden, giving everyone a place and a purpose. But that ideal had been sacrificed in the fires of war. Or at least, that’s what Fred would often try to rationalize to himself. The Republic wasn’t much better. But at least they weren’t firing on innocent civilians.

     Watching an institution he had grown up with lose the values they once championed and he once idolized had been heartbreaking.

     But a house pet trained for combat could never again return to the life it once knew.

     Frederick had only changed one master for another.