For Blood and Honor

The silent hum of the spacecraft's engine was soothing. Anyone could easily fall asleep to it, but there was no time for it. I was on my way to Planet Blood to sift out the best people out of the militaries and law enforcement agencies throughout the Sirius systems, to see who'd be worthy to join the BloodGuard Academy on Neutro Station. They all came to Blood months ago to prepare for one the hardest physical and mental tests in their lives, most of them only to be sent back home to try some other time.

I was just recently promoted to the rank of Captain and my first order of business was to oversee the selection process. My first promotion in 2 years and this is what command assigns me to... I could have thought of better ways to use my time. I was frustrated, but I also understood the importance of this assignment. Our organization was desperately in need of soldiers and we needed them fast, if we wanted to be able to keep the peace in Sirius. And a recent conflict with a quite powerful mercenary organization didn't make it any easier. Still... I wanted to go out there and show that the BloodGuard were still flying strong... That thought was disrupted by the rapid deceleration as I exited the tradelane. The aptly named red planed was right in front of my ship. I locked on to the docking ring and engaged landing procedures.

The local time was a little before 4 in the morning. I still had a good hour to grab another coffee and go over the personnel files, so I went down to the mess. There I met someone unexpected:

- Admiral Wavey, Sir. Didn't expect to see you here.
- At ease, Captain. Sit down... Coffee?
- Yes, please...

The admiral turned to the mess sergeant:

- Sergeant! Two blacks, no sugar.

I was just about to ask him what he was doing here, but I quickly forgot about it, as I still had to look over the files. I buried my eyes in the datapad I had in my hand. Then the Admiral spoke to me:

- I can tell you right now, Captain, that none of them are going to make it. They're nothing but a bunch of trigger-happy frat-kids.
- I used to be a trigger-happy frat-kid, Sir.
- And you still are one. Yet you have proven your worth more times than I can count.
- Thank you, Sir. But what makes you sure these aren't going to make it?

Our coffees arrived and I immediately took a large sip, almost burning myself... The Admiral chuckled:

- Easy, mate, no one's taking it away from you. And to answer your question – It’s true they have become much better since they arrived here, but all of them think they can do anything after getting through the prepping program. That makes them reckless. And not only that – they don’t work well as a team. Every single one of them wants to be accepted and they view the others as unwanted competition. All of that will get them killed at some point.
- Part of our job is to get shot at, Sir. Getting killed is a real possibility every time we enter the battlefield... Even outside it.
- Which is why the only thing we can do is minimize that chance. These guys – it’s all run-and-gun for them. We need soldiers, not cannon fodder.
- With due respect, Admiral, but what the hell am I doing here, then? Why not drop them out outright?
- I’m afraid we have to keep up appearances. We need to show that we take this stuff seriously. And well… There’s always the element of someone actually passing.

Most of our conversation passed with the Admiral ranting on how he observed these guys on field training and during lectures. The clock reached 4:50. We both got up from the table and before each going our way the Admiral said:

- I will be joining you after lunch to observe the rest of the selection process. But first I need to catch some shut-eye. Good luck, Captain.
- Wish I could do the same, Sir. And thanks.

And so I was on my way to the barracks. This was going to be the longest day of the recruits’ lives… For me it was just about to become another long day.

As I reached the barracks, I met the training officer who was about to start the morning call. I stopped him and ordered him to bring me some flashbang grenades. He stood there gawking at me like an idiot.

- Sir?
- Just do it!

All of the trainees were roughly my age. Give or take a year or two. So if I wanted them to take me seriously, I needed to make clear who was in charge. Scaring the shit out of them should do the trick. The training officer soon returned with two bags with the said grenades. I think he already figured what I had in mind and got himself that other one.

- You take left. On the count of three. One… Two… Three!

We both ran from room to room, lobbing flashbangs into each one. It was chaos. Those trainees ran out of their rooms like teenage girls who had just seen a spider on a wall. At that moment the training officer let off a roar that made even me slightly jump, even after the whole shebang:

- Fall in!!!

No one reacted…

- I SAID FALL IN!!!

All of them fell in line, I tried to hide my amusement. Even had to bite my lip to stop grinning. Then I started walking past them looking into each face.

- I am Captain Pērkons of the BloodGuard! And you all just died! Every single one of you! You call yourself soldiers? All I saw was a bunch of wimps stumbling out of their rooms without a clue what to do!

I pointed at a female trainee:

- You! What’s the first thing to do when attacked by surprise?
-. Sir! Assess the situation and mount a defense, Sir!
-. No credit for partial answers!
-. Sir! And mount a counterattack if possible, Sir!

I got in the face of another trainee:

- And WHY did I not see anyone acting like it?
- Sir! I do not know, Sir!
- Why not!?
- I can’t speak for the others, Sir!
- And there is your problem! You do not know, let alone trust, each other! That’s why you can’t coordinate shit! And during today I plan to correct that! But first off – report to the firing range in 5 minutes! MOVE IT!!!

They got back into their rooms, and I went to the gun range. The first test was supposed to be an examination of physical abilities, but I figured to get right down to the fun stuff, while they’re still somewhat dazed from the flashbangs. So instead of running an obstacle course the first exam was to be marksmanship.

The exams went every bit as bad as the Admiral feared. Every one of the recruits excelled individually, but were utter rubbish when put in teams. I had no choice but to fail them. At the end of the day I went to my quarters. There was a mission briefing folder and four-pack of beers sitting on my desk with a note attached. It was from the Admiral:

- Take tomorrow off. You'll have to deploy on Saturday. Next round's on you, by the way.

I couldn't help but get my hopes up. Finally an actual mission. Nothing major, just a routine patrol run through Kusari, but at least something. I opened a can and took a good long drink. I turned on the news on the TV, sat back in my chair and fired up a game of Chess on my computer. I've never been a good player, and I'm the first to admit it, but i just liked to dabble away when there was nothing else to do. There was nothing surprising on the news as well - a minor bust of Cardamine smugglers in Cortez. Heightened solar activity in Stuttgart. And the price of Sirius Bucks Coffee has seen a steady climb over the past week. Being an active investor in that company I was contemplating the sale of my shares, when I heard someone knock on my door. I got up and the door had barely opened when I felt a fist connect with my chin:

- That's for the Flashbangs, you Jackass!

I didn't even have time to react when another punch went straight to my gut, which caused me to drop my can. I straightened up and caught a third punch coming my way. That gave me enough to pin that feisty ruffian to the wall in the hallway. It was that female recruit from this morning:

- That's "Captain" Jackass to you, you fist-waving cheerleader! You're lucky to be out of the program, so I can't court-marshal you!. But I can still arrest you for assaulting a police officer. Say goodbye to your career in your house police!
- Thanks to you I don't have a career anymore! I got my referral on the prerequisite, that I'll pass this program. For me it was either pass or don't even bother to come back.
- Not my problem. You fail the exams, you don't get accepted. No second chances. Now get out of here before I actually start considering to arrest you!

She stormed away obviously furious. That was different I thought to myself and went back into my quarters. That first punch she landed actually rung a bell, so I grabbed an ice pack from the fridge, put in on my jaw, put on some tunes and sank back into my chair again and before I knew it I dozed off.

I woke up the next day at noon. I went to the mess for some coffee and a good breakfast. After that I hit the gym. I know that you're not supposed to eat too much before a workout, but come on - doing anything on an empty stomach is just plain torture. And my workout usually consisted of beating the crap out of punching bags. I always had at least tree of four lined up at the ready. Controlling my strength is bit difficult, taking my Dom'Kavash DNA into account, so the bags fall apart after just 10 minutes of the punishment I give them. Which is why I also never allow anyone to enter while I'm in the gym. After half an hour of training and cleaning up the leftovers of the equipment, I was about to leave, when that trainee came.

- Didn't you see the sign on the door? The one that says "No Entry until 14:10"? If you've come to try to beat the crap out of me again, I suggest you take it elsewhere.
- Actually I came to apologize for yesterday, and try to ask you if there's anything I can do so you can pass me.
- After the stunt you pulled yesterday? Fat chance!
- Captain...
- Save it. I've heard more than enough sob stories and they're all the same. The decision is final.
- Actually I was going to say that I know why i failed...
- Good. Then you may try to actually pass next year. Goodbye...
- Wait! Please let me finish!
- Ugh... Make it quick.
- I know that this years recruits failed because of lacking teamwork. I just wanted to say that I'm not like them. I can work with others if they are willing to work together!
- That's supposed to convince me?
- I can prove it!
- Really? Then why didn't you do so during the exam!?
- Let me prove I can work with others! Just name your terms!
- You are getting on my nerves! You want another chance? Fine! Get at least three more people from this years class! Prep your ships for combat and meet me on the landing pad Saturday at 0700 hours! Be late by even a second an I'll make sure you'll never be accepted into the program again! Is that understood?
- That's impossible. No one from this year will...
- You wanted another chance. This is it. Either take it or leave it!
- Fine...
- What was that, recruit?
- Sir, Yes sir!
- Good! Now get out of here!

She ran off and I went back to my quarters for a shower. While on my way there I remembered that I never actually asked her name.

And so Saturday came. I went to the spaceport at 9AM. Getting all the paperwork done to allow someone to retake the exams immediately after they have been failed is quite a hassle and I had to pull some pretty big strings with the Admiral, so my mood was already sour. But what I had to see on the spaceport really made me pissed. The four trainees were at each others' throats:

- Greene! You tryin' to pull some prank on us, bitch?
- Shut your trap, Mason! He'll be here!
- I bet he just told you what you wanted to hear just to get you out of his hair, after you tried to knock his teeth in... A task in which I would have succeeded.
- You wouldn't even be able to knock over a coffee cup, Hinode...
- Care to find out, Göttling?

I had neither the time nor the patience to deal with that so I just went right in the middle:

- All four of you! Shut your god-damn pieholes or get the hell out of my sight!
- Look who's here! I guess for once you were right, Greene. Even if wrong by two hours...

I snapped, and almost punched that loudmouth in the gut, but I barely pulled myself together:

- I. SAID. SHUT. UP! All of you! Fall in! You should be grateful that I haven't changed my mind yet! Here's the deal: You will be flying with me on an assignment - a routine patrol through Kusari space. Our objective is to stop any pirate activity we find on our way. And if you can show me that you can work in a team, you'll be allowed to retake the exams. Do you understand?
- Sir, Yes sir!
- Good. Now, here in my hand, I'm holding a folder with admission papers for the repeat exams. Those papers have no names on them yet, so let's start with that. Cheerleader - you first.
- Sir! First Lieutenant Cassandra Greene of the Liberty Navy, reporting in!
- Did I ask you for your ranks? Names only! Next!
- Kenneth Mason of the Bretonia Police, Sir!
- Kuroyami Hinode of the Kusari Armed Forces, Sir!
- Christoph Göttling of the Rheinland Police, Sir!
- Good - Now where are your ships? I want to see what you are flying.

For some trigger-happy fools, they were flying some decent spacecraft. Hinode's ship was a Kusari-made Draconji-class fighter. Göttling was flying a standard Rheinland Valkyrie-class fighter, but the power plant was modified to support higher-end weaponry than on the standard-issue ones and both Mason and Greene were flying Phoenix-class Very Heavy fighters.

- Not bad. At least you won't die on this mission even if you screw up completely.
- With due respect, Captain, but what are you flying?
- Take a look at the hangar, Mason. My ship should be transported here any minute now.

I was in the good graces with General Gunny - The leader of the Crossfire Police Department, another major law-enforcement agency in the Sirius systems, so I was flying his old G-Variant Shroud. It had seen battle all across the universe, and it still was a damn good ship.

I ordered everyone to their ships and take off. Our first waypoint was Planet Kyushu, where we would meet with Commodore Spiky and receive our patrol route. I always thought of Spiky as an arrogant jackass, but his combat skills gave him the right to boast about them as much as he wants, so I just learned to listen and nod.
The trip itself was quiet and I hoped that the mission itself would be the same. As we landed on Kyushu, the Commodore contacted me over the comms:

- Don't even bother getting out. I've uploaded all the necessary intel into your neural net. Send it to the dead-weights you are hauling with yourself and get to work. Spiky out.

We immediately launched again. Our first order was to inspect suspicious activity along the route from Planet New Tokyo to Planet New Berlin. During the past months that route has seen an increase of heavy cargo ship traffic. Officially it was a trade of various cargo containers, but there were rumors floating around that there are blackmarket goods hidden in those containers. The BloodGuard was asked to investigate.

We reached New Tokyo and immediately started scanning incoming freight ships. After a good hour of sitting in space and paying off a train pilot to get the route everyone is using, I decided to fly along it, in hopes of surprising a trader or smuggler who's not careful enough and catch them red-handed. The route took us through a series of jump holes and we all know that they are a preferred method of transportation for pirates and other scum. The first jump hole led us to a nebula in the neighboring Honshu system. The place seemed rather quiet. Even tranquil. But that was mostly because of the nebula interfering with our ships' sensors, so it was a combination of dumb luck and the nebula, that we didn't run into anyone until we reached the Chugoku jump hole - which would lead us to the home system of the Blood Dragons. I had a feeling that Hinode would try to pull something stupid... And I was right.

It was widely known that jump holes allow transit for only one ship at a time, otherwise they just collapse, destroying whoever is currently in the jump tunnel. Hinode entered the jump hole first, so the rest of us couldn't follow until he was through...

- That moron! I'm jumping next... Then Göttling, then Mason. Greene, you take our six.
- Affirmative!
- Roger that!
- Copy!

The jump holes readings showed normal values again and I jumped through. On the other side, I already saw wrecks of Blood Dragon ships and various escape pods. And I could hear that Hinode was having the time of his life.

- Wooo-Hooo!!! Take that you sissies! I'll wipe you all out!

Hinode was ready to enter cruise speed and make a run at the main Blood Dragon base. I barely managed to fire a cruise disruptor at his ship, thus slowing him down.

- Stand down, Hinode! We are not here to get involved with these guys!
- Do you expect me to just look away while I have the perfect opportunity to deal a major blow to one of the biggest pirate organisations in Kusari space?
- Yes! That's EXACTLY what I expect you to do. The BloodGuard do not interfere with the work of the house police and militaries!
- Well then i'm well in my rights to attack these scum, since i'm KNF!
- First and foremost you are a recruit of the BloodGuard! I won't say it again! STAND! DOWN!!!

While I was arguing with Hinode, the rest of the team arrived. I think he didn't even bother listening to me, as he was already activating his cruise engines, ready to fly away. I had no choice but to give the order:

- All units! Fire Cruise Disruptors at the Draconji-class vessel!

Greene said over the comms:

- Sir? That's Hinode in there!
- Do it, before he gets away and gets us all in trouble!

Immediately a swarm of cruise distruptor missiles hit Hinodes' ship. I fired my weapons at him, disabling his shields and damaging his hull, thus disabling his ship.

- All units: Target your tractor beams at Hinode and go to the following coordinates...

I uploaded a set of coordinates into their ships and we were on our way. We had to get out of the system and land somewhere to sort this mess out. We arrived at the coordinates - the Sigma-13 jump hole. I sent the others through first, flung Hinodes' ship through the active jump hole and then followed. Once on the other side we landed on Yanagi Depot for resupply. We all got out of our ships and watched Hinode getting towed into the station hangar. We all watched Hinode himself getting out of his ship, shouting all kinds of profanities, which I answered with a punch to the face.

- You are OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!

I think Hinode wanted to say something, but he never got to it, as he just collapsed in front of me.

- Göttling. Mason. Get this idiot to the infirmary, while I upload a new code into your IFF transponders, so this kind of bullshit doesn't happen again. We're leaving in 35 minutes. We still have a mission to finish!