Chapter 1: Promotion

Time: 8:34 pm
Yr. 2853 // October 28th
Location: Drop ship // deep space

A soldier shuffled in place, shifting his rifle to his side from his seated position in the cabin. "Hey Lieutenant, what were we sent out there for, anyway?" He asked, his voice filled with curiosity as he prodded his superior.

The man being asked was Jake Carson, a 20 year old second class Lieutenant currently leading a squad back from their recent mission. It was unusual for someone of his age to be so highly ranked, but as far as people could remember... nobody knows when he started. Standing an average 5 foot 9 inches, he brushed his short brown hair away. Wearing a uniform composed of a dark blue shirt and black pants, some patches and badges dotted his arm and upper chest. He'd left his cap back on ship, always hating the idea of wearing it. By now, a lot of his squad mates just stopped mentioning it.

Turning to look at the one who’d spoken, Jake glanced at the rest of the soldiers all watching him with anticipation. They were sitting in seats merged with the wall, all forming a row down the cramped bay inside the belly of a small drop ship as it made its way to central control.

Jake raised a brow, "What do you mean?" He answered, turning his gaze directly to the soldier.

The questioned man looked straight into his superior's blue eyes. "Well sir... we were assigned to your squad but never briefed, all this-" The soldier paused as he motioned to the others who were listening closely, "-just for a patrol? Its a little uncalled for."

Nodding back, Jake let out a small sigh, "I understand your curiosity, but that information is classified."

The man let out a quick sigh, "...yes, sir." He said, slouching and loosening his armor.

Jake maintained his stoic position in the center of the ship, watching his squad as they eagerly awaited the trip's end. He'd been ordered to check on planet Sirus with a small squad, make sure everything was running... smoothly for the people living there. However, he was also ordered to make sure that nothing was in the way of the planet's real motives, as it was no ordinary colony world. Long range communications with the labs was restricted except for emergencies... we didn't want anyone catching wind of Sirus's true purpose.

"Sir." Spoke a pilot behind him, jolting Jake from his thoughts.

Snapping around he nodded to the saluting pilot, "At ease, what is it?"

The pilot quickly dropped his hand and began explaining, "Sir, we're on our final approach towards the Starstreaker and awaiting your orders."

Nodding thankfully, Jake followed him to the cockpit as the co-pilot hastily sat down and strapped himself in. Jake gazed past the co-pilot and out the front window, letting his eyes rest on an object in the distance. The colossus in question was, in fact, a massive ship called the Starstreaker. The enormous cruiser was equipped with automatic plasma turrets on both sides, but it's real power rest in the army it carried with it. A whole three hundred thousand, give or take, at least half of those ready to fly at a moments notice.

"Alright, give me a feed." Jake commanded as the pilots complied.

He watched as they flipped a series of small switches, causing a holographic screen to appear just in front of him. A second or two passed as the screen showed nothing more than static, until the image suddenly focused on a single man in the frame. Jake instantly snapped his hand in a smart salute.

"Sir!" He declared with gusto, earning a tired half wave from the man.

"At ease." He muttered, before motioning forward, "So tell me, did all go as asked Lieutenant?" He inquired, the dark shadow covering his face making it hard to distinguish his features.

Jake, lowering his salute, answered instantly, "Of course sir, everything's running smoothly on planet and there doesn't seem to be any kind of problems or hiccups." He finished, earning a slow nod from the man.

"Good, good... and what about your other orders?" He asked with interest, leaning forward slightly.

Jake hesitated, checking to ensure the door behind himself leading to the crew bay was closed before answering. "Sir... Project Decadence is coming along fine. It should be operational and battle ready within a week’s time."

The figure nodded in satisfaction, "That's good news, Lieutenant, very good." The man replied as he reached forward, about to end the transmission.

Jake began to turn around, when he was suddenly stopped by the man’s voice once more.

"Lieutenant?" Expressed the man on the screen suddenly.

Jake quickly turned around, looking back towards the figure in curiosity. "Yes, sir?"

With a single confident nod of the figure, Jake felt his heart sink before the words even reached him.

"Congratulations. You’re hereby promoted to the rank of a First Lieutenant, effective immediately. We expect to see you promptly once this mission is finished." The man exclaimed before dismissing the transmission.

Jake blinked a few times, unsure of how to process the information just unloaded onto him.

Whilst he was registering his thoughts, one of the pilots turned around on their seat with a smile. "Congratulations on the promotion sir."

"T-thanks." He replied with false joy, a small half smile forced onto his face.

Jake quickly made his way back into the crew bay, shaking his head on the way in a desperate attempt to dismiss his worry. The cabin doors split in half as he approached, allowing access to his squad once again. Looking around, Jake let out a small sigh before straightening out.

With a single clearing of his throat, he began belting out orders and snapping his squad into action. "Alright boys, prepare for docking procedures! Where's your firearm, soldier?!" The lieutenant quickly jumped back into his position of power, while pointing out a particular marine that desperately searched the bay in vain for his rifle.

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Time: 9:02 pm
Yr. 2853 // October 28th
Location: Bowels of the Starstreaker

Jake made his way through a set of automatic doors, gaining access to a room much different from the rest of the ship. The inside was lit a decent amount less than any other place inside the Starstreaker. There was no windows, but the room was quite large... about half the size of a gym. Three chairs sat near the back of the room, directly across from the entrance. In said chairs sat the 'overseers' of this ship. In reality, the one who is piloting is in the captain's chair... but this ship was so large it needed three separate leaders to manage the many tasks and experiments running inside. Jake took in a small breath and began walking towards the seated figures, stopping just a few feet in-front of them. The man in the center stood and took a step forward, revealing a badge in his right hand.

"For your outstanding performance we hereby grant you, Jake Carson, the rank of First Lieutenant along with both it's benefits and duties. Congratulations." Exclaimed the man presenting the badge.

"Thank you, it's my pleasure sir." Jake answered with a nod.

Nodding back, the man continued. "You’re very welcome. We… can expect to see you bright and early tomorrow, for the medical procedures?" The man asked, his posture shifting ever so slightly.

"…procedures? What do you mean?" Jake replied back with worry.

The man who’d presented the badge, along with the others that were sitting, all gave him strange looks. "…you mean you didn't know? Strange no one told you..." The centre figure began, pausing for a moment before glancing at the other two as they shrugged, "Well… we've modified the rules on genetic modification. Along with the mandatory draft for privates, anyone rank First Lieutenant, or higher, are now required to have modifications." He concluded, looking back at Jake's face.

He couldn't do anything but stare back. A few moments passed, until he finally spoke up. "Sir, i-if I may... why force the modifications on so many high rank soldiers?"

The man shook his head slightly. "Classified." He replied quickly, electing a slightly defeated look from Jake. "Sorry... but we have no choice. We need stronger fighters, and we're still losing to that damn Verix scum. You’ll also be working alongside some new privates, show them the gene mods are safe." He finished, putting a bit of emphasis into his tone at the end.

Nodding slowly, Jake answered in a quieter voice as he took his badge. "Yes... sir."

Author's Note

~~Also, please let me know what you think about it so far in the comments! I always love to hear feedback!~~

*Edit: June 2024* If you’re reading this, congratulations! You started reading this as I was remastering this fic! There is a chance, depending on when you began reading after I started, that you might catch up to the edits if you're reading this paragraph. If you want, feel free to shelve it and come back later when this message is gone… I’ll release a blog post when all 60 () chapters are done... I plan on being finished BEFORE mid-August, as I’ll be on summer vacation!

Ciao

CURRENT REWRITE PROGRESS: CH 1-14 ✅ COMPLETE ✅

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