Then we prepared for the next step of our adventure, stocking up with supplies—weapons, water, energy bars, whatever we thought we might need.

  52

  I made sure to keep an eye on Feruz, and not just because her hips were swaying like a goddamn pirate ship ride—back and forth, back and forth… Okay, maybe that was a large part of it, but I had my ladies to occupy me in that way. No problems there. Really, I think I was trying to understand the tail and how that worked with the foxy lady and my brother.

  When he did her from behind, did the tail get in the way? Did it turn him off, or on? Sacrada caught me looking and raised an eyebrow, but when I opened my mouth to explain, she leaned in and said, “Just don’t let Threed catch you.”

  “It’s not like that,” I said.

  She shrugged and walked on, stopping after a few steps to see that, yes, my eyes were now following her ass even more intently. With a laugh, she held up her hand as if reading a verdict and said, “Not guilty, your honor,” then kept going with even more swing to her ass as she walked.

  How was I supposed to think with my upper head, anyway, with all of them doing this to me? I made a point of watching the fluff part at our feet, drifting away in our wake, and then turned my attention to the bubbles of light. They seemed to appear out of nowhere in the sky, and I guessed they were some sort of gas formation, though definitely influenced by some super with their powers. A weird power to have, for sure. I imagined at parties the super would say, “I can blow bubbles,” and then do so and blow the place up. Could be an interesting party trick.

  We stuck close to the hillside, with Feruz showing us points to avoid as well as where to walk to not be seen. I was wondering why we were trusting her, how any of this made sense, but the way she kept looking at me… it put me at ease, made me want to trust her.

  “Seen by whom?” Navani asked.

  Feruz glanced around, frowned, and said, “Anyone that might be watching.”

  As if that was enough, she kept on, and so did we. Each of us was slightly more alert after that, though.

  “Even if you know your destination,” Feruz started, glancing back at Navani. “There’s a special way to travel. I’ve heard them talking about it. This legendary item that takes you across the universe in ways unheard of before.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Navani said, voice cold as she tried to not give anything away.

  Feruz noted the coldness though, and had a deep curiosity to her voice when she asked, “Where exactly did you all come from, again?”

  When nobody replied, I said, “A galaxy far, far away.”

  “I see,” Feruz replied, and then laughed. “So cryptic.” She skipped ahead, tail starting to swish back and forth, then appeared to be balancing as she walked, like playing a game. “Thanks for healing me. Not sure if I’d said that already. But thanks, even if it was you who shot me. And sorry about, you know…”

  “Blowing off our friend’s head?” Sakurai asked, grinning and nodding at Threed. “Hers, actually.”

  Threed waved and then blinked, creating a replica that ran out ahead of her. “It wasn’t exactly one of us… more like a clone.”

  The replica ran off as Feruz watched, confused. It plowed through the fluff and suddenly vanished in a splatter of blood that made Threed cringe in pain. It was gone a second later, and she looked at Feruz.

  “The fuck was that?” Sakurai asked.

  “That’s why we follow me out here,” Feruz replied with a wink. “There’s stuff that lives out here, used as a weapon to keep intruders out.”

  “But you’re not from here?” I asked as we carried on, all of us making sure to follow her guidance.

  She shook her head. “Not telling you all my details, Mister.”

  We continued on in silence, a gentle breeze blowing along that, oddly, didn’t affect the white fuzz at all. I shared a look of confusion with Threed. She stepped forward, taking my arm in hers.

  “Stay close. This place freaks me out.”

  “Gladly,” I replied, honestly glad to have her at my side.

  Navani suddenly stopped and hissed for Feruz to freeze too.

  “What is it?” I asked, leading Threed over to her.

  “Look, there,” Navani said, eyes lit up in a way that had Feruz unable to stop staring.

  I followed Navani’s line of sight, but only saw more of those floating balls of light, more of that white fluff.

  “Ooh, tricky,” Sakurai said next. I gave her a ‘what the hell’ look. “Look closely,” she said, then added, “where the balls of light move around, not hitting that spot there.”

  Feruz sighed. “Not as good as it’s claimed to be, apparently.”

  Finally, I saw what they were talking about. From above it might not have been noticeable, but from here I could just make out the way a large section of the ground and a bit above it was clear from the lights.

  “Let’s go,” Navani said, then paused and motioned Feruz on. “Actually, you go first.”

  Feruz gave us a cautious glance, then took the lead. As we walked, the fluff gently shifting, she glanced over at me, then Sakurai. “So you find our base, what then? You don’t have the numbers to take us.”

  “Didn’t we tell you? Our goal isn’t to hurt anyone,” I said. “We’ll defend ourselves, and yeah, if we find there’s someone doing evil, we’ll stop them. But from where I’m standing, you’re just on the wrong side, caught up in it all somehow.”

  “Because I’m too stupid to know any better?”

  “No, because that’s how it always is. If everyone who was ever on the wrong side of a conflict was evil, well, that’d be more evil than I think our universe would’ve been able to survive through for this long.”

  “That’s Drew,” Navani said, casting me a smile. “Always wanting to believe in the goodness of us all.”

  Feruz scrunched her nose, but I caught her looking my way as we kept walking in silence for a bit. Then the silence was suddenly broken a few minutes later when Threed said, “Fuck all that.”

  “Excuse me?” I said.

  “I say we’re all evil at times.” Threed indicated her eyes, adding, “One side of us, anyway, and there’s the constant struggle to see which will take over. But if we have to kill some fuckers to make the world a better place, well… oh fucking well.”

  “You weren’t exactly on the side of good when we found you,” Navani pointed out to her.

  Threed scoffed and grabbed her crotch. “Yeah, but you wanted some of this action, so you put up with it,” she winked at me, which I didn’t really appreciate.

  “We wouldn’t have killed you,” I said, “pussy or no.”

  “Pussy?” Feruz asked, looking around at us. “As in, she has a pet cat?”

  “One of those words that the translator isn’t picking up right,” Navani said with a laugh, then noticed my confusion and said, “Oh, you didn’t notice? She’s speaking her native language, but your suit is equipped with translator waves that change it before it reaches your ears, and vice-versa. If we were all naked, you wouldn’t understand her at all.”

  “I’m confused,” Feruz said. “I’m not getting naked, and what’s pussy mean then?”

  “Those two go hand-in-hand,” Threed said, again grabbing her crotch in a very lewd way. “Want to come over here and I’ll show you?”

  “I think I got the picture,” Feruz replied, blushing and turning back to our destination. “Where I come from, we don’t flaunt them about or grab ourselves.”

  “Same here,” I said with a laugh. “Well, not in most areas, anyway.”

  “And where I come from,” Threed said, “I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.”

  Sakurai grinned, giving Threed a nod, as they were apparently sharing a moment. Unfortunately, that moment of distraction nearly caused the latter to lose her head as a shot rang out, blasting part of her ear off and causing us all to duck as we drew weapons and spun toward the origin of the attack.

  One lone figure was leaping toward us, weapons raised. More shots came our way. He shot as he ran, this large man with maroon robes flapping about him, a layer of black space armor beneath. His face plate was lighting up in the dull way that made me assume he had scanners in place on his HUD—he knew exactly how many of us there were, and where we were.

  I saw Feruz standing there, staring at him with hatred but not getting out of the way, so I threw myself at her, tackling her to the ground. We lay there with me on top of her. She stared up at me and said, “One of yours.”

  “Him?”

  She nodded.

  “Dammit.” I turned to Navani and the others. “Take him alive!”

  The Marine didn’t seem to have the same idea, as he was already spraying bullets our way. We were ready for that, though, diving into a line as Navani threw up a shield, then another, then another, continuing as the first faded so that we were well-guarded. Sacrada wasn’t the type to sit back and cower, though, so she leaped up and her wings unfolded, carrying her up and over the shields.

  “Alive!” I repeated, almost too late as a solar flare shot out from her. She caught it, but it had been enough to cause the Marine to fall back, likely pissing himself. Since he was down, I figured I’d take my chances. Threed apparently had the same idea. We both charged out, replicas of each of us appearing and attacking, so that the Marine had a damn hard time keeping up with us.

  He caught my replica with a damn good hit to the jaw from his rifle—enough to make me grunt from the echo-effect of the pain. Threed caught him with a push kick and I moved in, hitting his arms and sending the rifle flying to clatter against the ground, spreading white fluff out in a way that revealed something moving out there.

  “Stay close to the hills!” Feruz shouted, moving to my left. “Over here!”

  All obliged, and Navani threw out a shield just as something lunged, nearly taking out the Marine.

  He turned her way, faceplate not allowing us to see how he felt about that, but then he charged her. The ungrateful prick managed to reach her thanks to thrusters and an exosuit, and landed a solid punch on her chest, just below the collar bone.

  That pissed me off, so my next strike came with a shield piercing effect that sent him stumbling back, followed by me slamming a fist into the ground and hitting him with a stun attack.

  I had him and slammed my fist down, hard—supported by an increased hype and all of my leveling up, my fist cracked his faceplate in half. I was about to strike again when I noticed the symbol on his shoulder, where the robe had fallen back.

  An Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.

  The symbol of the United States Marines.

  53

  Staring up at me in wonder from that cracked faceplate of the Marine was a man I knew all too well, and knew enough to also know I didn’t like him one bit. Still, he’d been a brother in arms, a fellow Marine, and seeing one of them out here like this brought me enough excitement to join him in an embrace when he sat up and hugged me, laughing. I was up then, pulling him with me and gesturing for the ladies to back down.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Threed asked, her replicas moving around back of him, in case this was some sort of rouse.

  “God DAMN it’s good to see you, boy,” Master Sergeant Cappernek said, looking me over and completely ignoring everyone else. “What the fuck do they have you wearing? This some sort of ballet shit?”

  I laughed, realizing that my tight-fitting superhero-looking outfit could almost be seen as a ballet leotard or whatever ballerinas wore, when compared to the bulky Marine Corps space armor he had on—the same armor I used to wear when I was still in.

  “I EASed,” I explained. “Went home, and then… long story short, ended up here. With—oh, damn, sorry.” I turned to my team and said, “Master Sergeant Cappernek, this is my team. Navani, Threed, Sakurai, Sacrada, and… Well, this is Feruz.”

  “Not part of his team,” Feruz said still crouched, still ready to attack. Then she cast a disparaging look over the Marine and said, “especially not if you’re with this piece of shit.”

  “We’re not,” I said, glancing over to see Cappernek eyeing her suspiciously. The rest of my team was looking at me, waiting, hesitant to know whether to trust my old MSgt. If they knew me as well as I thought they did, they were likely sensing my hesitation. “Not exactly together, that is,” I elaborated, “but that’s complicated.”

  “We shouldn’t be out here,” Cappernek said glancing about. “Not in broad daylight. Come on, we’ll regroup at my hideout and catch up. If you are all with him, you’re welcome… but not her.” He indicated Feruz, eyes darting to his rifle on the ground.

  I stepped into his line of sight, making my position quite clear. But in case he was still as dense as I remembered him being, I added, “For now, she’s with us.”

  “Prisoner?” he asked skeptically. “Or…” He winked, and I wanted to break his stupid nose, pretty sure I got the implication.

  “For now… a guide,” I said, and glanced back. She actually had a hint of a smile showing in her eyes at that, and gave a slight, barely noticeable nod.

  “Fuck it, it’s just me right now anyway,” Cappernek said, and went for his rifle. I didn’t move though, so he faced me, waiting, giving me that mad dog stare that used to mean something when I was a Sergeant in his command. He was a good foot shorter than me, I now remembered as I stared at him, and his right eye was always opened wider than the left.

  Finally, I said, “Let me get that for you.” I knelt, keeping track of him in my peripherals, and then stood, handing the gun over to him.

  He accepted it, motioned us to follow, and then about-faced and started walking, not even waiting to see if we were behind him.

  A glance at Navani and she nodded, so we went along. As we did, she came to my side while the sisters watched Feruz, and Threed with her replicas took the perimeter, in case there was more trouble.

  “What’s going on here?” Navani asked. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about as excited to see that guy as Feruz?”

  I grunted, not wanting to respond. After a few steps, I said, “Served with him for a tour on the fringe. Guy’s a Marine, but the type that gives other Marines a bad name.”

  “He can fight, that’s for sure,” she said, rubbing her chest. “A bit higher and he would’ve broken my collar bone.”

  “Oh, he’s a good Marine if you define one by their ability to kill and fight, sure. Blood makes the grass grow and all that shit. Semper Fi, do or die. But… that’s basically him—do or die, and by that I mean do every piece of pussy and throw himself into every battle he can find. Fucker doesn’t care if he’s screwing a Lance Corporal or a General, or a fucking General’s daughter, as long as it’s female.”

  “And never asks questions when it comes to orders,” Navani said, nodding along. “I get it.”

  “He lets his dick and his rifle do the thinking.”

  She chuckled, but then glanced back at Feruz before turning to me again. “So then… why are we going with him?”

  “He’s still a Marine. From my galaxy—you don’t think that’s odd? You don’t want to know what the hell an Earth Marine is doing on the planet we just used the Per-Neter to find?”

  “Actually, you’re one hundred percent right,” she said. “Maybe he’ll even have some insight on where to go next, and where the hell the Nihilists are this time around.”

  “So we’re going with him, just to be clear?”

  She nodded, and offered a smile when he turned back to us.

  “Today, twinkle toes,” Cappernek said. “As I said, don’t want to be caught out here, and especially not with that thing.” He indicated Feruz, earning him a snarl from her.

  “Give me a minute,” I said to Navani, and jogged up to Cappernek. He started walking then, picking up the pace, but glancing over.

  “What?” he said, the third time he looked. “Got something on your mind, I can tell.”

  “The cat people,” I said. “What’s their deal? What are we up against here?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her, then spat. “They weren’t the first, at least. The main enemy we went up against when we were first shipped out to this hellhole was worse, but we crushed them.” Her glared at Feruz. “Her kind… they’re simply the latest in the enemy’s never-ending supply of reinforcements.”

  “And what are we really up against out there?” I asked.

  “I can’t answer that.”

  “We found a graveyard out there,” Navani said, glancing up to the sky. “Was that…?”

  “That planet…” He nodded. “It was devastating. Enough to make us worry, to give us reason to—hey, no. No, not saying more.”

  “We can torture him,” Threed offered. “It would be my pleasure.”

  “I’m sure it would be,” I said. “But no. I’m not letting a fellow Marine get tortured, no matter how big of an ass he is.”

  He looked at me, seemed to consider, then said, “I can tell you more, but not out here. Follow me, and… cover her eyes.” The last part was directed at Feruz, and we had no choice but to oblige. Covering her eyes with her sash, we followed him over to the edge of a hill near a cliff, and then down through a well-concealed hole at the edge of a tree.

  Inside, we found ourselves at the edge of a cliff, a small fighter jet there, maybe large enough to fit half a dozen Marines. The cave was clearly carved out, likely from some advanced blaster tech, and was set up like a mini-armory. It had an automated turret that he turned off when we arrived, along with surveillance cameras to cover the immediate vicinity.

  “How I spotted you all,” Cappernek said, indicating one of the screens.

  “Didn’t see us fly in though?” Navani asked.

  He shook his head. “Either I wasn’t paying attention, or you have some sort of cloaking device…?”

  “Or both,” she said, going over to assess the weapons. “This is what Earthers are using nowadays?”

  “You’ve got something better?”

  “You’ve seen what we’ve got,” she replied.