END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3 (17 page)

“I'll be OK in a minute. I just need to catch my breath.” Mopie said.

“I'm good” Jon told the Captain. “Mopie, its too bad we weren't keeping score. No one has ever fought me to a draw like that before. You should be awarded
another rank.” He told the male still lying on the floor beside him.

“As should you JonConnell.” Mopie agreed with a smile. “It will take more than one sparring match for me to advance in rank. I've already earned the gold.”

“Ah, that explains it then.” Jon agreed. “I am also braided with gold.” Jon said as he helped Mopie to his feet. “I'll wager our good Captain here didn't
know that. What say you Captain, care to take the ring with either of us?”

“No way am I going against either of you two today. Perhaps one day when I have achieved your skills. Your swordplay is far too advanced for me. Thank you
for agreeing to share your skills with us all here today.” the Captain said as he bowed deeply to the pair and backed out of the circle before turning to
leave.

Jon and Mopie faced each other and with their swords held at their sides, bowed deeply as the custom of their sport required, and then they turned together
in the direction of the storage room that held their armor and weapons. Each male strode out of the circle walking tall and straight as they crossed the
boundary together, it was custom for the victor to leave the circle first. By crossing the boundary together they were telling everyone that they both felt
the other male to be their equal. They then went straight into the storage locker.

Their display of mutual respect was not lost on some of the trainees. For others their bowing and their mumbled words about gold braids meant nothing. This
was just something to watch to help break up the boredom of a long FTL slip, a way to maybe win a few fast credits provided the right male won the fight,
not something to learn with honor. No one fought with swords in this day of long range plasma weapons. Today the best way to win was to hide behind cover
and drill a hole through the enemy's head from as far away as possible. Helios intended to do just that one day to Jon Connell. He was really getting tired
of watching that human freak win at everything. Soon enough that human would be the one to lose when Helios shot his freak ass during some battle in a way
that would make everyone would think it had come from the enemy.

As they changed in the storage room Mopie told Jon, “I am from Umbar. We are a race of Warriors. Our younglings are taught the sword from the time they are
five cycles old. Have you ever seen one of the ancient Dragon Swords? It is said that they produce the fire of the dragon's breath in the hands of the
right person.”

“I own one of those swords and it does produce a plasma blade that could be considered the dragon's breath. It comes from a carving of the head of a dragon on
the hilt where the blade starts.” Jon told him. “I've never used it in combat, but I sometimes carry it on special occasions.”

“I would very much like to see it one day.” Mopie told him with a smile. “After what you did today you should carry it all the time. You are an amazing
Warrior JonConnell. I am considered the best among my people. You would have bested me in actual combat. That is no easy feat. Back on my home world I
would be in your service for the rest of my life because you allowed me to live.”

“Well, it was just a sparring match to put on a show for the troops, right?” Jon explained. “Maybe we both pushed it too far. If one of us had not struck a
blow we would have fought each other until one of us collapsed.”

“That is true JonConnell. However you still fought with honor and bested the greatest Umbarian warrior alive today.” Mopie told him. “Under our law I am
forever in your debt. I shall request to be assigned as crew to whatever vessel you captain, even if that vessel is a rowing boat used on ponds for hunting
the monsters of the depths on my planet. It is done and shall ever be so.”

Jon shook the strong males hand, then grasped his forearm and held him for several seconds like that. “Mopie, I don't know what the Peacekeepers are going
to do with us, but I will be honored to have you at my side in whatever comes next for us both.”

“I must return to my section.” Mopie told Jon. “I'll hope to see you soon enough when we reach the camps. Farewell JonConnell. May all your battles be
victories.”

“We'll be meeting again Mopie. Victorious battles to you as well.” Jon answered the male using the time honored farewell of Master Swordsmen as they both
left the storage room and went back to their seats.

The rest of the trip was the usual boring experience of every long FTL slip. There was nothing to see through the view ports except the blur of the stars
as their ship traveled faster that the light from those stars could match. There was little activity other than the classes being given by the trainers
assigned to their transport. There were classes on navigation, weaponry, crew assignments and maximum loads limits. Most of this material was old news to
Jon, who had been flying FTL shuttles most of his life. He'd even piloted bigger ships between star systems. After all, the old Pluto from the BBITCo.
fleet was huge compared with a mere shuttle and he'd piloted that ship between Haven and Lexon II twice now.

Finally they arrived at the training camps and Jon was surprised when the transport descended into the atmosphere to touch down at what appeared to be a
major planetside spaceport. He'd never known that a ship of this size could be flown in the atmosphere of any planet. Store that information in the _You
don't yet know everything _ file for later use. Maybe those new carriers he'd had Wrenches buy could land on the surface too. Might make getting freight on
and off them a lot faster.

“Listen up people!” an Officer who had run into the ship as soon as the hatch opened and the boarding ramp lowered shouted. “When I call your name, you get
off and go to the first building straight ahead of you. Pilot Connell, Pilot Jarrieal, Navigator Pabki, Cargo Master Mopie, Cargo Specialist Jelio III.
Exit the transport and go straight into the building where you'll receive you first injection of nanoids and be fitted for your uniforms.” Jon and the
others hurried off the transport and hit the ground running to the open hanger of the building in front of them. The strong gravity of the planet hit
several of them by surprise and by the time they reached the hanger the entire group was covered in sweat as they gasped for breath.

As the group stumbled into the hanger, another officer who told them to remove their clothing and follow him greeted them. Jon and Mopie were both given a
case for their swords and told to hang onto them. Soon after they had all been fitted for new uniforms and shot with the nanoids the group was taken for a
meal. Part way through the meal another group of trainees arrived. These were not pilots nor were they even officers with one exception. Lt. Zeprik was
with them and he came straight over to sit with Jon. The rest of the male and female members of the group took seats surrounding the group that Jon had
come in with. They all were eating a meal and talking among themselves when an Officer entered and spoke with them.

“I see you all have met. Good. You will be training together from now on. Pilots and crew, get to know the grubs. Likewise, you grubs, get to know your
flight crews. You will be putting your lives in their hands. Its best that you learn to trust them now.” Letting his words sink in for several seconds the
officer continued, “We are going to begin after you've had morning meal. Flight crews will report to the simulators in the next hangar. Ground troops will
meet outside. Enjoy your meals troops. Mealtimes will be your only time to relax during the day and you'll progress here from daytime to nighttime
operations in just a few weeks. Once the team has started both day and night exercises you'll never know when you'll be called into action. Just like in
real combat.” Taking another pause to look over the team sitting in front of him he ended his speech, “You people have all been selected to form an elite
squad. It will be the first of its kind in the Peacekeepers. Ground troops, you'll be training under Captain Featree. He's a Libirian with no sense of
humor in him when it comes to training troops. So don't try any of the usual tricks on that male or you'll find yourself wearing out your arms doing push
ups and your legs running nonstop for hours after hours. This is a heavy world and the air is thin. Your muscles won't stand too much of the Captain's
discipline. Learn everything he has to teach you. As for the flight personnel, you'll meet your instructor in the next hangar. Good luck to you all.”
Turning, he went to speak with several other groups that all appeared to Jon to have only flight qualified people gathered together. None of the others had
the distinctive uniform of the ground troops except for the team of twenty men and women gathered with him.

“Well what do you know about that?” one of the grubs said, “We're extinct.”

“He said we was elite, not extinct you limp brained jawie.” another chimed in.

“Same thing.” retorted another. “They make you an elite anything and suddenly everything you do is off the records and if you die they never reclaim the
body to send home. So we're extinct.”

Jon quietly finished his meal before standing to return his tray to the kitchen. Jarrieal followed closely behind him and together they went to the next
hangar. “I wonder what they have in mind for us” he questioned.

“We'll find out soon enough I guess.” Jon replied as he opened the small door to let Jarriel enter before following him inside.

“Ah Lieutenants Connell and Jarriel. I'm glad to see you first. Lets get you fitted for your flight suits. Come with me please.”

That was the end of any kind of normal training. Once the whole crew was fitted they were assigned to a simulator and put through every kind of drill the
training corps could dream up. Twice during low-level slip insertion, Jarriel had slipped inside a mountain. Of course that rated an instant kill on the
entire team. Jon had gotten them blown out of the sky by hovering too long in one spot to make an insertion of the ground troops. Had he followed procedure
he would have killed the team leader, Lt. Zeprik whose release had not fully retracted and had him dangling below the belly of the shuttle. It was a no win
situation for both the Lt. and for Jon. However, blame for the incident fell on Lt. Jelico III who was responsible for checking the equipment before take
off. The troop releases weren't even on the pilot's preflight checklists. They spent their first two months of training in the simulator before they were
even allowed to see the real ship that would be their assigned shuttle for the remainder of the course. This period of close contact between the team had
developed a well rounded group. Jon was selected as primary pilot and overall mission commander. He received a promotion to Captain so that his rank would
match his duties. Jarriel became copilot and mission specialist. He would work closely with Lt. Zeprik to plan out and see to the execution of their
assignments. Pabki became their shipboard weapons specialist. This put him in charge of all of the team's weapons including those used by the grubs. The
male was a natural with any kind of weapon. He could examine one and tell exactly what it needed to fine tune it for total accuracy. The entire team was
mystified at his ability to take a brand new plasma rifle and tune it to fire straighter and farther than it was designed to shoot. Jelio III was a whiz at
handling the ground assault details and worked with both Jarriel and Zeprik to insure mission success. She also managed to pack more supplies into the
shuttle than anyone thought possible especially with twenty fully armored and armed assault troops sitting in their insertion seats.

When their six month training period was over, they had become a well oiled machine. Each of their assignments were handled perfectly even when they had to
improvise as the trainers purposely changed things on them part way through a mission. They did not have a graduation ceremony like the other trainees but
they did receive the coveted dragon patch to wear on the left shoulder of their uniforms in a private ceremony held in the battalion's mess along with
special headgear that distinguished them from all other troopers. They each got a two month leave. All of the flight crew received their flight wings that
they wore over the left breast of their tunics and on their dress white uniforms. These were not just the wings earned by all pilots and flight crews
throughout the fleet. These were the coveted Golden Dragon wings cut with a dragon in flight on them.

Jon invited all of the team to visit him at his home on Haven. Only Zeprik accepted because he said that he had business to take care of on Haven. He didn't tell the others, but there
was a Magistrate who needed to be removed from the court for accepting the bribe that landed Jon Connell in the Peacekeepers. Besides, he wanted to see the
home of the first
Jon Connell
for himself and he also wanted to introduce Jon to his sister.

The others all had friends and family they wanted to visit, as this might be their last chance to see them in a long time. Each of them already knew they were going out to the rim worlds and would not be back to the inner systems for a cycle or more. The Peacekeepers had decided it was time to rid the rim worlds of the pirates and special arrangements had been
made for Jon's team, along with three others that had received identical training, onboard a civilian ship. That ship would pick them all up at the Lexon
Orbiting Station at the end of their leaves.

Jon contacted BBITCo as soon as he was allowed and inquired about the new ships. The report had great news. Each one was performing above their expected
quotas while flying faster and on less fuel than anyone predicted. That's Phillie's work, Jon thought remembering the feisty little female Engineer he had
hired when no one else would give her a chance. He put through a request for Mercury to meet him at Lexon Station provided it had a cargo already loaded
for Haven, otherwise he'd take any of the new ships home. The response that Mercury would be waiting for him had him just a tad nervous on the slip back
from the training camp to the station. He wanted to see what his money had bought and he wanted to stand on her bridge. After all the Mercury was to be HIS
ship. Jarriel noticed Jon's jumpy state and asked about it only to be told by him, 'all will be revealed once we get to Lexon II Station'.