Only War Lasts Forever

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

The testing had taken nearly 3 days and today was the fourth day. Jaan felt absolutely exhausted, but ecstatic all the same. Initially, the testing had been very easy. There wasn’t a single question that Jaan couldn’t answer. As the hours wore on, however, the questions became more complex and the answers required more explanation. By the time the third day of testing had come around, large sections of the tests seemed to go right over Jaan’s head. He tried his best to answer everything and he left no work undone.

Jaan had speculated that more points would be deducted if the questions were left unanswered altogether, so instead he chose to give them his best shot even at the expense that he might be wrong.

Of course, Jaan couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was constant symbolism throughout the test, and that they were keeping track of not just his answers but also how and why he answered them the way he did.

Thanks to the last few months being surrounded by nothing but the HDGA, Jaan had learned quite a bit about his new masters. As it turned out, the HDGA was far more than just a branch of the Graaffikian military. In a way, the HDGA could be considered the oldest human empire in existence. Its history stretched all the way back to the beginnings of humanity’s efforts at space colonization. The Graaffikian empire had offered humanity aid over 10,000 years ago when human civilization threatened to collapse, and in turn the government which formed with the help of the Graaffiks swore loyalty to them.

Though it had many different names and had gone through numerous changes, the HDGA was essentially a descendant empire of that government. Apparently, they still held firm control of humanity’s birth planet, Earth.

Earth. Jaan remembered the stories his parents would tell him about that place. By contemporary standards, the majority of humans were not born on Earth and an even smaller amount ever got to see it. Jaan’s parents were no exception, but there was something about the stories they told that made it so easy for Jaan to picture himself as being there.

Apparently, every species had similar experiences. There were a few names for it, and a plethora of theories as to why it happened. Some claimed that all living things had a spiritual connection to their home planet. Others asserted that the place where a species evolved will always hold an almost mythical appeal in the minds of said species as that environment is the best suited to their genes, and imagining ones ideal environment was not a difficult feat because of that.

Whatever the case, Jaan could certainly picture Earth in his mind. He imagined the rolling hills of “grass,” the vast oceans, and the ever-diverse “forests of trees.” As a child, Jaan and Andi would climb around the house pretending that they were climbing Earth trees. Sometimes, the two of them would pretend to march through the scorching deserts, or they would huddle under piles of blankets pretending that they were waiting out a blizzard.

There was no mistaking the fact that Jaan loved Fondain IV and it’s mild climate, but there was always a feeling of mystique surrounding Earth. Then again, Jaan felt that perhaps if he had been born on Earth he might take it for granted as he did Fondain IV.

Jaan received a slight nudge from Helix that brought him back to reality. Reminding himself that this was the graduation ceremony, Jaan tightened and relaxed his muscles and blinked a few times to get himself to focus. He was standing in a formation somewhat similar to the one used the day when the testing began, except they were now slightly place apart from one another, and once again they were standing in their immaculate dress uniforms which had been re-pressed and cleaned after the testing was over.

The commanding officer of their compound had been giving a speech. She was aged woman who, despite her frail appearance, had a mind that she had proven was sharper than the many teeth of the Derathi beasts that skulked around out in Hell’s wilderness. In addition, she had what could be considered a wall of medals on her chest. Jaan sometimes wondered why someone as decorated as her had been relegated to the position of commander of a training facility, of which there were thousands, but he figured that perhaps having her here was a good thing. Not only had she seen quite a lot of combat, but she managed to come out of it alive and with honors. Having someone like that as the person in charge of developing the training methods for the facility made Jaan feel somewhat honored.

“…and believe me when I say I am proud to call all of you my subordinates. You have proven yourselves to be as tough as nails and have even gone through some things that even this haggard veteran would not have. From the bottom of my heart I am glad to say that I can now call each and every one of you my comrades.”

The commander made the gesture of wiping tears from her face, but Jaan didn’t see any tears. Indeed, Jaan had to fight to suppress a laugh at seeing such a display of emotion. If nothing else, over the past several months Lower Commander Marddith Halmer had shown herself to be a remorseless sadist, hell-bent on breaking anyone and everyone she could in terms of physical training. Though she rarely made an appearance directly out in the field, there were times when it was obvious whether a task was being given to the recruits directly from the instructors or if she was pulling the strings from a distance.

Nonetheless, the harsh training had done wonders for the recruits who had made it through. Jaan himself was in the best shape of his life, and he felt as if all of his senses had been honed to a fine point. Though he still wasn’t quite sure about how he felt about combat and killing, he did feel that he now stood a far better chance of getting through it alive than he did before.

After her display of emotion, the commander continue speaking for a while longer. Jaan secretly wished there were chairs, or that at least that they didn’t have to stand so rigidly for so long. It was undoubtedly a planned effort on the commander’s part to make the recruits stand stock-still for 3 hours straight.

Eventually, the speech came to its end. After mentioning one last time that she was proud to have served as their overseer, the commander stepped down from the podium. The ceremonial guardsmen who had been standing in front of the recruits but facing the stage turned about face with practiced unity and cohesion towards the crowd. The “Officer of the Guard”, as Jaan learned he was called, shouted a quick order and the men and women raised their weapons at an angle above the crowd. They fired several times, each time when the leading guardsmen shouted.

To Jaan’s understanding, this was an ancient tradition stemming back to before humans had ever even left Earth’s atmosphere and it’s use had been only slightly changed by the HDGA. To further cement the tradition’s age, the weapons used by the ceremonial guards were of a design that was somewhat recognizable—as the weapons used by contemporary soldiers were based around the same principle of ergonomics–but clearly very primitive all the same. Apparently, the weapon’s general design was the last stage of weaponry completely designed and built by humans. Most modern weapons were far more advanced, and even if a weapon had a human designer, large portions of the technology used either in the weapon itself or used in the weapon’s creation were designed by other species at some point in time.

The firing of the weapons ceased with one final shout of the leading guard. Without a word, the ceremonial guards lowered their weapons and promptly saluted the rows of recruits. The commander stood up on the podium and spoke one sentence,

“Ladies and gentlemen, comrades, welcome to the HDGA.”

Immediately cheers rose up from the crowd, and all sense of formality was lost. The formerly rigid and blank ceremonial guards became very friendly and talkative, the instructors lost all the aura of hostility they had carried with them for the last several months, and seeming out of nowhere half a dozen tables of food and drinks had been brought out.

Helix, who had managed to act as calmly as possible during the ceremony, suddenly burst into a bubbled frenzy.

“Jaan! Jaan! We’ve done it! We’ve climbed the mountain! Now, all that is left is the slay the dragon and rescue the fair damsel in distress!”

Jaan smiled widely. He used to think that he would never in a million years voluntarily see a military graduation, let alone be in one. But now all he could think about was how months of grueling training were now being rewarded. Swept up in the moment, Jaan decided to play along with Helix.

“Ah, but don’t you think we adventurers need a drink to quench our thirsts? Undoubtedly the coming battle will be long and hard.”

“By Jove, you’re right! Remain here, Jaan. I will fetch us some refreshments!”

With that, Helix began weaving his way through the crowd at an incredible speed, weaving and dancing around the obstacles in his way. It wasn’t long before Jaan lost sight of him. Not wanting to let his festive spirit go to waste, Jaan turned to the nearest group of recruits who appeared to be chatting and inserted himself into their conversation.

Placing himself into the circle of five, Jaan put both of his hands into the air and shouted, “We’ve done it!”

Responding to Jaan’s enthusiasm, the group, consisting of three women and two men, also shouted a unified, “We’ve done it!”

Of course, now that Jaan so abruptly had joined the conversation, he was at a loss for what to say next. The group also seemed to be struggling for words. To save face, he intended to turn around and start shouting towards another group, but before he could leave one of the male recruits, with an unsure tone, spoke up.

“So, um, you’re name’s Reeth, right?”

Jaan was a bit confused by the sudden change of tone, but he decided to keep with it until Helix came back.

“Yes, yes I am. Jaan Reeth.”

“Are you perhaps related to Andi Reeth?” One of the female soldiers chimed in.

“Ah, yeah. He’s my cousin. I consider him to be a more of a brother, though. Why do you ask?”

The first male soldier spoke up again, “He’s in our group. Larth here,” he gestured to the other male recruit, “said that he heard two Reeths being called the other day when the testing started, and he told us about it. He was actually just pointing you out to us. I’m sure you saw that Andi was leading our group, right?”

“Yeah, I saw that. It made me proud to see him not only figure it out, but also see him take charge. I hope he didn’t embarrass the family name too much.”

This time, Larth spoke before anyone else, “No, no. He brought much honor to your family. He was reckless, challenging a man much stronger and meaner than he, but he used his own strength to win his victory.”

The first female soldier ventured a question before Jaan could respond, “Wait, so, you knew that it was a test but you weren’t leading your group? Why not?”

“Because he is a man of humility!”

The entire group turned to see a male soldier and female soldier, with the male soldier carrying the female soldier on his shoulders.

“Helix!” Jaan exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“Indeed!” The female recruit did not seem pleased, “He won’t give me a straight answer, just some incoherent nonsense. What’s more, he won’t put me down! Make him put me down!”

Helix beamed with pride. He looked Jaan dead in the eye and said, “I took a shortcut. Instead of slaying the dragon, I decided to rescue the princess first!”

The female soldier on top promptly hit Helix on the head, to which he stated, “However, I’m questioning whether or not she is in fact a princess!”

It was then that Jaan noticed Helix was carrying two drinks. Helix pushed one of the drinks into Jaan’s hands.

“Cheers!”

Helix clinked his glass against Jaan’s glass and promptly downed the entire beverage. He then proceeded to set the cup down and started running through the crowd as fast as he could, in any direction he could. The female soldier on his shoulders was not pleased.

“What the hell?! Cretin! Wait until my uncle hears about this!”

After a moment of stunned silence Jaan burst into a fit of laughter. Following Helix’s example, Jaan attempted to drink his entire glass in one go. He could only manage to drink a little over half, though. He could only suppress his laughter for so long until he needed to breathe again.

If nothing else, Jaan was glad to see his friend enjoying himself. Remembering that he was interrupted mid-conversation, he turned back to the soldiers next to him. Their expressions were nothing short of confused, and Jaan decided to answers their unasked questions.

“That was Helix. He’s a good friend of mine. I’ll concede that he’s not exactly what you’d called normal, but he’s one of the few people I know who is completely trustworthy.”

Larth, who seemed to be something of a stoic, began nodding his head in understanding, “He, too, is a strong man, just like your cousin. You seem to have a gift for knowing strong men, Jaan.”

Jaan gave a slight smile, “Well, I don’t know about that. I guess I’ve just been lucky up until this point. I’ve never believed in what I can’t see, but I’ll admit that in this area it feels like my life has been guided by a higher power.”

Larth’s understanding nod deepened, “Helix was correct.”

Before Jaan could reply, the first female soldier intervened, “OK, yeah, yeah, enough about that. Getting back to our original topic. Jaan, why didn’t you step up? Frankly, I can’t think of any soldier here who isn’t regretting that it wasn’t them who did it.”

A small frown formed on Jaan’s face. At the time, he had his reasons, but now that he had had a change of heart he was wishing that he had not done what he did. How was he supposed to explain the whole situation? He wondered if he should tell the truth, and if so, how much.

Larth, however, had an answer of his own, “It is as Helix declared. Jaan is a man of humility.”

The female soldier shook her head, “Fine. I don’t really care, anyways. It’s none of my business how much you want to screw with your own life. And sorry, we know your name but you don’t know ours. You’ve already met Larth, and the guy next to him is Greer. These two girls are Yora and Ferto. And my name is Pohta. We’re pleased to meet you, Jaan.”

Jaan looked at each person as they were introduced. Larth was a tall, strongly built man with eyes that seemed to be both relaxed and piercing at the same time. Greer was smaller than Larth, but still taller than Jaan. Yora and Ferto had dark and light hair, respectively, and both seemed to be fairly small considering the months of rigorous training. Lastly, Pohta was about the same height as Jaan and had dirt colored hair. They appeared to be within the norm for human features.

“And I’m pleased to meet all of you.” Jaan quickly drank the rest of his drink. He could feel the alcohol begin to take effect. It wasn’t the same as the stuff Jeb served, but it was pleasant all the same. He gave the crowd around him a quick once over and spotted a female soldier whose waist was at the height of the crowd’s shoulders. She had an obvious look of disdain on her face, and she was making movements with her hands that implied she was hitting something. The sight turned more heads than just Jaan’s, but he laughed the hardest.

Jaan decided that he was going to try and rein Helix in. He didn’t know the female soldier, but obviously she didn’t have a sense of humor. Or maybe it was just the timing. Either way, Jaan decided it was a good reason to excuse himself from the conversation before it was brought up again as to why he came in the first place.

Waving his hand, Jaan started turning around towards the direction Helix was heading, “Hey, I’ve got to go help that poor woman. It was nice meeting you! Take care!”

The group waved back and said farewell in various ways as Jaan started weaving his way through the crowd. At some point Helix had stopped and Jaan quickened his pace. He managed to find a small break in the crowd and approached the swaying Helix and hysterical female soldier.

Helix was busy talking to two male soldiers when Jaan approached, but it was obviously that by this point he was somewhat inebriated and his excited speech was slurred. When Helix caught sight of Jaan, he started pointing at Jaan and then towards one of the male soldiers, his speech becoming so fast and intelligible he may as well have trade speaking by imitating engine noises.

Taking a cue from Helix’s hand gestures, Jaan looked at the two male soldiers. One of them as a man of smaller stature but with sharp features and a round hair cut. The other was Andi.

“Jaan!” Andi had caught sight of Jaan and figured out who he was before Jaan had done the same, “It’s so good to see you!”

Jaan and Andi both reached out and gave each other a hug. Andi had gained a lot since Jaan had last seen him up close. There was color in his face, he stood upright, and the rigorous physical exercise had given him a slightly larger frame. What was more, the smile on Andi’s face seemed to come from deep within, as if he’d finally found a purpose that made him happy.

“Andi, it’s so good to see you, too.”

Before Jaan could speak further, Andi turned to Helix and gestured. “Do you know him? Is he your friend? When I introduced myself to him he started babbling on about how he knew me and that he knew of you, too. Frankly, Plith and I were just trying to get him to put poor Jerissa down before he tripped and dropped her.”

Jaan chuckled. “Yes, I know him. He was my bunkmate on the ship. His name is Helix Trunt. Trust me, he’s mostly harmless, and the chances of him dropping her are slim to none, even though he’s been drinking. Still, I agree with you, he should put her down now. That’s why I came over.”

Jaan approached the ball of energy known as Helix. Helix by this point seemed to have calmed down enough to speak a few coherent sentences, “Oh, Jaan my friend, I am glad you have been reunited with your kin! This calls for a dance! Oh yes, yes.”

Just before could break out into a jig, Jaan put both of his hands on Helix’s arms. “Oh definitely, but don’t you think you should put down your passenger first? She seems quite tired.” With a wink of his eye, Jaan whispered, “And between you and me, you’re starting to act like the dragon that stole the princess, not the knight who rescued her!”

Indeed, the female soldier seemed to have lost all of her zeal and seemed to resign herself to the fate of riding around on the madman’s shoulders. Her eyes were glazed over and her shoulders were slumped. Jaan could hear her mumbling, “I should have never been forced to come here. Uncle is so mean.”

A look of horror spread across Helix’s face. “By Jove, you’re right, Jaan! I shan’t be known for such misdeeds. To be honest I’d forgotten she was even there. Everything got very hazy after the fourth drink and the fifteenth hit to the head.”

With as much grace as he could muster, Helix grabbed Jerissa by her thighs and swung her over his head so that she landed on her feet standing up. Jerissa, who was still in a daze, merely looked around at the group of men, finally stopping at Helix. Jaan saw Andi and Plit cringe as if they expected her to do something, but all she did was creep away slowly.

“I’m going to go away now.”

All four men watched the zombie shuffle through the crowd until she could no longer be seen. It was at that point that Andi and Plith began to laugh. Andi turned to Helix and started shaking his hand.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen Jerissa without a fire under her. You have my admiration.”

Helix was visibly disturbed by the idea that he had caused an innocent person to suffer, “Oh dear, but I did not mean to—“

“No, no,” Plith intervened, “you did a great thing. You were right, she is a princess, but she’s not the fair maiden you might have imagined her to be. She’s actually quite spoiled and pampered and only waiting for the effects of nepotism to kick in. You brought her down a peg. Thanks.”

Plith’s words immediately changed Helix’s expression. Instead of looking concerned and sheepish, he beamed with pride. Hands on his hips and legs spread far apart, Helix took his new commendation happily. “I am glad I could be of such service! Surely it was the tides of fate which brought such an event forth, for in doing so the long-lost brethren of times past have been reunited!”

Jaan looked skeptically at Helix, “I’m sure Andi and I would have met today regardless of what you did today. And we’re not ‘long-lost brethren’, we’re cousins who were together just a few months ago.”

Helix merely shook his head and smiled, “But now there is a great story behind it! ‘The valiant Sir Helix Trunt reunites the long-lost brethren by kidnapping the spoiled princess.’ They’ll tell the story to children as they fall asleep!”

Only able to laugh, Jaan decided to turn his attention to Andi. Plith and Helix had started talking about Helix’s story title, and Jaan decided that he would use this time to tell Andi about his change of heart.

“Jaan, look I want you to—“

“Andi, I have something I—“

Both Andi and Jaan stopped and looked at each other for a brief moment, then chuckled.

“Go ahead, Andi. You can speak first.”

“Alright then. Look, Jaan, I still remember why you came. I want you to know that I am very grateful for your concern, and I’ll admit that having you here in the same area made me feel a little better at times. However, I promise you I’ve changed. I’m not the person who left Fondain IV who was unable to take care of himself properly. I don’t need you to look out for me.”

Throughout the entire time Andi spoke, he never broke eye contact with Jaan. Jaan assumed it was Andi’s way of convincing Jaan without words that he had since gained an inner strength. It was true, as kids Andi often looked to the ground or away from people when talking to them, sometimes even with Jaan. But now he was able to give an unblinking gaze when conversing. Jaan had never truly noticed it before—or perhaps it was something new—but Andi had a look in his eye that said to Jaan he meant business.

Of course, Jaan was more than happy to hear his cousin bring it up, as Jaan wasn’t sure how he was going to do so. Now that the subject had been broached, Jaan could speak with impunity.

“Actually, Andi, I’m glad to hear you say that. I’ve been thinking since that time three days ago when I saw you leading the group. Well, really, I’d been thinking about it since the day I boarded that ship. Andi, I didn’t need to come here for you. Your decisions are your own, and even if you were to fail it should have been my job to provide a place for you to return to if you so desired it. But what really convinced me of it was seeing you leading your group, and when you dealt with the instructors afterwards. I’m absolutely sure that you don’t need me, and I’m not going to get in your way just to keep you safe.”

Andi smiled in a way that Jaan had never seen before. Perhaps it was Jaan’s words of confidence—the expressed confidence of a family member how up until recently had always doubted him—that caused him to look so content. But after a few moments of smiling, a look of concern crossed Andi’s face.

“But, Jaan, if you’re not here for me now, then what will you do? You’ve spent all of this time here, and they aren’t going to let you leave so easily.”

Jaan rested his hand on Andi’s shoulder and looked towards Helix and Plith. Helix by this point at started speaking speedy gibberish again, but Plith just stood and listened, nodding every once in a while as if he understood.

“That was another thing I wanted to run by you. You see, a part of me does still regret coming here. But, at the same time, I’ve decided that for better or worse this was my decision. Even if my reasons for making the decision are no longer there, I’m still going to push forward and make the best of this. I doubt I’ll make a career out of being here, but I’m going to let the chips fall where they may. For now, I’m just going to do what they ask of me to the best of my ability.”

Andi gave a small smile and nodded, “I understand. But you know, this means you and I are going to be competing now.”

Jaan winked at Andi and elbowed him in the chest, “And just like when we were kids, I’m not going to lose!”