08:26 Sub-Basement Two, Hangar XL23-A

“Hey assholes, hold the fuck up,” John shouted.

The twins were halfway through the hangar and turned around slowly. John was casually walking into the hangar. In his left hand hung Lisa’s forearm.

“Missing something?” John smirked inside his helmet.

The twins were not good people. Strictly speaking, neither was John. All three were cold-blooded murderers through and through. But the casual disregard John was showing the twins was beyond anything the twins were normally used to seeing. John had flipped the tables on them, he was doing to them, what they had done to so many others.

John held the arm in front of himself. Then, using his telekinesis he began to excite the very atoms and molecules that made up the bones, muscles, combat suit fragments, and armor plates. This was an incredibly taxing thing to do, but the suit's amplifier reduced much of the stress.

The remnants of her arm burst into flame. The metallic bits began melting and splashing onto the floor. John walked silently toward the twins.

“This ends now, your lives are forfeit.”

Lisa raised her left arm and fired the weapon. It fired a wave of psychic energy that passed through John. He felt sick to his stomach but pushed forward and ran towards the twins. Lisa and Lex both attacked John, but he was able to dodge both of their attacks.

Lisa took a step in front of Lex but was too slow and took John’s punch. It landed on the breastplate near the pauldron. It knocked her off balance and sent her flying backward. Lex countered by focusing an attack on John’s head. He fell back as he shot the flaming arrow at John.

John was too slow to dodge the attack completely, so the arrow grazed the side of the helmet, but it dug deep into it. John ripped his helmet off and threw it on the ground. The sight of his face shocked the twins.

John spat on the ground and noticed that it was very bloody. He didn’t know the full extent, but the twins saw the damage though. John’s face was a bloody mess. His ears had been bleeding, along with a bloody nose and from his eye sockets too.

Fifty feet behind the twins the exterior door opened, and reinforcements were running in. The twins saw that and launched a pitiful attack at John while they ran toward their way off this planet. He easily dodged to the left, but as he balanced himself John grabbed the battle rifle and leveled it at the reinforcements.

He depressed the trigger launched a three-round burst art the reinforcements. The first six of them just ran by the twins. The reactive mass rounds punched baseball-sized holes into armor and flesh. Rending the attackers as they ran forward to their death. With the initial reinforcements dealt with, John was able to change his focus to his original targets.

John took aim at the twins and fired. Lisa had predicted this and created a wall of ice. The first two rounds shattered the ice, the third round flew through the ice and flew above Lex’s head and through the transport that was waiting impatiently on the docking pad.

John flicked the switch to fully automatic fire and depressed the trigger. Lisa jumped onto the transport and turned around. But in her focus to get onto the transport she was ill-prepared to help Lex.

“DIE YOU BASTARD!” John shouted as the gun continued to fire.

The first round struck Lex in over his left oblique muscle. The armor plate and combat suit were annihilated, but only the top few layers of skin were destroyed. The second round struck him just under his bottom rib. The third round flew over Lex’s left and very nearly struck Lisa as she turned around.

John was compensating for muzzle lift as he fired the rounds. Subsequently, the fourth round doomed Lex. It struck exactly in the same place as the first round. The round annihilated a fist-size chunk of sinew. This caused copious amounts of bleeding and stunned him. Lex also slowed his running down and began drifting into the line of fire.

The next several rounds struck various points of his back. The rounds were destroying the combat suit and armor plates and where none was anymore, they were exploding chunks of bone, flesh, and fat. By the time John stopped firing Lex’s torso fell over, completely separated from his legs.

Lisa was screaming at the site on the transport. The psychic backlash from Lex’s death attacked Lisa in a way she had never experienced before or would ever again. The pain of the attack had caused her to be knocked out. Lisa’s eyes pulled back in their sockets, her nose was bloody, and she was convulsing on the floor of the transport. The transport pilot ordered the doors closed and powered the engines up to fly away.

John could feel his body slow down, his supply of adrenaline was drying up. He had achieved and even surpassed his physical limits. But that was costing him dearly. John limped towards Lex. It took longer than expected to traverse the distance. When John arrived at him, he aimed the battle rifle at his forehead and pressed the trigger when he got to his enemy. Two rounds came out. Lex’s head exploded when the rounds struck. Blood, bone, and brain matter splattered the ground and John’s shin plates.

“Good fucking riddance,” John said as he walked over to the metal container.

John unsheathed his knife and jammed it into the side of the container. Aircraft fuel began leaking on the floor. John walked toward the door, turned around, and fired another round igniting it. He dropped the rifle and continued to limp toward the transport pad.

John didn’t really care about the source, but he was acutely aware that he was seriously injured. Whether that was from the suit running at max power for nearly two hours or the weapon Lisa fire at him was up for debate. What’s more, is that John couldn’t hear any voices anymore, John was experiencing silence for the first time in his life. He got to the wall and pressed the coms button. His eyesight was failing him, and he could feel his consciousness failing him.

“Help… me…” John said as he fell onto the ground.

16:50 Stealth Corvette MUS Vagabond

“Keep Lisa sedated. Prep her for surgery. We need to fix her arm.” Agent Voss said to the medical personal.

One of the doctors was looking at the scans, “The stump was cauterized, where is Lex?”

Agent Voss shook his head.

“Oh,” the doctor said, “Ooooh. Damn. My team and I will get to work on this immediately.”

The doctor turned to his team, and he ordered several scans of Lisa. He and another surgeon began looking at detailed scans on the computer screen and began planning how they were going to begin the surgery and being able to create a new forearm on her.

Agent Voss left the medical room and headed up to the bridge. He waited for the captain of the ship to give some orders. When they were done, he walked forward.

“Captain, a moment.”

The captain spun his seat around, “That was a fucking mess of a mission. All the drones are dead along with a high-value operative, and the other operative was seriously wounded.”

“I’m not looking forward to contacting him, but can you confirm once again that there was no intelligence on the Confederate Navy saving the princess or delivering her to Manchester?”

“I’ve had all my officers working on that since y’all went planetside. Absolutely nothing on our end. The mission ran into the literal worst-case scenario.”

“Thanks, can you please ask the coms officer to contact home base, I will be in the conference room to contact Dr. Norman.”

“Will do, and good luck Agent Voss,” the captain spun his chair around and pointed at his coms officer who had overheard the whole conversation.

Agent Voss turned around and walked along the walkway to the small conference room on the port side of the ship. He walked in and sat down in a chair. He took a deep breath, muttered something under his breath. Then click on the green button to connect to the open communication line to their home base.

“Agent Voss, good to see you. Is the royal family under our influence now?” Dr. Norman said, he was not paying any attention to Agent Voss.

“No sir. In fact, I have dire news to report. The mission has ended and was an unmitigated failure. Our faux pirate attack was thwarted by a Confederate Navy vessel assigned to the academy. We weren’t made aware of this fact until well after the attack on the palace was underway. By the time we were able to reestablish contact with the operatives a counterattack against them had already begun.”

Dr. Norman spun on his chair and was entirely focused on Agent Voss, “What were our losses?”

“All of the husks, the confederate dissidents that we mind-wiped are dead. Analysis of their performance was underwhelming, to say the least. Lisa lost an arm and was knocked out due to shock. She is sedated and in surgery now. We expect to have her beginning physical therapy before we arrive home.”

Dr. Norman interrupted Agent Voss, “Things could be worse then. Please have Lex come in, I need to chat with him.”

“About that sir, Lex was killed by someone from the enemy ship. The cadets were commanding the frigate that saved the princess and returned her to Manchester.”

Dr. Norman slammed his fist into the table, “WHO DID THIS?”, Norman shouted but then he regained his composure, “Did you recover his body?”

“No sir, the cadet was using reactive mass rounds, several rounds struck our transport. He also killed all of the troops that ran to help the operatives. We had to abandon Lex. We are running his likeness through our database.”

“Show me it now.”

“Yes sir, give me a moment,” Agent Voss pressed a few buttons on his digital keyboard and transmitted the clearest picture to him.

Dr. Norman received the picture, then had a thousand-yard stare on his face. He nodded a moment later and closed the channel. The ending of the conversation was very unnerving for the agent.

So unnerved was Agent Voss that he had resolved himself to get on another ship as soon as it was possible. He was already working on an official transfer request to be transferred anywhere else in the union besides where he was now.

Agent Voss left the conference room and headed back to the bridge. He asked the captain to take a short detour once they returned to friendly space. His final report would be delivered via the extra-net. Nothing, not even an act of God, was going to cause him to return to the house of horrors that he had been assigned to.

Four Days Later. 13:45 New Brighton Militia Hospital

John was on a hospital bed, sleeping soundly. He had been placed in a medically induced coma immediately upon admittance to the hospital. The doctors were shocked at the amount of neural and soft tissue damage that was dealt to John. What shocked them, even more, was how aggressive his body and mind appeared to be at fixing the damage.

“We’re going to wake him up.” Doctor Amundson said, “Hopefully he is his old self, but I need to stress this young lady, I have never seen anyone recover completely from similar damage he has suffered.”

“I suspect you’re in for a surprise. He has a tendency to do that,” Alice said confidently.

The doctor smiled, optimism in a situation like this was useful, though sometimes it could be a double-edged sword. In any case, he walked over to the IV drip and switched the bag to one without the coma-inducing drugs.

This was a process that should take several hours to see a reaction. Twenty minutes later it was clear he was coming too. Then he surprised everyone in the room.

“Thirsty,” John groaned.

“Here you go son, how are you?” the doctor asked.

“Can’t hear any voices, really sore, and I really need to take a shit,” John pushed himself to sit upright.

“Can’t hear voices?”

“Yeah, nothing at all,” John pulled the IV out of his left arm.

The doctor was about to do something when Alice entered the conversation, “He’s a telepath.”

“Appears I was one,” John hopped off the bed, but his legs failed him, and he fell flat on his face, “fuck me, legs aren’t working.”

The doctor didn’t have time to say anything. He and a male nurse helped John to his feet. John shook his legs a bit and was able to maintain his balance. He walked into the bathroom and began taking that shit he was talking about.

Eventually, John came out of the bathroom and the doctor, and he discussed things. He was going to discharge him to head back to the palace, but he’d be on minimal duty for the foreseeable future until his ship’s doctor could see the damage to his body was healed. He told John that it might be several months, accounting for his enhanced rate of healing, before he was fully healed.

After they were discharged a junior officer drove them back to the Palace to reunite with their crew. An audience with the royal family was also in their future. John just wanted to get back to the ship and to get the hell away from this god-awful planet. Now he had to deal with the royals and hopefully prevent Alice from making a scene.

15:00 Royal Palace – Crown Room

The crew was wearing their dress uniforms. John stood out, both by looking ragged as hell and for wearing a standard camo duty uniform. The crew was arranged in front of the royal family in four rows. In front of the four rows were the three academy advisors and John’s command staff. Also in the hall were members of the planet’s aristocracy and other dignitaries from the planet, the system commander of the Confederate Navy was also there. He was looking for too pompous for his own good John opined. Hundreds of local and foreign members of the press.

“While some members of your crew’s initial actions were belligerent, bordering on the unlawful, without your help this palace would have assuredly fallen to the attack. Without your assistance, we wouldn’t be here today. You have my eternal thanks. Each and every one of you, whether enlisted, officer, or cadet will be honored with honorary knighthoods and damehoods,” the King smiled and paused as the gathered crowd clapped, “You will also be receiving the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action against our enemies.”

John wasn’t feeling the greatest. This awards ceremony was lasting longer than expected. He could feel himself get worse and worse as it dragged one. John desperately wanted to sit down.

“You look like shit,” Andern whispered.

“You’re not helping,” John responded.

“You gonna puke?” Kevin asked from his right.

John shook his head. He wasn’t feeling well enough to deal with their bullshit right now. But he began feeling lightheaded. John grabbed Senior Chief Stroll’s shoulder to right himself.

“Jesus Christ, you look like hell sir,” Stroll said, surprised at John’s condition.

“Damnit not you too.”

The king had noticed the commotion, stood up, and walked down from his throne.

“It appears there is one last thing to take care of. My daughter had indicated that she chose you for her husband.”

“A request that both myself and my wife opted to decline. Politely and forcefully, I may add.”

The king continued to walk toward John and then stopped in front of him, “Nonsense, while your manner of speech and general decorum needs some work to it, you are indeed worthy of taking her hand in marriage.”

“My answer is no. Ignoring the fact that I’m married already, there is nothing you have to offer to make me want that.”

“I am not a man that takes no for an answer.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything sir,” John said with an impish grin.

“Need I remind you that by turning this honor down it reflects poorly on the Navy.”

John shook his head and was about to say something. But then he felt it deep in his gut. He was going to puke. Normally this wasn’t something to look forward to, but at the moment, this was exactly the action necessary to end this absurd discussion.

John got pale and proceeded to projectile vomit onto the king. He then lazily fell over to his right and slammed onto the floor. Had John still been conscious before he hit the ground, he would have recorded a mental note. In the future, perhaps avoid attending anything important so quickly after being brought out of an induced coma or from staying in a hospital overnight or longer.

The gathered dignitaries and other important people were horrified. The crew was shocked too, though they weren’t aware of the extent of the injuries or what had been going on with John in the hospital. Andern, naturally, was the first to laugh quietly at the situation. That act instigated much giggling from the rest of the crew.

19:00 Royal Palace – Clinic Room 2A

“It wasn’t anything malicious your highness. The cadet was and still is suffering from withdrawal from the drugs used to put him into a coma, coupled with insufficient food and drink. He should not have been at that ceremony in the first place,” the palace doctor said, “That he was even present, and stood for as long as he did was nothing short of a miracle or a sign of someone who is aggressively stubborn.”

John was waking up on the table, “Fuck me. I want to get back to my ship and sleep.”

“You’re not leaving this room until tomorrow. That IV is staying put, you desperately need the fluids,” the doctor said, “I’ll have a nurse bring up some food at the top of the hour.”

“And you’re apologizing to me,” the King said sternly.

“My bad for puking on you,” John said with no sincerity in the words.

“And you will be marrying my daughter.”

“No, I won’t be.”

“Leave us now.”

The doctor and nurse left the room hesitantly. The king was shooting them looks that clearly indicated that their presence was no longer necessary to the conversation at hand. He was in no mood to listen to any complaints.

“Now you listen to me…”

John slowly turned his head to look at the king, “Look, I’ve killed men for less offensive things than that your highness. I’m not a good man, and I certainly am not above putting you and your family down. And I can do it without being caught. I’ve given you my answer, respect it.”

“You dare threaten me? Do you know what I could do to you?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing, in fact. Trying to do anything would cause the parliament here, which is silently hostile to you and publicly barely tolerates your position these days, to openly revolt against you. Your best-case scenario as a result of a power struggle with your government here would be relegation similar to the British royal family back on Earth.”

The king was stunned into silence.

“I don’t care what was said behind closed doors here and I’m certainly not one to spread rumors. I’ve got another baggage and other bullshit to deal with as it is. Leave with whatever dignity you may have and accept my answer. I’m not interested in the politics of this world or your daughter. I’m very happy with my life and my wife. Nothing will get in the way of that. Use my puking on you as one more piece of evidence that I’m low born and too uncouth and maybe not even good enough for your daughter or some other bullshit excuse you come up with. I don’t really give a damn one way or the other about what excuse you come up about me.”

John leaned back on the bed and pulled the sheets up. The king left the room but took the last bit of their brief conversation to heart. John, despite his belligerence, gave the king an out to rebuild the family’s image and direct his daughter to other suitors that would better help the family’s image.

As for John, he was sound asleep moments after the king had left. The nurse and doctor entered the room and ran some scans of John but left him alone in the room. They reviewed the scans and agreed that he’d likely be ready to leave for the ship in the morning.

09:45 Orbital Transport Ship York

“Are you going to get sick on me?” Andern asked.

“You’re sitting behind me. Alice is more likely to get puked on.”

“Not gonna lie, that was fucking hilarious when you puked on the king,” Nathan said.

“I’m not really going to sit here and say that puking or farting is necessarily my style of humor,” Thomas said.

“But what he’s actually trying to say is that was quite funny,” Brian finished the comment for the pair.

“I hope the royalty rots and fucking dies,” Alice said, “the fucking nerve of that woman to hit on my husband. Oh my god. You are not stopping me from knocking that bitch out if she ever comes across my way.”

“Honestly honey, if she’s stupid enough to come after you or me, she deserves whatever comes her way,” John said as he smiled, “Sooner we get away from this fucking world the better.”

“So, what’s the word on you?” Kevin asked, “Back to normal?”

John started to laugh quietly, “Yeah about that, you and Sato are switching shifts, and you get the bridge three hours a shift for the next week to two weeks. Probably at least two weeks.”

“Shut the fuck up. That’s not funny,” Kevin was not impressed.

“Doctor’s orders. On the plus side, I should be done with classes in two weeks. it’s not like I won’t be doing anything.”

“You’re my least favorite person right now.

“They also nailed me with some psychic weapon. Can’t hear any voices anymore.”

“Oof, that permanent or temporary?” Theresa asked.

“Appears to be the former. Not too worried one way or the other. Out of my control now,” John said nonplussed as he shrugged his shoulders.

The transport vessel escaped the atmosphere and was heading to rendezvous with the station. Soon the cadets would be back on the Marcinko. Once they would John was going to make sure they were out of the system as quickly as possible. This was a chapter John wanted closed and over with.