“We’re going to miss you, Doc,” Rúna said, topping off her glass, “but I know you’re going to do great.”

The medic managed an embarrassed blush. “I’m going to miss all of you, too,” he answered, “but I need to do this. I know I can do good work with the Knights.”

“Well, they’re lucky to get you,” Becca smiled.

“Hear, hear,” Yendrick agreed, taking the bottle from Rúna and passing it over to Arthur. His injuries hadn’t affected his scrounging abilities in the slightest, and he had once again proven his worth by locating a few bottles of top shelf booze for Doc’s goodbye party.

“What made you decide to take the leap?” Arthur asked him. “You know, from one Expat to another.”

They all chuckled at that, while Doc simply shrugged. “These last few weeks… they made me realize just how little I knew about medicine. There’s so many I could have saved if I had just known how.” He stared into his glass for a moment, reliving some dark private moment. “The Knights can teach me that.”

The group looked around at one another; the conversation now silent. Finally, Rúna rose and lifted her glass. “To absent friends,” she said somberly.

The others stood as well and clinked glasses. “Absent friends,” they repeated, before tilting back their drinks.

The mood had taken a sudden turn, so Rúna looked over at Yendrick. “How’s the new leg working out?” she asked.

The PFC took a few tentative steps before making a slow turn. “Still getting the hang of it, but better than I thought it was going to be,” he admitted, rapping the metallic limb with his fist. “The stump still bothers me, but the Knight’s promised it’ll get better.”

“You keep up with the rehab, and I’m sure it will,” Doc agreed. “How long before they cut you loose?”

“A couple weeks,” he answered. “They just want to make sure there’re no complications.”

“I’ll be glad to get out of here myself,” Becca sighed, slumping back in her chair. “The hip’s all healed, though they warned me there could be issues down the road.”

“You might not want to be in such a hurry to leave St. Jean Baptiste,” Arthur warned her. “Things are… different down there now.”

“Different how?” she asked.

He shrugged. “More spit and polish. More rules and regulations. More everything, I guess.” The private shook his head. “It’s just not the same.”

Becca looked over at the corporal. “Is that true?”

“It’s to be expected,” Rúna explained. “Before it was just a temporary mission, then after that we were simply trying to stay alive. Now they’re building a permanent base, and not just for us Valkyries. The Legion and the Ixian’s are putting up their own garrisons, and you know the Corsairs will want something separate from us dumb grunts.” She grinned as they laughed, before growing serious once more. “With all the new races signing on with the Alliance and adding their own barracks, pretty soon there’ll be an actual city down there. Gotta have regs to keep the peace… and let’s not forget our landlords. Don’t want to piss them off.”

“Man, those freaking dragons scared the piss out of me, first time we saw them,” Yendrick reminisced.

“Me too,” Arthur agreed, “though I was mostly too seasick to notice.”

They chuckled once again, as Rúna fished a card out of her pocket and handed it over to Doc. “Here, when you get to where you’re going, look her up and mention my name. She’ll help you get settled in.”

Doc Svoboda read the name aloud. “Chevalier Troisième Blye Tagata.” He looked back up at Rúna. “I remember her.”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Hell of a doctor, with nerves of steel. She tells you something, you can take it to the bank.”

Doc tucked the card away. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to do that.”

“So what happens now?” Yendrick asked. “I mean, once I’m cleared for duty, what then? The 2/2 is freaking gone. There’s no way they’ll build it back up again, not with all the losses we took, and I don’t want to start over as a fucking cherry in another outfit. What the hell are we supposed to do?”

They all turned to look at Rúna, waiting for an answer. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about that,” she said carefully. “The commandant came up with an idea, and the colonel’s signed off on it. It’ll mean some adjustments, I’m not gonna lie, but it also comes with a few perks, the biggest one being we can stay together, and stay with the 2/2.” She smiled and took a sip of her drink. “Interested?”

“Hell yeah,” Becca answered, as the others nodded in agreement. “Count me in.”

“So what’s this big idea?” Arthur asked.

They all leaned in as Rúna explained. “So here’s the thing…”

“Move it, maggots, move,” Rúna shouted at the line of bodies struggling to get up the hill. “I swear to Terra, you shitbirds run like old people fuck! Get your goat-smelling asses up the goddamn hill!”

“You heard the sergeant!” Becca howled at the recruits as they redoubled their efforts, gasping and wheezing as they struggled to climb the ridge. Arthur and Yendrick brought up the rear, forcing them to keep up the pace, though Rúna noticed the lance corporal was favoring his artificial leg again.

Leading the column, the young sergeant crested the hill first, jogging in place as the others stumbled to the top. “Platoon, halt!” she ordered, as the last few stragglers finally made it. A few collapsed onto the ground, only to earn her wrath.

“Did I tell you to fucking fall out, you fucking maggots?” she screamed in their faces, the cords in her neck standing out as they staggered back to their feet. She left them standing there, the terror clear in their faces as she stalked the ranks like a panther searching for her next meal, before finally relenting. “At ease! Walk it off!” she told them in somewhat more normal tones as the group milled about, fighting to catch their breath.

The four DIs kept the group corralled so they didn’t wander, though a few of the more observant cast curious glances at the structure behind her. This was their first time on this run, so she wanted to make sure she had their full attention when she revealed its purpose.

“You are without a doubt the sorriest bunch of maggots it has ever been my displeasure to train,” she snarled at them. “You aren’t even maggots, no, that’s too good for you! I cannot believe how far my beloved Corps has fallen, that we’d even consider taking the likes of you!” A few of the recruits cringed, earning even more screams from Becca and the others as they chivvied them back into formation. Coming to a halt, she turned and faced the platoon.

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear, you will meet my standards, even if I have to kill every last one of you to do it.” Her hand casually went to the hilt of her sword, as much of the group swallowed nervously. They’d all heard the stories of Sergeant Aukes and her sword, how she’d slain a hundred Troika warriors with it and piled up their heads as trophies. Some said she still had them, and if you fucked up bad enough, she’d add yours to her collection. Of all the Drill Instructors stationed at Camp Draconis, her reputation by far was the most fearsome.

“Maybe someday I will consider allowing you to join my beloved Corps, but it sure as hell will not be today. You have not yet earned that right. And you still have a long way to go.”

She drew her sword and pointed it at the obelisk behind her, making the recruits flinch. “You maggots are standing on holy ground. From this point forward, every time we make this run, you will stop at the front of that monument and render it a proper salute. You will show it respect… or you will answer to me.” She glared at them once more. “Are there any questions?”

“NO DRILL INSTRUCTOR!” they screamed.

“By the numbers, then!” she shouted. “Right column, forward, march!”

The far-right column of recruits stepped forward in unison and approached the pillar, stopping to read its inscription before rendering a salute, then peeling off to make room for the next recruit and returning to their original formation. Becca sidled over to Rúna as they watched the parade.

“What do you think?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“They’re coming along,” the sergeant answered, giving her an almost imperceptible shrug. “I figure by next week we can start easing back on the screaming. Start building them back up.”

“Sounds good.” Becca glanced over to where Yendrick and Arthur were keeping a close watch. “Yendrick’s leg is acting up again.”

“Yeah, I saw that. I keep telling him not to be a damn hero,” Rúna sighed.

“You know how it is. He doesn’t want to let you down.”

“I know. I’ll talk to him about it.” She watched as the last of the recruits filed past the obelisk before the platoon stood in formation once more. As they watched, she turned and marched to the pillar of stone herself, gazing at the inscription before snapping the sword up in salute.

The crude placard had long since been replaced with polished stone native to this world, but the inscription was just as she remembered it:

CEMETERY RIDGE

Bought and paid for with Valkyrie blood

Semper Fi

Rúna brought her sword back down crisply, her mind calling back a moment in this same spot, so long ago. She could still smell the cordite, the stench of death… and felt a familiar hand caress her cheek.

I miss you, Kai, her mind whispered.

But as she turned to face the platoon, the Instructor mask was firmly in place.

“Corporal Sultan, I believe we need a little music,” she barked.

“You heard the sergeant!” Becca screamed as the platoon immediately began singing at the top of their lungs.

“From the Domes of Tycho City,

To the sands of Olympus Mons…”

THE END