They marched down the corridors, magnetic boots clamping to the ground with each step. TacLink’s flared as friendly and enemy icons winked out all over the station. The mercenary ship marines had taken close to 20% casualties while the Mistral crew had taken 10%. Exponentially higher than the average, even when compared to the bloodiest engagements that the Mistral had ever been in. Most of it had to do with the fact that they were fighting well-trained professional soldiers of an almost technologically equivalent race. The rest was the far larger scale of combat that was occurring in all corners of the station at any one time.

Oscar floated into one of the intersections, where two dozen marines from the Mistral and close to a hundred from the other crews were hunkered down in the bunker. No less than twenty large-caliber machine guns were mounted to the walls as well as eight multipurpose rocket and grenade launchers. A small field hospital was set up with an inertia generator hooked up to provide gravity. Fifteen or so marines lay in the crowded area, most of them missing limbs. In modern combat, it was rare for someone wounded to live long enough to require medical attention.

“Seems like a lot of the first line got overwhelmed early on.” Andrew noted, “I’m not sure how long we’ve got till they’re going to break through the line entirely.”

“We only need to hold out for four more hours, we’ll make a fighting withdrawal until we’re aboard the ship. After that, the Feds’ll swoop in and distract them long enough for us to get into warp and we’ll be on our merry way.”

“Hah, he makes it sound simple,” Malone said.

“It really is if you think about it.”

“Yeah? Tell that to Mark and Sam.” he shot.

“They knew the risks when they signed their contracts.” Andrew shot back, “It doesn’t make it hurt any less but it’s the truth.”

Oscar could hear the man audibly sniffle as they passed the first row of fortifications. Varus walked to the command center, nothing more than a large holodeck. Oscar and Andrew listened over the command network, one of the perks of being CC’s, “What’s it look like out there?”

Captain Bryce shook his head, “not good, we’ve called a general withdrawal to the second line more than an hour and a half earlier than we had planned for. The problem is, ET’s got way more troops than we bargained for. Also doesn't help that it seems like their shields are a lot more efficient than Intel told us they would be. At this rate, I’d say we’ll be pushed back all the way to the third line in less than two hours.”

“That’s worse than I thought.” the sergeant said nervously.

“Good news is that engineering is an hour ahead of schedule. The bad news is that we’re probably going to be overrun before then anyway.”

“If it doesn't matter then it’s not good news!” he hissed.

“Relax Ryan we’ve been through worse haven’t we?”

“Don’t remind me,” he shook his head, “god we have seen some fucked up shit.”

“Battle of Magellan station?”

“The one where they gassed the entire place with all the civvies still inside?”

“That’s the one.”

“I hope it’s the only one.”

“Hey, remem-” Oscar cut out of the channel, he had no interest in listening to old men reminisce about their time in the service. It was hard to imagine that there was a not so far off alternate reality where he hadn’t been kicked out of the ward. One where he had become a soldier.

Andrew sighed, leaning against one of the armored bulkheads, “Times like this make you wonder where your life went wrong don’t they?”

“The only thing in my life that went wrong was meeting you.”

“Oh, and not the time you met your sadist of a girlfriend?”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Maybe.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Oscar flattened himself against the deck as marines dropped around him like flies. A quarter of the hundred and eight troops holding the intersection were dead and the Dawlish were coming from all four directions. His eyes flicked down to his HUD where four more vital signs flatlined and flared red.

“Get your asses up and fire back!” Varus roared through his speakers. Their energy shields having overheated long ago, the sergeant took out enemy after enemy with his massive hand cannon. The ET’s quickly retreated around the corner giving the men enough time to build up the courage to peek over cover and shoot back. They sprayed the bulkheads, shredding the thin alloy.

Out of either desperation, anger, or frustration, a singular Dawei trooper leaned out from cover and fired a rocket right at the bunker. Less than a second later four rounds punched right through him and he floated backward. The rocket crossed a hundred or so feet in an instant, its propellant burning a white-hot tail. The instant it passed into the intersection, APS zapped it and the rocket went inert. It still hit with enough force to knock an armored man down. Andrew grunted in surprise as the ten-kilo projectile glanced off his helmet. He was only held down by his magnetic boots.

“Jesus! That better not happen more often or else we’re fucked.” Captain Bryce caught the fried rocket with one hand. “Those things only got a few more charges left.”

“How much longer do we have to hold this sector?”

“One more hour, then we high tail it out off here and back to the Mistral. Charlie checkpoint was hit especially hard and they’re falling back right n-”

A dozen flash grenades glided through the corridor and exploded, momentarily blinding the entire company. When Oscar’s vision returned, all four corridors were filled with smoke.

“They’re going to try and come out of the deck again,” Varus warned looking up. Oscar placed his rifle on his back, the magnetic locks clamping it in place. In such a closed environment, shooting high-caliber firearms would be just as dangerous to friendlies as it would be to the enemy. Pulling out a large, wicked-looking knife he floated a few feet off the ground in case they fired shape charges through the deck again. The sound of machine guns ripped through the relative silence, dispersing the smoke and catching the Dawlish by surprise. The front ranks were quickly slaughtered, but the corpses momentum carried down the corridors. Beams of plasma lanced out scorching defenses and marines alike.

Someone’s suit picked up the sound of magnetic charges sticking to the underside of the deck half a second before it exploded. Hot jets of superheated metal shot through the deck, killing several men instantly. A hand punched up, its seven fingers latching onto Oscar’s arm.

“Gah!” he chopped down at the hand, his knife glancing off. He felt its grip tighten and with inhuman force, yank him through the deck. Metal shredded the outer layer of his suit and he came headfirst into contact with a 5’4 tall Dawlish marine. Through its visor, he could see the surprise in its eyes. Then the panic as it realized that he was hurtling towards him. They slammed into each other, the ET’s mag-boots failing to keep him latched onto the station.

Together they hurtled away from the station with nothing slowing them down, all the while trying to gain the upper hand in their fight.

They fought like rabid animals, trying to beat the other senseless while still holding onto each other. Oscar’s knife had been lost in the first few moments of the bout as had the alien’s shotgun. It wrapped its legs around his hip, straddling him like a horse pounding on his helmet hoping to find its non-existent visor weak spot. His HUD flickered with each blow and the sound reverberated through his suit.

Oscar pulled his enemy into a massive bear hug, their helmets pressing together. The gears in his suit groaned as he squeezed and he watched its eyes bulge and its face turned orange. Blood vessels in its eyes popped, sending veins of orange running through them. In a last-ditch effort, it tore its arm free pulling the pin off of a grenade. It let out a baritone scream, bloodshot eyes wild with rage.

“Hurrgh, FUCK!” he swore trying to let go of the suicidal marine. It held on tight and Oscar made a split-second decision. The latches connecting his left arm to his shoulder unlocked as he kicked the Dawlish soldier. He went one direction while it went the exact opposite still holding onto a piece of his suit. Less than ten feet away it exploded, a mini star appearing in front of his eyes doing zero appreciable damage. He drifted towards the station when he felt the pain. His blood began to boil, his arm started to expand, and the radiation scorched all the exposed skin.

“SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!” he grabbed onto the hole where he had been ripped out of and quickly scrambled back inside. The pain was gone which was disconcerting, he looked down to see his entire arm was blue and twice its normal size. Thankfully the intersection was large and the hole in the deck wasn’t. It was still pressurized and Oscar’s arm quickly returned to normal. He gasped in pain as pins and needles went up and down his entire body. His suit injected him with painkillers and meds, numbing the arm again.

“Patch those fucking holes!” Bryce said, pointing at the deck. He looked up at Oscar, “You’re still alive greenie? That’s good, get to work.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tian Gong station. Station time is 1230 and the gravity is one Terra G. For your safety please remain in your cabins…” The automated announcement droned on. Li stood up and stretched, “Short trip eh?”

“Little over two days, I wouldn’t call that short,” Zeng grunted opening the luggage compartment.

“Remind me why we’re here again?” Zeng’s sister Ren Zhen asked.

“To get EVA and 0G training.”

She frowned, “but all three of us already have our licenses, why would we need training?”

“Because our professor told us we had to and we don’t ask questions to our superiors.” Zeng rolled his eyes, “it’s not like it’s that big of a deal, we didn’t pay for the trip and we don’t even need to take the exam at the end so just think of it as a short vacation before dad comes home.”

The cabin doors unlocked and Li shouldered his bag. They exited into a hallway and to the common room where they were met by several hundred other students. A supervisor waved for attention and the students quickly formed into ranks like they did every morning before classes.

“Students, follow your assigned professors. They will take you to the rooms where you will be staying for the week. School rules still apply while we are at Tian Gong, failure to meet the guidelines will result in suspension.” she said before softening her tone, “just please don’t do anything stupid here, I don’t need the extra paperwork.”

That last part got a chuckle from some of the students and she stood ramrod straight, “You are dismissed.”

As one the students responded, “Thank you, ma’am.”

The room broke out into organized chaos as Li’s file marched out of the shuttle and into the station. Immediately he was struck by how many people were dressed in military outfits. The hanger was a sea of white, grey, and blue camouflaged space suits. Massive troop transports docked and unloaded thousands of soldiers and robots.

“What is going on?” Zeng muttered staring at one of the patches on a soldier's arm., “that’s the 88th route army. What are they doing here?”

“They are here to conduct military drills.” Professor Gao Yong answered confidently, “we must show the Xenos that we are capable of defending ourselves.”

He was about to reply but cut off when he saw the stern look on her face. They walked through the hangar and to one of the many exits when they were stopped by a patrol of soldiers in powered armor.

A soldier in Shao Wei (roughly 2nd Lieutenant) strips stepped in front of them. His armor was sharp, angular, and geometric with blocks of ERA mounted to every flat surface. “Excuse me, ma’am, we ask that you return to your shuttle and remain there until we can send you planetside.”

“What why?”

“I can not disclose that information.”

“That is frustrating, we were not informed about this. Are we required to return to our shuttle?”

“You are not.”

“Then step aside, this trip takes months to plan and nearly nine hundred thousand credits. These students are required to at least complete the most basic requirements before they are allowed to graduate. I will not let some soldiers get in the way of their education.”

The soldier paused, turned around, and raised a hand to his helmet muting the outside world. He shook his head several times before asking, “And how old are these students?”

“16 to 17.”

“I see,” he paused for a moment, “very well have a nice trip.”

As they walked past, Li heard one of the soldiers mutters, “and they’re so young as well. Damn shame.”

They passed through dozens of corridors, most were more than a hundred meters wide, and intersections jam-packed with shops. Tens of thousands of people wandered around talking and buying from open vendors. Zeng pulled his sister in close and watched with a careful eye as they passed some of the dirtier parts of the station. The professor navigated through the “streets” and into a subway station.

The subway took them eighteen kilometers to one of the residential sectors. Nearly an hour had passed since they had first entered the station and they finally reached their hotel. Li flopped onto one of the couches in the lobby, earning a glare from the professor and a giggle from Ren Zhen.

Gao handed each of the students a card, “You are free for the afternoon, do not cause trouble, and do not stay out after curfew.”

The three of them entered their ‘room’. It was nothing more than a hallway with a bathroom at one end. Sleep capsules lined both walls, Li bent over opening his, “not a lot of space in here.”

Zeng turned to Li and Ren Zhen, “you know what this means?”

“I get more sleep?” Li asked hopefully.

He shook his head vehemently, “what no, it means we’re going exploring!”

“Explore later, sleep now.”

“I’ll sleep with you Li.”

“EH?!”