Chapter 1

UCDF Say My Name
Planet Ares >>IN TRANSIT<<
Ships Bridge 2045 HRS
March 1^st 2436

It was one of the few happy surprises that Captain Robinson had seen in this war.

“300 marines. Damn, I know it’s still good so many made it out, but still it will never outweigh the KIA’s that are still coming in from the beginning of the war.”

            She never could wrap her head around the sheer number of people that died under her command. Most captains by now became numb to that fact; Robinson however was a different story. Every time she got the Killed in Action/Missing in Action report she had to force herself to read it in fear her childhood friend Lieutenant William Jackson was on that list.

“You do know that you still need to do your psych eval.” Chloe said.

“I know I’ll get to it when I see everyone else’s.”

“By everyone else’s you mean Lieutenant Jacksons,” Chloe responded as her avatar, a small girl about eight years old, materialized on the holodesk in front of Robinson.

“You can’t keep watching over him like that, Kate eventually something will happen to him and we’ll end up with two casualties instead of just the one.”

“How dare you say that? I’ve always had his back and he’s always had mine. I cannot abandon him now, especially with what’s happened this past month.” She yelled slamming her fist on the broken holodesk, shattering it further.

“I’m sorry captain.”

“Your fine Chloe, it’s just been a long couple of years and I still haven’t actually read the report yet so I’m still nervous about finding his name.”

            Sitting back she tapped open the file and began reading. With every passing name Robinson let out a sigh of relief only to catch herself holding her breath as she read the next name. As the list got smaller and smaller her heart rate went faster and faster. To her relief her beloved childhood friend was not on the casualty list.

What would I have done if he was on the list? I don’t think I can imagine not being able to talk to him; I just hope that when he goes I’m with him.

           

UCDF Say My Name

Drop Team 3 Squad bay

March 1^st 2436

2115 HRS

 

 

Lieutenant Jacksons’ after action ritual was to take some piece of the kits of fallen ODMs under his command. He stopped by every cage of the fallen and grabbed a piece of their kit and added it to his. The only original pieces were his two rifles, the MR6 assault rifle and the MR50 sniper rifle, but even then parts on those rifles were from other kits. It was his way of remembering those lost brothers. Every marine, green or seasoned, was part of the brotherhood that is Drop Team 3. A lot of the people currently on DT3 were experienced vets save for a few, but most of them had been lost on Frio a week earlier. It took Jackson some time to wrap his head around how many they lost that day; they had gone from a team of about 50 ODMs to seven. As he sat in silence remembering those lost, Chloe’s avatar materialized on the holodesk in the squad bay. She sat there in silence letting Jackson have his moment.

“Lieutenant?” she calmly interjected.

The sudden noise made Jackson jump from the chair he had been sitting in.

“Damn Chloe! You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days!” he said walking over to the holodesk.

“I’m sorry,” she said laughing, “but the captain needs you on the bridge ASAP.”

“I’ll be up in a sec.”

“You might want to clean yourself up a little bit before you do.” She said crossing her arms still chuckling.

“I know how to take care of myself Chlo.” He responded walking towards the showers.

“Of course you do.” She said laughing as her avatar dematerialized.

            Her voice always had this calming effect on Jackson, although he could never quite figure out why.  His latest theory was it reminded him of a time before the war. Having at least a fragment of her on his drops always kept his mind at ease and helped him make the tough decisions. A bond had been forming between them since she was put into service 3 years ago; it was a bond that had been forged in the fires of war. The only other person he shared that bond with was Captain Kate Robinson; the two had been inseparable as children and even in the chaos of the war they managed to always stick together.

            Having Chloe with him on certain drops kept the survivors guilt away, when she integrated with his mind she gained access to his deepest thoughts. He always guessed that she screwed around with stuff like that when they were linked. The metallic rush that surged through his mind at first was a discomfort but later it became a feeling of calmness that swept over him every time the two integrated. His thoughts became hers and hers became his. It was extremely rare for anyone to be paired with an AI at all, UCDF or otherwise. Jackson had been the first and the last, the UCDF-DSD decided it was too much money to have the AI port be grafted into the hosts mind. How he had been selected he never would figure out.

 

            His watch read 2147. He was already late by his standards. The ships’ battle worn hull didn’t help much either. Half of his usual route to the bridge was blocked due to a hull breach in the corridors following most hatches. He guessed at least 4 of the decks between him and the bridge had been vented due to a breach. By the time he actually reached the bridge it was 2210; he’d spent over 30 min walking around the labyrinth they call a ship.

“Glad to see you were able to find your way around, Lieutenant.” Chloe said as her avatar materialized one of the two working holodesks.

“No thanks to you.”

“I thought about it but I decided to see when you’d call and ask for directions.” She said with a laugh.

           

Captain Robinson was standing next to the holodesk flipping through reports of the attack on Frio and the latest Intel on the planet suspected to be hit next. When Jackson walked in she quickly dismissed the files. She didn’t want him to have the stress of knowing when more of his men would fall at the hands of the Prometheans. That was her burden to bear. Listening to Jackson and Chloe talk always sent chills down her spine. She never trusted the AI completely simply because of her being artificial. She never could wrap her head around how he was able to trust the AI with so much of himself. Hell, when she recommended him for the grafting she thought 100 percent that he’d decline, but she should’ve known his pride would get in the way. Why they’d decided to let her pick was a question she didn’t want answered, what she did want answered was why in the hell the UCDF wanted to experiment with that in the first place. Hadn’t they learned their lesson from the Roscoe Incident?

“So what can I do for you Cap?” Jackson said stepping over some rubble to where she was standing.

“Just wanted to check up on you. I know you lost a lot of men at the generator station. And I wanted to say I’m sorry for making you hold it for so long with no cover.” She said in a near whisper. When his body tensed up she knew she hit a nerve that was probably best untouched but she had to say it. If she didn’t she would’ve lost it. The whole incident could have been avoided if she had just pulled out when the rest of Task Force Atlas had pulled out, but this time there was no one else to blame but herself and she knew it.

“I’m fine. I probably should be the one asking you that.”

“I’m good, I just need to get to Ares for some shore leave and visit with old friends, if they are still around that is. But you need to see this.” She said motioning him over to the holodesk.

“What exactly am I looking at?”

Chloe’s avatar appeared next to them as she said: “That my friend is an abandoned Promethean ship.”

Author's Note

Same thing as the prologue just let me know what you think.