Space Odyssey: Spectre

"Congrats Cadets on your first successful operation." The Sergeant called out as the five Cadets were lined up. His Privates and Corporal were moving around the perimeter keeping a watch. It had been two weeks since the Desert Dogs deployed to the planet. It had also been two weeks since they deployed.

Meaning two weeks were considered a full operation. Now he was guessing they were heading back to the ship. Only reason he knew was because he could pick up an Osprey entering the atmosphere from their ship that was in orbit.

"Now that may make you believe that means you are good and hot stuff. But it does not. We will go back to the ship for a week's rest before returning to the surface for an additional two weeks. That does not mean it is a vacation, you will make yourself useful or busy. Whether that is training or tinkering you will not be caught doing nothing." He declared loudly.

Steel standing in a salute when the Sergeant finally nodded in satisfaction. "Good, be prepared to leave but keep in mind we are still standing guard until we are aboard that transport. Dismissed Cadets!"

Steel relaxed and moved away, opting to walk along the edge of the base to see if he could spot any movement. As he walked along the edge he listened as the transport came in, doing a slow glide stop and hover before it landed. Then he heard the Sergeant call out.

"Desert Dogs, we are leaving this rock! Form up and load onto the Osprey!" The yell was booming, and Steel would be worried if the planet wasn't basically devoid of all life.

He quickly jogged over to the landing zone passing several soldiers that were in white armor with the symbol for eggs on it. A contrast to his own squad's furry dog symbol. Arriving at the Osprey he climbed on and nodded to the Sergeant who was talking with the other squad's Sergeant. Corporal Tani was taking a headcount of the squad as they entered the ship. Once he was inside he joined the others in sitting on one of the seats storing his weapon in a rack on the side.

As the Sergeant entered he noticed them and nodded to the Corporal who nodded and knocked on the pilot's door. "Cadets never relax until you are on your bunk on the ship. Even then you should be prepared for a fight at a moment's notice."

The Osprey took to the sky and the rear door closed up. The sand and rock disappeared from sight. He had not relaxed yet but he understood what the Sergeant was talking about. So he did not relax, it was why his rifle was still loaded with active ammunition. He closed his eyes and focused his hearing, listening to what he could hear from the pilots.

"Border of Downfall, this is Osprey BOD-04 we are leaving the atmosphere now. Request permission to land upon arrival?" The co-pilot asked as the gravitational force in the ship increased.

"Negative BOD-04, we have new arrivals in the systems. Stay in low orbit until they arrive. It will only be a few extra minutes." The answer over the radio seemed to surprise the pilots.

Which only confused Steel. It was obvious why there would be more activity around this planet, then as he listened it became obvious for the reason. They were making up ideas of what it might be, but they did not know about the ancient space vessel that was found.

His eyes shot open and he looked to where the Sergeant was sitting. He was talking quietly with the Corporal. He was focused on his conversation but it seemed that Tani was confused by whatever Cornwall was telling her.

Then Steel remembered the protocols for returning to a ship during peacetime. He pulled the rifle off its rack, catching the attention of the others. He pulled out the magazine that he had checked this morning after waking up. Then he made sure the chamber was empty before putting it back on the rack.

The only one that noticed he only emptied his rifle was Cornwall, "just your rifle cadet? What about your sidearm?"

"We are stuck in space for a few minutes sir. I can disarm my rifle but protocol allows me to keep my sidearm prepared for combat just in case sir." Steel answered with a quick crisp salute before he relaxed a bit and listened to the pilots entertaining conspiracy theory.

He listened until one of them whistled in appreciation and said, "it's the new warship, Nightfall of Requiem." That pulled him out and he smiled before the Osprey was pulled out of its holding pattern.

Steel stood up just as they switched over to the Border's gravity. Pulling his rifle off the rack he readied to disembark.

But as the door opened they were met with the scowling Captain Mendez and a chubby man in an Inquisitors uniform. Steel could smell the cheap booze, cigar smoke, and drugs coming off the man. He actually scrunched his nose for a second before adjusting his face to hide his thoughts. But it seemed the fat man caught on anyways. He frowned at Steel.

"Welcome back Desert Dogs, I have to debrief you before you can relax. Follow me to a secure room." He then walked away and the squad looked to Cornwall who nodded and they followed after Mendez.

A few minutes later they arrived at a conference room. That was quickly sealed up after they entered.

"As of this moment anything you saw, heard, or even smelled on Waterswan-2 is Alpha level classified. All of your communications will be monitored and talking about it with anyone, even your own squad will be violating military security laws." The captain quickly declared before the room was unsealed and he left without another word.

The sergeant frowned and then waved them off, "Cadets go get settled in and get proper rest." Steel was both annoyed and relieved, it seemed he would finally be able to relax but Cornwall clearly wanted to talk to his squad alone.

Steel walked to his bunk, stowing his rifle and securing the ammunition. Doing the same with his pistol, remembering that he forgot to empty his sidearm. He then removed his armor, hanging it up and securing it in his locker.

He then stripped down and entered the showers feeling the grime and dirt come off of him. It was a communal shower so he watched as the others entered, just as exhausted and eager to clean up. He walked out a few minutes later going to his locker after drying off.

He pulled on a pair of underwear before he crawled under the sheets. But he just remembered to set his communication watch on a six hour timer. Then he was out like a light.

He woke groggily to his alarm and put it on snooze as he crawled out of his bed. Aside from the Corporal and Sergeant the rest of his squad was still in their bunks. The Corporal's bunk was empty while the Sergeant had his own room.

He stood up and went to clean up quickly, coming back a few minutes later after he freshened up. Grabbing some clothes he stowed his empty sidearm and magazines. He then made his way to the workshop. He would clean up his armor and then work on a modification for the ship's scanners.

They were likely still having issues and he might as well make himself useful. When he arrived at the workshop, there was a group of technicians typing on computers and talking. He moved over to a spot near the vacuum system and began cleaning the dust and dirt out of the armor. Which gave him a thought so he collected the dirt and set it aside.

He could use them to develop a material that was invisible to scanners, or maybe just impenetrable. Either way he could improve both their scanners and armor plating. As he was working on refining the material he listened to the technicians from across the room.

He was right about them working on the ship's scanner. Apparently they were under pressure to get around the dirt readings. He might as well offer his assistance.

Several hours later he was working out at the gym, his gear was stashed at the crew quarters. He had helped out the technicians enough that they came up with a workaround. They still could not detect the dirt itself but they could detect anything covered or under the dirt.

While he had come up with a device to scan while on the surface. It should be able to detect anything while on the surface but the caveat was that it was very noticeable and very loud. He would write up the designs and then get permission to work on them.

For now he was just thinking while he worked out. Giving his muscles some real strain. As he finished his rep the Sergeant entered.

"Hey kid," He then went over to the training wall, "do you mind if I increase the gravity load?"

"Go for it," Steel answered as he put down the weights. He might as well increase his workload. The weights were getting easy to lift.

"Just wanted to let you know," Cornwall spoke with some strain as he took the weight lifting station next to his. "I passed your rating up the chain of command. Your official file became classified beyond Alpha-level. But if anyone checks it they will see your rating is B, it will be the same for any official files. So do us a favor and do not go talking or writing your rating anywhere."

"Yes, sir. The ship technicians will make similar adjustments to the ship scanners that I made to the ones on the planet. I plan to also work on a scanner design that can scan deep into the planet to look for mineral resources and any other surprises we might have not noticed." Steel told Cornwall.

"Ha… you are thinking ahead to when the planet is already cleared?" Cornwall sounded a mix of concern and surprise. "You know that chances are the entire planet will be stripped for resources since there are no biological resources. Chances are it will be turned into either a prison colony or a mining colony."

"I understand, but either way this particular one will stay under military control." Steel pointed out. "So I do not see the issue with spending military resources."

Cornwall chuckled, "good point." He finished with his rep and nodded, "care to join me for dinner? Mendez wanted me to bring the cadets, but I am not going to force any of you to a formal dinner."

"Is the food any better than the cafeteria?" He asked, getting a chuckle from the older man.

"Of course it is better. The captain has his own dining room where he cooks. I do not know what he is cooking tonight, but his cooking is always good." The Sergeant remarked as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Go get your formal uniform."

"Yes sir." Steel gave a quick salute before going back to his room to get ready.