Wolves
Symposium

“They simply are not ready,” one of the GAM's topbrass emphatically declared for the fourth time in the past twominutes. He and the rest of the Council of Officers sat at a longsteel table, each with a datapad set before them. The city's skylinewas in full view, a two-inch-thick pane of bulletproof glassprotecting the important men from any threats.

“How so?” quipped Venko. “We saw theirperformance on the mission. They were superb. A recorded thirty-eightkills, successful detonation of the bomb and disengagement of thearmada, minimal damage to the armor suits, and a brilliant innovationon their part...due to Captain Vault's failure to land at thepredesignated point. I say they should be sent into action, effectiveimmediately.”

Vaultleaned into the arm of his chair, silently watching the debate andanalyzing each man involved. Captains usually were not included inthe Council of Officers, but he was handpicked by Venko to be acontributing voice. Venko would have promoted him to Colonel,however, Vault preferred to be at the helm of the Indefatigable.

AfterVenko's imperious voice finished stating his case, there was ageneral murmur of agreement and the sage nodding of heads. GeneralDerringer, who was known for making his opinions quite clear, chimedin once more, “As I'm sure Dr. Klept will agree, these men justaren't prepared for combat. They've barely received a few weeks oftraining, they're sloppy, and we'd be wasting them by deployingthem.”

“Klept?” Venko extended his hand to Klept, who wassitting a few seats down from the head of the long table. Kleptpaused, gathering his thoughts.

“Although you know we usually share the sameopinions, I feel I must agree with General Derringer: these menaren't prepared for what lies ahead. Once they face shellshock, orare put under stricter orders they don't feel like obeying, or facean obstacle they've never encountered, their lack of training willcome to fruition. This success was an isolated incident, youshouldn't expect it again. You're playing roulette with their lives.”

Venko leaned back in his chair a few degrees, taking inwhat Klept had said. “Well,” he began, “if Klept disagrees withme, he must have it right.” There was a smattering of laughter,accented with nervousness. “Thank you for your input, Doctor.”

Vault looked into his lap, contemplating whether tobring up what happened in the cargo bay. “If I may interrupt,”Vault chimed in after a polite cough, “I witnessed something whenmy dropship received the Death Squad...”

“Which was?” Derringer prodded, settling into hisseat. He could sense the direction Vault was going.

“DS03 Bruce Moore...he openly yelled at me when theylanded into the cargo bay, regarding my inability to pick them up atthe planned landing point.”

“I can't say I blame him,” Venko smirked.“Continue, Captain.”

Vault bit his lip, blinking. “Two of his fellow teammembers stopped him from any act of violence, but given his demeanorand criminal record, it became clear he had the intention ofviolence.”

“And who stopped him?” Venko inquired, his fingersfolded.

“DS02 Michael Sanchez and DS05 Sebastian Traw. DS05personally gave him a spurning in front of the other team members.”

“If this alone isn't enough to illustrate theimmaturity of the team, I don't know what is,” Derringer added hispiece, hardly giving Vault time to finish the last word.

“We proceed as planned,” Venko ordered, his voiceraised slightly to overcome that of Derringer. “Also note,Derringer, that I am the Commander General here. I have the finalcall. You all provide advice, not votes.” Vault subtly glanced tohis left and right, an uneasiness settling over him, as it silentlydid over everyone else in the room. “Death Squad will be deployedtonight at 2300 hours for Syoto, in the Kentus System. There has beena considerable amount of criminal activity linked to oneorganization, the Death Squad will be eliminating the leaders at ameeting that will take place tomorrow. Meeting adjourned.”

Vaulthad an objection to raise, as his ship would be bringing the squadinto the Kentus System. The area was nefarious for brigands andraiding parties, and the Indefatigablewas stillunder minor repairs. He had heard tales of GAM cruisers falling underassault and never returning. Vault drew in a breath to object, thenstopped himself. He left with the others.

Traw walked through one of the many hallways of thecompound, passing the occasional stone-faced personnel with theirhead bent over their datapad. He and the other Death Squad membershad been rewarded with a day of doing as they pleased.

Passing the training rooms, Traw noticed Moore in amock arena, fighting a mechanized dummy with targets painted aroundthe vital areas. Traw stopped for a moment to watch, crossing hisarms. He found it fascinating to observe men as they fought. Traw sawthat Moore's fighting style was feral and fast, taking on his enemywith unprecedented ferocity and relentlessness. Once he got a hold ofhis enemy, which then became more akin to prey, he would never letgo, punching and slamming until the enemy was thoroughly beaten.

Moore wrapped his arm around the dummy's neck andlanded an onslaught of punches into the midriff, nearly tireless inhis attack. Finally, he pulled the head down and smashed into hisknee, rendering it dead. The dummies were constructed with varyingdegrees of toughness, emulating different classes of enemies. Moorejust finished one of the toughest.

Traw considered stepping in for a word ofreconciliation after what happened aboard the dropship; but he wastoo fascinated with Moore's practice battle. Sweating through hisworkout suit, Moore took a few steps over to a pillar mounted with adatapad. He punched in a few keys, and a large mechanical arm reacheddown from one of the ceiling panels, grabbing the fallen dummy andreplacing it with a new one. At that point Traw stepped into thetraining room, the sound of the door shrouded by the sound of themachine.

The new dummy turned on and immediately took a fightingstance. “Let's tango,” Moore snarled, mirroring his mechanizedopponent. The dummy threw a left hook, then a right jab, both ofwhich were dodged by Moore's arm. Moore then proceeded to land twosolid punches into the dummy's face. “Come on, Farley. I'm gonnatake you down,” Moore continued, knowing the dummy would neverspeak a word in reply.

Traw leaned against a pillar in the shadows, hoping hewould go unnoticed. Forty short seconds later, the dummy was lyinglifeless on the ground, completely incapacitated. “Hey, Moore,”Traw began, stepping forth. He stumbled over his words. “I, ah, Iwanted to apologize for givin' you a hard time before. I never..”

“Don't bother,” Moore interrupted, going about hisbusiness without looking Traw in the eye. “I don't care anyway.Even if it meant something.”

Traw looked to the floor, unsure of what to say. “Ifyou don't mind me askin'...who's Farley?”

For once, Moore looked Traw in the eye. “That's noneof your business.”

Traw continued staring him in the eye.

“I'll just leave you alone, then,” Traw mumbled,taking his leave.

After he left the training room, Aveer caught sight ofhim. “How are you today?” Aveer wondered, clapping Traw on theshoulder. Traw grinned warmly for a moment, looking to the floor.

“I'm doin' alright,” he answered as they strolledthrough the hallway. “Wouldn't suggest goin' in that trainin' room,though. Moore's on some kinda rampage in there with those practicedummies.”

Aveer's face turned, and he glanced behind them. “Hehas many demons...” Aveer noted.

“What do you mean?”

“In my culture, we believe each child is faced withdemons. Some more than others. When the child becomes a man, he canstart fighting the demons and freeing himself...or he can run withthe demons and ultimately bind himself to them as a slave. I thinkMoore runs with many demons.”

“How many do you have?” Traw asked.

“Hard to say...I do not count them, I just know theyare there. Day to day, I fight them. I know I must.”

“Why do you have to, though? I mean, this doesn'tsound worth it to go to all the trouble.”

Aveer stopped, his eyebrows deepened. “What makes ushuman then?”