They Answered The Call

Proxima Centauri b

Fort Benavidez, 2173 A.D.

Dear Sirefather,

I apologize for not being able to write to you for some time, as bootcamp and my studies consume almost my entire day and night cycle. I have just finished my Earth history course, and I find myself conflicted as I learn about how the Republic came to be and what caused its formation.

I know you are aware of their history, but I never knew just how bad things were for humanity and how close they came to wiping themselves out during their third world war. I sometimes look at the human cadets around me, and I shudder as I imagine their ancestors wantonly slaughtering each other with weapons of mass destruction.

I watched the historical documents showing the mass graves, entire cities obliterated, and the worldwide battlefields where tens of millions fought and died. I saw the footage of the great migrations that followed as the survivors fled from their destroyed, irradiated cities or the biological and chemical bombardments.

Seeing these poor humans suffer and die by the hundreds of millions from disease, exposure, thirst, and hunger as they wandered in vain looking for safety crushed my soul. I almost can’t believe it is possible that the humans who came and saved us are the same species as their ancestors.

Sirefather, it seemed as if they descended into madness as they fought and destroyed each other. How did they ever recover from this? Almost five billion of them were dead within ten cycles, and almost a billion more suffered lifelong illnesses and disfigurement from the radiation and the BioChem weapons.

I understand now why they developed into a very advanced automated society and still rely so much on AIs, autonomous fabricators, and androids.

They had to make up for losing almost 60% of their population, and this technology was the only way they could rebuild their world. It was only five years ago that they finally surpassed their prewar population of ten billion, despite having colonies on multiple worlds and over a hundred years of peace.

The documentary that hit me the hardest were the video recordings taken from the International Space Station. The six-member team was on that station when the war started and was slowly running out of air after the Eastern Coalition crewmember sabotaged most of their oxygen and water reserves and the lifeboats before committing suicide.

Over many weeks, crew members volunteered to be left to die one by one as they shut down sections to conserve air and prolong the survival of the remaining members who had children. The United States and the EU both tried to send shuttles to rescue them, but the Eastern Coalition intercepted and destroyed all three of them before they could break orbit.

There were no more crewed attempts after that, as the war was now in full swing and attempts by civilian satellite companies to resupply them were destroyed before reaching the station.

After three months of conflict, the war went nuclear, and the last survivor turned the cameras to look down on Earth as dozens of nuclear explosions flashed on the surface. Contrails of hundreds of ballistic missiles crossed the sky as they flew into orbit, only to return as fiery harbingers of death as they reentered the atmosphere and split into multiple bombs and decoys.

You could hear his final words in the background as he cursed humanity for destroying their home and deliriously called out the names of his wife and children before he finally succumbed to carbon dioxide poisoning.

I’m sorry; I am having a hard time coming to terms with all of this, and I should not burden you with such sadness. I will speak about bootcamp training instead.

That first night in bootcamp, the lights went out, and I found myself alone for the first time in my life. I cried. I was so scared, and I wanted nothing more than to be back home with you and Birthmother. I thought I was being quiet, but the human cadet on the left side of my bunk must have heard me. He rolled over and looked at me, and I thought he was going to be angry at me for waking him up.

Instead, he got up with his pillow, laid on the floor next to my bunk, and reached his hand out. I didn’t understand what he was doing, and he then took my hand in his and held it gently. “It’s okay; I’m scared too.” He whispered to me, making me cry even more.

He let me go on for a little longer, and then we started whispering to each other for almost an hour while he asked me about my world and life and told me about his. I fell asleep still holding his hand, and I remember smiling as I drifted off. I now have my first human friend, Anson.

The last six weeks have been the hardest in my life. Between the psychotic drill instructors, the brutal physical training regimen, and the classes at night, I don’t know how I have been able to keep up. My friend Anson never let me give up, and if it wasn’t for him, I would have washed out weeks ago.

I think you would find this funny. The pelvic cooling appendage that rises above our fur and helps us cool down at night while sleeping seems to be a source of sadistic amusement for the drill instructors. The morning after I fell asleep talking with Anson on the first night, the DIs came charging in at 0430, banging on our bunk beds with their batons and screaming.

As we stumbled out of our beds and lined up for inspection, I quickly put on the human underwear that they called “tighty-whities” and took my place in the inspection line. As the DIs walked up and down the line and found a thousand things to yell at us about, one of them saw the appendage sticking out against my underwear and charged at me. The other two quickly followed.

They had a look of unbridled glee on their faces as they all bent over and started screaming at the appendage as if addressing it.

"At ease, little cadet!"

“Disarm that weapon, cadet! That’s an order!”

"Why are you saluting me, cadet? Do I look like an officer to you, Scumbag?"

“Are you happy to see me, cadet, or do you fucking monkeys have a fifth arm I don't know about?”

This went on for almost a minute while my translator struggled to keep up with what they were saying. I just stood there as straight as I could, not understanding even half of what they were saying, until several of the human cadets couldn’t take it anymore and started laughing.

In an instant, the DIs forgot all about me and turned their fury on the laughing cadets, spraying spit on their faces as they screamed and making them drop for pushups. One of the DIs pulled me aside later in the day and explained that they knew about the function of the cooling appendage and used it to get the other cadets to break.

He gruffly apologized for any offense, but I was so surprised he wasn’t threatening to rip my arms off and beat me to death with them that I just stuttered, “Yes, Drill Sergeant!” and ran away from him without being dismissed. For the next two weeks, they came up with even more ridiculous comments and over-the-top mannerisms directed at it to cause the cadets to break so that they could PT them.

They even got me a few times as I got a better grasp on human cultural lingo, and let’s just say I am good at pushups now.

There are some things that I do well on the obstacle courses, such as the climbing and agility portions, but I am in awe of the stamina and sheer willpower humans have for running long distances and enduring hardship. Many times, when I thought I couldn’t go any further, Anson and the other cadets would be by my side, refusing to let me quit. During one nighttime five-mile run, I was in last place again, and I quit at the third mile and sat down.

I just couldn’t go any further. Anson had already finished in third place, and when he realized what happened, he came back for me, as did several other human cadets. One of the drill instructors followed them, promising all kinds of punishment and retribution, but they didn’t care.

They found me on the side of the road, picked me up, and started helping me walk while encouraging me to not give up. I begged them to leave me so that they wouldn’t get in trouble, but all they kept saying over and over was, “We don’t leave anyone behind.”

After a little while, I became ashamed of my weakness, and then I got angry. I demanded that they let me go, and I jogged the last mile with them to cross the finish line.

As punishment, we got split into teams of two and given trench detail. Each team had to dig a trench 8 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet deep with firing steps and slope it to regulation for drainage and grenade sumps. It rained sporadically throughout the night, the soil was rocky, and it wasn’t until 0100 that our trenches finally met the approval of the drill instructor.

He ordered us to piss in them before filling the trenches back in and to hit the showers and go to bed. After we lined up, waiting for dismissal, he told the human cadets that he was proud of them for not leaving their brother behind, and then he dismissed us.

It was so weird hearing him talk to us like that. On our way back, I tried to apologize to Anson and the others for getting them punished, but he stopped me and simply said, “We are a team, and you are our friend. We will never leave you behind.” It was then and there that I realized just how lucky we were to have humans as our friends and allies.

The best part of our training is the combat simulators. They are fully immersive holographic technology, and I have been learning small unit tactics and how humans conduct ground warfare. Sirefather, it is absolutely terrifying to see how quickly humans can revert to their old ways. It is almost as if they are barely controlling their inherent aggression and are ready to drop the veneer of civilization in an instant.

Even Anson, my best friend and the nicest human I have ever met, turned into a ferocious wild animal during the combat exercises, and I could see the desire to destroy the OPFOR in his eyes as he and our other team members charged the enemy defenses. It is really creepy when the simulations end and they turn back into friendly humans, as if nothing happened and they didn’t just try to murder each other.

I heard the same story from the other Eleani cadets, and we made a promise to ourselves to not bring shame upon our species and to overcome our inherent pacifist ways. It was hard for us to break our instincts, but after two weeks, I can proudly say that we could mostly emulate the human cadets, and our enthusiasm and willingness to protect our team members compensate for our lack of aggression.

Our arboreal lifestyle was a tremendous help, as we are quite nimble and able to jump and dodge out of the way of most of the shock bolts fired by the enemy teams and help achieve victory. Those things hurt so badly, and I’m sure the tendency of the shock bolts to cause involuntary urination is an intentional, embarrassing side effect to drill into us the importance of proper concealment and fire suppression while advancing.

Next week, I will also start training on a holographic bridge to get experience in simulated combat on a Republic warship. I have another three weeks before our final exams and physical assessment tests, and if I pass, I will then go to the advanced training facility in orbit, which the cadets call “The Forge.” This is where they try to break cadets, and there is an almost palpable fear among all who speak about it.

At the end of the eight-week course, we will come back down to the surface and must do a 241-kilometer forced march in five solar days with only what we can carry on our backs and a two-day supply of food and water. We have to use all our survival training to find food and water and show our capabilities along the way at the same time.

They will assess our combat abilities, knowledge of casualty care and evacuation, ability to complete tactical objectives, setting up and defeating ambushes, and navigational skills. It ends with us having to take over a fort that is defended by an enemy force that outnumbers us by a 2-1 margin during a nighttime assault.

Those who fail have the option to go back for an additional 4 weeks of supplemental training to help them succeed in their next attempt, or they can drop out and finish their three-year term in one of the other military branches with no dishonor.

Those who pass will go on to additional training at New West Point on Earth for another three years before receiving the commissioned rank of 2nd lieutenant. The other Eleani cadets and I will have to decide what to do by then, and we will have two weeks' leave to make that decision to continue or not.

I must confess something to you. I used to resent you sometimes for how much you were away from home while you were on Earth all these years. I thought you loved them more than your own family, and I hated to see birthmother crying alone almost every night when she thought I couldn’t see or hear her.

I just want you to know that I understand now, and I am sorry for feeling that way about you. I love my humans too, and I cannot stand the thought of losing my friendship with Anson and all the others or never seeing them again.

I think I want to continue the training and stay with them. We can talk more about it when I come home. I’ll write to you again when I can, and please let birthmother know I love her and that my letter to her is coming as well.

All my love,

Alixa