5 - An Unknown Man

Gus looked at the end of the alleyway, and saw the man he had seen before on the opposite side of the street in front of him.

"Quite a show you put on there," spoke a voice from the alleyway. "But sadly, I must say that it's finished now."

The man wore a deep blue hat, and a similarly coloured uniform. Running down the length of the arms of the uniform, as well as the legs, were two distinct green lines. There were also two lines running parallel on the torso of his uniform. Neatly attached to his chest were three small, circular medals. As he moved, Gus thought his steps were oddly heavy, as it sounded like each other step made a distinct sound against the floor. Looking into the man's silver eyes, Gus felt an uneasiness growing. Looking at his face, it was difficult to accurately guess his age, but Gus figured it could not be much older than his, and was certain he was still a teenager.

'Although, I wonder where he got that uniform and those medals.' Gus thought.

"I'm not being sarcastic or anything," the man continued, walking past Gus. "That was incredible to watch. I mean, the way you feinted that dodge at the start, that was genius. I think you forgot this," he said, stopping and picking up Gus's bag, before bringing it to him and handing it to Gus.

"And this guy?" he said, pointing to the man curled up on the floor near Gus. "Brutal. That punch was absolutely ruthless. Few generations ago that would have ended his bloodline for good, you know." As he finished, the man drove a foot into the thug's stomach with some force, causing the man to cough up blood. As he planted his foot back onto the ground with a loud, metallic clang, Gus's earlier suspicion was confirmed.

"I'm glad you did it, truly. People like this are the scum of the Earth. There's a galactic war going on out there, and people like this are content to remain on their tiny speck of dust and take from others. If it were up to me, we'd throw this type of people into the frontiers, and have them hold the line there. They might die, but, if we're being honest, who'd miss them." As he finished speaking, a wide smile spread across the man's face.

The more the man spoke, the more certain Gus grew that he was just some rich loudmouthed teen who had a familial history in the military and had grown some sort of an ego because of it.

"You know, they say London used to be a great city. Of course, it almost always had crime, but for the first decade or so of it being elected the capital of Earth, and thus of the human empire, they say this city flourished. No crime was committed, if you can believe that. For an entire decade. Not even the slightest hint of vagrancy, of human litter thrown over the streets."

'Empire? Aren't our systems formed into a republic?' Gus thought.

"Now, it's early in the morning, and you're over here, near the spaceport. Am I to take it you're here for the academy?"

It took Gus a moment to register the fact that he had been directly spoken to.

"Well?" the man demanded. "Are you some sort of invalid who can't speak?"

"Uhm, no, no sir. I'm here for the military academy."

"And, instead of arriving at the mustering place, you're instead beating up petty criminals?"

"Yes sir. Sorry, I couldn't stand to ignore it."

"It's fine," the man answered. "At least you were merely beating criminal scum. They ad it coming, to be frank."

The man extended a hand out to Gus. "Jet Kleen," he said.

"Gus Braye," Gus answered, before tentatively reaching out and taking the man's hand, as though afraid he would catch something.

"Braye… Braye… You don't happen to mean as in Andrew Braye, do you?" Jet asked, a glimmer of interest suddenly being sparked in his eyes.

"I do, sir."

"Well, isn't that wonderful!" Jet exclaimed. "Tell me, what is the relation? Cousin, legal relation?"

"Son, sir."

"Son?" Jet asked with surprise. "I was unaware he had a son."

'Believe me, he was as well,' Gus thought.

"Well, allow me to offer my condolences to you. Your father was a great man, and his work is sure to live on in history as one of the great achievements of history."

"Thank you, sir."

'A great man?' Gus thought. 'This guy is completely insane!'

"Well, now that this… matter is dealt with," Jet said, gesturing around, "shall we go? The ship won't wait forever, not even for me."

Without waiting for an answer, Jet walked off towards the spaceport, leaving Gus trailing behind him.

From afar, the number and scale of the ships that amassed at the spaceport were what had stunned Gus. Now that he was here, he was pleased to find himself stunned at the sheer amount of people who had gathered.

There were all sorts of people. People of all backgrounds, all sizes, and varying levels of cybernetics were all represented equally in the crowd. As he squeezed his way into the crowd, Gus noticed Jet towards the front. From what he saw, it seemed Jet was being scolded for something by an older woman. They both wore similar looking uniforms, each sporting the blue and green of humanity, but the woman's chest was adorned with far more medals than Jet's.

After what seemed to be an extremely one sided debate, Jet conceded whatever point was being made and stood back, taking his place between two other uniformed officers.

'Hang on, between officers?' Gus thought in astonishment. He had to rub his eyes, to make sure he was not hallucinating. As he reopened them, he saw that he was correct. That man, Jet Kleen, had stood next to officers of the military academy. Which meant…

"He's one of the officers here," Gus muttered.

"Now that all of our officers are here, we can begin!"

The older woman spoke into an invisible microphone that carried her voice to all throughout the crowd.

"First of all, I would like to say thank you for choosing the Earthen Military Academy, funded by Solus Supplies!"

'Solus Supplies? They're letting a corporation fund their military training?'

"Now, be warned," the woman continued. "The path ahead of you is hard, and we only accept the very best. As long as you strive to be the best, you will thrive here!"

"And with that, Welcome Aboard!"

As she finished speaking, she moved to the side and waved her hands as though revealing something. A nice touch, if the wide door of the ship wasn't already open. Or if she hadn't just soured the day with corporate nonsense, at least in Gus's opinion.

No sooner had she finished speaking, than the crowd began to press forwards. They were relentless, like a swarm of starved people out in the frontier when presented with a loaf of bread.

Street fights with thugs, seemingly insane officers, and hallucinations? Already, Gus's new life was not off to a good start.