Even Stars Go Cold

Chapter 4 - Corps

Changes, Body-mods and a Hot Tub

The transition was not immediately as smooth as might have been hoped.

Clare Cushing's departure from the training was greeted with almost universal relief. Her overbearing nature had been problematic, to say the least. On the other hand, her brother was very much respected by the squad, and already sorely missed. As a result, Elissa and Sam both found themselves on the receiving end of some unjustified resentment.

For Elissa, Cushing's boots were tough to fill. He had been a mature and steady guide for the trainees coming through his team, even though he was only just into his twenties. The moniker "Soft-Touch" was based mostly on his name, not his nature. It was widely accepted that promotion to Sergeant was inevitable and imminent.

Elissa's introduction seemed to muddy the pool for the more ambitious trainees.

For Sam, it was altogether different. Her sudden promotion was seen as at the expense of two fellow Marines... and that grated. Despite the recommendation coming from Simon-Pierre himself, she found herself increasingly ostracized from the squad. For the likes of her teammates Dubois and Southern, who had been present, she had done no wrong. There was a growing sense that throwing Clare off the cliff was a Machiavellian move, shared only by those who had not actually seen what had happened: that being most of the Long Rangers squad.

As for the Eyeballers, who had continued their own training South along the Cordoba chain, it was an unfortunate way to lose a fellow Marine but, to them, Clare's comeuppance was long overdue. There was no shortage of fresh Marines ready to take her place.

Sam chose to retreat into her studies wherever possible, all the while knowing that playing the loner was not good for the long run. In due course, Bravo Company transferred to a new station in the Northern Territories of Mindoir with the 3rd Battalion "Ice Pick"; spending twelve weeks learning how to deal with those harsh, sub-zero conditions in Camp Hintermann. It was one extreme to another; a deadly environment, leaving no room for the Marines harbour any trust issues.

These were conditions with which even Sam was not familiar, despite being a born and raised Mindoirian. Content to minimise her profile and avoid any problems, she made no effort to undermine Elissa, despite their technically equal standing.

As the weeks passed, even in the freezing cold, attitudes began to warm towards the new team leader. Elissa strove to prove that she had the necessary strengths to lead the Marines in her charge. Sam also found herself thawing towards her as a person as well as her Corporal.

The only hiccup was the arrival of the news from their erstwhile team leader.

In messages passed on from Simon-Pierre, they learnt that Clare's military career had come to an abrupt end. Though the surgery had been successful, she had refused cybernetic implants to strengthen her neck and spine. She was therefore deemed unable to safely achieve the levels of fitness required to return to active duty and was being medically discharged within a month of the incident.

The news was received with some shock. Cybernetics were relatively common in the modern era; where necessary (in the case of an injury) it was deemed as acceptable as any prosthetic. To refuse it, especially with the Alliance bankrolling the cost, seemed wholly unwise.

At the end of the training, the Long Rangers were given a whole week of leave. Transport had been arranged for return to Roundway. Like most of the squad, Sam was delighted: she was looking forward to seeing her father after what seemed an eternity of being away.

For Elissa it was a quite different story. All she had seen over the last few months were the humid jungle and the frozen, desolate arctic. With its abundant water and vast snow covered regions, Mindoir was a cold and generally inhospitable place for an Asterian. She had no ties to the planet outside of the Marines. It was also a young Human colony, not much older than herself, so she had no great expectations of cultural sites to visit.