Bravo and Charlie Companies returned to the infantry quarters, with an ecstatic group of former convicts. The declaration came in while they were returning to the Abraham Kepler that they had earned their pardon and would be attached to their respective companies, and retired from active service with them when the ship reached Kepler 111 in only a few months’ time.

Sure, it wasn’t anywhere near their homeworlds, but that didn’t matter. They were better off making a fresh start in a new world as returning war heroes than going home to be known as ex-convicts.

The infantry army and the 42nd armored are both set to retire from active duty after this battle. Only nine thousand of the original two hundred and fifty thousand infantry from the field army lived to return home, and the Mecha forces aren’t in much better shape, under a third of their original strength. As a reward for heroism, they have all been granted a lifelong salary at their current rank and early retirement back to their homeworld of Kepler 111.historical

The salary means very little on the battlefield, but after a decade at war, they have quite a bit saved up, and what they get from now on will be enough for the officers to live comfortably, even if they had spent everything before they got home.

Max realizes that means they are losing everyone he has known and fought beside, except for Nico. A full new field army and an equally inexperienced armored regiment will be loaded on board the Abraham Kepler once the ceremonies for the returning veterans are complete. Experience can be earned quickly though. After all, it has only been two deployments and Max has become quite used to the rigors of combat at this point.

That experience came at a high cost though. Despite the relatively sheltered position that they were in at the start of the battle, they still lost a huge portion of their forces in a single battle. Max looked up the roster for the returning forces, and under a thousand of the conscripted prisoners will be going to Kepler 111, and almost all of the survivors are in Bravo and Charlie Company which were attached to him. The paperwork to get the pilots among them properly recognized for their position wasn’t easy to get approved, but Max has managed it, so all the soldiers that served with him will be retired with everything that they are due._.

Lieutenant Becki is a bit less enthusiastic than most to return home. All his siblings were pilots selected during the recruitment for the 42nd armored, and he is the only one coming back. He hasn’t had the heart to tell his mother yet, but since it is their next stop, a form message from the military detailing their service and death benefits will be sent to his mother in the next few days.

Currently, he is trying to decide if he should tell her in advance or let her find out the hard way and have time to adjust before he shows up alone.

Personally, Max thinks it will be better for her to hear it from him first, then the denial phase can end when the letters show up, and she can start accepting the reality of her loss before her last son shows up.

Becki is indecisive though, and the final decision is made by one of his wingmen, who uses his interplanetary contact credit to call Becki’s mother directly, while Max and the rest of the wing keep the Lieutenant from running away. To say the call is uncomfortable is an understatement of epic proportions, but after a much-needed crying session, the basic details are shared and the timer on the call credit runs out.

“Thanks, Captain. I didn’t know how much I needed to do that before I did it.” Lieutenant Becki thanks Max, who was kneeling behind him to hold him in his chair, before returning to his quarters for the evening, not even waiting for dinner to be served.

Late that evening, Max gets an official posting message both to his wrist device and in hard copy delivered by ship staff.

[Captain Keres Max,

It is our distinct pleasure to promote you to the rank of Major and assign you to Command of the newly formed Stalwart Special Tactics Unit. Upon arrival at Kepler 111, recruitment from qualified planetary forces will be conducted on your behalf, filling the Stalwart Special Tactics Unit to the strength of a Mixed Batallion.

Final unit strength and assets will be forwarded as they become available.

Lieutenant General Carb,

Central Command]

So General Carb got a promotion and a move to Central Command after the battle. That’s a good spot for him since the General has a good mind for tactics, and a solid respect for all soldiers’ lives, not just the mecha pilots like so many career pencil pushers in Central Command.

Being assigned a Special Tactics Force is a dubious honor in Max’s estimation. Unlike Special Forces, who are best known for their level of talent, Special Tactics are known for their ability to adapt to almost anything and go anywhere. If the situation calls for rapid insertion, they are a Rapid Insertion force. If it calls for Artillery, they will gear up to become a forward artillery position.

In theory, that makes them the greater and more prestigious of the two options, but it is also the higher casualty rate option, simply because of the nightmares they are sent into that a standard unit with regulation tactics couldn’t handle. Having to do all that with a fresh green unit is not going to be a pleasant experience.

Checking the unit details to see if he can find out anything more, Max finds that Nico has been appointed as his executive officer and also promoted to Major. That suggests to Max that at some point he is likely to see another promotion in rank, possibly as soon as the first successful mission with his new unit.

Only an hour after the last message, another letter is delivered to Max’s room, notifying him that he has been granted the Noble Rank of Knight. It was one of the conditions of the Cygnus Generals, in order to preserve their dignity in surrender, but it is good to see that the agreement has been upheld so quickly. Even if it was so that any spies that reported back advance information on the deal would see that Max was a noble before the agreement was officially ratified and announced to the public.

With both letters tucked into his jacket pocket, Max heads to dinner to see if any of the Special Forces Cadets made it back. They are still assigned to the same room as they were before since they were already in the reserves section. In fact, all of the 42nd is there now. Carpe Noctem has joined them and the Shining Darkness aboard the Abraham Kepler for the next leg of their mission, along with his personal Mecha Regiment, so space had to be made for them.

That still only makes the Mecha hangers a little over half full, but with the 42nd moved to the reserve sector, their former quarters can be fully painted and prepped for the next occupants while they get ready to retire.

At least one full division of infantry came with the Carpe Noctem as well, so Max has high hopes that they might stay on as the ship’s second Field Army, to balance out all the rookies. It might be asking a lot, but that doesn’t stop Max from holding on to that last bit of hope. A fully stocked and staffed Abraham Kepler would have been a game-changer when they arrived at Belmont for his first-ever deployment.

Only one of the Special Forces Cadets is in the dining hall, Russo is having dinner with some of the guys from the 42nd. The whole dining area is packed though, so even if they are here, they would have to wait to get seated. In fact, Max himself will have to wait for a table unless he can find an empty seat. Worst case scenario, he might have to take his tray back to his bunk and eat there.

Fortunately, Nico is looking out for him, sitting with Captain Catan and Sergeant Morrison of Bravo Company. They have saved him a seat, so Max heads to grab his tray, reminiscing of the days at the academy when they would sit in the corner by the kitchen. Just like then, the table today is in the corner of the room, but Max can see that it is marked on the wall as reserved for command staff, which he and Nico now are. The table properly seats eight, but even as crowded as the room is, nobody is likely to elbow in on the command table.

If they were feeling snooty, there is a smaller command officers mess only ten yards down the hall, on the other side of the kitchen, but that will likely be full of the colonels and Majors of the 42nd Armored, and Max knows very little about them. Here in the general mess eating beside the rest of the pilots feels more comfortable.

“You made a long walk, coming all the way to the Mecha wing for dinner.” Max jokes to the infantry soldiers, who are actually closer to this mess hall than their own, thanks to the layout of the infantry section. They just need to cross the bulkhead between sections that makes up one wall of their rooms at the end of the hall to get here.

“You should see the chaos in the infantry section. The convicts found out that they’ve all been pardoned as a reward, and they’ve been partying ever since. Fortunately, they have some time before they need to do anything productive.” Sergeant Morrison laughs, unilaterally trading his brownie for Captain Catan’s apple slices. The brownies tend to be rock hard, but the preserved apples are really good.

“We got the notice just a few minutes ago, we leave orbit tonight, headed home. The trip will be almost a month, and the infantry is excused from training and drills the entire time.” Captain Catan explains.

One month before he has to say goodbye to these battle-brothers and welcome a new group of fresh recruits. How did he suddenly become the old man in this scenario?