Date: 23.1.3987
1st Quarter
Planet: Asteroid Belt near Bedwyr

"Please identify yourself."

Monty cut the engine of his one-man fighter when the voice came over the communit. Initiating a sensor sweep he found a few larger asteroids with stable orbits but nothing to indicate a ship or station in the vicinity.

"Please identify yourself," the feminine computer voice repeated.

He opened a channel and said, "This is Batiste Montgomery. My ship is the Ghost. I'm on route to the Wolfpack mercenary base. Who is this?"

"Your destination. I'm Sofia the Wolfpack AI. You are currently 200 parsecs from our position, Mr. Montgomery. I'm downloading the coordinates to your navcomp now. Someone will meet you in the launch bay."

"Thank you, Sofia."

Once the coordinates finished downloading he locked in a course and engaged the autopilot. Normally he'd never do that with in an asteroid field, but he'd designed the piloting system and trusted it. That and he would be alerted the moment there was a problem. Leaving the cockpit he headed back into the small storage area. He'd converted it into sleeping quarters since he'd left the Skavron Army. The ship had been his home for the past few weeks. With quick efficiency he straightened everything up finishing just as the computer alerted him of their arrival at the Wolfpack base.
Slipping back into the cockpit he stared at the asteroid in front of him in confusion until a hole opened up in the side of it. Shutting off the autopilot he carefully guided his ship into the hangar and landed between a Hunter-class cruiser and two one-man scouters. Once it settled to the floor he cut the engine and pulled the hatch release. He didn't bother waiting for the different systems to finish cycling down before leaving the ship. His linkup with the main system would tell him if there were a problem.

He quickly scanned the hull checking for any damage from the asteroid belt before turning to face the two men standing by the inner door of the launch bay. They were both the same height, about 5'10", but one had skin so dark he looked like a living shadow. Monty identified him as a _________. Their planet only had a 12-hour rotation period and orbited closer to its sun than any other colonized planet. The other had close-cropped black hair and light tan skin. He was probably of Native American descent, and his introduction confirmed it.

"Hi, I'm Peter StrongBear and this is Katama. You must be Colonel Montgomery," he said holding out his hand.

Monty shook it, then Katama's as he said, "Just Monty is fine. I left the Colonel behind with the SSA."

"You can call us Bear and Kat. The SSA? You were in the Skavron Standing Army? But that would make you...."

"A Skavron. It was on the resume I sent your leader Mr. Ward," Monty said frowning when they exchanged glances. "Is there a problem?"

"Ward told us not Skavron you are," Kat said in the odd version of Standard Language the _______ spoke.

"I'm not surprised," Bear said with a shrug. "Rourke is going to go ballistic anyway you look at it."

"Why?" Monty asked following them into the main section of the base.

"I'm not sure. I just know she doesn't like Skavrons. You'll have to talk to her about it. Anyway, the base is pretty small right now. We've only been here about six years since we first banded together. It's setup in a circle layout. The center is our main communications and meeting room. Around it are our living quarters, training room, shooting range, and the launch bay. That's the entire base, pretty much. Small but it's home."

"That's what counts."

Bear opened the door into the central room. The wall opposite the door was covered by a massive computer system with a five foot by five-foot screen dominating the center. Monty assumed the young woman appearing on the screen was Sofia. There was an older man standing with his back to them talking to Sofia. There was a slim blonde haired woman working at a terminal to the left. She looked up at them when the door opened.

"You the new guy?"

"Well, I'm here for an interview at least."

"Where're you from?"

"Rourke," the other man said warningly turning to face them. "You'll have to forgive her, she never really learned the meaning of subtlety."

"Shut up, Ward."

"Anyway, she's one of the best computer people I've ever worked with and she can outshoot most of us, so we put up with her little outbursts. I'm Justin Ward."

"Batiste Montgomery. Monty is fine."

"Well, why don't we all have a seat," he indicated the conference table set off to the side. "Sofia?"

"I'll see to it."

"Basically, we're a young group as far as merc companies go. Only six years, but we've all been working in military ops for a while. I've probably been in the game the longest, about thirty years. Kat and Bear about twenty-five years; Rourke is, what, twenty?"

"Twenty-three."

"We all worked together for about four years before starting Wolfpack. We'd met up in a pack called the Beserkers."
Monty nodded his head, "I've heard of them."

"Most of it wasn't good I'm sure," Ward said leaning back in his chair. Monty nodded, pausing as he picked up the sound of running in the hallway. He'd just started tensing for an attack when the door burst open. Twisting out of his chair he went down into a defensive crouch. In a quick, fluid move he leapt forward and to her right. His hands a blur of motion as he snapped the rifle out of her arms.

Bear came at him from her left side. A sudden powerful punch to the stomach stretched Bear out on the floor, gasping for air. He held onto the woman, his left arm around her waist pinning her arms and his right hand at her throat. She struggled for a moment, but quickly felt the prick of steel at her throat. Once his back touched the wall he allowed some of the battle fever to fade away.

Rourke and Kat stood opposite him, handguns ready, waiting for a clear shot. Ward was just behind them smiling. He touched Rourke and Kat's shoulders, saying, "Ease off. It's okay. Kat help Bear."

Reluctantly they straightened up, although Rourke kept her gun ready.

"You can release her now, Monty."

"What's going on?" he demanded, not moving a muscle.

"A test. Although Brigit, the woman you're holding, was the only one who knew about it. I already checked your credentials with the Merc Guild, but I thought it necessary to test your battle skills."

Slowly Monty relaxed his hold on Brigit until she was able to pull away. Once she was free she turned angrily towards Sofia's monitor; "You said he was unarmed. Where'd he get the knife?"

"You're armed?" Ward demanded.

"But I'm not registering any weapons," Sofia cried.

Rourke's gun came back up.

"No, you wouldn't," Monty said, calmly displaying the one inch blade he held. "It's a Blood knife. We all receive one at the age of five. It is inserted under the skin and is essentially part of my body, so your scanners wouldn't be able to pick it up."

They watched as he slid it into his skin at the base of his wrist. The blood that started to well up followed the blade and disappeared. Everyone resumed their seats. Brigit sat between Rourke and Bear.

"You react quickly," she said.

"A little too quickly, I think," Rourke said.

"It is better to react quickly than to be dead."

"I hate to agree with Rourke, but you did react a bit too quickly, and you were expecting more than one of us to attack you."

"I have had to learn to be prepared for attack from all sides at all times. My last few months in the Army were not easy. Not after I handed in my resignation."

"Wait a minute, which army?" Rourke asked.

"The Skavron Standing."

"Ward!"

He shook his head; "This is exactly why I didn't tell you sooner. I know your problems with them, but I figured we should at least interview him."

"May I ask why you have such animosity towards my people?"

"Your people are a bunch of toy soldiers with death wishes who don't give a damn about the people they're fighting with."

"That doesn't explain your hatred."

"All right then, how's this? Forty years ago in the Chang-Sa sub-House uprising my parents were working for a merc group called the StarBolts. There was a battle on the surface of _______. The SSA was the StarBolt's back up, but they abandoned them to join in a battle six systems away. By the time anyone got back there the StarBolts were dead."

"Yes, I remember that. I was ten at the time. My father was one of the many Skavron warriors also abandoned there. He too never returned home. I will be honest, the SSA can be heartless bastards when it comes to winning a fight, and they don't always choose the side that is in the right. But not all Skavron are like that. So to judge all by the few is not a fair judgment."

"Maybe," Rourke said glaring at him.

"I take it you weren't happy with the battles the SSA chose?" Ward asked.

"No," Monty said resuming his seat. "As I rose in rank it became ever more clear to me that those in command were more concerned about prestige and power and wealth than whether or not the side we were fighting for was just."

"Speaking of rank, how did you manage to get to Colonel at the age of only fifty? I know the Skavron have access to ReGen, but most of you don't live much past a hundred. So many of you are killed in battle." Rourke asked.

"I was the highest ranked Cadet Prime ever to graduate from the Centre. I started with a commission of Captain. Usually we only receive the rank of Lieutenant, but I broke all Final Trek records. Once I was in the Army I did what I was told, I always brought my men back alive, and I got the job done. Until I was asked to attack a defenseless settlement. I refused and resigned soon after. That is the sum of my time in the SSA. Can I ask what your typical mission is?"

"Right now we mainly do search and rescue types of missions," Ward said. "Basically we work for the underdog."

"So, you're not really in it for the money?"

"Hell, yes, we are," Rourke butted in, "but does it look like we take the high-paying jobs? We're the soldiers in other people's Causes, but Causes don't usually pay a whole lot."

"Injustices to right we seek. What we do it is. Our way it is," Kat said with a shrug.

"It is my way too," Monty said nodding.

"Well," Ward said glancing at the others a moment, "I think a trial period of about six months should tell us whether or not things will work out. We're a family here. Unless you have any objections, Monty, Kat and Bear can help you get your gear settled. Welcome to Wolfpack."

Rising, they shook hands. The uncertainty that had followed Monty since he handed in his resignation began to lift and he smiled, "I think I'll like it here."