Planetside 2 Story Part 8


Chapter 1: Adjustment
   I’ll admit, after a couple weeks of floating around in a hover chair bashing into everything under the sun, I kinda got used to it all. Even if I go have a lack of maneuverability without proper use of my legs, the speed and control of my hover chair is quite surprising. It feels really smooth and responsive one you get a hang of it… and I suppose it is pretty cool. But all messing around aside, my brother does have a point… just because I’m a war veteran doesn't mean I get the special treatment. I need to find a job and settle down, and not let my past glories get to my head. For now, the days of fighting are behind me… but not gone forever. One way or another I am going back to Auraxis. 
   Anyway, I ended up giving Jax a call, who gladly drove me down to the Peacekeepers headquarters in Downtown… whatever this city was named. But as we rolled up, I read “New Haven Police” on the side. 
   “I thought you said these guys were called Peacekeepers…” I asked with a confused look.
   “Peacekeepers… Police… it’s all the same in the end, really.” Jax shrugged and extended the landing gear of his car. Landing gear of his car… did that sound strange to anyone else? A fucking car with landing gear… of all the advanced tech I’ve seen over the years, I never would of expected that. Regardless, I floated out of the car and up the wheelchair ramp. The front office was like any other police building. To the left was the 9-11 operator's rooms, where people constantly worked on phones answering calls. Straight ahead was the locker rooms and what I assume would be the garage. And to the right was the Chief’s office. 
   “Anyway, I gotta go get ready for my shift… just wait around here and the Chief will call you for that interview in no time.” Jax explained.
   “You never told me you actually worked on the front lines…” I scoffed.
   “Right… sorry, in all my excitement I must've forgotten. But anyway, I already called you in advance so just chill, alright?” Jax shrugged and disappeared. I rolled my eyes and floated back into the waiting room. 


Chapter 2
   Sooner or later, I was called into the chief's office. It was nice office, I’ll admit. Plenty of room to move around… even had a coffee machine on the back wall. 
   “Ah, so you must be the legondarly commander of the New Republic! Welcome, welcome!” The chief smiled as I floated in. When I reached the desk, he extended a hand, and I took it gladly. I looked the chief over… clean, polished uniform. Golden badge, strong facial features, smooth bald head, and dark red eyes that almost burned into your soul. This guy had experience, I could tell. 
   “I’m guessing my brother told you lots about me already, huh?” I relaxed a bit. Even though this guy had a strong appearance, he seems like a rather relaxed, cool and collected kinda guy. 
   “Jezz, everyone in New Haven knows about you and your army… hell maybe even the whole world knows.” The chief laughed…. Great, just what I need… more people watching my every move. “Anyway, I’m Chief Kinson Mendez.” Kinson added.
   “Commander Jet Sunstrider, but I figured you already knew that.” I replied. “Anyway, my brother said that there are some job openings around here?” I added.
   “Well, we are always in need of more 9-1-1 operators, maybe someone to keep inventory down in the locker and storage rooms.” Kinson explained. 
   “Okay, what do you need more? Cause honestly, I’d be anywhere you need me the most. I’m flexible like that.” I admitted. 
   “Now that you mention it, we are low on operatives. If you want, I could bring you to the top operitive right now, see how you work under pressure.” Kinson offered.
   “I got nothing else planned, why not?” I shrugged. Kinson nodded and led me to the offices. As we weaved through desks, I did notice quite a few empty chairs… only about ten of twenty were full.
   “This is a rough stop to fill… gotta be mentally capable of dealing with the variety of calls we get.” Kinson explained.
   “After the hell I saw on Auraxis, I’m ready for just about anything Earth has left to throw at me.” I replied. Kinson laughed. 
   “If you say so… anyway, just up there is Mark, the head Operator” Kinson pointed to a desk on the far end of room. “He’ll show you our system works, then find you a spot. If you make it through today, I’ll find you a permanent desk to get working for real. Sound good?” He asked.
   “Sounds good.” I nodded. Kinson chuckled and walked up to Mark’s desk, who just finished taking another call.
   “Hey Mark, this is Sunstrider, the commander of the NR. He’s willing to work as a operator for us.” Kinson explained.
   “Is that so? I heard plenty about ya… also about you're wound… rough stuff. Don’t worry pal, I’ll show ya everything about our system here.” Mark winked. Rolling my eyes, I floated over behind his desk. His computer was set up normally, keyboard, mouse, etc, but to the left of his keyboard was a massive secondary display with a row of buttons, each labeled “Police”, “Fire”, “Medical” on the top row then “Code 1, Code 2, Code 3” on the bottom row. Makes sense to me. There is also a bigger button to the side with a picture of a phone on it. 
   “Alright, lay it on me.” I shrugged.
   “Well, it’s rather simple you see. Whenever a call gets connected to your line, the secondary display will show a red dot on the top, what you have to do is press is phone button to receive the call, and it will go straight to you're headset. As the caller reports the details of what’s going on, you gotta fill out the form on the computer. Then you press whatever service is required on the secondary display, the code depends on how severe the call is, but most of the time they are gonna be responding code 2 or higher. After you got it all set up, you gotta press the phone button again so the red light shuts off, that means both the call and what you entered on the display is saved. After that, you gotta press the SEND button on the form, that will send the report to the nearest requested unit based on the address you added to the form, or GPS from the caller’s phone if no address was given. After the form get’s successfully send to nearby units, it automatically resets.” Mark pointed to the various aspects of the display and form as he explained. 
   “Yeah, it is rather simple.” I admitted.
   “The thing you gotta worry about is that sometimes, the call’s aren't gonna be pretty.” Mark warned.
    “Trust me, back on Auraxis, I saw my fair share of fucked up shit.” I reassured him.
   “Fair enough, you can use the empty desk to mine for today, I still got five hours left in my shift. Should be more than enough time to see what you're made of.” Mark stood up and moved the chair from the desk beside him out of the way. I floated up to the desk, and locked down my hover chair so it wouldn't move on me. I powered up the computer and opened the form up.
   “I don’t have to sign in at all?” I asked.
   “That desk is normally used for training, so it’s always signed in on the training account. if you get hired you’ll get your own operative account to use.” Mark replied. I shrugged and put on the headset. “Good luck pal…” Was the last thing I heard Mark say before connecting to the line.


Chapter 3: A New Kind of Battle
    As soon as I connected to the network, I entered a different battlefield. Calls came in left and right… home invasion here, car collision there, even a call about a Fire near the Dead Zone causing chemicals to enter the city, thank god we have Hazmat teams on standby. It’s almost like New Haven is in a war with the Dead Zone… Mark told be about when the Wall had to be pulled back because a Old-World Coal Plant exploded, spreading the deadly level of toxins and forcing the government to pull back from a whole city block. No one was hurt, and the people who were forced away found new homes pretty quick… at least this city has good disaster response. But still… this Dead Zone seems to be a real problem. Soon, I was granted a brake… I took off the headset and took a deep breath.
   “Harder than it looks, eh?” Mark laughed.
   “Still not as bad as getting shot at 24/7.” I replied. “At least I’m not dodging tank shells or avoiding sniper fire.” I added.
   “Yeah will that Dead Zone fire got pretty stressful… I heard they had to evacuate 3 blocks from the toxins.” Mark explained.
  “They didn't have to pull back the wall anymore though, right?” I asked.
   “Nah, but that area of the city is probably gonna be on lockdown for the rest of the day to let the scrubbers do their work.” Mark replied. “Anyway, I think that’s enough training for today. You did pretty well, for a newbie. I’ll have a chat with the Chief and we’ll call ya tomorrow on our decision.” Mark explained.
   “Not gonna keep me around for a full shift?” I looked confused.
   “Training never goes for a full shift, that might be to much for most newcomers.” Mark replied. Regardless, he walked me outside the building.
   “I guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I shrugged.
   “You know it!” Mark winked and walked back inside. With Jax still on patrol, I still got plenty of time to wander. I ended up floating down the main road until I meet some old New Republic Soldiers hanging outside a bar.
   “Hey Commander, how you holding up?” The first one, I Medic I remember as Jackson asked.
  “Still kinda annoying being bound to a chair like this.” I admitted. 
  “Based on your wound, a lot of us were surprised you even lived.” Jackson commented. 
   “You should of seen the looks from the Terran Murder Squad.” A sniper named Adem laughed lightly. 
   “Yes… I know, I know.” I sighed. 
   “Hey, it’s not all bad Commander, at least we finally get some peace and quiet.” Jackson shrugged. 
   “Yeah well you all know me, the frontline is where I belong… I get twitchy when I stand still for too long.” The group laughed along with me.
   “You were never one for sitting in an office all day.” Adem almost spilled his bear.
   “Say, how have the other’s been holding up?” I asked.
   “Will, CIK has a whole sector to themselves, as Burt and BRTD share another aera with the Earthbound vets.” Jackson explained. 
   “Well well, lucky them.” I chuckled. 
   “The Murder Squad ain’t doing so bad themselves, having that little community all set up. I heard you're house in paticler is tricked out with all sorts of gadgets.” Adem raised an eyebrow.
   “That’s only because of my… disability.” I trailed off.
   “Still, you have to admit, it’s still pretty fucking cool.” Adem smirked. We ended up talking for a few hours, remembering our past glories. Soon enough, Jax found us.
   “Their you are.” He sounded half annoyed as he got out of his car. “ I see you found the Republic’s favorite Hideout.” He added.
   “Hideout?” I looked confused.
   “Ever since you guys came back, this bar has become one of their hotspots.” Jax explained.
   “What? It’s a good bar!” Jackson looked almost offended.
   “Hell, the owner has considered changing the name, and rebranding to fit military vets all over the planet.” Adem commented.
   “Really? Well, I’d love to know more.” I raised an eyebrow.
   “Maybe later, cause since you don’t have your own mode of long distance travel, I’m you're only ride home, eh?” Jax crossed his arms. I sighed, but he had a point. I bit my fellow soldiers farewell, and got in the car. 


Chapter 3.5: Out of a Tank, and Into a Hover Car
   When we got back to the house, a mini two seater car was sitting on my driveway. I sighed, figuring it was another visiter… but when I approached it, the licence plate legiet said “Commander” in a mix of numbers and letters, so it looked more like “C0mmand3r”. Inside, the passenger seat was normal, but the driver set was mission, and had a spot big enough for my hover chair to fit inside.
   “Let me guess, this is for me?” I turned around to face Jax.
   “Well, yeah. If you're gonna get a job then you’ll need reliable transportation. Since I may not always be around to drive you everywhere.” jax explained.
   “Okay… but how exactly do I drive this thing? I got no feet to use the pedals.” I asked.
   “Simple, it does not use pedals. You push the wheel forward to accelerate, and pull it back to slow down.” Jax replied.
   “Seems simple enough…” I opened the doors and landed my hover chair in the open spot… then I heard a loud *click*.
   “Don’t worry about that, the click was just your chair being locked in place. I started the car. “Wait… where are you going?” jax asked.
   “Where do you think? I’m going for a ride.” I smiled. Before Jax could argue, I backed out of the driveway and pulled out onto the main road.
   At the end of the day, I traded in my Battle Tank for a floating hover car… my LMG for a flying chair… and my Commander Title for a job at a 9-1-1 center… life sure does come at ya hard, huh? I laughed at the thought as I rode the main highway… finally, some peace and quiet to myself.