The two were nothing short of horrified when I woke them at 4:00 a.m.
“What?” Leo mumbled in his bed. “What’s going on?”
“Get out of those beds and meet me in the training grounds in five minutes. Get to it!”
“W-What?”
He repeated the same thing, but I just closed the door and left with a smile on my face. Just over twelve minutes later, both showed up with a terrible hangover on their faces. They couldn’t have had more than two hours of sleep.
“You’re late,” I growled, pretending to be mad. Or maybe I was? I had no idea.
“Sorry, sir, it’s just—”
“Just what, Private? You thought you could sleep in today because you drank last night? There’s a war going on and it waits for nobody’s beauty sleep! Where’s your gear? Why are you not dressed for war?”
“Sir, you didn’t tell us to—”
“Shut it! We’re running Itiho hill now, and for every minute you’re late, you’ll be running another round. Since you’re late seven minutes, you’re running it eight times.”
“What about our gear?” Layla asked, finally speaking.
“What are you waiting for? Go get it! I’ll be adding rounds while you do so!”
The two confused, hungover soldiers looked at each other and then sprinted back to their quarters to bring their equipment. In the end, I added another three rounds, totaling out at eleven. By the end of it, they would be walking corpses, but this was an important lesson that my sergeant had taught me back in the day.
“Never let your guard down, son!” he had boomed every time I asked him why he made us do stupid stuff. And he was right. There was no reason to think that you’d ever get a good night’s sleep.
“See,” I barked as I ran after them, “from this experience, you’ll know better than to embrace drinking while in a warzone. Taking the edge off is one thing, but getting plastered is just idiotic!”
“Sir, yes sir!” both replied through labored breathing.
“Secondly, your superior officer is not your friend. He can be like a brother to you, but never a friend! Thirdly, expect the unexpected! Just when you thought things were going well, they could go terribly wrong the very next moment. That’s war! It’s not fun, it’s not easy, and it’s not comfortable!”
“Sir, yes sir!”
“Get your back into it!” I snapped and went on. “War is centuries of life compressed to seconds!” I read it somewhere, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use the saying, right? “And lastly, a hangover is seldom the only punishment life throws at you the day after drinking!” I liked that one the most as it was my very own brainchild.
The drill continued and I never stopped pushing them, even after we kicked ass in the last simulation. I kept the ban on R&R and continued a harrowing training regimen that left them half dead at the end of each day. I had to if we ever wanted to rise to what was waiting for us at Detera. And to get the good stuff after finishing the simulated games. See, the winners and top rankers got to choose some special gear, and until then we weren’t allowed to use anything that was specialized. Like armors that could easily add a whole layer of nanite reinforced protection.
Most of the other squad leaders had little experience in the Ulyx Cluster. If they’d had any, they wouldn’t have been in this batch of reinforcements. They would already be in the Ulyx Cluster. And no, I’d never been there either, but I’d been close enough.
All of my battles had happened in the Gaia system on the planet Gaia and its moon, Yin. The third was on Pelerin where I managed to bite the bullet. Those places were hell, but they were nothing compared to Detera. The entire Shanah sector was one massive battlefield covered in billions of corpses, and that was our heading. I wasn’t going to become one of those corpses, I promised myself, not again.
They resented me, the two of them. I could feel it, but I didn’t have the luxury of caring. When the next simulation came up, I knew my team was ready. None of us had gone up by a single level since then, but our cooperation and handling had become much better.
When the green skies of Detera washed over the grey ceiling of the holo-training grounds, all I could think of was how we were going to get to rank seven on the ladder, maybe even six if we pushed really hard.
A week or two from now and we’d be in the top five. I knew we couldn’t compete with the first three ranks, at least for now. Those were some rougher squads, some of which consisted of battle forged soldiers Tier 4 and above, but there was still time. Besides, the ever-looming threat of a week on force-juice wasn’t giving me any respite either.
Rain was falling on simulated Detera and night was closing in. Visibility was bad, but then again, I expected the simulation to get tougher. We read our mission objective on the INAS as soon as it popped up.
PRIMARY MISSION: Capture Fort Targon
SECONDARY MISSION: Eliminate all enemies
REMAINING TIME: T-60 Minutes
“Simple enough,” I muttered. “Check your gear first and cover me while I summon the familiars.”
Leo snapped to attention and immediately found the high ground. He set up a position on the first floor of an abandoned building and scanned the area while Layla remained close. Unlike my briefcase which was civilian-level tech, a lower-level military Technomancer always carried a tight backpack that stored the additional nanites I needed. This was the worst possible way of summoning familiars, but it got the job done when it came to non-armed familiars.
Back in the day, I didn’t even need the backpack, I could just let the nanites flow around me like the corporal from Carrier 6, but until I gained more levels and managed to establish a deeper connection with my tech, I had to make do with what I had.
“Oh, a new one!” Layla said as I finished summoning Bucky. Buzzard was next.
“Yeah! The fat one looks a little bit like Layla!” Leo yelled from overhead.
While his remark could have been considered funny, I’d rather not have him spill jokes at this time.
“Shut up and keep your eyes open, Private.”
I sent out Buzzard to scout the area which Leo’s scope couldn’t reach. Fort Targon sat some two miles ahead on a slope and was a hive of activity. The drone came under enemy fire the moment he was spotted, but none of the bullets hit him. Luckily.
“We’ve got incoming!” Leo said over the INAS, keeping his voice down.
“How much?”
“Ten Raintroopers.”
I pulled Buzzard back and had Bucky take position around the corner.
“They know we’re coming,” I said through our comms. “We’ve lost our advantage, but that doesn’t matter. Leo, you go to that building over there,” I said, sending him the info over the INAS.
He didn’t respond. I didn’t need him to. All I needed from him was for him to move his ass, and he did that with the grace of a cat, jumping and running like a pro athlete.
“What about us?” Layla whispered as she stood next to me.
I put a finger to my mouth and made a cutting motion with my hand, then tapped my ear.
“INAS only from now on. We take the center. Go.”
We hurried along the broken street and stopped near the edge of the residential block. I was hunched down behind a large section of wall, peeking through a small crack as Buzzard floated nearby but out of view. My golem was making his way around from the direction where Leo lay in hiding, just to make sure he wasn’t flanked.
The Raintroopers came into view just a minute later, but we couldn’t see most of them.
“Buzzard. Scan the bunker,” I said in my INAS. I didn’t have to, but it told the others what we were doing and gave them the same results.
“Ten targets found inside the bunker. All Aloi Raintrooper.”
“It’s a good and strategic position to bunker down. We’ll have to draw them out. Buzzard, go over there and have a poke at them.”
“Acknowledged.”
The mechanical whirring of the s
mall rotors was enough to tell them someone was there, and just like that, the AI was as predictable as always.
Bullets started flying left and right, most going wide and into the air.
“Three on the right and three on the left,” Leo said. “Do I take the shot?”
“No, wait. We don’t want you to draw fire. Layla, you charge straight in while Bucky takes them from the side. I’ll go in from the left.”
She nodded and readied herself, slamming the power-fists together.
“I’m counting on you, Leo. Take the headshots but don’t forget to watch our backs.”
“Affirmative, Sarge.”
I put up my hand and made a ‘get going’ gesture. She jumped out of her cover from one side as I did so from the other. Buzzard withdrew slightly, forcing them out of the bunker so they didn’t lose it, but when they saw us, the Raintroopers froze for a mere second.
White rounds peppered both of us as Bucky stormed in from the far side and slammed into them as he used Charge. Bullets stopped flying for the last thirty yards, but that was all we had until the stun was over.
Layla jumped into the air and used Earthquake as she came down. Dust, rocks, and yellow sparks blew in all directions, peppering the Aloi troopers. The sonic boom of her attack alone sounded like a building collapsing and almost looked like it. The difference in power between the first time she used it and now, astonishing.
One of the Raintroopers was knocked off his reptilian feet and slammed his head on the ground hard enough to end up unconscious immediately. Two others shook it off, while most scattered about. Two spears came flying in as the Aloi charged. I took several potshots at my own side, sending the enemy hiding behind rubble and debris.
Bucky taunted several with his skill and they slammed into him like a tidal wave. He used his long, thick arms to keep them at bay, but their weapons had a longer range. I fired off several shots and all but one Aloi turned my way and charged as Bucky hammered the single remaining enemy.
I fired again from up close now and struck two of the troopers several times.
They staggered backward and one of them stumbled, falling over on his back just as Layla pulled her right hand back and used her Crushing Blow, sending the enemy flying. A trail of white blood was left as he flew and slammed into a nearby wall, dying on impact.
The Raintroopers on the left jumped at me. Two loud booms resounded from the right and two Aloi dropped on their backs. I pulled Bucky away from a remaining soldier and left Layla to deal with him while he intercepted three of the closest targets. He was fast for such a short and bulky familiar, but that was the beauty of nanites.
I fired at the nearest Aloi who thrust his spear at me, hitting his head point-blank four times.
He dropped to his side, dead, just as the one remaining on my side thrust his spear, hitting my shoulder.
A rattle of gunfire resounded from behind, several bullets slamming into me.
I rolled to the side and out of view just as Layla tackled the remaining spear-wielding Aloi behind another building and pummeled him to death. Using the several seconds I had, I checked on my biometrics. I had but a few bruises, nothing else. It was still more than enough if we managed to clear the first wave. Although we were in a simulation and pain wasn’t an issue, virtual death was.
I turned on Blade Shield and jumped from cover as the Aloi came in range. Two of the four jumped after me with silk-spears pointing right at my chest. Good, I wanted to try out my new ability and see how good it held up.
Blade Shield wasn’t only a defensive ability, it was a swarm of nanites that did whatever you wanted as it imitated a twister that blocked all incoming attacks. The first thrust of a silk-spear was blocked with ease, then another. I moved backward and out of range as I peppered the two with more bullets.
Another deafening boom echoed from the east and one of the two Aloi dropped, its head now missing and Layla was still busy with the other. My shield dwindled as the trooper stabbed and thrust the spear. I was in a very bad position to evade and dodge but did so as I took several shots at his head and then decided on some class. I concentrated the nanites in the whirlwind into one continuous chain that moved around my body like a floating metallic snake lying in wait.
As the one last Raintrooper pushed its spear toward me, I snapped the nanite around its forearm and pulled the whole thing out of its socket. The soldier screamed in agony as he fell to his knees. The nanite chain struck outward again and sliced through the neck, decapitating the enemy soldier.
I looked to Layla who seemed to be doing just fine so I patched up my familiars with whatever nanite cells I had on me.
I patched up my robots and Leo patched up my wounds just as quickly, but we were out of Rejuvenation as he'd already used all of his H-Nans up on the two of us.
“I’ll need about thirty minutes for the cells to have recharged again,” he said apologetically.
“Doesn’t matter. We’re all good and will have to take it more carefully from now on.”
“Sure thing, Sarge,” he said and flashed me his usual grin.
“Good shooting, kiddo,” Layla added as she bumped his shoulder.
“Buzzard, check if all of them are dead.”
“Order confirmed.”
“So, what’s next,” Layla asked as she stared out onto the fort in the distance.
“We’ll—”
“Nine confirmed kills,” Buzzard interrupted me. A cold sweat ran down my back as I looked around hurriedly.
“Where’s the last one?” I snapped, putting my gun up as I scanned our surroundings.
A gentle whirring that was distinctly different than Buzzard’s drew my attention out onto the plain ahead of us.
“Shit, that’s an Aloi Ravager,” I cursed. “The Raintrooper must have called in the heavy reinforcements.”
“That thing is huge!” Leo said incredulously as he stared at it through his scope.
“Stop dawdling and get up there!” I snapped, pointing at the building closest to us.
“What about me?” Layla asked excitedly. She didn’t seem so afraid, more like as if she couldn’t wait to get her hands on the thing.
“You and Bucky will have to tank it though you won’t be able to suffer more than a single direct hit. Be ready to back away.”
A massive plume of smoke erupted from behind the Ravager and flew right at us.
“Incoming!” Buzzard warned.
I slammed into Layla and dove behind cover just as a grenade exploded where we stood mere moments ago.
“Shit, you’re heavy, girl!” I hissed as I rapped my shoulder.
“Sorry, Sarge.”
I shook my head and got up as I sent Bucky around again. A metallic clicking echoed in the air as hundreds of servomotors moved the giant Aloi Ravager on its six armored legs. Those were the true soldiers of the Aloi Hegemony, the cavalry of old so to say.
The Cantari Raintroopers were the brother species of the Aloi. They lived in a sort of symbiotic relationship, and while the Cantari were a reptilian bipedal race not unlike humans, the Aloi were much larger, powerful creatures on six legs that looked part spider and part bear in a centaur kind of combination. Just one of those creatures in Ravager armor was more than a challenge to a team of our level.
If the Ravager wasn’t enough, a dozen more Raintroopers accompanied it. They rained down hell on us from the moment the Ravager dropped with a massive thunk. I pulled Bucky and Buzzard back so they didn’t get hurt before I could even come up with a plan of attack.
Leo was already firing at the Raintroopers, getting several headshots off, but a hailstorm of bullets struck the side of the building he was in, just below where he was perched.
“Leo, can you barrage the Raintroopers?” I asked over the INAS.
“Only if you draw fire.”
I sent out Bucky into the fray, knowing there was a good chance he was going to get ripped to pieces in mere moments. I charged the closest Raintrooper and knocked him
off his feet with the butt of my gun and fired into the mass, drawing their attention.
I taunted as many as there were around the Ravager, and screamed my lungs out. A strange, hissing sound echoed out from above us and the sound dissipated only to become louder a mere second later as a swarm of slugs came raining down. Hundreds of nanite projectiles slammed into the troopers, killing several, but the Ravager was fully intact.
Bucky wasn’t in such bad shape, so I still had him to draw some more attention when needed. It let out a metallic growl as the Ravager turned toward me, pointing its cannon at my face. The grenade slammed into the wall next to me, blowing the whole section out, and peppered me with plaster, iron bars, and shrapnel. A second grenade flew from another launcher, but went straight up and slammed into the balcony where Leo had been.
I pushed myself up from the debris and pulled my gun free from the rubble as I looked at my INAS. Leo was hurt, but he was alive. There was only one way we could possibly pull this off without sufficient firepower.
“We have to get through the Ravagers armor. We can’t do much about the Raintroopers now, and they’re almost dead anyway,” I sent over our comms, and mentally scribbled a plan of attack into my INAS, then sent it to them. For a short moment, there was no answer, but then Layla broke the inner silence.
“Shit.”
“I know,” I muttered. “We have to execute this perfectly.”
Another salvo from the Ravager destroyed my cover and sent me flying deeper into the parking lot. As I skidded to a halt, I noticed the damage message, I had internal bleeding. I’d been damn lucky to only get hit for so little.
“We do this now! Buzzard, you go up as far as you can!”
I waited for the Raintroopers to go after Layla and jumped from behind cover as the Ravager approached. I took a beating but managed to send Bucky into position. Layla came running back just then and ran right at the Ravager in a dead sprint. Before the giant six-legged machine of death had time to focus on her, Bucky rammed into its legs from the side and taunted the Aloi super soldier. With a powerful cleave of the blades in its hands, Bucky was torn in two, his parts sent flying in opposite directions.
Starblood: A Military Space Opera Series (War Undying Book 1) Page 6