Battlenaut flowed open, and the couch released its grip. For a moment, he lay there, grinding his teeth, wanting only to have another shot at Perseid's Battlenaut to prove what he could do.
Then, he sighed deeply and climbed up out of the unit.
Perseid was just hopping out of his own armor at that moment. "What do you think, Corporal?"
Scott sat on the edge of the chest cavity and glared. "I think I'd like to spar another round, Major. Power me up."
Perseid laughed. "Some other time. What I want to know is, what did you think of the CORE Battlenaut? Did it measure up to your old Marine model?"
Scott was in a bad mood but could see no advantage in lying. "It far exceeded it across the board," he said. "It's an amazing piece of equipment."
"You haven't even maxed the specs yet," said Perseid. "You didn't come close to fully exploiting its capabilities."
Scott nodded. "We sure could've used these on the front lines. Why doesn't everybody have them?"
"You'll have to ask Command," said Perseid. " If you survive this mission. And after what I saw here just now, you're going to need lots more training hours to do that."
"Because you beat me?" said Scott. "Let's go best two out of three and see what happens."
"I'll have Captain Rexis schedule you for heavy drills for the rest of the trip to Shard," said Perseid. "In between classes and shipboard duties."
"Classes?" Scott couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
"That's right," said Perseid. "Consider this an intensive training cruise. We need you sharp by the time we see action."
"Duties?" said Scott.
Perseid smirked. "For the duration, you're a member of this crew. As such, you will fulfill the shipboard duties of any Diamondback."
Scott stared at him. "What duties are those?"
"Report to Captain Rexis," said Perseid. "She'll lay it all out for you." With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door, leaving Scott behind him wondering what the hell kind of mission he'd signed on for.
Since when did a seasoned Commonwealth Marine have to go through training and classes while detailed to a CORE unit? Since when did he have to perform shipboard duties? He was helping track down the Red Battlenauts; wasn't that duty enough?
Swinging his legs up out of the cockpit, he slid down the side of the Battlenaut and landed on the floor. He was sweated from the exercise, irritated with Perseid, and worn down by lack of sleep. His whole life had changed dramatically in just a few hours--not an uncommon thing for a Commonwealth Marine, but uncommonly dramatic this time around. Uncommonly crazy.
And he had a feeling things were only going to get crazier.
Â
*****
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Chapter 8
Â
Captain Rexis cut Scott a break. When he reported to her as ordered, she did indeed lay it all out for him--a busy duty and training schedule that wouldn't leave him much time for anything else. But she also gave him six hours' rack time commencing immediately, which was just what he needed. He could have kept going, he was trained to function under conditions of extreme sleep deprivation, but the rest would work wonders on his alertness and performance.
Back at his billet, he collapsed on the lower bunk he'd been assigned and finally let himself relax. Memories of the events of the day washed over him like a warm tide, lulling him ever closer to the brink of sleep.
At some point, he left it all behind and drifted off into a state of unconsciousness. This was part of his training, too--falling asleep quickly, grabbing rest when he got the chance. Often, in the field, he was lucky just to catch a couple winks between engagements.
As Scott slept, he had a lucid dream that mixed up elements of his life. First, he was back on Chelong III, riding his old gray Battlenaut through the mist. Then, he was in his CORE armor on the Training Deck of the Sun Tzu , looking for the Red Battlenaut. When he heard the sound of giant, stomping footsteps, he looked at the backside video feed--and saw
Then, he sighed deeply and climbed up out of the unit.
Perseid was just hopping out of his own armor at that moment. "What do you think, Corporal?"
Scott sat on the edge of the chest cavity and glared. "I think I'd like to spar another round, Major. Power me up."
Perseid laughed. "Some other time. What I want to know is, what did you think of the CORE Battlenaut? Did it measure up to your old Marine model?"
Scott was in a bad mood but could see no advantage in lying. "It far exceeded it across the board," he said. "It's an amazing piece of equipment."
"You haven't even maxed the specs yet," said Perseid. "You didn't come close to fully exploiting its capabilities."
Scott nodded. "We sure could've used these on the front lines. Why doesn't everybody have them?"
"You'll have to ask Command," said Perseid. " If you survive this mission. And after what I saw here just now, you're going to need lots more training hours to do that."
"Because you beat me?" said Scott. "Let's go best two out of three and see what happens."
"I'll have Captain Rexis schedule you for heavy drills for the rest of the trip to Shard," said Perseid. "In between classes and shipboard duties."
"Classes?" Scott couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
"That's right," said Perseid. "Consider this an intensive training cruise. We need you sharp by the time we see action."
"Duties?" said Scott.
Perseid smirked. "For the duration, you're a member of this crew. As such, you will fulfill the shipboard duties of any Diamondback."
Scott stared at him. "What duties are those?"
"Report to Captain Rexis," said Perseid. "She'll lay it all out for you." With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door, leaving Scott behind him wondering what the hell kind of mission he'd signed on for.
Since when did a seasoned Commonwealth Marine have to go through training and classes while detailed to a CORE unit? Since when did he have to perform shipboard duties? He was helping track down the Red Battlenauts; wasn't that duty enough?
Swinging his legs up out of the cockpit, he slid down the side of the Battlenaut and landed on the floor. He was sweated from the exercise, irritated with Perseid, and worn down by lack of sleep. His whole life had changed dramatically in just a few hours--not an uncommon thing for a Commonwealth Marine, but uncommonly dramatic this time around. Uncommonly crazy.
And he had a feeling things were only going to get crazier.
Â
*****
Â
Chapter 8
Â
Captain Rexis cut Scott a break. When he reported to her as ordered, she did indeed lay it all out for him--a busy duty and training schedule that wouldn't leave him much time for anything else. But she also gave him six hours' rack time commencing immediately, which was just what he needed. He could have kept going, he was trained to function under conditions of extreme sleep deprivation, but the rest would work wonders on his alertness and performance.
Back at his billet, he collapsed on the lower bunk he'd been assigned and finally let himself relax. Memories of the events of the day washed over him like a warm tide, lulling him ever closer to the brink of sleep.
At some point, he left it all behind and drifted off into a state of unconsciousness. This was part of his training, too--falling asleep quickly, grabbing rest when he got the chance. Often, in the field, he was lucky just to catch a couple winks between engagements.
As Scott slept, he had a lucid dream that mixed up elements of his life. First, he was back on Chelong III, riding his old gray Battlenaut through the mist. Then, he was in his CORE armor on the Training Deck of the Sun Tzu , looking for the Red Battlenaut. When he heard the sound of giant, stomping footsteps, he looked at the backside video feed--and saw
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