on ambient energy. So really, anything you want, we can put in. Even plasma weapons.”
That last part surprised me a little. “I thought plasma weapons couldn’t be miniaturized enough for armor. What changed?”
“What? Oh, no no no. It was never a matter of miniaturization, but power. With the new plasma cores coming from manufacturing there’s more than enough power to equip your armor with a plasma equivalent to a chain gun or cannon. Perhaps we could even rig you up with guns depending on how we configure the systems. Like I said, if you want a weapon on this armor, we can fit it in.”
“That is one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever told me,” I replied to him. For the next half hour we talked about the relative strengths and weaknesses of each type of weapon, as well as the style of combat that my squad hoped to employ. We settled on a solid ammunition machine gun in the left forearm, a plasma cannon over the right shoulder, a plasma Gatling over the left, a short vibroblade in either gauntlet, and a plasma knife housed in the underside of the right forearm.
“Looks like a solid, balanced weapons system you’ve chosen, Captain. One last concern before I let you go. Are you planning on using swords as your primary close combat weapons? I know that’s a popular option, and we can do a lot with them.
“That’s the plan,” I replied. “Unless you have any better ideas for me.”
“I might… come back in a week, and I’ll have a presentation for you. It should truly impress. There are some things I’ve been playing with. A week will give me time to work some of the kinks out. I’ll get all this entered so my crew can start working on it. Get your boys to come on in in a week and a half so we can tune the new armor to each man. We already have your old armor ready to break down in one of the alcoves so I know a few of the suits are going to need a good bit of customization.” Ruiz smiled. “Now I’m sure a young pup like you has better things to do than listen to an old man ramble on about work. Get out of here and try not to do anything too stupid in the meantime, alright?”
“Yes, sir.” I agreed.
6
June 7, 2289. The Forge, Block 2
While waiting for the airlock to finish cycling, I addressed the forty-eight children wearing vacuum proofed armor for the first time. “Cadets. This is real. You are being exposed to hard vacuum as we speak and I do expect all of you to survive. None of you are screaming so I’m going to assume that you managed to put your armor on correctly. You have been divided into red and blue teams. We’re going to play a simple game of capture the flag. At no time are you to EVER deactivate the mag-clamps in your boots.”
Upon that last comment, a half dozen recruits quickly fiddled with their controls to activate the magnetic-clamps in their boots. The signal finally chimed in the helmet of my borrowed instructors’ armor, and the artificial gravity turned off. Several cadets still started to float despite repeated reminders. Their companions dragged them back to the deck so they could turn on the crucial equipment. “File out. Instructors Reid and Harker will show you to your parts of the field and get you formed up. From there it’s up to you. And kids, try not to die. I hate doing the paperwork.”
After a few minutes of setup, the cadets began straining against each other in vacuum, although a few complained of nausea. As soon as our leave was over, the High Sentinel had wasted no time assigning my squad our temporary orders. While our armor was being constructed, we got to babysit trainees at the academy. At least we were teaching combat classes instead of mathematics.
Red and blue paintballs flew back and forth occasionally hitting a cadet but more often just continued into the void. Every so often one of their instructors would fire at trainees who looked a little too reckless. More than a few soon sported bright green splotches on their
That last part surprised me a little. “I thought plasma weapons couldn’t be miniaturized enough for armor. What changed?”
“What? Oh, no no no. It was never a matter of miniaturization, but power. With the new plasma cores coming from manufacturing there’s more than enough power to equip your armor with a plasma equivalent to a chain gun or cannon. Perhaps we could even rig you up with guns depending on how we configure the systems. Like I said, if you want a weapon on this armor, we can fit it in.”
“That is one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever told me,” I replied to him. For the next half hour we talked about the relative strengths and weaknesses of each type of weapon, as well as the style of combat that my squad hoped to employ. We settled on a solid ammunition machine gun in the left forearm, a plasma cannon over the right shoulder, a plasma Gatling over the left, a short vibroblade in either gauntlet, and a plasma knife housed in the underside of the right forearm.
“Looks like a solid, balanced weapons system you’ve chosen, Captain. One last concern before I let you go. Are you planning on using swords as your primary close combat weapons? I know that’s a popular option, and we can do a lot with them.
“That’s the plan,” I replied. “Unless you have any better ideas for me.”
“I might… come back in a week, and I’ll have a presentation for you. It should truly impress. There are some things I’ve been playing with. A week will give me time to work some of the kinks out. I’ll get all this entered so my crew can start working on it. Get your boys to come on in in a week and a half so we can tune the new armor to each man. We already have your old armor ready to break down in one of the alcoves so I know a few of the suits are going to need a good bit of customization.” Ruiz smiled. “Now I’m sure a young pup like you has better things to do than listen to an old man ramble on about work. Get out of here and try not to do anything too stupid in the meantime, alright?”
“Yes, sir.” I agreed.
6
June 7, 2289. The Forge, Block 2
While waiting for the airlock to finish cycling, I addressed the forty-eight children wearing vacuum proofed armor for the first time. “Cadets. This is real. You are being exposed to hard vacuum as we speak and I do expect all of you to survive. None of you are screaming so I’m going to assume that you managed to put your armor on correctly. You have been divided into red and blue teams. We’re going to play a simple game of capture the flag. At no time are you to EVER deactivate the mag-clamps in your boots.”
Upon that last comment, a half dozen recruits quickly fiddled with their controls to activate the magnetic-clamps in their boots. The signal finally chimed in the helmet of my borrowed instructors’ armor, and the artificial gravity turned off. Several cadets still started to float despite repeated reminders. Their companions dragged them back to the deck so they could turn on the crucial equipment. “File out. Instructors Reid and Harker will show you to your parts of the field and get you formed up. From there it’s up to you. And kids, try not to die. I hate doing the paperwork.”
After a few minutes of setup, the cadets began straining against each other in vacuum, although a few complained of nausea. As soon as our leave was over, the High Sentinel had wasted no time assigning my squad our temporary orders. While our armor was being constructed, we got to babysit trainees at the academy. At least we were teaching combat classes instead of mathematics.
Red and blue paintballs flew back and forth occasionally hitting a cadet but more often just continued into the void. Every so often one of their instructors would fire at trainees who looked a little too reckless. More than a few soon sported bright green splotches on their
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