Oto Koe Uta
Prologue
Hydraulics whirr, virtually noiselessly, as I push my self up slowly, making sure that I don't let any of the rubble on top of me fall.
All the while a small window in the upper right-hand corner of the Heads-Up-Display opens up. It details what it was that hit the area immediately to my left, rather unsurprisingly a 120mm portable mortar.
Funnily enough, the Intel does not include the firing location, but then again this is one of the largest single battles in the last century or so, my 5th brigade and 3rd regiment under versus an entire division; presumably led by Major General Schneider. And one of the three geosynchronous observation satellites has been shot down, so maybe not quite so surprising.
All the while another readout is displayed; this time reporting a single fire team of four of the Heer, from the 3rd regiment were caught in the blast: the vital signs show that three are already dead, the other missing two limbs. None of my business.
'Lock, alien load. Brace, legs and back' A small hum sounds as four small motors push one blade into the rock above each. The servomotors and hydraulics lock my lower limbs in place, what little weight that I was feeling on my legs totally vanish, the torso also braces itself only allowing the small amount of movement for the arms.
I look down as I reach back underneath me. The synthetic carbon-based muscles tighten and pull at my body in order to produce enough space for me to move the still rather large rifle into a firing position, wile keeping the points of incision of the blades more or less stable, and prevent any visible movement of the debris, a rather difficult thing to say the least, absolutely wonderful for comfort; my 7th vertebrae pops. The magnetic lock undoes itself as I grasp at the grip of the sniper rifle: a specially customised semi-automatic Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Super Magnum.
The one thing that I admit I dislike about this battle suit is that I can't feel the weight of anything, the rifle in my hands, the rubble on my back, I can't even really feel the weight of my own body when I'm operation in this. On the other hand, if it weren't for those very same servomotors, hydraulics, and synthetic muscle, I probably wouldn't bee thinking all of this. So I shouldn't be complaining.
Oh! Hello there...
Apparently the intelligence unit has decided to get it's act together. A new window has opened up, detailing their findings: two fire-teams supporting the mortar team of one loader and one gunner.
I slip my hand to the bottom of the AIAWSM, making sure that my hand is holding the 5-round magazine, flick a switch and slip the magazine into a pouch around my gut. Following that I pull a new larger magazine: a Ten-round box full with .338 lapua cartridges. "One shot, one kill" as it were. One shot through each of their bodies, normally I'd try and go for their heads but the wind is too unpredictable, here today.
The stock gives little resistance as I unfold it. A touch on a small mark on the top of the scope sends hundreds of commands, beginning the synchronisation proses, the image form the scope gets superimposed over the screen, it and the two sets of three cameras on each side of the helmet begin to compare images and triangulate thenprecise direction to shoot. The satellites send information about distance, elevation, temperature, wind, gravity, magnetic fields and any other variables that could get in the way.
A red window opens, just as a wing of tilt-wing jet-VTOLs roar over head, way beyond speed of sound, the sounds are almost instantly cut off as the suit adjusts the sound filters on the speakers but it's still enough to distract me. They must have been scrambled from the enemy forward base, twenty or so kliks ahead. the CPU continues it's calculations.
A few commands and the status of the navy gets displayed: the Diamond has been hit several times and is crippled, but we are winning. Dragon reports its firing of a tomahawk. We still maintain air superiority, but with an aircraft carrier arriving in range within the hour that may not be for long.
I love humans; they're fun to hurt. People are sentient, they know what you can do to them unlike animals, you can harm them toy with them, detail every thing you are going to do to them, and they will know what you mean, even if they can't speak the same language. They can feel loss of others, I shoot the soldiers over there, and the rest have a moment or two feel the recognise that it's one their friends that are lying there in a pool of their own blood, and then recognise that it's them that's next; the look on their faces, it makes me giddy just thinking about it.
Besides why should I show them mercy, when they wont extend the same courtesy to me? They joined the armed forces, they know what happens when they have a bullet rolling in ones chest cavity, they joined knowing that they could die. Why should I show them mercy?
A small bleep sounds shaking me from my train of thoughts The image on the screen shows the ten enemies, I slip my finger across the dial, from SAFE to SLOW and settling on RAPID, slow allows the slow, and silent ejection of spent casings, but a low rate of fire, rapid quickens the cycle of ejecting the case, and chambering a new one, but is not suitable for hiding.
I feel my breathing slow, I set the system to shut out all external sound, I'm alone with the flickering lights of the screen in front of me, my breathing slows further, until the pace is even slower than a infant in an REM cycle. My heart beat slows as well. It sounds awfully loud da-dum, da-dum, all my muscles in my body begin to relax, all but the hands cradling the rifle
da-dum, my index finger begins to tighten around that metal catch, the trigger.
da-...dum, I pace the timing to be between heart beats, just me, my finger and my heart beat.
da-...dum... I pull through.
The Dreaded AN
A recent review by Bladesoul suddenly made me decide to upload the above as a prologue.
Not much of an improvement or an update I admit, but meh I'm a freak.
I decided to deleat the first chapters entirly since I haven't kept backups of previous chapters so I can't edit them.
Any way since I have put an effort into actually uploading one thing after all these years, I will (presumably, in theory, hopefully) start doing some thing and continue my spiral of... something. That is assuming there is a reasonably high interest in me actually doing something other than surfing nico video. However the updates will be slow, monthlies at best. And the first few will be just clearing up chapters 1-3, I haven't looked at them for a bit I admit, but I know that I have got better than that since then. The thing that I'm tring to say in thins very round about way is don't hold your breath if you wan't to live to see rebuild 2, 3 and 4.
Still here? I intend to add a pile of ideas that I have had over the years, from those that are virtually dead to those that are practically solid, on the forums for those that are interested in ripping me to shreds. \(^o^)/