Note: I've decided to replace "Rookie", "Squaddie" and "Squad Leader" with more formal military-styled "Private" and "Corporal". Some equipment is also getting a facelift because - let's face it - it looked downright ridiculous. Stupid 50's styling. For example, the red parts of Megapol armor are now black, like on the soldiers on the main menu screen in US version of Apocalypse.
Still, I'll try to stick to canon as much as possible. Vehicles are still going to be red, and X-COM will be stuck in a warehouse with a couple of peashooters.
Also, special thanks to Apocalypse's random name generator.
Chapter 2: The City of Tomorrow
Tuesday, 7th March, 2084 – 4:50
Gaston was already back in cabin B25, his bag at his feet. He finished his breakfast long before the others – since it was the first time in his life he'd been on Earth, he didn't want to miss even a moment of it.
So, in lieu of having anything better to do, he sat glued to window. Fortunately, this day was cloudless, and Gaston could already make out some of the landscape.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're currently approaching Transtellar Spacelines space port, and should land in ten minutes. Please remember to keep your seatbelts fastened at all times, as artificial gravity is now off and thus the ship is subject to inertia and winds."
The sight in the window was quite grim, actually. Lake Ontario, like all other Great Lakes, was rendered completely lifeless over the past four decades, its blackened waters completely still.
But in the distance, Gaston could already see the liner's destination. The massive walls of the city were the first thing he saw, followed by the giant silhouette of the space port.
As the ship got closer, he also noticed the ruins and slums outside the city limits, although most of them had been reprocessed for raw materials back when the city was under construction.
The inside of the city limits was a sharp contrast to the devastation outside. Highways, parks, skyscrapers… pretty much everything one would expect to see in a large city, but on Mars such cities didn't stand out at all. Mega-Primus looked like a jewel in the gray mist of the remains of the old world.
Finally, the ship stopped right above one of space port's launch tubes. As far as Gaston remembered, the space port was built on the site of the old Toronto island airport. Toronto harbor was also separated from the lake and turned into a water reservoir for the city, as well as a site of recreational and scientific activities. One of the more ambitious projects by City Senate reintroduced animal and plant life into the harbor, and future aims included cleanup and re-settlement of the entire lake.
Finally, the liner descended into the underground level of the port and stopped.
"On behalf of our President and Senators, we would like to welcome you to Mega-Primus."
"Alright people," Buchard rose from his chair "Let's go. There should be someone from Megapol waiting for us at check-out."
Customs, check-out… none of it remained in Gaston's mind by the time he and the others approached a middle-aged, well-muscled man in a business suit with a Megapol badge on it.
Buchard was genuinely surprised as he shook hands with the man.
"Klaus, is that you? What are you doing here? Hmm." Buchard turned to his entourage. "Allow me to introduce Klaus Gunkel, former X-COM fighter pilot in the Frontier. Now," He turned back to smiling Klaus "What are you doing here?"
"I'm the chief of Megapol, Armand." He chuckled as Buchard's jaw dropped. "Alright, we don't have much time. Would you mind introducing the rest of your team?"
"Oh, of course. This is Andrea Jonlan, my second-in-command, Shuji Iwahara – the new director of our R&D department, and Gaston Gautier – our newest field agent."
"Nice to meet all of you. Now, let's go. I've arranged for an Airtrans to take us to the Senate."
"The Senate?" Buchard frowned. "What's this about?"
"Sorry, man. Government orders, they want to see you all in person, give you a brainwashing message, try to use you in their petty power plays... You know, stuff like that."
As they were walking to the exit, Gaston carefully approached his commander.
"Um… sir, may I ask a question?"
"Go ahead, private."
"Do I need to go to the Senate as well? I mean, I'm not even an officer…"
"You got any other suggestions?" Buchard cut him off.
"Um, no s…"
"Thought so. Enjoy the trip, rookie. Think of at as sight-seeing. Memorize the layout. Hell, you're even going to meet the Senators themselves, something one of those Extropian or Technocrat monkeys would worship you for as if you were a god." Buchard stopped speaking as he climbed into Superdynamics ECA-04 Air Transport, always shortened to simple Airtrans.
The green-colored, sleek transport was popular because of its low-consumption Elerium-powered engine and modular construction that allowed it to be refitted to transport every material in existence. This one was equipped with a few passenger modules, and Buchard grunted in approval as he settled into one of the comfortable chairs.
"Alright." Klaus sat down next to the pilot. "Samusenko, take us to the Senate."
"Yes sir." The transport lifted off and proceeded on its destination, maintaining an altitude of about 150 meters above the busy road.
Gaston was still surprised at seeing an actual pilot in the normally AI-controlled vehicle.
Noticing his bewilderment, Andrea leaned closer to him and whispered "City regulations. Something about necessity of interpersonal contact in a society dominated by automation."
Klaus overheard them and frowned. "These regulations will be the death of us someday. Look at that hovercar for example." He pointed out of the window to the police hovercar escorting them.
Gaston looked closely and was quite surprised at seeing Megapol use hovercars instead of more conventional aerial vehicles. To make things even stranger, the car was styled in the popular 1950's fashion, although it was noticeably sleeker and modern-looking than its road-going version.
"Yup, that styling is a result of another ridiculous regulation – this time about pleasurable design of public vehicles."
"Ouch." Buchard nodded. "And I was wondering why you guys don't use these new Swordfish helijets, like the police on Mars does."
"That Barracuda-based craft? Oh aye, we wanted a license to manufacture those for a long time. Unfortunately the government is unrelenting. They prefer looks over function; no wonder crime is on the rise."
After a few seconds of silence, Klaus spoke up again. "Fortunately for us, Marsec has been hit by that regulation too. They had to develop Phoenix hovercars just to sell mid-range combat craft on Earth."
"You guys don't like each other much, do you?"
"Of course we don't, it's a damn armaments industry competition. Megapol isn't just a police force, we're also competing with Marsec on the market. And unfortunately they have an upper hand here."
"No offense, mate, but you two are in way too different leagues. They aren't called Mars Security for no reason. They watch over entire planets."
Gaston whistled in amazement as the transport flew past the CN Tower, one of the few remaining landmarks of the old Toronto – now carefully repaired, cleaned and upgraded. It also housed Megavision Three, the largest Sensovision broadcast station in the city. Although Sensovision craze has died a bit by now and people began to realize that experiencing state of the actor didn't replace the need for more traditional media like radio, television and newspapers (not that it mattered much since Sensovision corporation worked with said traditional media as well), the station remained an important element of city information grid. And so, Megavision Three wasn't going anywhere, despite the protests from Extropians who viewed this as a desecration of the famous landmark.
"Nice job on the tower you did here." Buchard commented. "You guys doing anything else?"
"No, restoration projects are shelved right now. At the moment we're busy with rebuilding the IML station."
"International Maglev? What for?"
"The new Megalopolis in New York is going to be settled next month, and General Metro offered to restore the old IML line since it'll be cheaper than Transtellar liners. Not to mention that we already don't like Transtellar holding monopoly over the city transport."
"Still, it's hundreds of miles of tunnels to repair. Most of it in the wastelands."
"Nah. It was built using plasteel stockpiles from the First War, remember? They could stand without repairs for hundreds of years. And since it's all hermetically sealed, we just have to replace the stations themselves, do some upgrades, and voila. Oh and by the way… welcome to the Senate."
The light-brown building was truly magnificent. Built in the same retro-futuristic style as the rest of the city, the Senate was one of the biggest structures in the city. Lavish, with extremely large windows and two curved expansions forming a crescent around the park where public speeches were given, the Senate outshined even the Congressional Plaza in New Washington on Mars. Although Technocrat party never missed a chance to poke at what they called a "ridiculous waste of time and money", the Senate building became the first and most recognizable landmark of Mega-Primus.
The transport landed in one of the launch tubes located behind the extensions, and soon the whole team was awestruck as the marvelous combination of glass, concrete, marble and even genuine wood that was the building's interior revealed itself to them.
"Right this way, people." Klaus was used to luxurious environment of the Senate, having visited it nearly every day for five years.
After about twenty minutes of walking throughout the maze of corridors and halls of the building, Gaston found himself sitting on a sofa opposite to the gold-encrusted doors of the Senate Chamber, emblazoned with the symbol of Mega-Primus' government – a variation of an "all-seeing eye" with black-and-red stripes across it.
"What are we waiting for, Klaus?" Buchard asked.
"This guy…" Klaus pointed half-heartedly at fit, healthy man running towards them.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, gentlemen… and lady." The man quickly said as he stopped near the group. "A lot of trouble with the couriers, since the Senate suddenly uplifted the ban on heavy weapons... I'm sure you understand."
"Oh, I certainly do." Klaus rolled his eyes.
"Come on, Mr. Gunkel. Can we leave out the corporate competition here? You could've been a bit friendlier." The man looked only a few years older than Gaston, who immediately took a certain liking to his positive attitude.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Bernard Unger, Marsec representative here on Earth. Now, Mr. Gunkel, mind telling me why was I summoned to the Senate?"
"These fine people with me, Bernard, are from X-COM. Put two and two together and you'll figure out why the weapons ban was lifted, too."
Buchard rose from his chair and stretched his hand to the startled man. "Section Commander Armand Buchard. Nice to meet you, Mr. Unger."
"Bu-Buchard? Why, sir." Bernard shook Buchard's hand. "It's a great honor to make your acquaintance."
"Don't call me "sir". I'm not your commanding officer."
"That's out of the question, sir. Marsec doesn't forget its roots easily."
The conversation was cut off as the doors swung open and a warm, welcoming voice from seemingly nowhere said "Gentlemen, please come inside. The Senators would like to speak with you."
Contrary to what Gaston expected, the Senate chamber was not the pinnacle of luxury. It wasn't completely austere either, with a rich, obviously hand-woven red carpet and a large oval table of polished black wood, but that was it.
As he settled in one of the leather chairs, the lights slowly came on, and he finally saw all thirteen senators sitting on the opposite side of the table. Contrary to rumors he heard, the senators were wearing ordinary business suits and looked absolutely normal. A closer look revealed strange rings with square and compasses emblazoned on them. Gaston was absolutely sure he saw that symbol somewhere, but couldn't place it.
The President of Senators – an elderly, gray-haired woman in her fifties - finally spoke up. "Welcome to Mega-Primus, commander Buchard."
Buchard raised an eyebrow before answering. "Thank you… President Healey. I believe you wouldn't mind if we got straight to the point? I'd prefer to inspect my base as soon as possible."
Gaston nearly gasped. Of course! How could he forget that Mega-Primus was ruled by once the most powerful person in the world?
Former Premier-President of the North American Alliance didn't look unsatisfied with her current position, however. She fully realized that evacuation of Earth already turned the United Nations' member states into purely symbolical entities, and was one of the staunch supporters of the UN's reorganization into New World Council, the current unified Terran government.
"Indeed, Commander, I'd rather keep this short. I assume you've already read the Megapol and Marsec reports on alien activity."
"Of course."
"Well, there's something that wasn't mentioned there. These… gates were first sighted here years ago, back when the city was near completion."
"And why haven't you…"
"They were several hundred miles away from the city and were written off as hallucinations, urban legends or atmospheric phenomena. However, over the years they got closer. It appears that they shift their position every day... so over the years, they slowly approached the city."
Buchard leaned forward. "That complicates matters a lot. We might be dealing with full-fledged alien infiltration here already."
Healey sighed. "We think we already do. The social situation in the city is decaying rapidly. Statistics clearly
demonstrate increases in physical and cyberspace violence, family breakdowns, crime, ethnic
unrest and strange cult group involvement. Sociologists are baffled, people are fleeing."
"We still don't have any evidence that this situation is caused by the aliens, President. It could be that meddlesome Psyke and their cursed Psiclones for all we know." Another senator spoke up, visibly irritated.
"Psyke is in decline, senator Fujimoto. Psiclone trade is the only thing preventing them from complete collapse. They've been raided by Diablo for months." Gunkel retorted.
"Furthermore, Senator Fujimoto, you saw the yesterday's video with the rest of us." Replied another senator, visibly much younger than the others.
Gaston barely managed to remember his name. Victor Wright, one of the few of the senators that didn't belong to any of the city's political parties.
"Video?" Buchard asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yes, a video." Healey pushed a button under the table, and a LCD screen descended from the ceiling, facing the visitors.
Gaston shuddered as he saw a visibly repulsive, organic-looking craft that looked nothing like conventional saucers utilized by the aliens previously encountered by X-COM. In fact, it more resembled a chocolate truffle.
"Here you see one of the two types of UFOs we've encountered so far. It was sighted yesterday at about 6 PM over Iliad Institute.
After hovering above the building for a few seconds, a large white beam of light appeared between the roof and the craft. The beam wasn't uniform, occasionally shifting as something humanoid-shaped came through it several times.
Everyone sat speechless as the screen was pulled back up.
Healy continued. "The building was swept several times by Megapol SWAT team, but they didn't find anything and were recalled for safety reasons. The building itself is quarantined."
Buchard cast a suspicious glance at Gunkel, who promptly replied "I'm serious. We haven't found anything."
"In any case, Commander Buchard," Healy continued "I hope that X-COM can... deal with this problem as soon as possible. As you probably know, the construction of New York Megalopolis is nearly complete, and the next elections are due in a few months."
"What do we get?"
"Your base, contacts with Mutant Alliance and S.E.L.F., carte-blanche for any military activity in the city – in reasonable amounts, of course, and full access to the military hardware market. I believe Mr. Unger has already told you about the uplifted ban on heavy weapons?"
"Yes, he did. But not the details."
"Mr. Unger?" Healey turned to Marsec representative, who promptly spoke up.
"Yes... at the moment we're going through paperwork and delivery, so it'll be another week before the items I requested arrive from Mars. Right now we can offer you only basic selection of combat vehicles and infantry equipment, but at the beginning of the next week we'll be ready to offer you missile launchers, plasma weapons, advanced combat craft and Griffon tanks, as well as our new powered armor."
"On a side note," Wright spoke up, "Cyberweb has already informed us that they will deliver some of their more advanced targeting computers here next week."
"What about the funding?" Buchard focused on Healey again.
"A hundred and forty thousand credits right now, and one hundred thousand each week. The payment will be increased or – God forbid – decreased depending upon your performance."
"I'll be honest – this is underwhelming."
"Tax revenues have dropped and our budget is shrinking. However, as I said before, you're given a carte-blanche. It goes against my morals to allow you to access the black market, but there is no other choice. You're also authorized to mount raids on any organization in the city, but be warned that you'll have to deal with the consequences yourself. Be on alert. Megapol is stretched thin on fighting the crime syndicates, so in the meanwhile the megacorporations have stocked up on weapons. Basically, the city is a powderkeg that can explode any moment."
"Understood."
"Then this meeting is adjourned. I wish all of you best of luck in the coming months – you'll need it."
Tuesday, 7th March, 6:49
Warehouse Three
The massive antigravity lift took the arrivals into the underground level of the warehouse, which housed the X-COM base.
Gaston felt slightly uncomfortable, as he was "greeted" by the sight of several quad-barreled plasma turrets pointed at him. Behind them were small guard towers, each equipped with its own grav lift.
Despite the early hour, the base resembled a bee hive, with people running around, carrying equipment, goods or stacks of files.
There were only two people actually expecting the arrivals, both in the black field agent uniform, with a rank insignia on their collars.
The first of them, a burly, muscular man with shaved head, approached Buchard and saluted.
"Sergeant Carl Krause at your service, sir. The base is fully operational and we're currently on alert."
Buchard saluted back. "At ease, Sergeant."
"Would you like a tour of the base, sir?"
"Absolutely. But first, Private Gautier needs to be assigned to his squad here.
"Corporal Homburger?" Krause motioned the second agent to come closer.
"Yes sir?"
"Escort Private Gautier to his quarters. After he settles in, give him a tour of the armory. I want him fully equipped in an hour."
"On it, sir. Let's go, Private."
Gaston picked up his bag and followed Homburger.
"Alright, rookie. I'm Ed Homburger, commander of the First squad here, to which you've already been assigned. I've seen your statistics, and I think you'll do alright. Anyway, here's our room."
They entered a large room with rows upon rows of beds, each with a locker next to it.
"Sorry for the lack of privacy - it's because of the safety regulations. No condensed easy-to-hide-in spaces. Don't think we really need those, though. Every potential invader will get shredded twice by security stations at the entrance. Anyway, showers are over there. Your uniform is in your locker, number 4. Freshen up, then suit up and meet me outside. I'll show you the armory and the rest of your squad."
Gaston dropped his bag on the bed, took a quick shower, and finally put on his new uniform. As far as he knew, it was made of a new nanocomposite that was comfortable to wear but became rigid when under stress, making it great base for a body armor. Only the boots were unusually thin, but Gaston soon realized that it was done so that agents could easily fit into leggings of the proper body armor.
Finally, he walked out of the living quarters, where Homburger grunted in approval at his appearance.
Then he motioned Gaston to follow him. The base was quite small, and in a minute they were at the armory, situated somewhere in-between the access lifts and living quarters.
They walked up to yet another locker with a "4" on it, this one much bigger. Gaston expected some kind of lock on the door, but Homburger simply pulled the handle to open it.
"Don't worry, it opens only to registered X-COM staff. And unless it's a base invasion, "staff" means only you or higher-ranking officer."
"Anyway, to put the armor on, just stand here on this mat and put your hand here for fingerprint scan." Homburger did exactly that and soon several robotic claws extended from the locker, fixing plasteel plates of Megapol SWAT armor around Homburger's frame. Within a few seconds he was completely armored, and turned around to Gaston."
"It's also flexible enough to adapt to anybody within seconds... well, except the helm, that thing is heavy and uncomfortable for everyone." The voice came from the helmet's speakers, with Homburger's face hidden behind a strange, almost skull-like faceplate. "That's what you get for trying to combine armor, gas mask, tactical AI and radio all-in-one." Homburger stood on the mat again, and the claws removed the armor immediately.
"It's a good armor nevertheless. Provided that our new alien friends don't have portable doomsday devices, mortality rate should be several times below the previous wars." Homburger reached deeper into the locker, taking out a large assault rifle, putting it in Gaston's arms. "And this here is Marsec Model 4500 Infantry Gauss Rifle. About time Marsec started replacing that joke of a gun called Model 4000."
Gaston remembered stories of M4000, a popular but incredibly faulty weapon that was mockingly called "abiding by regulations of pleasurable design of weapons" due to its curved forms and drum-shaped magazine. He even got to wield it during basic training, and was glad that he would get to use something packing more serious firepower in combat.
"Thirty-round clip, integrated optical scope with four times magnification, and a laser sight mounted under the barrel, oh and did I mention onboard AI that cooperates with the one in your armor?" Homburger grinned as Gaston examined the rifle with genuine awe.
"Alright, rookie, you'll get to play with it later," Homburger put the rifle back in the locker. "Now, you also get two of each type of grenades, all stored on your belt, and a first aid kit - but I think you've used them during the training."
Gaston nodded. "Yes sir. Standard high-explosive grenades, stun gas and smoke, all with a selection of impact or timed detonation. I know how to use the medi-kit too."
"Good. Now, as a final element of your gear, the Megapol Stun Grapple. It's pretty much a fancy police taser. Five wired electrodes, enough shock to bring an elephant down easily."
"Did they test it on an actual elephant?"
"Of course not! There are what, a few dozen of them remaining?"
"I don't know, sir."
"No matter. Well," Homburger closed the locker, "Let's go meet your squad. They're in the lounge."
The lounge in question was dimly-lit, with a multitude of couches and TVs, a small bar stall and a few tables with computers. Right now it was mostly empty, save for the personnel that still waited for their shift to begin or whose shift just ended.
"This is the place to come to when you're off duty. Internet, billiard, cards, tele- and sensovision, radio, bar – everything to keep you busy. Mess hall is through the door over there. You sure you don't want a snack or anything?"
"No sir, I ate before landing."
"Good. Meals are served every six hours starting from midnight, but there's always something to eat there."
They came closer to one of the couches.
"Atten-SHUN!" Homburger yelled.
Both agents sitting on the said couch sprang up and saluted to the Corporal.
"Men, meet your new teammate, Gaston Gautier."
"Nice to meet you, Gaston." The attractive Asian woman shook his hand. "I'm Sata Yamanaka, squad's sniper."
"Yuri Yakubik" A bearded man in his thirties also shook Gaston's hand. "Good to have you here."
"Sata, where are the others?" Homburger asked.
"Third and fourth squads are in training rooms, second is in the mess hall and waiting for Sergeant to come back. Who's our new commander, sir?"
"Armand Buchard himself." Homburger answered, prompting a whistle of amazement from Yuri. "Yes, Yuri, my reaction was the same. Anyway, what's on the schedule today?"
"Nothing, sir. It's our day off since the gyms are busy."
"Well, I guess we can relax." Homburger settled down on the couch. "You people up for a game of pool?"
"Just as I expected." Buchard muttered to himself, while standing on the upper levels of the repair bay and looking closely at the Stormdog armored car below him.
"So, what's your verdict, sir?" Krause asked him.
"Not bad at all, Sergeant. Glad to see that the Senate's stupidity didn't carry over into the base. My only cause of concern is our... hmm... fleet. Who the hell painted it red?"
"No idea, sir. We were surprised as well, but it looks like it's just the Marsec default color scheme."
"Ah well, we'll do with it. Nobody needs camouflage in a city anyway. Andrea!"
"I'm right here, sir."
"Write down the buy order. First, a ground-launched missile array and a Metro Powergrav engine for the Stormdog.
Andrea entered the order in her PDA. "Confirmation received, funds transferred, Airtrans should be here in a few minutes."
"Next... our Wolfhound APC. Order a Metro Multipower Plus, we want this thing to be fast."
"Done."
"Now, for the aerial vehicles. Superdynamics Special, a Prophet missile array and a Lineage plasma cannon for the Valkyrie."
"Plasma cannons are still unavailable, sir."
"Damn. Use a Lancer laser as a substitute then. Now, for the hovercars. Twin Janitor missile arrays and a SD Turbo on each. Also, order all available targeting systems from Cyberweb before someone else does."
"Done and done. Any orders on infantry equipment?"
"No, we're good with what we have. Sell off everything you replace."
"Will do."
"Alright. Sergeant Krause, return to your men. Andrea, let's go to the command center."
The command center was located below all other facilities, so that potential invaders would have to go through the entire base to reach it. Assuming they made it, which was quite improbable with a total of twelve plasma turrets by the entrance, there were another two turrets guarding the door.
The room itself was quite large compared to other facilities, with operators watching the multitude of cameras installed in the city, in addition to satellite uplink – with all this surveillance equipment, command had a complete coverage of the city 24 hours a day.
Buchard settled into his chair and entered a number on the communicator. "Shuji?"
"Yes sir?"
"Do you have a bio-transport module ready?"
"Yes sir, it's been completed a few hours ago."
"Good. I need it installed on the Wolfhound."
"I'll pass this to maintenance, sir. Anything else?"
"Yes. How's the research staff?"
"Great. Fine folks, all fifteen of them. Both biochemistry and quantum physics obviously did their homework."
"What about engineering?"
"They're great too. They put that module together in just a few hours, I'm impressed."
"Good. I think we'll have some specimens ready in a few hours."
"Do you think there really are aliens in the Iliad institute, sir?" Shuji sounded concerned.
"I'm certain. Lifetree won't let us sweep it until they confirm a sighting, though. Idiots."
"I hope Gaston will be alright. Poor rookie is the only one without any experience, and is already thrown into action."
"He'll be fine, Shuji. This isn't the First War, and the kid's quite talented, too. They all will do their job well."
Tuesday, 7th March, 9:06
X-COM Base One
"So, there are four squads," Gaston asked while carefully aiming at the cue ball. "And only twelve seats in a Wolfhound?"
"Yup." Yuri answered. "One squad sits the mission out for safety reasons."
"Such as?" Gaston took a shot and frowned as the striped ball he hoped to pocket ricocheted off the railing instead.
"First and foremost, garrison duty. Even with the turrets, someone still has to defend the base." Homburger walked around the table to reach the cue ball. "And second, in case – God forbid – the main force is lost in action, someone has to survive or we're all screwed."
"There's a rotation between squads on who's sitting the next one out." Homburger aimed at the cue ball. "Since there haven't been any missions yet, Delta squad is on garrison duty since it's the fourth squad."
His shot somehow missed the ball he was aiming for, instead knocking the 8-ball into a pocket.
"Dang it. Up for another game, rookie?" Homburger asked.
Gaston didn't manage to answer as a loud alarm signal thundered throughout the base, followed by switch to emergency red lighting and Andrea's slightly worried voice.
"Attention all personnel, scramble X-COM threat. Alien infiltration has been confirmed in the Iliad Institute. Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie squads are to report to the Wolfhound in ten minutes."
"Well, what are you waiting for, people? Double-time to the armory!" Homburger shouted as everyone dashed off to the lockers.
Gaston had good stamina ratings during the training, so he was close behind Homburger in the race to the armory.
Remembering what Corporal told him, Gaston opened the locker, and touched the scanner pad.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds as the robotic claws put the armor plates on and around him, before lifting him off the ground slightly to attach the soles of the armored boots. The armor felt quite heavy despite built-in muscle augmentations, but not heavy enough to hinder Gaston's movements.
He opened his eyes and looked around through the transparent alloy before his eyes. The HUD flickered to life, displaying his vitals. The helmet was equipped with a compact psi-receiver, that could let anyone save for an android interact with the armor by simple thought. After switching to team's frequency, Gaston grabbed his rifle and noted the ammunition meter appear on his HUD, as well as a crosshair that showed where the laser sight was pointed at.
He looked around to see the other two squads run in and head for their lockers. Homburger was already spinning the barrels of a massive Megapol Autocannon, a six-barreled monster that could punch through anything.
Yuri to his right was holding a Marsec rifle similar to Gaston's, but in his left hand he also had a motion scanner – an incredibly useful device when it came to reconnaissance and sweeping ops. Sata crammed an energy pod into her Megapol ISI-7b Laser Sniper Rifle. Mounted on her left forearm was a strange device that took Gaston a few seconds to recognize – a Mind Bender, a weapon that amplified the telepathic potential of a human brain. Although most people could only probe someone's thoughts once in a blue moon with a Mind Bender, trained (and gifted) users could use it to knock the enemy out, induce fear and panic or even take control of someone's mind for a short while. The mutants living in the slums outside the city were often ostracized for their more potent psionic abilities, although genetically they were almost identical to normal humans.
Gaston followed his squad to dark red behemoth he instantly identified as Wolfhound APC, the most reliable troop transport in existence. He climbed in, took his seat, and tried to stop his treacherous hands from shaking.
"Tac-link engaged." Buchard's voice came through the comms, and immediately three small windows appeared on Gaston's HUD. He realized that they showed the view out of the helmets of his teammates, while Buchard could watch all twelve agents from his command center. Advanced AI there would produce a 3-D projection of the battlefield, illuminating the field of vision of the battlefield, allowing Buchard to closely monitor the troops.
The elevator raised the APC to the upper level of the base. Gaston heard the warehouse gates open.
The Wolfhound's engine roared to life, and the journey began.
