Another Beginning:
The X3 generation was born about a year after the X2s had been terminated. They were still a step up from the original X1s -- but they were much more carefully and conservatively designed then the X2s. A lot of thought and planning had gone into this generation. I could sense there was a lot of pressure from above to get this generation right. I could only guess how far back loosing an entire class had set Lydecker's plans.
The new plan was to slowly build up the generational ability through the DNA. The scientists would slowly add feline DNA, while still optimizing the human chromosomes as well. Instead of taking one big leap like they had done with the X2s. The forces that be were hoping to achieve the perfect Manticore soldier by the X5 generation.
The X3's were designed, more specifically, to be infantry soldiers. They would be the ones on the front lines -- in hand-to-hand combat. Fighting up close and personal with whoever the foe may be. For this purpose their training centered around combat, technique and weaponry. Their classroom time was vastly decreased so they could spend more time sparing and training. The class time they did have was used to teach them about tactics and strategy, how to handle their weapons and how to cope with any situations they might encounter on a battlefield. They were taught to think on their feet, while fighting, while moving, while killing.
Occasionally I would walk around the grounds while the X3s were training. They were awesome to watch. They melted into their surroundings like they belonged there, like they were born from the very material they dissolved back into. The training they received day in and day out was evident in their sparing. They moved faster then my eyes could watch. A 'long' fight for a pair of X3s was somewhere in the area of 10 to 15 seconds. They were a blur of whirling motion, not 7 year old kids learning to be soldiers.
Lydecker was pleased with how the X3s were turning out -- as were the scientists who studied them. So pleased in fact, it was determined that work on beginning X4 could be started -- only a year and a half after the X3 generation had arrived.
X4s were yet another step up from the X3s. They were designed for special opts. They were the ones who would perform the specialized military assignments. They were training in the art of spying, assassinations, capture, as well as some combat skills. They spent twice as much time in the classroom learning their specialized tasks. Trained both in the military manner and in the ways and techniques of the CIA and like organizations. I'm sure that by the time they were ten, every single one of the 37 odd X4s could've been certified in any sort of spy/special opts. organizations -- and gotten the job done faster and more accurately then any human alive.
Let me see if I can't give you an example of some of their training. I was on my rounds one day and happened to step in on a lesson in brainwashing. The TAC leaders were demonstrating different techniques on some poor subject who was strapped into a chair, a red lazed shooting into his eye. The lesson went something like this: 'mentally and physically exhaust the subject until their mental ability to resist is low. Bombard them with the information you want them to absorb. If they resist, physical punishment is administered. Electric shock, breaking fingers... etc.' It was intense. Lydecker was pacing in the back of the room, watching them eagerly soak up the information. He strode over to me.
"Amazing, isn't it?" He asked in a low voice. I nodded in response.
"But the best part of it all is that they learn all this on brainwashing, and don't even realize it's exactly what is done to them. Everyday." With that, he walked away, a smile barely hinting at the corners of his mouth.
The X4s were sent out on their first special opts mission at 6 years of age. They were to perform surveillance on a foreign military base, gather information, and finally assassinate the leading general. They passed the test with flying colors. No one even suspected they were ever there. I later heard that the local newspapers suggested a ghost had killed their general.
It was later in that year that the researchers declared that they had solved the mystery of the X2 psychosis. The defect in the genes had been uncovered -- something about their brain chemistry going into an overload, and the scientist were now comfortable applying that amount, or more, of feline DNA to the next X series. They now had more then sufficient data to proceed in creating the ultimate Manticore soldier -- X5.
The X3 generation was born about a year after the X2s had been terminated. They were still a step up from the original X1s -- but they were much more carefully and conservatively designed then the X2s. A lot of thought and planning had gone into this generation. I could sense there was a lot of pressure from above to get this generation right. I could only guess how far back loosing an entire class had set Lydecker's plans.
The new plan was to slowly build up the generational ability through the DNA. The scientists would slowly add feline DNA, while still optimizing the human chromosomes as well. Instead of taking one big leap like they had done with the X2s. The forces that be were hoping to achieve the perfect Manticore soldier by the X5 generation.
The X3's were designed, more specifically, to be infantry soldiers. They would be the ones on the front lines -- in hand-to-hand combat. Fighting up close and personal with whoever the foe may be. For this purpose their training centered around combat, technique and weaponry. Their classroom time was vastly decreased so they could spend more time sparing and training. The class time they did have was used to teach them about tactics and strategy, how to handle their weapons and how to cope with any situations they might encounter on a battlefield. They were taught to think on their feet, while fighting, while moving, while killing.
Occasionally I would walk around the grounds while the X3s were training. They were awesome to watch. They melted into their surroundings like they belonged there, like they were born from the very material they dissolved back into. The training they received day in and day out was evident in their sparing. They moved faster then my eyes could watch. A 'long' fight for a pair of X3s was somewhere in the area of 10 to 15 seconds. They were a blur of whirling motion, not 7 year old kids learning to be soldiers.
Lydecker was pleased with how the X3s were turning out -- as were the scientists who studied them. So pleased in fact, it was determined that work on beginning X4 could be started -- only a year and a half after the X3 generation had arrived.
X4s were yet another step up from the X3s. They were designed for special opts. They were the ones who would perform the specialized military assignments. They were training in the art of spying, assassinations, capture, as well as some combat skills. They spent twice as much time in the classroom learning their specialized tasks. Trained both in the military manner and in the ways and techniques of the CIA and like organizations. I'm sure that by the time they were ten, every single one of the 37 odd X4s could've been certified in any sort of spy/special opts. organizations -- and gotten the job done faster and more accurately then any human alive.
Let me see if I can't give you an example of some of their training. I was on my rounds one day and happened to step in on a lesson in brainwashing. The TAC leaders were demonstrating different techniques on some poor subject who was strapped into a chair, a red lazed shooting into his eye. The lesson went something like this: 'mentally and physically exhaust the subject until their mental ability to resist is low. Bombard them with the information you want them to absorb. If they resist, physical punishment is administered. Electric shock, breaking fingers... etc.' It was intense. Lydecker was pacing in the back of the room, watching them eagerly soak up the information. He strode over to me.
"Amazing, isn't it?" He asked in a low voice. I nodded in response.
"But the best part of it all is that they learn all this on brainwashing, and don't even realize it's exactly what is done to them. Everyday." With that, he walked away, a smile barely hinting at the corners of his mouth.
The X4s were sent out on their first special opts mission at 6 years of age. They were to perform surveillance on a foreign military base, gather information, and finally assassinate the leading general. They passed the test with flying colors. No one even suspected they were ever there. I later heard that the local newspapers suggested a ghost had killed their general.
It was later in that year that the researchers declared that they had solved the mystery of the X2 psychosis. The defect in the genes had been uncovered -- something about their brain chemistry going into an overload, and the scientist were now comfortable applying that amount, or more, of feline DNA to the next X series. They now had more then sufficient data to proceed in creating the ultimate Manticore soldier -- X5.