Author's note: Soooo it's been two months. Not gonna delve much into the details, but I got pretty busy with my personal life, sorry for dropping you guys off on a cliffhanger. Currently I am starting on the fourth chapter, and I've received a lot of good and positive comments and suggestions on how I should improve myself, and I'm looking forward to implementing them. Hope you enjoy!
"Rita, calm the fuck down. What the hell are you thinking? You can get killed in combat!" Cage exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands. Rita's eyes glittered with vengeance as she replied.
"This is our only chance at winning the war. You barely managed to win the last one, and now with three omegas? We as humans won't even stand a chance against them. We need to do this. Please." Rita held his hands, pleading with him to do this for her, for them, and for the humans. Cage evaluated the pros and cons, and did not like what he decided on in the end. "Fine. What if you get killed then? How are we supposed to replace you?" Cage probed further, and Rita replied with a smile.
"Simple, you die too. We can reset the day! If I get killed, make sure you die too. That way we can keep trying until I get the alpha's blood on me, then we can decide our next course of action. Does that sound like a plan?" Cage shook his head, sighing as he stood up. "I still don't like the sound of this, but we have no choice. I'm in. Update me on any changes in plans and the next offensive the general is planning. Please leave me for now. I need to think." Brushing her pants, Rita stood. "Thank you. For everything." With that, she pushed open the door and left the room.
The room descended into silence as Cage pursed his lips and thought about the last exchange. Sighing yet again, he got up as someone knocked on his door. "Who is it?" "It's me, Dr Carter. I have something urgent to talk to you about. Meet me outside hanger 14B in 30 minutes." With that, Cage heard footsteps receding down the corridor outside his quarters. He waited for a minute, then left his room to get some coffee.
The mass hall was full of people when he pushed open the doors to enter. Many of them did not even spare him a glance, which Cage did not care, since he rarely took note of formality. He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down, nursing a growing headache. He had too much to take in. How was he going to get to Rita on the battlefield? From personal experience, it would be hell down there. Screaming men and screeching aliens would be fighting all over the place, rockets would whizz past and kill good men who barely had time to get off the carriers. Once on the battlefield, one would be so disorientated that he could just start killing everything that moved, letting their primal survival instinct get in the way. It would be extremely hard to get to Rita, not counting in the fact that they had to find an alpha and kill it in such a way that Rita was exposed to the blood. Cage shook his head, finished up his cup of coffee and started towards hanger 14B.
Outside the hanger, Dr Carter was waiting anxiously, hopping from a foot to another as he looked around for him. He gestured towards the hanger, and told Cage to follow him. Once in the hanger, Dr Carter switched on the lights and moved towards the far end of the hanger, gesturing with his hands and talking rapidly. "I've made a breakthrough in my research! Yet again." He muttered under his breath as he led Cage through a door that had a sign saying "Authorised personnel only" Dr Carter reached for the light switch yet again, then hurried over to a table that had a piece of cloth draped over it. "Behold, I managed to create this under the cover of darkness and direct orders from the general, he said that this was to be made for Rita and you. I couldn't get Rita just now, so I decided to show you first." Dr Carter pointed to the table. "What lies under this cloth is a revolutionary piece of technology we just made a breakthrough in shortly after the second generation of jackets. Due to the high cost of materials and manufacturing, we could only afford two sets of these. But first, no touching." With that, Dr Carter took off the cloth with a flourish, and several pieces of metal was laid on the table.
"Dr Carter... Are you sure you know what you're doing? All I see are piece of useless metal on this table." Cage said sarcastically, unable to control himself any longer. "You brought me here to look at some metal? I have better things to do." "Please, Major Cage, let me explain. What you see in front of you are not useless pieces of metal, they are your customised jacket technology. We have decided to call them the Customisable Enhanced Nanotechnology Operative Suits, CENOS for short. It's made out of a newly created alloy called duronium, part titanium and part aluminum. This creates an extremely durable yet lightweight material that is suited for your, well, suits."
Cage stopped, excited by what he heard. "So you're saying that these few pieces of metal are parts of a suit that is made out of a new material? I heard something about nanotechnology. What does that have to do with this?" Dr Carter stopped to readjust his spectacles, a newly acquired thing that he had not been used to. "These suits are coated with layers of nanomites, robots the size of nanometre. They have many functions such as being able to withstand an entire javelin shot." At that, Cage widened his eyes with disbelief, saying, "That's impossible. I've seen a single javelin missle destroy an entire convoy of troops. You're telling me tiny robots are able to withstand that?" Dr Carter shrugged and replied, "They haven't been field tested yet, but I've done the calculations and it is possible to withstand a javelin missile without any major damage. You see, the nanomites gather at the point of impact, then dissipates to widen the pressure and force of the impact. This allows the suit to take very minor damage, without any damage to the person inside the suit. This applies to bullets too. The nanomites can easily deflect bullets and soak them up, so you won't need to worry about our own men shooting at you once you're suited up."
"In addition to the defensive capabilities, the CENOS makes the MKII look like a child's toy. The top speed of the CENOS is forty to fifty miles per hour, with an acceleration rate of up to 5 miles per hour per second. This means that it takes eight to ten seconds to hit top speed. Meanwhile, our jacket MKII can only hit a measly 20 miles per hour top speed, with a pathetic acceleration rate of 3 miles per hour per second. You can keep up with the mimics, maybe even outrun them. As I said, these suits are not field tested yet, even when calculations say that they are able to do so." Cage stood, soaking in the new information, as Dr Carter continued his explanation of the new suit.
"Other than speed, the suit gives you inhumane strength too. The CENOS is able to make you hit like a rock, with the nanomites gathering at the point of impact while your helmet calculates the angle to inflict the highest amount of damage. Speaking of the helmet, the helmet is a high tech piece of equipment, able to respond to your body needs. It can calculate everything, from flight trajectory to mimic movement, provide detailed infrared maps from your point of view and satellite images, and even predict mimic movements. It also allows for auto-aiming, so you don't need to think, just pull the trigger and watch the mimic bodies pile up. That concludes my briefing about the CENOS, would you like to try it out now? It takes some time to get used to, and it's customisable too." Dr Carter finished, smiling as he took in his masterpiece. He was extremely proud of the suits, since it was the bleeding edge technology at that time.
"Su-sure. How do you get it on?" Cage looked around, but he did not see any jacket stations around. "Ahh, the suits require manual work to put on, but don't worry. I'd train a few engineers to know how to put on your suits, and they will answer to only you and Rita. For now, I'd help you put on your suit." Dr Carter said nervously, obviously as excited as Cage was.
Three hours passed as Cage tried out the capabilities of the CENOS in the hanger. He thanked Dr Carter and made sure that his jacket station would hold the CENOS instead of the jacket MKII in case of any emergencies. He then jogged over to the showers and washed up, as the day turned to night. As the steam rose around him, Cage thought about the suit. With the new suit he could do it, he realised. He could get Rita to come into contact with alpha blood and give her the power too! The suit could do almost anything and it was unstoppable too, all he needed to do was to try and find an alpha. Turning off the shower head, he towelled off and headed back to his quarters for a few hours of sleep.
The ground shuddered as alarms blared in the distance. Cage sat up in his bed, shaking the stars out of his sight. He heard urgent footsteps outside his quarters and along the corridors - it was either a drill or the base was under attack again. He put on his clothes, got out of his quarters to bump into a soldier. "Sorry Sir, the base is under attack! The General has ordered all available soldiers to suit up and defend the civvies. We better hurry up, they are breaching Zone A already!" With that, the soldier hurried off, presumably towards his hanger. Cage stood there, transfixed by a spot on the wall as the knowledge he had just received sank in. The base was under attack! He shook himself awake, and started running towards his hanger. He needed to reach the suit!
The base was swarming with soldiers. Gunfire and smoke was in the air as the sirens continued blaring. Cage managed to reach hanger 9A, his assigned hanger, where a technician was waiting there. Cage called him over from under a desk, as they spent the next few excruciatingly long minutes to put on the CENOS. Finally, amidst all the gunfire and yells, Cage put on his helmet, and the display winked to life before his eyes. "Major Cage" He announced, having voice activated the suit during his training a few hours ago. By then, Cage was fully awake and ready for battle. Suddenly, the helmet blared out a warning. "Javelin incoming!" It said. Cage turned to the technician, but before he had time to say anything the hanger turned white before his eyes, and the last thing he say was the blurry image of the burning wreckage falling on him.
Author's note: How was it? I introduced a new technology today, having read it from somewhere I can't really recall. Chapter 5 will be out soon, so do keep an eye out for it! Till then, cheers! :)