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  He signaled to Tom, getting him over the next wall, then provided a distraction to the turret, helping Nate get by…leaving him the furthest back. His teammates returned the favor, created a diversion that let him move up not one, but two walls using his hurdling technique from high school track on the second barrier before dropping into a roll that bumped him up against the second, back first.

  Rio was safe though, with a couple of blue stingers hitting the wall behind him and splashing their paint and stun energy against it. The stun energy dissipated into the material, leaving only the slick goo behind, but he knew if he touched it too soon he’d get a little numb, for the stun didn’t disappear immediately on impact. Same went for a person, which he’d also learned the hard way when one of his teammates had gotten hit and he reached to pull him behind cover. His hand had gone numb when he grabbed the man’s shoulder, causing his grip to slip and a wash of pins and needles to follow that severely hampered him through the rest of that challenge.

  Rookie mistakes, he knew, and he was glad he was beyond that point now. A few minutes later and this impromptu team was up to the closest wall, with them taking turns popping up and shooting the deactivation sphere atop the turret until it became saturated enough to end the exercise. When it did a finish tone sounded and blue lights came on…along with a cleaning crew that quickly wiped off the paint splatters, resetting the course within 2 minutes for the next group to come through.

  Rio knew he didn’t have time to wait around and go through again with a different set of teammates, so he checked his rifle in at the waiting area and headed out into the hallways that ran through the training areas, deciding to get in a little sparring practice with an available trainer before heading back to the equipment room for a show and over to his designated cafeteria for supper. When he got there he saw Julie and Raven already there and went over to join them with his plateful of carb and sugar-heavy foodstuffs, not to mention two large bottles of red.

  “You need to shave, kid,” Julie said as he sat down, with him reflexively rubbing his chin, realizing that he’d forgotten to shave that morning.

  “Guess so,” he said, taking a bite out of a roll. “Must have slipped my mind this morning.”

  “You still having trouble sleeping?” Raven asked, then downed a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

  “Yeah. It’s like my body is so tired it forgets how to sleep. Best I can do is catch a crash nap, but they don’t last longer than 45 minutes. Then I’m back to being a zombie.”

  “Sounds like you could use a girlfriend,” Julie suggested, paying more attention to her plate than him.

  Rio looked up. “You offering?”

  Julie half choked, then looked at him with a weird expression on her face. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Well, it was your idea,” Raven commented with a grin.

  She starred laser bolts back at him. “He’s not my type, and besides, he’s like my brother. You can’t screw your brother.”

  “Says who?” Raven shot back. “Well, from a girl’s perspective anyway. Biologically it’s all the same, brother or stranger.”

  “Fine,” she said, taking a sip of green, “you can screw your brother, but you shouldn’t want to. Totally different relationship there. The two aren’t compatible.”

  “Still,” Raven teased, “if it would help him sleep.”

  She stuck two fingers into his mashed potatoes, dipped up a healthy glob, then flipped them in his face all within a second and a half.

  Rio couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks Raven, but I don’t think sex is going to help. My body’s all messed up from the changes, I’d guess. I just need time to adapt.”

  “Wise words,” Raven approved, flicking a bit of potatoes back at Julie, who caught it on her nose. “Leave it to a girl to think sex solves everything.”

  She pointed a warning finger at him, then went back to eating as Styk came and sat down next to her, directly across from Rio. He looked at his fellow ex-Rangers and frowned.

  “What happened to you two?”

  “A difference of opinion,” Julie said.

  “The kid can’t sleep, and she suggested sex would help.”

  Styk glanced at her. “I didn’t think the young were your type?”

  She pounded both fists down on the table, bracketing her plate. “I am not the only girl around here.”

  “But you are the hottest,” Rio said, drawing a snicker from Raven.

  Julie’s mouth opened to argue, then closed against when she realized what she would be arguing against. “Thanks.”

  “Just pointing out the obvious, sis,” Rio added.

  “Did I miss something else?” Styk asked.

  Raven shook his head. “Just Jules inferring that we’re all family here, and therefore off limits on hump day.”

  “Ouch. Guess I’m going to have to take back that Valentine’s day present I got you,” Styk joked as he bit into a very long sugar stick.

  “Yeah, yeah, pick on me,” Julie complained. “I was just trying to help the kid.”

  “Thank you,” Rio said in between bites.

  “As far as us being a ‘family,’” Styk commented, pausing to take a drink, “I’m afraid we’re going to be splitting up. I’m heading out tomorrow.”

  “Where to?” Raven asked, serious.

  “I passed my trials, so I’m moving to another facility a few hundred kilometers from here for advanced training.”

  “When did this happen?” Julie demanded.

  “Two hours ago.”

  “You got the agility course mark?” Rio asked, curious. That one in particular was giving him headaches in the a la carte trials that all of them were working their individual way towards passing.

  “Took some doing, but yeah, just yesterday. Crazy, they’ve already got me scheduled to leave this soon.”

  “What about the graduation ceremony?”

  “Ha…there is none. Just a joke the trainers let spread around as rumor.”

  “Nothing?” Julie asked.

  “Just a brief talk, explaining what’s happening next. Passing basic means you’re not a screw-up, so now it’s onto the real training to become commandos.”

  “Good,” Raven said with a nod. “I thought things around here were a little weak.”

  “Be careful what you ask for,” Julie warned him.

  “If they’re weak, why haven’t you passed yet?” Styk challenged.

  “I’m close. Maybe another week or two.”

  “What’s holding you up?”

  “Stupid sword. Really, in this day and age, who uses a sword?”

  “Knights,” Rio offered.

  “Well we’re not training to be Knights. I can see using a stun stick, but the sword is just too damn long to be of much use.”

  Rio smiled, but didn’t say anything, though Julie raised an eyebrow.

  “What?” she asked him.

  “I already passed the sword trial. Wasn’t that hard once I stopped using it to ‘chop wood,’” he explained, using the phrase his trainer had drilled into him to correct his mistake.

  “Way to go, kid,” Julie said, brimming with amusement as she stared at Raven. “If he can do it, then you just suck.”

  “I’ll second that,” Styk added.

  “As I said,” Raven emphasized, “I’ll get it soon. Then I’ll join you wherever it is you’re going.”

  “Maybe not,” Styk said, his merriment disappearing. “I’m told there are multiple facilities. We might not end up at the same place.”

  “So this could be goodbye?” Julie asked.

  “I prefer ‘until next time,’” Styk said, forcing a smile.

  “There’s a chance we might meet up again,” Raven added. “I’ve been talking with some of the vets that turned trainer, and they say assignments aren’t always blind. Sometimes you get options. Let us know where you land, and there’s a chance we might be able to follow.”

  “Will do,” Styk said, returning his attention to
his plate.

  “You too, kid,” Julie said, drawing an eyebrow from Raven. “Keep us up to date on your progress…occasionally.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to be here a while longer,” he said with resignation.

  “It takes time,” Raven offered. “We started here on the same day, but we’ve had years of experience you lack. If you tested out the same time we did, then we’d suck.”

  “I’ll make it,” Rio promised.

  “One step at a time, kid,” Styk cautioned. “Stick with it and we’ll see you on the other side.”

  It took Rio another 8 months before he finally completed his graduation trials, the last of which was the running test, which required a sub 16:00 5k. That was three times as long and just as fast as the mile he ran to qualify for the program, and had left him thoroughly drained afterward, but unlike the mile he felt more in control of the 5k, now that he knew how to train for it…and had a pacing marker to follow. That let him bury himself in workouts, not having to worry about anything other than staying with the glowing dot as long as he could.

  His legs didn’t like that method, but they responded to it well enough. Still, it takes time to build strength and speed, and he was happy with completing the trials when he did. Others had come and gone from the training facility, but there were some that had gotten there before him and had yet to test out, meaning he wasn’t bottom of the barrel. As the trainers had said, it didn’t matter how long it took you to get to the qualification point, so long as you got there, then, after that, everyone was even going forward.

  Which was something that Rio was eagerly anticipating. When he got his graduation speech, he was told that the training would be ramped up, with a lot more challenges and less individual training time. He’d have to use what he’d learned in basic, combined with computer database resources, to create his own physical training workouts…forcing him to rely less and less on trainers, at least for things they’d already gone over time and again.

  When it came time to leave he packed a duffle and hopped a train that took him across the Martian landscape, bypassing several cities on the way until it dropped him off at a huge complex, and that was saying something given the monstrous Star Force-built cities that sprouted up across the planet. The training facility looked like an artificial mountain range, but with smooth sides and flat peaks, on top of which he could see dropships coming and going, along with several larger starships, cargo transports from the look of it, though they were so far away it was hard to be sure.

  The ‘mountains’ grew larger as the train crept towards them, ultimately ducking into a tunnel and regaining its apparent speed…for the sheer size of the center had made the train feel as if it were standing still rather than speeding along at several hundreds of miles per hour. Once inside it continued its speedy transit, eventually coming out the other side, allowing Rio to see that the mountain ‘range’ was actually a ring, with a huge interior ‘crater’ that housed what looked like exterior training facilities for mechs.

  He hadn’t realized that this would be a shared division facility, but as the train slowed he could see dozens of mechs moving in formation, while others were lifting objects and running over others. Some jumped into the air and floated on anti-grav jump jets, while others climbed rocky hills, all of which appeared to be non-veteran pilots by the awkward way the mechs were moving around.

  There were also aircraft in play, and far off in the distance he thought he saw infantry in pressure suits moving around on the surface. That scared him, for he didn’t like the idea of dying if he got a tiny cut on an arm or leg. Mars’ atmospheric pressure may have risen slightly since Star Force had first colonized it, due to terraforming factories turning rock into gas, but the natural environment was still unlivable.

  It was warmer, but still below freezing on most of the planet, and the oxygen level was minuscule. Most of the gasses being produced were carbon dioxide, which several hardy forests were gobbling up and producing the oxygen…but for an entire planet’s worth of atmosphere it barely made a dent, meaning that if you went outside without a suit, you’d either suffocate to death or bleed out from decompression, just not as fast as you would have in the old days.

  The rest of the planet was still a dry, cold desert, with Star Force’s major terraforming projects using their resources on planets with near to normal gravity. Mars, at 37%, was better suited to the interior-dwelling mega structures that already covered the planet, with more and more gradually being added to fill in the remaining swaths of red as seen from orbit, which only recently passed the 50% mark, making the planet more urban than empty.

  Rio’s train came to a halt in a terminal that housed several other tracks, with two other trains visible parked inside shielded buildings that allowed them in but kept the cold and low pressure air out. He got off onto the landing, duffle carried over his shoulder, and moved to the nearby check-in station as he’d been instructed to. From there various handlers escorted him off through underground tunnels and into the mountain range of a complex where he was inundated with people…all Star Force, and recruits by the look of them, making him feel like this was Star Force’s version of the upper class in high school…meaning he was at the bottom of the totem pole all over again.

  But at least he’d have company, for there were a lot of other recruits fresh off of basic training that he was assigned quarters with. Unlike his first dip into the basic training world, there was no survival or combat scenario, just an introductory meeting and an assignment to a training team, which he met up with the next day, headed up by an active commando that was overseeing a staff of trainers that likewise oversaw all 1000 of Rio’s team.

  Together, they’d be competing against other teams, both in terms of scores and combat scenarios, meaning that they were all starting out at the same place as he was…rookies, and they’d have to learn and grow together, else, the commando warned, they’d never get their official rank, for while a commando had to be able to take on a ‘one man army’ role at any given time, it was essential that they be able to work together for maximum advantage, which was something they’d need when facing superior opponents…such as some of the other teams that had been at this facility for a few years.

  Rio knew that meant he might have to go up against Raven, Styk, and Julie at some point…which he wasn’t looking forward to, but who knew. After a year or so he might feel differently, for he got the feeling that his previous ‘education’ in basic really was just the beginning, and that he was about to be indoctrinated into a whole new level of badass...

  5

  March 1, 2460

  Solar System

  Mars

  “Today is the day you take your training to the next level,” Tamon Sla said to Rio’s team, designated Epsilon 12, as they were back in the amphitheater for another lecture/instruction session from their commando overseer. The man appeared in casual uniform on the center stage, with a much larger version of him being displayed on the vid screen behind, which was the only way Rio was able to get a good look at the small vile he held in his hand.

  “This is a concoction that we call ‘ambrosia.’ It boosts your energy levels and allows you to train longer and harder than before. With proper doses, you’ll be able to lengthen your running workouts immediately…with improper doses you’ll be in your bunks with a monster headache the likes of which you’ve probably never experienced before. This stuff is potent. Take too much and you’ll regret it.”

  “Both the Knights and Archons rely on the stuff, but do not misunderstand me when I say that this aids in your training…it doesn’t replace it. Ambrosia alone won’t make you strong, it amplifies the training process, and that training is what upgrades your bodies. Use it wisely, and ambrosia will advance you through the abilities levels far faster than your current rate of progress.”

  So that’s how they got so strong, Rio thought, one piece of the gigantic Star Force puzzle finally falling into place. He and the other recruits were far in
ferior to the training marks of line units, and he wondered how they’d ever be able to measure up…even if they did have hundreds of years of training to do it.

  “Over the next month you will be given no new challenges. Your fitness training is going to take precedence. Learn to use the ambrosia properly, let it upgrade your workouts and determine your proper doses before you return to your normal training. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this transitional period. It is key. So listen to your trainers and be cautious in upping your dosage. Over time, as your workouts increase, your body will be able to use more, so don’t try to copy others. If you took one of mine you’d overdose in all its painful glory, so much so it might kill you…or maybe you might just want to die.”

  “You don’t take this,” he said, holding up the vile. “This is far too much. We measure it in foodstuffs that are laced with an exact amount. We never drink the liquid. The doses are too small to measure in this form. From now on you’ll have access to the new foodstuffs. Be wary not to confuse them with your others. They’ll be set aside in a different area, just don’t forget these aren’t snacks. They’re precisely measured ambrosia doses, and different types of foodstuffs have different amounts, so don’t grab one without checking. The heavy doses won’t be available, because none of you will need them, but in other Star Force facilities they will be, so don’t grab one a ranger would take, or, like I said, you’ll be in a world of hurt.”

  Rio listened intently as Sla talked them through various applications of the ambrosia, as well as things not to do with it in training. He tried to soak it all in, but a lot of it he just didn’t understand, and he hoped that was because it required some measure of experience to grasp…but if he did miss anything some of his teammates would figure it out and explain it later, so he didn’t worry. They’d gotten good at information sharing and helping each other with training, because it had become apparent early on that the better they made each other, the better the team became, and they really wanted to outdo the other teams on their level…if not take a few of the senior ones down.