Star Force: Commando (SF40) Read online

  4

  December 28, 2458

  Solar System

  Mars

  Rio ducked down behind a low wall as stingers flew over his head, cradling his rifle across his chest as he glanced down the flank and saw his teammate for this exercise flash him a hand signal. It was palm flat and level to the ground, but his hand held steady, indicating that Rio should stay behind cover.

  He didn’t respond, but kept his eyes on that hand until it suddenly flipped over to where he could see the back of the hand with a thumb pointing up…at which point Rio, trusting his teammate’s vantage point, stood up and jumped over the wall in one semi-fluid motion. He came down on the other side and took three awkward steps forward before sliding down behind another low wall…with more stingers flashing over his head, narrowly missing.

  Rio shoved his protective sunglasses back up his nose, them having slipped half an inch when he hit the ground. He knew he should have picked up a snugger pair in the equipment room, but there was no going back now…he’d have to make do with what he had.

  He glanced around, seeing a pillar on the wall to his left, and crawled towards it, allowing him to stand up on a knee and poke his right eyeball out around cover to where he could see the single turret he and his 4 man team were approaching. There was a series of low walls going all the way up to the thing, but the deactivation sphere atop the damn thing wouldn’t go live until they got up to the closest wall, forcing them to leapfrog their way up to it rather than pepper it with paint from range.

  But then again, that was the point of the exercise, and this was his fourth time going through it this afternoon. The idea was for no one to get hit while giving them a chance to practice their coordinated movement tactics…with being fast and clean the objective. The basic hand signals they’d been taught helped greatly, and Rio had memorized them the first chance he had, but there was only so much you could do with a single hand, or two, and he really wished he had a comm piece right now so he could tell Linda when the right time to move was.

  He could see her hunkered down on the opposite side from him, one wall ahead. She looked back at him waiting for him to give the go ahead, but he held his palm out flat to the ground, telling her to stay put. Rio had to be careful to stay behind the pillar, otherwise the turret would shoot his hand…something he’d learned the hard way a few weeks ago. Poking his eye out and trying to do it slowly so as not to trigger the motion detection sensors on the turret, he watched the twin barrels rotate and depress slightly as Nate jumped up and down behind his wall, getting the turret’s attention.

  When it rotated to track him, spitting out some stingers that missed badly, Rio gave Linda the ‘thumbs up’ and saw her blindly jump up and slither over the wall, disappearing from view far quicker than Rio had. A moment later stingers landed on the other side just as he saw her crawl into view up against the next wall, with no paint on her. Once again her previous gymnastics experience allowed her the flexibility to bend and move low to the ground in ways that Rio couldn’t…at least yet. His flexibility was increasingly slowly, but he wasn’t going to catch her for some time, meaning he was going to have to stiff-leg it through these exercises until he was able to limber up.

  Ok, she’s there, he’s there…which means I need to go there, he mentally planned out before dropping into a crawl and headed down the length of the wall closer to where Linda had gone over, but near to another pillar that would give him a vantage point, allowing him to coordinate with the others. It had felt like a painful game of chess to him when they’d first been introduced to the maneuvering tactics, but now it was coming easier, with the available positions starting to pop into his mind on sight rather than him having to think it through too much.

  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?”

&nb
sp; 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...