Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best management books of all time .txt) 📗

and shooting just over Hewers’ head, causing the other young merc to duck long enough to lose sight of his attackers, giving Sonya the opportunity to get around the corner and shoot him into full shutdown.

Shadow, with the high ground, took out Paulson and Meyll’s arms, and Dyffid charged, getting Sonya in the back with enough green splatter to freeze her in place.

Sonya cursed, then cut herself off.

“I still got eyes, boys. Ripley, Paulson’s making a run for it—guess he’s hoping he has arms back by the time he finds the flag.”

“You putting me on fetch duty, Sunny?” Ripley laughed, shooting another volley toward Meyll and then turning back to get eyes on Gibbs. The Human used his jets, not quite as well as Shadow, but gave himself big, unpredictable jumps that kept Rex from hitting him.

With Sonya serving as eyes for the Zuul who’d worked together as a pack since they were tiny pups, it didn’t take long for Drake to spot the green flag and scoop it into his one working hand.

“Cover me,” he called, jumping out of the stack of crates and wobbling only slightly on the landing. Unfortunately, Hewers’ arm had come back online, and Drake jumped right into his line of fire. “Shit. Shadow!” Without looking, Drake balled up the flag and threw it into the air, trusting his littlest brother to be ready.

Shadow caught the flag and executed a near perfect turn in the air above Drake, shooting down at Hewers at the same moment Rex got the Human dead to rights.

“Take your time, Shadow.” Drake shot Paulson’s frozen form to keep him safely frozen. Maybe not exactly sporting, but good practice for the field. Only safe enemy was a downed one.

“For all we know, time is part of the points,” Ripley replied, standing over Gibbs. Even the posture of her CASPer showed her content pride. “Get us those points, Shadow!”

Shadow landed with too much heat, but caught himself after a short, stumbling run. Not bad at all.

“Safe your weapons and open up,” Colonel Porter sent over all channels.

He must have toggled a reset, because suddenly Drake’s arm responded again, and Hewers and Paulson climbed to their feet.

Drake checked the panel, lingering over it possessively as he confirmed the greens, then opened to the mildly fresher air of the training bay.

“Take a breath, get some water, and get ready. We’re going again in five with new teams.” Edgar strode out of the door, looking over each of them. “Each of you send your tech a report on what you did well and where you shat the bed, and yes, boys and girls, this is a test. You don’t take my CASPers off this planet until I can trust you with them, and we’ve got a way to go for that.”

“Get it,” Drake muttered to himself, jaw dropped in a grin.

* * *

Rex slid back into his CASPer and connected the haptic suit leads with ease. It felt routine and simple, where it had been tricky the first few times. It felt great to master the movements.

Despite the size of the mech, he was still crowded. The largest of the five Zuul, he stretched the capacity to accommodate his over two-meter-tall frame and barrel chest. Even so, Binnig had done a masterful job of customizing the older design to meet their needs. He felt like a silly Human, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

The power! The unbelievable power and exultation of operating over a ton of carbon fiber and alloy war machine was…intoxicating. He could take on the entire world, and he didn’t want to miss the next opportunity to do just that.

His brothers and sisters were sipping sports drinks and talking with the young Humans about moves they’d pulled off. Hewers and Dyffid kept asking how the Zuul CASPers were working and saying they were impressed at how quickly the five were gaining proficiency.

Of course we’re good, war is in our blood. Rex had studied his people enough to know they were preeminent mercenaries. Zuul merc units had been at the center of major campaigns and covered themselves in glory for thousands of years. He lifted an arm, and the suit’s arm rose instantly in mimicked response. What could be accomplished with that legacy and the power of these suits?

Yet at the same time, unease moved through him. He tried to search his feelings and put a finger on it and failed. What could be wrong about that? About the CASPers? Was it his surroundings? The bay was a combination firing range and simulated battlefield. The building was in the worst shape of them all on the generally dilapidated installation Silent Night had bought. The floor was strewn with all manner of debris to make footing more difficult, all in service of training. Better a CASPer driver slip and fall here, while training, than when their lives depended on it offworld.

He bent and retrieved a meter-long piece of rebar. It weighed at least 20 kilos and had a slight bend to it. He had to concentrate a bit to pick it up, since his CASPer’s hand was a good 40 centimeters past his real hand. In the end, he hefted the steel as if it were made of paper. He grabbed the other end with his other hand and easily straightened it.

Rex admired his handiwork, then bent it in half just as easily. The normal CASPer could augment a user’s strength by as much as 50%. Their new suits were more powerful, pushing the number close to 60%. And Zuul were already 25% stronger than Humans, on average, so the CASPer made them into juggernauts. Nothing could be wrong in that. His lips skinned back to reveal his gleaming white teeth, and he pushed the creeping unease away.

Already the five were beginning to distinguish themselves as different