Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

Alexis rubbed her brow but saidnothing.

“Well?”

Valentine sighed.“We just don’t know what’s going on.”

“I do,” said Alexis,“Deimos changed him, and he’s not goingback.”

She leaned in closer.

“And I’ll tell you this much. I’mhere to fight, not to exterminate.”

Valentine lifted herselfup and stretched. The metal limbs andadvanced actuators barely made a sound, but they were stillobviously artificial. As she did it, her slightly curly dark hairdropped over her left shoulder. She shook her head, moving it tothe back, and then spoke.

“We’ll deal with that when thetime comes. Maybe we’ll be lucky, and itwon’t be a problem.”

“Big mistake,” saidTsarkov, “Deal with it first. You knowwhat it’s like when the shooting starts.”

Sergeant Jablonsky banged on the doorand leaned inside.

“Okay,sweethearts. Not long now, get suited up. Be ready for combatloading in the next few hours.”

As his eyes moved between each of them,he could tell something was wrong.

“What happened?”

“Nothing, Sarge,” saidAlexis, “We were just watching some oldhistorical footage.”

He spotted the black andwhite imagery of landing craft and fighting onthe beaches.

“Yeah. Just remember, theSkils ain’t no regular soldiers. I knowwe’ve fought them before, but never, ever underestimate them. Useyour minds as well as your brawn.”

“Yes,Sergeant,” they replied in unison.

“Good. Now, out of those civvie legsand into your fighting gear. It’s game time.”

He didn’t wait and moved away, leaving the Novas alone and in silence.Tsarkov spoke first, and he appeared to have taken on a morestrident tone than normal.

“I don’t know about you ladies,but I’m here to kick some Ski’lig ass. You coming?”

He waited as Valentine took a step awayfrom her bunk.

“Yeah, let’s do this.”

She followed him out, and thenrealised Alexis was still there. She turned back and was sureshe could see redness in her friend’seye. She rubbed it, and then deactivated thevideostream.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m all good, Val. Let’s load up.”

It was a short distance to thedoors to the armoury, and as before thegruff Master Sergeant was there, moving back and forth, grabbingequipment, or calling out to his assistant. Half of the equipmentwas spare parts, but there were also designated slots for each ofthe Novas.

“Yourgear is ready, Lance Corporal,” said the junior tech, “With themodifications you requested.”

“Excellent.” Shemoved in front of the rack. Once in position abracket moved out with a pair of legs attached to it. They werequite chunky and painted in a dark undercoat, with additionalcamouflage markings over the top. A bar allowed her to braceherself as she detached her right leg and pushed it into the rack.Just looking at it there was a strange sight. That was part of her,and as she looked around at the others attaching parts to theirbodies, she realised quite how attached she was to those she wouldcall her own.

This is weird…really weird.

Sergeant Jablonsky cameinto the room to speak with the Master Sergeant,but Valentine was completely focused on her own gear. As she fittedthe second leg, she felt a slight jolt through her body and up herspine.

Tex,is everything all right?

There was no hesitation, and Tex replied instantly.

Power fluctuations in the limb core,one moment.

Valentine’s eyebrows lifted insurprise as she waited for Tex. Sheraised her gaze and looked to the others. Alexis was tensing herfingers as she fitted her own gear on. They were not just fittingarms and legs, but all the armour and weaponry they might requirein the upcoming mission. One of the privates grunted as a heavyshoulder-mounted cannon was attached to the mounting point. Thatwas the moment Valentine knew they were getting ready for a realfight.

This is really happening. Are we readyfor this?

She noticed the cockiness aboutthem, but there was also an air of apprehension about aswell. Half of the platoon had experiencedcombat with the alien menace, but the other half had only watchedcombat footage and training with the modified Grunt. She knew howdeadly they were, and perhaps more important, how difficult theywere to fully understand.

Mobility systemrestarted and ready, part of your core was still providing controldata for the 1st gen actuators. That’s fixed. It would still haveworked, but there’s a little feedback without the patch.

Greattiming, Valentine grumbled, Ithought this was all good to go.

Valentine looked to her left arm and felt something akin toguilt as she detached it and reached for one of the newly upgradedand improved support limbs. It clicked into place, and sheinstantly saw a minor boost to her overall power.

As with the Mark I Rhino prosthetics,there is a power boost with each attached node. Part of the designallows components to compartmentalise power, and to operatecompletely…

Tex, I know. I’m no rookie.

Sorry,he said in a sarcastic tone, you’ve been asleep so long who knows what youcan remember!

“Cute.”

One of the Novas looked back ather.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, just having a heateddiscussion with my Cortex.”

“Hell, we’ve all been there.”

Valentine smiled andreached for the last major prosthetic.Originally, she had been one of the few to opt for the assaultlimb, the majority choosing to go for the conventional tacticallimb and separate carbines and rifles. But since the recentfighting, many of the others were beginning to appreciate theflexibility of an arm that could be used both in ranged combat andclose quarter battle. She locked it into place and immediately thedata for the integral L52S Mark II Assault Pistol appeared in hermind. She could see the ammunition count, heat, and status of thesystem.

Sweet.

“Last one.” The techmoved to her side. Valentine detached from thesupport bracket and stretched her new limbs. She could move aseasily as before, even with the added armour and additionalplating.

“Oh,yeah,” she said happily, “Now this is more like it.”

“Way to go, Val.” Kalliasswung his arms about. The pincer like handsextended out from above the barrels.

“How are you finding them?”

Kallias swung his arms about asthough he was going through some routinein a bodybuilding contest. The newly upgraded arms finally gave hima more Human silhouette that was a lot less creepy to look at. Hischest mounts included additional armour and interceptors on thefront, plus a motorised ammunition hopper mount on his back. Feedsran over his shoulders and directly into the unit.

“Elbows are anice improvement. I can’t tell you thenumber of times I worried about falling over.”

He laughed just as Hawkins tappedher shoulder. She turned and found