Read Online Anstractor (The New Phase Book 1) by Greg Dragon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Greg Dragon
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full and humbled.
“You know, Vani, the feeling I have right now over what I did for Aurora is a feeling I want to have after every mission I succeed in. I want to help people more than anything else.”
Vani was happy to see Rafian back, and when she thought of him as lost forever, she had cried for days from her heart breaking. Now, hearing that he wanted to make it his life’s calling to run missions like this one scared her even more. But she felt compelled to offer him support.
“Just promise me that you will always fly home, Rafi,” she said quietly, and he put his index finger on the bridge of her nose playfully.
“I would be the worst kind of fool if I didn’t, babe.”
And with that, she gave him the toothy smile that always came whenever she felt that she was getting her own way.
Memory 06 | First Mission
The Seryac Z-class android threw the las-sword at Rafian as he rolled out of the way and ejected two blasts at its torso from his hip pistol. The las-sword was one of the most specialized weapons that the Geralos used, and Rafian wanted to be comfortable fighting with and against it. For this he had rigged up a training module using some of the marines’ elite androids to spar against in order to improve. However, this particular android must have been fitted with a master AI, because Rafian could find no break in its moves or mistakes to exploit in order to get the better of it.
For two minutes (which seemed like a lifetime), the boy and the machine had clashed las-swords. The android parried his swing strongly to the side and swiped at Rafian’s exposed arm, slicing the skin into a burning gash—which would have taken his arm off if the las-sword had been powered up beyond training level. Without giving in to the pain or severity, Rafian had spun a back fist into the skull of the droid but lost his las-sword at the same time.
They had kept the fight going, with Rafian using unarmed martial arts to parry the machine’s swings and thrusts. After Rafian planted a side kick into its chest to knock it across the room, the android threw the sword. That was when Rafian pulled out a hidden pistol and angrily shot back to put it out of commission.
The fight had lasted all of five minutes total before the gunshots went off, but by the time it was over, Rafian was sore, tired, and regretful of having to resort to cheating in order to take out the android that was meant to train him. Perhaps setting it to kill mode was a bad idea, as the machine had fought him the way an angry, skilled Geralos would have if the situation were real. Even worse was the swipe that had nailed his now-numbed arm. Had that sword been powered up, he would now be without an arm—or worse. The machine was rigged to finish the job, and if he had been a second too slow, he would have been hit by the thrown blade and killed.
Rafian was no stranger to life-and-death situations, as that had been the narrative of his life, but to lose to a training exercise was not the most glorious end to a soldier’s life. That was not the way he wanted to go out, by a long shot! He opened the door to the training room as he wrapped his seared arm and slowly made his way back to his room. He ran into Vani, who looked as if she had seen a ghost when she saw him.
Almost instantly, she began yelling. “Are you all right? What the hell happened to your arm? OK, OK, infirmary, right now, Lieutenant! We need to get this looked at before it’s too late!”
* * *
For all the loud explosions, screaming from superior officers, and random panicky cries from fellow officers that Rafian had endured in his career as a military person, the screams of a baby in close proximity was in a category of its own. As he sat in the ship’s infirmary clutching a badly burnt forearm, Rafian tried his best to ignore the screaming boy who commanded an audience despite the objections of his young mother, who all but looked defeated. That young mother was none other than
“You know, Vani, the feeling I have right now over what I did for Aurora is a feeling I want to have after every mission I succeed in. I want to help people more than anything else.”
Vani was happy to see Rafian back, and when she thought of him as lost forever, she had cried for days from her heart breaking. Now, hearing that he wanted to make it his life’s calling to run missions like this one scared her even more. But she felt compelled to offer him support.
“Just promise me that you will always fly home, Rafi,” she said quietly, and he put his index finger on the bridge of her nose playfully.
“I would be the worst kind of fool if I didn’t, babe.”
And with that, she gave him the toothy smile that always came whenever she felt that she was getting her own way.
Memory 06 | First Mission
The Seryac Z-class android threw the las-sword at Rafian as he rolled out of the way and ejected two blasts at its torso from his hip pistol. The las-sword was one of the most specialized weapons that the Geralos used, and Rafian wanted to be comfortable fighting with and against it. For this he had rigged up a training module using some of the marines’ elite androids to spar against in order to improve. However, this particular android must have been fitted with a master AI, because Rafian could find no break in its moves or mistakes to exploit in order to get the better of it.
For two minutes (which seemed like a lifetime), the boy and the machine had clashed las-swords. The android parried his swing strongly to the side and swiped at Rafian’s exposed arm, slicing the skin into a burning gash—which would have taken his arm off if the las-sword had been powered up beyond training level. Without giving in to the pain or severity, Rafian had spun a back fist into the skull of the droid but lost his las-sword at the same time.
They had kept the fight going, with Rafian using unarmed martial arts to parry the machine’s swings and thrusts. After Rafian planted a side kick into its chest to knock it across the room, the android threw the sword. That was when Rafian pulled out a hidden pistol and angrily shot back to put it out of commission.
The fight had lasted all of five minutes total before the gunshots went off, but by the time it was over, Rafian was sore, tired, and regretful of having to resort to cheating in order to take out the android that was meant to train him. Perhaps setting it to kill mode was a bad idea, as the machine had fought him the way an angry, skilled Geralos would have if the situation were real. Even worse was the swipe that had nailed his now-numbed arm. Had that sword been powered up, he would now be without an arm—or worse. The machine was rigged to finish the job, and if he had been a second too slow, he would have been hit by the thrown blade and killed.
Rafian was no stranger to life-and-death situations, as that had been the narrative of his life, but to lose to a training exercise was not the most glorious end to a soldier’s life. That was not the way he wanted to go out, by a long shot! He opened the door to the training room as he wrapped his seared arm and slowly made his way back to his room. He ran into Vani, who looked as if she had seen a ghost when she saw him.
Almost instantly, she began yelling. “Are you all right? What the hell happened to your arm? OK, OK, infirmary, right now, Lieutenant! We need to get this looked at before it’s too late!”
* * *
For all the loud explosions, screaming from superior officers, and random panicky cries from fellow officers that Rafian had endured in his career as a military person, the screams of a baby in close proximity was in a category of its own. As he sat in the ship’s infirmary clutching a badly burnt forearm, Rafian tried his best to ignore the screaming boy who commanded an audience despite the objections of his young mother, who all but looked defeated. That young mother was none other than
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