took my hand in his. He was clean shaven and he smelled of aftershave.
He picked a large velvet covered box up from the podium and opened it. He showed it to the crowd and then he gave a speech. He said, “This young man showed bravery in the face of adversity. He was a key player in liberating the Conquistador. He single handedly took down the terrorists aboard Deep Camp Eighty Seven. He was wounded and yet he fought on. We should all try to emulate Jack Peterson, the newest recipient of the Platinum Shield.”
Then he turned to me and shook my hand again. It was a lot of hand shaking between two total strangers.
For the first time I understood that I was being used as a pawn for the political machinations of others. But I didn’t care. That award was glinting under the lights. It looked heavy. Only a couple dozen people had ever been awarded one of those and most of them got them posthumously. The only living person I knew of to receive one was Rick Pringle and he just had his shipped to him because his identity was and still is a secret.
This was a big deal for me, despite the fact that it was a dog and pony show.
I gingerly took the medal from him.
He whispered in my ear, “You are a true hero. I’ve never heard of anyone accomplishing the things you’ve achieved, and at such a young age. Keep up the good work soldier.”
He shook my hand again and then all hell broke loose.
Attack
At first, all we could hear were distant pops, faint and intermittent. But they got closer quickly.
The President was ushered away and someone rushed up and tried to take my hand to lead me away too.
The President’s guards all had their weapons drawn, waiting for whoever was going to burst through the doors.
I looked to see who it was that was trying to drag me to safety. It was Arthur Johnson. He looked deadly in his armored uniform.
There was an explosion on the other side of the door. Arthur looked into my eyes and said, “Protect yourself.” Then he handed me a PQ5000.
I love the PQ5000. It’s my favorite weapon and I’m good with it. I felt pretty lucky that Arthur had one on hand for me.
I raised it up to my eye and then I crouched down on one knee.
Arthur yelled at me, “Put your headgear on you idiot.”
I did as I was told. This guy seemed like he knew what he was doing. I saw weird readouts scroll across my vision. I don’t know what they meant so I ignored them.
I felt the stage rumble and I turned around to find the source. For the first time, I noticed a curtain at the back of the stage. I noticed it because a dozen men and women in armored uniforms were coming out from behind it to join us. I felt bad for whoever was coming for us now.
Arthur said to the team, “They’ll be coming for Jack. Don’t let the line break.”
Mechanized heads nodded in the affirmative. Weapons were raised, and we waited.
We weren’t prepared for what came through that door. It was immense. It was a robot so decked out in weaponry it looked like a bipedal gunship. I almost shit my uniform.
Arthur mumbled, “Shit,” reached around for something, pulled a small EMP out, and lobbed it at the robot’s feet. The EMP put the lights out but it also immobilized the robot. We had gotten very lucky that Arthur had acted so quickly.
A male voice on the other side of the door said sarcastically, “Good job asshole. That thing was a paper tiger. The guns were all fake. But it did its job. It tricked you into using an EMP.”
I noticed my readouts in my visor no longer scrolled. My sights were funky too. We’d been suckered. Our mechs were now worthless. We’d need to rely on our own skills.
Arthur laughed out loud. “Then why don’t you come on in here?”
“Because we’re not after the boy. We knew you’d split your forces to protect him. My men are taking out the President’s motorcade as we speak. So the real question is this: Why don’t you come out here, motherfucker?
Arthur flipped his face armor back
He picked a large velvet covered box up from the podium and opened it. He showed it to the crowd and then he gave a speech. He said, “This young man showed bravery in the face of adversity. He was a key player in liberating the Conquistador. He single handedly took down the terrorists aboard Deep Camp Eighty Seven. He was wounded and yet he fought on. We should all try to emulate Jack Peterson, the newest recipient of the Platinum Shield.”
Then he turned to me and shook my hand again. It was a lot of hand shaking between two total strangers.
For the first time I understood that I was being used as a pawn for the political machinations of others. But I didn’t care. That award was glinting under the lights. It looked heavy. Only a couple dozen people had ever been awarded one of those and most of them got them posthumously. The only living person I knew of to receive one was Rick Pringle and he just had his shipped to him because his identity was and still is a secret.
This was a big deal for me, despite the fact that it was a dog and pony show.
I gingerly took the medal from him.
He whispered in my ear, “You are a true hero. I’ve never heard of anyone accomplishing the things you’ve achieved, and at such a young age. Keep up the good work soldier.”
He shook my hand again and then all hell broke loose.
Attack
At first, all we could hear were distant pops, faint and intermittent. But they got closer quickly.
The President was ushered away and someone rushed up and tried to take my hand to lead me away too.
The President’s guards all had their weapons drawn, waiting for whoever was going to burst through the doors.
I looked to see who it was that was trying to drag me to safety. It was Arthur Johnson. He looked deadly in his armored uniform.
There was an explosion on the other side of the door. Arthur looked into my eyes and said, “Protect yourself.” Then he handed me a PQ5000.
I love the PQ5000. It’s my favorite weapon and I’m good with it. I felt pretty lucky that Arthur had one on hand for me.
I raised it up to my eye and then I crouched down on one knee.
Arthur yelled at me, “Put your headgear on you idiot.”
I did as I was told. This guy seemed like he knew what he was doing. I saw weird readouts scroll across my vision. I don’t know what they meant so I ignored them.
I felt the stage rumble and I turned around to find the source. For the first time, I noticed a curtain at the back of the stage. I noticed it because a dozen men and women in armored uniforms were coming out from behind it to join us. I felt bad for whoever was coming for us now.
Arthur said to the team, “They’ll be coming for Jack. Don’t let the line break.”
Mechanized heads nodded in the affirmative. Weapons were raised, and we waited.
We weren’t prepared for what came through that door. It was immense. It was a robot so decked out in weaponry it looked like a bipedal gunship. I almost shit my uniform.
Arthur mumbled, “Shit,” reached around for something, pulled a small EMP out, and lobbed it at the robot’s feet. The EMP put the lights out but it also immobilized the robot. We had gotten very lucky that Arthur had acted so quickly.
A male voice on the other side of the door said sarcastically, “Good job asshole. That thing was a paper tiger. The guns were all fake. But it did its job. It tricked you into using an EMP.”
I noticed my readouts in my visor no longer scrolled. My sights were funky too. We’d been suckered. Our mechs were now worthless. We’d need to rely on our own skills.
Arthur laughed out loud. “Then why don’t you come on in here?”
“Because we’re not after the boy. We knew you’d split your forces to protect him. My men are taking out the President’s motorcade as we speak. So the real question is this: Why don’t you come out here, motherfucker?
Arthur flipped his face armor back
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