Read Online Tech World (Undying Mercenaries Series) by B. V. Larson - Free Book Online
Authors: B. V. Larson
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what we are, isn’t it?”
We reached the exercise room, took up live weapons and slouched against the wall. Above and ahead, we could see space. It was vivid but fake. I knew there was only a titanium wall there, no stars, no swirling planets or nebulae.
When a warp ship was inside its bubble, sliding between the stars at amazing speeds, it was impossible to see light in a normal way. An actual window to the bubble field outside would only show a glowing white haze. But as it comforted the occupants, human ships tended to display portals and even large panoramic views of what the passing universe should look like—if it were physically possible to see it.
“What’s on the menu today?” Carlos asked me.
“Another squad of recruits,” I said, shouldering my belcher, a heavy plasma cannon.
“You don’t sound happy about it? You scared?”
I glanced at him and gave him a disgusted look. This kind of training had always delighted Carlos and disturbed me.
“My only fear is that you’ll shoot me in the ass somehow,” I said.
Carlos belly-laughed. “That’s more likely than getting hit by the noobs!”
The exercise room began to warp and dim. I knew that was our cue. Carlos and I jogged forward and selected a position behind a rock that had grown up out of the floor over the last thirty seconds. It was solid enough even though it was just a pack of smart metal with a pixelated texture projected over it.
Veteran Harris’ voice crackled into my ear as I adjusted my helmet and the built-in headset.
“All right, ambushers. The recruits are entering the passage to the west in one minute. No one is to fire until they are all in the room, armed, and on alert. Is that clear? No pasting them early this time.”
I heaved a sigh. The exercise room was about two hundred meters square, but it seemed bigger because of all the illusory scenery on the walls. Trees, rocks, even tall grasses that rippled in a non-existent wind now surrounded the fire team I was hiding with. Including Veteran Harris himself there were only six of us against thirty recruits, but this wasn’t going to be a fair fight.
The noobs came in, armed themselves with snap-rifles from a rack, and were told to patrol to the far side of the exercise area. The Adjunct leading the group was a thin female with big eyes and a small, mean mouth. She ordered them forward but didn’t step into the room herself.
As an experienced soldier in Legion Varus, I could have told these poor bastards to keep their eyes on their own officer for clues. Whatever she did—or didn’t do—could be critical to their odds of survival.
“Hold your fire, troops,” Harris said in my earpiece. “Let the babies march in close. We want to scare them good.”
Scare them? That was a laugh. We were going to tear them apart. For the first time, my mood shifted. I watched as the confused recruits walked forward. They looked around warily but without proper appreciation for the danger they were in. It didn’t seem right that they should be blasted without warning.
I reached up and cranked the aperture on my weapon down to a tight beam. An instant later, Carlos slapped a gauntlet on my shoulder.
“Are you going to screw me?” he asked quietly, his helmet uncomfortably close to mine.
“Take your position, trooper,” I said. “This is gonna be a real fight.”
“Shit McGill—shit!” Carlos broke off and belly-crawled away from my position.
I almost chuckled. There was one man who knew me well.
Sighting carefully with my cannon balanced on the back of a fake rock, I targeted the approaching platoon. I was supposed to start this with a wide-angle blast that would engulf the front troops in a cone of hot plasma. Ambushing them and taking out half their number in the opening volley was part of the procedure.
Instead, I aimed through them to the very back rank. There, slinking along with her pistol drawn and looking very tense, was the thin Adjunct.
She knew the score,
We reached the exercise room, took up live weapons and slouched against the wall. Above and ahead, we could see space. It was vivid but fake. I knew there was only a titanium wall there, no stars, no swirling planets or nebulae.
When a warp ship was inside its bubble, sliding between the stars at amazing speeds, it was impossible to see light in a normal way. An actual window to the bubble field outside would only show a glowing white haze. But as it comforted the occupants, human ships tended to display portals and even large panoramic views of what the passing universe should look like—if it were physically possible to see it.
“What’s on the menu today?” Carlos asked me.
“Another squad of recruits,” I said, shouldering my belcher, a heavy plasma cannon.
“You don’t sound happy about it? You scared?”
I glanced at him and gave him a disgusted look. This kind of training had always delighted Carlos and disturbed me.
“My only fear is that you’ll shoot me in the ass somehow,” I said.
Carlos belly-laughed. “That’s more likely than getting hit by the noobs!”
The exercise room began to warp and dim. I knew that was our cue. Carlos and I jogged forward and selected a position behind a rock that had grown up out of the floor over the last thirty seconds. It was solid enough even though it was just a pack of smart metal with a pixelated texture projected over it.
Veteran Harris’ voice crackled into my ear as I adjusted my helmet and the built-in headset.
“All right, ambushers. The recruits are entering the passage to the west in one minute. No one is to fire until they are all in the room, armed, and on alert. Is that clear? No pasting them early this time.”
I heaved a sigh. The exercise room was about two hundred meters square, but it seemed bigger because of all the illusory scenery on the walls. Trees, rocks, even tall grasses that rippled in a non-existent wind now surrounded the fire team I was hiding with. Including Veteran Harris himself there were only six of us against thirty recruits, but this wasn’t going to be a fair fight.
The noobs came in, armed themselves with snap-rifles from a rack, and were told to patrol to the far side of the exercise area. The Adjunct leading the group was a thin female with big eyes and a small, mean mouth. She ordered them forward but didn’t step into the room herself.
As an experienced soldier in Legion Varus, I could have told these poor bastards to keep their eyes on their own officer for clues. Whatever she did—or didn’t do—could be critical to their odds of survival.
“Hold your fire, troops,” Harris said in my earpiece. “Let the babies march in close. We want to scare them good.”
Scare them? That was a laugh. We were going to tear them apart. For the first time, my mood shifted. I watched as the confused recruits walked forward. They looked around warily but without proper appreciation for the danger they were in. It didn’t seem right that they should be blasted without warning.
I reached up and cranked the aperture on my weapon down to a tight beam. An instant later, Carlos slapped a gauntlet on my shoulder.
“Are you going to screw me?” he asked quietly, his helmet uncomfortably close to mine.
“Take your position, trooper,” I said. “This is gonna be a real fight.”
“Shit McGill—shit!” Carlos broke off and belly-crawled away from my position.
I almost chuckled. There was one man who knew me well.
Sighting carefully with my cannon balanced on the back of a fake rock, I targeted the approaching platoon. I was supposed to start this with a wide-angle blast that would engulf the front troops in a cone of hot plasma. Ambushing them and taking out half their number in the opening volley was part of the procedure.
Instead, I aimed through them to the very back rank. There, slinking along with her pistol drawn and looking very tense, was the thin Adjunct.
She knew the score,
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