“Don't let the little lady hear you call her that,” Griz said.
Mirko shrugged. “Why not? She knows that she's a noncombatant. She was in the logistics division. I know she can fight if she needs to, but she's not exactly top soldier material. She's the brains of this outfit. We're the brawn.”
“Glad you know your place.”
He glanced over his shoulder as Nina stepped into view. “Oh, so once again IVIN doesn't say anything when you're approaching.”
“You seemed to be content to say things,” IVIN said. “Besides, you're not the once that runs the ship. Or the one that can activate the kill-switch for my programing.”
“You don't know that.”
“No, but he's smart enough to know the pecking order,” Nina said with a grin. “Can't disagree with you, though. That's why I hire you all, so I'm the least qualified fighter and can hide out in the back of the formation.”
“Grunts. That's what we are. Highly paid grunts, but grunts,” Griz said. “Though we still get a lot better accommodations and food than the mud-sloggers get on their end.”
“How's our trainee coming?” Nina asked.
Griz shrugged. “Everyone seems to want to ask that today. First him, then you. She seems to be picking up the weapons. Not going to make sharpshooter anytime soon, but she knows how to operate them safely and isn't going to shoot one of us in the back. At least, I hope.”
“You hope. That's rather encouraging.”
“Well, right now she's only done range training. There's no way to see how she's going to react until we put her into a battlefield scenario.”
That was always the true test of a trainee's abilities. Mirko had seen it many times before. A student performed flawlessly in practice exercises and on the range, but when they were thrust into a combat scenario everything changed. They froze up, they moved slowly, interpreted orders wrong, panicked, and made all other manner of errors.
It was the fear. Fear of disfigurement, of pain and of death could be enough to stop any human in their tracks. Training was meant to overcome that obstacle, to override the fear and allow the soldier to fight to the best of their ability. Sometimes it only took a few hours to get past it, others took days or weeks. A few were never able to overcome the fear.
Mirko didn't think that Lauren would fall into the last category, not from what he had seen on Caleth. She had reacted quickly enough during the gunfight, remaining lucid enough to flee the battlefield with guidance. She didn't freeze or panic. But running was a far different beast from being able to stand and fight with an enemy.
Would she be able to overcome the fear quickly enough? Did she even realize the kind of situations she'd be put in while traveling with the team? Over his long career Mirko had seen plenty of hellholes and nightmares, and while he hadn't run into anything that severe during his time with Skare Interstellar, they still faced danger any time they ventured outside of the civilized worlds.
“We're going to need to put her into a combat scenario before long,” he said. “And honestly, the sooner the better. She needs to realize what she's getting into.”
“Oh?” Nina asked. “What do you have in mind? A mission-type scenario?”
“No. Just straight combat.”
“Then let's see if we can get it going. As soon as possible. In fact, why don't we start right now. IVIN, open up a communications link into the range scenario.”
“As you wish.”
“Gilroy, Salim, can you hear me?”
“We hear you,” Salim said. “What's up?”
“Finish what you're doing. Soko wants you to move onto a training scenario. Combat.”
“Anything more specific than that?”
Nina looked at him.
“We'll say a battlefield simulation. Large-scale. You can handle that, can't you?”
“Is she going in alone?” Salim asked.
Nina hesitated for a moment. “Actually, let's not just waste all this time and processing power on one person. I'm going to send out a call to the rest of the squad. Anyone that wants to train can participate in the exercise.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mirko agreed. “Though one of us is going to need to act as an outside observer.” He looked over at Griz. “Do you want to do it, or should I?”
“Are you going in if I do it?”
“Perhaps?”
“I'll go for some combat training,” Griz said. “You're the one that's going to be making the final decision on whether she makes the cut or not. So I think that you should be the one on the outside that's looking for issues.”
“Fair enough.”
Nina nodded. “Alright. Like I said, finish up and then we'll start the next scenario. IVIN set up a ship-wide call for volunteers. Are you two in?”
“Of course,” Salim said.
Gilroy gave a thumbs up.
“I guess I should get ready,” Griz said. “Any idea what kind of scenario you're going to use?”
Mirko smiled and shook his head no. “Oh come on, I'm not going to tell you that. Wait for the surprise.”
“SO WE'RE MOVING to something else?” Lauren asked as she finished firing the last few shots.
“That's right. Combat scenario,” Salim said. “This is where you put all your training on the range into practical use. Don't worry too much about objectives. Just do your best to put your training into practice. That's what this is about. Besides, it might not make a difference.”
“Why not?”
“Because we tend to go through very difficult scenarios,” he explained. “A lot like the missions we all went through during our military service. Sometimes even worse. Some of them border on being impossible.”
“None of them are impossible,” Gilroy said. “There's always a way to accomplish the mission and win.”
“Some of them might as well be.”
“Don't listen to him. He came from the Akayan Rangers, and they're all a bunch of pessimistic fatalists.”
“Maybe because we kept getting put into borderline impossible missions?”
“So there's a chance that this scenario will be fairly winnable?” Lauren asked.
She saw Gilroy smile a little, but it faded quickly. “Maybe. Maybe, but that's only a hope at this point. When we're in the simulator we tend to die. A lot.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kei sat back in the pod and felt the chord connect with his neck socket. A moment later the world around him faded away, and he stood in a virtual waiting room with the rest of the team.
He looked around at the others: Griz with his stern expression and weathered face, Gilroy looking unflappable as always, Elsner appearing almost bored, Salim with his shifting eyes…
And Lauren. She looked nervous, and Kei didn't blame her. She probably had no idea what she was getting into. No one did, not until they stepped into their first taste of combat. They could hear about it, read about it, watch it on a screen, but until they stood in the midst of a battlefield they couldn't fully understand its magnitude.
A virtual simulation wasn't perfect, but it was the best solution they could come up with while in transit. The only way to simulate a full-fledged battle was to run a field exercise, and that required a huge amount of space. Kei remembered splitting his time between the simulators and the battle domes during basic training. Both helped harden him to the realities of war and made the transition to real combat less jarring. He remembered being afraid on his first mission, but his training helped him to overcome that.
“Any clue what we're doing?” Elsner asked.
“Soko didn't want to spoil the surprise, or at least that's what he tells me,” Griz said. “Not that it makes much of a difference.”
“Sounds like him. And what kind of excuse is that? We'd obviously know what kind of environment we'd be going into. He can't at least tell us that?”
“OK, OK, don't stress yourself out too much,” Soko's voice cut in. “If you're really so desperate to know then I'll tell you.”
“Well, spit it out,” Elsner said. “Let's see what you have for us.”
“You know, you always have to be a jinx,” Salim said. “It's probably going to be something horrible, right?”
“You don't know that.”
“I know that because Soko's running the entire thing, and when does he ever not put nasty twists and turns inside a training scenario?”
“Those aren't all my fault,” Soko's voice replied. “IVIN is responsible for the finer details of every exercise.”
“Blame the machine instead of the user,” IVIN snarked. “Good to know that I'm so appreciated.”
“We still blame Soko,” Griz said.
That got a few smiles from the rest of the group, but Kei still wanted to know what kind of scenario they'd be facing. There were so many different environments they could face, from forests to tundra, sand dunes to mountains, the interior of ships, cities, the void of space…
“Is it always like this?” Lauren asked him quietly.
Kei nodded. “This is all just banter. Something to kill time and relieve the stress. Otherwise we'd have probably killed each other after being cooped up in a ship for weeks on end.”
“Alright, we have our mission set,” Soko said. “Or rather, you have your mission set. You'll be fighting on a terrestrial planet, in a defensive action. Guarding a trench line as part of a larger unit, might I add.”
Kei heard a few groans. He kept himself silent, but he understood their feelings.
“Is this bad?” Lauren asked.
“Yeah, I'd say so. Trench warfare happens when neither side can gain air or space superiority, and they can't maneuver. It's slow, it's tedious a lot of the time, and when you finally do end up fighting it's deadly.”
“You said a defensive mission,” Gilroy said. “What kind of attack should we suspect?”
“All-out assault,” Soko replied.
“Joy.”
“Any specific instructions for the rest of us?” Kei spoke up. “Especially me. Should I move to treat casualties?”
“Act as a soldier for now and don't worry about it. This is just a scenario for you to get your feet wet.”
“Shooting gallery,” Elsner nodded approvingly.
“Of course you'd be looking forward to trench warfare,” Salim said.
“What can I say? There's only so many times that you can play cards before it gets boring.”
“What kind of equipment can we expect to have?” Kei asked.
“Standard loadout for everyone. Gilroy will have her sniper equipment. The rest of you are going to be line infantry. Your orders are to hold the line as a squad. Ready?”
“We're ready whenever you are,” Griz said. “Everyone, let's not overthink this. If we're in a trench then just make sure to hold your positions and do what we can to hold the line.”
“We're phasing you into the battlefield in five seconds,” Soko said.
Kei closed his eyes and inhaled to steady himself. At this point in his career he was no stranger to combat, but he still felt a bit of nerves every time he stepped out onto the battlefield. They'd fade soon enough, he knew that much.
Lauren might not be so lucky, though. How would she react after being thrust into a life-threatening situation?
THE GEAR FELT AWKWARD.
Lauren reached down and tried to adjust the thigh pad on her right leg. Like all the others she wore a body glove made of synthetic fabric as a lower layer and a protective shell of pads made out of some sort of composite material. Every section of her body was covered, though there were still gaps around the joints.
None of it weighed very much, but it still didn't feel comfortable. She glanced around at the rest of the squad. As expected none of them showed any signs of discomfort or worry.
For a moment Lauren felt very small and inadequate. What was she doing here, standing in the midst of seasoned veterans and trying to play soldier herself? Would she really be able to hold her own during the exercise, or would she embarrass herself?
What made her think she'd be capable of joining their company after such a short period of time? It was arrogance on her part. Arrogance, a stubborn belief that just because she wanted something she could make it happen through desire alone. But all the desire in the universe wasn't going to make her better in a few weeks, not-
She felt a hand clap down on one of her shoulder pads, and Griz stood in front of her.
“Don't get too caught up in this, kid,” he said. “Just remember the training you've gone through and listen for our instructions.”
Lauren nodded. The words steadied her a bit, but she still felt a sick feeling beginning to form in the pit of her stomach.
But if she wanted to travel into the Central Expanse with this team she needed to pass her skills test, and it started here. Lauren looked around, trying to get a feel for her surroundings.
They stood in the midst of the trench, about ten or twelve feet deep and maybe four feet across. A raised ledge ran along one side, allowing them to step up and look over the lip of the trench. The fortification ran for about ten yards, then curved away toward the rear.
“It's to make sure that the enemy can't enfilade us if they get in the trench,” Kei explained when she asked him the reason for that.
“I'm sorry, what?”
“Enfilade us. It means they get on one side of us then shoot us up. There's no cover for us in the trench, but all the twists and turns make sure that they can only fire a limited distance.”
“And it keeps the whole trench from being damaged if we get hit by artillery,” Salim added.
Kei nodded. “The shockwave from that is enough to pulp us from a pretty long distance if there isn't anything to stop it.”
“This sounds like a bunch of horrible ways to die.”
“Trench warfare is awful,” Salim said. “If I never had to see it again I wouldn't be sad. Not at all. It's awful.”
“All warfare is awful,” Elsner said.
“Obviously, but some things are worse than others. Don't tell me that given the choice you'd pick-”
“Attention all troops. Attention all troops.
“Attention, attention all troops,” a voice announced over the radio link, “We've spotted enemy movement to the south.”
Lauren was about to ask for instructions, but as she opened her mouth to speak Griz held up a hand. She heard something in the background, a muted whistle that steadily grew louder…
“Down!” he ordered, and the entire squad flattened themselves at the bottom of the trench.
Lauren tried to make herself as small as possible. Explosions reverberated all around them. She felt dirt and debris rain down on them, and a few hits made the ground shake.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt it. Fear. Not trepidation, not nerves or worry. Sheer, abject fear, terror that threatened to overwhelm her and freeze her on the spot. The shells continued to rain down on them, and Lauren wondered if they'd be vaporized in an instant.
It was just practice. Just a simulation. Everything around her was a virtual construct. Nothing around her was real. She kept trying to repeat it in her mind, but it was wrong. The simulation, the environment might not be real, but the fear clawing at her heart and threatening to overwhelm her mind definitely was.
The barrage continued to slam them. One shell landed close and rattled the ground, showering them all with even more dirt. Lauren tried to endure it. How had soldiers managed to do this for a decade, fighting and dying in-
“Get up, get up,” Kei urged her, grabbing under her arm and firmly pulling her up into a crouch.
“What about-”
“It's over,�
�� he said.
The radio link in her earpiece chirped again. “All soldiers, all soldiers, stand to attention. Enemy movement to the south. Stand to attention and prepare to repel.”
Lauren pulled herself up onto the ledge and stood, then prepared her plasma rifle for combat.
“Was that artillery?” she asked.
“Mortar fire,” Elsner called over to her. “You can tell the difference because you'd never hear artillery fire coming before it hits. The shells are supersonic.”
Right now that distinction meant very little to her. More soldiers moved up onto the ledge and took their positions. She tried to remember everything she had learned on the range. Pull the charging handle. Bring the weapon stock up to her shoulder. Safety off.
“Here they come,” Griz said over the radio link.
Lauren sighted in her weapon and got her first good look at the enemy. They moved forward quickly, alternating between ducking behind cover and advancing. Some of them opened fire, and red bolts of plasma began to zip through the air.
“Prepare to fire on my signal,” Griz said. “Gilroy, start picking off targets.”
Finger on the trigger. Steady her aim. Squeeze the trigger smoothly. Lauren repeated the mantra over and over in her head. She felt her fingers becoming numb, or maybe that was just her imagination.
She waited. The seconds ticked by slowly. How long would it take for him to give the order? She could still feel heart heart thumping.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Nina asked.
“Well, she hasn't frozen yet,” Mirko said. “She's up and ready to fight. I can see that she's terrified even from here, but she's doing fairly well for her first taste of simulated combat. Now it's just a matter of whether she can do anything useful.”
“Good to know that she doesn't freeze in the face of danger,” Nina said. “That's the most important thing.”
“Other than panicking. That's worse. I'd rather have someone that freezes than someone who's getting in the way. Or who's wild enough to accidentally shoot be in the back during the confusion.”
“She seems to have a good handle on it, though,” Nina said. “Not sure how well she'd do on her own, but Griz and Kei seemed to have settled her down. Being in a team might help her.”
Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1) Page 7
