by Kevin Groh
Progress
Day-to-day life came way too fast for Carter. Although he had no duties this week, he was no less tired. He dragged himself to the others with Leena in order to endure Clemm’s daily drill and then wake up to the morning sports. That wasn’t hard at all because Kelly stood up in front of him to slowly do her knee bends so he could look straight at her butt.
On the way to breakfast, he told her about his impressions of the trip. He left out Leena’s activities in case anyone else listened to them. After a short passionate kiss in the bathroom, they had to go to class. That day they met Major Dunn on the very outskirts of Osilon. They walked behind the hell trail, where some more experienced recruits were struggling, and discovered a shooting range. The base had a small gate on the back, which was mostly used for special deliveries or by officers as a quick entrance. Behind it, outside the grounds, there was a second shooting range. The gate guards let them out and Dunn was already waiting nearby. She sat with her legs apart on a long box and sharpened a knife blade. She put it away as the group had set up.
»Now that we’ve been doing exercises and shooting around for quite a while, with and without equipment, it’s time for something difficult. This shit is starting to bore me. Today I’ll show you the first special weapon only used by professionals. The sniper rifle, or just sniper.«
She took a long case out of the box and pressed the button. It extended the barrel, shoulder rest, grip and rifle scope and thus became a good third longer. Carter found precise weapons particularly interesting and was thrilled to try one.
»That’s why we’re out here!«, Henry exclaimed.
Dunn said: »Well understood, Speedy. So: A sniper is used completely different than the weapons you know so far. A good shooter is as good as invisible and almost noiseless in covert operations. You need a lot of patience and accuracy for this task. Depending on the model, you can fire several clicks. In the past, some shooters needed a partner to help them calculate the environmental impact. Wind speed, humidity, the trajectory, gravity and acceleration due to gravity, all that crap. These are all factors that have to be taken into account when shooting from a long distance. Today the HUD does this job, but it doesn’t make it any easier.«
She pointed in one direction exactly opposite the base. There were targets in the distance, which could be watched more closely by means of a camera transmission on their bracelets.
»Despite all HUD technology, highly developed riflescopes, and recoil dampeners, an accurate shot at such a distance is difficult.«
Nambur asked: »What’s a click?«
»Fuck I forgot, you’ve never heard that before. A click is a short form for a kilometer. This has something to do with different units of measurement that were once used on Earth. The fools didn’t want to see that a uniform system saves everyone an assload of work.«
She distributed the rifles, of which there was only one model for exercises, and the recruits lined up next to each other. In the beginning, they were to place the weapons on dedicated supports mounted on the tables. Later they lay down on the free area directly in front of the shooting range and used the integrated legs. »There are always recruits who believe through films and video games that they can shoot freely while standing. Forget that very quickly! Freestanding, you’ll never have the calmness in your arms to hit a target. If the enemy is close enough to be targeted standing up, then use an assault rifle.«
Carter was a little unfamiliar with the length of the gun, but he liked the feeling. The rifle scope could zoom in up to a few yards from the target and the feeling of pulling the trigger was indescribable. The short moment between the shot and the actual impact at the target was always like a rush. One waited with held breath whether the projectile would hit.
»Major! Do we also practice with moving targets if we can handle the weapon to some extent?«, he asked.
Dunn laughed loudly: » Handle to some extent? Snipers train with this weapon for months before they are allowed to fire at anything moving for the first time. And they practice exclusively with the sniper. We won’t get that far in basic training. If you want to learn that, you’ll have to commit yourself, kid.«
Most recruits didn’t hit the target at all. Kelly was accordingly frustrated.
»Ah damn horseshit! Why don’t I hit the stupid fucking target with that stupid shit thing?!«, she cursed around.
Dunn raised his eyebrows in astonishment: »Richards, that’s an exquisite selection of curses. I like it when you talk like that, it liberates. You don’t hit because you’re in too much of a hurry. Look at how Sanders is doing it.«
Carter felt watched but was not disturbed by it. He zoomed in on the target, adjusted according to the target HUD, took a deep breath, breathed out slowly and squeezed the trigger. The projectile scratched the outer edge.
»You’re a damn natural, Sanders! Maybe one day you can really practice with moving targets.« Turned to Kelly, she said: »Precision is not about speed. It’s about accuracy. Slow is precise and precise is fast. Take your time, breathe calmly and hold your breath before you pull the trigger.«
Kelly tried, but her bullet missed. Leena had also listened and imitated it, but she just didn’t have a talent for shooting. Moreover, the long rifle seemed almost as big as her.
Already in the afternoon, a new teaching topic awaited them. Kova was there, but there were no practice glasses to be seen.
The Salvani waited in her strange dark brown clothes. She wore wide pants that concealed the shape of her beetle-like legs and a jacket with matching four sleeves, one of which was tied. No matter how often they saw her, the sight of a Salvani with clothes seemed strange to them. »Greetings, recruits,« it came from their voice synthesizer. They always found the clicking noises her jaws produced when speaking very distracting.
»Your plan includes HUD training, but we’re actually starting with another topic today that you might need as your military time progresses. Maybe not very often and also in later missions, but still it is important. I’m talking about hacking. All species that are capable of space travel use a lot of technology. Every technology, in whatever form and variation, is controlled by computers. So if you understand the way a computer works, you can influence its performance and function. You don’t have to be able to read the symbols of the other species, the HUD does that for you, even if some basic language skills wouldn’t hurt. However, you have to learn the basic structure of programming languages in order to change a function.
If you learn this and learn the different hacking techniques, you can later attack, rewrite and manipulate almost any machine-controlled system. Locked doors, alarms, extinguishing systems, VIs, HUDs, ships, even equipment, and weapons can be sabotaged by hacking. There are certain upgrades for specialists, but many things can also be achieved with the simple multitool.«
She raised her hand and a long, narrow holographic screen appeared above it. It seemed to have significantly more functions than their bracelets.
»Multitools are the evolution of your multifunctional bracelets. They are used as a chip under the skin of the arm and can therefore not get lost. But only professional soldiers get such things because they’re expensive.«
The recruits sat down in front of the computers and Kova explained to them the most basic concepts of a hack. Since they had already seen the main features of the programming languages of all peoples from other subjects, they tried out some simple things with the help of a support program. »The more you know about system hacks and programs, the easier it is to get results without tools. You can also attack in many more ways to outsmart a system.«, Kova explained.
Carter found it enormously complicated but somehow managed to get it right after Leena gave him additional explanations and helped him. Kelly looked at the two of them to do anything right at all. Most of the group had a hard time hacking, only Henry, Gina and Leena were good at it. They all knew how useful this skill could be outside the military as well.
With the
new subjects, the timetable became more complex every day and some training became rare. To their relief, the hell trail with Banes belonged to this category. Unfortunately, Annie’s lessons were also included, because they had covered most of the basic things in the meantime. The rest of the week was filled with weight training and combat training with Jazzir, two marches and several weapons training sessions in full equipment. Especially on Thursday, the simulation was unusually challenging.
They had to deal with a horde of flying creatures, which together with enemy human troops took action against them. Carter had an assault rifle and pistol with him and had been separated from Leena. Kelly had been eliminated because one of the winged things had caught her. Only himself, Leena, Roderick, Tim, and Nambur were still in the game. Leena fought alone on the edge, while Tim and Nambur stood back to back. Roderick was covered behind a rock to reload his rifle because his magazine was overheated. It was only a simulation, but the technology was very realistic with haptic holography, smell simulation and surround sound.
Carter noticed Tim and Nambur being encircled and was about to jump up as a flying creature rushed down on him. He shot it, but he had to overheat his magazine. In that time Tim had been caught and Leena fled from two attackers. A soldier had climbed on the rock above Roderick and aimed, but Carter couldn’t reload or switch to the pistol so quickly. He acted instinctively, running towards Roderick, who got scared because he thought he was going to attack him. Instead, he used a broken box as a stepping stone and knocked down the soldier with the rifle shaft. But he slipped and hit the ground hard in front of Roderick. His helmet slipped and the air was pressed out of his lungs. He heard several flying creatures throwing themselves at him and then it loudly banged a few times. After he had straightened the visor, he saw that Roderick had perforated the creatures with the shotgun. If Nambur hadn’t covered him from behind, he would have been killed. He had risked his own safety for Carter. Shortly afterward they were overrun, but they had never held out that long before.
Carter took off his helmet and looked at him. Both gasped from the exhaustion and adrenaline. »Why did you risk your ass for me?«, he asked.
»Because you did the same for me. Many guys just talk, but when it gets tough, they chicken out and prefer to save themselves. So I owed you that. Now we are even.«
Carter nodded and Roderick took it wordlessly. Major Dunn ended the simulation and strolled to them.
»Not bad at all, Sanders! A daring attack with the shaft, but still effective. Your shotgun was pretty busy too, Tindall. Zobek and Talbot showed the most famous of all team techniques, that was clean work! But the rest of you ... sucked balls. Richards, you didn’t survive five minutes. If you don’t become more attentive, it will instantly kill you in reality. And Whittaker ... running away from the enemy in panic in the middle of the battlefield is ... pathetic. I haven’t seen anything like that with any recruit before.«, she criticized.
Leena was very embarrassed and she blushed. Dunn was right and she knew it. Kelly felt just as bad, even though Carter patted her on the shoulder, she wordlessly went for a shower. He sat down in the locker room and started to take off his armor. Roderick stood at the locker next to him and did the same. »This cheap standard equipment is shit! Takes far too long ...«
Carter just hummed and nodded. He pondered how to cheer up Kelly later. »She’ll get over it. Such a scare sometimes works wonders. Next time she’ll try harder.«
»Who do you mean?«, he asked and expected that it was about Leena.
Roderick skeptically raised a brow: »Are you serious? Even a blind man would have noticed how you and Kelly are into each other.«
When Carter felt caught and looked surprised, his comrade just laughed.
»I’m just kidding, Sanders! I saw you smooching on the toilet the other day. You hide it pretty well. I know that. I once had a girl who wanted to keep it secret. Somehow that seemed to give her a kick.«
Carter asked bluntly: »Why are you talking to me? You take every opportunity to annoy me. You despise me and my father and you keep trying to make me look bad in front of the others. That doesn’t fit the picture.«
Roderick put his shoulder plates on the bench next to him and breathed out deeply and slowly.
»I’m sorry about that.«
Carter didn’t know what to think.
Roderick explained: »Your name is a symbol for the privileged. When I saw you in your cheap clothes and with the innocent expression on your face, I only saw all those bastards who always made my life hard. I am interested in Leena and she makes friends with you of all people. That has upset me even more ...«
»Then why did you make a fool of her whenever you could?«, Carter asked him.
»Frustration. You never reacted to my insults, you never retaliated. That you didn’t give me a confirmation for my anger made me even angrier. I don’t want to go on like this. It’s no use and Leena will never like me if I keep you in my crosshairs. So I apologize that I made your life difficult.«
Carter was astonished by these words and especially by the fact that the whole thing probably started with Leena. She had obviously spoken to him more often than she had told him. Roderick just stood there and waited for a reaction. He let him squirm a little bit. »Thank you. I accept your apology and I hope we get along better from now on.«
He stood up and held out his hand and Roderick took it. He looked at Carter thoughtfully for a moment.
»Call me Rod!«
»Not Ricky? All right, then, Rod it is.«, he joked.
Rod was shaking: »For fuck’s sake, not Ricky! That sounds awful ...«
They smiled stiffly and changed their clothes. Carter was in good spirits because now he felt less uncomfortable near Rod. It would take a while, but maybe they could even become friends.
The remainder of the week was a bit calmer with more hacking and a little weight training. This weekend was Kelly’s father’s birthday and she flew home, so Carter did the same. He spent the time with Magnus in front of the TV or he was gaming with his friend from Earth again since a long time. He also called Zoe and told her how he was doing while she told him about his nephew Terry’s latest adventures. On Saturday night, he talked to Kelly via his bracelet for over an hour.
The following week was busy as he was on guard duty right on Monday and Tuesday. Since his girlfriend was on duty on the following two days, the evenings were not very satisfying. However, they were able to plan another date on the weekend off. On Wednesday they had a lesson with Annie again and since the last time was almost two weeks ago, they were looking forward to it.
The Commander glared at them as they settled in their seats motivated. »It’s good to see you! You look a little tired. I know that. Each group has the most strenuous phase during this period of training. But don’t worry, it will pass. What always helps me in such times is to check things off. A feeling of success and completion can work wonders. In order for you to get that this week, today and tomorrow we will go through the last two peoples that are still missing. The Lorgans and the Gumai.«
As usual, she called up the appropriate system on the star map. »Practically, the Lorgans and the Gumai are the only species in the Utbikh-Cluster, so the khaki line is also the friend-enemy line. The only inhabited system is the Kachan-System. Kachan is an orange star of sun-like size. There lies the homeworld of both species. The name of this world is unpronounceable to humans, so the sound you hear from the locals saying the word has been turned into the variation ›Halog‹.«
She called up the planet. It seemed yellowish, but this seemed to be due to the light of Kachan. Annie walked up and down as she showed images of the surface.
»Halog is a world of opposites. It starts with the color. From space, the world seems yellowish and unfriendly. This is due to the unique gas mixture which, similar to the ozone layer of Earth, spans the entire planet. On the surface, it is predominantly bluish or goes into the green.«
Jane asked where the pictu
res came from when the Lorgans were their enemies from day one.
»The T’zun had long trade relations with the Lorgans and they gave us these photographs and some other helpful data.«, Annie explained.
»The contrasts, however, go much further. The planet is not only home to one, but two intelligent species at once. The reason for this is the different vegetation and structure on Halog. A large part of the world is covered by water and the more intelligent Gumai have developed there. Their high-tech and modern cities were built on artificial plateaus or massive pillars above the water surface. However, these are only the places where they live together with the Lorgans. They have also built several impressive underwater complexes where there are extensive algae forests.
The Lorgans however mostly live on the landmasses of Halog, which are characterized by dense forest and jungle areas, which are mostly crossed or surrounded by dark, pointed rock formations. The whole planet is extremely moist with record-high humidity. It rains daily, but the air is still very warm due to the proximity of Halog to Kachan.«
The group marveled at the huge building complexes, some above and some below the water. Annie then showed the depictions of the Lorgans.
They were clearly reptiles. They looked like a mixture of monitor, lizard, and dinosaur. The male members were very broadly built, with strong muscles and thick tails full of spikes. At the elbows, you could see a bone tip that stood out along the forearm. Not every Lorgan had the collar of a frilled lizard around the neck, but they all had many short, backward-facing horns spread across the skull. In addition, there were three rows of needle-sharpened teeth and shortened jaws. Some even had a pointed bone on the ›nose‹.
The female Lorgans were substantially slimmer and more delicate than the men. They did not resemble dinosaurs as much as they did agile salamanders. Their scaly skin was generally lighter with green and yellow than their male counterparts, who looked more dark green, dark red, or dark blue. Their tails did not hang down as much, but often stood out and a skin collar was less often seen in women. But the horns on the head and the jaws were usually longer.
