by Aer-ki Jyr
They’d failed, and had been stuck fuming long enough that they’d tried to get at the ceiling turrets by flinging pieces of shrapnel up at them, resulting in Andy going down in the middle of the open where he couldn’t be easily retrieved. Their subsequent rescue attempt had stranded Brad there as well.
What they did have were three extra keycards, so as soon as Paul and Jason got their missing teammates back to friendly territory they immediately went on a treasure hunt back into the other zones to unlock more of the hidden armories and resupply their small army.
After getting everyone equipped, Paul and Jason returned to the group leaders’ council with a few extras in attendance. They’d always represented the 2s as a pair, which no one had ever complained about, but several of the stranded trainees were milling about, eager to get involved in the action.
“Are you sure?” Morgan asked Jason.
He nodded confidently. “We can handle it with fire support. We’ve certainly had plenty of practice.”
“And when he knocks you unconscious?” Kerrie prompted.
“Not the plan, but if it happens distract him long enough to pull me out.”
“He knows we’re going to try and take him down,” Paul explained. “Best thing to do is the opposite. Stall him long enough to get everyone past. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.”
“Just two of you?” Rafa asked.
“We need to stay mobile. More bodies means more to trip over when people start going down, and he’s used that tactic against us before,” Jason argued. “If one of us goes down, by all means send someone else to fill in.”
“I’ll handle that,” Morgan volunteered.
“Backup plan?” Ian asked.
“Make like a lemming,” Greg half joked.
“He’s right,” Sam agreed. “If we can get to the pillars we’ll be out of range of the flanking turrets. Once there we can provide fire support.”
“How do we actually finish?” Ben asked.
“Pass through the pillars,” Greg said, shrugging. “Beyond that it’s anyone’s guess. Wilson just said get there.”
“And what if there’s another chamber on the other side?”
“Then Paul and Jason have their work cut out for them,” Greg answered tongue in cheek.
“The walls past the columns are covered in blue lights, so I think we can safely assume that’s the end,” Sara pointed out.
“Alright, let’s do this,” Steve said, holding out his fist towards the center of the group. The others stepped in and added their hands on top. “We get to those columns we graduate…just make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.”
“We won’t,” Morgan agreed.
Paul raised an eyebrow at Greg, who returned his gaze.
“I don’t do chants anymore,” he said deadpan, then cracked a smile. “Let’s kick some ass.”
A couple of scouts poked out of cover first, confirming the existence of back wall turrets, and were quickly followed by what looked like an old school Roman phalanx hidden beneath sections of rover armor supplemented by personal shields. As soon as the Black Knight saw the trainees appear he immediately rushed them, but before he could cross the wide open area the formation split in two…one half staying near the corner entrance and the other traveling along the back wall turrets, taking them out with stun sticks as they walked up to them at point blank range.
Several snipers poked out of cover and began shooting at the Black Knight, but as Jason and Paul walked up behind them ready to spring into diversionary action a wall rose up on the far end of the chamber until it was two meters high and obscuring the distant turrets from view…then dozens of panels on the side walls opened up to reveal concealed turrets.
“Go!” Greg yelled from behind the armored plug covering the door, realizing that they needed to act fast. The ‘turtle’ broke up with small three man teams running forward behind a single shield, heading down the line of turrets nearest them while others angled across the room to the far side, hiding behind rover armor as they ran as fast as they could.
A horde of trainees followed them, with a few going down immediately as the turrets opened fire en mass.
Jason and Paul hesitated a moment, letting the others draw fire from the turrets, then they joined the in with the flow, breaking off at the last moment to run towards the center where the Black Knight was just catching up to the armor carrying leaders. He took down two of the trainees within a second, then bounced a third back with a kick to his shield before Paul got to him.
Armed with nothing more than a stun stick…even having forgone his utility belt for maximum agility…Paul swung at the Black Knight’s right flank, prompting him to swat his way with his extremely long sword and momentarily take his attention away from the others. Paul ducked and back stepped, readying himself for a flurry of parries, and the Black Knight didn’t disappoint.
Completely ignoring the turrets, he focused entirely on the black armored giant, swinging his short stun stick around defensively, deflecting a jab then a wicked vertical roundhouse swing that cracked hard against the floor a few inches away from his foot. The Black Knight was still considerably stronger than he was, and even with his improved sparring proficiency Paul had to work hard to keep from being completely dominated on each crossing of blades.
Fortunately Jason got to them a moment later and circled around, putting the Black Knight between them where they began a yoyo distracting game with him, as they had done before. Sensing their tactic, the Black Knight literally ran through Paul, knocking him bodily aside and swatted at Mark as he ran by.
Mark barely saw it coming, his attention was so focused on the turrets. He went down with a strike to his chest as the snipers, still placed at the doorway, added a few more green splatters to the Knight’s armor, then held fire as Morgan came flying across into view, jump kicking into the Knight’s lower back and sending him tumbling to the floor.
Wise enough not to press the issue, she retreated and let Jason and Paul deal with him as he swung his sword around in a wide arc while still on the floor, catching Kerrie in the foot. The other trainees parted like a school of fish away from a shark, leaving the immediate area open as Paul slashed at the Knight’s right leg as he stood up in an adrenaline fueled flash.
Jason ducked under his response to Paul and jabbed him in the midsection, delivering their first stun stick hit. It didn’t take him down, but added several sniper rounds’ worth of energy into the resistant black armor as Jason wisely backtracked and rolled out of reach, but unnecessarily. Rather than be distracted back and forth, the Knight had decided to ignore Jason and focus exclusively on Paul.
Morgan sensed the move before it even happened, and ran to help Paul while Jason was still out of range. She ducked down and slid underneath his shoulder height and jabbed into his right thigh. When he ignored it and wacked Paul from overhead, knocking him off balance and falling backward, Morgan dropped her stick and wrapped her arms and legs around the Black Knight’s ankles, trying to squeeze them together and tip him over.
She succeeded when Jason rammed him in the back and the three of them toppled to the ground. The Black Knight’s sword discharged on the floor, but he swung the hilt back and hit Morgan in the head. Unconscious or disoriented, Paul couldn’t tell which, her grip immediately let go and the Black Knight kicked her body aside.
Meanwhile Jason rolled away, giving the snipers a brief shot, which they took, adding two more splotches of paint to the plate on his back before Paul slashed at his helmet as he climbed to his knees.
The stick never got that far, easily slapped aside by a twirling sword that Paul knelt down to redirect over his head, then he stepped forward and poked the Knight in the faceplate, only to quickly retreat backwards, literally running several steps away.
The Knight followed him, with Jason trailing a step behind, hopping over Morgan’s prone body, which Oni quickly approached and hefted over her shoulders, carrying her down the course and away from the
Knight as the pair of 2s continued to battle him. Everywhere else in the chamber the turrets had gone down and the trainees were running towards the far wall which was providing their last hazard, for they had to climb up and over it to get to the finish columns…with the last four turrets sitting ready to shoot them as they came over.
Greg took charge of the suppression effort at the wall, organizing shooters at the corners to distract the turrets and coat them in pain while others formed two-man catapults, interlocking hands to boost lighter trainees up and over the wall in one smooth, quick motion. A half dozen of them landed on the other side with stun sticks and rushed the turrets. Four of them went down immediately, but more continued to launch over and the numbers game played out in their favor.
With the last turrets disabled, Greg let the others carry their unconscious teammates across the finish area while he and the snipers turned back to assist Paul and Jason…just in time to see Paul go down.
“Fall back!” Greg yelled.
Jason heard the call and ran backwards as fast as he could, but his line took him laterally instead of towards the finish…by design. His doing so opened up the firing lines for the snipers and others stationed on or near the wall who started firing on the Black Knight for the two seconds it took him to get to Jason.
Not waiting for a better opportunity, Greg dropped his rifle and sprinted towards where Paul was laying and scooped him up as Jason literally danced around the Black Knight, constantly evading him and not even trying to land a blow, knowing he only had a few seconds before he went down too.
Greg didn’t waste the opening he was providing and got Paul back to the wall and into the hands of the others, then grabbed his rifle from the floor and joined the others in providing suppressive fire, bringing the Knight to a knee for a moment, giving Jason a chance to run for the wall.
“Over!” Greg yelled, firing one last shot then tossing his weapon aside and climbing. Some of the snipers were now sitting on top and continued to fire at the Black Knight as he got to his feet and slowly ran towards the wall, for his usual super speed was now diminished to just a hair slower than Jason’s adrenaline powered stride.
“Here!” Emily and Brian yelled, sitting on top and reaching their hands down for Jason to grab. With their leverage he actually walked up the wall and rolled over head first along with the last of the stragglers.
He fell hard on the other side, actually pulling Emily and Brian down with him, nailing his funny bone on the floor…but it didn’t matter. He was only steps away from graduating, and with a firm grasp on his wrist Tom pulled Jason up and across the line into a long hallway that was now open on the far side.
Jason had been the last across, with the Black Knight not following them over the wall. Standing in the blue lighted ‘victory corridor’ he saw Paul get an injection from Sara and blink his way back to consciousness while the others filed their way out the brightly lit exit at the other end.
“We did it,” Jason told him as Sara hauled Paul to his feet wobbily. The Black Knight’s sword carried the largest stun charge of any weapon in their arsenal.
“Did we get everyone?” he asked, looking around.
“Yep,” Sara answered, slapping him on the butt. “Nice decoy work. You make for a good piñata.”
Paul laughed and walked with her and Jason down the hallway following the others out of the challenge ‘city.’ “What now?”
“Good question,” Jason echoed. “They never said what we’d be doing after graduation.”
“I think he’s going to tell,” Sara said, spotting Wilson and several other trainers waiting for them at the exit. When they got there and the doors sealed the training area behind them in one final gesture of completion as the head trainer looked around at all 100 trainees surrounding him in a tight group, filling the long hallway that connected back to the prep areas and park courses a half mile away through the city’s interior.
Before they headed back, Wilson raised a hand to get their attention and the chit chat cut out immediately.
“Congratulations,” he said loudly to make sure all could hear. “Your basic training is over. Now on to the hard stuff…”
Ambrosia
1
April 7, 2045
Paul kicked his door open with the heel of his foot as he carried the last box inside his new quarters on the far side of Atlantis, backing through the doorway into the easily double-sized accommodations compared to his ‘trainee’ quarters, which would eventually be recycled to hold another class. He and the other 99 trailblazers had been promoted to ‘Adept’ level, but what that actually meant Paul didn’t know yet. Aside from their normal workouts, moving quarters is all they’d been assigned to do the past few days since the Final Challenge.
Putting the box down on his bed next to four others, Paul left the light amount of unpacking for later and walked out into the hallway where several cargo sleds were parked with uniform boxes stacked up on top. None of the trainees had many belongings to move and the quarters were fully furnished, so it didn’t take long for them to clear the sleds, but some of the adepts had to walk further than others so Paul grabbed one of Emily’s boxes and walked with her down to her quarters at the end of the hall.
“Thanks,” she said as he put the box on her bed. “Looks like we got a decent upgrade.”
“The porch is new,” Paul said, referring to the balcony that looked out into a central courtyard filled with vegetation. They were several stories above it, but the open air environment within the city gave their quarters something of a view, whereas their trainee quarters didn’t have so much as a window.
“Almost reminds me of a flat,” she said, looking around. There were three rooms in total. A bathroom, bedroom, and large living area that connected to the porch and contained a couch, two chairs, and a very large video screen…and by large Emily meant in excess of 2 meters wide. Say what you want about Star Force’s spartan design aesthetics, but they certainly didn’t scrimp when it came to technology.
“I’m just glad they didn’t split us up,” Paul said, testing the cushions on the couch. “I don’t really want anyone else as neighbors.”
“We’re still a secret, so I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said, watching him bounce up and down twice. “Meet with your approval?”
“Yep…do we have a lounge?”
“Uh…I think someone said so, but I’m not sure where. Hope there’s a cafeteria nearby,” she said, sitting down next to him and examining the video screen remote built into the couch’s armrest. A palm-size portable remote was also plugged into the panel and popped out at the touch of a button.
“We’re supposed to have dedicated training areas too,” Paul noted, looking around the quarters that matched the dimensions of his own exactly. “Wonder how far away they are.”
“We’re going to have to share the courses with the trainees, right?” Emily said, turning the screen on and flipping through the channels…they appeared to be the same ones they had access to before.
“Wilson said something about that…I wasn’t sure if he meant just the parks or everything else, but I know we get a track of our own.”
“And pool,” she added with a smirk.
Paul glared at her for a microsecond. “Have they told you what else we’re doing today?”
“Nope,” she said, turning off the screen and returning the remote to its holster as she got up. “But there’s bound to be something. We’ve never had this much downtime before.”
Paul followed her out into the hall where the rest of the newly minted adepts were finishing the unload.
“Down there,” Paul guessed, looking to their right.
“Lead on.”
Weaving their way between the beehive of activity, Paul and Emily reached the end of the hall where it cut right, running around the perimeter of the courtyard in a massive rectangle. At the turn was a stairway that led both up and down, but on the other side of it was another room that caught their eye. When t
hey worked their way around the extra wide staircase and pulled open the door their faces were hit with a warm mist from the three hot tubs inside.
“Now there’s an upgrade,” Emily noted.
“Oh, I’m liking this arrangement better already,” Paul said, closing the door and heading downstairs where another group was unpacking as well. They’d been assigned quarters on five consecutive levels, with Paul and Emily’s being on level 2 of their subsection. Where the stairs should have continued on down was a sealed hatch, cutting off access to the other residential levels to give the adepts some additional privacy.
“Hey,” Sara greeted them from the hallway as they came down the stairs.
“Have you seen a lounge anywhere?” Paul asked.
“Down there…door is just around the corner on the outside wall.”
“Thanks,” Emily said as they walked past. When they got down to the corner of the level 1 square they saw a row of interior doors that marked the apartments on the courtyard side, but only one door on the opposite wall, with the entrance situated in center and made of double-wide glass panels.
“Whoa,” Emily commented as they walked inside. “This is huge.”
“You have no idea,” Greg commented across the wide gap to the far wall where he and several others were setting up the gaming equipment for their Halo tournaments and other non-sanctioned games. “Look up there.”
Paul followed Greg’s finger across the theatre-like commons area centered on a massive screen rising twice Greg’s height until he saw a small, tight circling staircase leading up to the next level.
