Day 281 - The War Corp. - Chapter 1.2 (1260 Words)

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THE WAR CORP.

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 1.2

The second obstacle was the break point, how long the Team would never know as they all returned to their Pods for a recharge and rebuild.  The Manager reviewed the Stats with a satisfied air, the Pod Babies, if they could still be called that after the first two tests in CBT, were doing better than expected.

A fifty percent washout on the first obstacle was expected, a further ten to twenty percent of the remainder would go in section two, sometimes a Team would pass section two with zero DNF ratings but those Teams were usually stacked with Veterans of a single battle and occasionally more.  Those were the teams that had experience and they would carry the same losses through section 1, but after section 1 was a regroup and wall assault. They were ready for it, they were strategic and they knew the value of getting the team over the wall in it’s entirety.

A team full of new recruits, Pod Babies one and all and yet they made the second section with zero fatalities before the end of the round.  Liam Zero Six had been brain dead for a short period, just post the end of the section, but not irretrievably so. He had crossed that brain death threshold only after the time had been up so he was revived in the Pod and counted as a survivor.

The Manager reviewed the files and looked through the stats on the other two med involved in the rescue of Liam Zero Six and was ready to promote the two of them to Team Leader and Two Eye See.

Three more sections to CBT before a final decision on Leadership was required, and it was refreshing to have two strong candidates in the mix this early on. B73 and S29 would bear watching to see where the line would be drawn.

The Third Section came up on his Tablet, and he signaled the Pod Authority to update him on the Team Status going in. All members of the team were accounted for and registering one hundred per cent on stats. No updates to KPI’s were necessary and the A.C.E. team was cleared for CBT 3.

Brodie Seven Three came too in the Pod and already his NINE was blinking green with an order and destination arrow, which became a line as soon as the Pod opened and the path was clear. The track he was progressing along Via his NINE took him past the A.C.E. room and to an unmarked door in the wall, and behind that door, the wall which was glass, reflected the teams progress in the line.

B73 was at the head of the line, S29 was immediately behind him and then the rest of the recruits were single file up to the corner. Just out of sight beyond that was Liam Zero Six, fully repaired and no sign whatsoever of the broken limbs or shooting that had perforated him at the end of section two.

The doors slid open and B73 walked through them, the team following single file behind and into a darkened space.

“Orders?” came a whispered question behind him, Sharpe was vocalizing his question so the cochlear nerve implant would detect his input and was awaiting instructions via the NINE, but no orders came.

Brodie circled behind in the dark, feeling the expanse and staying within a set radius of the entryway. As he turned and took stock he and Sharpe exchanged some basic strategy and split the team in two groups, fanning out left and right of the doorway all within the radius set by B73. The last person through the door and the odd number was Liam and he took position in the very middle, joining neither side.

The lights came on and a course revealed itself in front of the semi circle. A series of walls and blockages made an environment that was apt for shooting and being shot in an extended gun battle. At the far end of the same course were the guns themselves all housed in special racks with the ammo loaded and the firing lights ready to go.

A klaxon sounded and equidistant from the team was another door, also on the other end of an obstacle course, cover based firing range. Unlike the Team Area though there was only one set of guns and it was right in the middle.

The NINE light up with a command, “Defend The Base’ and in the middle of their course a flag came through the floor in a bright green light and then a second Klaxon sounded.

The Team scrambled all at once, weaving their way through the obstacles and making their way to the guns, but only three seconds after they heard the second Klaxon sound, the other door at the end of the area opened and their enemy spewed out, outnumbering them at least ten to one.

The enemy was live, not a sentry automaton like in the previous section or like the computer timed series of impersonal antipersonnel mines in section one. These were creatures, beasts and predators. They were running on four legs through the course and making ground quicker than the Team Members were. The creatures were Foresters, from a conquered planet in the expansion area, and they put up a heavy resistance before the planet was pacified and made fit for human habitation. The remainder was kept in Pod Storage, not unlike the ones the recruits were housed in and from there they were cloned and deployed for training exercises.

Sleek, long and a deep red colour they were covered in a spiked armor plating that would make hand-to-hand an unlikely proposition for the Team to use. They were savage and barely sentient, working on instinct and pure hatred for humans alone.  That meant that even if they were capable of understanding the lack of intent in Pod Soldiers, they would not have made any difference to the ferocity of their assault.

The guns were the way to survive, and they were not there for the Foresters use, they were halfway so the Team would have to work together to use them.

B73 was towards the back of the pack and Liam was at the front, the first to grab a weapon and start firing. The back four Pod Soldiers started work on the team goal of survival, they took the high ground and shouted out to the front of the pack. The first four arrivals each took a gun, but where Liam was firing into the wall of Foresters the other three threw their weapons backwards to the rear of the Team.

The guns were caught and they started firing into the attackers immediately and cutting them down as they neared the remainder of the team who were picking up weapons and sending them back to the rear half of the team who were perched atop obstacles and firing over the heads of their colleagues and felling Foresters in the fastest way possible.

Eventually the whole Team was armed and the slaughter began in earnest. They pressed forwards through the obstacles and cutting deep into the Forester ranks who began to seek shelter out of sheer self interest, but with the pushing forward of the ground assault and the hail of fire from the higher grounded Team Members the pack was decimated quickly.

The Team fell back to the Flag and took defensive positions around it and waited for the second wave.

They did not have to wait long.