Day 283 - The War Corp. - Chapter 1.4 (1212 Words)

 ©Wayne Webb and constantwriting.blogspot.com, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Wayne Webb and constantwriting.blogspot.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

THE WAR CORP.

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 1.4

The final stage was lighting up on Brodie’s NINE, the path to the start point showing up as an orange line, not a green or a red one. There was no explanation why this was a different colour, there was no information that Brodie had access to which told him anything other than to follow the Ordered line.

Exiting the Pod he strode ahead looking for signs of the Team but he was alone and walking through spartan corridors following a Orange lined that only he could see. He passed rooms similar to the A.C.E. briefing room  but they all had unfamiliar designations for their teams, A.Z.M., G.H.K, or another three letter variant. The Line just kept moving ahead of him to the far end of whatever building he was in.

What was quickly becoming the longest distance he had walked in his entirely short life did not show any signs of reaching a destination until he was suddenly passing a window and the true location of the building was revealed. They were in orbit above a reddish planet, one with storms raging across the surface in purple sworls covering a third of the red planet.

Brodie Seven Three stopped to survey the planet scape below, taking a few extra seconds and feeling a dizzying but pleasant sensation as he took in the scale and the majesty of the outlook. The Line in his NINE switched to insistent and was now a dotted flashing line that flicked on and off every other second. Brodie knew from his programming that this was an instruction to double-time his progress. Obviously enjoying the view was not a part of the test.

He picked up his pace and ran down the corridor and a paced faster than the flashing had insisted, if there was time to make up he intended to exceed the expectations, not wanting to have an increased KPI or add load to the Team. He rounded the last corner, though he did not know it was until that was shown to him with a green circle on his NINE.

A doorway was set into the wall, and unlike the doors they had seen so far this was a different one, not just in size but also in strength and purpose. This was an airlock, and that meant according to his programming that a drop ship was on the other side. Suddenly the planet below them took on more significance and he wanted to run back and see what the final field of engagement in CBT would be like.

The green circle was hovering on the door and blinked a few times to indicate it was time to proceed through to the ship. The door opened with a click and a small rush of air.

On the other side he made his way through the inner airlock and then into the main chamber where the Team was already in place, there were two empty positions near where he stood, the Team Leaders position and his Two Eye See.  In the chair immediately behind in the third position was Sharpe Two Nine, but he like the rest of the team was visor down and getting an upload from central.

Brodie did not hesitate to take the Two Eye See chair and start to strap himself in and he was about to lock in his visor when the door opened to the main chamber and the Team Leader came into the room.

Liam Zero Six saw Brodie locking in the Two Eye See chair and smiled, a broad and happy look that conveyed how much he wanted the Team Leader Chair. He sent a hand signal to Brodie to confirm the order, that he has TL had apparently been given.

N.P.

No Prisoners was a template for engagement on the field, whatever the situation and whatever the orders the one overarching rule was at the end only one Team was left intact, there were no survivors and only the victors would walk off the field. The team that lost, and they would be up against one other team that was graduating CBT the same as them, would be DNF’d totally.

They needed an edge, they needed to beat the other Team and walk away ready to fight the war. To do that they needed to prove their efficiency by passing the ultimate cutthroat test, to best the colleagues in another Team. The other Team would have the additional edge themselves in they would have Veterans on their side for sure. Teams of 100% Pod Babies were not unheard of, but on CBT they were cannon fodder and never made it past a Team with experience on its side.

The Manager was hard pressed by his superiors to bring in a result; the corporation wanted a win from an all Pod Baby Team. It had never been done before and they would get Kudos from the other corporations and a media rich exposure program profiling the history makers and the potential they carried into the field. They could parlay that attention into sponsors and supporters; ratings would be high and lucrative for the first battle.

Audiences usually ignored teams in the first battle, unless they were seeded with veterans, nearing the end of their cycle on the field. It was only likely when a veteran had lost all of his team, or most of it and was added to a mix of Pod Babies that any attention was paid to the new battles. Teams in the Mature range lost infrequently unless playing a league game against a corporation looking to make the points change on the table. Most of the time the battles were mismatched and you knew who had the edge, and barring surprises in the environment there were always clear favorites.

You never knew for sure and upsets did happen, and that almost always guaranteed that the upsetters would get follow on ratings for their next engagement.

The A.C.E. Team had a few things that the Corporation was looking for, the composition, the luck of the A.C.E. designation rolling around in time and the Manager who was hungry for promotion and advancement. They could sense a audience attractive Team and they wanted to capitalize on the potential before it even realized in battle.

CBT was filmed but not broadcast, it was stock footage for background material on the Team Members, and it was training footage more often than not for the programmers whose job it was to systemize the skills, reactions and instincts of the Team Members. The Training Team never left the Corporate Head Quarters, they were watched closely and guarded even closer. These were the real secret to success of a brand new team.

All the training and abilities the Team Members came with were what got them out of the gate and into the field. Good management was essential, and the lessons the Team Members learned on the field were also invaluable but they never got a chance to learn and be led to victory unless they had a Trainer giving them the skills and tools they needed in the first place. 

Training was the most important meal they would ever eat.

The Selection of Team Leader had been a difficult decision.