Flame Rider II: Rise of Chaos

Final Exercise: Day Two

I was sprinting forwards, my Elite SMG firing slightly solid particle rounds down range, the heat of the battle sending me into some deep part of my mind that rarely had a reason to access.

“Price, move forward…Now!” Blaze barked.

I broke the sound barrier, as my suits on board SACC caused an increase in power output. Kiwi, my AI, was working full tilt just to keep this power armour working when I needed it to in the middle of a combat situation.

“All systems operating a peak effectiveness,” Kiwi muttered into my helmet, “This is a surprise though; you are traveling at Mach two already.”

I launched myself over a gorge in the ground, and rolled to my feet when I hit the soft ground. I then started to slowly move towards the defensive line that the ER Stick-Kicks had hastily put up that morning.

“Shall I send the data to Blaze and the observers?” Kiwi asked, “Or do you want to report it after this.”

“Send the data, and ask Blaze if I am clear to engage,” I spoke calmly.

After a year of brutal training, they were almost ready for combat; and I was damned if I was going to be the one that caused everyone to fail. That was the point of this particular exercise, right? To trust that your comrades, no matter what branch of the DS they were part of.

“Permission has been granted,” Kiwi told me after a second of silence, “But he also says not to push the suit or yourself too far.”

“Got it, give me a shout if anything comes up on threat assessment,” I breathed.

“You are in enemy territory,” Kiwi replied calmly, “I find it hard to believe that you want me to use such a device.”

I ignored the aggravated AI, and instead began to slowly crawl towards the defensive position. When I was right behind them, I pulled out a C4 looking charge, primed it, and then dropped it into the hastily dug foxhole.

I then back away slowly, making sure to cover myself thoroughly. When he modified C4 went off, I then stood up, and jogged towards the paint splattered foxhole. After checking that everyone in there was “dead” I started to move off.

Thud!

I looked down in between my feet and froze; right in between my feet was a frag grenade. I didn’t know what to do, and all of my training and experience suddenly disappeared.

Then I felt a large mass collide with my body, ripping me from where I stood, and covered me with their own body. The grenade went off shortly after that with a small puff.

“You need to be more careful,” Dingo, Cole’s AI, chided me, “And keep a cool head.”

I sighed internally as I got to my feet. I couldn’t believe what I had just done; the fear that had seeped through me and paralyzed my body and mind had been extremely strong, and there had been nothing I could do to subdue it.

Nodding my thanks to Cole, I made my way to my next target, his massive form following me through the trees; as silent as I was, and four times as deadly.

*-*-*-*

Two Hours Earlier

Blaze had called for a quick huddle between all of the squad leaders; with the jobs and RoEs for the day. It felt good being able to fight and do my bit without being ordered around or yelled at.

“Okay people, we storm the base today,” Blaze whispered, his helmet sitting on the ground next to him, “My squad will be on support and sabotage roles, Alpha-Omega Squad tagging along with us.