Battlenaut Crucible

Chapter 7

7The Training Center was a huge chamber in the central shaft of the Sun Tzu, adjacent to the cargo bay. It was a giant, open space, completely empty when Scott and Perseid entered except for a pair of big black armored figures facing each other in the middle of the room.

Battlenauts. Even at a distance, Scott recognized them instantly--realizing, at the same time, how different they were from any Battlenauts he'd seen.

The details became clear as he got closer. These Battlenauts were much sleeker than any he'd piloted or faced on the battlefield. They looked more like giant, heavily muscled humans than blocky mechanical constructs. They were all curves and contours instead of right angles and sharp edges.

"There it is." Perseid stopped ten meters from the Battlenauts and gestured at the one on the right. "Your assigned armor for the duration of this mission."

Scott narrowed his eyes as he scanned the gleaming black hardware. Something jumped out at him right away...something that was missing. "No weapons?" He didn't see a single gun barrel or missile chute anywhere on the armor. "Is this strictly a defensive unit?"

"Don't worry." Perseid chuckled and walked the rest of the way to Scott's Battlenaut. "It has everything you'll need."

Scott scowled as he followed. What kind of Battlenauts were these? Their hulls looked perfectly smooth and seamless. Was neither one equipped with weapons systems?

"Put your hand here." Perseid pointed at a spot on Scott's Battlenaut's left leg, just above the knee. "Press it flat against the surface."

Scott stepped forward and did as he was told. The spot was just above eye level, the hull warm to the touch. In fact, it didn't feel much like metal at all...more like some kind of hard plastic.

"The plating is molded from enhanced superhard carbon nanotubes overlaying a morphic film," said Perseid, as if he'd been reading Scott's mind. "The next best thing to indestructible."

Scott looked at his hand on the Battlenaut's leg. "What's this supposed to do?"

"Tune the armor to your DNA," said Perseid.

"Which does what?"

"Puts you perfectly in synch," said Perseid. "You can move your hand now."

Scott tried to pull his hand away but couldn't at first. It was stuck, as if the armor didn't want to let it go. "What the hell?" But when he pulled harder, his hand popped free.

Perseid laughed. "You're bonded now. It's like you're part of it."

Scott's hand had a mild case of pins and needles, and he tried to shake it off. "What kind of Battlenaut is this?"

"The blow-every-other-Battlenaut-out-of-the-water kind," said Perseid. "The kind you never want to come face to face with if you're driving one of those other Commonwealth jalopies."

Scott shook his head. The new unit was so different from anything he'd piloted, he wasn't convinced. "Now what?"

"Now you put it on." Perseid clapped his hands and raised his voice, aiming it up at the Battlenaut. "Authorization Perseid one-one-three, kilo bravo victor papa seven-nine-zero-zero-two. Provide ingress!"

With only the faintest whirring sound, the Battlenaut lowered itself to its knees. Its chest and abdomen flowed open as if they were covered by liquid metal, revealing a simple black pilot's couch inside.

"Get in." Perseid gestured at the open armor. "Make yourself comfortable."

Scott hesitated, wondering what he was in for. Then, he clambered into the unit and lay back against the couch. Its padding was much softer than that of the couch in his old standard-issue Commonwealth model and molded itself to the shape of his body.

Meanwhile, Perseid opened the other Battlenaut and climbed inside the same way. "There we go. Now repeat after me, speaking in a firm, clear voice as follows." He cleared his throat. "Recognize Corporal Scott comma Solomon."

Scott repeated the words loud and clear, enunciating each syllable. "Recognize Corporal Scott comma Solomon."

Perseid kept talking. "Program vocal imprint in three, two, one: Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow."

Scott held off. He could easily imagine that this was all an initiation prank, and a recording of him reciting the nursery rhyme would haunt him for the rest of his career.

But when he saw Perseid glaring and spinning a finger in the air, he knew he had to go along with it, prank or not. "Program vocal imprint in three, two, one," he said. "Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow."

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," said Perseid.

Scott sighed, then repeated the line.

"Systems activate," said Perseid. "Preset Alpha Zero One."

"Systems activate. Preset Alpha Zero One." As soon as Scott said it, his Battlenaut popped up from its knees to a standing position. The chest and abdomen flowed shut, sealing him off inside the armor, and the couch sucked up against him. What the hell?

For an instant, the interior of the Battlenaut was pitch black. Then, a swath of holographic displays lit up around him, like a glowing, multicolored funnel with his upper body in the middle.

Scott looked around at the holos, which provided numbers, charts, and graphs depicting the status of the unit, its surroundings, and Scott himself. Then, he heard a loud knocking against the hull of the chest--three echoing raps in quick succession.

"Hello in there." Perseid's voice came next, booming all around him. "Corporal Scott, can you hear me?"

"Roger that." Scott wasn't sure his response would get through; he couldn't find a mic to talk into or any related controls.

But Perseid heard him anyway. "Don't just stand there. Take that thing for a spin, Corporal."

"How?" Scott reached up and ran his fingers through the holos, but nothing happened. He looked down, trying to find armrest keypads, but there weren't even any armrests. He couldn't find a stick, either, or any of the usual buttons, knobs, or switches on the walls. "Where are the damn controls?"

"All you need is your voice," said Perseid. "Why do you think I had you train the unit to accept your vocal imprint?"

"Total voice control?" said Scott.

"Not total," said Perseid. "The holo displays are eye-movement activated. Two blinks for on or off. Change settings by focusing, dragging, etc."

"What if my voice and eyes go out at the same time?"

"Then we don't need you anymore," said Perseid. "Self-destruct time."

"Right." Scott experimented with the holos as Perseid had said, and they worked. If he blinked twice and focused on a particular readout, it grew larger. Staring at a control for a few seconds made it change setting. Gazing at a display and sliding his eyes one way or another moved it in the direction he chose.

"All right, playtime's over," said Perseid. "Let's put that thing through its paces."

Suddenly, a massive blow struck Scott's Battlenaut. The holo readouts showing the armor's status changed rapidly, spiking across the board.

"Get moving!" Perseid's voice had a taunting edge. "There's plenty more where that came from."

Instantly, Scott shifted into battle mode. His senses sharpened, his head cleared, and his thoughts raced, presenting him with options.

As unfamiliar as the CORE Battlenaut was, he was determined to put it to work for him. "Frontside viewer on." He wasn't sure how to frame voice control commands, so he tried to keep them simple...and it worked. The holo readouts slid away to either side, and a viewer window appeared in front of him, showing a video feed from the frontside cameras.

The feed came up just in time to show Perseid's Battlenaut unleashing a punch with one ebony fist. Scott's armor shook under the onslaught but stood its ground.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" Perseid shouted over the comm. "Maybe I was wrong, thinking a Marine like you could handle top-of-the-line equipment like that."

"Microphone off," said Scott. "Punch enemy's torso with right fist."

Suddenly, a new voice spoke in the armor...a male voice, smooth and serene. "The command 'Right punch to gut' will be sufficient, along with a requested level of force."

Scott grinned. Apparently, his new armor came equipped with an onboard artificial intelligence, an A.I. smart enough to suggest a more concise command.

Might as well put it to use. "Right punch to gut!" said Scott. "Maximum level of force!"

The armor obeyed instantly. He felt the weight of its right arm swing back, then forward, carrying the rest of the unit's bulk along with it. At the same time, he watched a wireframe holo of his Battlenaut projected in midair to the left of the viewer window, going through the same motions. On the viewer itself, he saw his armor's gleaming right fist plowing into the belly of Perseid's Battlenaut.

"That's more like it!" said Perseid. "Now let's see what else you can do!"

"Left punch to head," said Scott.

"What level of force?" said the armor's A.I., still prompting him.

"Maximum!" snapped Scott, and his Battlenaut launched a blow as ordered, aimed straight at the head of Perseid's armor. On the viewer, Scott saw his Battlenaut's left arm whip back and lash out--only to be deflected when Perseid lashed up his own right arm to block the strike.

"Nice try," said Perseid. "Are you sure you've seen action in the war?"

"Right knee to gut!" said Scott. "Maximum force!"

He felt the Battlenaut's mass shift suddenly back as its right knee lunged up and forward. Checking the viewer, he saw the top of the knee connect with the belly of Perseid's armor, making it double over from the impact.

"Lucky shot," said Perseid. "But you'll have to do better than that."

"Left shoulder to chest! Maximum force!" said Scott.

His Battlenaut crouched and plowed its left shoulder into the chest of Perseid's unit. A resounding clang rang out at the impact, followed by the clatter of armor plating as Perseid struggled to stay on his feet.

Scott knew he needed to follow up fast to keep his advantage. "Right uppercut punch to chin." His Battlenaut did as he ordered; on the viewer, he saw his giant black fist swing up and crash into Perseid's chin. "Left hook punch to face." Again, he watched one of his fists blast into Perseid's armor like a runaway wrecking ball.

Scott got in two more big hits before Perseid spoke again. "Barely satisfactory." Another blow was coming, and Perseid caught it with one armored hand. "You need some training, Marine."

"Flux that," hissed Scott, and then he gave another order. "Weapons online."

Just then, Perseid let loose a barrage of rapid-fire blows to Scott's upper body, pounding the hell out of his head and chest. Scott counted five, six, seven blows; each new one knocked his armor back, to the right, or to the left, depending on the angle of impact.

"Step back," he told his Battlenaut, hoping for some breathing room. But as the armor took a backward step, Perseid caught it in the knee with a stomping kick, making it stumble.

"Stabilize! Stay on your feet!" said Scott, but he didn't need to say it. Servos whirred as the Battlenaut automatically compensated and regained its balance, planting both feet solidly on the floor.

Even as the unit kept itself upright, the A.I. piped up again. "Weapons are online."

Scott grinned. What a machine! It even reminded him, without being asked, that the onboard weapons were ready. Why hadn't Commonwealth Command installed the same system in every Battlenaut in the fleet by now?

On the other hand, he had no idea what weapons were available. He hadn't seen a single gun, sonic projector, or missile launcher on the unit's exterior.

Meanwhile, Perseid was taking advantage of his brief hesitation. Lunging forward, he grabbed hold of Scott's Battlenaut, wrapping his arms around its torso. He pitched Scott one way, then another, trying to throw him off his feet.

"You're going down!" said Perseid. "Shortest armor orientation session of all time!"

Sweat ran down Scott's back and sides, and his heart hammered like a fighter's fist in his chest. He knew it was only a practice session, and the stakes weren't life and death...but they might as well be. If he made a fool of himself during his first ride in a CORE Battlenaut, he'd never live it down. The Diamondbacks might never fully trust him on the battlefield.

Again, Perseid wrenched him hard to one side. Servos whined in protest, but Scott's armor stayed on its feet.

"What weapons are available?" Scott asked the A.I.

"Projectile guns with dummy rounds. Lasers at one-half power. Sonics limited to close-range." The A.I. paused as Perseid gave the armor an especially strong heave. "Drone pods fully powered."

With the other weapons in training mode, the words "fully powered" sounded promising. "Deploy drone pods," said Scott. "Target opponent unit."

"Deploy all drones?" asked the A.I.

"Yes!" said Scott as the Battlenaut rocked again. "Don't make me tell you again, Frank!" He surprised himself, calling the A.I. by a name like that. He'd done the same with his old Battlenaut, the one that had been blown to pieces on Chelong III. It had helped him, in the thick of a fight, to think of the big, lumbering machine as a person. Not that the reason for the name mattered, as long as New Frank launched those drones...whatever their capabilities were supposed to be.

As if Frank had anticipated his uncertainty, additional feeds appeared on the viewer, showing topside, rightside, leftside, and backside views along with the frontside feed. In each one, Scott saw sections of the Battlenaut's smooth hull...only it wasn't so smooth anymore. Each section was studded with rounded lumps the size of softballs.

As Scott watched, the lumps pushed outward and broke free of the armor, then leaped into the air under their own power. They went straight for Perseid's Battlenaut, all thirty or forty of them swarming his head and shoulders at once.

Perseid only got in one more good heave before the drones made contact with his armor. They slammed into it and bounced off like bowling balls, pounding it again and again with enough force to make him release his hold on Scott.

"Cool," said Scott as he backed his Battlenaut away from the c*****e. "I wonder what else this baby can do."

"Beanstalk demo is available upon request," Frank said instantly. "Would you like to activate the demo?"

"Do it," said Scott.

Suddenly, the cockpit filled with a high-pitched electrical whine mixed with a loud clacking sound. The Battlenaut shuddered; then, its legs started to grow, lifting the armored torso into the air and Scott's couch along with it.

As Scott's armor grew taller, Perseid's drone-besieged Battlenaut fell away from the frontside camera. The other feeds showed the floor of the Training Deck getting farther away on all sides.

Then, the armor stopped expanding. "Maximum safe height for current clearance achieved," said Frank. "Beanstalk demo completed."

Scott grinned. I can't believe how great this armor is. "Right kick to chest," he said. "Maximum force."

Just as Scott's Battlenaut hauled back its right leg, Perseid's armor started Beanstalking, too. But the kick still landed before Perseid reached maximum height, sending his half-grown Battlenaut toppling backward, hitting the floor with a loud crunch.

"Yes!" cheered Scott. "He is down!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an alarm klaxon whooped in the cockpit. "Alert!" said Frank. "Catastrophic strike imminent!"

"What are you talking about?" Scott watched the viewer and saw no sign of danger--just Perseid's Battlenaut lying on its back on the floor of the Training Deck.

"Incoming!" said Frank.

"What incoming?" said Scott. "Where are you seeing this?"

"It has not yet occurred," said Frank. "My prognostication software predicts, based on current conditions, that incoming fire will arrive in 35 seconds...34...33..."

Prognostication software? "If you know it's coming, neutralize it!" Scott's eyes flashed over the viewer and holo readouts, looking for a clue to the source of the predicted fire--finding nothing.

Meanwhile, Frank continued the countdown. "Twenty seconds...19...18...17..."

"Damnit!" said Scott.

Just then, there was movement on the viewer. The chest and abdomen of Perseid's armor expanded, swelling upward. It looked like a balloon inflating, stretching as air pressure pushed out in all directions from inside it.

"Ten," said Frank. "Seven...six...five..."

"Back away!" Whatever Perseid's armor was doing, Scott knew he needed to move fast to escape it. "Best possible speed!"

"Three," said Frank. "Two...one..."

Scott's Battlenaut had only taken half a step back when the front of Perseid's Battlenaut exploded. Shrapnel from the blast pounded Scott's armor, blowing it off its feet and punching a multitude of dents in the once-smooth hull.

"Mother-fluxer!" shouted Scott as his Battlenaut slammed to the floor. The couch protected him from most of the shock of impact, but the fall still jarred him. Going down in defeat while sparring with Perseid was the last thing he'd wanted to do.

But it was a done deal now. After the crash, Scott's frontside video feed showed only the ceiling of the Training Deck. His Battlenaut was on its back, looking up.

"End of exercise," Perseid said over the comm. "Consider that the kill shot."

At the sound of that voice, Scott came to a boil. "Frank! Use the same weapon he just did!"

Frank didn't answer. After that, the holos disappeared, and Scott's Battlenaut slumped. When the lights in the cockpit went out, Scott was left in darkness again.

"Don't bother trying to fight back," said Perseid. "I've implemented remote power override. Like I said, the exercise is over."

With that, the chest and abdomen of Scott's Battlenaut flowed open, and the couch released its grip. For a moment, he lay there, grinding his teeth, wanting only to have another shot at Perseid's Battlenaut to prove what he could do.

Then, he sighed deeply and climbed up out of the unit.

Perseid was just hopping out of his own armor at that moment. "What do you think, Corporal?"

Scott sat on the edge of the chest cavity and glared. "I think I'd like to spar another round, Major. Power me up."

Perseid laughed. "Some other time. What I want to know is, what did you think of the CORE Battlenaut? Did it measure up to your old Marine model?"

Scott was in a bad mood but could see no advantage in lying. "It far exceeded it across the board," he said. "It's an amazing piece of equipment."

"You haven't even maxed the specs yet," said Perseid. "You didn't come close to fully exploiting its capabilities."

Scott nodded. "We sure could've used these on the front lines. Why doesn't everybody have them?"

"You'll have to ask Command," said Perseid. "If you survive this mission. And after what I saw here just now, you're going to need lots more training hours to do that."

"Because you beat me?" said Scott. "Let's go best two out of three and see what happens."

"I'll have Captain Rexis schedule you for heavy drills for the rest of the trip to Shard," said Perseid. "In between classes and shipboard duties."

"Classes?" Scott couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

"That's right," said Perseid. "Consider this an intensive training cruise. We need you sharp by the time we see action."

"Duties?" said Scott.

Perseid smirked. "For the duration, you're a member of this crew. As such, you will fulfill the shipboard duties of any Diamondback."

Scott stared at him. "What duties are those?"

"Report to Captain Rexis," said Perseid. "She'll lay it all out for you." With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door, leaving Scott behind him wondering what the hell kind of mission he'd signed on for.

Since when did a seasoned Commonwealth Marine have to go through training and classes while detailed to a CORE unit? Since when did he have to perform shipboard duties? He was helping track down the Red Battlenauts; wasn't that duty enough?

Swinging his legs up out of the cockpit, he slid down the side of the Battlenaut and landed on the floor. He was sweated from the exercise, irritated with Perseid, and worn down by lack of sleep. His whole life had changed dramatically in just a few hours--not an uncommon thing for a Commonwealth Marine, but uncommonly dramatic this time around. Uncommonly crazy.

And he had a feeling things were only going to get crazier.