Training For The Road - 3243

The next few days went by in a blur. Kathryn put in the requisite time at the range, while ensuring that her men were tested in power suits. PFC Rodriguez and Corporal Goodwin received the best scores and so received the honor of piloting the suits in combat. They would receive additional training in the weapon systems and how to modify their hand-to-hand skills to take advantage of the enhanced strength the suits offered. The remainder of her squad would be spending time on the range; with Lucia on an extended foraging mission it would be nice to have something to take out her frustrations on.

She also had to check out the new vehicle. The IFV had seen better days, and the tracks were decidedly worn, but the vehicle itself was solid; it should last the three or four days with no problem. The tactics of her squad would need to change as the vehicle would be the prime of all attacks, but that was easy enough to allow for in her playbook and the weapons would be, well, helpful.

She also looked at the three sites on a map. The total distance was a 105 miles, but with some basic foraging it should not be a major issue. They would need to carry plenty of fuel along with them, but that shouldn't be a major issue. The issue would be the ammunition, and they would need to have complete load outs for the power suits and vehicles. The requisition request for this was going to be murder! So she started filling out all of the forms. When that was completed she compared maps.

Since the Time Out, when Doctor Verte had decided she needed some time to think and had thus wreaked all sorts of havoc in order to get herself some alone time, there had been a severe uptick in metaphysical phenomena. That is, while there had been magic and even some well-known spellcasters, such the Crimson Band and Doctor Clothos, the supernatural denizens had kept to the shadows. Since the Time Out, however, magic was returning with a vengeance. The appearance of wizkids, teenagers with a direct connection to magic who used it to satisfy their own needs, were a direct sign of that.

The ley lines were the other.

All over the maps had appeared vast rivers of magical power, ranging from a few dozen meters to a few miles across flowing from one point to another. They were visible during the night and day, as the air itself glowed a gentle blue, but it was more obvious at night; because of that some of the soldiers referred to them as the “blue areas”. They had been able to map out some of the local ley lines, and she now compared them to maps of where they were planning to go. She smiled as she noted several intersection areas; she would be able to test out the ring.

At least there would be something interesting on the trip. When the mutates weren't trying to kill them. She hoped Lucia would return before she had to return to the field.

* * * * *

Blue. Yellow. Green. Purple. Whites. Red. There were only missing black and pink, but they were more legend than anything else. For such a grouping to be happening there must be something serious happening, and that never meant anything good. Everyone was in standard camos, but the berets told the tale of who was what. Her squad was the blue, or combat personnel. The engineering specialists wore mustard, but their clothes wore the stains of their profession. Special Forces wore their distinctive forest green, but their lousy shaves marked them in a group of clean-shaven soldiers. There were a couple command types in their purple berets, usually ambitious types trying to prove something. There were even some scientists in their white berets and lab coats.

But the red berets piqued her curiosity. The parapscychologists never left their section but were involved in the conversations about her load out; there was no way that was any sort of good news. She walked down into the room and into the weirdness.

Sergeant Tumlinson was the sole welcome green in the bunch. The scientists started to approach her as a group, but a scowl from Sergeant Tumlinson backed all but one down. The single scientist focused on her and handed her a manila folder. “Lieutenant Douglas, those are the specifications of the new equipment we have designed for your mission. It is mostly detection gear, designed to run without interference. There are some special new weapons, however.”

One of the engineers, a thin private, stepped up. “Yeh, the power suits' laser have been amped up a little but your shouldn't notice any added consumption issues. There are also some enhancements to the fields.”

The scientist scowled at the engineer. “We need the ley lines mapped a little more thoroughly, and we think we figured it out how to get some additional details. As noted, do not worry about it once you're in the field. It is also set to send back the information in bursts, so don't worry if you hear it activating. All of that information is in the briefing we just handed you.”

She handed the file to the sergeant. “Have fun.” She looked back the scientist. “Thanks. Hopefully we'll get the information you need.”

The two disappeared into the crowd. A parascyhologist stepped up to her. She almost recoiled from the smell of sage but stood her ground. The parapsychologist gave her a couple of jade shuriken. “We've noticed some interesting details about the wizkids and their interaction with the mutates. We believe that the two are linked somehow and that the mutates draw some sort of power from them. If you can hit them with one of these shuriken it may help to take them down.”

She inspected the shuriken. “Interesting. Any idea if they will penetrate the skin of the tougher mutates?”

He shrugged. “It would depend on the thickness of the skin, but as long as they are not bullet-proof, sure.”

“This trip just became a lot more interesting.” She pocketed the shuriken as the parapsychologist walked away from her. She had begun to suspect that there was a link, especially considering how they clumped together. She was now curious how important that link was. Too bad it was so hard to keep them as prisoners. Hopefully this information would help; they desperately needed to find new ways of dealing with them.

Sergeant Tumlinson nudged her. “Ma'am? These are some interesting specs. They may even help with the invisible ones.”

“Interesting. Can you link the detectors to your dogs?”

“I'll see about that.”

“Good.”

She let Sergeant Tumlinson retreat to study the specifications on his own. She decided to engage the officers in conversation. Just how bad could it go anyway?

* * * * *

She hit the punching bag full force. Of course the conversation with the officers went bad. They ended up being command-wannabes with no appreciation of tactics and their own thoughts on how to put down the mutates. She hit the bag again. The morons suggested gas attacks followed by grenade launchers, preferably white phosphorus. The bag began to serious swing.

She kicked the bag. Gas attacks had proven to just be a waste of ammunition, as well as creating problems. She side-kicked the bag. Not only were mutates in battle covered with a telekinetic shield but those capable of manipulating the gas itself used it as a weapon. She jab at the bag. And while she respected the power of Willie Pete too many mutates shrugged it off. She hit the bag with a combo. Too mutates were immune to heat damage and a lot of them had rugged skins capable of shedding the stuff like a duck did water.

She shifted her position and started swinging. Obviously the martinets had not read the battle reports. She hit the bag with an uppercut; it moved satisfyingly. If they had they would known that. She hit the bag with a three punch combination. She feared for any unit placed under the command.

She backed up half a pace. The shuriken should be interesting to see in battle. She hit the bag with a combination kick. She had noticed that there was some link between the wizkids and mutates. She kicked the bag straight in the center. They had all noticed it. Her next kick visibly moved the bag. And it definitely it was interesting how it always seemed to be one wizkid in a mix of mutates. She kicked it one more time. She would definitely be putting the shuriken to the test.

She grabbed her towel and wiped down. The next combat would definitely be interesting. If Sergeant Tumlinson could link the detectors to his cybernetic dogs that would definitely help against the invisible mutates and possibly even help against the snipers. She had also requested more flashbangs than normal just to see how the mutates would fare against their superior senses.

This trip would definitely be interesting.