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We were called war machines by the other infantry units. Our M-1030 power suits looked more like they belonged in a Japanese anime than anything, but what do you expect from grunts. Officially we were the 113th heavy infantry platoon, a 17 man unit tasked with deep insertion drops. And did we ever go deep behind enemy lines. Heavy infantry; the feared demon jumpers. The men and women who volunteered to jump feet first into hell on earth and kick the devil in the balls. We saw things that should have drove us mad. We saw horrors committed by human beings that should never be seen. Some coped, some broke. But we were a family, and we took care of each other. It was a point of pride that our platoon hadn’t lost a guy, in a fire fight or to a section 8. We took care of each other. It’s what family did.
The one-thirteenth. Our call sign was black cat. We lived up to the superstition, too. We crossed the enemy’s path, and they were in for a bad day. The point behind the M-1030 was to give a single man the fighting strength of mixed forces platoon. It did that and more. When a platoon of crunchies, as tankers call us, where dropped in, we could wipe out entire bases. Sometimes we did, but most of our jobs were seek and destroy against units in the field. And we liked those jobs. Clean, doing jobs that saved our brothers on the line. We still caught flak, but they couldn’t deny they were breathing easier when a tank division or artillery team that pinned them down for hours or even days suddenly went silent.
This mission was no different. China had invaded mineral rich Africa. The UN had asked the corporation to get involved, and so the marines got sent in. We were attached to the expeditionary force, even though we were army. But the marines didn’t have a heavy infantry force yet and the army had three for testing and development. Even got some new upgrades from the Professor, the nickname given to the head of research for the corporation. Our type Broadsides were updated with the broadside II package, giving them each a GAU-8/A avenger with fifteen hundred rounds and eight fire-and-forget anti-armor missiles. The type Dreadnaught was updated with a new 120mm cannon and a 90mm auto mortar. They even put a 25mm chain-gun on its arm for soft targets. Damn thing was frightening. They even upgraded the hover unit to carry the heavier armament and more. The new one was rated to carry ten tons, more than twice what her suit weighed. Our heavy weapons specialist, Nina, automatically hugged and kissed each member of the tech team. It was like watching her open a Christmas gift.
Then there was the type Eugene. Whole new unit specialized for sniper duty. Our two snipers had been using modified type Armitage general purpose units, and just using a 35mm anti-material rifle. The new model was equipped with a 6mm magnetic coil-gun. Serious firepower for a sniper; now they could take out targets as tough as a light tank, with a range specified as “line-of-sight”, meaning if they can see it, its dead. And with the new targeting optics and sensors, they could see to the horizon. Not even buildings could stop their shots, and the targeting computer and sensor drones on each would allow them to see around cover.
The rest of the team was equipped with type Armitage generals, most with the standard M2A90 heavy machine guns. Me and two others got M9000 chain fed 12 gauge shotguns and 40mm grenade launchers. For defoliage work. Then there was Max and Sam. They got the fun job. Type Cyclone anti-air units. They kept the attack choppers off our ass as we worked. And we always made sure they were taken care of when we were at base. The professor even upgraded their radars and put four more SAMs on each, bringing them to ten each.
Our mission today was a suborbital drop, to clear out a Chinese armored division and accompanying infantry element to allow the marines to land on the shore. We even had two air-farce type Alex suits and their pilots. Now the type Alex is an odd duck. It’s still an M1030, and it is based off the type Armitage. But instead of a jumper pack and targeting electronics, it gets a light jet pack good for short flights and a satellite uplink for calling in fire support. And there was less armor affixed. The forward air commanders were supposed to avoid sustained fighting, so the Alex was built to move. Oh they could move. Running speed in excess of 55 mph. Short flight for 500 feet. Its only armament was a targeting laser and a 5.56 LMG. It was excellent at what it was built for. Fast, effective, and able to call in the wrath of the air-force. Other than that, it could barely defend itself from light infantry. Not what one would expect from a military power suit.
The gear was being loaded up into the suborbital drop ship, cases of ammo loaded into the weapons and slots for extra rounds. Food, survival gear, small parts and tools. The backpack modules where all loaded. Next the suits were locked into place for the drop. All the pilots start to load. It’s like a ballet troop preparing for a show. We pilots are to gather our things and eat a warm meal. Yeah, right. As if food would stay down. The marines and rangers say that a HALO jump is when you finally feel alive; the fear, the adrenaline rush. But they never had to drop out of an aircraft at the edge of space. Free fall for several miles, then at 35000 the first of seven mini chutes deployed to slow us down. At 3500 feet the main opened, hopefully deploying properly. We get a half a second to figure out if the main works properly. If not, our secondary is our last hope.
We got on the drop ship and awaited the captain’s orders. She moved forward to the front as the ship sealed up. She was tall, about six feet. It added to her presence. Her blonde hair was tied up to fit into her helmet easily. She wore dark combat clothing like the rest of us. Truly she looked like a pagan war goddess from the days of legend. Captain Naomi Koehler. The entire team lovingly called her mom, and she tried to be that for us. She made sure we got what we needed and she also made sure we were healthy and out of trouble. We were her nasty little kittens, after all, and we liked to terrorize the neighbors in her name.
“Alright boys and girls, here’s the deal. We are dropping into a contested area, taking out a dragon division, and mopping up infantry. We also got some deep black goodies to test. If they are dropped in the field they will self detonate after 3 hours. Randy, Manx, come forward and get these guns. Sync the repeater to your suits IFF code. That is all. Remember, things will be fluid. We have only UN intelligence briefings. Just remember how accurate they were last time.”
At that my fire buddy Manx went forward and pulled what looked like an over sized pistol out of a box. She also grabbed an intel chip to put in her suit so she knew how to use the new gun. It was about 20 inches long and had a barrel maybe 5 inches wide. It had this weird little cylinder magazine and six more were fastened to Manx’s right forearm. It looked like little plastic pucks inside. What the hell are we testing now? She plugged the chip in and climbed in her suit.
After a few minutes, her helmet opened back up.
“Drake, pull one of those new magazines off my arm and slide the ammo out.”
I dismounted from prepping my suit for the drop. The power pack was warming up anyways. I went over and removed the cylinder from her arm and slid the first puck out. I was a pain at first, but the second slid out easily. What the hell? Only two? It weighed at least ten pounds. The two pucks weighed just a few ounces each.
“That’s what I thought. Drake this gun is a new energy weapon that the corporation is field testing. It’s called a Charged Particle Launcher. Those pucks hold atomized iron. The rest of the cylinder is a compressed power pack. It says here not to use on infantry but armored targets. What the hell has the professor given us to play with now?”
The thought struck me as odd. Is this like the theoretical weapons we discussed in physics class because our teacher was into those Japanese animes? The thought ended there as a red light came on. We were thirty seconds from the final climb, one minute from the drop. I climbed back into my suit and finished the power up. We began to line up. First ones out would be me and Manx, then Nina. We would secure the zone and provide first contact intel if necessary. I counted down the time. Then we all swayed as the drop ship climbed and then leveled out. The light turned green then blue as the rear ramp lowered. I could see the sun setting in the west. It had to be over Kansas now. It was so beautiful up here. Then I walked off the ramp followed by my stick. Then the rest of the unit followed. Feet first, into the mouth of hell, to beat the hell out of a nasty dragon.