Sifu Blackirish
SOC-14 1K
A display flashed yellow near closed blast rated double doors:
* WARNING *
* LIVE FIRE ZONE INSIDE *
* LEVEL FOUR OR ABOVE ACCESS GRADES ONLY *
* NO ENTRY DURING EXERCISES *
On the other side of the door was another display, flashing faster in angry red:
*** DANGER ***
*** ROBOTICS WITH SAFETY PROTOCOLS SUPPRESSED ***
Inside, there were people wishing they had remained outside…
There were four of us on this fire team, with two other teams supporting us for this exercise. I kind of liked working with Staff Sergeant Mueller, even though it was tough to ignore that monumental ego of his.
I looked at my handcomp. We were going against two other squads today. Corporal Maxwell is leading the first. Good man, I hope he makes it. Overall command is…oh no, not First Sergeant Ross again?
Standard procedure was to have the top two platoon leader candidates square off against each other every Friday just before we got our weekend passes. It always gave somebody bragging rights with the ladies. I just hoped the setup information was correct this time. I am supposed to be developing my Forward Observer and Recon skills, not carrying the base plate to a mortar.
Looks like a standard urban sweep and clear scenario so far. Piece of cake.
I knew instantly when we had entered the kill zone. CENTAC tried to be smart and sent two hunter-killers after us. One came in quickly and shot a dozen tazer darts in a circle. That only got one of us. The other released a high pressure jet of CS composite and, under cover of that choking gas, tried to glide in and snatch weapons from unprepared hands.
I was pretty quick on the draw and released my disruptor rifle from its sheath. Harmless to organic material, all I needed to do was target and strike a vital spot on the HK and it would go dormant.
Fire two rounds, jump, tumble, pop up, fire again.
Like I said, piece of cake.
“Hey, Ross! I don’t want to play with your toys anymore. How about you saddle up and get in here? I’ll be gentle!”
You always knew when Mueller was in charge.
I heard screams from further back in the urban level, then a half dozen puffs of smoke. Before I could react, mortar rounds were dropping all around me. A chunk of shrapnel as big as a shot glass slammed into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. The last thing I saw was another HK standing over me, about to poke me in the neck with a fully charged tazer…
With a hiss, my door opened as the sensory enhancement chamber deactivated. A subliminal tickle in my throat was all that remained of a potentially lethal charge entering my body. Still, I had to force my hand to relax so I could remove it from my own throat.
“Come on, people, we aren’t being paid by the hour, so let’s focus on the job at hand.”
I tried to get up, but for some reason I didn’t have the strength to stand. I held on to the sides of my cocoon as other technicians assisted more subjects to recover their senses or in some cases, their sanity.
“Stay focused. You want a quality scan so we can define your options, get you equipped and back to duty.”
I made another attempt to rise up and at least take a couple of unsteady steps. Still, I couldn’t get out of the confines of my cocoon. Were my legs tied down?
Our motivational speaker had reached my open chamber door. He looked in at me and smiled. I bet he hardly ever does that -- it looked like it hurt him to do so.
“You don’t have to recycle. Your scans are being correlated right now. Let’s get you to Pattern Enhancement.”
I was assisted into a hover chair and escorted into another room, where another technician had displays already set up. She stood discreetly off to the side while Senior Technician Yost came up to me and shook my hand.
“Great news, Sergeant. Despite your resistance to nerve regeneration, we can interface with your spine and provide you a quality CYBEROPTION package…”
<<
<Robot and soldier stand side by side, then their images merge and morph into a cybernetic being while amorphous blobs suddenly form the letters IRONFLESH>
<Cybernetics packages displayed in exploded view, including many options>
“In warfare, you can guess and hope, or you can deal with facts. Guessing where your enemy is positioned does not carry any weight with the MRL battery you hope is going to be suppressing fire so your own maneuvers will be successful. That’s why at IRONFLESH, we take the guesswork out of receiving your cybernetics packages.”
<large room filled with sensory enhancement chambers, seated rows of technicians monitor activity, check notes, make adjustments in running programs>
[click here to make an appointment for sensory enhancement chamber patterning]
“Trauma to your body can be healed. Additional stress because your cyber package does not agree with your psych profile is unnecessary. You already know what your options are and what will work for you BEFORE any installation begins.”
[click here to make immediate contact with a certified Psychotech]
<The same man from beginning of commercial is seen. No longer a Sergeant, he is a Warrant Officer spending his time running at extreme speeds and operating an armored hover chair>
“You can call me Mister Recon now.”
<cybernetic warrior frame shows again>
[click here for instant access to IRONFLESH representatives]
"See your local IRONFLESH liaison for details. Easy to find, he is usually seated right next to your ticket bondsman."
* WARNING *
* LIVE FIRE ZONE INSIDE *
* LEVEL FOUR OR ABOVE ACCESS GRADES ONLY *
* NO ENTRY DURING EXERCISES *
On the other side of the door was another display, flashing faster in angry red:
*** DANGER ***
*** ROBOTICS WITH SAFETY PROTOCOLS SUPPRESSED ***
Inside, there were people wishing they had remained outside…
There were four of us on this fire team, with two other teams supporting us for this exercise. I kind of liked working with Staff Sergeant Mueller, even though it was tough to ignore that monumental ego of his.
I looked at my handcomp. We were going against two other squads today. Corporal Maxwell is leading the first. Good man, I hope he makes it. Overall command is…oh no, not First Sergeant Ross again?
Standard procedure was to have the top two platoon leader candidates square off against each other every Friday just before we got our weekend passes. It always gave somebody bragging rights with the ladies. I just hoped the setup information was correct this time. I am supposed to be developing my Forward Observer and Recon skills, not carrying the base plate to a mortar.
Looks like a standard urban sweep and clear scenario so far. Piece of cake.
I knew instantly when we had entered the kill zone. CENTAC tried to be smart and sent two hunter-killers after us. One came in quickly and shot a dozen tazer darts in a circle. That only got one of us. The other released a high pressure jet of CS composite and, under cover of that choking gas, tried to glide in and snatch weapons from unprepared hands.
I was pretty quick on the draw and released my disruptor rifle from its sheath. Harmless to organic material, all I needed to do was target and strike a vital spot on the HK and it would go dormant.
Fire two rounds, jump, tumble, pop up, fire again.
Like I said, piece of cake.
“Hey, Ross! I don’t want to play with your toys anymore. How about you saddle up and get in here? I’ll be gentle!”
You always knew when Mueller was in charge.
I heard screams from further back in the urban level, then a half dozen puffs of smoke. Before I could react, mortar rounds were dropping all around me. A chunk of shrapnel as big as a shot glass slammed into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. The last thing I saw was another HK standing over me, about to poke me in the neck with a fully charged tazer…
With a hiss, my door opened as the sensory enhancement chamber deactivated. A subliminal tickle in my throat was all that remained of a potentially lethal charge entering my body. Still, I had to force my hand to relax so I could remove it from my own throat.
“Come on, people, we aren’t being paid by the hour, so let’s focus on the job at hand.”
I tried to get up, but for some reason I didn’t have the strength to stand. I held on to the sides of my cocoon as other technicians assisted more subjects to recover their senses or in some cases, their sanity.
“Stay focused. You want a quality scan so we can define your options, get you equipped and back to duty.”
I made another attempt to rise up and at least take a couple of unsteady steps. Still, I couldn’t get out of the confines of my cocoon. Were my legs tied down?
Our motivational speaker had reached my open chamber door. He looked in at me and smiled. I bet he hardly ever does that -- it looked like it hurt him to do so.
“You don’t have to recycle. Your scans are being correlated right now. Let’s get you to Pattern Enhancement.”
I was assisted into a hover chair and escorted into another room, where another technician had displays already set up. She stood discreetly off to the side while Senior Technician Yost came up to me and shook my hand.
“Great news, Sergeant. Despite your resistance to nerve regeneration, we can interface with your spine and provide you a quality CYBEROPTION package…”
<<
<Robot and soldier stand side by side, then their images merge and morph into a cybernetic being while amorphous blobs suddenly form the letters IRONFLESH>
<Cybernetics packages displayed in exploded view, including many options>
“In warfare, you can guess and hope, or you can deal with facts. Guessing where your enemy is positioned does not carry any weight with the MRL battery you hope is going to be suppressing fire so your own maneuvers will be successful. That’s why at IRONFLESH, we take the guesswork out of receiving your cybernetics packages.”
<large room filled with sensory enhancement chambers, seated rows of technicians monitor activity, check notes, make adjustments in running programs>
[click here to make an appointment for sensory enhancement chamber patterning]
“Trauma to your body can be healed. Additional stress because your cyber package does not agree with your psych profile is unnecessary. You already know what your options are and what will work for you BEFORE any installation begins.”
[click here to make immediate contact with a certified Psychotech]
<The same man from beginning of commercial is seen. No longer a Sergeant, he is a Warrant Officer spending his time running at extreme speeds and operating an armored hover chair>
“You can call me Mister Recon now.”
<cybernetic warrior frame shows again>
[click here for instant access to IRONFLESH representatives]
"See your local IRONFLESH liaison for details. Easy to find, he is usually seated right next to your ticket bondsman."
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