BXBX NOVEL Chapter 110 - Hammer
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It was a cold midnight in the semiarid Syrian desert as a convoy of soldiers were escorting what seemed to be a valuable package on the back of a military truck.
The underpaid and lazy Syrian soldiers were oblivious to an FS fireteam stalking them throughout the journey.
Remotely controlling a dragonfly was relatively easy given a suitable amount of training. While the two combat-oriented operators drove the vehicle and kept overwatch of their surroundings, the nethunter patiently controlled the recon dragonfly closely by the target.
He controlled no ordinary offensive dragonfly but rather one specialized in stealth and identification functionality. Though much smaller than a security dragonfly and contained no weapons, it featured better cameras, active camouflage, and environment sensors, perfect for its current mission.
The fireteam kept a reasonable space between them and the convoy, but the dragonfly\'s remote control range was more than capable of handling the distance.
They found a chance after a section of the convoy split up from the group and headed somewhere else, probably a different military base.
The nethunter sprang into action by maneuvering the dragonfly towards the recently unguarded rear of the truck, eventually reaching inside the cargo compartment.
The mysterious items were sealed by an unmarked supplier within specialized crates meant for transporting armed warheads.
There was a look of concern on the nethunter\'s face as one of the operators asked, "Did you find out what\'s in the truck, Holo?"
Holo honestly replied, "I\'m not sure what\'s in those crates, but it looks bad news. It could be a nuke for all we know."
The operator coughed in astonishment before replying, "Send the info to base right now. We won\'t go anywhere near that truck until further instructions."
Holo followed orders by sending the reconnaissance data back to FS headquarters and the Kandahar branch for the higher-ups to decide the next course of action.
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Anthony and Director Price were in the middle of a meeting until they both received word from their boots on the ground.
Director Price looked at the photo taken by the recon drone and was distressed in saying, "Are you looking at the containment units? Our hunch panned out and now hold solid proof enough for the General to support a practically illegal raid."
Anthony replied in concern, "These look like the real deal, Price. I bet whatever is in those crates would be dangerous in the hands of a tyrant. We can\'t let it reach its destination."
"Don\'t worry, Anthony. I\'ll talk to the General first for confirmation before deploying our new assets on the field." Price reassuringly replied.
Anthony was stunned to learn about Price\'s plan and inquired, "Are you sure about that? We haven\'t even field-tested the heavy power armor yet."
Director Price was confident enough and explained, "It\'s either we let a dictator get his hands on warheads armed with god knows what or trust in our Future Tech comrades in producing reliable tools for us to use in situations like this. Besides, Felix will love it."
While Price went to speak with the General for his political support, an FT-05 Super Galaxy was en route from Austin to Kandahar listed on the flight plan but, in reality, was circling Syria at high altitude while waiting for orders.
Felix wasn\'t alone and instead was accompanied by two other highly trained veterans among their circle of friends.
One served for three tours with Seal Team 6, while the other retired from Delta Force after ten years of service.
Felix carried a large canister of nutrition solution while thinking, [Chilling in a city like Austin is fun and all, especially with Heidi around, but taking this baby out for a spin on the field seems like an even better time.]
Thick utility cables like vines in the jungle were scattered around the plane\'s interior connected to three vessels.
He installed the canister on an AI-driven maintenance unit half the size of a shipping container which supported mobile deployment for one of Future Security\'s newest offerings.
Designed to fight battles in zero gravity and the Earth\'s atmosphere, the Heavy Power Armor, or what Felix refers to as the \'Hammer\' after the trials in Austin, boasted two Raptor hybrid engines for terrestrial missions.
The Starship\'s engines were devised for carrying weight such as cargo and traveling long distances. In contrast, the hybrid engines in Hammers optimized energy output for the flight system and weapons, using Future Tech\'s secret petrochemical fuel, known colloquially as \'Black Gold\' among the people of Afghanistan.
Black gold powered plenty of Future Tech products like AVs, Dragonflies, and Hive Mind suites and is mainly produced in the middle east, away from the prying eyes of ExxonMobil in Texas and Chevron in LA.
Supporting the jet engine was the latest and greatest carbon nanotube Tesla batteries boasting 2 gigawatts of energy for ion propulsion movement in outer space and the upcoming FS beam rifle that\'s currently in the works.
Large explosions were out of the question, so the three high-level operators had Heidi 3D-print melee weapons using a Hive Mind suite as a stop-gap solution for the absence of the Hammer\'s primary weapon system.
Like his comrades, Felix was busy ensuring he supplied his armor with enough Black Gold, battery input, nutrition solution, and liquid oxygen before receiving a NetServ satellite message about a mission update.
Felix smiled as he confirmed his orders and declared, "Alright, boys. Let\'s suit up."
He pressed a button on the maintenance unit, which opened the frontal area of the Hammer, allowing the pilot to enter.
The armor was 8 feet tall and covered with various FT techs such as Hypervisor functionality, graphene metal-matrix composite plating mixed with weaving for the joints, and a deep-sleep control system developed by Future Med and FT VR.
The maintenance unit confirmed Felix was ready for deployment and systematically closed the armor.
It was dark and silent within the armor until Felix heard a familiar voice, the Infi AI instructing, "Please close your eyes as we initiate the deep-sleep connection."
Felix followed his orders like a dutiful soldier until he found himself in a dream-like state as the control system established a link.
Darkness and silence were replaced by a heightened sense of vision and audio. In addition, many of the features found in the less armored variants could also be utilized by the Hammer, such as enemy estimation tracking and NetServ communication systems.
One significant drawback of any type of armor like tanks or even a spacesuit was the claustrophobic environment. The deep-sleep control system eliminates that issue and allows the pilot to perform more effectively by controlling the armor using brainwaves instead of arms and legs like in the Gundam anime series. High stress from maneuvering in zero gravity that could potentially force the pilot unconscious was no issue anymore, as they were already in a deep sleep.
The three maintenance units released control of the fully powered Hammers, which were now ready for action.
Felix had Heidi produce a medieval-style sword with the most robust material suited to its purposes no ordinary man could ever wield. At the same time, his compatriots chose a mace and a staff.
Felix was a whole notch crazier than his old friends like Price and Anthony and said, "You know, I listened to music while testing the armor out in the Austin boonies using the built-in media player. So here, play this."
His two comrades quickly realized Felix\'s meaning and accepted the share music request on their own Hammer deep-sleep interfaces.
The intro to Master of Puppets by Metallica started playing as each pilot heard the music through their deep-sleep links.
The cargo bay door opened, signaling the Hammer team to perform a high-altitude jump, which the three were experienced doing, but with parachutes instead of a hunk of metal.
The music was blaring while Felix thought, [As Drake said, You only live once.], before jumping first while the other two followed.
It was the middle of the night, and there was barely any visibility. Still, the FS recon fireteam supported the Hammer\'s guidance systems on the ground by painting the convoy using a targeting laser.
The Hammer team manipulated the movement jets in following the red target in the middle of the Hypervisor user interface.
Felix observed the landing zone and instructed, "Whatever you do, don\'t swing at the military truck. We need to insure the package\'s safety, or else we\'d be testing how resilient Hammers are against a warhead explosion."
The two plainly replied, "Copy." "Understood."
They rapidly approached the ground and controlled the hover jets to output enough power to land safely.
Holo, the fireteam\'s nethunter, watched as the three balls of flame headed directly towards their enemies and couldn\'t help himself from shouting, "The cavalry has arrived!"