“Anything other than the shields. A mixture is probably a good idea.”
Roxana nodded in agreement. The group split off to select their weapons, and Glaucon and Xenophon pulled out several items of interest. Glaucon picked one of the plasma launchers. It was a big weapon, but in his hands looked more like a large rifle. Xenophon, on the other hand, was torn between the carbine and the Laconian Asgeirr-Carbine. He looked to the soldier.
“Where is the spare ammunition?” he asked.
“On your enemies,” answered the man in a curt tone.
He looked back to the weapons and pulled an Asgeirr-Carbine onto his right arm. He looked at it with admiration. He paused for just a second, and then grabbed second one.
“What are you doing?” asked Tamara who was busy checking the carbines.
“Well, the ammunition is limited, so I might as well take two. Double the blades and double the firepower.”
Roxana stepped between them and examined the weapons. She spotted Xenophon and his odd choice.
“ Let’s just hope a few of them get close enough for us to hit them and take their ammo.”
“Thanks,” answered Xenophon in the most sarcastic voice he could manage.
The teenager moved to the front of the group and called out to Rexor.
“We’ll go ahead. You back us up!” he shouted.
The large group of mercenaries burst out laughing at the high-pitched voice of the youngster. With his carbine held in his hands, he looked woefully inadequate compared to some of the burly, experienced soldiers in the group.
“Do what you like, little man, and we’ll try not to trip over your feet!” he bellowed.
“Hey, kid, what’s your name?” asked Glaucon.
The teenager spun around and glanced at him. “Kid? I’m no kid.”
Roxana tried a softer approached.
“No, you’re not a kid. But what’s your name? I’m Roxana. This is Xenophon and Glaucon, two of my close friends.”
“Does it matter? Just call me Jack for now,” he said as he turned his back on them.
Xenophon checked his weapons. They were lit as inactive on the side readout. He just hoped that would change at the start of the exercise. He nodded to Glaucon.
“You know once we start, most of them are going to make for the tower. If they’re anything like our bunch, they’ll come up through the middle.”
“Jack!” Roxana called out. She waved for him to join the other two to listen to the plan. At first he stood there, but eventually he wandered over with a sullen look on his face.
“We’ll take the right. Light weapons ahead, second team twenty metres behind. Don’t stop till you’re inside the tower, got it?”
Jack nodded but said nothing.
“Okay, people, you have ten seconds, get ready…” shouted the soldier.
Rexor pulled back the bolt on his carbine and faced the ruins. His left hand was extended out, ready for when the shield activated.
“Behind me!” he roared. The rest of his group formed up in a dense block, the shielded warriors on the outside and the rest inside. It looked impressive, but Xenophon could easily see the problems they were creating for themselves. He looked back to see Roxana shaking her head.
“Fool, just one plasma charge, and they’re all gone.”
A loud whistle blasted from the soldier, and at the same time the weapons and shields activated for each of them.
“Go!” shouted Roxana.
Jack and his comrades rushed ahead and to the right of the large band of warriors led by Rexor. They all moved to the rubble around the outside of the simulated warzone and entered the main street. Rexor’s mob moved up through the middle of the road, but Jack leapt over the nearest wall to the right and vanished from view. The street looked remarkably realistic with buildings on both sides and a smashed military vehicle in the centre. At the end of the street were a series a barricades and behind them the lower levels of the mound that led up to the tower and the objective. Xenophon reached the wall and stopped to help the rest over. It didn’t take long until their small group was over the wall and moving at a quick jog along the parallel street.
“They’re nearly there!” called out Glaucon, spotting Jack and the rest working through the barricades to the tower. There was no sign of Rexor and his mob as the buildings obstructed their view.
“Spread out!” called Roxana, perhaps becoming nervous at the lack of action. Xenophon moved to the right and looked down to check his weapons as he moved. They were lit as active, and he was tempted to fire off a shot to see what happened. With a limited number of rounds, he just couldn’t do it; not that firing off rounds for no reason was a good idea anyway.
They reached the open space in front of the barricades and were now able to see part of the street to the left. There was another ruined vehicle but no sign of the rest of their team.
“Keep moving, we don’t want to get pinned down out here,” called Roxana.
Xenophon nodded and leapt over the first barrier and through the rubble. He landed hard and straightened himself only to see a man of similar age and build to himself. The most obvious difference was that he was carrying a red marked rifle and an active shield in his left hand. He tried to move it, but in the confines of the damaged walls, Xenophon was able to duck to the side and lift up his left arm. Without even bothering to pull the trigger, he stabbed forward instead. The blunted training blade shot out, and he punched the man in the chest. The impact didn’t seem great, but one of the tranquiliser darts must have been triggered because the man staggered and collapsed to the ground.
“Nice work!” said Roxana as she moved past him. She didn’t stop and pushed through the debris to reach the winding path running around the base of the tower. The rest of the group did the same, leaving Xenophon looking at his first kill of the scenario. He was about to move when he spotted movement in the buildings behind the tower. A flash was all he needed to throw himself to the side. It wasn’t a moment too soon, as a volley of six projectiles clattered uselessly against the wall behind him.
Close! he said to himself.
The quiet was broken by dozens of rifles and carbines opening fire. Xenophon kept low and pushed ahead, only glancing briefly over his shoulder to try and assess what was happening. He rounded the next corner to find the rest of his team pinned down.
“You okay?” asked Tamara.
“Yeah, what’s happening?”
“Most of their team are heavies. They spread out in a wide skirmish line and are putting down fire all around the end of the street and the base of the tower.”
“Jack?” he asked.
“I’ve not found any bodies. Either they got lost, or they made it up there,” she answered, pointing up to the top of the turret.
More sound came from below as both forces clashed, each trying to hit the other team with a mixture of training rounds. The shields seemed highly effective in this environment. The one side effect was they were now distracted by the arrival of Rexor and his group.
“This is our chance, come on!” called out Glaucon.
He lifted himself up and rushed ahead. It was a narrow path that led to the tower, but they covered the ground quickly and made their way into the lower level. Without stopping, they pushed on towards the side and a staircase that led up to the high level floor. Glaucon moved first with Xenophon following. Roxana was next and Erika last. They moved as quickly as possible, but Erika didn’t make it in time before the first group of the red team. They spotted her and blasted her with a dozen rifle rounds. Roxana barely avoided the impact before rolling inside.
“Stop them!” she called out, still disorientated by her scramble inside.
Xenophon spotted them approaching, but from the higher floor, he could do little except add what limited firepower he had into their number. He aimed his right hand carefully and pulled the trigger. The metal fist shook slightly as it released the training rounds. He loosed off six in total and spotted at least two of the attackers fall. Glaucon lifted his plasma cannon over the edge of the turret and aimed it down at the group. They were already spreading out when he fired. Unlike the real weapon, this one fired a single round that burst upon impact. It sent a cloud of quick evaporating gas around the target area stunning four more of the enemy. Xenophon did his best to try to avoid thinking about what an actual super-heated plasma projectile would do.