Eve Berg

Location: Capitol City, New Washington, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Eve promised herself as she watched Carol detail the attributes of the new shield technology on the V4A.

Eve didn’t need much of a briefing on the A’s. She, along with a lot of other SPECOPS operators, had been surveyed for upgrades to the V3. She’d given her two cents based on her experience in combat, and hoped the guys back in R&D had taken them seriously. As far as she was concerned, and especially with the new concept and missions the SRRT would be conducting, she really hoped they had made the blades camouflaged too. The last thing she needed was have the enemy walk up to see disembodied nano-blades floating in the air again. That had literally almost gotten her killed on Yangon.

she looked over and saw Coop looking at her. When he saw her looking he tried to make it seem like he was looking at something else, but that just made him look like an idiot. Eve stopped the violent genital-mutilation thoughts and took a few deep breaths.

Truthfully, she had no idea why she was so pissed at Coop. The first thing that had gone through her mind when he walked into the underground hanger, with Mike of all people, was surprise. The Infantry wasn’t as big as the Fleet, but it was still comprised of millions of people. The odds of them both being Splitstream rated, on the same planet, and assigned to the same SRRT team were infinitesimally small. If she let herself go there, she might even think fate had something to do with it, but she wasn’t that naïve. She was still happy to see him.

He still looked good. He’d filled out more in the last few months with feeding and training. He wasn’t the lanky guy from Basic, or the guy still getting used to his enhanced body. He was a proper HI trooper now, and she was a proper ranger. His always-confident smile, just on the edge of arrogance, but with the will to back up any of his claims, had always been attractive.

That little second-long burst of emotions at the sight of him got wiped away when he twitched, looked past her, and then back to her. Instinctually, Eve knew there was only one person he could be looking at, and it stung a little for more than one reason.

To Eve, Coop had been a project during Basic; aside from their weekend-long fling, it had been her job as the squad leader to shape and lead her people. Coop had come a long way during that time. He’d gone from a skinny, pissed off, little Rat shit, to someone that actually cared. Near the end, he’d wanted to win, and he’d pushed the members of his team to do the same.

One of her most cherished memories of Basic was right at the end. The last ruck march required all of them to meet certain time hacks. As a future ranger and HI trooper, she and Coop needed to be faster than a lot of their other squad mates. Eve had to be the fastest, and she concentrated on that. Coop kept pace with her for a while, but fell off near the end. By the time she crossed the finish line, she was wiped and plopped down on her ass in the Georgia grass to drink some much-needed water. Coop crossed the line not too long after her, but didn’t plop down and take a breather. Instead, he dropped his pack, stripped off his armor, asked her to watch his shit, and then headed back down the road to see who in the squad needed a last little boost of motivation. At the beginning of Basic he would have been much more likely to steal another recruit’s water than to help them cross the finish line before their time hack. For Eve, that memory was the definition of success, and then they’d gone off and fucked like bunnies, so that was a nice bonus.

When Coop looked past her at the Asian, Fleet petty officer, Eve could tell he’d changed. War had hardened him, she totally understood that, but there was something in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before. Whatever passed between the two of them, he wanted to keep it hidden from her. Since he was going to be watching her back on these upcoming covert ops, Coop couldn’t have any secrets from her, especially with a member of the two-person team flying them around.

That they were also probably fucking didn’t rub her the right way, but she was a big girl, and she didn’t care who Coop stuck it in, but the non-verbal vibes he was sending off every time he looked at the girl was what really pissed her off. After all, Eve had just come from a big operation against the Blockies, and PO3 Lee looked like a lot of the people she’d just fought against. She knew when the thought crossed her mind that it was insensitive, and stereotyping, but she didn’t give a shit. When someone looked like someone else who’d tried to kill you before, you couldn’t help but have a reaction.

Eve felt a tap on her shoulder and looked back to see GYSGT Cunningham frowning at her. It wasn’t until then that she realized she’d been staring down Coop and the PO3 for the last half minute. Coop looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here, and the PO3 looked like she was wondering what was shoved up Eve’s ass that was making her such a bitch.

“Sorry.” Eve mumbled to the GYSGT and turned her attention back to the engineers and Carol, who were pulling forward the second platform. Since this was what Eve would be wearing into combat, she decided she should pay attention. She knew about the V4As going into this, but the Bs were something entirely new.

The engineer clearly thought so too, because he was practically jumping up and down to talk about it. “Unlike the V4A, which was already in development, with input from the SPECOPS community, the V4B is entirely comprised of new technology purchased from our new trading partners.”

Just looking at the V4B, the differences were obvious. Unlike all the other LACS models in existence, the V4Bs didn’t have the reptilian look that the scales gave the rest of the Commonwealth’s armor. In fact, the V4B hovering in front of them was smooth. It was about half a meter shorter than the V4A, and much less bulky. It almost had a feminine look when compared to the V4A; without all the curves.

“The first upgrade is the suit itself. We kept the internal malleable carbon-tubing weave for user consistency, but the neutral net has been updated to modern-Hegemony connectivity standards, so there is less circuitry imbedded in the suit.” The engineer was particularly giddy about this fact, and Eve could see the utility.

She’d heard of people getting hit during combat, and losing suit effectiveness. Even with redundancies built in, when stuff got blown off stuff stopped working. If they could reduce that risk for the soldiers, then Eve was all for it.

“The exterior of the armor is the most notable change. Simply put, the V4B is not made with a duro-steel exterior. We’re calling the armor’s material exo-steel. Exo means outside, and it is fitting because the material is outside our understanding and capability to produce. We had to import and then sculpt the metal, with Carol’s assistance, to make to V4Bs.”

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we don’t care exactly what it’s made with,” the GYSGT interrupted. “What is important from our perspective is will it protect us, and how does it incorporate our weapons?”

Eve was thinking the same thing. The V4Bs looked all sleek, new, and shiny, but there was a clear lack of weaponry.

“That’s completely understandable.” The engineer nodded. “As far as protection, exo-steel is tough and durable, but it is designed differently than duro-steel, and we honestly don’t fully understand it. For instance, unlike duro-steel and the V4As, there is a nano component built into the armor instead of having nanites swarming over the surface. The armor is organically smart, and will try to fix itself if it is damaged. Shields were designed into the armor at the beginning instead of integrated afterward, and as such, they are more effective.”

Eve mused. Up until now, humanity had been trying to make the armor just as smart as the human operating it. A perfect blend of man and machine would be the ultimate combat tool. It seemed like the Hegemony had already broken through that technological barrier.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The engineers were psyched, but if the aliens had engineered self-thinking metal, instead of armor that ran on code and algorithms, what else were they capable of. It also sent a chill up Eve’s spine that she would essentially be inside another thinking thing, even if the thing’s intelligence was limited to ‘fix yourself if you’re hurt’.

she wondered, but had to turn her attention back to the demonstration.

“The next big leap forward has to deal with miniaturization.” The engineer sent some sort of command to the V4B because the exterior rippled in several places to reveal concealed weapons. “Carol has given us the tools to leap forward decades in the arms miniaturization race that every military is involved in. Small, better, smarter weapons means each soldier can pack more punch and put that punch exactly where it needs to be.” The engineer walked over the V4B and began to highlight points. The first were two ports that had opened up in the rib area with red lights gleaming within. “These are micro-missiles. You have two, eight-round launchers here and here. The missiles are the size of an enhanced human’s thumb, and each launcher has a sixty-four round magazine.”

Eve couldn’t stop her eyebrows from climbing nearly to her hairline. She assumed the micro-missiles would be at least as effective as the old V3 missiles, and now she had ten times more to work with.

“The missiles operate on a dual dynamic of gravity burst and explosive ordinance to achieve maximum effectiveness in such a small payload.” Carol replied to a question Eve missed, but it seemed to satisfy the asker.

The engineer moved to small openings on the armor’s thick wrists. “Along with the missiles, you have four powerful energy cannons that can toggle blasts from one-to-fifty megawatts.” Lastly, he pointed at the shoulders where two small spheres had popped up. “We also made sure an upgraded railgun was integrated into the armor. Each sphere has twenty thousand rounds of ammunition, but can also channel energy from the suit’s battery, which makes it a de facto point defense laser. Depending on how it works in an operational environment; we might remove the kinetic rounds and go full laser.” The engineer seemed excited about the possibility, but Eve had her reservations. Sometimes it was better to hit something with something solid rather than an energy beam.

“So you’ve kept all the old weapons systems?” The SGM stepped into the conversation.

“For user comfort, and rapid deployment, we aren’t including any new weapon designs until tactics are developed on the military side,” the engineer confirmed. “But we did make one change concerning the threat the Star Kingdom of Windsor’s mechs pose. Sergeant Major if you would please.” The engineer input another command and something jutted out of the V4B’s collarbone area. The SGM walked over, and with a grunt, pulled out a large nano-blade.

“We analyzed footage from the fighting on New Lancashire and have come to the conclusion that the forearm blades on the V4A and older Lacs models aren’t well suited to combat against a mech wielding a separate blade. A wielder has a distinct advantage, and we wanted to give that to level the playing field with the V4Bs.

Eve thought as the SGM gave a few experimental swings of the sword.

The engineer continued the briefing with Carol’s occasional interruption. The V4Bs were designed to be more fluid and faster than the V4As, and each team would have two members in each. For Alpha Team, that meant the GYSGT Cunningham and Cooper in A’s, while Eve and the SGM got issued the new B’s. If the GYSGT was pissed she wasn’t getting the fancy new tech, she didn’t show it.

Perhaps the most surprising bit of info came at the very end. “What about battery life?” Coop was the one that finally asked it. “This stuff seems super badass, but with everything your packing into it, it’s got to be hell on the battery.”

“Not as bad as you would think,” a new voice announced.

Eve looked over toward the lift and saw a person she’d only seen on TV walking toward them. Unlike some of the people in the room, she’d never met Thomas Gold, and unlike some, she was not enamored with the corporate titan. He was too much like the Prime Minister; too artificial-looking.

“Each of the SRRT team’s suits is equipped with a small gluon power cell. It’s nothing like the ones on the gunboats, or even the behemoths the Windsors have put in their superdreadnoughts, but it will give you ninety-six hours of operation at full power, and weeks with only intermittent use of certain systems. The new charging racks being welded into Argo will also charge up the suits in a quarter of the time.” The smile Thomas Gold gave everyone screamed ‘trust me’, which was why Eve didn’t like it.

“You know an awful lot about this.” The SGM was also appropriately skeptical.

“Of course I do.” Thomas smiled back. “I own the suits. The Commonwealth isn’t allowed to trade with the Hegemony at this point. Everything in those suits and even Carol’s presence here was paid by Gold Technologies. We’re just loaning all of it to the Commonwealth military because its our patriotic duty and we’re here to help.” The smile never wavered, and Eve’s suspicions grew even deeper.

If Eve was allowed to vote, which she wasn’t yet, she’d vote Eagle Party like the majority of the military. The Eagle Party had a strong pro-corporation stance, and Eve was for a positive relationship between the most powerful entities in human history. But this…this was a whole different level of corporate involvement. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“But that’s not the reason I’m down here,” Thomas continued. “I’m here to invite you all to a Gold Technologies get together I’m throwing. I like to look at everyone involved in this venture as part of the Gold family, and when you’re in the Gold family you deserve the best.

Eve would let the officers field this question, because she was pretty sure there were ethical guidelines about accepting gifts from corporate entities.

“We…” LCDR Gold started.

“We would be delighted to attend.” RADM Stillwater finished the LCDR’s statement. “Please send us the details.”

Thomas Gold nodded to the RADM, did a surprisingly good version of an about face, and headed back to the lift. That left Eve and the rest of the members of SRRT Two wondering the same thing.