Mark “Coop” Cooper

Location: Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Earth, United Commonwealth of Colonies

These MOUNTS were giving Coop a war boner. The graviton cannon and next-gen magnetic accelerator were enough to give any combat grunt wet dreams, but that was only the beginning. Defensively, it was the strongest piece of equipment short of a warship that Coop had ever seen. The way the shields could be adapted to counter known and unknown threats was genius. It addressed all the qualms that Coop had with shields in the real-life combat situations he’d encountered. The stealth-mode feature was a still a bit iffy in his mind for combat operations, but if he was snooping and pooping, or just trying to go unnoticed, he could see the mode’s usefulness.

he thought as Gold started going over some of the other weapon’s systems.

They got to see the dual forearm cannons in action on a range next to the large, underground equipment hangar, and damn could those things lay down the hurt. They also had interchangeable ammo like the old Buss. The 10mm rounds came in regular and plasma tipped varieties, while 40mm grenades could be rotated in. The Buss’ old ammo, which regular grunts also carted around if they had an attachment on their M3, looked puny coming out of the MOUNTS, but Coop understood it was a tried and true anti-infantry weapon. The designers didn’t need to fix something that wasn’t broken. The laser cannon component from the Buss, which Coop couldn’t remember using more than a few times, was absent from the MOUNTS, but the graviton weapon more than made up for that.

Dozens of micro-missile launchers were located throughout the torso, with an auto-reload feature that was bound to be a godsend. In the old LACS V-models those were a one-and-done weapon system. Being able to blow your whole missile load and then have more available was just awesome. Even better, the launchers also had countermeasures among their ammo, so a trooper didn’t have to rely specifically on swatters and just trying to get the hell out of the way if that failed. Rumor was that Gold was even trying to develop a micro-countermissile, but the titan of industry didn’t mention them in the briefing.

The MOUNT had not one but two swatters to round out its defensive capabilities, and then Gold moved onto the big kahuna. On the back of the MOUNTS, nestled between the graviton cannon and next-gen mag accelerator was a big ass sword.

“All of our research and interviews with our new alien trading partners have revealed one important aspect about future combat with more advanced weapons systems: it doesn’t increase the distance between two opponents, it shrinks it.” Gold let that sink in for a minute.

Personally, Coop thought that was stupid. No one would want to close the distance between these MOUNTS and their massive cannons. They’d want to get the hell out of the way, fire and maneuver, and do everything they could not to get their asses blown off.

His memory flashed back to the final minutes of his time on Harper’s Junction. The Commonwealth forces had been maneuvering in the open, with limited cover, and advancing on the capitol while the Windsor’s fought from fixed fighting positions. The whole scene had been flashes of energy as shields protected both sides from death and destruction. Every once and a while something would get through and people on both sides would die, but the distance between the two sides just kept closing.

Coop hadn’t seen the end of the battle because the medics had pumped him full of narcotic goodness to make the metal spike in his leg more bearable.

“So on top of all these fancy cannons, we’ve got an old school sword and shield for when things get up close and personal,” Coop announced to the gathered group as he remembered the shield tech on the MOUNT’s hip.

“Exactly,” Gold’s eyes flashed and he smiled. “Clear off Unit 01!” The techs messing with the giant mount didn’t even blink as they jumped off and away from the six meter killing machine. “I helped sell the infantry brass with this little pre-programmed bit.” He didn’t do anything, but Coop guessed his IOR was busy inputting commands.

Suddenly, the MOUNT burst into action. On hand darted to its hip and grasped the metal square. It brought it up defensively and activated it. Blue energy cracked to life and covered the MOUNT from its shoulder to its ankles. With its defense set, the opposite hand reached over its shoulder and slid out the massive three-meter broadsword. It brought the thick blade perpendicular to the shield and rested it on top so it looked like it was ready to impale anything that charged at it. That’s where it froze.

“I think I just came a little,” Camilla whispered behind Coop, and he burst into laughter.

“Sorry,” Coop waved his hands apologetically when the look on Gold’s face said he was going to buy everything Coop ever loved and burn it in front of him. “That was totally bad ass.”

Gold’s gaze softened. “That is just a preprogrammed move. Once these things get riders they’ll be unstoppable.” Gold smiled when he saw Eve’s hand go up. “Ms. Berg, it is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Thank you, sir, but my question is about the shield.” She continued right over any pleasantries Gold might have wished to conduct. “While that’s a handy defensive tactic there, that’s a big thing to haul around, or even engage an enemy mech with. Having seen one of them up close and personal, such a big shield puts us at a disadvantage.”

“I completely agree,” Gold smiled, and Coop saw his eyes unfocus for a second as he inputted more commands through his IOR, “that’s why, like all things with the MOUNT, it’s modular.” The shield flickered and shrank to a perfect circle that protected only the MOUNT’s chest. “We’ve done some historical research and preprogrammed several options into the system.” The shield shifted again to a slightly rounded top that angled down to a point at the bottom. It didn’t look like it would protect much, but Coop would bet one of his new WO paychecks that pointy end could do some damage. Shields were pure energy after all.

“I fully expect as you all train and familiarize yourself with the MOUNTs that you will input your own preferences. The swords are also modular. They’re nano-blades, as you may have noticed, and cost a small fortune, but they’ll adapt to what you need. Plus…” Gold had the MOUNT disengage its shield and kneel in front of them with the sword tip down. He gestured for the group to approach.

At first, the golden blade looked like every other nano-blade Coop had seen. Since some of them had been trying to kill him, he had a pretty good idea what they looked like. As he got closer, things started to look a little different.

“There are imperfections,” Eve was the first one to call it. Instead of the normal, flawless gold of the nanite material, there were barely discernable dark specs.

“You’ve got a keen eye, Ms. Berg,” Gold smiled. “What you’re seeing is probably one of your greatest and most secretive weapons. When I told you that there were only three shield-buster rounds for the new mag-cannons, that was the truth, but we originally purchased six at a sum I won’t repeat here because it will blow your minds. Three of those six rounds were carefully broken down, without losing their inherent abilities, and forged into the blades of this armored cavalry regiment.

Coop got a half chub knowing that anything shielded would crumble before him now.

“I do advise caution,” Gold warned. “While the blades will get the job done, the powers of the shield-buster tech was diluted in the process. One cut won’t breakdown the enemy’s defense. You’ll need to bash them into submission, and how many hits it’ll take will depend on the strength of the shield. We’re developing the AI software for the MOUNTs to gauge shield strength and give you a good approximation of your progress, but what we really need to make those estimations accurate is data.

“And you won’t get data without combat trials,” Coop mumbled the answer. It made sense.

Gold returned the MOUNT its default position and the tech’s hurried back to work. “Any questions?”

“Yeah,” one popped into Coop’s mind based on his particular experience. “You were building tanks back on New Savannah. Did you scrap that in favor of the MOUNTS?” He remembered his humiliating defeat on the moon exercises to what, at the time, had been a brand new weapons system.

“Not at all Mr. Cooper,” Gold smiled and turned his attention back to CMDR Snow.

“How many MOUNTs do you see, Mr. Cooper?” The CMDR marched to the front of the group while Gold stepped aside.

“Forty, sir,” Coop answered without hesitation.

“Do you think Infantry command would build an entire experimental regiment around only forty soldiers?” was the follow up question.

Since Coop still didn’t have a firm grasp on the new organizational designation his response was less confident. “No?”

The CMDR gave him a hard stare. “You are correct Mr. Cooper. As promising as the MOUNTS look to be, the Admirals aren’t going to put all of their eggs in one basket. The 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment will consist of a two unit breakdown. The first is the armored cavalry battalion, all of you. You will be divided into ten, four-MOUNT squadrons. Each will be commanded by an officer whose command time over their squadron will equate to Company command time for their career track. With all the support personnel that are attached to these machines it will be nearly a hundred soldiers under your command. A Lieutenant Commander will command the entire Battalion. That command will be decided at the end of the training.”

Coop could practically feel all of the senior officers in the group tense. Command of an experimental, frontline formation of total ass kickers would get them their second gold stripe for sure.

“The remainder of the regiment will consist of four battalions of tanks,” the CMDR continued. “In addition to these forty MOUNTS, the infantry has purchased two hundred tanks from Gold Technologies. There will be fifty tanks per battalion, five per company, and those tanks will be training and doing their work ups in conjecture with us. Two of the battalions are doing their training on Mars while the other two are doing their training at the Fort Knox Military Complex not too far from Stewart-Benning. We’ll be running joint ops with them later in our training.”

“We’ve been able to collect data on both Windsor mechs and our tanks in combat situation. The Admirals believe certain situations will call for certain deployments, and since the tanks are cheaper they’ve ordered more of them. However, do not think that reflects poorly on armored cav, there are some conditions and situations where a big hunk of hovering duro-steel with a cannon isn’t going to cut it. We’ll see our share of combat. I’ll see to that.” The CMDR smiled.

Coop thought at the CMDR handed the reigns back to Gold who started to take them on a tour, introduce them to the mechanics and techs that would service the MOUNTS, and show each of the new Dragoons which MOUNT would be theirs.

As a former CPL, Coop had to wait until the end. “Hello beautiful,” Coop gave Unit 36’s metal calf a firm pat. He didn’t know if it was just him, but his MOUNT looked a little taller and broader than the ones of either side.

he thought as he did a three-sixty walk around of his home for the foreseeable future. He couldn’t stop grinning.

Now he just had to hope that Eve would be in his squadron. That would make everything absolutely perfect.