Chapter 7

On the ride to the government center Tarra recalled James' comment about paramilitary training, "You said you had some special training as well?"

"Yes. I knew that being a blockade runner might land me in some pretty sticky situations. Ones that might need to be solved without being able to rely on using the Didgeridoo. So I went to Laer."

"Laer? As in the home of the merc guild?"

"Yep, that's the place. They have a training academy, the Opleidingsentrum or 'OS' that is used by the mercs to hone their skills. In my case, I went there to learn the skills in the first place."

James thought back to those very tough days in the OS boot camp. He was convinced that the drill sergeant had not actually been birthed, but had reproduced by fission like all bacteria. Once through basic, he had truly enjoyed the more advanced sessions, particularly those that dealt with the sophisticated weapon systems and personal combat suits.

"You were a mercenary? You never mentioned that." Tarra wasn't sure how she felt about mercenaries. Someone who fought and killed for whoever had the most money? It just seemed wrong somehow.

"No, I simply used them to get the martial skills I needed. Oh technically, I did join their guild. Had to — they don't accept non-members for training. That wasn't hard. When you've got the cash, the mercs can be very accommodating. They are businessmen at heart after all." Tarra felt relief on hearing his explanation; she nodded.

James regarded Tarra. Given her family background, it shouldn't have been a surprise to find out that she was an elite part of the Ragnor's militia. But, he had to admit that he had not been thinking of her that way.

He was still getting used to thinking of anyone as more than just a casual fling or one night conquest. He was apprehensive as to where this relationship could be going. The new stress of having to deal with a dangerous raid against the moonbase was just compounding his worry.

She had mentioned militia training earlier when they had been getting to know each other, but had not gone into specifics. Standard militia training was pretty much expected on frontier planets and James had not given it much thought. Special Forces training, the kind Tarra must have completed to be part of the strike team, was much more rigorous and intense.

There was another thing that bothered him as well that he wanted to clear up. "You know, when I first set down here, Didgi was able to detect you clearly via IR."

"And you are wondering why, given what Dad told you about our ability to control our body temperature?"

"Yes."

"Simple. I wasn't trying to stay off your scans. It's not something we do all the time. There was no reason to do so then. I wasn't trying to hide."

"I thought that might be the reason. Just how extensive was your training as a scout for your Special Forces militia team?"

Tarra recalled one of her last training experiences as a Special Forces scout...

"Eagle station be advised, I've got a fast mover on the scope approaching your position."

Tarra did not reply to the alert issued by her team mates monitoring the early warning systems for this exercise. Her scout objective was just down-slope from her position and in full view. She could clearly see the activity going on below. Coded updates, compressed and sent every hour via a laser satellite link, were received and analyzed by intelligence troopers.

There were many dense thickets surrounding the enemy camp. She was located next to one. Naked, head shaved, she was able to completely blend into the landscape. She had allowed her body to cool completely before exposing herself to any direct line of sight to the camp.

A fast mover, slang for a fighter or hypersonic patrol flight, should not be able to pick her out from above. Still, the warning was needed if she had to move fast.

Her assignment was to observe and report on the activity of the blue team's headquarters. They had located the opposing forces HQ late last night and she had been in position just after dawn. Her secondary assignment was to participate in the upcoming fight to take out the blue team HQ personnel. They were to sweep thought the camp and kill all the enemy soldiers. This was an exercise, so obviously they would only do virtual kills.

The plan was relayed to her. They would strike at ten minutes after midnight. She was to wait for the signal, and then move in on the south guard position near her location and take out the sentries. She would then link up with her team and neutralize the rest of the blue team HQ combatants. If they were successful they would leave the blue team leaderless and the exercise would be effectively over.

She settled in for the long wait until the attack. Her eyes continued to scan for activity.

At the signal, she left the shelter of the concealing bushes. She adjusted her appearance to match the dark gray of the night ground and moved low and fast to the guard position. She removed her hand weapon from its concealing pouch and selected a disabling round.

The personal combat weapons of a Chameleon Special Forces team were a work of genius. Multiple types of different rounds could be selected instantly by color changes in their fingers. Energy, explosive or disabling rounds could be changed in less than a second. Rate of fire, explosive yields or energy settings were almost infinitely adjustable based on color shade.

The energy round created a particle beam. This was basically an ultra high energy beam of atoms moving near the speed of light capable of inflicting incredible damage on a target.

Explosive rounds were plasma based. It was actually a two phased weapon when used in atmosphere. First a particle beam was fired that "cleared a path" through the air, which was immediately followed by the plasma bolt. The tunnel created by the particle beam through the air prevented the plasma from blooming and dissipating before it hit the target.

The plasma exited the bore at incredible speed to the devastating effect of anything it was pointed at. When the bolt from the weapon hit, it wasn't the mass of the plasma that caused damage. The temperature and speed combined to create the blast damage. Using plasma bolts at full energy was anything but subtle. Rate of fire on explosive rounds was low as they generated a lot of heat.

Disabling loads were anti-personnel only and designed to stun or disable an opponent. When they were fired, very little sound was generated. They were therefore the perfect choice for the anti-personnel needs of covert missions.

Only a chameleon could fire the weapon. A trigger lock was controlled by a specific color change on the trigger finger. The interface for the weapons had been developed at the same time as the genetic changes were designed. The retired SF chameleons had brought examples and detailed plans for the interface with them to Ragnor. As weapons technology advanced, the chameleon fire control interface was applied to new variants.

Tarra gripped her pistol tightly and with a fluid movement was over the berm and into the guard's position. Two quiet phutts of her weapon put a disabling shot into each of the two guards.

One of the guards looked down at where the round had hit him in the chest and whispered, "Damn it Tarra, those things sting!"

"Shush up Malcolm, you are either dead or unconscious now. Act like it. Blue team is about to take it up the ass."

She grinned wickedly.

Tarra signaled that her location was secure and was soon joined by the rest of her team. Her father, naked except for a near invisible and transparent athletic supporter that wrapped between his legs securely, gave her a nod and handed her an assault submachine gun.

The submachine gun used by the Ragnor SFs was a scaled up version of the scout's pistol that Tarra had first used. It had the same chameleon fire control interface. It carried more rounds and also had a 1.5-cm bore on its main barrel vs. the 1-cm bore on the pistol.

For this training exercise their guns did not have live plasma rounds in them and the particle beam was disabled. A special training laser round took their place and simulated a hit.

Joe used the guard position to survey the rest of the camp. Using hand signals he motioned to each member to commence the rest of the attack. The team boiled out of the sentry post, moving low.

They split and went in two different directions towards the other guard positions on the perimeter. All sentries were soon taken out without alerting the rest of the camp. The team met up again and new objectives were prioritized via hand signals.