Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set by J.N. Chaney (best detective novels of all time .TXT) 📕

One thing I hadn’t noticed before was they were all equipped with a tail like the Rung and Remboshi as well.

“There’s enough here for our own army,” Tong said, standing with Stacy’s support. “We can do this. We can finally take the fight to Legion.”

“There’s a separate exit above us that we can use to get out,” Dama instructed. “We’ll circle around and free our people. We can then go to other Rung bunkers and free them to help in the fight.”

“We need to get back to the Orion,” I said. “I don’t think Legion was lying when he said it was under attack. We need to go back and help.”

“Of course,” Dama answered. “But you’ll need a crash course on how these are piloted first.”

18

Dama wasn’t kidding when she said, “crash course.” She taught us the basic movement controls and the weapons systems, and then we were on our own.

The center chest piece of the power armor suit opened like a door, and a short step ladder folded out, allowing access to the inside.

The suit, however, was made for a smaller-than-human-sized Rung pilot, which meant it was tight inside for me. I couldn’t imagine how John felt.

Hold it together, Dean, I told myself. Hold it together. You’re in control; you can get out anytime you want. I never did like the feeling of being closed in.

When the door to the power armor hissed shut behind me, I had a sense of claustrophobia. I stood in a mechanical get-up inside the larger power suit. My feet were placed in stirrups inside the power armor’s legs, and my arms reached into the arms of the unit. My hands grasped a controller on each side.

As soon as the door to the chest piece closed, a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the room opened up in front of me. It was like I was the armor instead of just being inside of it.

When I looked down, I could see my feet. When I looked up, I saw the ceiling to the hangar high above.

“This thing is so crazy,” Stacy said over the comm line we shared in the units. “How is this even possible?”

“It will take some time getting used to, but when inside our armor, your movements become the movements of the armor unit,” Dama coached us. “When you move an arm or leg, so does the unit. Go ahead and try it now.”

“This thing tight for anyone else?” John asked as he stumbled forward in his mechanical suit. “I feel like my huevos rancheros are in a vise grip.”

“Huevos rancheros?” Tong asked as he practiced in his suit. “I don’t understand what that is.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a laugh despite the hour. “Let’s just say it’s tight in here.”

“They were designed to hold the largest Rung, but even a large member of our species is only the size of a small human,” Sulk said.

Chatter continued as Stacy and Tong asked questions about the armor’s capabilities. The suits used several types of energy to recharge. If we were outside, we would be using the solar energy of the two suns. While we were inside, that energy was harnessed and channeled into the power armor. It was a technology I was hoping our scientists would explore further once we were back to the Orion.

I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. True to Dama’s words, the suit obeyed without hesitation. When my right knee came up, so did the suit’s. When I changed into a defensive stance and lifted both hands in front of me, the suit obeyed immediately. I practiced a little more and could see it wouldn’t take too long to become proficient at navigating the suit despite the tight fit.

“Imagine going around in these things?” John said, moving to stand in front of me. He weaved back and forth, bouncing on his toes. “Legion has no chance.”

“On the lift,” Dama said, waving us over to a large circular platform. “We have no time to lose. We need to get to Legion and get rid of him before he does any more damage.”

“What about weapons?” I asked as we moved to obey. “We’ll need those sooner rather than later.”

“Flamethrower on the back of your left forearm and blade on the back of your right,” Sulk said as he maneuvered his suit onto the platform. “To activate each one, your fist has to be closed, then press the button beside your thumb.”

“Cannon on your shoulder is activated by shrugging your shoulder inside your suit,” Dama said. “When you shrug, you’ll then have the option to press your shoulder back. Doing this will open fire. A targeting system in your screen will allow you to aim.”

I soaked in all of this information as we gathered on the raised platform. Truth be told, I couldn’t wait to try the weapons out. With them in our arsenal it was hard to imagine a scenario where Legion would be able to stand against us. Finally, for once, we would have the upper hand and we could put an end to this.

The ceiling above us parted in the middle as the circular lift took us to the open air above.

“Wow, watch it,” Tong said as the suit John was in activated the blade in his right arm’s vambrace.

“Sorry, sorry about that,” John said, not sounding sorry at all but rather a little giddy, like a child with a new toy. I hoped we wouldn’t injure each other by accident, but then again, didn’t the armor guard against that problem?

A single steel blade six feet in length sprouted from above John’s closed fist.

“You were going to use these weapons against the Remboshi?” Tong said in a quiet voice. “I mean, after you defeated Legion?”

“We’ve all made mistakes,” Dama said, matching his somber tone. “I’m just glad we fight together now. We will never have to wage war with one another with