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.He slowly shook his head, knowing there could be no answers.“Authorization code required,” the modulated voice responded.“No blind paths.” He gritted his teeth.It was not about a lack of faith.It was about finding the faith and accepting the path yourself.Not simply because someone else showed it to you.Rumblings of Hisa reared and he pushed them aside.Not now.“Authorization confirmed.Command transferred.” With that, power cycled up to full parameters, and the remaining darkened monitors and systems sparked with inner life.He reached with his left hand to expand the systems check, taking in the weapon systems now unlocked for his use.The particle projector cannon and twin medium pulse lasers in the Wendigo’s right arm registered a cool green of capacitors charged and focus mirrors aligned, while the LB 10-X autocannon in the left arm showed a full complement of ammo.The small laser in the head, almost an afterthought, shone its small glow of readiness.Even the small laser is accepting, regardless of how little it will do.The sigh slipped out then, full and heavy.Not now.Not now!While the ’Mech cycled through additional systems, he pulled out medical pads, attached them to his thighs and arms, plugged in electronic cords, then reached for the neurohelmet shelved above and behind him.Sliding the helmet on, he cinched it tight, then tied the medical monitors into the helmet.Finally, he withdrew a cable from the command couch and snapped it into a mate at the bottom of the vest, as liquid squirmed across bare skin, with only thin ballistic cloth to keep possible shrapnel from his flesh.Then again, if shrapnel is flying around the inside of the cockpit, I will have much bigger worries by that point.“Lancer Alpha Trinary, this is Star Commodore Sollic,” a voice bounced around the inside of the ’Mech cockpit, from the now-activated commline.“Insertion in two minutes.”The first tremors hit.At seven thousand tons and one hundred twenty meters in length and height, the Outpost-class DropShip could rightly be called huge by most human scales.Especially for a ship meant to ground on a planet, as well as traverse solar systems.Though not truly gargantuan in size, like the assault Nekohono’o at sixteen thousand tons, or the mind-numbing civilian Mammoth, at fifty-two thousand tons, the Outpost nevertheless represented a wonder of technology; a virtual small city in transit.It trembled like a child shaking a toy ship as the vessel slewed into the soup of the planet’s upper atmosphere.All relative.To Athenry’s atmosphere, the Outpost was a gnat.One it would swat from the sky without a thought if they were not careful.He chuckled darkly as he checked final systems.Suddenly he swung back slightly with the entire ’Mech, and the giant egg enshrouding the Wendigo moved, then settled into the cradle as it began to track across the deck plating.Without needing to patch into the ship’s video feed, he knew four other identical cocoons housing the rest of his Star mates were moving from their positions as well, heading towards the launching doors.Twenty-five miniature pods for the attached battle armor were also moving into position.The fighters would already be airborne, providing insertion cover should the defenders decide to match the assault, while the ten vehicles would wait on the Outpost until the ’Mechs and battle armor secured their landing zone and the Outpost grounded.“Stravag,” he growled.At the last moment, he abruptly realized he’d not fastened the five-point restraining harness and began doing so at speed, as a roar brushed in through two levels of armor and a buffeting rocked the fifty-ton ’Mech in its giant cocoon slightly.Allowing too many worries to distract you, savashri [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]