The Black Sheep (A Learning Experience Book 3) by Christopher Nuttall Page B

used one since my days in the Orbital Guard,” Max said.  He’d never taken enthusiastically to military service, although it was a requirement for any form of advancement on his asteroid.  “This suit’s a little more advanced than the suits we wore during the war.”
     
    “Understood,” Hilde said.  “I’m slaving your suit to mine, for the moment.  I don’t want you trying to control your combat jump.  If something happens to me” - if I get blown into atoms , Max translated silently - “you’ll be passed to another marine.  You won’t have full control over the suit until we land on the ground.”
     
    “I understand,” Max said.  “And once we’re down?”
     
    “Follow my lead,” Hilde said.  “We’re not going to try slotting you into our order of battle, but we may need you to plug any holes.  If so, your suit will be slaved to us once again and you’ll be a helpless bystander until the battle comes to an end.”
     
    Max swallowed.  In hindsight, he suspected he should have thought more carefully before agreeing to embed with the marines, even though he’d get some great footage of the Battle of Amstar, up close and personal.  The idea of being trapped inside the suit as it charged enemy fire on its own was terrifying ... but there was no point in trying to change his mind now, not when he’d already committed himself.  He hastily set his implants to calming mode as Hilde turned to lead him towards the hatch, then followed her down the corridor.  Twenty-two armoured forms were waiting for them.  If his suit hadn't automatically supplied names and faces, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.
     
    “Slave mode ... active,” Hilde said.  “Sorry.”
     
    The suit walked forward.  Max tried to send a query into its control processors, but there was no response.  He was a helpless passenger now.  Gritting his teeth, he braced himself as the hatch opened, revealing the inky darkness of space.  Panic flared at the back of his mind as a force field picked up the suit and shoved it hard towards the planet below.  More icons flashed up in front of him, warning of incoming fire from the ground, as the suit plunged into formation with the remainder of the marines.  Max squeezed his eyes shut as the planet grew larger and larger in front of him, convinced - at a very basic level - that he was going to slam into the ground.  He knew it was safe - there were thousands of people who jumped from orbit every year - but his mind refused to believe it.  How many of the orbital jumpers jumped straight into the teeth of enemy fire?
     
    “This is fun,” Hilde said.  If she was trying to be reassuring, she wasn't doing a very good job of it.  “Just you wait until we hit the atmosphere!”
     
    Max checked his implants.  Only a minute or two had gone by since they’d been launched from the ship, even though it felt like hours.  He opened his eyes, then closed them again as he saw the planet looming up in front of him.  It was so close he felt as if he could reach out and touch it ...
     
    ... The suit rocked, violently, as it struck the upper edge of the atmosphere.  Max was aware, dimly aware, of the suit reconfiguring itself for a faster descent, even though his mind was screaming for the suit to slow down.  He knew it made sense to descend as quickly as possible - the enemy only needed one hit to wipe him and his suit out of existence - and yet it was hard to convince himself that it was true.  The suit rocked again and again, striking patches of turbulence in the atmosphere ... or, perhaps, dodging bursts of fire from the ground.  Max kept his eyes tightly closed as the shaking grew worse.  He didn't want to know.
     
    “They’re taking pot-shots at us,” Hilde commented.  “Don’t worry.  They’re not very good shots.”
     
    Max hated her in that moment, hated her for her casual dismissal of danger.  But then, she would have gone though a thousand