The Last Roman (Praetorian Series - Book One) by Edward Crichton

more efficient and dependable rifle in the form of
the Heckler & Koch 416. Any gun designed by those guys was good
enough for me.
    Strauss was preparing two weapons. A German made AMP
Technical Services DSR-1 was her primary rifle. It was an efficient
sniper rifle that fired the same large round as Bordeaux’s SAW, but
while not as handy in a large scale firefight, it was obviously far
more accurate. McDougal had informed her that a M107 .50 caliber
Barrett sniper rifle, similar to the one she and I had trained with
earlier, was waiting at the weapons cache.
    I again wondered at the purpose of such a cache,
especially one containing such a powerful rifle.
    Whatever. Out of sight, out of mind. At least
hopefully.
    Her second weapon was a Belgium engineered FN P90
personnel defense weapon. Preferred by tank and helicopter
operators, its compact bull pup design gave it the size of an UMP,
but thanks to a more unique round, its firepower and range was far
greater than its size suggested. Its fifty round magazine and
anti-armor rounds made it a sniper’s perfect secondary weapon.
    As for me, I already had my rifle secure and my
wetsuit on, and was just completing preparations on my re-breather
gear well ahead of everyone else.
    The Draeger Mk V breathing apparatus has been
standard issue for SEALs for over thirty years, its design and
function so effective. Instead of regular scuba gear, where a
wearer breathes from an isolated oxygen source, the Mk V recycles
the air breathed. With it, I could remain submerged beneath an
enemy dock for the better part of a day, as long as I kept my
breathing under control. The new Mk VI, developed only a few years
ago, merely needed to have its internals cleaned, as opposed to
having them replaced, an operation one can do in the field.
    As I waited, I made sure to avoid looking at Helena
in her wetsuit, which was harder than it sounded. I was fairly
certain we were friends at this point, but I didn’t want to risk
offending her again, as much as I wanted to in this case. The rest
of the team was likewise averting their eyes. After all, women in
the Special Forces were still a rather new concept, and one wearing
a wetsuit was completely novel. I glanced at Santino beside me, who
returned the look offering a knowing smile. There could be only one
thing on his mind, and it had nothing to do with how he felt about
Helena in her wetsuit.
    The bastard.
    Shaking my head, I returned to my preparations,
packing my MOLLE rig into a water tight bag. Before packing my vest
away, I noticed a new addition to the shoulder area. Prior to my
transfer, my vest was designed as a sleeveless undershirt would
look, but now it had shoulder pads that would extend just past my
shoulders. The pads had six thin, rectangular, plastic pieces that
ran horizontally along the width of the entire pad, overlapping one
another slightly, and curving around my arms.
    If I had to guess, I’d say the design was meant to
imitate the lorica segmentata armor that Roman legionnaires,
and Praetorians, would have worn. Prior to the first century A.D.,
legionaries wore chain mail type armor that was heavy, difficult to
clean, and expensive to make. Around the time of Augustus, the lorica segmentata was pressed into service, which was far
lighter, cheaper to make, more protective, and just as mobile as
the chain mail. The armor was designed to flex and bend with the
natural movements of the body, and the overlapping metal rectangles
running horizontally down the chest and torso provided much better
protection against arrows and glancing sword blows.
    I could see that my black lorica segmentata armor was a hardened polymer instead of iron, and I assumed it was
bullet proof. It was unfortunate that due to the operational needs
of my vest, with magazine and equipment pouches festooned over the
front, back, and sides, my armor couldn’t similarly be refit to
mimic the original design. I’d have to settle for the hidden gel
pads buried inside