MPS weapon system.
“Tracking group one with Oxia One. Railguns online,” the weapons tech said.
“Don’t wait for my order. Fire the moment you have visual lock. And keep firing,” Rhodes said.
“Yes, sir. But we won’t get them all. I’ll get all of group one, maybe the rest of group two. But group three won’t be in range until we are under their feet. It’s coming from the wrong direction.” Group two had been in range of the Arabia One MPS an hour before. Its railguns were only able to fire three times before the remainder of the column was out of range. Two shots were direct hits and destroyed the first two vehicles in the group. The armored vehicles scrambled then, and shot three only winged its target and created a crater that the target vehicle and one other tumbled into. The dust kicked up by that hit prevented visual lock for a fourth shot.
“I know, Rick. But we have to do what we can. The CONDOR Twos are going to have their hands full as it is. This time, once there is too much dust in the air, override the targeting computers and fire into the dust cloud. We might get some lucky hits.” Rhodes was watching as the first railgun fired.
--
Dave Gaines had escorted his aunt Kay to Oxia Palus. When the crisis materialized, Rhodes had cleared him to take one of their CONDOR Twos. Once they realized an assault on the colony was imminent, it made sense to arm anyone who was qualified. Only four of the new suits were online at Oxia, and Dave had more time ‘in armor’ than any of the Oxia Palus security people. Now he was north of the colony waiting for the invaders. There was another CONDOR at each of the other compass points. Cort made sure Dave was the leader of the CONDOR squad. Right now, Dave was the only person at the colony who had taken human life.
The new CONDORs were identical to the original models except in their power system and how they were controlled. The power system was more robust and efficient than the previous model. Its power output was just slightly higher, but it recharged faster and lasted almost fifty percent longer. Cort’s own suit was being retrofitted with the new power system back at Argyre. Also, Cort’s version of the suit was controlled by the Atlas interface. An electronic port in the operator’s neck jacked him or her into the system and all movement was controlled through by the user’s own nervous system. Because the Atlas interface didn’t work for people with pre-injected synthetics, a new control system had to be devised for the suit to be useful to modern humans. The inside of the suits already inflated to conform to the user’s body by inflating a carbon nanotube liner around them. This allowed the suit to act as a shock absorber. The new suits used a ‘smart’ version of the same system. The fabric of the suit’s liner sensed the movement of the user, matching the exoskeleton powered armor’s movement to it. The system was only a fraction of a second slower than Cort’s own interfaced system, while offering all the same protections and sensor systems. With the MAT carbines, the suits were formidable. And with almost three dozen inbound transports, they would have to be.
Inside, civilians were locked in their quarters and all airlocks had been sealed. The corridors had been cleared to provide unobstructed lines of fire, and common areas had been cleared as well. Men and women in FALCON suits patrolled the corridors. Over the colony, the Oxia One Multi-Purpose Satellite tracked thirty-four targets. It began firing when the first column of targets was within visual range. It fired every twenty seconds for three minutes before it could no longer visually lock on targets because of the dust. Three more shots were fired manually into the cloud before column two was acquired. Four minutes later, the weapons tech shifted fire back to the original column of approaching armor. Five vehicles had emerged from the cloud.
“Tracking group one with Oxia One. Railguns online,” the weapons tech said.
“Don’t wait for my order. Fire the moment you have visual lock. And keep firing,” Rhodes said.
“Yes, sir. But we won’t get them all. I’ll get all of group one, maybe the rest of group two. But group three won’t be in range until we are under their feet. It’s coming from the wrong direction.” Group two had been in range of the Arabia One MPS an hour before. Its railguns were only able to fire three times before the remainder of the column was out of range. Two shots were direct hits and destroyed the first two vehicles in the group. The armored vehicles scrambled then, and shot three only winged its target and created a crater that the target vehicle and one other tumbled into. The dust kicked up by that hit prevented visual lock for a fourth shot.
“I know, Rick. But we have to do what we can. The CONDOR Twos are going to have their hands full as it is. This time, once there is too much dust in the air, override the targeting computers and fire into the dust cloud. We might get some lucky hits.” Rhodes was watching as the first railgun fired.
--
Dave Gaines had escorted his aunt Kay to Oxia Palus. When the crisis materialized, Rhodes had cleared him to take one of their CONDOR Twos. Once they realized an assault on the colony was imminent, it made sense to arm anyone who was qualified. Only four of the new suits were online at Oxia, and Dave had more time ‘in armor’ than any of the Oxia Palus security people. Now he was north of the colony waiting for the invaders. There was another CONDOR at each of the other compass points. Cort made sure Dave was the leader of the CONDOR squad. Right now, Dave was the only person at the colony who had taken human life.
The new CONDORs were identical to the original models except in their power system and how they were controlled. The power system was more robust and efficient than the previous model. Its power output was just slightly higher, but it recharged faster and lasted almost fifty percent longer. Cort’s own suit was being retrofitted with the new power system back at Argyre. Also, Cort’s version of the suit was controlled by the Atlas interface. An electronic port in the operator’s neck jacked him or her into the system and all movement was controlled through by the user’s own nervous system. Because the Atlas interface didn’t work for people with pre-injected synthetics, a new control system had to be devised for the suit to be useful to modern humans. The inside of the suits already inflated to conform to the user’s body by inflating a carbon nanotube liner around them. This allowed the suit to act as a shock absorber. The new suits used a ‘smart’ version of the same system. The fabric of the suit’s liner sensed the movement of the user, matching the exoskeleton powered armor’s movement to it. The system was only a fraction of a second slower than Cort’s own interfaced system, while offering all the same protections and sensor systems. With the MAT carbines, the suits were formidable. And with almost three dozen inbound transports, they would have to be.
Inside, civilians were locked in their quarters and all airlocks had been sealed. The corridors had been cleared to provide unobstructed lines of fire, and common areas had been cleared as well. Men and women in FALCON suits patrolled the corridors. Over the colony, the Oxia One Multi-Purpose Satellite tracked thirty-four targets. It began firing when the first column of targets was within visual range. It fired every twenty seconds for three minutes before it could no longer visually lock on targets because of the dust. Three more shots were fired manually into the cloud before column two was acquired. Four minutes later, the weapons tech shifted fire back to the original column of approaching armor. Five vehicles had emerged from the cloud.
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