Jesus waved his hand and brought up a video sequence showing a man in a substantial metal suit of armour. He was covered from head to toe and wielded a huge sword that was almost as tall as the man himself.
“Look, it says here the armoured knight could fight on foot or horseback and that the sword was well balanced, agile and could even be held in the middle when fighting armour,” said Jesus.
“Look, you put that much metal on a man and all you can do is just stand there and not get hurt. I’d bet good money that most of that gear is ceremonial shit, nothing to do with combat.”
Teresa frowned at them both before turning to Spartan.
“You’ve used more armour than anybody else, what do you think?”
Jesus spun the tablet around so Spartan could get a good look at the armour. He examined it in detail, moving the image around so he could see it from all sides and even zooming in to look at the thickness.
“Yeah, it could be done,” he said dismissively.
“Ok, genius, would you like to expand on that?” asked a dubious Marcus.
“Not really,” said a grinning Spartan.
“So we should just take your word for it then?”
“You should, Jesus, but something tells me you’re not going to.”
“Come on, man, tell us why you think this huge lump of metal is anything more than some fancy outfit for a rich dude.” Jesus said as he settled back into his chair.
“Don’t make the assumption that just because this gear is old it wasn’t designed for a purpose. Some armour is ceremonial, other is for combat and some armour fits somewhere in the middle. Armour has been used since biblical times and we’re still using it today.”
“Nice speech, granddad. Is that it?”
“Alright, Marcus, if you insist.” He took in a lung full of air.
“Look at the armour first of all. Yes, it has embellishments but not overly so. The joints are in the same places we have for our personal armour. The thickness of the metal is much less than you would expect for something designed to protect your body. Look at the fluting, the angles and the extra plating to protect the joints. See the vulnerable gaps, like the armpit, there’s extra flexible chainmail. This is the work of a man, maybe many men that are expert craftsmen and experts in their trade.” He moved away from the image and then displayed another similar suit of armour.
“Look at this one. It is a little later and much less ornate. The description here says it’s munitions grade armour. That is basically the equivalent of the kind of stuff we have. Note all the joints and plates are in the same place. Yes, the metal isn’t as pretty and it doesn’t have the fancy fittings, but to all intents and purposes it does exactly the same job.”
“Yeah, so you say. But what about in practice? Can you move, duck and cut with a weapon wearing that.”
“Why not, Marcus? When I was fighting we used all kinds of armour. Back then it was just as important to put on a good display as it was to protect parts of the body. When you are fighting for your life you will push yourself further than at any other time. Yes, armour and padding will slow you down and wear you out, but you practice as much as possible to reduce the problem. I’ve worn body armour that probably weighed a lot more than anything you’ve shown me there. As for that weapon, look at the blade and at the craftsmanship. Don’t assume for a moment that it wasn’t a deadly weapon.”
He leaned back with a look of self-satisfaction. Teresa smiled but added nothing as she watched Marcus and Jesus for their reactions.
“Yeah, if you say so. The weapon, come on, no fucking way!” Marcus said.
“In my experience weapons are very much designed around the kind of enemy you expect to face. If you’re fighting unarmoured people then something that can cut will work fine. If they are wearing thicker clothing or armour you’ll need something that is better for penetration. A spear point will pierce armour more easily than the edge of a sword, also don’t forget,” he added before being interrupted.
A loud sound came from the end of the room followed by a commotion as though somebody had just dropped something valuable. Spartan instantly stopped talking and turned to the direction of the noise.
“Hey, have you seen this?” came a cry from the end of the rec room.
A number of the recruits started to move to the end with just a few of them staying where they were. One woman waved her hands as she accessed visual feeds and then moved a selection to the entire section of the shorter wall. The video feeds split up into one large view plus a dozen smaller ones, all showing the latest news feeds. Spartan and Teresa joined them, Jesus stood up on his chair to look over the crowd. With the amount of noise from the recruits Spartan couldn’t make out the voice on the report. He moved closer, brushing aside the few people not listening.
“The fuckers have captured Titan Naval Station! They are saying it is another Pearl Harbor!” shouted one of the men excitedly.
“No way, man, that’s bullshit!” replied another.
“Who?” Yet another shouted.
“The Zealots, they’ve done it this time, they’ve hit the biggest naval station in the sector! How the fuck can we get to the planet if they’ve taken control of Titan?” cried a tall man in the middle of the crowd.
Spartan was now close enough and could see the story for himself. The video showed the massive base, along the top and bottom the scrolling ticker detailed facts and figures. The first to catch his attention was that it confirmed terrorists had captured the loading station and dock. Even more worrying was the section that explained how three transports, one of them a massive cargo vessel, had been crashed in a massive suicide attack on the naval facilities there crippling several vessels, as well as destroying much of the marine barracks.
“That’s our biggest station in the system. Last I heard there were about two million people there,” Spartan said.
“Not just the people, that’s the home of the local fleet, it’s our drop-off point in less than a month for fuck’s sake. They’re saying the terrorists have crippled the Resolution and taken control of Victorious, that’s a fucking battleship, man!” Someone called out.
“That isn’t possible,” said Teresa, “no way could a ship that big be taken over by half-trained terrorists.”
She turned her tablet around and brought up a rotating image of the warship. Along the one side were columns of data. “Come on, it says there are always at least three hundred marines on board the Victorious as well as her crew.”
“Maybe they had help from the inside?” suggested Jesus.
“There must be other ships in the area!” Marcus suggested.
Spartan moved nearer to one of the secondary displays and scrolled though more stories. His heart was pounding because one thing experience had taught him was that when things went wrong, they usually ended up on his lap. On the second screen, he had the official information from Naval Intelligence that confirmed much of what was in the news. It was incredible. He took a few breaths before turning back to Marcus and Teresa. As he started to speak a number of the other recruits crowded in to listen.
“The latest Intel confirms that the fighting on Proxima Prime has expanded to the eleven transit stations and that a full scale rebellion at the Titan Naval Station is underway. One Admiral has either been assassinated or may be involved. The shipyard was hit first, then the garrison. A dozen ships escaped but several warships are unaccounted for and they are holding over one thousand military personnel hostage on the Station.
“What about the civilians?” asked one of the recruits.
“Some managed to escape on freighters and ferry vessels but most are still trapped there.”
“No way, man, no fucking way!” Jesus was watching the burning buildings on the main screen. The volume was turned up so they could hear the story from the reporters at the scene.
“Three hours ago over a dozen co-ordinated attacks in the capital destroyed the parliament building and the central stock exchange. Fires are still burning at the headquarters of the Council Chambers,” said the voice.
“Fuck me, did you see the residential zone?” asked Teresa.
Jesus stepped to one of the small feeds and moved back to the cameras pointing into the residential area. On this part of the city were scores of tower blocks, some reaching nearly two hundred metres tall and featuring beautiful spires pointing up in the sky. One of the buildings was ablaze and the top third of another had collapsed.
