408 The Making of a Reaper

{Corporal Jose Cuervo, report to docking bay two. Corporal Jose Cuervo to docking bay two.}

Corporal Jose "Tekillya" Cuervo had graduated from Athena's basic ARES training course two months ago, VR time, and his performance assessment had qualified him to become a Reaper after the initial training was complete. He picked up his black-and- gray ARES duffel bag, slung it over his shoulder, and rushed to The VR training facility was as realistic as anything else in the simulation and recruits were required to eat, perform the biological necessities, sleep, and everything else, just as they were in reality. 3

He had completed the majority of his Reaper training and been on "leave" for the time it took his special enhancements to be implanted in the Reaper-specific VR pod, a hybrid medical pod and ARES training pod. All that was left for him to do was one final training mission, during which he would become accustomed to the performance of his newly enhanced body, and upon its successful completion, he would be a full-fledged member of a reaper team. Tekillya could hardly wait.

After loading himself and his baggage onto the shuttle in docking bay two of the sprawling ARES training facility, he strapped himself in for departure and waved a screen into existence that detailed the implants that would soon be at his command.

[Skeletal structure reinforcements. Super magnesium sheaths reinforce the bones of a reaper's skeleton and increases their shock, impact, and weight resistance by 900%]

(Ed note: Allite? is an alloy that's lighter than titanium and aluminum, stronger than the strongest grade of titanium, and more than twenty times as shock absorbent as aluminum. The actual ratio of elements that make up the alloy are a trade secret, but they've disclosed that it's an alloy of magnesium, aluminum, and rare earth elements. It's commonly called super magnesium.)

[Muscle replacement. Approximately one-third of type one and half of type two skeletal muscles replaced by liquid crystal elastomers, increasing muscle strength by 750% and reducing lactose acid buildup by 50%]

[Organ shock webbing....]

[Bionic eye replacements....]

[Subdermal carbon nanotube weave....]

[Internal combat pharmacy....]

[Implanted healer nanite colony....]

[Implanted nanite power armor colony....]

[Microfusion power plant....]

[Thigh storage compartments....]

[Extendable elbow, wrist, and knee blades.....]

[Quantum microprocessor....]

[Oxygen recyclers....]

The list went on, with more than a hundred and fifty new additions to Corporal Cuervo's meatsack that would vastly improve his capabilities and place him head and shoulders above the ARES troopers. With these tools, he would be an elite among the elites, a powerhouse capable of singlehandedly bringing entire countries, or even perhaps worlds, to heel.

He pictured himself striding through a battlefield, his customized reaper power armor around him and distinctive, scythe-shaped rifle in hand, leaving a corpse in his wake with every step he took forward, and he couldn't wait. He was no ammosexual, nor was he a superpatriot, but he was definitely interested in being the best possible version of himself.

And that best possible version was Corporal Jose "Tekillya" Cuervo, of Reaper Team whichever.historical

After reading through the documentation on his new implants, he settled in to sleep for the rest of the journey to whichever hellhole Athena had dreamed up for his final training exercise. It may be the last sleep he would get for quite some time.

...

{Docking complete. Passengers, please debark following the guidelines on the deck.}

Corporal Cuervo woke with a start, instantly going from deep sleep to full alertness as only highly trained soldiers could do. He unstrapped himself from his seat and stood up, retrieving his duffle bag and waiting for the light of the guideline to show him it was his turn to leave the shuttle.

After finally leaving the shuttle, he found himself in a satellite base roughly the size the International Space Station used to be. As the design of the ISS was, by Aron and Nova's standards, reasonably intelligent in both design and construction processes, they had adopted that as the design for manned space outposts. After all, it was relatively easy to print and launch prefabricated modules that would be assembled in space, so even in the field, where Aron refused to deploy any atomic printers other than task-specialized ones, they would still be convenient for use.

Making his way to the conference room, Jose dropped his duffel outside the hatch and entered to receive his mission briefing.

{Your task is to drop on hellworld A-2485239/JS and survive for six standard weeks. Due to the hostile nature of the wildlife and vegetation on the planet, you will be dropping via cold coast orbital insertion. No equipment beyond what you can hold in your hands and storage compartment implants is allowed. Implant usage is allowed, and encouraged,} the simulated officer said.

{This is your final training mission. After this, you will be a reaper if you succeed, or scrubbed and recycled if you fail.} The briefing officer was referring to the mindwipe procedure the training pods were all capable of. {Mission begins as soon as you reach the transport module and enter your stealth insertion pod. Dismissed!}

Jose chose to fill one storage compartment with food and water purification tablets, use the other compartment for a length of rope and other miscellaneous survival supplies, and carry a pair of monomolecular vibroswords in his hands.

After receiving his requested issue from the supply officer, he made his way to the orbital insertion module and looked for his assigned IDMO, or Insertion and Drop Model, Orbital. That was the Lab City researchers' name for it, but due to their size, shape, and purpose, the people who were "lucky" enough to use them for their actual purpose had another name for them: coffins.

Once he found his coffin, Corporal Cuervo took a few deep breaths, replayed the last few hours in his mind-from the time he stepped aboard the transport shuttle to the time he arrived in the IDMO module-then clasped his hands in prayer and looked upward for about thirty seconds or so.

Once his preparations were complete, Corporal Jose "Tekillya" Cuervo climbed into his coffin and sealed it shut from the inside. The next few weeks would determine whether or not he had what it took to be a Reaper.