Elias Thorne POV
A heavy black boot slammed into my gear bag, sending my spare magazines and cleaning kit skidding across the concrete floor. I didn't move. I didn't even look up. I just kept wiping the oil off my old Beretta pistol with a rag that had seen better days.
"Look at this junk," a voice sneered above me. It was Captain Miller. He was standing there with his hands on his hips, his expensive, high-tech armor shining under the bright gym lights. "Hey, everyone! Come look at what the 'Sarge' brought to the elite Aegis trials. I think he stole this out of a museum!"
A circle of recruits gathered around us. They were all wearing the newest gear helmets with built-in computers, suits that could stop a rifle bullet, and guns that looked like they belonged in a space movie. They started to chuckle. They looked at my faded green bag and my old-fashioned pistol like I was a caveman trying to join a rocket club.
"It works," I said quietly. My voice was low and calm, but inside, my heart was starting to burn. I hated men like Miller. He reminded me of the politicians who sent my friends to die because they thought they were smarter than everyone else.
"It works?" Miller laughed, picking up my holster. He held it with two fingers like it was a piece of stinking trash. "Thorne, this is leather. It's old. It's slow. And look at your posture! You're slouching like a tired old grandpa. How are you supposed to protect a VIP when you look like you're about to take a nap?"
He dropped the holster and stepped on it with his heavy boot. I heard the leather groan. I felt a surge of heat go up my neck, right into the silver scars on the side of my face. I wanted to stand up and show him exactly how "fast" a grandpa could be. I wanted to put him on the floor before he could blink.
But I couldn't. Not yet. I was Elias Thorne, the "nobody." If I showed my real skills, the General would know I was alive. I had to let them think I was weak.
"I like the old stuff," I said, reaching down to pick up my holster. I wiped the dust off it. "It doesn't break when the battery dies."
"Oh, listen to him! He's afraid of technology!" Miller turned to the crowd, mocking me. "Is that why you have those ugly scars, Thorne? Did a toaster explode on you because you didn't know how to use it?"
The recruits roared with laughter. I felt a sharp sting in my chest. Those scars came from the fire that killed Jax and Leo. They weren't a joke. They were the only things I had left of my brothers. I gripped my rag so hard my knuckles turned white.
"Okay, Grandpa," Miller said, his eyes glinting with a mean light. "Since you love your 'classic' gear so much, let's have a little contest. A movement and shooting drill. You and your museum pieces against me and the Aegis Mark-7 tactical suit."
He pointed to a large obstacle course at the end of the room. It was filled with walls to climb, ropes to swing on, and targets that popped up and shot back with paintballs.
"If I win," Miller said, leaning in close so only I could hear, "you pack your bags and leave. I don't want a scarred-up freak making my team look bad. If you win... well, that's not going to happen, is it?"
"I'll race you," I said.
We stepped up to the starting line. Miller tapped a button on his wrist, and his suit began to hiss. The armor tightened around his muscles, making him look even bigger. His helmet slid a blue screen over his eyes. He looked like a machine.
I just stood there in my plain grey t-shirt and work pants. I tucked my Beretta into my old holster and took a deep breath.
"Ready... SET... GO!" the proctor shouted.
Miller exploded off the line. His high-tech suit gave him a boost, making him run faster than a normal human. He leaped over the first wall like it wasn't even there. Pop-pop-pop! He fired his high-speed gun, hitting three targets in a second. He was moving like a blur of black and silver. The recruits were cheering his name.
I moved slower. I didn't jump high. I didn't sprint. I moved with "efficiency." In the Black Ravens, we were taught that "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." I didn't waste any energy. I climbed the wall by finding the exact right spot to put my foot. I didn't fire my gun until I was perfectly steady.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
My shots were loud and slow compared to Miller's, but every single one hit the center of the target.
By the middle of the course, Miller was far ahead. He was laughing as he swung across a pipe. But then, something happened. The obstacle course had a "dark zone" filled with smoke and flashing lights. It was designed to confuse your eyes.
Miller plunged into the smoke. Suddenly, I heard a loud clack and a curse.
"My HUD! It's glitching!" Miller screamed.
The smoke and the flashing lights were messing with the sensors in his expensive helmet. Because he relied so much on the computer over his eyes, he couldn't see anything when it failed. He stumbled, hitting a wall and falling into the mud.
I reached the smoke. I didn't have a computer in my eyes. I had something better: memory and instinct. I closed my eyes for a split second, picturing the room before the smoke started. I smelled the air. I heard the sound of the targets clicking into place.
I moved through the dark like a ghost. I didn't need to see; I knew where the targets were because I could hear the wind moving around them.
Bang. Bang. I cleared the dark zone and stepped out into the light. I was ten feet from the finish line. Miller was still inside the smoke, swearing and banging on his helmet.
The room went quiet. The recruits who were laughing a minute ago were now staring at me with their mouths open. I crossed the finish line and checked the clock. I wasn't faster than Miller's top speed, but I was consistent.
A few seconds later, Miller stumbled out of the smoke. His suit was covered in mud, and his fancy helmet was cracked. He looked like a mess. He saw me standing there, perfectly clean, and his face turned a bright, angry purple.
"You cheated!" he roared, lunging at me. "You did something to the sensors! There's no way you got through that mess with those old eyes!"
"I didn't cheat, Captain," I said, handing him his muddy glove which had fallen off. "I just didn't need a computer to tell me where the walls were."
Miller looked like he was going to hit me, but Madam Vera stepped onto the floor. The recruits scrambled to stand at attention.
"Miller, go clean yourself up," she said, her voice like ice. "You look like a child who fell in a puddle. Thorne, come with me."
She led me back to the training room. She didn't say anything for a long time. She just looked at my gear bag.
"You're very good at acting, Elias," she said. "You act like a man who is barely hanging on. But I saw your feet. You never lost your balance once. Not even in the dark."
"I've had a lot of practice," I said.
"I'm sure you have," she replied. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device. It was a tiny, gold-plated earbud. "The General is arriving in one hour. He's going to give a speech to the new recruits. You will be standing on the stage behind him as part of the 'Honor Guard.'"
My heart skipped a beat. This was it. I was going to be inches away from him.
"But," Vera continued, her eyes turning sharp. "I just got a message from my security team. Someone has hacked into our gear. Every person wearing an Aegis suit is being tracked by a third party."
"The Syndicate?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said. "But look at this."
She turned on a small monitor. It showed a map of the building. There were dozens of blue dots the recruits. But there was one red dot. It was moving through the vents above the stage.
"That red dot isn't one of mine," Vera whispered. "And it's headed straight for the spot where the General will be standing."
Suddenly, my own earpiece the one Maya gave me exploded with static.
"Elias! Can you hear me?" Maya's voice was frantic. "I found out why Miller was mocking your gear! It wasn't just because it was old. He was trying to get you to put on one of their new suits!"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because the new suits have a 'remote kill' switch, Elias!" Maya screamed. "The General didn't come here to hire you. He came here to finish the job! He's going to activate the switches and kill every recruit in the room, and he's going to blame it on a 'terrorist' attack!"
I looked out at the gym. Fifty young men were standing there, all wearing the black Aegis suits. All of them were wearing bombs they didn't know about. And Miller was standing at the front, holding the remote.
Miller looked at me from across the room and smiled. He wasn't angry anymore. He looked like a man who was about to win a very big prize.
He raised his thumb over a red button on his wrist.
"Goodbye, Sarge," Miller mouthed.