When their troop awoke, they headed to the mess, ate, and then it was off to orientation. They stood in parade rest as a Colonel stood in front of them, the lieutenant who greeted us at his side.

  It wasn't just those who came down on their pelican, either. There were 2 other groups that had now, as of standing here, been merged with us.

  The Colonel began talking to us, while assistants, who walked through our orderly rows, gave us pads.

  "I am Colonel Davidson, and I will be in command here. To make things brief, you have joined trials for a new prototype mechanized assault walker. It's designation is best called simply as the Mark 9. If you look at your data pads, you will see the walker in question, it's specifications, requirements for use, and so on." He said.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "You will need additional implants, which will be provided by the unsc. Training and testing is the name of the game. This is an edge for the war effort, lady's and gents, so do your damnedest to succeed. If you have any questions, send them to my office. That will be all. Take time to go over the pad, and then head to surgery. After that, your headed into the deep end. Dismissed!" He barked.

  We all saluted, and wandered off to read. Some few skipped the reading and headed directly to the surgical theater, but she decided to quickly skim the text.

  Nothing was unexpected, and she headed out to the theater 40 minutes later. She had to wait for those ahead of her, but from watching the line move, it was likely a quick procedure.

  When it was my turn, they quickly sedated me and did their thing. I awoke in a hospital bed an hour later. There were others around me, and my neck and back were sore.

  From what she read, the neural link would help her connect with the mech's systems and a host of other useful things. She expected that it wouldn't be long for their training to begin in earnest.