It was late evening on the dark wooded plains of some faraway planet, 500 years in the future. 50-foot tall massive robots referred to as Juggernauts strode among the trees along with armored hovercraft and tanks, all seeking the best strategic positions for the battle in progress and occasionally firing missiles, cannon or energy weapons at the enemy.

And yet, this scene took place on a table top. The Juggernauts were three inch tall painted figurines of lead, the trees were twigs with bits of green sponge glued on for leaves, and the plains were a felt-covered map marked out in squares. 

Shaun shook the dice in his right hand, enjoying the click-clack sound as they bounced against each other. “Targeting right arm, enemy number three,” he announced, and tossed the three dice on the table. Two fives and a six: he pumped his fist in the air once in satisfaction. “Yes! Got it!

Drake smiled and marked off the damage on the game sheet. “Penetration! Roll for internal damage!”

Shaun rolled the dice again and threw. Drake watched a four, five and six pop up. “Internal damage: arm cannon ammo hit, arm blown off! Hot shot!”

“Alright! Let’s take her down! Missile barrage, same juggernaut!” Shaun grinned as he picked up the dice once more. 

The weekly game was going well. It was looking like the players would have a decisive victory on their hands: a nice windup to the weekend, before three of them returned for college classes. Shaun savored these evenings, not just for the game but for the camaraderie of his three best friends from high school. 

There was Drake, age 21, the shortest of them all at 5’4”, with a kid’s face, sandy blonde hair and a wry grin, who generally hosted the game and ran it as Game Master. He had a dry wit, a keen mind and creativity out the wazoo. Shaun had introduced the Juggernauts game to the group, but Drake brought it to life when he initiated them as members of the Hokliss 34th Armored Company. Drake played the role of all the non-player characters including enemies, command staff and on down to the lowliest tech. He always came up with the most interesting scenarios, from straight-up battles to murder mysteries that would take multiple sessions to resolve.

Then there was Kenny, 22, who had introduced Shaun to the other two. Kenny stood about 5’ 8”, with dark, curly hair, a perpetual five o’clock shadow, and a bit of a paunch. He was a country boy, and dressed the part in perennial faded blue jeans and T-shirts with graphics on them, Star Wars or superheroes usually. Kenny was an enthusiastic gamer, and had occasionally run games in a magical-medieval setting, but these usually were nothing more than a dungeon crawl with little dramatic development. Fortunately, Kenny was happy to follow with the more interesting game that Drake ran.

Then there was Alissa, age 21, Kenny’s girlfriend. The very definition of a tall, willowy blonde, she stood 5’10” with gorgeous hair falling down past her shoulders. She was generally shy, but somehow in the gaming group she came to life. It was as if she found something there better than real life, a game that let her be her true self. In game she was animated, excited, with a fun sense of humor and a kind word for everyone. Kenny had told Shaun that they met when some friends had brought her to the Renaissance fair, where he had been in full costume doing his best to entertain his fellow fair-goers. Somehow his wackiness had brought her out of her shell, and she had joined the gaming group.

Alissa always dressed comfortably, but with style. Shaun had to say she was a sharp looker, and seemed a bit beyond Kenny’s league. But for some reason she stuck with him, probably because he had been responsible for this awakening in her.

And of course, there was Shaun himself. Age 22, 6’1”, dark hair, clean shaven, more of a city kid, he tended to dress in nice, collared, button-down shirts in plaids or solids, and was good at matching the colors to his slacks. Shaun had been gaming a long time, often as Game Master, but was always happy to let Drake run his game. Shaun was more of a punster than a joker, though every now and then he would come out with something really funny. For now, he turned his attention back to the game.

Alissa grabbed Kenny’s arm and jumped up and down. “Yes! We’re nailing them!”

Kenny chuckled almost paternally. “Yes, you’ll get your shots in, too. No doubt you’ll blast’em to kingdom come like you always do.”

“You bet I will! That is if Shaun leaves any there for me to attack!”

Shaun laughed. “That’s a promise! I do good, but I can’t knock them all down by myself! Your Eagle's Claw will get plenty to chew on, don’t worry!”

Shaun grinned as he watched Alissa’s excitement over the game. When he had introduced the group to the Juggernauts game he had expected Kenny and Drake to dig the format, but getting something Alissa liked was a bonus. A little tweak of the house rules and the assignment of a fast, medium weight, well-equipped Juggernaut for her character had made a huge difference in how she perceived the game and how involved she had become. Shaun suspected that it had also improved her relationship with Kenny; they had been on a rocky road before the new game came up.

The game proceeded as usual. Drake was good at selecting a fair lineup of opponents for the evening, enough to create a challenge but generally allow the players to win. Alissa’s Eagle's Claw scored three kills tonight to Shaun’s two and Kenny’s one. Two of the eight enemy Juggernauts escaped to safety. They wrapped it up a bit after 11:00.

“Well played, Drake! The Hokliss 34th stand proud, the despots shall fall!” Kenny vigorously pumped Drake’s arm in a handshake.

“Thanks, Kenny. You all drive safe going home tonight, okay?”

Shaun felt a twinge of regret as they left Drake’s house. The other three were now juniors at Clark County Community College, 20 miles away, while Drake had opted to stay at home and go to a tech school learning electronics. Drake’s schooling was done, and now he was casting about in vain seeking a job before his electronics training became obsolete.

It was Kenny’s car, so Kenny drove with Alissa at shotgun and Shaun in the back. On the way back they chatted about their characters, the pilots of the Juggernauts they had run in the tabletop combat.

“So,” speculated Alissa, “do you think Jasmine should get some sort of tattoo commemorating all her battles? Maybe something like a vine, with little buds for each kill?”

“Well,” suggested Shaun from the backseat, “she pilots an Eagle's Claw. Maybe it should be feathers instead of buds.”

Alissa turned and beamed at him. “Now, that’s a cool thought!”

Shaun was smiling back at her when a sudden flash of white light appeared over her shoulder: a bright beacon just on the road ahead of them.

“Kenny, look out!” It was all Shaun could say as his friend swerved, trying to avoid a collision with whatever vehicle was hurtling their way behind the light. Kenny nearly went into the ditch before he was able to brake and pull them to a stop.

“Okay: is everybody alright?” Kenny asked. Shaun and Alissa each grunted their assents as Shaun pulled open the back door.

“What was that thing?” Shaun asked. “It wasn’t a semi: was it some smaller truck?”

Whatever it was had also stopped just down the road on the other side, and its lights were shining just as brightly at them now as before. Shaun could hear mechanical noises coming from it as well as a sound like a pneumatic door opening, then closing. Kenny and Alyssa joined him in the light.

“What if someone’s hurt?” asked Alyssa. “Maybe that’s why they came over the line!”

Shaun nodded. “We should sure check it out. But--”

As they started towards the light, another figure came into view. It appeared to be a man staggering towards them. He was wearing a white jumpsuit with stripes of red and navy blue at various places, looking very much like a uniform. In his left hand he carried something which resembled a curling iron, but in his right hand, pointing at the ground, was a gun. That stopped the trio dead in their tracks.

Then he spoke. “Shaun, Alyssa, Kenny? If that’s you, thank God I found you…”

Shaun stepped forward, doing his best to shield Alissa. “Who are you, and what do you want? How do you know us?”

The man sighed in apparent exhaustion. “All will be explained in due time. For now--”

As he was speaking a small, white-hot flash of light struck the roadway right next to him, blasting a pothole in the asphalt. He dropped to his knees and fired the gun in the direction from which the bolt had come. Shaun was barely surprised that the gun released not a bullet, but a similar flash of light.

The man fired twice before another bolt struck him in the shoulder, literally ripping off his right arm and knocking him down. Shaun ran to him, almost in shock at what he had just seen, and rolled him over on his back.

“Oh, my god! What can I do to save you?” he pleaded. The man’s eyes fluttered for a moment, unfocused, then settled on Shaun’s face. With his left hand he handed the curling iron to Shaun. 

“Warn me next time. It might work.” Then he slumped over, either unconscious or dead, Shaun couldn’t tell.

Two more bolts of light struck asphalt around him, showering him with pieces of the roadway. Shaun found himself on his feet, pistol in hand, blasting back in the direction of the shots as he ran for the car.

“Let’s go! Go, go, go!”

Kenny and Alyssa ran for the car, with Shaun hot on their heels. All three jumped in, Kenny gunned it and they swept down the lonely country backroad.

“What the hell, Shaun! What happened back there?” Kenny hollered as he accelerated into the night.

“I don’t know! I don’t know! But we don’t dare stop now; that shooter is probably right on our tail! Just get us home!”

The car sped on in the darkness. Alyssa turned to look over the back seat at Shaun.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on? Did we really see a man just get killed?”

Shaun nodded. “Yes, we did. He handed me this; apparently he thought it was important.”

He handed the object over the seat to Alyssa. “What is it?” she asked. “A baton, a curling iron, what?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but somebody died to get it to us. It has to mean something.”

There were buttons on the handle of the device. Alyssa pressed the largest button, and tiny lights came on on the upper length of the wand. She pressed the next button, and the lights began flashing.

“Maybe we should be careful with that thing,” cautioned Shaun: “For all we know, it’s another blaster weapon and you’re about to shoot out the windshield.”

Alyssa shook her head. “If that was all this was, it wouldn’t be so important. Let me try one more thing…”

She pressed the third button on the rod, holding it up and pointed forward just in case. A line of white light like a laser shot out, passing through the windshield with no damage. Directly in front of them there appeared a white explosion which expanded to engulf them before Kenny could react. The white light seemed to penetrate Shaun, tingling all over, blinded for the moment, with a sense of vertigo. It felt like he was floating in air, no longer sitting on the car seat.

And suddenly it was over, but nothing was the same. Shaun was sitting high up, at least fifteen feet above the ground, under a clear dome on top of a very large vehicle, a headset on his head, joysticks hanging in front of his hands and a Heads Up Display popping up on the dome. Outside it was daylight now, but obscured by the fog of smoke from several fires. The landscape appeared to be the ruins of a large city, and he could feel the vehicle lurch as they drove over a mound of debris in front of them. There was a heavy odor like machine oil pervading the air, a constant loud droning sound coming from behind him and his seat was vibrating, all of which suggested that he was in some kind of hovercraft.

Shaun gripped the armrests in a panic. What on Earth was this? It looked, smelled, sounded and felt like he had just been thrown into the world of the Juggernauts game. But how would that be possible?

“Oh, my God! Alissa, what did you do?” Shaun heard Kenny’s voice over the headset. Glancing down between his knees he could see his two friends in the front of the vehicle, much closer to the ground, with consoles covered in buttons, switches and dials in front of them.

“I don’t know! It was that thing! It did this! Kenny, where are we?”

Suddenly there was another squawk over the headset, and an unknown voice came through. “Is that Alissa, Kenny and Shaun? Are you the Hokliss 34th?”

Shaun and Kenny gasped, tongue-tied. It was Alissa who answered. “Yes! Yes, this is the Hokliss 34th! How do you know us?”

In the background they could hear what sounded like frantic cheering. Then the voice came back on. “We just do know you! It’s too complicated to explain this minute, but you have been here before. You are our heroes, and you have returned! Now, get out of there and we will meet you. All else can wait!”

Alissa pressed on. “Hang on! Where are we? How do we get to you?”

“You’re in a Viper class hovercraft that was sent out on a recovery mission. We’re scrapping the mission to rescue you. You are more valuable than some stolen databoxes. So point your bird north by northwest and come home!”

Shaun felt a strange emotion pass through him. He was beginning to feel a little euphoric. Was this all just a dream? “Hang on a second! Guys, what do you say? If we’re really the heroes they think we are, we can do this, can’t we? Kill two birds with one stone; get their ‘databoxes’ and get out, right?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“No, no, no, no!” came the voice over the radio: “You told us this time you would be green, never really piloted a Juggernaut before! This is a real combat mission! You’re not ready!”

“‘This time?’ You said we’ve been here before?” Shaun found himself looking over the controls in front of him. They made perfect sense as a weapons control grid. He found himself picturing Luke Skywalker jumping for the first time into the gunnery dome on the Millenium Falcon. He took hold of the mounted joysticks and the HUD display sprang to life. “‘Never piloted a Juggernaut before?’ Nope, not yet. Lucky us, this isn’t a Juggernaut.”

Down in front and below, Kenny was clearly getting the hang of driving this thing, and Alissa had taken over the weapons console that looked like Shaun’s, only simpler. Alissa looked up at Shaun and nodded. Kenny swerved around another pile of debris and was out on an open flat. “I’m in if you’re both in! Control: where do we go?”

Control came back on, more whooping and yelling encouragement in the background. “If you’re gonna do this, know that we have four other assets on the ground: two more Vipers, a Helix heavy hover transport and a Mastodon class Particle Projection Cannon carrier tank. They show on your HUD as green for friendly, so don’t shoot them! Enemy units show as red boxes; take them out at will. The red star southeast of your position is your goal: escort the Helix there and a platoon will go in, collect the boxes and load them on the transport. Then you all bug out and return home to the green star.”

A quick check of the screen showed them approaching a red box. Shaun tilted the joysticks, thumbs on the firing buttons, and the HUD zeroed in on a target just around the bend. Kenny threw the Viper into a curve, zipping towards the target but not in a straight line. Suddenly they were past the ruins of a building on the corner, and there was another hovertank. Shaun didn’t hesitate; the HUD flashed, he pressed the buttons and watched a dozen missiles roar overhead from the Viper towards the target. At the same time a brilliant green line of light came out from the side of the Viper, also trained on the enemy tank. The green line ripped along the side of the tank, then the missiles struck. The tank exploded, a huge spinning cylinder breaking free and careening across the open road ahead of them.

“Did you see the laser?” hollered Alissa: “That was me!”

“Bogey down! Way to score first blood!” Control exclaimed. “Now, clear out any other tanks before the Helix comes through!”

Shaun laughed. “Roger, dodger, old codger! Off for another kill! Good piloting, Kenny! They never had a chance to target us!”

Kenny pumped a fist in the air. “That’s the idea! Let’s keep it up!”

“Just so you know,” Control came on, “Your engines get a boost when you need it from a little nitrous oxide. Some of it might leak into the cockpit area. It’s also known as laughing gas, so you may feel a little euphoric. We find some solid rock music helps pilots focus through this, so here’s some classic hits from your era.”

In a moment the cockpit was thrumming to the heavy opening guitar strains of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Shaun whooped his approval, hearing a “Yeah!” and “Alright!” from Kenny and Alissa. “Let’s do it to it!” he hollered.

Knowing he was high on the gas gave him a bit of warning, but the music was jamming his anxiety and he felt alert, ready for anything. Ahead he could see two more red boxes converging on their position.

“No, no!” hollered Control: “do not allow them to tag team you! With two tanks they have a clear shot from one while you’re attacking the other!”

Kenny paused for just a moment. “Then we’ll have to flank one on the outside,” he declared, and spun the Viper in a wide circle until he had their tank in a line with the other two, one in the middle and one at the far end. Then he charged. “What do you say, you two? A little left, right, left to dodge their fire?”

“Go for it!” cried out Alissa, her focus on her weapon. Kenny hit the boost and swerved left. They came out from behind a pile of debris and saw yet more ruins between them and the first target tank. Now Kenny swerved to the right, getting them closer. They could see the tank trying to move around a pile on the corner, but they were now on parallel paths going different directions.

“Shaun! Blast that wall, there!” Shaun realized what Kenny was planning, turned and fired at the wall. The blast threw a wave of debris ahead of them as Kenny plowed through the sudden new opening, surprising the other tank and giving Shaun and Alyssa time to fire again. Once more a target disintegrated under their combined firepower and almost as if timed to the music playing through the speakers:

“--and he’s watching us all through the eye -- of the Tiger…”

But there was no time to celebrate their victory. The next tank was coming over a rise, and fired before they had a chance to redirect their own turret and laser. “Hang on!” hollered Shaun, as he watched the enemy missiles careening through the sky directly at them. Below, Kenny gunned the engine and aimed them right at the opposing tank. The missiles seemed to hover for a moment, then came down on the rear end of the Viper, blasting chunks of armor loose right and left. The Viper spun out of control, and Kenny tried desperately to get them back on track. Meantime the enemy tank appeared to be lining up another shot.

“This is it!” Shaun thought as the Viper slammed into a pile of debris and stopped. Then the enemy tank blossomed into a ball of flame, struck by missiles from another tank. Now it was their turn to cheer as the other Viper popped over a pile of fallen brick and lumber.

“Figgered you heroes could use a little backup. Welcome home!”

Kenny had the chance now to extricate their tank from the pile they had plowed into. “How bad are we hit?” he asked, giving the Viper a slow spin to show their tailside to their new friend.

“Nothing fatal: just a little torn armor is all. Still, that was a close call. You sure you want to go on?”

Kenny glanced up at Shaun and over at Alissa, who both nodded. “It’ll take more than that to knock us out of the game!”

“Then let’s go. Can’t let that Mastodon get all the glory.”

The two tanks turned towards the next target on the screen: a single tank that appeared to be heading back towards the red star base.

“Smart guy: he knows he’s outgunned, so he’s gonna get some reinforcements and try again. But if we get him first, it’s one less tank defending their base.” The other pilot seemed calm and composed as he discussed the situation.

“Absolutely!” replied Kenny, a bit more clear-headed since the near miss. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” He gunned the engine and they sped off after the retreating tank. But the Viper didn’t jump to speed as quickly as before, and the second Viper caught up and passed them.

“You must have some skirt damage under that armor. Don’t worry: I’ll grab this one, and wait for you before we take on the base.”

“Ten-four! We’ll follow as quick as we can!” Kenny called back. The other Viper sped on ahead, and they followed doggedly. Not engaged in combat, Shaun found his pulse returning to a more normal rate, and his mind focusing on the reality of what they were doing. He wanted to say something to his friends, but he didn’t want it going out over the air. He fumbled at the headset and found what he was fairly sure was the mute button.

“Guys? Are we really doing this? Or is this some kind of crazy dream?”

Alissa looked up at him and shook her head. She covered her mike with her hand before she replied.

“Yeah, it’s wild. But I’m pretty sure it’s real. I know: I guess that means there were real people in those tanks that we blew up. I didn’t think of that until just now.”

“Me, neither. I know in war this is necessary, but what are we doing, fighting in somebody else’s battle? How did we choose this?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. But it feels right: it feels like we’re on the right side. But maybe that’s just because they’re all cheering for us?”

“We must have made a choice at some point to join with them. I’ve gotta trust we knew what we were doing.”

“That makes sense. I’m with you.”

Kenny pulled off his headset. “I hear what you two are saying, and I agree. They say we were here before. However that works, we chose them. I say we stick with that.” He readjusted the headset with some difficulty, putting it on with one hand while he steered with the other.

Ahead they could hear the firing of missiles. The HUD showed the missiles’ trajectory coming from the green box that represented their partner towards the fleeing red box. The line of missiles collided with the red box, and it disappeared from their screen.

“Hey, hey!” exclaimed Shaun, laughing and then singing along to the latest song coming through the radio:

“Another one bites the dust:

Another one bites the dust!”

On the HUD they saw their friend holding position, another green box approaching from their rear, and four red boxes converging on their lead man’s position.

“Oh, Kenny! Are we gonna make it on time to support them?” Alissa asked.

“Going as fast as we can. But I’m hoping that other friendly gets there faster. Hopefully that’s the Mastodon; I’m thinking we would appreciate the extra firepower.”

“Didn’t they say there were two more Vipers? Where’s the other one?”

A pop of static announced Control chiming in. “Sorry, guys: the other Viper hit a bad patch and damaged their fan. They won’t be making it. But yeah, the Mastodon is almost there, and the Helix isn’t far behind. We understand you’ve got a damaged skirt slowing you down: are you sure you want to continue?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Shaun replied after checking with his friends. “We’ll see it through.”

Ahead, the Mastodon had apparently joined the lead Viper just in time. They could hear a crackling roar like thunder: the firing of the particle projection cannons mounted on the big tank. They came around another collapsed building to see the Viper and Mastodon and a pair of smoking piles that had just been hovertanks moments before. On the HUD, the two remaining red boxes were no longer advancing.

“Think we just need to say ‘Boo!’ and watch them run,” chuckled Shaun. “How far to our goal?”

“Almost there. Half a klick southeast. Follow me now.”

The new voice was apparently the pilot of the Mastodon, an aptly named heavy tank with two large cannon mounted on separate sides of the central turret. The tank lurched its way across a pile of rubble and turned southeast. The two red boxes bugged out.

They had almost reached the red star when they heard a rumble coming up behind them, at first low, then a solid roar. Their last green box, the Helix, was now joining them for the final push. Ahead they could see one low building that seemed to have survived the utter devastation they had seen until now. And suddenly there were sparks of light flashing from several positions in front of the bunker: automatic fire from a platoon of soldiers making a last, desperate defense of their target. Bullets pinged off the windshield and canopy of the Viper, completely ineffectual. But Shaun spotted a couple of flashes that launched objects high in the air: mortar fire.

“Incoming!” he called out a warning, not knowing what anyone could do about it, but certain they should know. A few seconds later there came a couple of explosions that landed very close to the Helix. 

Shaun winced as shrapnel struck the dome on the Viper. “The Helix looks damaged down low. I think the mortars got the lift skirt. How are they supposed to get out now?”

As he was speaking he realized that his missiles were probably the best weapon they had against the ground troops. He aimed a wide spread towards the bunker, opting to hit the hardened walls and expect the backwash to take care of the troops. In the flash of light from the blast he saw a couple of bodies flying through the air, and the gunfire ceased. He felt a lump in his throat as he again considered that these were real men and possibly women he was shooting at. But what was done was done; he was committed now.

Another voice came over the radio. “Good shot! Troops, out! Move, move, move!”

The back of the Helix opened up and troops poured out. They made their way under cover to the bunker door, and someone tossed in a grenade. The resultant explosion seemed a lot bigger than one grenade should have been. “Booby trapped, but we blew the trap. Going in.”

Shaun watched on pins and needles as the platoon entered the bunker. Over the headset he could hear small arms fire and automatic fire in bursts, imagining the progress the troops were making inside. “Hey: if they booby-trapped the entrance, wouldn’t it make sense they booby-trapped the databoxes, too? Or just blew them up to avoid you recovering them?”

“Affirmative. We got this.”

Control suddenly broke in. “Attention, attention: you’ve got two bogies bearing down on you from the northeast quadrant. They’re moving fast, so HC’s or Jugs. Be ready!”

Shaun checked his directions and focused his eyes to the northeast. Almost at once he could see a figure like a winged warrior woman leaping in their direction. His heart shot into his throat as he recognized the configuration.

“Copy that, control, and confirmed: we got a Harpy class Juggernaut closing on our nine.”

Two shots fired from the Mastodon, both missing the Harpy. Shaun kept his crosshairs lined up on the Juggernaut, but a flashing light notified him that the Harpy was out of range for his missiles. On the map he could see the red box rapidly approaching the circle representing his maximum range, and he kept his thumb on the trigger. The Harpy suddenly fired off a round of missiles of its own, but aimed at the Mastodon. The heavily armored tank shrugged off the attack with ease, and fired its cannons again. One missed but the other caught the Harpy on the left side of the chest, spinning the Jug around. The giant robot tripped and fell, just as its companion finally hove into view. 

The new Jug resembled nothing so much as an egg on legs. The top swiveled about, revealing missile tubes that spat out their load at the Helix, blasting away a good portion of the hover skirt. The Helix settled in place, obviously going nowhere now.

But in coming forward, the egg-shaped juggernaut had come into range for Shaun’s missiles. He targeted, got a green light, and fired. The missiles slammed into the egg, blasting loose several chunks of armor. At the same time, Alissa’s laser carved a gash in one of the legs, and both PPCs from the Mastodon struck the egg dead on. Under the combined firepower, the egg was knocked off its feet and crashed on its back.

The Harpy regained its feet, but only in time to be greeted by another salvo of missiles, laser and PPCs. This time the Harpy’s chest exploded, blowing arms and legs away like chaff. “Engine hit!” declared someone over the radio.

Shaun swung back to focus on the egg, fully expecting it to rise and attack again. But the egg lay motionless and did not rise. “Think we knocked the pilot out?” Shaun guessed.

“Looks likely,” Kenny ventured. “Should we spend another round of missiles on him to be sure?”

Shaun searched his HUD until he saw a value that appeared to represent remaining ammo. “We’ve only got three salvos left. I say we hold’em until needed.”

“Check.” Kenny gave Shaun a thumbs up as the platoon returned from the bunker.

“Sorry, guys,” Alissa called out on the radio. “We weren’t able to protect your Helix. Can you get the databoxes on here?”

“You’ve got a load of handrails on the Viper. Yeah, we can strap the boxes on and still have room to grab a ride, if you move slow. Power down, and we’ll mount up.”

Kenny had to check for a minute before he found the controls to power down the hoverfan to allow the platoon to approach without getting blasted in the draft. “There we go, boys. Hop on board!”

Soon the cargo was lashed onto the Viper and the platoon members were hanging onto the rails. The leader thumped twice on the side of the Viper. “All on board! Let’s go!”

Kenny throttled back up and turned the Viper around, aiming now for the green star on the map. The Mastodon and other Viper followed suit, and they began the trek back. Shaun kept his eyes peeled for more enemies, but none appeared.

“I don’t want to jinx this, but it looks like we’re home free! Can you believe it, guys?”

Control popped back on. “Was this really your first time in a hovercraft, manning guns and the works? You were outstanding! Now get on back here, and meet your company!”

Kenny drove carefully, both because of the damage to the skirt and to avoid knocking any platoon members off the sides. Also, he kept the speed down to what the Mastodon could manage so their forces would not be separated. But suddenly they were clear of the demolished city and had clear, level ground ahead.  Not far ahead they could see a pair of Goliath heavy air transports surrounded by Hedgehog mobile barricades. They traveled around the armored circle until they came to the narrow, twisting entrance. 

Kenny shook his head. “I dunno: I was real comfortable running this thing around on open ground, but I’m not sure I could maneuver through this.”

Control broke in. “Good enough! We’ve got cadets out here who will be happy to take it in for you.”

A moment later they saw two young men in white uniforms with red and blue striping step up over the barricade, waving at the hovercraft and making a cutting motion across their throats. 

“Time to power down, I’d guess, let them onboard and the platoon off.” Kenny commented as he powered down. And indeed, the platoon dismounted and removed the databoxes from the Viper, as the two young men approached and climbed on board. Kenny fumbled for a bit at the hatch next to him. “How do you open this crazy thing? Ah: there we go…”

He found the controls and pushed the hatch open. An acrid smell of smoke filled the cockpit, causing them all to gasp and cough. One of the cadets grinned. “It sure gets ya, don’t it? Battlefield air, gotta love it!”

He reached down and offered Kenny a hand up to get out of the cockpit. Once Kenny was out, he helped Alissa to climb out as well.

Since it appeared that there was only one hatch, Shaun waited his turn, then unbuckled the seat belt and removed his headset, slid out of the seat down to the cockpit and accepted a hand to help climb out onto the side of the Viper.

“Go on ahead!” waved the second cadet: “We’ll follow once you’re clear!”

The platoon had already gone, so the trio followed the zigzag path ahead. Coming around the third turn, they suddenly saw a crowd of about 20 people waiting for them, some in uniform, some in camo gear, all clapping and cheering.  As they approached the crowd surged forward and they found themselves being lifted up on the shoulders of the soldiers. The crowd began chanting: “Hokliss! 34th! Hokliss! 34th!”

“Hey, hey! Careful with the merchandise, there!” Kenny laughed as he was hoisted up.

“Whoa!” cried out Alissa: “Easy, guys!”

“Alright: okay, if you must…” Shaun felt rather awkward and shy about all this, but clearly they were being celebrated and appreciated. It was a heady feeling.

The crowd carried them into a large tent set full of tables like a mess hall, and sat them all down at the table front and center to the room. Champagne corks popped, and they were liberally doused before an ice-cold bottle was set down in front of each of them. Others were drinking straight from their bottles, so Shaun followed suit. Cheering ensued, and Kenny raised his bottle in salute before downing a mouthful. Alissa was the last to drink but she, too, was cheered and they were all pounded on the back several times.

“Speech! Speech! Speech!” the crowd sang out. Shaun glanced back and forth between Kenny and Alissa, neither of whom seemed prepared to get up, so he rose to his feet. They cheered again, then settled down.

“Hey, everybody: thank you so much for your awesome greeting for us today. I gotta say, we are so bowled over by all of this. I know you all see us as some sort of heroes, but I gotta tell ya, until now we haven’t been anything but table-top gamers. Our juggernauts are lead figurines, our missiles are dice we roll to determine hit or miss. So we were absolutely astonished when you called out to us and recognized us for our characters from our game.

“Somebody said that we’ve been here before. I’m not sure how that’s possible; certainly none of us remember actually visiting this place. If anybody can explain this in a little more detail, we would greatly appreciate it.”

One of the uniformed men stood up and raised a glass to Shaun. When he spoke, Shaun recognized the voice of Control. “Thank you for your humble comments, Shaun. We have always appreciated your generous spirit that way.

“I know this has to be very confusing for you right now. Tomorrow morning we will hold a special briefing for the three of you at 0700 hours. You will have plenty of opportunity to ask questions before the debriefing on your mission just completed, at 0900 hours.”

Alissa made a small noise in the back of her throat. “That’s seven in the morning, right?”

Control grinned. “0600 wakeup call, yes. You’ll get used to it quicker than you think.”

Alissa nodded ruefully, while some of the soldiers chuckled at the group’s discomfiture. “I guess we don’t really have much of a choice, do we?”

“Not as genuine members of the Hokliss 34th. I understand that until now you were civilians, but that all changed once you accepted your roles in the Company. Had you opted just to bug out and come in from the cold, you might still have been regarded as civilians, but you didn’t. Since you chose to fight, we are obligated to train you and equip you to do so as effectively and safely as possible.”

Shaun nodded. “You’re right. We did make a choice to fight, and it would be foolish to keep on doing so without the right tools and skills. So count me in.”

Kenny waved a hand in the air. “Like he said before: you do know we have no actual experience in combat, right? We’re just gamers! What do you think we can possibly contribute to a real battle?”

Control smiled. “Look what you did already with no training, no experience, and just the vehicle you landed in together. Add in your strategy approaches we already know to be outside the box, and once you’re trained you’ll have a wealth of contributions to make. We trust you: you’re just going to have to trust us.”

Kenny mulled it over, then nodded. “I can buy into that. I’ll do it.”

Somehow, all eyes had shifted to Alissa. She shifted uncomfortably. “Me? I’m no Amazon warrior woman! I just love playing one, and kicking game ass! But as to having what it really takes? I really don’t know…”

Control gave her a serious look. “Alissa: trust me when I say we’re not relying on you to be an Amazon. We don’t need a woman who can outwrestle, outdrink and outfight every man in the room. We need courage and intelligence, creativity and spirit. And every one of us who has already fought by your side knows you have all that in spades.

“We know we’re asking for a lot, but we also know you are more than capable of handling it all. We have seen the woman you will become: right now, we’re just giving you the stepping stones to get there. Will you join us?”

Alissa sighed. “‘Be all that you can be?’ The motto hasn’t changed in 500 years?

“Okay. I can hardly let these dopes go flying off without me. I’m in.”

Cheers went up from the crowd. Many stepped forward to shake hands. The man they thought of as Control shook all their hands and spoke to them again. “You’ll want to wrap it up, get to bed soon. As they say, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.”