You never actually heard the rounds that hit closest to you. You definitely felt the change in pressure every time a bullet slapped into the far side of the wall, though. Jack looked back at his squad. They were nervous and holding tight to their cover, but craning their necks around looking for an opportunity to return fire.Something caught his eye to the right. AN41 was moving their way. She scooted over, dropped to a knee, and popped her visor up. She did not need the augmented-reality display-she was "chipped," like all other Legionnaires-but she had joked that the visor screened the sun out better than sunglasses. Dust clung to the exterior of her armor. Her exo had been "tuned up," as the soldiers say: she'd taken rounds on her way across the open ground. The impact points were visible on the shoulder and chest, but she didn't look fazed. A heavy machine gun started thumping away, and the unmistakable sound of quadcopterscould be heard from above. She grinned at Jack and the squad, looked up toward the top of the hill, and said, "Here's the plan."That morning Jack had been sitting with the squad during breakfast when his platoon sergeant called to him from across the room."Need you to take 3rd Squad and kit up. Meet by the flagpole in twenty-you are picking up security and reaction force duties for a Legionnaire element going up north."Legionnaires on the patrol added a layer of stress for everybody. Higher took a major interest in any operation where general-purpose infantry like 3rd Squad were mingled in with members of the Legion.
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