CHAPTER ONE // THE PLAYGROUND
EIGHT YEARS AGO, 0200 HOURS // SODF TRAINING FACILITY, ERSPF ARTIFICIAL WORLD SIX

“Up! Getup! NOW!”

James ignored the order, but immediately sat up when lightning crackled across his chest following a sharp blow between his shoulder blades. The fourteen-year-old scowled, “What’s the time?”

“0200, trainee.”

“Aw, nuts. Late again?”

“No, it’s Sunday, but you will be if you’re not out at the obstacle course in ten minutes.”

“Okay, where’s my training uniform?”

“No cottons today, trainee. You’ll be training in armour.”

“Armour?! I thought JUGGERNAUT wasn’t finished,” James raised his right eyebrow, “But I might be wrong. Unless we’re using paintball stuff?”

“JUGGERNAUT’s scheduled issue date is yet to be released. It could be anywhere from finished right now to back to the drawing board.”

“So we’re using paintball shit?”

“It’s what everyone else trains in. You can count your lucky stars you’ll have JUGGERNAUT when you’re ready to really fight. You’ve wasted two minutes, trainee. Get moving,” the drill sergeant twirled his steel baton, sending lightning crackling along it. James slithered out of his sleeping bag as his handler turned and walked out of the tent, then quickly pulled on his old paintballing gear, which was covered in mustard yellow paint and dented in several places on the metal chestplate.

Realising there was no chance of running the fifteen kilometres to the obstacle course, he dashed out of his tent and towards landing grid B, where a Genesis dropship was loading paintballs and Assault Rifles apparently modified for the task of playing paintball. After a six minute argument with the pilot, he finally negotiated a deal, and now he had a ride, but only one minute to get to the obstacle course.

Meanwhile, the drill sergeant pulled up at the start of the course in a Cyclone Light Reconnaissance Vehicle and jumped out, surveying the changes to the order of obstacles and the new armament given to the Marines who were going to be James’s opponents. Much to the handler’s surprise, James skidded to a halt in front of him just as the ERSPF clock ticked to 0210 hours.

“Surprise! So, what’s the twist with the course today?”

The bewildered drill sergeant stared, then replied with a “Find it out yourself.”

James stared, “What?”

“There’s a double sting in this one’s tail. There’s the actual twist, and then there’s the fact that you have to work it out for yourself. I’m uploading a course map to your Heads-Up Display now. Grab one of those Assault Rifles over there,” the handler nodded to a pile of weapons to his left, “And get going.”