'How does it work? Won't it interfere with my other training?'
Borini shook his head and replied. 'No. How could I allow that? Don't worry, you'll follow your regular training schedule; this will just take an hour of your sleeping time.
The capsule, just like this ship, is incorporated with space compressing technology.
In other words, an hour in the virtual capsule is equivalent to one month in the Virtual World! You don't have to worry about our training plans being messed up.'
Space compressing technology?
'Wait a minute... You mean an hour in the real world is equivalent to one month in the virtual world?!'
Borini nodded seriously.
Luther exhaled slowly. What a powerful piece of technology! It could make sure time and space in a certain area could be slowed down or sped up.
'I've been wanting to ask Bernoni how much time has passed on Earth ever since my departure but if there's space compressing technology, I don't have anything to fear.'
Luther was afraid that by the time he returned to Earth, it would already be destroyed.
After all, time passed very quickly when travelling in space. If there was some insurance that he wouldn't be too late to save Earth, Luther was extremely happy.
'Enough dillydallying, get in the capsule. I'll let you out after an hour,' Borini ordered.
Luther sighed and climbed into the Virtual capsule. It was like a cabin, or post office box, equipped with a chair and helmet.
Various wires were connected into the helmet and into Luther's body even as he closed his eyes and immersed himself into the virtual world.
…
'Where am I?'
When Luther opened his eyes, he was in a desert with dunes of red sand. There were three orange suns in the sky.
Instantly, Luther felt hot and thirsty.
'I'm in the Virtual World! And it all feels so real!'
Luther crouched to the ground and took a handful of sand, feeling the coarse, grainy texture. It was truly as if he was touching sand in real life!
Luther looked down at himself and realized he was dressed in a black and red scorpion themed combat suit.
A submachine blaster was strapped to his back, along with a backpack of supplies and equipment.
Also, there was a weird, curved sword, with the painted black blade shaped like a question mark, hanging on his hip, along with charges for his gun.
Luther raised his hands to touch his face and realized he was wearing some kind of mask which obscured the lower part of his face, even covering his nose.
Only his eyes and forehead were visible and even then, his eyes were covered with goggles.
At that moment, a wrist comm on his left wrist beeped.
'Soldier, rendezvous with squad, I repeat, rendezvous with squad! We are located at XXXX coordinates, over and out.'
Luther's brow shot up.
'So I'm in some form of military squad? Cool!'
The coordinates Luther was supposed to go were displayed on the comm, along with directions, just in case.
His goggles even had a GPS function, allowing him to see the most optimal route to get to his destination.
It wasn't far; only five miles northwest of his current location.
Luther then began his trek to meet up with his squad. Occasionally, dry desert wind stirred up gusts of red sand.
'So that's why I'm wearing goggles and a mask,' Luther realized.
If not for the mask and goggles, the red sand would enter his eyes, mouth and nostrils. His exposed hair was matted with sand after a few minutes of trudging in the desert.
Fifteen minutes later, Luther noticed an outpost of red and black tents in the distance.
People dressed like him moved all around the camp, repairing desert buggies, cooking food, and readying weapons
'Hey Luther! Over here!'
An excited red haired man waved Luther over to one of the tents. Apparently, that was his squad leader, Naz.
'Welcome to our Crimson Scorpion squad! You were one of our best recruits in the training camp and you have earned a chance to join the Scorpion battalion!
I look forward to what you'll add to our squad. As the last member of our squad, you will be called CS-05. That is your name from now on!
Got it?'
So my back story's one of the best recruits of a training camp who has been promoted into the main army, joining a Scorpion battalion…
Luther nodded and gave a salute. 'Yes sir!'
Naz nodded, obviously liking Luther's behavior.
'You shall address me as CS-01 or captain. That man over there is CS-02, vice-captain. Those two ladies are CS-03 and CS-04, squad members.
We're about to attack a couple of rebels plaguing our desert. Are you ready?'
Oh, finally there's a mission!
Luther was excited. Trudging in a hot desert was very boring; there was nothing to see. A mission meant that there was going to be some excitement.
'Yes sir!'
'Splendid! We move out now!'
…
Five minutes later, Luther and his squad were in a desert buggy.
It had four all terrain wheels, like that of a monster truck. The style reminded Luther of a jeep back on earth, only without a roof.
The squad captain, Naz, rode shotgun while the brunette CS-04 drove the buggy, her fingertip-less gloved hands expertly maneuvering the wheel.
Her skin was a mint green tint, and in terms of physical assets, her chest was impressive.
Luther sat in between the vice-captain, CS-02, a bald man with reddish brown skin, built like a minotaur, and CS-03, the other lady, who had a fiery red pixie cut and a much more docile bust.
Her skin was a pure white, like the color of unblemished paper.
Of all his squad mates, only Naz looked sufficiently 'human', having Caucasian features. The other squad members, apart from their unusual skin colors, were humanoid too.
The Crimson Squad's mission was very simple.
A large group of rebels were reportedly in hiding at a place called stony gorge, after ambushing the Scorpion battalion three days ago.
The mission of the Crimson squad was to rout all the rebels in the gorge.
Despite the unstable terrain of the desert, the desert buggy was very fast, reaching an astonishing 300 mph!
Sparse cactus and red sands whizzed by in a blur as the buggy blazed a trail of dust.
About ten minutes later, CS-04 stopped the buggy. 'We're here folks. The rebels are right up ahead.'
Luther got out of the buggy and looked around in curiosity.
There was a large canyon looming below; the squad was right at the edge of a cliff.
Down in the canyon, there was activity as miniature figures in brown and grey bustled around their camp.
Naz cracked his knuckles. 'Squad, attack!'