"Entrée vers l'inconnu" (An Enclave Story)

[Cat]

Lower Deck Armory
Battlecruiser Alsace

— So, what do you think about the "Manticore"?
— Well... It makes me look a bit fuller.

Leila turned around, looking down at her body and getting a feel of her new equipment. Despite her comment, the EVA suit she received was a rather close fit. The moment she had put it on, the grey smart fabric adapted to Leila's body, making the suit akin to a second skin. The external armor layers at the chest, back, legs, arms, and joints didn't adapt to the wearer, but they felt light enough thanks to the suit's in-built exoskeleton between the armor and the fabric. There were more systems that Leila wasn't aware of yet, as her helmet was off.

All in all, the "Manticore" almost didn't hamper Leila's movement, which she had just demonstrated by taking a brief run around the armory, even incorporating a couple of combat rolls into her exercise. She also tried shooting jets of air through special vents on her arms and legs. Although it didn't have much effect now, that could give her a way to quickly navigate the station, should there be no artificial gravity.

Having returned to the quartermaster, a bald man in his early fifties, Leila was ready to see what else the storage rooms of the Alsace had to offer. "I've been told to give you a couple of EMP explosives to counter any automatic defenses," the man put a couple of long cylinders on the counter. If Leila hadn't known better, she would've taken those for flashbangs. "You detonate them remotely or use as grenades," he continued sugar-coating the obvious things with the tone that some would find slightly condescending. The quartermaster then reached under his counter again and took out another couple of small devices. Each of them seemed like the head of a small jelly-fish, but was solid, man-made, and had a few buttons on top. "Breach charges, in case you can't get past some door. Can also work as mines if need be. Careful though, they pack a punch."

The right corner of Leila's lips turned up into a smirk as she heard that. "I know how to play with my toys. Trust me, we'll get along nicely," she replied with a trace of sarcasm in her tone, while strapping the devices to her utility belt. One of the slots on the belt was already occupied by a silenced kinetic pistol. The quartermaster cast a distrustful glance at it. "That ratchet on your hip might pack a punch, but you'd be better off with a plasma rifle in case you need to shoot through a door or a robot." With these words, he put a heavy rifle on the counter.

Reluctant at first, Leila approached and took it. To her surprise, the rifle felt lighter than it seemed. With a nod, Leila put the weapon behind her back, attaching it to a special slot. Carrying a plasma rifle turned out to be easier than she remembered from boot camp; probably courtesy of the Manticore's exoskeleton. "You've solved the weight problem of the plasma rifle alright. Now, if only you could replace the plasma containment field with something more secure. Oh, and while at it, make it a shoulder-mounted turret with AI targeting," Leila smirked, entertaining the thought of having a combat suit like that eventually. That sure would've made a lot of her assignments easier, to the point of being a cakewalk.

The quartermaster's reply was interrupted by a siren and a ship-wide announcement by Emeline Coste: "Potentially hostile vessel detected at long range. We're on yellow alert now. Preparing to engage cloaking device. Abort shuttle launch to avoid detection." Leila looked at the loudspeaker with the same distrust as the quartermaster had at her silenced pistol: "Here I was, hoping for a ride to the base. But no, ..." Before Leila could continue with her sarcasm, the insignia on her collar vibrated and emitted a quiet soft beep again...