(No snippet this Thursday because Thanksgiving. However, there will be a brief history of the 13th (Bronze) Legion coming soon, probably Saturday)

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The armorer motioned for him to grab the suit. “Put that on so I can figure out what size plates you’re going to use.”

Tavi looked down at his dress black uniform, then around at the dirty workshop of the armory before shrugging and ditching the outfit. At a guess he figured there would be some sort of way to clean them, though back in Overdark Sergeant Buckholz had told him that he would rarely, if ever, wear his dress blacks anywhere outside of award ceremonies and when reporting to a new command.

“Don’t worry,” Sergeant Klau said, guessing at Tavi’s initial hesitancy. “There’s a detergent that’ll get everything from oil to week-old blood out of anything. Won’t even harm the fabric, either. Just toss your stuff on the bench over there and let’s get rolling.”

In short order he had the hamatic combat suit on. The suit was snug, a much better fit than the one he’d had to use at ACS, as he had suspected it would be. The higher quality was also evident, lacking the frayed edges and microlesions of the older model. The suit also felt right on him somehow. Tavi couldn’t explain it, so he asked.

“First step of a legionnaire is getting their hamatic on and fitted right.” The armorer grunted as he began to adjust the ballistic kinetic plates. Thanks to his actually paying attention at ACS, Tavi knew these plates would be attached by the armorer and remain sealed to the suits themselves without fear of accidentally falling off during movement. Tavi hadn’t precisely understood what the instructors had said about the electromagnetic energy of the suit keeping the kinetic plates in place, but he’d gotten the gist of it relatively quickly.

First, two narrow ones went directly down his front and back, protecting his breastbone and spine. Two plates then went on his chest, another over his stomach. Two larger ones went to cover his back. Tavi twisted as commanded, testing the flexibility of the suit while the armorer made adjustments as needed.

“There. Only missing gloves, but I don’t have any your size. I’ll need to special order them. We should get them before the actual op, though. But otherwise, that should just about do it,” the armorer said as the last of the kinetic plates was attached to the suit. The undersuit remained form fitting and snug, yet he barely felt the additional weight of the kinetic plates. They didn’t seem to impede his movements, either, which was a good thing. Sergeant Klau nodded, apparently satisfied. He tapped numbers into his personal slate. “Kinetic plates are assigned. You lose them, it comes out of your pay. Don’t lose them. They’re almost impossible to detach by accident, so don’t try and claim they ‘fell off,’ okay?

“Also, we’re going to adapt your suit as you grow. So try not to become a giant, got it? Don’t grow too big. All right. There’s a hermetically sealed drawer in your bunk, lower left corner at the foot. That’s your storage bin. There is only enough room in there for your plates and your undersuit. Your boots will not fit in there. If you try and make it fit, the drawer will jam. Ask me how I know. Your squad leader—Sergeant Ord, in case you haven’t figured that out yet—will verify your suit is in your locker without your boots during semiregular armor inspections. You will practice getting your suit on, by yourself, until you can do it in the dark, hung over, in less than a minute. Your fire team is usually quick, so don’t slow them down, or they’ll Morty you. Don’t get Morty’d. Trust me. That shit was disturbing. Otherwise, you should be good to go.”

“Sergeant?” Tavi cocked his head, confused, the armorer’s previous words still ringing in his ears. “Why shouldn’t I grow more?”

“Hung up on that, eh? Interesting. Well, kid, the bigger of a target you are, the easier you are to shoot.”

Tavi nodded. Wise words, indeed. The armorer would have fit right in back in Overdark.

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Missed the previous snippets? No worries, I got you covered.

• Snippet 17
• Snippet 16
• Snippet 15
• Snippet 14
• Snippet 13
• Snippet 12
• Snippet 11
• Snippet 10
• Snippet 9
• Snippet 8
• Snippet 7
• Snippet 6
• Snippet 5
• Snippet 4
• Snippet 3
• Snippet 2
• Snippet 1