The winter night air surrounding New Atlantis had a crisp chill. Christmas lights and decorations clung to any and every place people thought to put them, giving the city a festive look for the season. The winds whispered between the buildings as if they knew a secret. And if people had been high enough to watch, the sight of two men carrying a set of large trunks atop one of Sector 5’s tallest buildings might have invoked curiosity. If they looked again, they would notice their outfits bore the logo of the New Atlantis Utilities Company, dispelling any concerns.
“Jingle bells, shotgun shells, Granny's on the run…” sang Adam as he carried his end of the trunk.
Lance gave him a puzzled look.
“I’ve never heard that one,” he said. “Why exactly is Granny on the run?”
“Well, you know how Grandma ‘supposedly’ got run over by a reindeer?” began Adam. “It was actually the other way around! Grandma ran over the reindeer and now Santa isn’t happy! Thus, Santa has gone Liam Neeson with a shotgun, and Granny's on the run!”
Lance shook his head.
“Sometimes you make me wonder…” he said with a sigh.
Lance and Adam worked together arranging the trunks they had brought behind a utility shed on the roof they had chosen to work from. Adam peeled the 3-D printed logos off his suit and adjusted the black and gray outfit he was wearing.
“This thing is NOT comfortable,” he groaned as he watched Lance type commands on a laptop they brought.
“I couldn’t get the higher quality suits,” stated Lance as he closed the laptop. “Even with our combined budget we are limited in certain areas, so I had to aim for function over comfort.”
He punched in a code on the lock to the container closest to Adam.
“This one is yours,” he informed as he lifted the cover, revealing dull black modified combat armor nestled in the case.
“I was expecting something more... shiny...” commented Adam almost half-heartedly.
“So that light can reflect off of it and make it easier to spot?” asked Lance rhetorically. “If we wanted to be seen, we could have made a pair of elf costumes and marched down Main Street.”
“Oh, good point,” noted Adam.
Lance unlocked the other trunk which contained a similar set of armor built for himself.
“These are surplus military grade combat suits,” stated Lance. “Enough armor to give decent protection, but I modified them a bit to allow more flexibility.”
He picked up an arm piece and flexed it.
“The mods are mostly in the joints and torso. There is still enough material in those areas to protect from most firearms and blades, even some shrapnel from blasts within a reasonable distance. Either way, the suit itself can’t take a direct hit from any explosives.”
It took a little while to don their suits, but between the two of them it was not difficult.
“Last piece,” announced Lance as he pulled out a pair of helmets. “What do you think?” he asked as he rotated one in his hand, then handed it to Adam.
“Is that even a real question? It looks epic!” exclaimed Adam.
He put on his helmet, locking it onto his armor.
"I feel like a sci-fi ranger wearing this!"
“That’s not even the best part!” announced Lance as he grabbed Adam’s left gauntlet, pressing a button.
A light blue display shimmered to life right in front of Adam’s eyes. Lance donned his own helmet as well and activated its HUD.
“Your helmet has several functions, all controlled from your gauntlet,” he informed. “When the basic display is active the visor will automatically polarize to improve general visibility. Bright lights and extreme darkness are the exceptions as there is only so much that the visor can compensate.”
“So... no looking directly into the sun,” joked Adam. “Got it!”
“The second button activates the advanced detection mode,” continued Lance. “It helps to distinguish between everything you see and to detect hard to spot objects: it will even outline ledges and such when free-running. It also has a three-stage zoom and a compass.”
“Sweet!” exclaimed Adam as he activated the second mode to test it out.
“Unique to your visor set is an infrared module,” said Lance. “Mine has thermals. I would’ve installed both on each, but I am still tinkering with the builds and the software could only handle one at a time.”
“Dude, it’s cool as it is!” stated Adam. “I’m still geeking out just over the suit!”
“Lastly, the helmets have a link to my workshop server to connect us for wireless communications over a secured frequency,” said Lance, his voice coming from speakers inside Adam’s helmet this time rather than out. “L.A.S.S.I. is also connected remotely from my network, so we can access information from anywhere.”
“Anything else?” asked Adam. “Besides the grapple launcher that is.”
“That’s about it,” replied Lance. “I almost forgot about those actually. No explanation is needed for them as you have tested them already.”
Adam rubbed his hands together with anticipation as Lance reached into the bottom of each of the cases and retrieved the grapple guns. Holstering one, he handed the other over as they walked towards the middle of the rooftop.
“Definitely sleeker than that potato launcher!” laughed Adam, referring to the escapade that inspired what they had been preparing for.
“L.A.S.S.I., upload course file PRKR1,” commanded Lance over his comm.
A series of green dashes appeared on both their visor screens, overlaying the rooftop ahead of them with a path that led straight off the roof.
“This is going to be a lot different than what we’ve practiced at the park,” noted Lance. “But with the extra training we’ve gone through since we started planning everything, it should be cake.”
“It’s only hundreds of feet to the ground difference,” remarked Adam.
“What could happen?”
“Careful,” laughed Lance. “Don’t tempt the chances.”
The two positioned themselves for a running start.
“Here goes nothing!” exclaimed Lance as they sprinted towards the edge of the roof.
“Don’t you mean everything?” asked Adam sarcastically as they leapt from the ledge.
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