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Chapter VI: Upgrades

"Mark!"

"Yes Sir?" Mark asked, standing. The six foot two jet black wolf was easily the tallest newbie, by a good foot.

"New planet today for you guys. New, for real this time, not just a checkup. You up to the task?" Joel asked, reading information from his ever-present clipboard.

"Sir?" Mark said, not sure what the base commander meant.

"I want you to lead an expedition down," Joel said, glancing up at Mark. Grumbles rose from the "senior" new guys.

"Me, Sir?" Mark asked. "I... I mean, I will, but I don't know if I am the right guy for the job. I've only been here for a week. Besides, I don't even have the appropriate equipment to converse with the natives."

"Yes, you do," Joel said, tossing a box to Mark. Mark caught the box deftly with his right paw, and immediately opened it with one of his claws. He pulled out two solid black objects, made out of some sort of plastic. One was a bracelet, only a quarter of an inch wide, and Mark put it on his right arm, over the fur.

"Ouch!" the black wolf exclaimed. The bracelet felt like it bit into the fur on his arm, which, in reality, it sort of did. The DNA acquisition process "latched" the bracelet onto the first person whose skin or fur touched it. It sort of "bit" during the process, so touching the object to a less sensitive area of skin was advised. Mark obviously didn't know this, because he hung the earpiece over his right ear, and was "bit" by it there, rather then on the forearm or wrist, as was advocated. General sniggers and comments about his abillty to lead were brought up, mostly stemming from his seeming lack of intelligence, until Joel quieted them with a scowl.

"Arath, Scott, Nath, and Mark will be going today. I know that we usually only send three, but I'm sending four because Arath and Nath specifically requested to be sent together and they don't work well on separate teams. Mark, you will be group leader. Scott, in the event that Mark is unable to perform his duties as group leader and get you back safely, you're second in command. Arath, Nath, please don't be too difficult on him; he's new." Joel finished with a sigh, and asked if there were any questions. Mark raised his paw, to a small round of guffaws.

"Sir," Mark asked, until he heard the laughs, and then he revised to a quick, "never mind..." Joel nodded, and continued down his list, reading the further day's assignments for the rest of the explorers, and then the full time base staff. Mark was so distracted by the sudden mantle thrown on his shoulders that he didn't notice what anyone else was supposed to do, so he awkwardly got up to join them when Scott, Arath and Nath walked over to a corner to converse.

"Hey, kid," Arath said, "How d'you rate that you get up to group leader in a week?" It wasn't asked with contempt, but Mark was still somewhat hurt at their complete lack of faith. Not that he had proven himself, even by a longshot.

"I'll bet I know why it is," Scott said, chuckling as he ran a paw through his fur. "He fucked the base commander, is why. Not that I'm complaining. I've known Joel for ten years, since he came here, and I haven't seen him this alive and happy in the past six. All I can say is, whatever you did, keep doing it, because it put Joel in such a mood that he asked me to go down with you and keep you alive. I didn't tell you, but he wants to keep you around so bad that he's willing make you a group leader, so you have more incentive to stay." Mark was shocked. He didn't want anyone playing favorites, especially not regarding him. Nepotism was something he argued strongly against.

"I apologize," Mark said, genuinely upset, "I'll have a conversation with Joel whenever we get back. I don't want any special treatment; for any reason." Scott took Mark by the sleeve of his O.R.E.O T-Shirt, which he got when his old clothes were irradiated.

"Listen, Mark," Scott said, leading the wolf a step away from the others. "Joel didn't make you a captain because you fucked him. Though, from what I heard, it was good enough for him to do so. He made you a captain because you show promise, which is something that is lacking in kids today. Deal with your hand as you will, but the cards are dealt. Now, do us all proud, and don't fuck up." With that, Scott slapped Mark on the shoulder, and walked back to the group. Mark turned, and spoke to his team.

"Where can I find some equipment?" he asked, to no one in particular. Arath looked at him, and spoke.

"Go talk to the supply manager," he said. "Barb's probably in her office. It's down the main hall, first door on the left."

"Thanks," Mark said, padding quickly away, before remembering they were waiting for him. "Five minutes, guys, and I'll be back." With that, the wolf walked away quickly, so as to not miss the five minute mark.

Knocking softly on the door labeled "supply manager", Mark was admitted almost immediately, and the supply manager, Barbara, nodded to him from behind her specially modified desk. "What can I do you for?" she asked, not meaning it the way it may have been interpreted.

"I need some new equipment," Mark said, "but I don't know if you can get what I want." Barbara whinnied in disdain, and looked at him with just as much.

"If it exists, we can get it," she replied, challenging Mark.

"Right," Mark said, looking around for requisitioning forms. Barbara pushed a large handheld computer toward him, with a full catelog of equipment laid out like a real book on the screen.

"Just find what you want in there, check the box, enter the quantity, and hit submit down in the bottom right," she said, in a monotone suggesting she did this all the time. Mark tapped a few section markers on the screen, and was surprised at what all came up. After three minutes, he was done, and he turned the screen around to face the horse. She looked at the items on screen, and neighed.

"Wow, this is... quite a list," she said, surprised. "Who will be signing off on the acquisition of all this?" Mark frowned, caught.

"Well, can a group leader sign off on it, or do I need the Base Commander's signature?" Mark asked.

"Your group leader can sign for it. Joel will have to sign some forms later on," Barbara said, expecting Mark to get up and leave. Instead, he motioned for the tablet, and she turned it around to him. It asked for the person who was signing off on the requisition to scan his fingerprint. Mark did so, and was shocked when it actually worked, and the tablet came up with a green light. Barbara was obviously also impressed that it worked.

"Can I eventually replace the third and fourth one with the last two?" Mark asked. Barbara nodded.

"Right," she said, reading down through the list once more. "Hmm, most of these items we have, but these two at the bottom I'll have to request from the Central Branch. I have the rest here." She handed Mark a key off the wall, and wrote down several bin numbers, corresponding to the list. "Head over to storeroom B, and these bins will have your stuff in them. Have a good day."

Mark thanked the good lady, and trotted his way to Storeroom B, begging five more minutes from his teammates, who nodded, and went back to their drinks. When he came out four minutes later, any earthling could have questioned if it was a wolf playing the part of Rambo. He had augmented his sidearm with one having considerably greater firepower, without the expense of added weight, three flashbang grenades, three black smoke grenade, two high explosive grenades, and the most ugly looking assault rifle one could find.

Created using much of the same technology as the pistols most O.R.E.O explorers carried, the A124A was a high range pulse assault rifle, capable of doing anything from stunning a target, to vaporizing a half inch hole clean through at ranges of up to four hundred yards, and came with a wide variety of attachments. While not quite what he wanted, it would make due for a short amount of time. As to the other equipment he carried, just superfluous stuff.

"Jesus, Mark, we aren't going down to destroy the place," Scott said, choking on his beverage when he saw Mark.

"I know," Mark said. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared, though."

"Well, if it makes you happy," Scott said, shaking his head with a laugh. "Just have fun carrying forty pounds of equipment every day."

"I have some lighter stuff on its way," Mark said.

"Right," Scott replied, standing. "Well, let's get a move on, then, if we're going. You know how to use that thing?" Mark shook his head. "Great..." Scott exclaimed. "Well, just push the button, and picture being in the place you want to be. Otherwise, the computers will just put you at the preprogrammed coordinates for your next mission. Since we want to go there, just push the button."

Mark pushed the button, and felt that familiar lifting sensation...