Risen: Echoes of War

Ghost Boot Camp

A thoughtful Caesar looked up as Hannibal strode into their impromptu camp, with the shimmering cloud that was Huff in tow.

"A new recruit, Carthaginian?" the former Roman asked, his metallic face becoming thoughtful. "You may not of noticed, but we don't have a handy k'ethik body laying around to house it."

"Not a recruit, I think," Hannibal retorted before looking back at Huff, which had come to a halt at the camp's edge. "But perhaps a teacher."

"A teacher?" Caesar stood with a frown, stepping towards Hannibal to look around the former commander of Carthage's armies at the shimmering, shifting cloud of light and dust. "What could some cloud teach you and I, the greatest generals of our time, that we don't already know?"

Hannibal turned to face Huff, which was now slowly advancing as if sizing up the frowning Caesar.

"Something you and I never had the chance to learn, Caesar," he said as, for a brief moment, Huff's memories flitted through his awareness, including the new familiarity with SEAL tactics and weapons.

"Modern warfare."

Caesar's face twisted quickly into an arrogant sneer. But, before he could deliver a hard comment, most likely about 'inventing' modern warfare, he paused, growing thoughtful once more.

"We do seem to lack some of the necessary skills we need to fight this new war we find ourselves in," he conceded after a moment's thought. "Very well, ghost. I am ready to be shown what this 'modern warfare' means."

Hannibal found himself smiling at that. 'Are you in for a surprise, my friend!' he thought. Then he was abruptly serious as he realized the rest of their small company wasn't nearby. If they were going to get trained by this Huff in the ways of a modern soldier, they should all be trained at once!

"Hold for a moment, lieutenant," he said, lifting a forestalling hand in Huff's direction before the echo could move forward. "Let's get the entire company trained at once, shall we?" Then, a bit louder: "Echoes! Rally to me!"

It was a simple command to gather around a leader, one any soldier would've heard in some fashion or another. But Bridget, Adeesa, Gregori and Raven had never been soldiers, the former three not even seeing battle of any kind. Thankfully there was enough force in Hannibal's voice that it brought them in anyway from wherever they had been exercising in an attempt to gain full control of their new bodies.

"You have need of us, moy droog?" Rasputin rumbled as the four of them jogged towards Hannibal, Caesar and Huff.

"I do," Hannibal confirmed with a nod. He then indicated the shifting mass of light and dust just behind him. "This is Lieutenant Huff's echo, created when the former American Navy SEAL was killed in battle some three hundred years ago."

"I remember you saying that the Risen leader, Max Niekro, lived at that time," Adeesa said in softly inflected English. Hannibal quickly nodded.

"I did, indeed. Huff here encountered Max on that distant battlefield those hundreds of years ago, where Max saved his life. In repayment for that kindness, he has offered to train us in the ways of modern warfare, the techniques and methods that Max himself is most comfortable with."

"Training?" Bridget repeated with a frown. "Haven't we trained enough, Hannibal? I have pretty good command of this new body."

"It isn't that kind of training, Bridget," the former Carthaginian quickly pointed out. "It's true, we have mastered our k'ethik shells. But now we need to garner them with the skills and techniques that will better serve us in battle alongside the Risen." He gestured at a still-thoughtful Caesar.