“Good plan, Lizard Man!” Kjartan boomed, whacking Vreta on the back. “It’s best plan yet, but I have better idea. I take ten CQB into tower block here, rush first floor. When we see the enemy, WE [U][B]RIP[/B][/U] THEM APART, HUH?” Kjartan used his hammer to mime slitting his own throat, staring around at the assembled troops with wild eyes and spittle bubbling at the corners of his mouth.

“You stupid oaf! Carthage will be in there; she’ll tear you apart if you run in, just like she did aboard the Songnam, remember?” Knossos sighed. “SHE CHEATED!” Kjartan roared, surging through Vreta’s projection to confront the rifleman. Athena loaded her railgun at waist-level, stepped in front of Knossos and jabbed the barrel against the norseman’s breastplate, keeping him on the end of her gun. “Keep calm, you fleck of human waste.” She snarled.

Just then the shield emitters on the ceiling of the sim room activated. Soft bubbles appeared around everyone, and turned everyone’s armour the colour of their team. The bubbles tightened and eventually disappeared, giving everyone the same level of in-game protection. The sim environment began building up around them. “Unless you’re happy with just two lives? Please say yes.”

Kjartan slapped the barrel of the gun away from him, stepping back. “We’ll run CQB with you, Specialist.” A drop troop squad leader offered, perhaps impatient to get things back on track. Kjartan looked at the man, standing in front of a team of six drop troopers. They were part of a specialised fighting force that was trained to insert into combat zones from space and also for ship-to-ship boarding. They were plausibly the best of the regular troops on the Blue Team Kjartan beamed. “Good! You choose glory too! Anyone else?”