All of the troopers had  gone silent awaiting their orders, which they all knew were soon to follow the lights out protocol.  “Just like in training, the transport is now pitch black where the soldiers sit,” Sara thought to herself.  Trooper 137462, Sara Marie Snow, the newest member of unit 38, looking around the back of the transport, she could no longer see the other troopers,  just like in training camp.  Sara was short for a trooper, standing only 147 cm tall.  She was young, only 21, but she had the build of an elite athlete, though it could not be seen under her battle suit.  She has long, wavy black hair and green eyes.  She recalled her drill sergeant saying, “there ain’t no windows in the transport; so, when the lights out signal goes out, you ain’t gonna be able to see shit.  Lights out means it's time to cut the chatter and get your orders.”  

Sara considered the policy, and decided that it made sense, as a sound could be missed; a computer message could also be missed if a helmet weren’t on or operational.  At least this way, it was clear they were about to be contacted by the commander.  During her training, Sara thought “it would just be easier to just give a sound or something to get the troopers attention rather than going completely dark on everyone, but now, in the heat of the moment, it rang clear how much more effective this signal is.”  Despite the adrenaline running high, every trooper immediately halted what they were doing and put their helmets on. It was only just now becoming clear to her that this signal worked no matter what the troopers were up to in the back of the transport.  

It was hard to stop her mind from racing, as the moment of her first ghost encounter drew closer.  “What type of ghost will this be?  What will it do?  How much damage has it caused?  Am I going to die?  I can’t allow myself to let my unit or my family down.   I might die!” were just a few of the many thoughts running through her mind.  She needed to silence all the tangential thoughts.  She tried to focus her thoughts on her training.  She recalled her drill sergeant saying, “one of the reasons they turned the lights out was to prevent the troopers from being visually assaulted by the ghosts.”  According to several reports, cadets were required to read on previous ghost encounters, “visually seeing the ghosts could cause hysteria and panic.”  This idea lent credence to the drill sergeant’s statement.  It also explained the lack of windows in the back of the transport, as well as why digital imaging was used by the drivers.  “Drill Sergeant also said, “after the shit I seen in the field; it is best that troopers don’t see ghosts before helmets are on.”  

They say that ghosts can attack your mind, or instill a primal, unshakable fear in troopers.  There are even reports of ghosts using highly intensified light beams on troopers.  These are just some of the reasons that we are taught why ghosts should not be observed with the naked eye.  While these statements may be true; I feel that there is more to it. I think the major reason the lights go out is to prevent us from seeing the destruction the ghosts have caused.  They don’t want us to see first hand what our foe is capable of before the fight.  Instead, we are instructed to face our enemies in full battle gear, viewing them through the eyes of cameras instead. A camera which can be set to filter out certain aspects of the battlefield. Bright flashes of light or even objects that are not truly there can be removed by the camera. Surely, it is not as simple as that.  I cannot help, but to think there is some other reason that we are not allowed to view ghosts with our own eyes…

~Excerpt from Journal Entry 3 - Cadet Sara Snow G.E.T. 

“The lights out protocol meant that each trooper had exactly sixty seconds to get their helmet on and operating before orders were given.  Air supplies, scrubbers, power and computer systems all have to be connected to the helmet. Not that it is hard to plug in a few wires from the suit to the helmet,” Sara thought.  “Helmets are considered to be the most important piece of the battle suit.  Properly adorning and attaching the helmet was the first part of the battle suit training a trooper received.  Troopers can not graduate from the academy until they can put on and connect a helmet in under forty five seconds.” Sara kept thinking while she was hooking up each individual cord from the suit to the helmet.  Needless-to-say, every trooper adorned and connected their helmet to the battle suit well under the allotted sixty seconds.  

Pressing the button on her power visor, Sara was able to see the inside of the transport which became visible in its night vision green color.  Shortly after the visor had powered on, approximately twenty two seconds afterward in Sara’s case; Commander Voss came across the visual in the visor. Just as Commander Voss was able to view the troopers through his glasses, the troopers could now view him on a computer screen on the inside of their helmets.   The screen was transparent, allowing the troopers to see the outside world on the other side of the computer screen.  Sara began to mentally check off all of her systems in the helmet as Commander Voss came on the screen.  “External condition monitor … check!  My biometrics …. check!  Comm channel set …. check!  Battle suit systems …. check!  Weapon systems …. check!  Air filtration system …. check!  Computer imaging online …. check!“  

“As you have been briefed, we are being called in on a ghost which first appeared just southeast of the Pasadena area.  It has since been steadily tracking northwest.  This ghost is code named “flame dancer.”  No one has laid eyes on the flame dancer itself, but we know for certain, that it can create a massive amount of fire in the area surrounding it.  Traditional weapons and fire retardants have proven ineffective.  Our mission is to delay the ghost in order to give the Pan-American military time to evacuate the cities to the north.  Coordinate your attacks accordingly.  Remember your job is to stall this thing.  Should you find any weakness in the flame dancer, report it immediately.  While our ultimate goal will be to destroy the flame dancer, we need to prioritize slowing it down and gathering as much information about it as possible.  We will be meeting up with unit 37 as they were the first to arrive on the scene.  I will be giving orders from the transport.  Should we lose communications, Sergeant Norman will give orders until communication can be re-established or you can meet up at the emergency evacuation point.  Keep your comm lines open as Sergeant Norman or myself will be changing battle plans as needed.  Troopers, prepare to deploy.” Commander Voss stated in his monotone, dead-pan delivery.  “Blip,” Commander Voss’s image disappeared from the screen inside the helmets of the troopers.

As a result of the flame dancer’s appearance, the Pan-American Sphere called in a special task force called the Ghost Eradication Team, or G.E.T.  G.E.T is a specially trained mercenary company owned by the Bairon-Midley corporation.  G.E.T. was formed in the years prior to the cease fire, and has since become the worldwide leading authority on ghosts.  The G.E.T. would often be hired out to the various governments of the world to handle ghost encounters and sightings, which left the governments’ human resources available for the escalation and eventuality that was the Pan-Geo War. 

~Excerpt from The History of Bairon-Midley, Pan-American Sphere Better Business Inquirer Magazine.  

 The comm line remained open.  Looking around the transport, Sara could see all of the other troopers in full color and detail; despite the lights not being turned back on.  As she glanced over each trooper, she could see their biometrics, weapons load, ammunition count, suit functioning status and more.  Shortly after the orders had been given, the lights came back on in the transport, and the battle suit seamlessly adjusted Sara’s view.  In fact, she could not even tell that the lights had come back on.  The suit adjusted so quickly to the change in outside light that Sara did not even notice the correction of the lighting by the suit's computer.  

The A - 10 battle suit has a weight of 44.3 kilograms before weapons and ammunition payloads.  Each suit is equipped with a “Y” harness on the back to holster an extra weapon, battery pack, ammunition canister, jump jets, rocket mounts, or shield generator.  The exact configuration will vary based on each trooper's assigned gear load.  The “Y” harness is easily interchanged between suits for emergency equipment changes.  Remove the magpin from the spine of the suit and reattach the new “Y” harness and reinsert the magpin.  

~ excerpt from A - 10 Battle suit manual page 47

Sara adjusted her “Y-rack” to account for her short stature and limited reach.  Hot and heavy, her battlesuit was ready for combat.  She was equipped with the latest model of Y-47 Assault rifle, and her “Y-rack” contained her personalized echo shielding generator and extra battery pack.  Her shield generator read a 100% capacity, and her rifle read at maximum capacity of one hundred rounds of ammunition.  She had two hip mounted ammunition boxes, one on the left and one on the right side, carrying her extra ammunition.  Sara had chosen a traditional ammunition for this mission as opposed to a laser pulse rifle.  Lastly, she had her battle knife attached to the right leg of her suit.  

The A-10 battle suit comes with a helmet synced directly to its central computer.  The helmet is capable of filtering out any known chemicals or microbes from the air around it.  Furthermore, the helmet can create its own oxygen assuming there is some form of molecular oxygen present in the air around it, including converting water to oxygen.   Each helmet can be de-synced from any suit and resynced with any other suit as needed….

~ excerpt from A - 10 Battle suit manual page 93

The back of the transport measured only a few meters across and about double that in length.  Sara could easily see the entire unit from her position in the back driver’s side seat.  She looked directly across from her at the trooper sitting there.  A screen showed up in her helmet view.  A man’s face showed.  He had a brown, well groomed beard and mustache, short but not shaved brown hair, and brown eyes.  He was an older man, 42 to be exact.  He was identified as Todd Haroldson.  Heart rate: 82, Blood pressure: 121/83, height: 202 cm weight: 105.68 kilograms, Rank: Corporal. 

 “Don’t be nervous kiddo!” Corporal Haroldson said.  “I’m not nervous!” Sara snapped back.  “Take it easy lass. Just wanted to make sure you were holdin up okay.  Most new troopers get the jitters about now.  Just wanted to make sure you weren’t.”  He assured her.  “I.. I am fine.” she replied, her anxiety showing only slightly in her voice and not at all on her face.  “Ha ha ha, I got ya.  Well, just make sure to follow the numbers and you will do just fine, lass.”  Haroldson stated in a chuckle of amusement.   Sara thought to herself, ”little do they know, I have trained my entire life for this very moment.  I am ready!”  Despite feeling ready for her first ghost encounter, Sara still couldn’t shake the butterflies in her stomach, or the racing thoughts in her head. 

Sara panned her view around the transport, taking mental notes of exactly where each person sat in the transport.  Closest to the door was Sergeant Norman.  Norman was an ex- Pan-Am marine that signed on with Bairon-Midley shortly after the ceasefire was called.  “He is the ideal soldier.  Calm, unshakable nerves of steel; performs exceptionally well both mentally and physically.  That’s the kind of guy I could look up to.”  Sara thought.  Despite sounding larger than life, Sergeant Norma stood at a rather average height of 176.5 cm tall and 84 kg.  He had a chiseled physique, short black hair, brown eyes, a clean shaven face which looked younger than he actually was.  He looked like he was in his early twenties despite being 36.  

Next to him was Corporal Ibara, the second in field command.  Ibara was of Asian descent, more precisely the former region known as Japan.  Ibara had dark brown, almost black hair and brown eyes.  He stood at 154 cm and weighed 63kg.  He also chose to wear glasses over contacts or surgery, similar to Sara in that respect.  Corporal Ibara is the communications specialist for unit 38.  Ibara had been with Bairon-Midley far longer than any other trooper in the unit.  He originally specialized in security for Mr. Bairon, but later became a trooper after G.E.T. was formed.  Ibara has no desire to become an officer, and is one of the world’s leading experts in hand-to-hand combat.

Next to Ibara was Private 3rd Class Slater.   “Slater, huh, Pretty sure he was in the same basic class that I was in,” Sara thought, looking over his face on her screen.  Sara herself was also a Private 3rd Class, the entry level rank for a trooper.  Langley Slater stuck out like a sore thumb.  He had red hair, green eyes, and a pale skin tone.  He is of European descent and specializes in computer systems and security.  He stands at 176 cm and weighs in at 59kg.  Slater, despite his inexperience as a G.E.T. trooper had spent several years in the private sector as a fitness influencer and IT specialist.  He joined G.E.T at the age of 29.