Free The Armoured Ghost by Oisin McGann Page B

use in combat. They struggled to contain their nervousness, their excitement, as Salt walked down the line. He described the qualities of their armour to each of them.
    Rake stood proudly in his red and black armour.
    ‘You carry the most weapons in the group,’ Salt told him. ‘Your suit is designed for strategy and offence. It has a range of small hand-to-hand and throwing weapons. The suit’s gauntlets can fold down into wrecking-ball-style fists to deliver devastating punches. Your armour has a selection of maps of Earth on microfilm slides that can be viewed with the helmet’s visor. The visor itself comes with a selection of magnification lenses for studying the environment – close-up and at a distance.
    ‘Your main weapon is your short sword, whose handle extends out so that it forms a lance.’
    Tea-Leaf was admiring how light and flexible her grey and black armour was.
    ‘You are the spy and scout,’ Salt declared. ‘Your armour’s light-sensitive material can change colour, reflecting its surroundings, which offers a very effective camouflage. Equipment includes lock-picks, a manual microfilm camera loaded in the helmet, and climbing gear. The suit also carries a digital storage device for carrying software for hacking and downloading viruses. But once it’s plugged into a computer, there is a serious risk of detection. Built for silence and speed, your suit is the lightest and most vulnerable suit of armour.
    ‘Your main weapon is your crossbow, which has a dagger in the handle.’
    Oddball was examining all the features of his yellow and black armour.
    ‘You are the scavenger and engineer,’ Salt informed him. ‘Your suit is the heaviest in the group. It is built to make best use of its environment . The suit carries a wide range of tools and a small selection of basic chemical compounds. It also has sockets for channelling power and electrical signals. These connections will allow you to hook into most forms of technology, but always at the risk of being detected. The vents in the helmet will enhance your sense of smell many times over, making you an effective tracker and allowing you to identify a wide range of materials and chemicals. As with Rake’s helmet, your visor comes with a selection of lenses.
    ‘Your main weapon is your warhammer, which breaks up into different tools.’
    Hoax was already fiddling with his orange and black armour, wondering what kinds of tricks it had up its sleeves . . . and any other places.
    ‘Your roles are deception and misdirection,’ Salt growled, pulling the boy’s helmet up and making him stand straight. ‘Your armour plates are sprung to give them a counter-punch quality. If someone hits them, some of the force of the blow rebounds back at them. You can also jettison armour plates in order to slip out of an attacker’s grip. The suit’s helmet can amplify your voice – so you can make good use of that overactive imagination of yours. Secret compartments in the armour will enable you to trick your opponents. You can spread oil or ball bearings on the ground to cause your opponents to slip, or toss a smoke bomb and disappear.
    ‘Your main weapon is a stick that breaks into a nunchaku.’
    Hoax pulled the stick apart, revealing that the two halves were joined by a chain. He practised swinging it around his body.
    ‘Finally you, Snow, are responsible for protection and evasion,’ Salt said to the smallest in the group. ‘Your armour is almost as light as Tea-Leaf’s armour, but is much tougher. It offers the best defence of all the suits. It can protect you against extreme heat and cold. It is light, to allow you to move easily. The low friction surfaces will make it hard to keep hold of you. A fold-away hang-glider can be fitted onto the suit’s back, and there are roller-blades in the soles of your boots. You also carry basic medical supplies and your shield can be expanded to three times its size, allowing you to shield others.
    ‘Your main