Free Resist the Red Battlenaut by Robert T. Jeschonek

Trane. "But we've never even been able to isolate the metal from its host organism and work with it in a lab , have we, Khalil?"
    "True." Khalil sounded irritated. "But we have studied it while it was still attached to organic systems."
    "Which could mean nothing," said Trane. "The material's properties while part of a living system could vary dramatically from those that manifest after separation from that system."
    "But we have the current artifact to study, don't we?" snapped Khalil. "What story has it told us so far?"
    "A short one," said Rexis. "No clue to the stealth capabilities. But maybe they're only evident in other components or the Red Battlenaut armor as a whole. We just don't know."
    "We don't know much , do we?" said Joe Balko, the heavily muscled guy who'd been aboard Scott's shuttle to the Sun Tzu . "Nothin' like goin' in blind ."
    "Since when does that matter to the Diamondbacks?" spoke up Perseid from the front row. Jumping to his feet, he pumped his fist against the serpent insignia on his chest. "Boo-rah!"
    Everyone in the room did the same thing, except Scott. Then, they all sat back down.
    Rexis cleared her throat in the well. She touched a holo control, and the big projection changed to an image of a rotating planet striated with gradations of silver and gray. "Balko's right," she said. "In many ways, we are going in blind. We can read sensor scans of pieces like the circular blade, but scans of operational Red Battlenaut units are invisible to all but one of us...the same person who was able to see a Red Battlenaut when no one else could."
    When she said it, most of the people in the room turned and looked at Scott, who was in the middle of sipping his coffee. He returned their gazes impassively and slowly lowered his cup.
    "Which is why we've called this meeting," continued Rexis. "We need to develop strategies for the Shard task force. We need to figure out ways of fighting an enemy who is invisible to sensors and all but one of our personnel."
    "And we need to do it behind enemy lines," added Perseid. "On a world with a very hostile biometallic-based ecosystem. Even in the best of times, it's a nasty little hellhole."
    "Imagine a planet inhabited by living knives of every shape and size," said Rexis. "Without armor, you'd be slashed to pieces within seconds. Even with armor, you'll be in danger every step of the way. There are creatures on Shard that can hack right through carbon nanotube plating."
    "Sounds like a real day at the beach," said Balko.
    "What exactly is our objective, anyway?" said Masada Feinberg, the brown-haired woman who'd also shared Scott's shuttle to the Sun Tzu .
    "Our primary objective is to locate and shut down any biometal processing facility that might be present on Shard," said Rexis. "Our secondary objective is to gather intel on the Red Battlenauts and their controllers."
    Perseid stood and faced the audience. "We plan to conduct a thorough reconnaissance from orbit, including automated A.I. probes of the surface. We'll gather as much data as we can and refine our objectives prior to insertion of the task force."
    Trane blew his breath out loudly. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us."
    "When don't we?" Balko laughed, and so did everyone else.
    "As always, preparation is critical," said Perseid. "Which is why we're putting together working groups to plan strategies. Each group will focus on a different aspect of the mission and hone solutions via gaming and simulations."
    "Then we'll pull everything together in one global simulation," said Rexis. "See how it all works when the moving pieces bang up against each other."
    "When do we start?" asked Feinberg.
    "We're going into breakout sessions immediately," said Rexis. "Except Corporal Scott."
    Scott sat straighter and clenched his jaw as everyone turned to stare at him.
    "You'll be reporting to Engineering for your daily work detail," said Rexis. "Then the Training Deck for Battlenaut drills. After that, at