36 VALOR

Major General Alexander Hughes sat in his office in the restricted facility in the Mojave Desert known colloquially as Area Two. It had a much longer name at one point, but no one could ever remember it and since they needed to put something to paper it became Area Two. He sighed and looked around his spartan office, there really wasn't much in there. He sat in a rather comfortable and luxurious leather chair in front of an oakwood desk which he had brought from his house in Hawaii, it was his grandfather's and he loved it dearly. On his desk were some neatly stacked and arranged papers and folders. Around the rather small room he called his office, there were exactly two pieces of furniture; another chair and a couch. He often took a nap or slept on the couch, especially as of lately. There was just too much to do and not enough time, manpower, or resources.

He sighed and rubbed his temple, what he wouldn't do for a vacation. He waved a gnarled and somewhat old hand through his short-cropped gray hair, it was almost time to see the barber again. He turned his attention to the folders in front of him. There were exactly four manilla folders of different thickness, depending on how much paper was inside them of course. One of them was very familiar and titled, "PROJECT KINGMAKER", while another one was titled "OPERATION TIME LEAP". They were his main concerns for the moment because like it or not, everything was riding on these two plans being a success. Should they succeed, not only would they be the first ones in history to discover countless medical secrets and time-related theories, but this would literally put the entire country ahead of the world for decades to come.

Hughes glanced at the other two folders, they too would play an important role. Just recently the third and fourth one was given to him to preside over, though he had to work with his least favorite person. It didn't bother him much because it was a worthwhile sacrifice. He thumbed a particularly thick folder, stamped in red was the word APPROVED. There was no name on the cover, it was as if it officially exist, which for the record, it didn't. Then he swiped a palm against the other folder, it was also stamped with the same word, but this one had a title on it. A title is a bit much, it really only had one word. VALOR was scrawled on it in an orderly and neat fashion, large enough to be of interest and catch the eye from a distance.

He thumbed it open, he knew who it was written by, of course. How could anyone not, that overly feminine but neat and concise hand-writing on the front, it could only be Alan Turing. All three of those egg-heads cooked up this little toy, which would supposedly give Thomas a bleeding edge advantage in his fight between realities. It was something only he could use. He looked at the phone on his desk and then he picked it up and rotated the dials on it. A man on the other side picked up the line.

"Yes, sir?"

"Jacob, do me a favor and bring me some coffee; you know the way I like it."

"Right away, sir!"

Hughes put the phone down and waited. A couple of minutes later a well-dressed guard in his dress uniform walked in, he was on the older side, not as old as Hughes though. He had the average face you'd see around town. The straight and slightly pointed nose, brown eyes, somewhat thick eyebrows. No matter which angle you viewed him from, he looked pretty ordinary. He set down coffee that looked like the blackest drink anyone could ever have. He threw a quick salute to Hughes and marched out of his office, the salute wasn't necessary between old friends, but Jacob was a soldier through and through.

Hughes took a sip of the coffee, it was very bitter much like most of his military career, but he could still swallow it. He wallowed in the taste, a man drank his coffee black, but he was more than a man. He was a king among soldiers and he drank directly from the void. After having his soul distilled by coffee he felt better focused and picked up the folder titled VALOR. He opened it up and read all of the information inside of it.

VALOR

PROJECT CODENAMED: VALOR; EYES ONLY, DESTROY AFTER USE

Valor is the codenamed project designed and headed by Alan Turing, Bernard Katz, and Elaine Schubert respectively. It is the designated name for A1944-M1 Mobility Enhancing Auto-Target Armor System respectively code-named VALOR MK I.

Suitable Candidates for use: Thomas Conlin, Samuel Jacob (testing purposes only).

The functionality of the armor system is to use dynamic servos developed by Elaine Schubert and Bernard Katz to increase wearer leg and arm speed and strength mechanically. The computerized system enclosed in the back casing developed by Alan Turing and company is designed to link up with the helmet and allow for advanced targeting and aiming assist with the use of the arm servos to eliminate shaking and absorb recoil. The user can run up to twenty miles per hour with bursts up to twenty-five for five seconds at ten-minute intervals. Newly designed ballistic gel and plating by REDACTED increase impact resistance and block calibers less than .308 or 30-06. A successful round of testing has been conducted at REDACTED and approved by REDACTED. Plan to be implemented no later than December 7th, 1941.

Hughes looked at the following diagrams and schematics, while he noted that the armor system was fully enclosed, the big square box on the back looked quite heavy. The helmet was streamlined and looked more like an armored mask than anything else. It was slimmed and toned down to reduce as much weight as possible, they used a newly developed material for the armor. It looked more like a suit to fit the wearer it was made for than an armor system, but then he noticed certain parts of the "suit" were a little bulkier than others, especially along the legs and arms. Though he did note that other diagrams have shown that these stiff looking parts are actually quite flexible. Overall it would be quite interesting to see what those eggheads had cooked up.

Major General Hughes was now interested in what would become of this armor system, after all, Thomas is just a man. He's no Captain Marvel, as much as these scientists would like to make him out to be. What was with this date as well? It was only two weeks away and it seems that it also coincided with the date at which he was supposed to solve this phasing problem. The higher echelon really enjoyed making things hard, well after all they only want results. He looked at the other folders, time to get his hands dirty.

AUTHOR'S NOTE EXPANDED:

Another day, another chapter! Thank you to everyone who continues to vote for my novel! We are so close to breaking into the top 200! Let's go! Only 40 more votes to reach the top 150!

Also, this novel took a bit of a turn, didn't it? Don't worry, this all plays into the next novel. I'm not finished with this yet, but a lot of stuff in here is prototypes for the real toys.

As always keep voting, I will also read and respond to your comments and reviews as I see them! Don't be afraid to add me on Discord or FB Messenger! The link is on my profile! :D Soon I will be creating a page you can follow on Facebook which will allow you to keep up to date with chapter releases as soon as they come out! Spread the word and let your friends know about this novel!

Big thanks to everyone who has stuck with me since day one! Especially to my top three voters, I see you guys vote every day and it really makes me happy! Thanks again all of you :)