Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Sir yes sir,” the troops in the bay answered.

  “All right, break down by squads. I want a hot wash on the exercise this afternoon. Valenko, Jethro, as our resident experts I want a report on the exercise on my desk by, oh let’s say, twenty two hundred.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “I want to know what happened, what went wrong, and possible methods to fix them. And any ideas you can come up with to make this smoother. Don't kiss ass, and don't pull punches. Give me the straight dope,” he said dryly. He looked around the bay. “Inspection tomorrow, say around oh eight hundred. Full kit. Since your squad mates are off duty you should consider this a gift. Use it wisely.” He turned and left without a backwards glance.

  “Ah hell.”

  “What?” Jethro asked giving the bear a look.

  “You have any idea how much of a bitch it is to write with these paws?” the bear complained. He held up his giant paws. Unlike a cat, his claws didn't retract. Jethro snorted.

  “I'll help,” Hurranna said. “Just don't expect me to play secretary every damn time,” she growled.

  “Wouldn't dream of it. Let’s get cracking. It's already nineteen thirty.”

  Chapter 4

  The classes filed into the park and then fell in at the ready line. Schultz finished examining the sniper rifle in his arms and then rested the butt on one hip as he examined the class.

  “All right, we're going off program for today since there was a bit of a scheduling conflict and we want you all to move as a platoon. Since we don't want you getting bored, I decided to give you a peek at some of the weapons in the advanced courses,” he turned, checking the group. None seemed stupid enough to object.

  “In my arms is a SR-2204 sniper rifle. SR stands for Sniper Rifle. Usually the first two letters of a weapons name are the initials of it. AR means Assault rifle, PR means plasma rifle and so on. Figure it out,” he growled.

  “In this case I've got a sniper rifle with an Oracle scope. It rates at five clicks in good weather and good terrain. Like all slug firing weapons it's a mag fed rail gun.” He jacked the chamber and a round came out. Corporal Jefferson caught it on cue and then held it up. “Pass it around,” the gunny ordered. The corporal handed it to the nearest recruit.

  “This round is a bit different than the ones the army had at the beginning of the war. Some would think its backward, or the typical BS crap the corps gets, the old worn droppings and left over’s. I happen to know differently. Do any of you?” he stared at the group.

  After a full minute he frowned. “All right, lets' try one of our two experts. Valenko how about you?”

  The grizzly hid a grimace but stepped forward. “Sir the army used antimatter powered weapons at the beginning of the war.”

  “And why was this found to be a bad thing?” the gunny asked.

  “Sir, logistics. Antimatter is expensive and hard to make. It is made in space on dedicated platforms and has other uses so there is high demand. Also storage is an issue so no unit had more than a few thousand rounds each.”

  “Which means they got royally screwed in the early days of the war,” Schultz said nodding. The Grizzly stood at attention where he was until the gunny motioned for him to rejoin the ranks.

  “The navy has first call on antimatter. If you can't hold the high ground it's no use for a bunch of grunts to have antimatter toys. They'll just get flattened when someone in orbit drops a rock,” the gunny grinned. The platoon shared looks among themselves. The bear nodded.

  “Which is pretty much what the corps generals had in mind when they declined antimatter weapons in favor of the old tried and true. Old doesn't necessarily mean bad. Let that be a lesson. The simplest things are sometimes the best.”

  He turned and grimaced as he juggled the weapon. He got it up and then fired it. The round tore down range tearing apart a paper target. “Snipers are the staple of any long range unit. They will lay cover fire for units as they move or counter sniper fire when needed,” he said. He had a feeling the panther, wolf, and the leopard would fall in love with it. He turned and handed the weapon to Jefferson.

  The Corporal broke the weapon down and then replaced the scope and barrel with a new one. “As you can see the weapon system is modular, meaning we can break it down into different configurations. That means you can take one weapon into combat, use it as an assault weapon and then swap parts for sniper missions on the fly.” He nodded to Jefferson as the Corporal finished and held the weapon up.

  “All of you have achieved marksman with the basic assault rifle and tactical shot gun. Both have their uses. Here is something else.” The gunny pulled a cloth off a bunch of shapes on the table behind him so they could see. He picked up the first.

  “Here is a basic needler, an NR-501. It fires tiny needles of depleted uranium sheathed in a ferrite jacket down range at a target using the rail gun. It can fire them rapid fire. Needlers are great against flesh, the kinetic energy and hypersonic shock wave in atmo will tear a body apart. They are dick all against armor or hard solids like stone or brick.” He turned and fired down range. A melon exploded. He fired a second time and they could just make out silvery needle shapes bouncing off the temporary metal wall behind the melon.

  “Needlers get their stopping power by their velocity, and by having some sort of high density material in the center of a ferrite jacketed needle. The longer the barrel the greater the speed and accuracy but the heavier it is and harder it is to use,” he said and then grimaced. “But take note, the longer the barrel the harder it is to maneuver in close quarters. Needlers are spray and pray weapons. We try to avoid them.”

  “The other problem with this and any weapon that uses rail guns is that they use one hell of a lot of superconductor magnets.” He turned so they could see his prosthetic arm was magnetized to the gun. A few recruits started to snicker but a single lifted lip from the gunny and they quieted fast.

  Corporal Jefferson came over and helped to remove the arm. He slid it across the magnetized surface until it came off. “A cheap unshielded rail gun on automatic fire will magnetize anything it is near. It will also screw up your electronics, which include your communications, sensors, and your implants so keep on single shot,” he looked around letting them digest that.

  “We don't like to use needlers, they don't have the punch and the automatic fire problem is a liability we just don't need in combat. Not only does it mess you up, the flare tells the other side exactly where you are,” he grimaced a little. “Exit speed depends on a lot of factors. Barrel length, emitter coil strength, the type of round you are firing, and the atmo you are firing in. All the math is done in the computer, you just have to point and shoot,” he said, amused as the growing concern on some of their faces was slowly wiped away.

  “There are different rounds for different applications. There is your basic slug, then the incendiary slug, and a tracer slug. From what I understand there was also a sensor slug but we don't have any to play with. They are a pain to make and use.” He turned, flicked a selector switch and fired first tracer rounds, then incendiary rounds down range. Both looked like a laser weapon with short gaps between rounds. In the daylight conditions of the park bay it didn't stand out as well as he had hoped.

  “Note the play for the slug in the barrel. There isn't any if your manufacturer is smart and does his job right. That is because if you have any, the slug can strike the inside of the barrel, either gouging out a part of the material or leaving a smear of it's jacket behind. Either one is bad in combat.”

  “By now you have noted the power pack,” he said. He held up the clip and turned it. He jacked off a one centimeter by four centimeter rectangular block. “This is it. Each ammo clip has it's own battery pack. Earlier rail guns needed a large power source, making them extremely heavy and hard to aim. This reduced their weight and made them easier to handle. But they can fail like any other part of the weapon.”

  He handed the corporal the weapon then picked up a larger weapo
n. It was over two meters long, with a wide bulbous end that was split along its vertical and horizontal axis. He turned and braced himself before firing.

  A blinding white, blue, and purple shot leapt down the range and tore through the armor plate at the end. The plate exploded outward, raining molten pieces half way back up the range in a spectacular display. Energy crackled and sizzled. They could hear the atmosphere pop as they rose from their instinctive crouches and uncovered their ears.

  “Plasma gun. Like the needler it uses a rail gun to accelerate a plasma round down range. But it does so by turning hydrogen or some other material into plasma in a plasma bottle. Which is energy intensive. Which is why it has these massive battery packs. This is usually a crew service weapon. We've got smaller ones planned, ones that use micro force emitters, and we've got bigger vehicle mount ones planned. This will make or break your day depending on which end you’re facing,” he grimaced. “Don't screw around. You see someone on the other side with this take them out fast. A plasma gun will go through just about anything we've got fast. Even shielded systems will only take a couple hits before they go down.”

  “Yeah,” Sergei breathed. “I have so got to have one,” he breathed. The gunny shot the big Liger a look and then set the rifle down.

  “Here is another weapon system,” he said. He held up a rifle. “You've seen a stunner. This is its big brother a microwave laser also called a maser. It will superheat a pinpoint area on a target in a nanosecond. It can be used for sniping but it can easily be detected and localized. To localize the SR-2204 you need a bunch of sensors to triangulate.”

  “One of the interesting things we discovered is this weapon can blind visual sensors. Couple that with a stunner and you get a great long range distraction.” Jethro made a mental note of that one. That trick might come in handy in the future.

  “This is a grenade launcher,” the gunny said. He put the laser down and then hefted a small blocky weapon in matte green plastic. “We've got two different versions, the dedicated one which this one is, and another that mounts as an underside attachment to your standard assault rifle. The underside one pulls your barrel down and makes it harder to get on target fast so be aware of that.”

  “Most of you know the basic three grenades. We've got a couple more. EMP grenades can fry electronics in its attack radius. Bouncing betties will bounce when they land and then frag at waist height, tearing apart anything around it. Delayed rounds will blow a hole through an object then a secondary charge goes off inside a millisecond later tearing the place apart. Sticky grenades have a sticky material or magnet that lets them stick to a wall or other surface and blow in a pre-programmed direction. Sensor grenades can be fired and then you can link into them, letting you see and hear what is around them.”

  “We've got other weapons, more grenades, claymore mines, anti air weapons, and even more toys in the toy box. But unfortunately I couldn't get the clearance to use them here. You’re stuck using your dialed down smoke, flash bang, or frag grenades for now.” He shrugged as he grimaced. “I so wanted to look at mortars and grenade launchers,” he sighed and shook his head. “We'll just have to work with what we've got for now,” he growled. Jethro shot a glance to Valenko. He was kidding right? The glance said. The bear gave an infinitesimal shrug and then he went back to watching the DI.

  “Which should be enough. They did specify that we have to keep the park in one piece gunny,” Corporal Jefferson said smiling.

  “Bitch bitch. They can bill me.”

  That earned a snort of humor and chuckles from the group including the DI's.

  “A couple more things,” Schultz said letting the humor die a natural death. The gunny went over to the side and nudged a box on the ground. “The neat thing about rail guns is we can swap battery packs in the ammo clips. But even they are eventually run dry. So to keep the soldiers going we've got a micro power plant here. It'll charge the batteries and other equipment for a platoon. If you’re smart you'll have two issues of batteries. One your platoon is using and the other that is charging. That way you can swap them without having to wait.”

  He nodded to them then went over to another box. He nodded to corporal Brenet who took a spade and dumped a load of dirt into the top hopper. A green light on top lit. After a moment a package dropped out. “Field expedited ammo,” the gunny said holding up the package.

  “This isn't a replicator. What it does is compact and melt the stuff you toss into it, wrap a ferrite jacket around it, and then reshape it into ammo for our weapons. In this case assault ammo.” He tossed the ammo onto the table. “It will fire just like your issued clips as far as we know. We haven't tested it that well. That is about to change today.”

  “Now, it's time you got some hands-on with these weapons. First row forward,” he ordered. He pointed. The row took two steps forward. “Break down into interests. I want each of you to take a shot with each weapon. Keep the plasma rifle at ten percent power or I will rip you a new one. You read me?”

  “SIR YES SIR!”

  Jethro had to keep from blanching. The plasma weapon had been at only ten percent power? Goddess of space! He so didn't want to be in the path of one of those mothers if that was true!

  “Very well. Let’s go to it. Corporal Jefferson will work with each of you on the sniper rifle. Corporal Brenet will handle the plasma weapon. I'll check you on the maser rifle. Move!”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Major Forth snorted as he and Firefly watched the vid feed. “You were right,” he said, not looking at the gunny beside him.

  “I was pretty sure they were good,” Schultz growled, watching Valenko silently instruct the team with hand signs.

  “Hostage rescue?” First Lieutenant Pendeckle asked, watching the team at work.

  “Aye yup. They are good. I'll give them that. A few rough edges, but the quality is there under the surface.”

  “I thought I told you to back off? Give them some time off?”

  “I did. I gave them paperwork, that heavy weapons sneak peek, their usual Sunday of chores and light duty, and then book learning for the past two days but they were bored to tears. They asked for this.”

  The Major snorted. He watched Hurranna grimace as Valenko detailed her and the arctic fox to go through the ducts. She got busy with the cover plate right away however, not protesting.

  “Interesting,” he said as he shook his head. “He's changing the op plan.”

  “No plan survives contact with the enemy,” Firefly responded. “Though the duct plan is a bit questionable. Usually a bot would be employed instead.”

  “Which is probably what they would have done, but I limited their kit to what they had trained with,” the gunny replied. The holo image of Valenko motioned to Sergei and then made a knocking motion with a closed fist. He held up two fingers and then pointed to two other squad members, one the Gahsg and then pointed to Sergei to follow. They each closed a fist in acknowledgment.

  “Where is recruit Jethro? The panther?” the Major asked.

  “He's not showing up on our instruments Major. He is partially cloaked most of the time, he stands still for long periods of time. It is a security concern.”

  “Huh. I wonder if he'd be like that with implants. Couldn't you trace the energy signature or his Wi-Fi access?”

  “Not if he gets the recon package. He's the team close quarters and recon specialist,” Firefly responded. “Which requires a stealthy augment package.”

  “Agreed. Still, we may require him to run an IFF when not in a combat op.”

  “If only for my peace of mind you mean,” Firefly responded dryly.

  “Something like that. Mine as well,” the Major said watching the team move off. “Who's the sniper and rear guard?”

  “A selkie, private Deja is the rear guard. No sniper since this is an indoor op. No windows or means to target.”

  “Ah. Good call I suppose. Though they could fire through the deck or the walls with the right mix,” the
Major nodded.

  They watched as Hurranna and the fox got into position. The assistant DI's and marine volunteers playing hostage takers were focused on the two doors that were bottlenecks to their area. Sergei led the team around the doors to a wall panel.

  “What the hell?”

  “If your enemy expects you to come in one way, make a new door,” the gunny said nodding. “I think I know where this is heading. What I'm curious about is how he got the paste. I'll have to talk to Dixon the supply sergeant.”

  Sergei's large but delicate hands set up a ring the size of a hatch in the wall. He attached a detonator and then stepped to one side and gave a thumbs up. Valenko nodded and clicked his throat mike twice.

  At that signal the selkie rear guard tossed a smoke grenade to the first door. The DI's in the room shifted to focus on that area, tightening up.

  Then another pair of grenades clattered to the floor behind them. One turned just as the first flash bang went off. He flinched, jumping back and covering his face shield.

  Pandemonium erupted in the room. The wall blew open and Sergei charged through. His stunner went off twice before a DI hiding behind a couch shot him. He went down as his harness began to buzz.

  But behind him the others were charging. They were firing into the disoriented DI's near the door. The lone man with the hostages turned to 'kill' the hostages but suddenly a hand grabbed his harness. His alarm went off and he sank to his knees, hands on his head.

  “Bang, you're dead. With your throat ripped out,” Jethro growled. He looked over to Valenko as the bear climbed through the hole. “Hostages secure,” he uncloaked and rolled his shoulders.

  “Room secure,” the Gahsg reported a second later.

  “Good, can we get out of here now?” the fox whined from the air duct. Valenko snorted, shouldering his rifle. He nodded politely as the referee came in behind them, terminating the exercise.