Jethro: First to Fight

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Ten point five,” Fonz said.

  “Eight,” Gusterson said.

  “Shield wall is just about drained,” Ox replied. “Fifty seconds, maybe a minute.”

  “Okay, that's out. Well, this is an offensive exercise anyway,” The bear said. “Got your pack?” He asked looking at Jethro. Jethro nodded. He turned to Asazi. “Got your gear?”

  The woman jumped and then swore. “I knew I was forgetting something,” she muttered, moving to recover her dropped surveillance gear.

  “Mortars are out,” Sergei reported. He had his micro camera in his hand. He stored it in a small port on his hip. He shucked the empty ammo packs and mortars and then unslung his Impaler. He checked it as he had been taught and then nodded.

  “I wasn't going to use them in this anyway,” the bear said. “Okay, you're on,” he said, nodding to the panther.

  Jethro went over to their starting point and pulled off a cloak sheet. Underneath was his wings on a stand. “Someone want to give me a hand suiting up?” he asked, looking at Ox as Letanga climbed to get the rest of his gear from his sniper nest.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The simulation was brutal, but another success for Valenko's squad. The new shields and the tactical changes forced the defenders off balance and added confusion and consternation. Valenko was careful to use only one shield at a time, rotating them out at each intersection. When Silverman got cute and tried to flank him, Fonz blocked it until his shield was drained.

  By that time however Jethro had exited the station and used his flight pack to get to another lock near their objective and then reentered. He'd shucked the flight pack and then cloaked, going on the offensive he took Silverman out inside her control room. After that it was just a matter of clean up.

  Good and bad natured grumbling about cheating was brooded about. Valenko had the shields and gear recharged.

  “Fine, you try it,” he said to Silverman when she grumbled again. He waved to Fonz who looked up in surprise. “Give the lady the gauntlet Private. You too Asazi. We'll go with two and two, fair?” he asked, turning to Silverman. She nodded, testing the shield out. He sent her the file on it and then waited for her to distribute each gauntlet to one of her people. When they seemed confused by the devices he silently waved Asazi and Fonz in to do a quick tutorial.

  “Boss, why'd we do that?” Asazi demanded when she returned to them and they reset. This time they were the defenders and Silverman would be the aggressor.

  “Two things,” Valenko said, holding up two fingers as Ox checked the cameras. They watched Meyer's squad troop to their starting point, then pause there to talk on a secure channel. The guys with the shields moved them about, still getting used to them.

  “One, I need to know how to defend against them. I've got an idea, I want to see. Two, they aren't the enemy, eventually we'll have to go into combat with these people, I want them to be prepared and on our side.”

  “Ah, gotcha,” she said nodding. “Still doesn't seem right,” she grumbled, checking her weapon.

  “I didn't say I'd play fair,” the bear said, indicating to the Tauren to get ready with his shield wall. Ox nodded. Asazi followed his wave and then looked at the Tauren. She barked a laugh.

  Silverman came in with the shields in front, mirroring what the bear had done. He however had a surprise for her. Ox had monitored her approach with the cameras and had set up his shield wall to block the passage. They saw the shield's glowing force field blocking the way in front and swore. The Neo's fought them back despite some of their own twists. The shields were a major advantage, but they had a disadvantage.

  Lieutenant Silverman got cute and tried to adapt their own tactics. They saw it coming late, she had her point man toss his shield into the shield wall. The two force emitters interacted, tearing each other apart. Ox winced at the carnage. The wall went down and she moved in. Hurranna dropped in from behind them, cutting up her rear guard. She bolted forward into Asazi and her shield wall. Her men spread out to flank the heavyworlder but they each ran into a fire team and were cut down or driven back. Eventually the exercise was called.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The next day they did it again, this time with a borrowed Marine assault shuttle. First Valenko's team was the aggressor.

  The Grendel was a bit of a confusing bird, first because it was a dedicated space assault shuttle, and second because there was a second shuttle class of a similar name. Whereas the Grendel Assault Cutter was from the Doscher Space firm, the Grendel Heavy dropship was from the Mooney aerospace corporation.

  The Grendel was perfect for the mission, she was a bulky thing, with a T in the front. The hammerhead sported drive nacelles for harsh braking when the ship was coming in for a hard dock. Each drive nacelle could swivel as needed, and sported small fins that had RCS pods built into them. The fins were stuffed with fuel bladders and point defense arrays. The chin fin sported another drive nacelle as well as an RCS pod and lidar and point defense arrays.

  At the center of the T was the universal docking port. Around it were a cluster of lasers, cameras, and waldo arms to grab onto whatever the craft was docking too.

  Mid-line was a series of craft was a series of cargo bays. This was where the Grendel shown, each could hold a half squad of powered combat armor. There were four such bays on either flank of the craft.

  Nestled on top of the craft's rear between the two upper drive pods was the sensor suite and command deck. That allowed the crew to survive hard impacts.

  The underside stern sported another sail, this one had fuel and RCS thrusters in strategic locations. A cluster of point defense lasers were also on the sail. By putting the RCS and point defense pods in the sail tips it pushed them out away from the hull, allowing them greater range and flexibility in maneuvering.

  The stern of the craft sported four massive engines, two low on either side, and two on the top. These engines could move, swiveling a full 360 degrees and pitch up 20 to 30 degrees when needed. The shuttle was a pain to fly, even with implants and full computer support, but she was a hardy craft, able to get in and do the job when needed.

  There was one Grendel in the navy's inventory, and one Grendel. Both craft were over a thousand years old and still flying.

  From the start it was obvious Silverman had driven her people hard to think of a counter to the shields. She hadn't twigged on Jethro's flight pack however. He used it to ride in. and then dropped to hit the enemy from behind. The exercise lasted for three hours before Valenko won. By the end though only Jethro was graded as uninjured though.

  The second sim Jethro positioned a trio out on the hull to help repel boarders. He even used his flight pack to ambush the shuttle. He flew out to the shuttle and attacked the shuttle as it docked, slapping breaching charge on it. The exercise was graded as terminated in seconds. They broke for lunch and to go to the Annex.

  The last scenario had them up against a full platoon in virtual reality. The scenario was a hot drop in a forest. They managed to handle it but it was hard, the shields and specialty gear were energy hogs that had to be conserved for critical moments. When the exercise concluded they discovered that the Major himself was the enemy op force Commander. Major Forth was amused and surprised by how well the Neo's had done. Valenko's squad had been up against an entire platoon of simulated suit and vehicle armor and the Neo's had still cleaned their clocks.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The Major made sure to praise them for their thought and designs during the exercise debrief. “You did good, I'm proud of you. That's some thinking out of the box.”

  “Thank you sir. Sergeant Riley deserves some of the credit for coming up with the designs sir,” Valenko said.

  “He earned a beer, I'll make sure he gets it. But he made the systems, well him and Ox. You and your people took the gear and created the techniques to not only use them, but counter them. I'm proud of you for that. Good job.” He could see the exhaustion in the bear's eyes. He nodded. He
then turned to Silverman. “And I'm glad you pointed out the weakness in the design, even though it cost us two prototypes,” he said.

  “I honestly didn't know that would work the way it did sir. I remembered my classes, but I thought they'd just short out.”

  “I see. Well, it worked. Now we know.” He turned to Valenko. “Now I need you to train the other squads on this equipment and the tactics for them. But not today. Tomorrow.”

  “Aye aye sir,” the bear grunted.

  “I'll have Schultz back to you soon, I promise.”

  “We're getting along without him sir,” the bear rumbled as he shrugged.

  “That's right, you did all that with two men down,” Silverman said, shaking her head.

  “One. We had Gusterson and Fonz. Both are still shaping up.” The bear turned to the two rookies and gave them a look. Fonz didn't squirm, but he did briefly see Gusterson's whip tail swish a few times.

  “I see.”

  “Ox that a boy, damn good job. I want your ass in the armory first thing in the morning making more. I'll see if I can send some people over to you from each of the squads to help you and Riley out. Maybe we can pass it on to a subcontractor or something.

  “Aye sir,” Ox rumbled.

  “Last thing, I don't want this equipment brooded about. So no kudos’s on the public or military nets. I don't want anyone getting wind of this. If they know about it, as you know, you lose half your advantage.”

  “Definitely sir,” Jethro said wryly. His ears flicked. “And once they know about it, they can make their own.”

  Gusterson nodded grudgingly. He personally liked the idea of the shield in some respects, it gave him cover when he needed to get to or work on wounded in an exposed location. But the energy it put out and it's blue glow drew fire like a magnet. That part he didn't like.

  The Major glanced his way and then back to the room at large. “I'd like to say loose lips sink ships but that's a squid's saying. What I am going to say is that if you talk you may get you or your buddies killed so don't say anymore than what you have to get by with. I know you're excited as I am about the tech. Good. Keep training on it. But don't brag about it. That's an order.”

  “Aye sir,” the squad said in unison.

  “Good job all of you. I wish I had a thousand more just like you. Dismissed.”

  Chapter 10

  Two weeks after the exercises concluded a routine security check of the station depots found life where it shouldn't be, on one of the mothballed stations. Station two oh one had its lights on, but no one was supposed to be home. The report quickly worked its way up the chain of command but was intercepted and “misfiled”.

  However the person who found the squatters, Sensor tech third class Percy Jackson, talked to others when nothing was done. His friends didn't believe him, but asked around or talked about it with other crews. Slowly the news hit the grapevine. Eventually the gossip worked its way around the enlisted, with some wondering why no one noticed. Various theories were brooded about, such as a possible super secret project that the brass didn't want anyone to know about.

  Then the squatters announced their presence with a radio press release. All hell broke loose after that.

  Logan found out about squatters in the depot station when his Yeoman came in and turned his wall screen on without saying a word. Logan frowned ferociously at the intrusion, but then the subject matter registered and he cursed.

  “So what can we do?” the yeoman asked when the initial cast finished and went into a repeat. “Sir?”

  “What else? Send in the Marines,” the Commander said grimly. He was more concerned about why no one had noticed and the implications of that.

  “Sir, are you sure that's wise? They're soldiers, not police. Shouldn't we consider MP's?”

  “They're re-taking our stations. I get that they don't have training to deal with civilians, some do. Get Valenko's squad on this, they are our best and brightest. But yes, have MP's come in behind them to sweep up the mess.”

  “Aye aye sir,” the yeoman nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  What the hell? Why did they do that?” The governor demanded. “Why announce their presence? How stupid can these idiots be?” he snarled.

  “I don't know sir. Something happened. Perhaps they got impatient and wanted it over and done with.”

  “Or they were running low on consumables,” Another aide said.

  “That's certainly possible,” the first said, nodding in agreement.

  “How?!?” The governor demanded. “It's a depot station!” He snarled, throwing up his hands. “How could they run low?”

  “Perhaps it had things other than consumables sir,” Senator Long said. “After all, the station wasn't intended to be occupied. It could have, oh, I don't know, parts on it. Or raw materials for all we know.”

  “And the replicators? What about them?” The governor demanded.

  “If they were installed. Would you install a replicator in a place that was rarely going to be used?” The senator asked. The Governor fumed and sat back in his chair. He rocked back and forth, digesting this missive for a few minutes.

  “Either way, it doesn't matter,” Mr. Edever said. “We need to move to phase three now or we'll lose,” he said pointedly, looking at the senator.

  Senator Long spread his hands. “I'll try, but there are no guarantees. The senate is in recess now. We'd have to call them back. We need to drag this out a bit to get the ball rolling on my end,” he said. “I've still got some deals and arm twisting to do.”

  “Then do it. Get it done,” the governor ordered, waving a dismissive hand.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Ensign Valenko got the call just before they were about to start another round of exercises. He scowled, then turned to Gunny Schultz. The Gunny flicked his ears, but he could see the Doberman's muzzle tighten ever so slightly in disapproval. This was going to be a sticky thing. “Why us?” Asazi asked.

  “We're the best!” Fonz said, holding up a fist.

  “There are Marines closer. In the annex. Why us?” Asazi asked.

  “Those are our orders. We carry them out. Maybe command thinks we'll scare them into surrendering. I don't know,” Valenko said. “Get your gear and game face on people. Time to earn our pay,” he said moving to the lockers.

  “Shuttle leaves in ten!” Schultz called out. He glanced at Pa'nash. The Veraxin hesitated briefly, but then caught him looking at her. Her four eyes moved in unison, a Veraxin equivalent of rolling her eyes.

  “I'll be fine Gunny, honest,” she said, moving to her locker. His eyes lingered on her briefly before he moved to his own locker.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The media went into a feeding frenzy, the Navy was forced to hold off noisome leased tug ships that suddenly flocked to military controlled space. Mr. Gutierrez flat out refused to take any ticks and fleas into naval space, he did so quite loudly on a live media feed during an interview.

  The inbound Marines were hastily given new ROE orders. “This is direct from Major Forth,” Valenko said, reading the orders. “Don't fire unless fired upon, record everything and for spirit of space sake don't make an ass of yourselves on system wide media,” he read out loud, eyes scanning the text.

  “Great, that means no strong arming anyone, no beating, and I'm assuming no one goes out a lock without a suit,” Schultz said, checking his people. The Ensign had chosen armored skin suits over powered combat armor. Now he knew why, the bear wanted to make a statement, but didn't want to look like an armored fist. Or at least not anymore than he had to.

  “Sure, take all the fun out of it,” Fonz grumbled, pouting.

  “Zip it. It just got more interesting not less. Watch it people.”

  “Great, that's all we need. The long eye and big mouth of the media.”

  “Hey man, Knox news is all right.”

  “Yeah well, they are, but some of the others aren't. And some of them are out to get us. Reme
mber that.”

  “Great.”

  “You really are a killjoy Fonz.”

  Schultz glanced at the double squad of back up troops. Eight Marine police had been scrounged up from Firefly, along with two medics, a pair of naval techs and a naval Ensign. All were human, all seemed more nervous about being in a tight fitted room with Neo's than the mission. There had been a brief spat between Valenko and the human Ensign, the human hadn't understood that date of rank put the bear in charge. That had been settled before they had left Firefly's boat bay.

  That was good, they didn't need the added complication of a divided chain of command. Things were going to be dicey as it was. “Remember the ROE. Stunners only. Don't point a weapon unless you're under imminent threat. The first one to pull the trigger will be in hack. I'll have you cleaning Firefly with a toothbrush for years,” he snarled.

  “Hooyah Gunny!”

  “Don't be as intimidating as you'd like to be. Keep it down. We don't want some freaked trigger happy yahoo going off and starting a fire fight because you growled or showed your fangs. Keep your cool.”

  “Hooyah Gunny!”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  About a million kilometers out from the station the pilot went into a slow turn, orbiting the station as he bled off velocity. Valenko took the opportunity to study the layout and sensor readings. “From the looks of things there are about fifty tangos in the station,” he said, pointing to the white hot spots moving around inside. “Most are in the habitats and control room.”

  “Sir, the dock isn't responding to our hail,” the pilot reported.

  Valenko took control of a camera and zoomed in. He sat back when the image cleared. “That's why. It looks like they barricaded the door.” He could see crates tacked all over the auxiliary docking port. A shuttle was docked to the primary port.

  “So...”

  “So if they did that there, then they did it on the inside too. Which means we have to go out of the box.”