Jethro: First to Fight

by Hechtl, Chris

  His implant timer chimed. He turned, adjusted his cover, and then moved on. He slowed near the flag poles, each were in cement on a slight hill. There was the Federation flag, planetary flag, and Marine flag. He saluted Captain Pendeckle in passing and then returned to his path.

  Someone had gotten smart, or in some cases dumb, he wasn't sure. A few areas had signs or colored markings. In a ship that was standard, that might be why they were there, to familiarize the recruits with naval ship interior layouts. But in a training base, it was contrary to what he had learned.

  Trainees were deliberately kept off balance, forced to ask for directions and for permission to do virtually everything. That served several purposes, it broke down their civilian side, and it forced them to become reliant on their instructors for directions. Dumping recruits into an area and then giving them orders to get to a new unfamiliar location was also a good way to shake them up and see which ones adapted, and how quickly.

  There were two types of boots, the ones who knew it all, and the ones who kept their heads down and tried to just get by. It was fun showing the know it all's up. Letting them boss the other recruits around and then humiliating them might be fun for some, but for Clive it took a little getting used to, he was still having trouble with the role.

  Hitting on the followers was also fun. Jethro realized with a slight smile that he had been a know it all, but the Gunny had cut him a boat load of slack since he hadn't let his ego show, nor had he thrown his weight around. Much.

  Jethro nodded politely to privates as he entered the DI staffing lounge. He removed his cover inside, tucked it under his arm and then went to the lounge.

  He was still having paperwork issues. The military had discovered the joys of paperwork a year ago, and it had finally caught up with the Marines. One of the things that kept getting kicked back at him was his MOS, his Military Occupational Specialty. Apparently because he filled so many roles he didn't fill the green bureaucrats ideal slot. They kept nagging him to chose one specialty and stick to it exclusively. The nagging e-mails were getting on his nerves. He made a note to talk to Gunny about them then put the thought out of his mind and focused on the here and now.

  The meetings with the DI staff were interesting and mostly informal. He poured himself a cup of coffee and then took his normal seat. He hadn't always been loose, it had taken him a bit of time to loosen up.

  “All right, let's make this quick, I've got work and the pups will be finishing chow soon. Who wants to start. Do we have any issues to be aware of?” Gunny Schultz asked, coming into the room. He stared about.

  One by one they dumped incidents, most of them minor to the group. It let them be aware of potential crisis in the brewing, such as hostility between a Veraxin and human recruit.

  “I was debating on having them work it out in the ring Gunny, but we're a bit busy in this rotation.”

  “Let's see if they get over it, or if their squad leaders come forward to deal with it. Speaking of which, any problems? Anyone rising to the occasion?”

  Squad leaders had it hard, as did platoon leaders. If anything went wrong, which frequently it did, they caught it in the end. They had to keep their people moving and in line, get them ready for inspection, and teach them how to fix issues. So far only two squad leaders had managed to stay the course. Most were busted back into the ranks in less than a week.

  “It's a bit tough you know, I mean, here it's all ground oriented Gunny,” Asazi said. “But in Pyrax, it was all space based. That's really what we need to be focusing on. Class room crap is just that, crap.”

  “True. And I realize the space part of our syllabus is a bit bare right now,” the Gunny replied. “There is no helping that right now.”

  “Too bad we couldn't get the navy to tow a training ship here,” Corporal Bosco said.

  “Why don't they make one here in orbit or on the ground? I mean, we've got shoot houses, why not trainers? Ships and such?” Jethro idly commented. That got the other DI's laughing.

  “Jethro, in order to do that, they'd have to build a power plant and drives. You can't do that on the ground. And right now with the lock outs, they can't do it in space or on the ground period.” Gunny Schultz explained patiently.

  Jethro thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "So? We don't need them in a mock up right? It's a mock up after all, it's not going anywhere. We don't build the entire house complete with furniture for the shoot houses, we build the basics. What we need to get the point across without wasting material. We don't need a hyperdrive in a mock up, just something that looks like one. Or say, a control room for one. I seem to recall drills being held in those films we watched. Fire drills, so on and so forth. If they can drill for an emergency, why not for regular activities? Same for the power plant and other things. Virtual sims are great but not good enough. Sometimes it takes being there, seeing the scratched paint, feeling the boredom to appreciate it. Like you taught us Gunny, real world experience trumps virtual every time."

  The other DI's look surprised. The Gunny flicked his ears and gave a small tight lipped smile to his protégée, and then to the other DI's. "Out of the mouths of newly minted sergeants,” he said, then turned back to Jethro. “Good plan. Get me a more detailed written one we can present to the powers that be later today. Start with oh, a ship, but also a station..."

  "We can tow a rock or two into orbit Gunny for that training," a DI interjected getting into the spirit of the discussion. “Maybe bore it out or something? I mean, like they did with the orbital forts in Pyrax.”

  The Gunny nodded. "Good point. We can have an orbital hab for training and temporary living. We can even sim combat boarding and drops."

  Jethro winced at that idea but nodded dutifully with the others.

  "What about power?"

  Jethro shrugged. He'd already answered that one with a suggestion to Lieutenant Commander Shelby Logan nearly a year ago.

  "We use solar. I believe you mentioned that to Lieutenant Commander Logan?" the Gunny asked. Jethro nodded. The Gunny turned to the others. "So we do that. We set up a solar farm, or several of them. Or solar panels on stations and installations, whatever works."

  "Right. We meaning the squids, since they've got nothing better to do," the sergeant said with a smirk. The Doberman snorted.

  “Can we use this to make an orbital fort? Say in orbit or at the jump point?”

  “Why bother? It leads to Pyrax dummy!”

  “Not that one! The other one!”

  “Ohhhh...”

  “Yeah. Oh. I bet the powers that be didn't think of that.”

  “I don't see why they didn't but we can buck it up the chain of command and let them think it over.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Easier said than done. Do they have any idea what that plan entails?" Firefly demanded as the noncom proposal reached the upper echelon of the chain of command a few days later. They were already behind schedule with most of their priority projects. That last storm ground side had shut down the space ports for nearly a week.

  The Major snorted at idea and it's source. The good Sergeant was turning into a very good Marine. Worth his weight in any metal anyone had. He did have a habit of thinking outside the box, and think outside his Marine prevue. "It's a good idea, great even. We don't have the manufacturing support, I know Hephaestus...” He rubbed his chin. “I wish they'd came up with idea a few days sooner,” he sighed. “I suppose we might get something done, if you put your engineering teams to it. We've got the plans, and I've got some Spacebees on the ground... But we'd have to either ship most of the pieces in from Pyrax or up from the planet anyway. And last I checked we don't have the industry on the planet. This system is well..."

  "Lacking in orbital industry." The Agnosta colony had opted for a low key approach when it had first been settled. Their descendents had kept with that idea. They firmly believed in paying for things when they could afford them, not going into debt. The factory ship had completed
it's early navy projects and switched to building equipment and systems for the dirt siders but had quickly run out of projects and material. Reluctantly they had said good bye to the ship two days ago. It was now on its way back to Pyrax.

  "Correct. The main belt is from the broken up planets closer to the stars. The stars have a high radiation level and the intense flux from the radiation and unstable belt makes it extremely hazardous to navigate," Firefly responded. “The probes we sent out found that the area is rich in basic resources but lacks more exotic materials. In other words it is rich in silicon, iron and basic metals but has little titanium and other materials we would need for this project or other building projects. Shielding... trust me on this Major, mining the main belt isn't cost effective. We would barely break even despite how dense it is. The radiation is just too intense.”

  "I'm surprised the planet hasn't been kissed by a rogue," the Major mused, rubbing his chin.

  Firefly shrugged. "Oh it has, we found that out. And we've got a few we're tracking now. They come in every couple of years or decades. Plus the annual meteor showers in winter."

  "Interesting. Can we catch some of these rocks?"

  "Why?"

  "Well, you said we can't mine the main belt due to its location. But if we catch a rogue Atens going in the right direction..."

  "It won't be in the main belt. I see where you're going with this. I believe the admiral did that here as well. Or at least tried to. I'll have the check the log."

  “Good idea. Trust the admiral to be one step ahead of us,” the Major said with a twist of his lips.

  "It'll have to be the right rock," Firefly said. "Something that hasn't been irradiated too much. But we can test for that. It will give the sensor crews something to do other then play spades."

  "True," the Major said with a smirk.

  "So we're..."

  "Oh we'll do it. He was right. It's simple, it's expandable, and it's something we should have thought of. We can build the core and use transhab modules for living quarters easily enough. The training modules can be built in sections and shipped here." He seriously regretted letting the factory ship leave now. Commander Logan was going to flip his wig when he asked for it back.

  "I... that is an interesting thought. We don't have the budget for it however."

  "We'll have to look into that then. I know we're focusing on getting the infrastructure in the system set up, but you're about done with the comm sats correct?"

  "We still have a ways to go with the docking station. We also need more than one refinery for redundancy."

  "True, but I bet we can make do with one while we work on the core and transhabs. I wonder if we could farm the habs out ground side? Have them built to spec?"

  "You're considering using outside sources?" the Major asked, clearly surprised by the suggestion.

  "Ground side sources. If we offer a contract to one of the new industries..." Firefly mussed. “Or even sub assemblies. Milspec of course...”

  “Is it possible?”

  "They may be capable of it. Several textile and plastics industries have started within the past month. We'll have to vet them thoroughly though."

  The Major nodded sagely. "And we can help them along by giving them a juicy government contract. Something they can use to prove their worth while getting income."

  "And we can focus on more important issues. They will in turn learn to use the materials for commercial space projects as well. Perhaps even trade. I like it. I gather you wish to use this method for furnishing and other materials?"

  "Why not?" he asked amused. "Share and share alike."

  "How do you propose to pay for all this? As I said a moment ago, we don't have a budget item for this."

  "No..." he said slowly checking his budget files. "But I think I can shift some priorities around on the Marine side. We're doing fine with Parris island. We can hold off on the arctic and desert training and proving grounds for now."

  "You're seriously considering this?"

  "Why not?" he demanded. "Think about it, it's easier then shipping the soldiers back and forth to do the training right? Five or six week transit time? One way?"

  "True."

  "Also, this way we can train in larger groups if necessary,” the Major said. He liked using sims but sims didn't quite get the job done. Sometimes the best way to train was to use and abuse equipment. To use it until it broke and then document what went wrong and where so they could fix the problem.

  "We can also put the freighter we were using for training exercises in Pyrax into service. It has a functional reactor," Firefly suggested.

  The Major rubbed his chin for a moment and then shrugged. It wasn't his problem. "True, we can do that. I bet the sublight drives can be repaired easily, but something tells me her hyperdrive..."

  "Is an issue. But as you and Sergeant Jethro have pointed out, where there's a will there's a way. The drive isn't destroyed. I have accessed the damage reports. It is repairable."

  "Good," the Major nodded. "Just as long as the damn Pyrax politicians don't try to steal it from us. Worse than pirates I swear."

  "True, you can fight the pirates. With the politicians you have to grin and bear it. Usually while bending over with your pants around your ankles," Firefly replied. He had his own experience with politicians during the Xeno war and in the present time. “And of course they expect you to thank them when they're done,” he said dryly.

  "Ain't that the truth!"

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Firefly thought about the asteroid fort idea. He did a scan, there were several rocks within easy towing distance of the jump point to the empty Beta 452c system. A new thought was added to the AI's cognizance. “Damn jarheads,” the AI grumbled to the tactical officer.

  “What did they do now?” the elf asked, looking up.

  “Thinking.”

  “Not something they're known for,” the elf joked. “What about?” she asked.

  “Shoot houses in space mainly. But they did mention orbital forts. I'm now wondering about that... and why there aren't any left in the sector. No one has mentioned any.”

  “Yes, that is odd,” the elf replied, nodding. “I'd suggest passing that on to history or intel. See what they can come up with.”

  “Yes. I've made a note. But I do wonder, did Agnosta have a fort? And if it did, can we find it?”

  The elf blinked. “That is an interesting question. We'd have to check with ground side historians.”

  “Do you have a midshipman available for extra homework?” the AI asked slyly.

  “I like the way you are thinking,” the elf chuckled, tapping her implants. “Midshipman Reardon is currently not working on anything specific,” she said after checking with the JTO.

  “Do you want Ensign Tr'j'ck to pass the order on?”

  “Oh, I think he'll be a bit put out if he didn't. Since he is the JTO and all.”

  “I see.”

  “But that does bring up an interesting point, there is nothing stopping us from making a couple fortresses of our own,” Purple Thorn said thoughtfully.

  “An interesting idea,” the AI replied. “We don't have the resources, and Vulcan isn't scheduled to remain long enough to handle such a project.”

  “Perhaps not, but we could oh, tow a couple of asteroids, small ones about oh, a kilometer in diameter, tow them to orbit here and then use our grasers to bore them out. We could use them as that shoot house the jarheads want, maybe a supply depot, place for our people to transship cargo and personnel down to the planet. And oh, I dunno, maybe in time upgrade it with weapons.”

  “That is an interesting thought. And I suppose we could tow a couple to the B452C jump point too while we're at it.”

  “True.”

  “Only one problem, power,” the AI replied thoughtfully.

  Purple Thorn blinked her goat eyes and then sighed softly. “You would crash a gal's dreams by bringing logistics and reality into it,” she said mournfully.


  “Oh, don't be too down,” the AI replied thoughtfully. “After all, the good Sergeant did suggest a work around for that as well. He and Sergeant Riley. We just need to make some solar farms...”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jethro focused on his DI role of training weapons safety, proficiency, and marksmanship. He singled out individuals in each class that showed great weapons proficiency and marksmanship, as well as an interest in sniping.

  Jethro explained a simple concept to the classes. "You want to engage the targets closest to you first. If you're sighted on someone else, take the shot fast then move in to your minimum range and then back out. Push them back," Jethro explained, surveying his students. He wondered if he had looked this earnest yet ignorant.

  He watched the students. None were nodding which meant they didn't get the concept. "You're creating a safety zone, a zone of death. This works if you're a shooter, sniper, anti armor, or anti air. It's common practice for all fields of discipline. Take out the target that's the biggest threat to you first then move on."

  "Once you've cleared your zone you can target at your max range. Some snipers like to deliberately bring that engagement line in a bit so they can occasionally catch people off guard," he flicked his ears to his fellow sniper DI.

  "Being a sniper isn't just about covering an area. In covering that area you're creating a zone of freedom for our own people while denying it to the enemy. By engaging them at max range from cover you are harming them psychologically. Someone is killing them from so far away and they can't see them," he hissed, ears flat, eyes narrowed.

  A few students near him reared back in surprise. "And if you do it right they'll shit a brick at the accuracy. But accuracy takes time and practice, which is what we're here today to do. We're on the range for a reason. Pop ups are the targets of the day. They will be moving toward you. Some will cluster, some will move faster or slower, or take cover.”

  “Your job as a spotter is to identify and let your partner know where each is accurately. The job of the sniper is to take them out. Feed the beast. Push them back and create your area of denial. Let's get cracking."