by CN Stoesen
The exercise was rapidly becoming a nightmare scenario. He checked his readouts and saw there were at least three more mechs that had fallen.
"Jump over that mech," he shouted at Tommy.
The young driver did so upon clearing the drop ship and landed just past the head of the downed mech.
Over the command net, he shouted more orders, "All units, proceed to rally point Alpha One."
His mech took off at a trot. Dietler shrugged. At least his driver was getting better. He scanned his readouts. Less than half of his battalion was moving with him. The second drop ship had less problems than his did. Eleven of the twelve mechs were on the move. However, drop ship number three suffered a mechanical failure of one of its landing legs. This caused the whole ship to collapse on to its side. None of the walkers made it out. At least there were no casualties.
More experienced mech pilots could have gotten back on their feet or climbed out of the downed ship. But it was a feat well past his command's capabilities. As he watched the readout, he saw another walker collapse as it attempted to run and catch up.
He knew what the next training exercise would be. He had to get these men in shape before they were called into combat.
Chapter 4: Boarders Away
It took four months to get the various ships into position. Duncan's team aboard the Q-Ship trained relentlessly. She was confident that her men had the ability to pull off the task. They were just green troops that needed their first blooding.
Captain McDermont called Duncan onto the bridge. She arrived and came to attention.
"Captain Duncan reporting as ordered, sir."
"At ease," said McDermont without turning around. "We have just come in contact with the approaching patrol ship. It is one of their larger ones. Just smaller than an escort destroyer. The ship's transponder identified it as the Shrike. She's quick and powerful. If she breaks free, she might destroy us. Make sure your teams are ready and that they move fast."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Duncan.
"Thank you. Dismissed."
Duncan moved to her team's ready room. Her team was already putting on their armor. She had to move fast to get ready.
"All right, this ship is bigger than the last one. We need to move quick and get it taken care of. They may be better prepared. We think they've marines aboard. Shoot first, shoot fast, shoot accurate."
In unison her two teams barked, "Uhrah!"
The captain put his conversation with the enemy ship on the public address system. Duncan could monitor their progress. Things were going well. The teams were in position at the docking point. It was the same as before. Duncan's team was behind cover in firing positions while the second unit was ready to rush in.
The demand came for the Q-Ship to power down her engines. Captain McDermont complied, and the lights dimmed as the drive engines cycled down. Moments later, the ship shook as the enemy docked.
Her mind wandered, and she thought about her other teams. She said a silent prayer for their safety. She shook her head to clear her mind and focus on the here and now.
The sound of clamps attaching and the clunk of the extended docking tube linking the ships echoed through the hull. She moved her rifle to aim at the doorway. The other three members of the team did likewise. Each member was a raw recruit. None of them were her veterans. She thought they were ready.
The doors parted. As the legs of the enemy came into view, she could spot two sets of armor and another three sets of uniformed feet.
Duncan made hand signals to her team indicating that they were to target the armored ones first.
Her heavy gunner nodded and pulled his weapon into his shoulder. When the door had risen above the waist, he opened fire. The rounds sliced into the first armored figure. The trooper to his right and left fired their rifles at the other FUP marine.
Duncan fired a two round burst into the belly of one of the unarmored sailors. He crumpled over and collapsed on the ground. The first armored figure attempted to turn and run but just collected more rounds from the heavy gunner. He collapsed as his spine was severed. The second armored figure had his knees blown out by her two team members. He dropped his weapon as he fell to the ground.
Team two ran towards the opening. The remaining uniformed men had weapons drawn and fired. They were spraying rounds indiscriminately. The lead member of team two took two hits to his chest but the light weapon didn't penetrate his armor.
The marine behind him was the heavy gunner who opened fire and cut down the remaining FUP sailors. As they ran past, the third man in line fired a single shot into the back of the head of the kneecapped armored figure.
Duncan shouted to her team, "Move."
Then she and her team vaulted the barricade they made and ran forward. They entered the enemy ship. The first team in headed towards the engine room while Duncan's team moved to the bridge.
The central corridor ran the length of the ship. There were footsteps ahead of them and two armed but unarmored men rounded a corner from a side hall. They opened fire upon seeing Duncan's team. The FUP sailors were poorly trained with their weapons and their rounds went wide impacting into bulkhead. They didn't stop running and just fired from the hip. It was apparent that they had watched one too many movies as they were being foolishly heroic.
Duncan's team aimed. The bodies of the FUP sailors flew back against the bulkhead hit by round after round of accurate fire.
An alarm wailed across the ship. A voice rang out across the system, "All hands, prepare to repel boarders."
The ship shook as the engines roared to life and the enemy vessel attempted to get underway. This wasn't going to plan at all.
Duncan yelled, "Faster," to her team, and they picked up the pace.
They passed a second cross corridor and took fire as they ran past. One of her team's riflemen, Jacobson, was hit and fell. The rest of the team made it past. The trailing marine, Daniels, flattened against the wall and hurled a grenade down the corridor from the direction that the shots came from. There was a thunderous kaboom when the explosive went off.
Daniels then reached down and grabbed Jacobson by his gear straps and pulled him out of the center of the corridor. He checked the medical panel on the armored suit. Jacobson had been hit by a lucky shot that penetrated the neck armor which was the thinnest. He was the first casualty they had suffered since Duncan had become a marine.
He deactivated Jacobson's rifle and took his grenades before hurrying to catch up with Duncan. Daniels arrived to find them flattened against a bulkhead. There were shots impacting against the opposite bulk head at another intersection. Directly across from them was the closed and secured door to the bridge.
"Pressure check," barked Duncan.
Three voices responded, "Check."
This meant that their pressurized suits could handle a rapid cabin decompression.
Duncan switched her weapon to the grenade launcher and fired one shot blindly around the corner and the second into the bridge door.
The twin explosions would have been deafening to the team had they not been wearing their armor. Each suit contained sound dampening technology in the helmets to preserve their hearing. The damaged bridge hatch still stood in place despite the explosive impact. There were screams coming from down the corridor where her first grenade had exploded.
She waved to Daniels to turn the corner and put another grenade down there. He aimed at the bulkhead behind the FUP sailors. The wall took the hit and crumpled. The next shot blew through and impacted on the external armor of the hull. A new siren blared as the oxygen was being sucked from the hallway. The breach was far from a catastrophic one but enough to put the entire crew of the vessel in danger.
Duncan pulled Daniels back before putting a second grenade into door. This time the damage was severe enough they could pull the doors out of the way and get access to the bridge.
They found the entire bridge crew with portable emergency oxygen masks with their hands up in surren
der. Smoke rose in the room from the grenade blasts but this was being pulled out into the hallway towards the breach.
Duncan ordered the main corridor closed off and emergency barriers fell into place. This would ensure that the oxygen supply of the entire ship didn't vent out of the breach. Her men secured the prisoners and pushed them against the wall.
Duncan called out on her command circuit, "Sergeant Evans, what's your status?"
She did this while looking for the communication center of the bridge. Her men guarded the doorway to the bridge to ensure that there were no more heroes attempting to take the ship back.
Evans didn't reply. Only static was on her line.
Duncan used a line-of-sight laser communication array to transmit back to the Q-Ship that the bridge was secure.
Duncan reported in, "Captain, we have secured the bridge. I'm unable to reach my second team. I will attempt to re-link with them."
Duncan moved to the engineering panel and changed the throttle to all stop. The engines complied, and the ship appeared to slow on the readouts. Something was responding in the engine room.
"Daniels, watch the prisoners. Shoot anyone who isn't us that comes into the bridge. We're checking on the Evan's team." said Duncan.
"Aye, Aye, Captain." Was the quick response.
Daniels moved and took a covered position behind one of the command consoles. He could see the bound prisoners and the doorway from there. Duncan nodded in approval.
Duncan waved to Private Kregel, and the two worked their way backwards through the ship.
They made it 20 yards down the corridor when they encountered the first emergency barrier. These would make this trip a pain in the ass. The hull breach was probably not a great idea.
They had tools for this. Duncan plugged in the electronics kit into the barrier's console. It took about three minutes to crack the code and open the door for them.
Seeing no enemies beyond it, Kregel and Duncan moved through the hatchway. It slid shut behind them seconds later. The proceeded with caution down the corridor. This time they stopped and checked each room. The state rooms and bunk rooms were all empty. At the ends of the corridors were weapons stations for the ship. These were manned by unarmed FUP sailors who surrendered. These men weren't suicidal.
They approached the second emergency bulkhead. Duncan used the same kit to open it. When the door slid open, they smelled smoke. They couldn't see it or tell where it was coming from, but it raised their awareness. Stepping in through the hatch, the barrier slid shut behind them.
The corridor seemed more foreboding with the smell. The armored suits had a dual purpose. The first was to be an environmental filter. This allowed ambient oxygen to be concentrated and filtered from anything harmful. The second role was that of a pressure suit. If the armor detected that there was a loss of atmosphere, it would lock down and provide for a time, everything the marine needed to survive in most conditions including deep space. In filter mode, the helmets filtered out harmful air from the outside. But scents still seemed to make it through.
They came to the intersection where they had boarded the ship. Through the screen on the wall, they could see the ruins of the collapsible walkway still attached to the hull. There were no viewing ports, just a monitor for an outside camera to view it.
The other direction led to another possible boarding tube that hadn't been deployed. They advanced to the next emergency hatch. After opening this doorway, they saw the first bodies. There were three uniformed FUP sailors laying on the ground. Their bodies torn asunder by heavy weapons fire. They were on the right path for Evans' team.
At the next corridor intersection, there were two bodies of her marines laying on the ground. Evans wasn't one of them. Both were dead. It looked like Evans and his heavy gunner made it past this point.
To either side of the corridor were the remains of several FUP sailors. Apparently they had the marines in a crossfire. Someone had used grenades to resolve the issue based on the state of the FUP bodies. Some of them were still burning.
This was odd. Normally, the fire suppression systems aboard a star ship wouldn't allow for a fire to burn. Looking up at the ceiling, Duncan noticed that one grenade had taken out a section of the roof where the fire suppression system was. Still it was enough of a concern that Kregel moved to a wall and removed the mounted manual extinguisher and put out the flames.
Duncan nodded at the man. Better safe than sorry. They came up to the last emergency hatch before the engine room. Kregel and Duncan looked at one another. She plugged in the kit and opened the door.
Chapter 5: Wreck and Ruin
The hatch hissed open. A scene from hell emerged. The walls were torn to shreds by heavy weapons and rifle shots. Smaller holes were evident where FUP small arms impacted. Explosions were evident. Here the fire suppression systems had done their jobs. While there were things that definitely were burned, they weren't actively burning.
Bodies lay strewn about. There were at least twelve FUP crewmen lying dead on the ground. Their bodies bore evidence of the fierce firefight that took place here. Directly ahead was the open hatchway to the engine room. When they stepped through the doorway, it snapped shut behind them. Looking at her monitors, there was no atmosphere in this corridor.
Duncan and Kregel approached the hatchway and looked inside. Her team secured the engine room by force. She found Sergeant Evans leaning against a console. His severed right arm lay next to him. The stump extended to just above the elbow. The internal tourniquet of the power armor had done its job and sealed the wound and itself from the loss of limb. His face was pale and his breathing was shallow. Nearby was another suited marine. Something had destroyed his helmet faceplate. The lack of oxygen in the environment doomed the marine. The entire second group was combat ineffective or dead.
She surveyed the damage. A hole was present on one wall. It seemed that was how Evans' team took the engine room. They blew out a section of hull and expose it to vacuum. It was effective, and it was dangerous.
As she assessed the damage, she felt the ship shudder as it once again docked with the Q-Ship. With her job finished, the sailors could take over. Hopefully, the medical team will save Evans. He didn't look as if he could hang on much longer.
Studying the man's suit, she saw it had taken multiple weapons hits. One of which shattered the communication array in the helmet. The oxygen life support system wasn't working optimally. She moved to the downed marine and dragged the body over to Evans. With a bit of work, she rigged the dead man's life support to Evans' suit. A few seconds later, Evans' breathing normalized. Without taking him out of the armor, there was nothing more she could do for him here.
A knock came on the hatch in the hall before it opened. Sailors in breathing gear moved in with bundles of equipment. Two more entered with a hover pallet. These were the corpsmen. With Duncan's help, they loaded Evans and the dead marine on the pallet.
One corpsman was staring at the amateur engineering that Duncan did to link the two suits. Once he grasped what the purpose was, he looked to Duncan and gave her a thumbs-up before hauling the marines away to the sick bay of the Q-Ship.
The other sailors were working on a patch for the hole in the hull. Still others were examining the various instruments and the engines to ensure that they were functional. Duncan left them to their work. She walked back with Kregel toward the bridge and met Daniels.
"Sir, the Lieutenant, from the Q-Ship took over the bridge. He had sailors take off the prisoners. I was coming to find you." Said Daniels breathlessly.
Duncan nodded, "Good work. Evans' team didn't make it. Evans is hurt pretty bad. They took him back to sickbay."
Daniels looked a little green through his facemask. Kregel didn't look much better. It was just a matter of time before they had suffered losses. She had hoped it would have taken longer before they had to see this side of things, but it was just their turn.
Duncan spoke softly, "We lost good friends. Let's go hom
e."
Chapter 6: Debriefing
The marines were in a somber mood as they stripped off their power armor. They dressed in their duty fatigues in complete silence. Once suited up, they moved to the ready room and sat quietly.
Other teams filtered in once they heard the marines had returned. They entered with hopeful faces that fell into somber countenances once they saw how few of Duncan's team were in the ready room.
Corporal Johnson, one of the new recruits from the station, asked, "What happened, Captain?"
Duncan stood and waved all of them in. "Come in, we will have a debrief."
The men filed in and took seats. In the tight confines of a starship, the ready room also doubled as their off-duty area and had a bar. Duncan walked behind the bar and pulled out a bottle. She then lined it with shot glasses and poured the drinks. Waving to the marines, they filed by one by one and took a glass.
When all were served, she held her glass up, "Absent friends."
The somber men in the room chorused back, "Absent friends."
They all drank the amber liquid. A few of the younger and more innocent among the group coughed as the drink burned on its way down.
Duncan spoke again, "I would like to review this mission with the group. We now have the recordings from the marines that fell."
She then moved to the holotable in the center of the room. Keying a few instruments, she pulled up the mission logs. Following standard practice, she played the action through without interruption. Duncan watched the display in fascination. Sergeant Evans group raced to the engine room. They cleared none of the side hallways. The first one they came to, Evans, and another man sprinted across. Marines three and four took fire that killed one marine. The other marine solved the problem with a volley of rifle grenades. Simple and effective.
