A Glance In The Mirror - Part 2

Posted on 30 Jun 2016 @ 12:31am by Sergeant Major Arcenio Velez & Captain Korra Wen
Edited on on 30 Jun 2016 @ 12:31am

1,296 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Location: Marine Ofiices
Timeline: Curreny

The other company officers were already there when she arrived. She sat next to Captain Gyr’dek Shran: the Andorian leader of Charlie Company who claimed to be a descendant to the Imperial Guard commander that Earth explorers met centuries ago. Korra didn’t know how true that was, but he had a commanding presence that made many go along with the idea. He offered her a smile that looked patient, but offered subtle hints of annoyance. “Glad you could make it, Wen.”

Korra was about to retort, but Major Sharpe cut her off. “Everyone, listen up. Here's what I have in mind: Captain Jacobs, you and your fighters are flying cover for the boarding craft. Let the Aerospace pilots handle any fighters or batteries the ship has. I want you and your pilots to draw any Triple A away from the boarders. You might have a few pilots do some wild weaseling near the target airlocks. ”

“Yessir.” Jacobs replied. “All the same, I’d like some Marine ships rigged for fah-ter to fah-ter cawm-bat jus' n'case.”

“Fair enough. Just remember the boarders are your priority: let the flyboys handle everything else. See if you can't figure out what type of guidance system their Triple A has. That way, we might be able to set up an ECM.” Any electronic countermeasure the boarding craft could deploy meant less punishment from guided anti-aerospace artillery, or Triple A, and the more craft making their target boarding points.

Sharpe turned towards Korra. “Wen, I want you to take your raiders and storm airlocks Delta Seven through Twelve.” He pointed out a few highlighted airlocks on a holo schematic. The corridors around there are major arteries for the ship, so expect the enemy to pour in reinforcements if things start to go your way. We're gonna make them more scared of you than anything else going on, got it?”

Sharpe turned towards a Tellarite male. “Captain Gruun, you’re going to quarterback this operation. While Korra’s got the bulk of their defenses tied up, you’re going to make a rapid push for Engineering. Don’t let yourself get bogged down: if we can’t take engineering before they reinforce it, this operation will go to hell in a shuttle. You'll board at airlocks Echo Three and Four, Ten compartments aft of Engineering”

“What if they come after us instead of Alpha Company?” Gruun asked.

“Korra’s going to land first, and she’s going to have a straight shot to Engineering if they don’t hold her back. I don’t think they’ll ignore that. If they do, then you keep the enemy bogged down and Korra will rush Engineering.”

Shran’s face was a thunderhead cloud looming over stormy seas. “So you want me to help fend off enemy boarders?”

“That’s right.”

“Major, we’re the best Marines you’ve got! Let Gruun or Wen defend!”

Sharpe stared him down. “Well, not that I have to explain myself to you Captain,” Sharpe admonished “but Wen’s Marines are Odins. They’re trained specifically for difficult boarding and landing operations. Bravo Company has the most technical expertise, so they’re the best choice for taking Engineering. I need you and your top class Marines here defending our friends and families.”

Shran’s pride may have been wounded, but he had enough sense to let it drop. “Yes Major.”

“Any other insightful comments?”

Korra twisted her face in thought. This operation was going to get ugly, any way you sliced it. They’d surely see the boarders coming in and know exactly where to concentrate their forces. She wasn’t afraid of getting a little bloodied, but Korra didn’t relish the thought of walking right into a wall of enemy fire if she could avoid it. Transporters were out of the question: the risk was too great. ~If only there was some alternative that offered the speed and precision of transporters without the risk of a scrambler field.~ Shortly after the thought entered her mind, she wanted to slap herself. ~That was the whole point behind creating the Orbital Drop Marines you dumbass: to deploy Marines with transporter efficiency when transporters weren’t an option.~

“Sir, what if Alpha Company used the drop pods instead of boarding craft?”

Sharpe’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“If Tactical takes out their shields, we can calibrate our launch tubes and drop pods to punch through the hull,” she thought out loud. “We could launch empty boarders so that it looks like we’re landing via shuttles. That way, their forces get in position to defend the airlocks. Then, Alpha Company can deploy behind their defensive lines and make a quick stab at Engineering. Once we’ve got that, we can hit their defenses from both ends. Hypothetically, that would take some pressure off the boarders and let us take control of the ship before they know what happened.”

Sharpe considered that for a moment. He turned towards Velez. “Any thoughts, Sergeant Major?”

It was an interesting idea and Velez had his arms folded over his chest as he rubbed at his chin. "That's a big if sir. That and their sensors will most likely detect that the lack of life signs on the boarding craft. We should assume that our opposite is even more heavily armed than we are. The Terran Empire is nothing like the Federation so their craft is going to be stronger offensively and defensively. Tactical has had that anomaly targeted since we got here. If the fleeter on the bridge light up anything that comes through before they can react a straight out assault would get us aboard. A combination of transport, shuttle, and breaching craft will get us aboard and keep them from coordinating against us. But; if we have to go toe to toe...we need to be ready to deploy through any hole in their shields." He paused slightly then added a final thought. "If they have the defense batteries, like we do, those batteries could make a mess of things."

Sharpe nodded in agreement. "Boarders and breachers it is." He turned towards Korra. "We'll stick with boarding craft. Drop pods are too much of a gamble at this point."

Korra bowed her head. "As you say, Major." Her mind already started working on ways to avoid a complete slaughter as soon as the airlocks opened.

"Reports from earlier encounters suggest they have a transporter scrambler independent from their shields, so make sure your corpsmen know there won't be any emergency medical transporting until we have Engineering and disable that scrambler. They may need to carry extra medical supplies."

Korra nodded. ~not only are we taking a very obvious and predictable route into the unknown, it's likely going to be a one-way trip for everyone if we can't take control. Perfect.~

Shran picked up on her tension. "What's the matter, scared?"

Korra managed a patient smile. "Marine officers don't get scared." ~Pre-combat jitters? That's another thing altogether...~

"One last thing." Sharpe said. "Captain Gruun, I've asked Intel to send in one of their infiltration people...some kid from the old Achilles. She's gonna help you get through any security measures you encounter. See to it she doesn't get vaped."

Gruun scoffed. "I didn't know Intel trained people in alternate universe security systems."

"Let's just say I believe in stacking the deck. Can't say how good she is, but she's worked with Marines a lot with this sort of thing in our universe."

"Just keep an eye on her, eh? I'll be too busy overseeing Korra's assault personally" Sharpe turned towards Velez. "Anything you'd like to add, Sergeant Major?"

"No Sir."

“Ok. You all know what needs to be done...get to it. Dismissed.”

 

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