USD: 62 Days after arrival at Fort Glisson
Location: Van Biesbroecks star, ltisar, Fort Glisson, Company S, 1st Cadre
Snow fell as lazy flakes in the nearly still air. Alexs fur-lined parka insulated her from the cold, but shed been idle for an hour and she was a white blob against the snow covered forest floor. Only her head and rifle poked out of her cover as she covered one sector, looking for any sign of the incoming hostiles.
Tia was beside her in the sa hole covering the other side of the hemisphere, their foxhole covered, both girls watching in nearly unbroken silence other than the sotis static call on their earpieces.
Their instructors had called in a platoon of experienced professional infantry to do adversarial training with them. Each platoon would go a round with them, with the recruits slated to play the role of insurgences in a dug out position in the forest. Cadre S was put up first, and it was just their luck that they were being snowed on for the 6 hours of setup and dig in ti theyd been granted.
Instructor Hills gave them all the sa stun rifles they had beco accustod to, and Alex hated with an unusual vehence. After her trick on the field, the DIs had brought her a special sh vest to wear.
It had a special na, did so fancy other things, but more importantly to Alex: it caused any hit by a stun bolt to shock the living shit out of her until it was impossible for her to do anything but fall to the ground screaming.
Contact, 1000 ters, 6-man squad. Tia said.
Alex suppressed the desire to turn and look at the other girl. As insurgents, they hadnt been given any surveillance or other gear to help them, and she didnt believe that Tia could hear them from a kiloter away!
There was no way she could see them through all the trees, either. Visibility from their position was limited to just a couple hundred ters at best.
What Alex could hear were small drones flying about, although the type of fan blades made them sound strange compared to the ones the recruits had been training with. Instead of high pitched and easy to locate the drones, the infantry team had emitted a muffled warbling sound that diffused into a wide area. It made it very difficult to tell where they were.
She didnt know whether those drones had IR or just optical caras, but she was betting they were fully kitted out and that their cover was probably useless. Theyd be two big hot spots in the snow.
Alex, if you cant camouflage yourself, go under the snow.
Now she did look over at Tia. What?
Youre going to give us away. Go under the snow. Ill tell you when they are in range.
Alex wanted to demand how Tia wasnt going to give them away, or even how she was tracking them, but then decided to just comply. One thing that she knew for sure was that Tia wasnt a liar, and she liked to win.
Alex liked to win, too. Scooting deeper into the snow, she used her arms to pile up the snow over her rifle and cover her head, leaving a small pocket for breathing. Her SNO2 gauge popped up on her HUD, showing that shed have limited air eventually, but it would not be a concern for how long theyd be there. Hopefully.
It didnt take long for the drones to get closer and buzz past their position. Only a few minutes longer than that before, Tias voice popped into her ear on the radio.
Targets acquired, three right, three left. Prepare for contact on my mark.
Alex tightened her grip on her rifle, ntally preparing herself.
Go! Tia said.
Alex popped up. Tia already had opened fire on the ones on the right. She sighted the three on her side that were already moving to cover and took aim. Two went down before they could duck behind the nearest tree, but the third found cover.
Two down, one in cover. Alex called out.
Three down. Ill flank left, you flank right. Tia answered.
Alex nodded and the two girls worked their way around, taking turns to provide cover fire while the other moved. Eventually, they worked their way around the infantryman to where they had an open shot, and Alex took it.
Six for six, where are the rest? Alex asked.
Charlie team reports they repulsed a wave. Bravo team is reporting heavy resistance and requests support. Tia said after a brief delay on her ear comm.
Bravo team had all their secondary heavy hitters: Tasha, Hikari, and Rachel. Theyd expected that the Charlie team would probably get wiped out, so it was surprising to Alex that theyd held while Bravo team was struggling. Maybe the specialists had only sent a half team after Charlie?
Well flank them while letting Charlie catch up? Alex asked.
Tia nodded and called out on the comm that they were en route.
Alex heard the fire fight before she could see it. Bravo team was contained in a circular holdout and the six-man team had surrounded them and were dropping stun grenades on their position.
That would have been the end, but Hikari and Rachel were fast enough to actually throw half of those back at the attackers. Alex was shocked when she saw what Tasha did with the other half. The large girl threw her pack on them and sat on it; a muffled burst erupted black clouds of smoke as the stun charges ignited underneath the heavy weight.
Alex could see that bravo team was clearly stalling the attack on their position, but they were struggling. She and Tia quickly challenged that equation. Rolling up on the attackers, they pinned half the encirclent in a pincer movent and a quick call for fire support from bravo put half the enemy squad out of commission.
The other half fell back, and the recruits ford a line to chase after them.
Alex felt a bit of excitent. They were about to win, and they had been inford there was no way thatd happen. The winning platoon would be the one who managed to inflict the most casualties, Instructor Hills had said.
And thats when it all went to heck. Alex was shoved to the ground by Tia, a shouted warning on her lips freezing as a sniper configuration stun bolt smashed into the silver-haired girls chest. Alex rolled into cover to scan their rear and felt their victory flying away.
She spotted at least 8 incoming infantryn, all equipped with power armor. Flying drones crisscrossed the area in front of them; all shining lasers at the recruits positions. Alex moved out of the way just before a concentrated burst of fire slamd into the ground at her position.
The assault team moved in with precise, coordinated movents, preventing Alex from getting a chance to co out of cover. They worked with the remaining mbers of the other squad to pressure the dugout with team bravo in it, and then they rolled them up from multiple angles.
By the ti Alex had recovered from the toe curling experience of having the shit shocked out of her, everyone had settled in for a debrief from the instructors.
They no longer got bitched at for screwing up, rather a calm and clinical dissection of their tactics and execution was their new normal. This ti the fuck up had been Charlie team, whod been wiped out nearly instantly by stun grenades of the assault team.
Then theyd used a radio spoofer and voice synthesizer to inform the rest of the recruits that they were just fine. That seed like a dirty trick to Alex. Rather than complain, she wondered if theyd be able to do sothing similar the next ti.
Despite the defeat, their platoon ranked first, and it was with a bit of enthusiasm they went for al ti.
It was chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy day. The heap that ended up on Alexs bowl still drew glances from just about everyone since she had built up a volcano that was filled with at and gravy. As she planned her strategic attack on the top of her food mountain, she glanced over at Rachel.
Did you get an update on your MOS selection?
A small smile appeared on the other girls face. Actually, yes. OCS ATSC.
Tia made an annoyed puff. Alex just smiled and congratulated her. Hey! Thats great. I guess you really pushed through your scores, huh?
So people make it easy.
Tasha sat down and was quickly followed by Hikari. The big girl shook her head, Three starship birds then? Thats a lot for one group, actually.
I got my choice too, MPSS. Hikari said, a smile appearing on her face.
Alex tilted your head. You wanted to be a bodyguard? But why?
You get to be around all the big-wigs, and if one likes , maybe Ill marry them and retire rich.
You idiot, if you get handsy with your principal, youll get A15ed. Tia said shaking her head.
Hikari stuck her tongue out at her. So serious. No, Im joking. But you get to et important people and networking is good.
Alex looked at Tasha. Tash?
Infantry, Ranger.
Hikari looked surprised, but then she shook her head. Well, that fits.
Why? Because Im big and dumb?
Your scores are higher than mine! Hikari objected.
A smirk appeared on Tashas face. Yeah.
Alex smiled at the chatter and focused on disappearing her food while she still had ti. Social interactions still made her self-conscious, but she felt like that had gotten much better during her ti in basic. At least she knew she wasnt the weirdest oddball anymore.
Classes lasted for the rest of the day but they were more of a ntal exercise than a physical one, and they were excused from evening PT. Everyone had t and exceeded the physical fitness test in their group. Not that it got them out of morning cardio every day, but it was nice.
It certainly gave her more ti to spend in her bunk sleeping or looking up things on the net. Shed contracted a private investigator to go find the Iron Horse and take photos for her. Not exactly a cheap job, considering it was moored on a military shipyard, but since it wasnt technically part of the ltisar Navy, it wasnt stepping the line into espionage
Relaxing in her bunk and browsing on her datapad, Alex was happy to see that the ship was being worked on steadily. Outer hull plates were in various stages of removal and replacent. She doubted theyd be able to do much for the age of the ship, but making it structurally sound again was possible.
If she ever got her computronics back, fixing it up would be super easy and probably quadruple the value.
She frowned as she thought about it. That would make the ship illegal to take out of the inner systems, though, essentially grounding it.
Blowing a tuft of hair out of her eyes in frustration, she ntally put an X on the box of Iron Horse repair. Although
Maybe she could just fix it up but not do any visible changes?
Lost in thought, she didnt notice Rachel ca into the dorm room until she closed the door. Oh, hey. Alex mumbled.
Her thoughts about how they would be traveling through Solarian space to get back to 92 Pegasi ca to a halt as Rachel sat down on the edge of her bunk. Alex looked up from her datapad.
Rachel? Alex said, taking in an expression she had never seen on the other girl before.
Alex I like you. Ive not been able to figure out well Ive thought I wanted to know. Do you like ? Rachel asked.
Alex blinked, feeling confused, but the way Rachel stared at her like the entire world depended on the answer prompted her answer, Yes? For sure.
It seed like a silly question to Alex. Of course she liked her. They had gone through basic together and been through so many hardships and traumas that she couldnt rember them all. Theyd won, lost, laughed, and cried together. More than any other recruit in the Cadre, Alex felt most at ease with her, not fearing that shed be singled out for being a weirdo for not knowing so basic thing that everyone took for granted.
Rachel leaned into the bunk, straddling her before leaning forward causing Alex to freeze, eyes wide with shock. The sll of the Rachels shampoo filled her sense of sll and her heart started pounding in her chest as Rachel hovered inches away from her face. Rachel's hands ca up to cup her cheeks.
I like you too. I'm sorry if it took a while to notice. Rachel said, as if that explained anything.
The gears in Alex's brain failed to output more than a confused and paralyzed, Huh?
The question died on Alexs lips as Rachel moved in and kissed her.
Reviews
All reviews (0)