Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “You see the problem? This uses a micro polymer weave. Real funky stuff. Tiny cameras on one side project the same thing they see on the other. Works real good when you’re sitting still. It will also defeat thermal imaging to a degree. But it can't keep up with you if you move.”

  “So we're back to digicam made to fit the environment you’re in. At least for now. Tried and true methods. KISS. Sometimes it's the simplest things that win out in the end.”

  He dropped the suit and turned to Jethro. “Recruit Jethro on your feet.” Jethro leapt to his feet at attention. “Yes Gunnery Sergeant!” he said.

  “Strip.”

  Jethro blinked.

  “You heard me boot,” the gunny growled.

  “Yeah baby take it off. Take it all off!” Hurranna said grinning. The gunny turned to her with a snarl. She shrugged.

  “Twenty now,” he said simply. She nodded and dropped into a push up position. She started counting off as she did her penance.

  “It was worth it,” she muttered.

  “Then it was worth twenty more,” the gunny growled. She growled softly. Shit. She thought, this time keeping her mouth firmly shut.

  Jethro stripped and then held his clothes in his hands uncertainly. His ears were flat against his skull. “Drop em,” the gunny said pointing to the panther's feet. The panther did. “Now cloak.”

  Jethro immediately got the idea. His ears perked up and then dropped once more. He closed his eyes and relaxed. After a moment he faded.

  The others around him blinked. He was gone.

  “Where the hell did he go?” Valenko said, playing along. “You who...”

  “He's there,” the gunny said. He bent over and picked up a rock and then tossed it underhand to where he thought the panther was. Jethro wasn't there though.

  “Ah,” the gunny looked around, clearly annoyed. With all the bodies around him he couldn't scent the little shit. Hurranna was amused though smirking. “Oley Oley in free!” he said after a moment.

  Jethro faded in smiling slightly. They looked around and finally Sergei spotted him standing behind the gunny. “Holy crap. Every time I see that it still gives me the heebie jeebies,” he shivered.

  “Point,” the gunny nodded. He handed the panther his hat. “Now try it again.”

  Jethro went to set the hat down but he shook his head. “With it.”

  “It doesn't work that way,” Jethro replied. “Gunnery sergeant sir.”

  “Cute. Still earned twenty. But cloak now. Pushups later.”

  Jethro sighed and cloaked. They tracked him as he moved with the DI's cover around the room. “You see? He may be cloaked but the cover isn't. I'd like it back now,” the gunny growled.

  Jethro thought about throwing it across the room like a Frisbee then thought better of it and came over and handed it to the gunny as he decloaked. Jethro was panting.

  “Why are you panting?” the gunny asked.

  “The cloak takes up a lot of energy. I have to divert my heat. My ability to shed heat that is. Since I can't get rid of it I overheat in minutes.”

  “And now you see the other downside of a cloak,” the gunny nodded turning back to the class. “Nothing ever comes for free. There are three other neo's who can cloak like this. One is Letanga, and the other two are Tungulria over there and a wolf that didn't join up with the corps.”

  “His loss,” someone muttered.

  “Twenty,” Schultz said turning. “Both Letanga and Tungulria can cloak, but not nearly as well as recruit Jethro,” he glanced at the panther and then to each of the others.

  “By now some of you know what happened on Firefly,” the gunny said nodding to the panther. “Go do your pushups and then dress.”

  “Sir yes sir!” the panther said automatically and then went smartly to his post and fell into doing his pushups.

  “What most of you know is that the person that did it was recruit Jethro's sire,” Schultz continued. Jethro paused. “What tired already?” the gunny asked sarcastically.

  “SIR NO SIR,” Jethro replied.

  “Right then. Continue. Add ten more,” Schultz looked around. “What most of you by now realized is that recruit Jethro had nothing to do with it. Had he known what his father had intended he would have killed him himself. We know that. But why do I bring this up you wonder?” he asked looking around.

  “Evil and sadistic nature?” Jethro muttered.

  “And that's twenty more,” the gunny said conversationally. Jethro sighed and kept going.

  “Jet did this, got by the best scanners the navy had by using his ability. But it comes with a price as you know. He had to do it buck naked.”

  “Which kind of makes it hard to do much,” Firefly said. His avatar swirled into being next to the gunny. “Cloaking ability like the panthers and others have is useful... or was before and during the AI wars. You each have formidable natural weapons to compliment it if used properly.”

  “But that doesn't do you any good against modern tech. Firefly spotted the panther before he got close to his targets and he was caught. Not without casualties,” the gunny grimaced.

  “Yes,” Firefly shook his head. “Sadly yes.”

  “Right now we've only got so many suits, and they are going to recon and sniper teams. Don't mess them up. They are worth far more than your hides,” he glared for a moment.

  “Sir yes sir,” Valenko said, shrugging off the idea of getting a suit in his size.

  “Which brings me back to my point. The equipment you have here is designed to do it's best to defeat these same scanning methods. Even the rifles.” He picked up what looked like a bag and shook it out. He wrapped it around a plasma rifle and then tapped his implants. After a moment it faded.

  “So don't ever use them when you’re not supposed to. You will get your ass in a sling,” he grimaced. “Don't rely on them either. Everything in the field can and will break over time. Keep that firmly in mind. First time you take something for granted it'll turn around and bite you in the ass good and proper. Bet on it,” he shot the class a look.

  Jethro finished his pushups and stood. “Sir. Finished sir.”

  “Good. Get dressed and let’s get to work,” the gunnery sergeant said. “With your permission of course,” he said. He turned to the commander.

  “Carry on,” the AI said nodding and fading out.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jethro tried not to grimace as the Gahsg bumped into him. He did grimace when a foot stepped on his own.

  “Clumsy clumsy,” the Gahsg muttered.

  “Yeah you are,” the panther growled, ears back. The Gahsg turned an eye stalk back to him. “Any time anywhere you want to work on your coordination, let me know,” the panther snarled, showing his teeth. His ears went flat. His claws came out.

  “Sins of the father again?” Valenko said from his rack.

  “You could say that,” Jethro growled with his back to the bear as the Gahsg moved cautiously away. The Gahsg had a sack cloth and ashes mentality for families that had a member do something wrong. There was some reference to Klingons in it but he had yet to find a species in the index that matched that name. Perhaps he was missing something again. He grimaced.

  “Let me tell you a story,” Valenko said, sitting up. He huffed, looking down. “It's not something I like to remember.”

  “I take it this is going to be interesting,” Hurranna said, pulling a chair up. She spun the chair around and sat on it, placing her arms over the back rest.

  “Yeah,” the bear sighed.

  “Something from your past? What happened you sat on someone and they got squashed tubby?” a Veraxin in the back chuckled.

  “No, but I'm thinking about it now. Problem is it'd mess the bay up then I'd have hell to pay with the gunny,” he grimaced as the troops looked at each other amused. “But it might be worth it in the end, he growled, looking toward the Veraxin. The Veraxin ducked down out of sight. Valenko snorted, turning to the others. After a moment eye stalk
s peaked out over the edge of the rack behind him. The troops who noticed it snickered.

  “As I was saying. I know the feelings you're going through. Being blamed for something you didn't do. It's not your fault. It's a common thing though, a family being punished for the sins of a member. Usually by shunning or other psychological means,” he shook his great head and then huffed.

  “Ah. Yeah,” Jethro shrugged uncomfortably as looks were shot his way. He wasn't sure where the grizzly was going with this.

  “You weren't to blame for your father's actions. You would have prevented it had you been given the choice. That I know of you. That we all know of you. You have a sense of honor. If we have learned anything here, it is that. And that you’re a team mate. And we can always count on a team mate right?” the bear growled pitching that to the watching and listening platoon at large.

  “We'd better,” Sergei growled, arms crossed.

  “Enough. You were saying? Sins of the father?” Hurranna asked waving the Liger back down before he started something for the wrong reason.

  “Yes. Well,” the bear positively squirmed on the bed for a moment before continuing. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

  “Start at the beginning. Finish at the end. How hard is that?” Zebo said testily.

  “Harder than you think. You see, my grandfather went atavistic.”

  “Ava what?”

  “Ava whosizits?” some of the aliens and humanoids asked.

  “It's a neo thing. He went feral. He reverted to his roots in a bad way,” Hurranna grimaced, eying the bear. “Didn't he?”

  “Yes. There is a human term for it. He became a serial killer,” the bear said with a sigh. “He hunted and killed anyone who entered my family's range. And after a while, he began to eat the bodies.”

  “Oh god,” Hurranna said shaking her head.

  “It's been known to happen. Here too,” a voice said in the back. Jethro grimaced and then nodded. He tried not to remember some of the stories of the lean times. Cats and other neo's tended to lose their minds when they didn't have the right food, or enough of it to go around.

  “How did he get caught?” Sergei asked.

  “He had the smell of human on his breath,” Valenko said. A few laughed at that.

  “No seriously.”

  “Seriously,” Valenko shook his head. “And blood on his clothes and fur. His mate, my grandma smelled it. She realized the truth.”

  “What did she do?”

  “She killed him. Tore his throat out when he was sleeping,” Valenko said, looking down. “She didn't even try to hide what happened. So yeah, I know what you’re going through. My family went through hell when it broke. One of the reasons bigotry got so big on the planet and why my family was killed. And why I left.”

  “Ah,” Sergei nodded.

  “And I'm no angel either,” Valenko said with a shrug. “None of us are for that matter. We've all done things in our past we regret. We all know the lives we led, the sacrifices in honor we had to make. Some for the gangs. For me for that bastard of a Port Admiral,” he grimaced in familiar pain. “We also know we left friends and loved ones behind who stayed in that life. We know that.”

  The troops in the bay muttered at that. “The point is, we're here now. We can't be held responsible for the actions of others. We all need a fresh start and all that. New beginning. We're trying to rebuild civilization. One day at a time. We need to work together. A brotherhood,” he glanced at Huranna and a few of the other females. “Okay, marine family for the pc group.”

  “Way to go, nice gipper speech,” Hurranna said. “I'm in. I was all along,” she held up a paw.

  “One day your life will be on the line. We must trust each other. Or we're wasting our time,” Sergei said, looking around. He turned, resting a hand on the smaller panther. “I trust you with my life.”

  “So do I,” Valenko said with a nod. “We've got too much to worry about. Crap the DI's dream up for one thing. Which reminds me. I've got a sneaking suspicion we're going to get a visit anytime. Let's lay out the welcome mat,” he growled.

  “Right.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Think that helped?” The Major asked, turning away from the holo recording to the gunny.

  “Hope so,” the gunny said shaking his head. “Nothing I was saying was getting through. And the team building exercises weren't making a dent.”

  “Oh they were. It just takes time. They had him in their mental slots. He was a known. But when his father did what he did... he became an outsider again. Hopefully this will restore balance and unit cohesion.”

  “Hopefully,” the gunny grimaced. “Is his story true I wonder?”

  “Valenko's? Every word. But I have a feeling there is more to it. He's just not saying.”

  “Which is probably a good thing,” the gunny mussed. They all had skeletons in their closets that were probably best left there. “Thank you sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  Chapter 8

  The troop marched into the bay and sat. The gunny walked up and down the ranks and then nodded to the EVA chief. “We're ready chief Brody.”

  Brody turned and then scowled. “Oh hell,” he grimaced at the sight of all the neo's. “Oh bloody hell. You’re kidding me.” He shot an appealing look to gunny Schultz.

  “Problem Chief?” the gunny asked, smiling. His tone meant that there had better not be one.

  “Oh bloody...” The chief shook his bald head. “You have any idea... fuck me.” He looked over to his assistant. “New gloves. Check them all for spines, Horns, claws, and crap.” He glared at the class. “Okay you lot settle in and listen up. You cats and what have you. I've got some news. NO CLAWS!”

  Jethro snorted. He shot a humorous look to Sergei.

  “Seriously. Not freaking kidding here,” the bald chief swore, pacing. “No flexing claws at all. None. Do so and you'll breach your suit. That we think of as a bad thing. Very bad.”

  “It sucks. Literally,” the assistant deadpanned.

  “Yeah, what he said,” the chief said pacing. “The gunny here found out the hard way his first time out. When you reach for something you instinctively flex your claws. Or when you get excited, or when you’re just pissy.” He watched as a few flexed their hands and then looked down. He waited until they looked up guiltily. He nodded sober. “Right you are. See? Piss you off and you're already tearing strips out of the arm rests. First one to breach a suit gets clipped. Or I'll bloody well de-claw you. Think about that.”

  “Goes for you too gunny.” He shot a glare at the gunny. The gunny grimaced. “Didn't think I'd forgot about you did you?” He shook his head. “Mister know it all breached his suit first time out. Got one look at the outer dark and grabbed the safety line and pop pop pop.” He flexed his left hand moving each finger in turn. “It's not as bad with your toe claws, you’re wearing thick boots after all. We can reinforce those. Add a couple of layers of socks if need be. And they've got steel toes so it's not like you can get through that easily.” He shook his head.

  “But some of you kitties and other critters, well, I'm not so sure. Last thing I need is for you to screw up my record any more than it already is after he showed up.” He jerked a thumb at the no longer amused gunny.

  “I actually have a suit chief,” Ox said, raising a hand.

  “Did anyone tell you to speak recruit?” the gunny growled. Ox dropped his hand.

  “Sir no sir.”

  “Ten push ups. Then get the suit.” He shook his head as the Tauren dropped to the deck and obeyed.

  “Wonder where he got one?” Chief Brody asked. “And can they get more...”

  “Sir ten sir,” Ox said, shooting to his feet.

  “Do you know if there are other suits like yours recruit?” Brody asked.

  “Sir. Most likely sir. If they were salvaged from Port a Prince sir.”

  “Port-ah... Sorry.” Brody grimaced realizing what he meant. “Go get the suit
. You just saved me one hell of a headache. For that, my thanks.”

  “Sir yes sir.” The Tauren marched out and then dropped into a trot.

  “Anyone else have a suit?” No hands were raised. Brody sighed. “Fine then. So much for getting lucky twice,” he muttered to the gunny.

  “If you’re wondering why I'm teaching the class instead of him, now you know. My name is Chief Brody, That's master chief of the freaking Federation Navy for my sins. Get over it. Get used to it. Ain't going to change. Now. You lot.” He pointed to the first row. “Go with Mr. Sims here and you lot.” He pointed to the next row. “Go with Miss Dax over there. “Row three, you've got Mr. Shatner over there. The last two rows I'll take myself. Now get.”

  “What are you doing?” the gunny asked.

  The chief snorted. “Trying to tell me my job?” he asked as the troops left. “FYI I'm in charge here. You can sit nice and quiet or get out of my face.” He shook his head. “I'm suiting them up and we're going out. Best way to learn is through experience.”

  The troops froze at that. They looked to the chief in disbelief. “Oh, not out out, not at first. Grav training and then a holo sim or two. Then out out.” He waved. “But it's easier to teach you one on one. That way I bloody well know you're paying attention and not dicking around with your implants.” He glared at the class.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Your objective is to capture the enemy flag. Something you've done before. This time however you'll be doing it on the moon Praxis five,” the gunny pointed to the holo of the spinning moon. He sent a signal through his implants and the holo zoomed in to a section of the surface then folded out to show a terrain map. A pair of red lights blinked at opposite ends of the map.

  They were good, Schultz had to admit it to himself even though he'd die before admitting it to them. Better than he'd hoped. But he knew they could and would do even better. Now was the time to prove it. Only Alpha had taken the time to train their recruits to EVA. He was pretty sure Thompskins had done it to try to keep pace with him. Didn't want the dobie showing him up.