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

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Aye sir,” Jethro nodded trying to relax. He had a hundred questions but no way to get any answers until they got where they were going.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jethro checked Sergei, making sure he could handle the grav sled and then looked at the Major.

  “Spit it out son, we don't have all day.”

  “I'm just wondering why the Matriarch didn't hand the suit over to you sir,” Jethro admitted.

  “I was wondering the same thing. I suppose she wanted you to do it.” He shrugged as they made their way through the corridors to the freight lifts. “Up or down?”

  “Down sir.” They loaded up and then waited as the lift dropped. “Do you think the armorer will get it running again?” Jethro asked.

  “Maybe. Hopefully.” The Major said. “Riley's good. The suit tech union here was some pissed when he jumped ship to our camp.”

  “They were?”

  “Yeah. He was a suit fitter on Avalon four. He heard about Briev and wanted to go there. Got to here but couldn't afford the next leg so he stayed on as an EVA suit fitter here.”

  “Oh.”

  “He's seen the sharp end so he's stable. Besides, the man's got a gift. Crotchety old bastard, but he's thorough. Doesn't cut corners and isn't above telling you off if you’re wrong no matter who you are,” he smiled. “He can work magic with a suit. He really loves them. Even though he couldn't hack the black.”

  “Ah,” Jethro nodded. “It's not pleasant,” he admitted.

  “No, after living in a station for so long, I'd imagine it wasn't,” the Major snorted. “I need to find someone as an understudy for him soon.”

  “Ox is doing that now sir.”

  “Ox? Oh the Tauren?”

  “Yes sir,” Sergei nodded. “He's always been into fiddly bits sir.”

  “He would be. Tauren's have a natural gift for electronics. Too bad he's the last here.”

  “He is?” Sergei and Jethro asked in startled unison.

  “Thought you knew?” the Major asked in amusement. He glanced at them. “He's from Port-a-Prince. Last Tauren in the system now.”

  “Oh. That... sucks.”

  “Yeah. He signed up with us before the flare. His sister was in a suit. Buried herself and her kids in sandbags next to an airlock. Commander Harris's crew found them but they'd run out of air.”

  “Oh,” Jethro shook his head. Damn that sucked. Literally.

  “He was here when it happened. We tried to give him bereavement leave but he turned it down. The marines are all the family he has left now.”

  “Oh,” Jethro said softly.

  “Crap,” the Major said with feeling, suddenly reaching up to touch his ear. “I gotta take this,” he grimaced. His mouth worked as he sub vocalized. His features darkened further and further until neither cat would look.

  After a moment he had a positively annoyed expression. Jethro was just glad it wasn't something he did. “Shit. I gotta go,” The Major said looking up as the lift paused. “You two get the suit without me. I'll meet you at the shuttle.”

  “Yes sir. Anything we can do to help?” Jethro asked in concern.

  “No son, not unless you could do something about that snake pit we've got serving as a government. Not a damn thing,” the Major sighed as he walked off shaking his head.

  Sergei gave Jethro a look as the door closed and the drop resumed. “What was that about?” he asked.

  “Politics unless I miss my guess. We just caught a whiff of it. Be glad we don't have to deal with it directly.”

  “Nuke em till they glow then shoot them in the dark. Lawyers are evil,” Sergei grumbled.

  “Yeah,” Jethro breathed. “Yeah.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The Matriarch nodded to them as they approached. The kits and kids around her looked up and shushed. She smiled a tight lipped smile and wiggled her ears. “All right, go help in the kitchens and I'll be with you in a bit.” The younglings filed out with only a few backward glances.

  “Godsons it is good to see you,” she purred, touching Jethro's cheek then Sergei's. Sergei's giant arm touched her cheek in return.

  “It is good to see you again godmother,” Sergei said with an ear flick.

  “Here on business?” she asked amused. “It is far too early for a break from your training. You do look great in uniform though.”

  “Yes ma'am,” Jethro nodded.

  Her golden eyes glanced to him as she sat at her table and poured herself a cup of tea. “And what brings you then? Ah? The suit?”

  “Sometimes it scares me the way you can do that. Read our minds,” Sergei said shivering a little.

  “It comes with knowing you for so long young one,” The Matriarch smiled over the lip of her cup. “I've known when you got into mischief even before you did.”

  “Oh boy. That explains a few things,” Sergei grumbled.

  “And knowing made it easier to head trouble off at the pass,” Jethro smiled. “But somehow godmother I think you knew from our smell than from our minds.”

  Her ears flicked. “Ruining a good trick Jethro?” The Matriarch laughed. “Indeed. I can smell the hydraulics and metal on you. On your hands.” She turned to Jethro. “Your right hand.”

  He held it up. “I was trying a gauntlet on. It didn't fit.”

  “Of course it didn't. You need the armor.” She nodded setting the cup down. “Come this way.” She nodded to the Liger.

  “Why didn't you give this to the Major? You gave him the family archive after all,” Jethro asked.

  “The armor is personal,” she replied hand paws together in front of her. “Something you may need. I didn't want it to go to the marines only for someone else to end up with it.”

  “Ah,” Jethro nodded.

  “Like who? You’re the only one it'd fit,” Sergei grumped following behind with the cart.

  They made their way to the back corridors and then into a seldom used room. The Matriarch pulled a key pass from her pocket and slipped it through a reader on the wall. After a moment they could hear a clack of a releasing bolt then the door swung open slowly.

  “Ah yes. It needs grease.” She shook her head. “I keep forgetting. Perhaps one of you can do that little chore sometime on your next visit.” She reached inside and pulled out a flash light. “Not that you will need much light with your implants,” she said.

  She turned the blue LED light on then led the way into the armory. Jethro looked at a pile of parts in one corner. Sergei mumbled as he moved aside hanging cords.

  “Careful, those are live,” The Matriarch cautioned. “Disconnect them and engineering will want to know why part of their reactor controls went down.”

  “Oh lovely,” Jethro muttered looking up to the ceiling.

  “It is best not to think of it.”

  “No. I think we shouldn't be here long,” he replied checking his implants. “Yeah,” he grimaced. “I'm getting residual radiation from the ceiling and some of the pipes. Coolant lines for something.”

  “Unfortunate,” the Matriarch replied. “So you changed your mind?” she asked amused.

  “No way. Let’s get what we came for,” he said firmly. She nodded. She pointed to a large casket. The bare metal was scratched and dented. One hinge was torn. Jethro went over to it and examined it. He ran his right hand paw over it carefully.

  “It won’t bite,” Sergei teased. He snorted and opened the latch and pulled the door open. It was there, black, drinking in the light. Beautiful. He reverently ran a hand over the armor. Even old and battered it was still a thing of lethal beauty.

  “I think it will look good on you my son. When it is fully restored.” The Matriarch pulled a gauntlet out and handed it to him. “Try it on.”

  He did. It fit almost perfectly. He nodded. “Almost a perfect fit,” he said smiling to Sergei.

  “Not perfect? How disappointing,” the Matriarch said.

  “No no. That's good. See we've got to wear a skin suit underneat
h. They call it an aketon suit. It's to protect us when we're in vacuum. If this was to fit perfectly I wouldn't be able to wear it when I needed to,” Jethro explained as he looked the hand over.

  “It's got claws,” he said surprised. “I wasn't sure if I had remembered that correctly or not.” He looked at her. The Matriarch nodded. “They retract too,” he said softly, touching the top of one.

  “Be careful. It has a monomolecular edge,” she cautioned. He drew his free hand back. “The electronics are fried unfortunately. Your ancestor warned his descendants, but one didn't listen and tried the suit on. It killed him and fried the electronics.”

  “Ew. I was wondering about the smell,” Sergei said with a sniff.

  “But I remember seeing a different gauntlet. One without claws,” Jethro said putting the gauntlet back.

  “You did. I allowed you to see some of the parts from the other suits.”

  “Other suits?” Sergei asked surprised. “I thought his was the only one!”

  “No,” she shook her head. “The others are parts from various suits. Most of the useable parts like the gauntlet you remember are gone though, sold to the engineers to be used for parts for EVA suits.”

  “Oh.”

  “There are parts to them left however. Perhaps they will be of use.”

  “Oh,” Jethro nodded. “We'd like them if possible. We need to outfit Sergei and Hurranna as well. Eventually Letanga and the others.”

  “Ah. Well then. We shall see,” the Matriarch nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Got it?” the Major asked, meeting them at the shuttle dock. Jethro and Sergei braced to attention and saluted. The Major saluted then eyed the double stacked lockers as he broke the salute. “This it I take it?” There were four lockers, enough for four suits. Suddenly the day seemed a little brighter.

  “Yes sir. And other parts from other suits,” Sergei said with a smile.

  “Good. Good,” The Major grinned. “Let me see.” He came closer. They reached for the safety straps. The green light over the dock came on and the door irised open. “Crap.”

  He grimaced and then shook his head. “Later. Let’s go.” He waved to the door.

  “After you sir,” Jethro said. Traditionally the ranking officer was last on and first off. But since cargo had to be near the rear for balance, they had to do it differently.

  “Ah yes. Good point,” the Major nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Riley was practically bouncing as he met them in Firefly's boat bay. Most of their class were there, as were a few of the off duty marines. The Major grinned as he came out and the crew snapped to attention and saluted. He returned the salute and then saluted the ships colors and Federation flag. Sergei, Jethro, and the other passengers followed suit one by one.

  “Good to have you back aboard. All of you sir,” Riley said smiling.

  “Can't wait to see it old friend?” the Major laughed, slapping the armorer on the shoulder.

  “You know it sir,” Riley grinned as Jethro and Sergei maneuvered the stack of lockers out. “Recon armor, this is cool.” The blue safety glow of the grav cart faded as it slowly sank to the floor.

  “Yeah. I've got goose bumps too,” the Major replied, watching the two set the locker down and then turn at attention.

  “She's battered and needs cleaning sir, but if you'd care to inspect?” Jethro asked.

  “Yes,” the Major nodded.

  “We'll need another container sir,” Jethro replied, turning to the armorer.

  “Another? What for?” Riley asked. Jethro smiled. “Ah, found more than you bargained for?”

  Jethro nodded. “We'll let you be the judge of it. I'm not sure how much we'll get out of some. MAM reactors and all,” Jethro replied.

  “MAM reactors? Did you say... “ Riley blinked at them. “But they were only in Cadre armor!” he said as they used grav collars to take the top locker off the stack and settle it to the deck.

  “Apparently my ancestor was a bit more than just a recon drop commando,” Jethro replied.

  “Damn. You didn't tell me that!” Hurranna said, eyes wide.

  “That's because we didn't know,” Jethro said shaking his head. “I've read the archive, same as you. I'm not sure why he left it out.”

  “Security most likely,” the Major replied. “It is curious though.”

  “Yes sir,” Sergei said. He looked at Jethro. “I think he did say something in his speech. The one we got during the moral thing during boot.” Jethro frowned and then shrugged. Sergei flipped the latch open then pulled the door open. One hinge broke. He grimaced.

  “Easy, easy there,” Riley cautioned coming forward.

  “It was already broken Sergeant. A long long time ago,” Jethro said as Sergei pulled out a gauntlet. “Most of the other suit parts are just that. Parts. Armor mostly.”

  Sergei laid the gauntlet on the deck and then pulled out a boot, and then a grieve. “There are four torso armors in various conditions. Two working power plants. I checked.”

  “Damn.”

  “It seems the power plants are micro fusion reactors. And the suits are all for Neos. There are parts for MAM reactors and weapon systems here.”

  “Yes. I was wondering about that,” gunny Schultz said nodding. Jethro glanced at him and nodded politely.

  “With these we can scan the parts and make as many duplicates as we need. Sized to fit the wearer of course,” Riley said tracing his fingers over a torso.

  “They are missing their electronics, servos, actuators, and other things.”

  “That? Hell, no problem,” Riley said turning a grieve over and over. “It's getting the shape right for you lot. That's what my nightmare's been. This makes it easier.”

  “Having a template usually does,” the Major said dryly as he leaned over and pulled out an elbow joint. “Fascinating. Raider armor if I'm right.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “This is the best though,” Jethro said ears forward. They turned to him. He had pulled the last locker upright. He opened the door. The crowd shuffled and gasped at the sight of the black armor within.

  “Damn,” the Major said coming over to touch the armor. “Damn. She's a beauty.”

  “Yes sir. And from the looks of it, she's been modified. It looks like someone took out her MAM reactor and retrofitted her with a fusion one.”

  “I heard some were doing that when antimatter got scarce,” Riley said, hunkering down. He touched the boots. “Damn, toe claws?” he asked.

  “Molecular force blades. With micro actuators. This suit is going to be a pain to maintain,” Schultz said shaking his head. “But worth it if it works,” he said. “Even just in the box like this it looks like it's ready to spring into action.

  “Yes gunny.”

  “I want one,” the gunny deadpanned.

  “You and me both,” the Major breathed. “But the line starts behind Lance Corporal Jethro here.” He straightened nodding to the panther. “Good find son, you've done the corps a major service with this.” He held out his hand. Jethro took it and shook it.

  “Thank you sir.”

  “I mean it,” the Major said with a smile. He slapped Riley on the back. “Document every part. I want scans right down to the molecular level. Copy the software and hardware. Anything and everything you can. I want a detailed log kept. We're going to have to copy this sucker for the others. Get it running though. Soon. I want to see it go through its paces.”

  “Yes sir,” Riley nodded. “I wasn't planning on sleeping this week anyway,” he said dryly. “Ox here can lend a hand.”

  “That's the spirit,” the Major chuckled. “Firefly will make sure your electronic work is backed up on a hard copy and an external drive. I'll even have him record everything for posterity. Maybe we can put the footage up on the military network channel. That would rock,” he smiled as he left. The others in the bay crowded around to look.

  “Should have charged for tickets. Would've m
ade a bundle,” Sergei said under his breath to Jethro. Jethro snorted.

  Chapter 16

  Jethro nodded to the others as they came in. He was in the suit, or at least part of it. He had the torso frame on.

  “I taught I t'aw a puddy cat!” Hurranna joked. “I did! I did!”

  Jethro rolled his eyes at her and shook a fist.

  “Wow.” Sergei said nodding. “Getting there.”

  “Baby steps. This here's baby steps. Gotta learn to crawl before you can walk,” Riley said pointing to the suit. “You're right, definitely Cadre. MAM reactor went here.” He blocked out a space where the new reactor was with the blade of his hands. “Some refit job. Not a hack and slash field op too. Took an all up machine shop to pull this off. I can tell by the welds. See here and here?” He pointed to two spots, tracing them with his index finger.

  “I don't see anything,” Sergei said, leaning forward to get a better view. Jethro tried to twist to see but Riley held a hand on his chest to keep him from moving. “See this line? That's barely there. Means a nanite weld sure as I'm sitting here.”

  “Oh,” Sergei nodded standing back as his implants refocused to normal. “So ah, I noticed one of the other suits was about my size...”

  “And you'll get your turn. One at a time. Once we know how this baby is set up, fitting you and the others will be a breeze,” Riley said with a smile. “I've got the fabricator fab'ing parts and spares as we speak.” He waved to the door.

  “Cool,” Sergei nodded glancing that way.

  “I broke down and rebuilt two of these fusion reactors with the Admiral before he left so getting this sorted out and online shouldn't be too hard. Biggest issue may be the fuel injectors. If they sucked water straight they'll have been clogged with minerals. Usually causes a blockage or even a spitfire.”

  “And that's bad?”

  “Well, if you want your suit to suddenly cut out on you yeah, I'd call it bad.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that's bad,” Jethro nodded.

  “MAM is the way to go, but the antimatter's a bitch to come by. I'd say this is the right compromise. They lose half the power but they won’t run out of fuel in the field like they did with the MAM. From what I gather in Firefly's archives, that happened a couple times.”