"Captain Optika, please, have a seat," the officer at the head of the table said, waving her hand toward the chair he was standing beside.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"From what I understand, you know both Commander Ruggs and Lieutenant Commander Tucholski. I'm Captain Alexandra McLaughlin, and you are Captain Stewart Optika, the ranking officer of Twelfth Battalion on board. Is that correct?"
"Yes, ma'am. Both the Old Man and the XO were dirtside when we launched." His voice was slightly bitter.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but there were no other options." Captain McLaughlin gave him a wan smile by way of apology before continuing. "Can you give me a manning report on the battalion?"
"Generally, ma'am." He cleared his throat as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A marine officer was supposed to know where all his marines were at all times, and Optika didn't. There were extenuating circumstances, but Optika was still embarrassed.
"I know that approximately one hundred marines were dirtside, with a majority of the rest being on-station when the alert was sounded. I believe that most, if not all, of the personnel aboard Folkvang were able to make it aboard before we left, but I cannot be one hundred percent positive." He didn't want to seem to be making excuses, but he could tell by the look on the captain's face that some sort of explanation was in order.
"The battalion is still manning their battle stations, and it is difficult to get a full head count with the unit scattered throughout the ship, ma'am."
"I thought as much," McLaughlin said, nodding, obviously not holding him responsible for the lack of an accurate count. "We are about to secure from general quarters, Captain, and when we do, I will need you to get an accurate report as quickly as possible."
"Understood, ma'am." Optika dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Once we secure, I'll have the battalion fall in and get a full manning status."
"Good. You have thirty minutes, Captain." McLaughlin stared at him, making sure she had his attention.
If she didn't with that, she definitely had Optika's complete attention with her next statement.
"Then I want you back here with whomever you need to plan a company-level planetary assault and extraction mission on a Xan-Sskarn–held facility."
Optika felt his jaw drop.
"Thirty minutes, Captain."
Understanding that this meeting was over, Captain Optika rose to his feet, coming to attention.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Dismissed, Captain."
* * *
Exactly twenty-eight minutes had elapsed since Captain Optika was last in the wardroom. This time however, he had not arrived alone. With him was Twelfth Battalion's senior SNCO, Sergeant Major Martin Creech, and his three platoon leaders, First Lieutenants Marshal Rook and Sandra Luthi, and Second Lieutenant Fred Burnette. Also accompanying him were the only Recon Marines on board, Corporal Tracy Clark and Lance Corporal Alan Lewis.
"I have the information you requested, ma'am," Optika told Captain McLaughlin after he had reported and taken his seat.
"Thank you, Captain." She smiled at him. "How bad is it?"
"Ninety-six marines, all of them dirtside, including Colonel Hendrix and Major Fishman. All marine personnel aboard station were able to make it back on board before the locks were sealed, ma'am."
"How do the numbers break down?"
"Eighteen in my company, Bravo, thirty-four in Alpha, and twenty-five in Charlie." Though Optika held a pad with the information, he recited from memory. "The final nineteen are from the headquarters unit."
"Damn, twenty percent," McLaughlin said, eyes closed, doing the math in her head.
Optika then felt her deep blue eyes staring intently at him.
"How does this affect the operational status of the battalion?"
"Ah, I'm not sure, ma'am," he began. "I'm not a battalion commander and—"
He did not get a chance to finish.
"You are now, Captain." Her quiet comment brought him upright in his chair. He could see that he was not alone in his surprise. With the exception of Sergeant Major Creech, all of the marines around the table were just as surprised as Captain Optika.
"But, ma'am," he began again, only to be cut off once more.
"There are no buts about it, Captain. You are the ranking officer on board the Valhalla, and we are out of contact with High Command and are unlikely to reestablish contact within the foreseeable future. With that in mind, Captain, who else is going to assume command?"
Optika's gaze unconsciously moved to Creech. The sergeant major caught the motion.
"Oh, no, sir," Creech said firmly, shaking his head. "Not a chance. An old salt like me has no business trying to run a battalion. The job's yours, sir, and you'll do just fine."
A small smile split Optika's face as he listened to the grizzled sergeant major. Creech might be right about his abilities, but that didn't stop the cold feeling of dread spreading through his body.
"Besides, sir, we all know that NCOs are the backbone of the corps, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Plus, the battalion still has a viable chain of command—most of the officers and senior NCOs are still present. It won't be as difficult as you may think. Trust me." The last was said with wink and a smile.
"Thanks, Top." Turning his attention back to Captain McLaughlin, Optika continued on. "Sorry about that, ma'am." He actually felt himself blush under her amused gaze.
"Not a problem, Captain. I didn't think the full weight of the situation had occurred to you yet."
"You're right about that, ma'am."
"So, back to my question." McLaughlin's voice took on a serious tone as her face adopted a matching mien. "Do you have an idea of how the current manning situation will affect the operational status of the battalion?"
"No, ma'am, I don't." He took a deep breath before continuing. "However, I can tell you that from the numbers it looks like both Bravo and Charlie companies will be relatively unaffected by our losses. Alpha will need a bit of restructuring before it's fully combat ready, but that should not be too difficult to accomplish, though they will need some time to train up afterward."
"That's the best news I have heard all day, Captain. Thank you."
Optika felt himself blushing again.
"Now, Captain, down to business."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, ready to get to work himself.
"We have received a distress call from a top-secret military research facility on Mars," Captain McLaughlin began, "and have changed our course to come to their aid. Unfortunately, a communications malfunction prohibits us from contacting them to let them know we are coming"
Captain Optika and the rest of his ad-hoc staff began to enter information into their pads, even though the information would be available for download after the briefing had concluded.
"It is imperative that the research and materials located on that base do not fall into the Xan-Sskarns' claws."
Lieutenant Luthi stirred in her chair, and Optika could see that she had something she wanted to say. During one of their own mission briefs, everyone would be expected to voice their questions, concerns, and comments. Here it was clear that his platoon leaders did not know the protocols in this situation.
"Lieutenant, do you have a question?" he asked, interrupting Alex himself rather than having her do it.
"Please, Lieutenant, speak freely." McLaughlin turned her smile at the young woman. "That goes for the rest of you, too."
"Yes, ma'am," Lieutenant Luthi said in a quiet voice. Optika still couldn't understand, even after the two years they had served together, how someone as quiet and unimposing as Sandra could transform into a whirling dervish of death and destruction when she took her marines in harm's way.
"I was just wondering—if it's so important to keep this base's information from the Sallys, why don't we just take it out with a kinetic strike from orbit?"
Optika nodded his head in agreement with his lieutenant's question, and he saw the rest of the marines ar
ound the table were thinking along the same lines. Why should they risk a planetary assault when the mission could be accomplished with no more difficulty than pushing a button?
"Well, Lieutenant, that thought had occurred to me, but I've decided that I want the information from that base, too," McLaughlin replied.
When Luthi didn't respond, McLaughlin leaned back and began stroking her chin, then spoke again, trying a different approach.
"Let me ask you this—what's the best way to end a conflict?"
Optika could see that she was directing the question to all of them, and he felt as if he were back at infantry school and this was a tactical question that had been assigned him. Before he could formulate an answer, a cocky voice cut across the silence.
"Peace through superior firepower?"
Nine pairs of eyes turned to face the speaker.
Corporal Tracy Clark sat calmly under the scrutiny, though she kept her eyes carefully averted from theirs.
"Corporal Clark," Optika snapped, "now is not the time for frivolity." He had heard of her peculiar sense of humor from her squad leader.
"Actually, Captain, she is correct, or at least partially," McLaughlin said, the amusement evident in her voice.
"That's a marine answer if I ever heard one." This came from the officer seated to the captain's left, Commander Ruggs, the Valhalla's XO.
Commander Ruggs' comment set them all to chuckling, dispelling the air of tension that had begun to develop around the marine end of the table.
Optika shot Clark a warning glance, and he was satisfied to see a slight flush appear on her cheeks. Having silently reined in his subordinate, he turned his attention back to what McLaughlin was saying.
"As I was saying, the corporal is partially correct—superior power. And knowledge is power, which brings me back to you, Lieutenant Luthi. This facility is engaged in weapons research. Weapons that could give us a significant edge against the Xan-Sskarns. I want that research, to use it myself to help defeat the Xan-Sskarns. And should there not be any information of immediate use in the facility's computer core, well, the scientists themselves should be able to produce the weapons we need to ensure peace."
Optika did not miss her emphasis on the last word, and by the looks on the faces around the table, neither had anyone else.
"We understand, Captain," he told McLaughlin, speaking for all of the marines present. He had no doubts that they were in agreement with him, that Captain McLaughlin was right. "We'll get you that data, and the scientists to go with it."
Something in his tone registered with McLaughlin, and she fixed him with that penetrating gaze once more.
"Captain, while I appreciate your dedication, I want you to understand that I do not mean to spend your lives on a lost cause." Her tone was reassuring. "If you tell me it can't be done, or if, when you get there, the mission goes south, you will withdraw and we will go with plan B."
"Plan B?"
"Yes, we go with Lieutenant Luthi's original train of thought and use kinetic strikes to turn that facility into the biggest crater on the surface of Mars." The feral smile she gave him would have made any marine proud.
Chuckling, Optika gave her a smile of his own.
"Well, ma'am, why don't we see what we can do about a plan A?"
She didn't say anything as she turned to face the XO.
Commander Ruggs took his cue from her and rose to his feet, entering a command into his pad as he did so.
Optika leaned in with everyone else as the lights in the wardroom dimmed and a holographic display sprang to life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the research facility Hugin," Commander Ruggs said.
Optika began to formulate a plan of action as the commander continued his briefing.
"The Hugin's distress call indicated that a Xan-Sskarn force of indeterminate size was on a heading directly toward them and would reach them in approximately four hours. That was just over an hour ago. The Valhalla is currently moving at maximum speed toward Mars. Even so, our calculations indicate that we will not be able to put a strike force on the ground until approximately sixty minutes after the Xan-Sskarns arrive. Our only hope is that the fixed defenses and marine detachment stationed there can hold them off until your arrival. Failing that, Captain, you and your company will have to go in and dig them out. Remember—you are not there to retake the facility. This is an extraction mission only."
Commander Ruggs continued the briefing, highlighting areas of the station as he spoke. After another ten minutes, the XO had finished. His attention, and the attention of the other naval officers, turned to Optika.
Showtime.
"Thank you, Commander." Optika dipped his head toward the XO as he stood. "I wish we had more information about the enemy's strength and deployment, but at least you've given us a good lay of the land. Better than we usually have."
There were several chuckles from the assembled marines, and a snort from Clark. Marines normally performed drops on hostile planets or boarding actions on enemy vessels. Neither of which allowed for much in the way of detailed knowledge of their surroundings. It was up to Recon Marines, like Corporal Clark, to go out and get those details.
"Keeping that in mind, I think I've come up with plan of attack."
"Very well, Captain, please proceed," Captain McLaughlin called out from the shadows at the end of the table.
"Okay, making the assumption that the Sallys will be in the facility when we land, there are a few things we can do."
"Excuse me, Captain," interjected Commander Ruggs. "Why are you assuming that the Xan-Sskarns will have breached the facility before your arrival?"
"Sir, the detachment stationed there consists of only twenty-five marines. The Sallys have to have an idea of what they can find in the facility, or else they would not be attacking it." Commander Ruggs nodded his understanding, but Clark interrupted again.
"How could they know that, sir?"
Optika cast another withering glare in her direction. "That's not our concern right now. We can assume that since they are moving to attack the base with an assault carrier, they intend to take the base, not destroy it, and they will use sufficient force to ensure their capture of the facility while still being able to retrieve what they came for."
Optika felt a brief moment of pity pass through him at the thought of what those twenty-five marines were about to face.
"The detachment commander has drawn the same conclusions I have, I'm sure. And I don't doubt that in the time he has before they arrive, he will have more than a few surprises ready for the Sallys. After those surprises have been spent, the enemy will force their way into the facility, which actually will be to the defenders' advantage, for a while. The Sallys won't be able to assault en masse, and the marines will be able to mount a very effective resistance at these choke points." He highlighted several different areas of the facility.
"However, eventually numbers will tell," Optika whispered as he cleared his highlighting. "And when that happens, Hugin will be theirs. I just hope they can keep the Sallys busy long enough for us to get there with time enough to stop them from accomplishing their mission."
"What do you think the chances are of that happening, Captain?" Commander Ruggs asked, with nothing more than a hope for reassurance in his voice.
"Sir, they are marines." He rose to his full height. "They will die to a man before they give that facility to the Sallys. I wouldn't be surprised to find them still holding out by the time we get there."
Commander Ruggs opened his mouth, possibly to point out that the odds of that being the case were almost nonexistent, but the hard looks on all seven of the marines' faces stopped him.
"Now, as I was saying, I've come up with a plan that takes all of that into account."
All eyes in the room focused on Captain Optika again as he began lay out the bare bones of his plan.
"What about the information in the computer core, Captain?" McLaughlin asked after he had finished outlini
ng his battle plan.
"That's what Lewis and Clark will be retrieving, ma'am."
There were chuckles from the naval officers and two of the marine lieutenants. McLaughlin must have seen the confused look on his face.
"I take it you are not much into history, Captain."
Optika wasn't sure what that had to do with the current situation, but he decided to answer anyway.
"Not really, ma'am, with the exception of military history." He didn't understand what was so amusing and said so.
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