by Taki Drake
There was a subtle change in the dynamics of the group that had been left to defend the base. Ted couldn’t put his finger on it for a while, but realized to his surprise, that the seven people that had been left to defend the base had become a team. They acted toward each other the way that a well-integrated squad did, supporting each other and with a constant awareness of where the other people were.
It was amazing that it had developed over the span of fewer than two days. It normally took Marines weeks or longer to develop the same sense of camaraderie and joint purpose. What happened while we were away? he asked himself. There was no answer.
One of the EG Marines approached the major, saluted and said, “Sir, the initial count of enemy dead is 3,143. No appreciable damage or injury to base structures. Basis secured, overlapping watch set up.”
Major Burns responded, “Thank you, Janos. Is there anything else?”
“Respectively, sir, I would like to ask the armorer to look at several of our suits, sir. This is the first opportunity we have had to resolve the issues that we reported previously.”
“Approved, subject to agreement by the Master Armorer. Remember that she is now a civilian.”
“Yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir!” Speaking into his communications implant, the Marine made a beeline toward the large woman who was the logistics team’s motor pool support person, Dorothy Coleman. With a remote sense of bemusement, Sgt. Dreyer watched as a rushing swarm of the EG commandos entered the room and converged on the large woman.
Talking excitedly, the commandos surrounded the woman, showing her readouts of their armor, pointing to diagnostics on display and asking for her advice. Respect for her threaded through all of their interactions. It was obvious that they both knew her and held her in high regard. Major Burns took pity on Sgt. Dreyer to explain, “Technical Expert Specialist Coleman was the highest ranked battle armor and tank specialist in the entire EG force until her retirement last year. This is the first availability that we have had to consult with her since that time.”
The sergeant nodded in agreement although he must have still looked bemused. Major Burns took pity on the confused noncom and said, “Perhaps you have not been formally introduced to your outstanding logistics and support group. Let me have the honor.” Performing a short bow in the direction of the slight man with the leg brace and cane, the senior officer continued, “Lieutenant Commander (ret.) George Havelock, most recently in charge of EG Force JAG, head forensic accountant for the force for over twenty years.”
Turning next to the small woman standing on Corda’s right hand, Major Burns said, “Next is the instructor whose classes all of us wanted to be in, but very few have the skills or dedication to be awarded that honor. This is Sniper Expert Instructor Alana Myers. She left the service after her beginning class and team survived the engagement on Rabican.”
Sgt. Dreyer winced in sympathy thinking of all he had heard about the devastation that had occurred on Rabican. It had become part of the history of ImpMEC, where a vastly outnumbered force of Marines, including the beginning sniper class and a hospital of convalescing warriors, had held against an invading force of mercenaries, bent on a coup d’état.
When the smoke of battle had cleared, there were only 35 survivors among the defenders. But the bodies of over 16,000 mercenaries littered the ground. It was a legend that would continue to grow in the years to come, but the survivors had all left the service within two years.
Ted thought back to how he felt when hearing about the battle and the few scarred and weary survivors. Even though it was now incorporated into the mystique and history of the Elite, his empathy for the desperation and pain of the survivors raised teary heat behind his eyes.
He remembered the sympathy that he felt toward the leader of the group, one of two BattleMages that served the Imperium, the powerful mage…
His thoughts stumbled to a crashing halt as he spun and stared at Corda Devlin. Gaping at her in confused amazement, he realized that he had not connected the comfortable -looking, older women with the fearsome BattleMage of legend. He felt like an idiot.
Housekeeping
The level of activity at the camp ratcheted up to an almost frantic level. Lt. Marcos received orders to return to base, after retrieving the Centrax corpses for examination. He was advised that command had been shifted to Major Burns and that the special duty squad under Sgt. Dreyer had been seconded to that command.
The lieutenant’s confusion was evident even over the communications channel. His offer to return to the camp in advance of the rest of his men was shut down quickly by Capt. Bennet. Ordered to supervise his men and bring them back in good order, along with the enemy casualties and equipment, the junior officer had no choice but to comply.
Sgt. Dreyer and his men were kept busy. Providing the liaison functions for the hastily summoned local personnel, they directed equipment and people in the massive effort of battle cleanup. Einsville’s Council sent a force of 20 to assist in the aftermath. Irene coordinated the medical staff that arrived from the ship, commandeering one of the buildings as a combination autopsy and research center.
If he had not been pulled in so many directions by the demands of the situation, Ted Dreyer would have been amused by the actions of the EG Force Marines. Watching them reminded him of the behavior of a puppy following its owner, and expecting a treat. Dorothy Coleman was a constant center of the fearsome Marines, all of them importuning her to adjust or repair their battle armor. Her ability to effortlessly lift and manipulate the half ton armor by herself was both frightening and amazing.
Each and every one of the Marines had paid their respects to Alana Myers. She greeted each of them with a small smile and a short personal comment, showing that she both remembered them and was fond of them. She could not manage even to open doors without Marines jostling each other in an attempt to demonstrate their respect. When she agreed to a small shooting session, a series of intense arguments was kicked off by soldiers trying to be off duty during the session. Eventually, Major Burns had requested that she hold three sessions so that he could manage his duty schedule.
Ted also knew that when the Marines still on the orbiting ship heard that Alana was holding sniper sessions that transfer requests to the ground force assignment were received from every single one of the EG troops on the ship.
None of the 3rd Platoon Marines had thought that they were eligible to attend the sessions. However, Alana made a point of including the two soldiers that helped defend the base in each of her sessions. She had furthermore invited Alaric and Jonas to the first class and introduced them to each of the EG Marines. As Major Burns later mentioned to the sergeant, “A recommendation from the top sniper instructor in the entire Imperium is a big career booster.”
There was now a full company of EG Marines on the base. Ted was positive that Lt. Marcos would have difficulty recognizing his former command when he returned. All of Dreyer’s men spent time briefing the arriving officers on the situation and the planet.
After reflection, the noncom presented Major Burns with the Intel he had been provided when he and the lieutenant had spoken to the Einsville Council. His terse explanation had the senior officer nodding in understanding.
Thanking the noncom, Burns carefully noted the source of the briefing material and promised to follow up with those council members. Feeling that he had finally been able to do his duty, Sgt. Ted Dreyer was content.
The base had been warned that there were several shuttles en route from the orbiting battleship. Additional forces and a bevy of very senior officers were included in the passenger manifest. Sgt. Dreyer could see the remaining platoon troops approaching the base. They were heavily laden and straining to move quickly. A small group of three had separated from the platoon and was headed directly for what had been the command building. Leading the way was Lt. Marcos, uniform spotless and body posture confident.
He arrived moments before the first shuttle touchdown. Spying Dreyer, the young
officer demanded, “What the hell is going on and why did you not inform me of the need for my attendance sooner?”
Before the noncom could respond, Maj. Burns intervened, “As I am sure that you remember, lieutenant, Sgt. Dreyer and his men have been seconded to my command. It would have been inappropriate for him to continue to report to you. Both your expectation and your demand are unacceptable.” He continued, “I also find it interesting that you apparently have forgotten how to salute a senior officer.”
The flustered young man immediately snapped to rigid attention and saluted. Forcing the junior officer to hold the salute until he responded, the major stared briefly into his face before responding with his own salute. Having made his point, Major Burns turned to Sgt. Dreyer and said, “The Admiral has specifically asked for your presence at his briefing session, Dreyer. Why don’t you accompany me, while we leave the lieutenant to settle his men.”
Walking into the briefing room at the restructured command center, Ted was surprised to see a packed room of senior officers. It appeared to the overwhelmed man that the chamber was stuffed with high-ranking officials from every one of the Imperium military forces. ImpMEC had representatives of the Navy, the Explorer group, and the Marines. While they were impressive enough, there was a black uniformed general from IMPIntel as well as a heavily decorated woman in the garb of the diplomatic corp.
The next two hours were a blur of questions and answers, requests for his thoughts and demands for map locations and justification for the previous action. He would have possibly folded under the intense scrutiny and questioning, but only moments after he had entered the room an unexpected ally appeared.
He would not have been aware of her presence behind him, but for the respectful silence that greeted her entrance into the chamber. The Admiral was the first to speak, “BattleMage Devlin, you do us much honor in your attendance.” Welcoming comments tumbled out of the mouths of the other men, like pearls offered in worship, accompanied by the looks of profound honor and respect.
The woman in diplomat’s garb walked over and pulled Corda into a bear hug. Ted could barely hear the words of greeting and personal pleasure that were exchanged but was left with an understanding of both the depth of the two women’s friendship and the long time that the friendship had endured.
Corda - no, Imperial BattleMage Devlin - glanced around the room commandingly. She laid a proprietary hand on Ted’s shoulder, saying, “I knew that the capable Sgt. Dreyer would answer your questions, but I thought I might fill in some of the pieces that he was missing if needed.”
The looks directed at the sergeant changed, going from an acceptance of his presence as a source of information to acknowledgment of him as an individual and someone considered worthy of sponsorship by one of the top Imperium players. It was a thrilling, yet frightening, experience for the noncom. And totally unexpected.
The session was draining. Ted had been able to answer most of the requests and felt that he had represented the actions accurately. Major Burns had contributed his input as to the situation and actions during the time that his EG troops had been on the planet.
The noncom was amazed to hear how the base had detected the emergence of the enemy assault force, relying on the monitoring setup by Alana and Dorothy. He cringed as the battlemage recounted the waves of attack, detailing the desperate efforts of the skeleton group of defenders to repulse the hordes of Centrax.
Only the unexpected firepower of a mage capable of throwing mass spells of destruction, coupled with the technology and skill of the sniper and armor specialist, kept the camp from being overrun. Ted now understood the change in dynamics that he saw among the defenders when his small group had finally reached them. In the heat of shared battle, in an almost hopeless situation, they had become a team. He hoped that he and the few men in the special duty squad had made progress toward that integration also.
Almost in passing, Sgt. Dreyer heard that Lt. Marcos had been sent off to a new station. It was a cold world, newly settled. The officer would be in charge of the small base there but would be required to work carefully and closely with the civilian settlement personnel. Different duties, different responsibilities, perhaps different ways of thinking.
As Ted hurried off to brief his men on their new duties in support of the special logistics group, he thought to himself, There is a lot of attitude adjustment going on around here.
Author Introduction – Taki Drake
The mixture of technology and magic is where my mind and heart live. In today's world, it mixes engineering and creativity. In the worlds of my mind, technology and magic live intertwined. I hope that you will find my stories interesting enough to be frequent visitors to where my heart beats.
I am continuing to write my stories of intertwined technology and magic. The challenges of that are fertile grounds for many story lines and series. Several of those planned for the next few months have been listed below. I am happily writing each of them, discovering new worlds, new situations and new challenges. The wonder for me is the number of readers that are enjoying my visions and tales.
Enjoy the stories in the emerging genre of techmage!
Please feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] or visit my blog or my Amazon page.
Unfettered Mage
We Are Not Prey
Fleet of the Mage - June 2017
Spatial Delivery - Late 2017
BattleMage Investigates
An Attitude Adjustment
Frozen Hands - August 2017
Maritime Madness - TBD
Badger Hole Bar
Thru the Badger Hole - June 2017
Passage Beyond - August 2017
Becoming Sephera
A Learning Experience
You Just Go On - July 2017
Life Rebuilt - Late Summer 2017
New Paths - TBD
Standard of Honor
In the World of the Federal Witch
Shade of Honor
Coven Codex -July 2017
A Confluence of Covens -TBD
Cookbooks
The Badger Hole Bar Food Cookbook
Fergus Favorites Cookbook
Marcella's Garden Cookbook
Tasting Sampler
A Food Palate - Holiday Heartwarmers
Anthologies
The Expanding Universe: An Exploration of the Science Fiction Genre
The Tide: The Multiverse Wave
Inanna's Circle: Flight of Imagination - Thru the Darkness
Holiday Heartwarmers: An Anthology of Short Stories
Inanna's Circle: The Game Begins
Taki’s Picks
Well before I was a writer, I was a reader. Some of those authors that I enjoyed reading tremendously have become friends and acquaintances during the last two years. I thought you might be interested in some of my favorite works from these fine writers.
T.S. Paul has several of my favorite series of all time. He writes enjoyable romps of adventures that are somehow intertwined with layered storylines and plots. Other than a distressing level of bad puns, he is the sort of entertaining storyteller that I wish I could be.
I believe that you will enjoy his stories as much as I do.
JL Hendricks is another author that writes entertaining and adventurous stories. Her foundation book, Worlds Away, is a wonderful introduction to this extremely skilled writer.
Please let me know how you like these books. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will enjoy reading more of my work.
Until soon - Taki Drake
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