A Deep Sleep (Valhalla Book 1)
Page 35
“Let’s seal her up.” She said, somewhat annoyed at the amount of time spent in the freezing cold like this. She hadn’t felt this awkward since that one time at the academy during zero-gee training, but the less said about that the better. She had been a bit more…wild in those days.
The hatch swung around and its matching gel cocooned her front. She gasped as the cold gel pressed against her and the cooling system came online. She was shivering now as the pod tried to lower her core temperature, filling the volume of air that persisted in the mostly form-fitting pod with an icy gel. She consulted her retinal HUD and saw that the umbilical was indeed feeding through its myriad of drugs into her system. She could feel her body numbing, though whether it was from the cold or the drugs, she couldn’t tell.
“Can you hear me sir?” It was the junior male assistant.
“I can.” Athena sub-vocalized through her implanted comm. His voice entered her head by the same system.
“Excellent. Your vitals are all responding as predicted. All indications are good here. How do you feel sir?”
“A little cold, starting to go numb. It all seems to be as I was told.” Athena responded, the numbness having progressed to the point where she had stopped shivering. Normally, she’d worry about hypothermia, but she knew it was the drugs adjusting her body and letting it cope with the new temperature.
“Very good sir. We’re going to initiate in a few minutes, but you’ll have to sleep first. Remember, don’t fight the drugs, let sleep come.” He soothingly reminded her.
“Yes, yes.” Athena started to voice her frustration at the number of times she had been through these instruction, but then tempered. Caution was not a bad thing, redundancy could save her life. “Thank you for the reminder.” She finished calmly.
“No problem sir. You’re doing great.” The tech didn’t seem to take offense at her initial tone. She figured, with all the Marines and Chief Petty Officers they had already put into stasis, they must be pretty desensitized to cursing and the frustrations that came from people who found themselves powerless when they were so used to having control over themselves. At least on an individual level, she figured. She felt a drug-induced sleep coming on and after the initial primal instinct to resist, gave herself over to a deep sleep.
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Military Structure of the United States Armed Forces
US NAVY
(circa 2650, the SSW);
Grade
Title
O-1
Ensign
O-2
Lieutenant Junior Grade
O-3
Lieutenant
O-4
Lieutenant Commander
O-5
Commander
O-6
Captain
O-7
Rear Admiral
O-8
Vice Admiral
O-9
Admiral
O-10
Fleet Admiral
O-11
Admiral of the Navy
Grade
Title
E-1
Recruit Crewman
E-2
Crewman
E-3
Senior Crewman
E-4
Petty Officer 3rd Class
E-5
Petty Officer 2nd Class
E-6
Petty Officer 1st Class
E-7
Chief Petty Officer
E-8
Senior Chief Petty Officer
E-9
Master Chief Petty Officer
US MARINE CORP
(circa 2650, the SSW)
Grade
Title
O-1
2nd Lieutenant
O-2
1st Lieutenant
O-3
Captain
O-4
Major
O-5
Lt Colonel
O-6
Colonel
O-7
Brigadier General
O-8
Major General
O-9
Lieutenant General
O-10
General
Grade
Title
E-1
Private
E-2
Private 1st Class
E-3
Lance Corporal
E-4
Corporal
E-5
Sergeant
E-6
Staff Sergeant
E-7
Gunnery Sergeant
E-8
Master Sergeant
E-9
Master Gunnery Sergeant
POWERED INFANTRY UNIT STRENGTHS
Unit
Size (# of Marines)
Commanded by
Exec/HQ staff
Fire Team
4 Marines (4)
Lance Corp. or Corp.
n/a
Squad
3 Fire Teams (12)
Corp. or Sgt.
n/a
Weps Squad
2 Heavy Wep (2ea), 1 Rocket (4ea), 1 Mortar (4ea), (12)
Corp. or Sgt.
n/a
Platoon
4 Squads (48)
1st or 2nd Lt
Staff Sgt
Weps Platoon
4 Squads (48)
1st or 2nd Lt
Staff Sgt
Company
3 Line Platoons, 1 Weps (192)
Captain
Exec (Lt), staff
Battalion
5 Companies (960)
Lt. Col
Major/HQ Staff
Regiment
5 Battalions (4800)
Colonel
HQ Staff
Division
4 Regiments (19200)
Major General
HQ Staff
Army
3 Divisions (57600)
Lt General
HQ Staff
NOTE: This does not include the supporting units, which result in increased size for larger formations. The additional units (approx. platoon strength each) are as follows for each Regiment;
Medical (x3)
Atomic Arms (x2)
Conventional Artillery (rockets and tube) (x4)
Command(x1)
Sniper and Special Missions (x2)
Total of 576 extra Marines
Regiment Strength: 4800 + 576 = 5376
Divisional Units add more, Army more again.
Also note, RASAT units do not always follow this structure as their units are more specialized and flexible in their composition.
Upcoming
Valhalla Book II: Valkyries
Phoenix 21
(Book I of the Phoenix Series)
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About the Author
Tyler is an engineer by profession, with a dual B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Webb Institute. He currently works to provide direct engineering support services to the US Navy for new construction small surface combatants.
Always having had an interest in science fiction, Tyler has read hundreds of books in and around the genre. He has drawn inspiration from the works of Jay Allan, Tom Clancy, and numerous others. He also has a great love for movies and television shows.
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Tyler can be reached at;
TottenWrites@gmail.com
Comments and questions are always welcome.
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