Dave reviewed his unit status. He quickly realized that he needed another nude marine unit if one could be put together, in order not to offend the Blues, who traded heavily with both Echo and Edun, for obvious reasons of cultural similarity. Quickly, Dave reassigned one of the officers from the previous two marine units to form the beginning of another slapped together marine unit. He then set his terminal to searching through the records of the officers and enlisted personnel of all the other marine units to locate men and women from either Edun or Echo. He hoped that there were enough of them spread out in other units whom he could transfer to the new unit he was forming. He waited for about two minutes, mostly because of transmission distances, for his answer.
Dave breathed a small sigh of relief. More than enough names came up for men and women who hadn't been able to get into either of the two established nude marine units that were stationed on Echo until Dave decided a few minutes ago to assign them the task of liberating Edun. They were well dispersed among the other marine units, as well. Their transfers wouldn't seriously deplete any of the existing marine units. He sent out a special order authorizing transfer of those men and women who still desired to be part of a nude marine unit into the new marine unit. Then he gave the unit a designation of 23rd Space Marines (N) and worked on assigning an assembly point. He consulted the star charts once more and realized that they would have to assemble on Beulah. This would be interesting, he thought. The messages flashed out from his terminal. Then he replied to the request for troops for Leuion, confirming that a unit would be sent as soon as it was assembled for transport.
He went back to work on assigning the warships that would accompany each marine strike force as well as the force that would have to block off the Malakins from sending reinforcements. Dave could see that his naval force was being stretched thin. Only his confidence in the men and women manning those warships kept him from becoming depressed. They were all fine, highly trained, and motivated men and women who would do their utmost to see the mission through and keep the Union alive and well. Still, the issue was going to be in doubt for some while until new ships arrived out of construction.
This wasn't going to be an easy war to end, Dave saw. Unlike the Ape-oids War, which he felt shouldn't have ever lasted more than a few months but had, this war was against a skilled opponent who outnumbered them. With that in mind, Dave realized that for them to become skilled, they had either fought against themselves or, more likely, someone else. Were the Malakins boxed in because they lost to someone else before? Or had they won and decided that they had the right to expand in any direction they damn well chose? Dave made a note to have a fast ship scout around known Malakin territory to see if it could discover the answer without bringing someone else into the fray on the side of the Malakins. Having to stop the Ape-oids for a third time just the other day by assigning a couple of destroyers and a mine layer to the task had already complicated the issue enough. Most likely, that would set the politicians back another decade in trying to make friends with the Ape-oids. Still, it couldn't be helped. The Navy couldn't allow itself to be engaged on two fronts if it was possible to stop one from developing.
Dave looked at Captain Kyle Kruler's report and smiled. Kyle was doing a good job for someone who had once been a spoiled rich kid. Kyle would soon be up for promotion to Commodore, but first he needed some experience on a cruiser and a dreadnought. Looking further at the report, Dave was pleased to see that Ensign Chalver was doing well and applying himself without falling into alcoholism. That was another man Dave knew would be able to go far. The man had guts, initiative, intelligence, and imagination. Dave made some more notes on his terminal to have Captain Kruler assigned to a cruiser the next time his destroyer was in port. Kyle would be excited by that and easily able to recognize that he was in line for promotion. Dave had no doubts that Kyle would apply himself to realizing that.
***
Susan looked over her notes and prepared for her classes that started the next day. It fell on her soft shoulders to teach a new generation of fighter commanders how to fight using the new tactics. They would teach their fighter crews. Hopefully, everything would go well and most of them would survive.
She had already gone over the list of men and women in the senior class and sent out instructions for forty of them to report to the main campus compound for instruction. Susan knew that they were already experienced in combat, even though it was on the ground. Having a fighter with its superior weaponry would be something that most of them would look forward to. Her only mistake so far, which she would learn of soon enough, was that not all of them wanted to be fighter commanders. She was assuming that they would all be as eager as she was to be in one.
***
Cadet Ensign Tall reported in with the other seniors who received similar messages from Lieutenant Thompson. They assembled in the Dining Hall where Lieutenant Thompson was waiting already. She, like the other seniors, paid strict attention to the lieutenant as she started to speak.
"Good afternoon. I'm Lieutenant jg Susan Thompson. I'm here to instruct you in new fighter tactics before you are graduated early and assigned to become fighter commanders."
Emily caught her breath. They couldn't do this to her! She was second in her class standing and entitled to choose her assignment. She wanted to be assigned to the marines as one of their officers. Emily held her hand up.
Susan spotted the hand and wondered what the cadet had a question about. She realized almost as quickly that the only way to find out was to recognize her and let her speak. She recognized the woman by name and said, "Yes, Cadet Ensign Tall, you have a question?"
Emily rose and said, "Yes ma'am. My current class standing is number two. I hadn't planned on being a fighter commander. I'm preparing to become a marine officer, provided I maintain my standing in the top five."
"You don't want to become a fighter commander?" Susan asked in stunned disbelief.
Emily replied, "No ma'am. I realize that you've probably selected the senior class members who are best qualified in a fighter for this opportunity, but I'm not interested."
Susan thought quickly for an answer and replied, "Uh, thank you, Cadet Ensign Tall. I'll take that under advisement and get back to you soon."
Truthfully, Susan was stalling for time. She didn't have an answer and would have to consult the admiral. Not only was Tall number two in her class standing, she was in the top five for piloting a fighter, both simulated and real. Susan didn't really want to lose a top fighter commander. She quickly got back to finishing her introduction and briefing on the upcoming schedule of training.
***
Susan knocked on Admiral Oden's office door before walking in as he waved for her to do so. She reported and he motioned her to a chair. Susan said, "Admiral, I've got a small problem which I've come to you for advice on how to handle. One of the cadets, Ensign Tall, isn't interested in becoming a fighter commander. Her class standing is in the top five. It appears to be a slight dilemma for me. What's the policy on this situation?"
Dave heard her out, even though he knew some of the information without Susan giving it to him. He replied, "Did she give any indication of her preference to you?"
Susan replied, "Yes sir. She indicated that she's been preparing herself to become a marine officer."
Dave's eyes lit up as he replied, "Really? Well, maybe she's still going to graduate early anyway. Sorry, Lieutenant, but I'm going to uphold the policy of permitting the top five cadets to choose their assignment. I know she's good, extremely good, in a fighter, but I happen to also know of a critical need right now for a marine officer position for which she is fully qualified. If you want, go ahead and grab the next cadet in fighter ability to take her place. I'll contact Cadet Ensign Tall to talk with her about this other assignment. Any other questions?"
Susan replied, "No sir."
Dave said, "Then I'll presume that you have everything else under control and that you'll continue to keep me apprised o
f any problems. Keep up the good work, lieutenant."
Susan got up and saluted before leaving the office.
Dave immediately got on the local radio to Sergeant Delgado. "Have Cadet Ensign Emily Tall report to my office."
***
Cadet Ensign Emily Tall approached the door with some hesitation and concern. She knew what the topic would be. She didn't know what the decision would be, however. Would her standing as a cadet be enough to get her a marine commission later? Or was the need for fighter commanders so great that she would have to accept her commission initially for that job? She dreaded the outcome as being unfavorable since she knew that the need for fighter commanders was great enough that the Space Academy was graduating them early while the Navy was granting them regular commissions. She knocked lightly on the door, apprehensive still over what the admiral would tell her.
"Come in, Ensign!" Dave said.
Emily walked over in front of the admiral's desk and saluted smartly. "Cadet Ensign Emily Tall reporting, sir."
Dave said, "Sit down, Ensign. No doubt, you're wondering what the decision is going to be. Well, you're going to graduate early and …"
Emily's face registered some of her shock, even though she expected the answer she thought she was getting.
"report to the 23rd Space Marines (N) which will assemble on Beulah during the next two days."
Emily listened to the admiral, but something was wrong. She knew there were only twenty-two Space Marine units, one representing each planet in the Union, just as there were the same amount of naval squadrons. They just weren't all assigned equally among the planets. Instead, they were assigned to strategic locations.
Dave saw her puzzlement register as soon as he finished his sentence that first caused her to show great disappointment. "I see that you're confused. The 23rd is a brand new unit just created to meet wartime needs. Your unit is desperately needed to liberate Leuion. The Leuion government has officially requested our assistance in fighting off the Malakin invaders there. Yes, they've been attacked as well. Until now I had a grand total of one officer whom I transferred out of the 21st Space Marines (N). So, allow me to shake your hand and offer you my sincere congratulations as the first cadet of your class to graduate."
Dave stood up and walked around his desk to a stunned Ensign Tall and shook hands with her. He then picked up an envelope from his desk and handed it to her. He said, "You'll find your commission and instructions inside this envelope. Good luck to you, Ensign Tall."
"Thank you, sir," she responded, trying to suppress the excitement she was feeling.
He said, "You better get over to your quarters and get into proper uniform. You have plenty of hard work in front of you," he said.
Emily saluted, receiving Dave's snappy return salute before she left his office. Stopping outside the office, she hurriedly opened the envelope to see if it was really true. She quickly read the papers inside and then ran to her quarters.
Half an hour later, Emily was nude except for her non-skid boots. She wore only camouflage body paint with her Ensign's rank painted on and hidden among the camouflage coloring on each shoulder. She then proceeded to follow the rest of her instructions so that the new unit would be ready to accept the other newly assigned men and women. The admiral hadn't been wrong in telling her that she had plenty of hard work in front of her.
***
Susan heard the knock at her quarters' doorway and looked up. It took her a moment to recognize Ensign Tall in marine uniform, so to speak. There weren't any academy rank emblems on her, either. "Yes, Ensign?"
Emily said, "I just stopped by to wish you luck, Lieutenant. If I didn't want to be a marine so much, I would have gladly become a fighter commander with you. I appreciate whatever you did for me to get me to my first goal so soon. Thank you."
Susan replied, "Why don't you come on in and have a soda with me? I'm not drinking anything harder than that while the training is going on. It's hard enough keeping ahead of some of your class without fogging up my brain."
Emily said, "Thank you, I'd like that."
The two officers talked for nearly an hour before Ensign Tall bid Lieutenant Thompson a good night and returned to her own quarters.
***
Two days later, Susan and most of her class were on board the Terra with the newly arrived fighters. The other newly graduated cadets had been sent out to other fighter-carriers where there was room for them. Susan had very little time to get them into shape.
The Terra was reassigned to the Berserker Squadron. The Berserker Squadron already had the fighter-carrier Mars, hosting another contingent of thirty fighters and crews on board her. The reorganized squadron was escorting several troop transports carrying the newly formed 23rd Space Marines (N). Their combined mission was to destroy the Malakin forces both on the ground and in the regions of space near to Leuion.
Each of the fighter commanders from Susan's wing was now a wing commander while Susan was in charge overall on board the Terra. Upon seeing the butterfly on the nose of her newly replaced fighter, the Attack Butterfly II, her original fighter still undergoing repairs on Beulah, she was asked about it. Susan explained the story that the admiral told at graduation and how it impressed her. Already, she could see that most of the new officers were just as greatly influenced by that same story. Butterflies soon popped up on the noses of almost all the fighter craft, along with their own names. Her own wing soon boasted a Tiger Butterfly, Killer Butterfly, Lepidoptera, and Flaming Moth, in addition to her own fighter.
Each day became filled with maneuvers as the fighters mock battled the squadron warships to learn each of their attack patterns completely and be fully prepared as soon as the squadron arrived at Leuion. There wouldn't be time then to learn. Class would be dismissed and they would be in their second graduation exercises. Those who learned would survive the second graduation. Those who didn't graduate would be missed and grieved for.
***
On board the troop transport, Normandy, Emily had hardly a moment to herself as she fell into the duties of executive officer for the 23rd Space Marines (N). Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Allalm, on board the Guam, had briefed her thoroughly in what he expected in his surprise assignment as commander of his own marine unit. He left nothing to chance, preferring for them to each be on different transports in case one didn't make it. She didn't blame him in the least. Most units had more than two officers. Theirs had only him and her. They were using sergeants in the other leadership positions, not that the sergeants couldn't handle them. If nothing else, the marines had never become political. They were always ready to fight, even when the Navy wasn't just before the Ape-oids War. Had there been any major ground combat for them to participate in, they would have swept the Ape-oids off the battlefield. Even the hastily organized Space Academy cadets, from whom they drew their own officers, had shown that in the one ground combat action that took place during the second half of the Ape-oids War. When a marine contingent was finally sent there, they had only mopping up chores left for them. The marines sent in for that did it with surgical precision and without disturbing the civilian populace anymore than necessary. Then they quietly left and returned to their base where they resumed training.
Emily went over the roster, impressed with the fact that their unit was overstrength by ten percent. That gave them a little bit more to maneuver with, considering that they were the only marine unit going in. Even their equipment was completely new and tested just before leaving Beulah.
Some of the men and women had been on Beulah fighting the Malakin robots already, as had Emily. They knew what to expect. Emily looked forward to fighting the robots with plenty of firepower from inside one of the hover artytanks. Her brief combat experience had put her in good graces with the men and women she was now in charge of on board the Normandy. She felt fairly certain that they might not have been so confident of her without that experience. However, they all knew that she had faced down the enemy robots with hand
held heavy weapons and no armor to protect herself. That took guts in their book. Now it didn't matter to them that she was fresh out of the Space Academy. She was one of them in performance and appearance or nearly so in appearance since she was a woman and only about half of the marines in her unit were female.
Even though she was constantly busy, Emily still managed to wonder if the 23rd would be de-activated when the war ended or if it would be stationed permanently somewhere. If it was de-activated, she hoped that she would be able to get an assignment to either of the other two particular marine units with an 'N' designation.
She was surprised that there was so much administrative work to do. Thankfully, one of the new men was adept in handling administrative chores and did most of the work. She usually only had to read and then approve of what transpired.
***
Susan was quite surprised at her own sudden discovery of feelings for one of the new fighter commanders in her own wing. His own fighter, the Tiger Butterfly, was the very first fighter after her own to be emblazoned with a butterfly and name. Perhaps that was what made her look at him a second time in a different way, noticing that he was sensitive in addition to all his other qualities.
Without realizing it, they sat together at the same dining table the second meal on board. They got into a conversation that started with fighter tactics and ended after touching on half a dozen other topics. Susan got to know more about him than anyone else in the six wings on board the carrier. He still ate breakfast with his crew, but lunch and supper were with her and something that she now looked forward to.
Now they were a few days out from Leuion. She realized that she might be in love with him. It was as if a switch suddenly came on just before lunch and supper. Then her thoughts turned to thinking of him, Ensign Allen Gregory, the handsome young fighter commander. During those meals, she couldn't get him to talk enough about himself and his dreams and ideas. She had to force herself to eat a bite whenever he paused to eat. When he talked, she didn't even touch her food for fear of missing something he said because of her own chewing noise or clattering her own tableware. Half of what she ate was cold and she hardly noticed it. Only when the meal finally ended, with each of them gobbling a few more bites, did the switch just as suddenly turn off while her thoughts returned to being a fighter commander.
Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe) Page 12