Sergeant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 2) by Jonathan P. Brazee Page B
Book: Sergeant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 2) by Jonathan P. Brazee
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Authors: Jonathan P. Brazee
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inside the PICS that wrecked havoc amongst his enemies, not the hardware itself.
He kept telling himself that.
He rushed out, immediately moved to his nine o’clock, and took a knee at the edge of the zone. Glancing down at his forearm, he saw avatars that told him the rest of the squad and the automatic weapons team from Weapons Platoon had deployed in textbook fashion. The LZ was not that big, maybe 40 meters across, so he could have just l ifted his eyes, but old habits died hard, and even if the display was on his sleeve and not on his visor, he now trusted the electronics more than actual visuals.
For the zillionth time, he wished the Corps had not moved away from the combat face shield he’d first used in recruit training. He didn’t’ believe the tests that concluded that having a face shield made each Marine ever-so-slightly less efficient and reactive. As a squad leader, having the displays in front of his eyes seemed more natural than having to look down at his forearm.
Ryck felt somewhat naked, but with only a squad of mercenaries guarding the complex, this was not expected to be a serious action. Navy intel had told them Luminosity was going to be a cakewalk, too, though, and Ryck remembered how that had turned out.
The wind kicked up by the departing Stork died down, so Ryck told the squad to move out. They were to marry up with Second Squad 200 meters to the northwest, clearing the zone for First. Sams’ squad would be in their PICS, but they would be acting as the heavy reserve. The point of main effort was Third and Second.
The squad formed into a wedge just inside the treeline, then moved through the low canopy. Pannington had only been terraformed for 50 years, so the forest didn’t have any old growth. The tallest trees were perhaps 20 meters. A newly populated planet or not, there was a myriad of animal life, mostly birds, flitting about them as they moved to the link up.
Popo and the Lieutenant met him as they took position off Third’s right flank.
“Nothing new from the company,” Lt. Nidishchii’ told him. “Third Platoon has met up with the NIS agent, and they’ll be moving to the cargo bays on schedule. Second Platoon has landed at Parkerville and has deployed, making its presence known by inspecting the legitimate warehouses. We don’t have an exact location for the mercenaries, but intel thinks they will be deployed around the main entrance. Our guide is about five minutes out, and we’ve got 45 minutes to get to the emergency exit, breach it, and take the escape tunnels. No one, and that means no one , is to get through us.”
Ryck tried to catch any flicker of uncertainty in the lieutenant’s voice. The wiry Marine had been with the platoon for over a year now, and he’d been promoted to first lieutenant . This was their second real action as platoon commander and squad leader.
Ryck didn’t know what to make of the lieutenant. He didn’t seem to have much of a personality one way or the other, but his reputation was stellar. Evidently, as an enlisted Marine, he’d built up quite a name for himself, earning two Silver Stars and a Purple Heart. He’d gotten an appointment to the Naval Academy, and came out a new second lieutenant. During the last year, though, Ryck hadn’t seen anything noteworthy in his platoon commander. Nothing bad about him, but nothing noteworthy. He done OK on BHP Billiton B-19, but hadn’t really stepped out to match his rep, in Ryck’s humble opinion. Maybe Ryck would see something now that they were in the real deal.
The platoon commander’s voice was steady, no hint of uncertainty. Ryck hoped his own voice didn’t reveal the uncertainty in his mind, though, uncertainty rooted not only because the squad was going in light and not in their PICS, but in the mission itself.
Golf Company’s mission was to take out an illegal warehouse complex, a hub of black-market trading. At the same time, Fox would be taking out another complex located
He kept telling himself that.
He rushed out, immediately moved to his nine o’clock, and took a knee at the edge of the zone. Glancing down at his forearm, he saw avatars that told him the rest of the squad and the automatic weapons team from Weapons Platoon had deployed in textbook fashion. The LZ was not that big, maybe 40 meters across, so he could have just l ifted his eyes, but old habits died hard, and even if the display was on his sleeve and not on his visor, he now trusted the electronics more than actual visuals.
For the zillionth time, he wished the Corps had not moved away from the combat face shield he’d first used in recruit training. He didn’t’ believe the tests that concluded that having a face shield made each Marine ever-so-slightly less efficient and reactive. As a squad leader, having the displays in front of his eyes seemed more natural than having to look down at his forearm.
Ryck felt somewhat naked, but with only a squad of mercenaries guarding the complex, this was not expected to be a serious action. Navy intel had told them Luminosity was going to be a cakewalk, too, though, and Ryck remembered how that had turned out.
The wind kicked up by the departing Stork died down, so Ryck told the squad to move out. They were to marry up with Second Squad 200 meters to the northwest, clearing the zone for First. Sams’ squad would be in their PICS, but they would be acting as the heavy reserve. The point of main effort was Third and Second.
The squad formed into a wedge just inside the treeline, then moved through the low canopy. Pannington had only been terraformed for 50 years, so the forest didn’t have any old growth. The tallest trees were perhaps 20 meters. A newly populated planet or not, there was a myriad of animal life, mostly birds, flitting about them as they moved to the link up.
Popo and the Lieutenant met him as they took position off Third’s right flank.
“Nothing new from the company,” Lt. Nidishchii’ told him. “Third Platoon has met up with the NIS agent, and they’ll be moving to the cargo bays on schedule. Second Platoon has landed at Parkerville and has deployed, making its presence known by inspecting the legitimate warehouses. We don’t have an exact location for the mercenaries, but intel thinks they will be deployed around the main entrance. Our guide is about five minutes out, and we’ve got 45 minutes to get to the emergency exit, breach it, and take the escape tunnels. No one, and that means no one , is to get through us.”
Ryck tried to catch any flicker of uncertainty in the lieutenant’s voice. The wiry Marine had been with the platoon for over a year now, and he’d been promoted to first lieutenant . This was their second real action as platoon commander and squad leader.
Ryck didn’t know what to make of the lieutenant. He didn’t seem to have much of a personality one way or the other, but his reputation was stellar. Evidently, as an enlisted Marine, he’d built up quite a name for himself, earning two Silver Stars and a Purple Heart. He’d gotten an appointment to the Naval Academy, and came out a new second lieutenant. During the last year, though, Ryck hadn’t seen anything noteworthy in his platoon commander. Nothing bad about him, but nothing noteworthy. He done OK on BHP Billiton B-19, but hadn’t really stepped out to match his rep, in Ryck’s humble opinion. Maybe Ryck would see something now that they were in the real deal.
The platoon commander’s voice was steady, no hint of uncertainty. Ryck hoped his own voice didn’t reveal the uncertainty in his mind, though, uncertainty rooted not only because the squad was going in light and not in their PICS, but in the mission itself.
Golf Company’s mission was to take out an illegal warehouse complex, a hub of black-market trading. At the same time, Fox would be taking out another complex located
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