Boomslang reaches the aliens’ homeworld moon. If we don’t, then once we attain a low orbit, Boomslang will launch every single one of those bombs at once and they will kill every Squidy living under the surface of that shite moon of theirs without even so much as a warning."
"I hate the Squidies." Tig's mouth formed the words like a reflex. And he did hate them. Just the sight of all those rubber hose limbs or the squidgy nightmare thing they called a face was enough to make him flash hot lightning under his skin. Even the sight of a dead one made him want to kick it and shoot it again.
The Chief bored into him with the evil eye. "AMTS 3rd class, Tig Meester, are you going to follow my orders?"
It all made sense now. This was the whole reason he and Parker were even on this mission. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah. I always do what you say, Chief." The Chief didn’t look like she believed him.
" Parker? Are you with me?"
She nodded.
" Alright then. Listen up. The ordnance bay has two fire control sections. We’ll need to secure both. One is through a couple bulkheads, that way, at the bow end of the ordnance bay. The other is at its far end, nearly 80 meters to the stern. There’s plenty to hide behind in there and there’s three armed crewmen waiting for us. We will not have the element of surprise." She continued to brief them, telling them things they needed to know but Tig's mind actually wandered then, to what he only now managed to identify as the question sticking in his craw.
" ...and once we’ve take the Ord Bay, we’ll have t-"
He said, " Does Commander Devlin think me and Parker are traitors?" It just came out.
" What did you say, Meester?" the Chief looked at him and squinted a little.
" Did he pick us for this mission because he thought we’d disobey Harry Cozen’s orders? We have less than an hour combined small-arms combat time. That’s me and Parker together. I mean, he could have picked salty company marines, but he picked us."
" We don’t have time for this, Tig." That’s what the Chief said, but she was going to have to make time. "Fine. Devlin chose you because he knew Cozen would approve it and because you’re cherries, alright? He chose you because you just got here three months back."
" Everyone keeps rubbing that in my face. What the hell does that have to do with any of this?"
" It means you’re not like us yet."
" I am! I’m a redsuit, goddamn it, and I’m salty!"
" It ain’t about salty. You and Parker...you're not like us. Not yet. And that’s good, Tig. We’ve been at this long enough that we’re not the same people we were when we started. I don’t mean that in the good way. We can’t do anything but hate them now. That’s what it took for us to fight the Squidies and win and once you start hating like that, you can’t just stop and set it aside. Most of us just want to kill them now. All of them. No matter what's right. That’s the hate talking. Devlin decided we can’t let all that hate make a decision like this . That’s why he picked you two cherries for this instead of a pair of Lucy Elan's killer marines. You’re still bright and shiny…"
" I'm no Squidy-lover. I hate them. They killed Sojic. And Raleigh. DuBois."
" You want to kill them all , Tig?" The Chief didn’t. "All of them? The baby ones, too...or larval ones or whatever they are? All 70 billion of them?"
He said, " Yeah. Yeah, I do. But no. I mean...I won’t. I won't to if we don’t have to. If they really surrender."
"Good," the Chief said. " Now, can we get on with this? Let me show you how to enable the flechette guns built into those suits."
After a thirty second tour of their weapons systems, Chief Horcheese led and they followed, down the central passage to the ordnance bay where all eighty-eight of the bombs would be lined up like fat idols, like swollen statues set in rows down either side.
" Put your helmets on," the Chief
"I hate the Squidies." Tig's mouth formed the words like a reflex. And he did hate them. Just the sight of all those rubber hose limbs or the squidgy nightmare thing they called a face was enough to make him flash hot lightning under his skin. Even the sight of a dead one made him want to kick it and shoot it again.
The Chief bored into him with the evil eye. "AMTS 3rd class, Tig Meester, are you going to follow my orders?"
It all made sense now. This was the whole reason he and Parker were even on this mission. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah. I always do what you say, Chief." The Chief didn’t look like she believed him.
" Parker? Are you with me?"
She nodded.
" Alright then. Listen up. The ordnance bay has two fire control sections. We’ll need to secure both. One is through a couple bulkheads, that way, at the bow end of the ordnance bay. The other is at its far end, nearly 80 meters to the stern. There’s plenty to hide behind in there and there’s three armed crewmen waiting for us. We will not have the element of surprise." She continued to brief them, telling them things they needed to know but Tig's mind actually wandered then, to what he only now managed to identify as the question sticking in his craw.
" ...and once we’ve take the Ord Bay, we’ll have t-"
He said, " Does Commander Devlin think me and Parker are traitors?" It just came out.
" What did you say, Meester?" the Chief looked at him and squinted a little.
" Did he pick us for this mission because he thought we’d disobey Harry Cozen’s orders? We have less than an hour combined small-arms combat time. That’s me and Parker together. I mean, he could have picked salty company marines, but he picked us."
" We don’t have time for this, Tig." That’s what the Chief said, but she was going to have to make time. "Fine. Devlin chose you because he knew Cozen would approve it and because you’re cherries, alright? He chose you because you just got here three months back."
" Everyone keeps rubbing that in my face. What the hell does that have to do with any of this?"
" It means you’re not like us yet."
" I am! I’m a redsuit, goddamn it, and I’m salty!"
" It ain’t about salty. You and Parker...you're not like us. Not yet. And that’s good, Tig. We’ve been at this long enough that we’re not the same people we were when we started. I don’t mean that in the good way. We can’t do anything but hate them now. That’s what it took for us to fight the Squidies and win and once you start hating like that, you can’t just stop and set it aside. Most of us just want to kill them now. All of them. No matter what's right. That’s the hate talking. Devlin decided we can’t let all that hate make a decision like this . That’s why he picked you two cherries for this instead of a pair of Lucy Elan's killer marines. You’re still bright and shiny…"
" I'm no Squidy-lover. I hate them. They killed Sojic. And Raleigh. DuBois."
" You want to kill them all , Tig?" The Chief didn’t. "All of them? The baby ones, too...or larval ones or whatever they are? All 70 billion of them?"
He said, " Yeah. Yeah, I do. But no. I mean...I won’t. I won't to if we don’t have to. If they really surrender."
"Good," the Chief said. " Now, can we get on with this? Let me show you how to enable the flechette guns built into those suits."
After a thirty second tour of their weapons systems, Chief Horcheese led and they followed, down the central passage to the ordnance bay where all eighty-eight of the bombs would be lined up like fat idols, like swollen statues set in rows down either side.
" Put your helmets on," the Chief
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