Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (21 page)

“
At this rate, it
will take an hour to clear the hall and another fifty casualties,”
the Gunnery Sergeant said bitterly.

Teresa had read his
dossier and could understand his irritation. He’d seen a long and
active career
, only to take a permanent
injury in his lungs that had moved him off frontline combat duty.
She’d seen him training with the other marines, and he was out of
breath in the same time as the newest recruits. Even so, she’d
never seen him give up. She looked at him and smiled, but in a way
that implied sympathy rather than pleasure.

“
If fifty casualties
are what it takes to secure the ship, then fifty is what we will
lose. The important thing is for them to block access to the rest
of the ship.”

She pointed at the
m
arines.

“
Look at them.
They’ve blocked access completely and are working methodically to
contain the threat. They are using marine bodies as armor, instead
of leaving it to the ship. It’s costly, but it is doing the
job.”

He looked at her
with a measured look of respect. It
was
hard to find officers that understood what needed to be done, while
retaining loyalty and respect of the enlisted marines. The job of
an officer was to make these kinds of calls. He knew her
reputation, but that meant little to him, what really mattered was
what he saw in front of him.

You’re
as hard as the reports said you were
,
he thought wistfully, looking
back at the training scenario.

The two Marine
squad
s were making slow progress. But
what intrigued Teresa was that a third squad had elected to
completely avoid the training hall and was actually heading for the
lifeboats on the starboard side of the ship. For a moment, she
considered canceling the mission, in case something out of the
ordinary occurred that could risk the lives of her marines. She
hesitated, but something about the squad caught her attention.
Either they were leaving in a hurry, or they had a plan. Once in
the lifeboat, they detached from the ship and disappeared from the
view of the internal camera feeds.

“
What the hell?”
m
uttered Captain Llewellyn.

“
That’s okay, leave
them!” called out Teresa, her right hand lifted to halt
him.

“I want to see where this goes.”

She lifted her
secpad and dragged the camera menu to the
center. A simple tap brought up external feeds from the
dozens of cameras fitted around the ship. It showed two lifeboats
from the same side as they drifted into position above the service
hatches and into the ship.

Interesting.

The first waited and
then rotated to face its starboard door to the metal hull of the
Alliance ship. It opened up to reveal the marines, each
weari
ng fully enclosed PDS body armor
suits. They must have had no internal pressure inside the lifeboat
as they exited calmly, with no pressure blowout. In seconds, the
entire squad was in position on the hull like a group of fleas on a
dog.

“
What if they blow
the hatch and depressurize the section?” asked Captain
Llewellyn.

Sergeant Hacket shook his head.

“
No, the outer
section are double-sealed
, and there are
internal safety seals and shutters installed. The worst that can
happen is they manage to open the inner and outer shields
simultaneously. The area would immediately seal. It takes less than
a single second for the lockdown procedure.”

Teresa pointed at
her secpad.

“Even so, it doesn’t matter. Look.”

They examined the
display and watched as one of the squad opened an external hatch,
and they pulled themselves through the open space and inside the
vessel itself.

“
Where the hell are
they?” asked Captain Llewellyn.

Like all good NCOs,
Gunnery Sergeant Hacket knew his surroundings well. More so, than
it would seem the Captain had given him credit for.

“
That is one of the
outer service chambers. It’s to allow
for
maintenance work outside the sealed sections of the ship. If they
have the right security access codes, they can get through to the
outer door control station off to the right.”

Teresa smiled as he explained the layout of the
ship.

“Exactly. If they are smart, they will have an
entire squad in position to hit the boarding part in the flank and
cut them off from escape to their vessel.”

As she explained
their plan
, the two squads in the hall
itself had pushed ahead nearly two meters. Her secpad showed four
more casualties, but there was an equal number of T’Kari KIA as
well. Even so, the enemy was regrouping around what looked like the
carcasses of two marine fighters. There was an open killing ground
in front of it that would make reaching them nearly impossible. To
make matters worse, they had brought up a heavy weapon and were
putting down considerable automatic gunfire.

“Look!” said Hacket.

The side door to the
hall sli
d to one side, and out emerged
marines, each with their weapons raised to their shoulders and
moving silently. A tall man led them and used hand signals to move
them into position. Eight made it before they were spotted. The
marine dropped his hand, and they each fired. The close ranged
firepower from an unexpected position caught the T’Kari completely
by surprise. Five were cut down instantly, and the survivors were
forced to move back toward the corner of the hall. Those that had
been pinned down pushed ahead, securing the position from where the
heavy gunfire had been coming from. In seconds, the three squads
merged together into a wide line and pinned the T’Kari into the
last quarter of the training hall.

“
Well, it
looks
like they’ve done it,” said a
surprised Captain Llewellyn.

“
Not yet,” answered
Gunnery Sergeant Hacket.

They watched, as one
by one the T’Kari raised their hands and then lowered their
weapons. Each moved from cover and toward their waiting foes. The
marines lifted their weapons in apparent pleasure at the victory
and cheered. Additional marines entered the hall, some fully
armored, others less so. There were even three marines still in
their underwear, carrying nothing other than their
firearms.

“The fools!” muttered Teresa as she watched them
commit their biggest mistake.

Gunnery Sergeant Hacket lowered his head and looked
to her, nodding in agreement.

In the middle of the
celebration
, the marines from ANS
Crusader who so far had played the part of the T’Kari so
fearlessly, turned on the marines. They rushed at the nearest
enemy, proceeding to punch, kick, and wrestle with whomever they
could reach. By the time the newly arrived marine reinforcements
knew what was happening, the entire hall had degenerated into a
massed brawl. Teresa sighed at the sight and tapped a button on her
secpad. The lighting activated, and the training hall lit up bright
blue as the lights increased in intensity. At the same time, she
connected with the sound system and spoke directly through the
secpad.

“
E
nd of exercise, cease fire!”

Most of those
fighting stopped, but nearly a dozen continued the life or death
struggle with their fists and feet. Teresa was forced to call out
once more before the other marines intervened and stopped the
scuffle.

“
Marines, return to
your quarters. You will receive your assessments directly from your
unit commanders.”

Before
looking
to the small group with her, she
watched the marines down below. Most were leaving, but it was the
shape of the tall marine that had led the squad outside of the ship
that interested her the most. She finally turned to Captain
Llewellyn.

“Who is that?” she asked, pointing at the
figure.

“
The tall
m
arine?”

Teresa
nodded
, but the Captain said nothing for
a moment. Teresa looked back and watched with surprise as the
marine removed his helmet, revealing long, flowing red hair and a
darkly tanned face.

“
Ah, that’s Corporal
Arina Nova,” he said slowly.

Teresa watched the
tall woman as she spoke to the marines about her. She was easily
the height of the tallest men in the unit and moved with the
authority of a marine with years of experience.

Interesting
.

She looked to
Gunnery Sergeant Hacket and then to the Captain.

“
I like her. Send
her and the NCOs from her squad to meet me in the ready
room.”

Hacket saluted and
marched from the room, leaving just Teresa and Captain Llewellyn at
the observation point.

* * *

Teresa brought up the
list of potential promotions on the desk in front of her. The
electronic display was built into the surface and gave the
impression of a paper-based system. She looked back to her secpad
and dragged each of the dossiers she was interested in from the
small units and onto the desk. As each one landed, it expanded to
show greater detail as befitted the space available on the desk.
She was flanked by Gunnery Sergeant Hacket and Lieutenant Pollock
from logistics, who was responsible for the record keeping and
administration of the unit. A knock came at the door, and after
replying, it opened to reveal the Sergeant currently on guard
detail.

“Sir, Corporal Arina Nova.”

Teresa nodded, the
boredom of the last two hours finally starting to shift. She’d been
working through pages of promotions, and this was the first one out
of the ordinary.

“Good, send her in.”

The Sergeant saluted
and stepped back outside. In walked the tall, beautiful Russian
women. She looked even grander close up than she had at a distance,
and for the briefest of moments, Teresa was taken by surprise and
said nothing. She looked back down at the woman’s dossier and
checked her details. She was twenty-four, yet had only join the
Marine Corps a year ago. Her background was colorful in the
extreme, with reports of several violent incidents on Prometheus,
as well as three moons. Teresa suspected a troublemaker, but she
wanted to see for herself. The Corporal stood firmly to attention
and saluted Teresa who returned the gesture.

“
As
ease
, Corporal,” she stated, nodding to
the chair in front of the desk. Arina sat down and looked directly
ahead to Teresa. Her face betrayed a calmness that didn’t suit her
age or background.

“
Your dossier makes
for, well, very interesting reading,” said Teresa.

“
Thank you, Sir,”
r
eplied the Corporal.

Teresa did her best not to smile at the comment and
continued.

“
Even so, your
background doesn’t interest me in the slightest. What does interest
me is your ability to lead marines. I can see that you have only
recently completed your Marine training. Your aptitude tests are
off the scale, yet trouble seems to be following you.”

Teresa paused and
then stood up. She walked around the table to the side of the
woman. Even though Arina was sitting down, she still almost reached
the short height of Teresa.

“
I am reorganizing
this B
attalion. Those with the right
skills are being moved into units more appropriate for their
skills. I saw what your unit achieved in the scenario, and you’ve
demonstrated the level of aggression and leadership that is
perfectly suited for a role in my assault platoons.”

Teresa looked
at
Arina, again noticing the calm
approach she maintained, even when being questioned by her
superior. Teresa leaned in closer.

“
1st Platoon, 1st
Company, is the best unit on this ship. Even so, the unit was
stripped in the scandal and has left me with few commanders. It is
in need of a sergeant. Somebody with the fire, leadership, and
skills to lead the best the 17th has to offer. It is my intention
to make the 1st Platoon of the 1st and 5th Company in the 17th as
an assault unit, just like we did back in the Uprising. Vanguard
armor is available and underused right now; that is going to
change. I want the entire 1st Platoon trained and ready to use it.
Any ship used by the 17th will always have access to at least one
strong assault unit.”

Arina
was impassive, but Teresa couldn’t tell if she
was deliberately trying to stay calm, or if this was simply the way
she normally behaved. She looked over the young woman and couldn’t
but admire her physique. She was tall, muscled, tanned, and could
easily have been an athlete or dancer. She wasn’t thin or scrawny
like many of the female marines, and if it were not for her ample
bosom and long red locks of hair, she could easily have been
mistaken for a lightly built man.

“
Well then,
Corporal, are you interested in playing a more important part in
your Battalion?”

Arina
looked at her with a glimmer of pleasure in her
eyes.

“
You want me to
command 1st platoon, 1st Company, Sir? I’m just a new marine, Sir.
I’ve not even seen combat yet.”