Story Arc: Unexplored Space: Spring – 821 A.S. – Location: Tereus’ Mind
Chapter 4: Archived Memories
Prelude to Part Two: The Committee
Commander Faustin looked down upon The Academy from high in his office aboard The Resplendent, a majestic class cruiser. The Resplendant was in atmospheric orbit, and the crew was preparing to dock with The Spire. As he looked down on The Academy he knew as home through the transparisteel windows that comprised the walls and floor of the forward observation quarters a noticeable concern was on his mind.
This couldn’t have come at a worse time. Faustin thought to himself. I hope command realizes the dire repercussions this executive directive could have…
36 Hours Earlier, Kingdom of Gallia, Classified Location
Commander Faustin paced impatiently outside the committee chambers awaiting a response to the…delicate matter at hand. He had been summoned by the powers that be within the Sirius Grey Men and the Kingdom of Gallia to discuss the flirtatious and human like behavior that Cadet Major Aerith Aiglentina had been exuding for the past several semesters, specifically towards Cadet Colonel Tereus Mitchell. The concern that the committee had seemed trivial, essentially boiling down to the super human specimen they had commissioned acting like a normal human.
Faustin paced faster, hands interlocked behind his back in a moving parade rest. The committee never did anything fast, however he had been waiting in the corridor for the better part of two hours. He understood that Project Destiny was of critical importance to the kingdoms security, he also understood that in the eyes of paper pushing bureaucrats, the façade of a super human specimen wanting to be human was a concerning matter, however the committee had seriously blown this isolated scenario well out of proportion.
Bureaucrats…so concerned about the insignificant…always failing to see the larger picture…Faustin’s thought was interrupted by the great doors to the committee chambers opening, and an anxious aide rushing out. The aide was small in stature, rotund, and nervous. After catching their breath and their composure the aide approached Commander Faustin, and began to speak in a high pitched, exasperated, irritating squeal.
“Ahem, Commander the committee has reached a decision and is now ready to address you as per the formalities of this occasion…erm…if you’d follow me please.” The aide turned, extending an arm, then began to rattle off more instructions in that annoying whine.
“As stated earlier Commander, please do not address the committee at any time without being addressed first…also please stay within the circle immediately surrounding the podium at all times…also….”
Commander Faustin grimaced as he entered the committee chambers, more due to the aide’s incessant prattling, but partly because he had a churning sensation in his gut, indicating that he instinctively wasn’t going to like the decision the committee had arrived at.
“…Finally, if you address a member of the committee, ensure you turn and face that member directly, instead of taking a generalized stance at the podium.” The aide finished, clearly out of breath.
Faustin chuckled in his mind, if he was lucky this aide would keel over and die, but if not his rosy complexion, clearly a result of over exertion, mixed with his gluttonous appearance was entertainment enough.
“Thank you, you may go.” Faustin stated to the aide, who seemed a bit taken aback by the blunt response to his eloquent dictation of the formalities required for such an important proceeding. As the aide waddled off, Commander Faustin came to attention at the podium, awaiting the verdict to be laid out by the Committee…
Back on board The Resplendent, in process of docking at The Spire
Faustin felt a slight jolt echo through the ship, like a quiver, they had completed the docking sequence. The Resplendant was secure, and The Spire control tower had already dispatched the ground crews for resupply and routine diagnostics. The commander turned his back on the view, and strode towards his desk where a blinking light on his interactive user interface signaled he had a transmission awaiting. He keyed in his personal security codes, and the message sprang to life on his holo display.
“Commander Faustin, this is Chairman Renard, you have a green light. Please execute the directives discussed during the committee hearing within the next twenty-four hours. As stated in our hearing, the committee considers this matter necessary and fitting to rectify the undesirable attributes discussed in both Cadet Aerith, and Cadet Tereus. Let this be an example to all future tanks, as a discouragement from such behavior…” Chairman Renard’s message continued on for a few more minutes, detailing the long list of legalities, disclaimers, and proper procedures once the punishment had been exercised. Faustin let out a sigh, The Academy would suffer from what was about to be done…
Tereus was in the armory gearing up for the final war game simulation before commencement. Laid out before him was an organized array of weapons, armor, and other gear which his squad would utilize in order to accomplish their mission. Tonight’s games would be broadcast to the entire campus, as only upper classmen would be participating in the live fire exercises. The underclassmen, and staff, would be watching, critiquing, and cheering them on.
Tereus, as battalion commander, had chosen to keep his command staff together as a squad tonight, one last hurrah before inevitably being assigned to different commands. As for the war games themselves, tonight would be no different than any other they’d had over the past twelve semesters. His sound strategy, implemented with the squad’s calculating and deadly efficiently, would ultimately result in total domination…well if you could really dominate the combat training droids utilized.
The droids themselves were advanced enough, significantly upgrade from anything standard Gallian Armed Forces trainees would encounter, but ultimately they were still just programmed pieces of metal, utilized because of their ability to be cheaply and quickly mass produced. The droids were humanoid enough, but not quite as advanced as the Human Replicant Droids utilized on active battle vessels by command staff. The HRD series of droids were more…autonomous ai in a human looking bio-mechanical suit. This was extremely useful as often the HRDs could operate the systems of their assigned combat vessels, while simultaneously interacting with the crew.
Tonight’s final war game simulation would pit all combative forces of the graduating class against a superior force of droids, outnumbering them twelve to one. Three hundred and twenty-five cadets would face off against nearly four thousand droids, in an AO of over twelve square miles. The Academy staff had been preparing this operation for the better part of three months, and this final scenario sought to simulate actual combat situations utilizing live ordnance by both cadets and droids. While the risk of fatality was diminished, there was still ample room for non-fatal injuries, and critical injuries should one of the participating cadets wander into something such as an orbital support bombardment, but overall the power suits utilized by the cadets for these training simulations was more than enough protection against the live rounds being used.
Project Destiny while officially being a genetic research project, had spared no expense in the genetic nurturing or the necessities required to train and protect its assets. The personalized power armor given to the cadets was a prime example of this. The power armor in and of itself was a customizable chassis, which allowed integration and upgrade for the cadets as they grew into their armor during their time at The Academy. Fully integrated bio-monitoring, intelligent medical triage, multi-spectrum in helmet HUDs, and other integrated tools such as comms and interfacing allowed the Cadets to learn and grow accustomed to their protective combat shells throughout their entire training process at The Academy.
Tereus ran through his check list of acquired gear, grenades, guns, micro breach charges…the list was exhaustive. All in all each member of the squad would be operating with around two-hundred and twenty pounds of gear. The power armor could accommodate three times that under standard operating requirements, but for this commencement scenario, they’d be travelling light. The game plan was simple, Daughtery, Tereus, Tiberius and Aerith on point, the Marshall twins would provide overwatch, they’re specialty, and the Devareaux’s would be rear guard securing an exfil, and prepping an epic distraction.
Tereus’ squad was set to convene at 1800 hours, after evening mess. Tereus would give the brief at 1815 and then his squad would gear up, and board a Kestrel class combat transport for air drop into their AO. The Kestrel class was a nimble standard size combat transport, that really equated to an atmospheric gunship. The Kestrel classes were modified, and upgrade Ptarmigan class transports, more maneuverable with focus on offensive insertions, allowing a steady stream of cover fire and enough punch to make even the most armored mechanized units stay outside it’s firing arc. The Kestrel had been specifically created by Project Destiny and it had performed so well in testing that less sophisticated variants were a standard on Gallic Military Ships for atmospheric operations.
Tereus gave the staging area one last look over then glanced at his integrated neural-net link. 1425..right on schedule.
Tereus turned the lights off to the staging area, secured the cage with his personal codes, and headed off to hit the gym. A quick work out was exactly what he would need to clear his mind.
Aerith had been summoned to Commander Faustin’s office on board The Resplendant. It wasn’t unusual, she often frequented Faustin’s office as she was the battalion executive officer. Aerith had a glow about her as she headed towards the docking level of The Spire as she passed the other cadets and staff in the corridors there was a noticeable aura of energy about her. The other tanks stopped to salute and stare, the staff smiled, almost as if they were reliving that summer love phase of secondary school, it was so…perfect….too perfect.
As Aerith crossed the catwalk, she couldn’t help but to stop herself for a moment and admire the view. It was breath-taking, below The Academy was like a living diorama, with dots that were cadets and staff moving around campus like ants, the standard fighter patrols that flew by providing security to the airspace like guardian angels in their wedge shaped formations, and the rest of the sprawling scenery the backdrop. Aerith loved moments like these, content to take a moment to just…be alive. She hadn’t really admitted it to herself or anyone else, but she was going to miss The Academy when they shipped out, she just hoped that the battalion staff would be assigned to the same fleet after commencement.
Imprinting the image into her memory Aerith continued towards Faustin’s office, it was a quick trip, around three hundred steps from her view on the catwalk. As she approached her destination, she paused for a moment, gaining her composure and checking that her uniform was squared away, content that all was in order, she pressed the button on the comm panel, alerting Commander Faustin to her presence.
The comm panel on Faustin’s desk beeped, bringing up a holo image of Cadet Aerith on the built in interface, a moment later he was met with her voice.
“Cadet Major Aiglentina reporting as ordered sir!” Aerith stated through the comm. panel.
Commander Faustin stood, then pressed a button on his desk, granting access to Cadet Aiglentina to his quarters. He turned as Aerith entered, snapped to attention, and threw salute.
“Sir!” Aerith exclaimed.
“At ease Major,” Faustin stated, returning the salute and gesturing to one of the seats that faced his desk. “If you would Major, take a seat.”
“Sir!” Aerith proclaimed, then forced herself to sit down.
Faustin composed his thoughts, Aerith was a well liked, and revered cadet, and despite the committee’s ruling, less drastic measures were needed in his opinion. Completing the mental foot notes, he spoke, “Major…Aerith…I’m reassigning you for tonight’s mission…”
The committee watched via remote video bugs their operatives had installed on The Resplendant while Faustin had been attending their charade of formalities. The speaker addressed the chairman, “Sir, it appears you were correct, the humanity factor of the staff…” She paused, then continued, “seems to be an issue.”
“Everything will still go according to plan, our tertiary fail safes have been enacted, and Cadet Aiglentina will play her part, whether Faustin wants her too or not.” The chairman stated exactingly, letting his elbows rest on the table as he touched the pads of his fingers and thumb together, letting the touching forefingers come to rest on his forehead.
“Everything is proceeding as expected…” He stated with a grin.
Story Arc: Unexplored Space: Spring – 821 A.S. – Location: Tereus’ Mind Chapter 4: Archived Memories
Part Two: Memory Sequence Two: Enter, The Nightmare…
“30 Seconds.” The jump master’s voice crackled over the comm. Tereus and his squad were already in position, lined up at the open aft of the kestrel. They were a man short, behind schedule, and doing an on the fly LALO insertion into a hot LZ. The best laid plans…Tereus thought as he activated his helmet comm to Daughtery.
“You ready for this Daughtery? If not, just remember Major Cobwebs is watching…” Tereus could hear the swearing before the response came through in his helmet.
“Hey boss…Fuck You! Drinks on you I hit the ground first…” Daughtery retorted.
At least he’s in good spirits. Tereus thought. “Roger that Daughtery, you’re on”
The jump light turned green and Tereus and his squad stepped into open air one hundred and fifty meters above the designated drop point. Below them tracer rounds arced across the terrain, bright red orange, blue white, and magenta bursts created the illusion of slow moving lines indicating forward firing positions of the other squads and the combat droids engaging each other below.
100 meters…..80 meters…60 meters….40 meters…there was a sudden lurch, the power armor’s integrated AAD activated and the backpack jump jets kicked in, the squad went into a hard deceleration and hit the ground upright moments later.
Like shadows escaping the light Tereus and his squad dispersed into the surrounding terrain, taking cover while Tereus linked up and synced up, establishing squad connection to the Scenario Battle Command System, or SBCS. Link established. Tereus gave the non-verbal signal, signaling his squad via in-helmet HUD and outlining his plan of attack to the rest of the tanks in his staff. In silent acknowledgement the squad members where Oscar Mike, the Marshall’s taking off to set up an overwatch position on the ridgeline half a klick away, the Deveraux’s moved to secure the flank and slow down any unnoticed combat patrols, as Tereus, Daughtery, and Tiberius moved quickly and silently towards the western flank of the droids engaged with the main offensive force of cadets advancing from the south.
A dull beep and brief flashing in the right corner of his helmet HUD indicated that the Marshall’s had reached their overwatch position, confirmed by their immobile status on his integrated mini map. Tereus acknowledged their position and zone of fire, when a visual proximity alarm on his HUD alerted him to an approaching combat patrol. “Cover” Tereus stated to Tiberius and Daughtery, as the trio hit dove for the closest cover available and activating their optical camouflage. Moments later a small combat patrol of droids in a single column formation trudged heavily, through the foliage. Eleven droids…standard infantry programming…standard squad armament…Let them pass. Tereus sent via SMS neural-net burst, direct to Tiberius, Daughtery, and the Marshall’s.
The trio remained in casual respite, the combat patrol pausing just meters in front of them, scanning the terrain. As Tereus remained motionless, closest to the combat patrol, he made a mental note that eleven was an odd number for a patrol. The droids completed their visual scan of the area, paused for a minute, then decided there was nothing there, and trudged onward taking a snaking path towards the North East.
The trio stayed in cover for a few moments more allowing the patrol to proceed to a safe distance away from their position, then altered course, travelling perpendicular along the route the patrol came from. As they moved swiftly and silently through the snow covered underbrush the thought that eleven was an odd number for a combat patrol was still on Tereus’ mind. As the thought began to drift away, a light illuminated Daughtery, and temporarily distorted the integrated night vision in Tereus’ helmet.
“HALT!” The synthesized voice of a combat droid stated. As Daughtery froze like a deer in the headlights of a hover transport, Tereus lunged towards the droid, vibroblade in hand. The droid caught the movement too late, as it turned towards Tereus, its targeting algorithms brought the weapon in hand to bear on the threat, right before the biomechanical synaptic system was severed by Tereus’ blade. With an audibly heavy thud, the droid fell to the ground effectively neutralized.
Daughtery nodded, an acknowledgement of his fuck up, and the Trio zipped onward through the night towards their objective, two klicks away.
Tyler Marshall watched from the ridgeline through his scope. Bringing up the integrated image enhancement in his helmet HUD he watched as Tereus neutralized the threat. That efficient bastard…Tyler thought to himself…stole my fucking kill…Tyler depressed his finger from the trigger and continued to follow the advance team’s progress towards the designated checkpoint, which would serve as their point of penetration into the CP of the OPFOR group being played by the combat droids.
Tonight’s commencement exercise was a wash, in Tyler’s opinion this was essentially a farce. The command staff had been planning for a hard exploitation of the OPFOR CP for the better part of a week. At the last minute Commander Faustin had reassigned Major Aerith to a “secret mission”, and the squad to low profile HVT extraction. Same target rich AO, minimal engagement, for all intents and purposes they were an over-geared recon force, engaging in a text book snatch and grab…of a droid commander. Complete fucking waste of our talents and time…Tyler thought to himself.
The command staff had spent the last six rotations training hard, fighting harder, and at the culmination of their special warfare training, were playing out the role of baby sitters. Seriously…this was year two stuff. Tyler thought as he tracked Tereus, Tiberius, and Daughtery’s movement through his scope. The trio below was rapidly approaching their point of entry, a drainage ditch near the latrines, again reinforcing in Tyler’s mind what an immense waste of talent and expertise this was. His comm beeped, signaling that the advance team was in position and preparing to breach the outer perimeter of the OPFOR CP. Time to relocate..Tyler thought as he grabbed his gear, signaling to Zach it was time to move.
Aerith observed the progress of the commencement war games from the OPFOR CIC, monitoring the deployed resources on the battlefield. While the main force was engaged with the primary advance from the south, and other blips on her SCBS linkup were mobilizing for a counter-offensive from the North East quadrant, OPFOR was losing assets at a discouraging pace. At this point the games will be over within the hour…Aerith thought to herself. While she knew that was the ultimate end game, she was disappointed and irritated that she had been reassigned at the last minute, she was hoping to actually participate, not just coordinate as an observer in this final exercise.
She paced within the CIC, allowing herself to analyze the scene before her. There were a few staff, other observers undoubtedly gathering statistical data for use in the final grade of the cadets, the standard contingent of command droids all pre-occupied with their programmed tasks, and a holo-link to The Academy staff, overseeing the war games. Earlier one of the combat patrols that was linking up with the main counter-offensive force had lost a unit to unknown forces. At first Aerith had hopes it was her team, but the lack of any enemy contact even after extensive scans of the are just lead her to believe it was an advance recon team that got trigger happy.
Aerith sighed. It was going to be an uneventful night. She let her mind wander, thinking about how she’d complain to Tereus tonight in his quarters about Commander Faustin’s reassignment, and the mundane, mind numbingly, boring events that took place tonight…
Tereus and the advance team had successfully infiltrated the OPFOR CP and were making their way towards the CIC. They were making great progress and thus far remained undetected and unengaged. While it wasn’t necessarily his style, Tereus knew this had to be some sort of test, and as the last minute mission brief had been non-descript, generalizing the extraction of an HVT, he concluded that he’d rather not necessarily have to extract the HVT beyond the perimeter of the OPFOR stronghold, while under fire. He had full confidence in his team, but with a three man advance, he figured a blitzkrieg clandestine op was better than a full blown fire fight.
Stack up. Tereus signaled to Tiberius and Daughtery who quickly fell into position behind him. It was against all rules and regulations for the squad leader to be the first through the door, but they were all officers, and in the unlikely scenario where he went down, the squad could work autonomously. He felt Tiberius tap his shoulder. Go time. Tereus swiftly opened hacked the outer access panel to the CIC tower. The door slid open, and he moved in, Tiberius training his weapon over his left shoulder, and Daughtery bringing up the rear. Clear. The entry corridor was empty, strange, but welcome.
The trio advanced rapidly up the rear stairwell, The Marshalls were in constant contact via neural-net link, no unusual activity from the CIC, initial thermal scans showed that the occupants were completely unaware of their presence. Tereus posted up outside the CIC entrance. This access panel would take slightly longer to hack, but not by much. Tiberius posted on the opposite side, and prepped a stun grenade, Daughtery checked his weapon, as Tereus completed the hack and was granted access. Tereus nodded to the two, hit the door control, while depressing the button on top of his stun grenade.
One…Tereus stared at Tiberius.
Two…The door to the CIC was completely open.
Three…Tereus and Tiberius lobbed their grenades into room.
Four…The occupants to the room turned to look at the door, empty in their eyes.
Five…The grenades hit the floor, and panic ensued, the occupants scrambling for cover.
Six…The grenades went off.
The trio rushed into the CIC prioritizing targets, and opening fire on the combat droids. A short suppressed burst flashed from Tereus’ carbine. He was rewarded with the thud of the first two combat droids dropping to the floor. Two subsonic rounds entering through the CIC window indicated the Marshall twins had chosen their targets, two more thuds. Tereus moved to his position within the CIC, two more short burst from his carbine, three more targets down. Tiberius and Daughtery had secured their positions, neutralizing the other targets as they went.
Seventeen…”Clear!” the audible acknowledgement from Tiberius let Tereus know that he had cleared his sector.
Eighteen..."Clear!” Daughtery acknowledged his sector was clear.
Nineteen...“Clear!” Tereus acknowledged, “Area secure, secure the package!”
Twenty...Tereus hit the button on the side of his helmet, the visor slid into the top of the helmet, revealing his face. Ah..fresh air.
Twenty-one...The HVT did the same and a brief moment of surprise crossed his face…Aerith?
Aerith stared at Tereus smiling. Commander Faustin had an interesting sense of humor. Here in front of her was her “love”, come to carry her off into the night…
The high pitched whine of incoming artillery fire screeched towards the CIC at the center of the OPFOR CP. A barrage of artillery tracked its target, ready to blanket the abandoned area with a magnificent display of fire power, and signaling the end of the war games…
Tereus was instinctively barking orders, and he and the occupants of the CIC rushed or were dragged out of the CIC, down the corridor towards the stairwell as the incoming artillery barrage screamed furiously down upon them.
Twenty-two...Tereus was in the doorway, urging everyone out.
Twenty-three...Aerith scrambled towards the door.
Twenty-four...Tereus’ visor locked into place in front of his face.
Twenty-five...Aerith stumbled into the doorway.
Twenty-six...There was an explosion.
Twenty-seven...Aerith was launched into him.
Twenty-eight... He was propelled through the windows of the second floor of the CIC building.
Twenty-nine...Tereus could feel himself falling even as he lost consciousness.
Thirty...He didn’t even feel his body slam into the permacrete below.
