All My Sins Remembered (15 page)

“Sir,
a Recon squad should insert, not the entire company.  They can eliminate the perimeter guards, and take out the guard station at the entrance.”  The Major said, confidence making his voice brisk.  “After that, the engineering squad can plant charges, breeching the door and storming the guard office inside, neutralizing them before they know what hit them.”  Hawke considered the Major’s suggestion for a moment before Gordy, who had also been looking at the data on board the officer's briefing room on board
The Black Wave
, brought everyone's attention to  the layout of the top floor inside the entrance.  They could see it had three docking ports for the trucks to load and unload cargo into and out of a small warehouse section, much like truck docks.  The offices near the entrance were elevated, most likely suspended from the ceiling, and overlooked the parking area.  Wrapped around the offices in the docking area was a steel balcony with stairs leading up to it from the floor of the docking area.  The scout drones had noted a turret emplacement on the balcony with a large flechette cannon.  The holographic projection of Gordy grinned.

“Actually, I can provide special shaped charges that will raise the likelihood that debris from the breeching charges would blow upwards at an angle.  With any luck, any guards on that balcony, or manning the turret, will suffer at least a few wounds from flying shrapnel.
” Gordy supplied.  Captain Yost nodded in approval, suppressing a fierce grin on her face.  A fiery redhead known for her rather brutal tactics in space-based combat, Captain Yost had been with the Talons for nearly five years.  In each ship-to-ship engagement she fought in, he proved she was not shy about going for the enemy’s proverbial jugular.  Her philosophy was that she wanted to defeat her enemy so brutally and decisively that the memory of that defeat would keep them from attacking again.  So far, her philosophy, while exceedingly bloody, had worked.  Secretly, Hawke was glad that she had opted not to join the rest of the Talons who were remaining with the company on their explorations.  He just could not see where a brutal combat captain of a battleship would be needed in peaceful exploration.  At least, he hoped that kind of person wouldn’t be needed for that kind of venture.

“Zero G b
reeching charges, perhaps?” Captain Yost’s suggestion almost seemed a purr.  That woman liked violence entirely too much, Hawke thought.  Though Gordy was a holographic projection, Hawke could swear he saw his face blanch.

“Zero G charges…that would destroy anything and everything inside such a confined area!” Gordy exclaimed.  Captain Yost
raised an eyebrow in Gordy’s direction and shrugged uncaringly.

“That’s the idea of a Zero G breeching charge, after all.  It blows the material inward, sending shrapnel in every direction, ideally killing or maiming anyone in the vicinity.  With a little modification, the breeching charge could be made more directional, shaping the blast.”  Captain Yost explained.  Gordy grimace
d, and then sighed.  Hawke appreciated the fact that Gordy didn’t like taking life, but he also knew that if breeching the front door was necessary, they needed to do it as quickly and as efficiently as possible.  Captain Yost’s idea, Hawke knew, would definitely do both of those things.

“Alright.” Gordy agreed. “I assume you have three Zero G charges?” Gordy a
sked.  Captain Yost nodded.

“I’ll have them shuttled over to you immediately.”  Captain Yost said, catching the eye of her aid, who nodded and executed the appropriate orders on her data pad to be carried out immediately.
  
The Fury
’s shuttle crew immediately began preparing the shuttle to launch, while elsewhere in the ship those responsible for securing Naval ordinance, including demolition charges, went about the task of retrieving the charges to bring to the shuttle as the officers continued their briefing.

“
Well, I think we can use the Squad 3 of the
Helljumpers
from
The Black Wave
to secure the entrance while the rest of the platoon from
The Fury
secures the lower levels of the facility.” Hawke said.  Nathan nodded in agreement, and then pulled up the lists for the platoon aboard
The Fury
.  She had brought the other two squads from the
Helljumpers,
along with the platoon's commanding officer, a salty Marine named Sergeant Carroway.  In addition,
The Fury
had brought a force recon squad from one of the units that was on standby at the Jingashi Naval Station. 
As
was typical, a platoon is composed of three squads, which included a fire team of combat engineers, and an assault squad bearing heavy weapon, which was squad 3, already aboard
The Black Wave
.  Other platoon assets aboard included assault shuttles, three troop carriers, one hovercraft made for stealthy insertions typically used by the recon squad, a supply of UAV’s, and more. 
The Fury
was capable of supporting a platoon of Marines on protracted engagements. 
The Black Wave
, being a heavy assault cruiser, was more geared towards space-based combat.  As a result, it could only support a single squad of Marines, along with a Gator, a much smaller troop transport only lightly armored.  To make matters more difficult, squad 3 was short a couple of Marines on
The Black Wave
, thanks to their recent casualties.

The discussion concerning the mission had dwindled as each pair of eyes turned towards Hawke, who in turn was staring at the holographic display in front of him.  He knew they were watching him, expecting him to make the “go, no-go” decision, but as he stared at the mission profile he couldn’t help but wonder how many of his Marines would not come back.  He couldn’t help but wonder if, after
everything was said and done, this would really change anything.  He heard his friend, Commander Nathan, clear his throat, drawing his gaze towards him.  Nathan raised an eyebrow, a well-hidden concerned look on his face that only Hawke recognized.  It was one of Nathan’s ways to ask Hawke if he was okay.  Taking a deep breath, Hawke blinked a couple of times and pulled his gaze away from Nathan’s inquiring eyes and looked around.  Clearing his throat, Hawke nodded.

“Alright.  Let’s do this.”  Hawke decided.  The reaction from his officers ran the gamut from a sort of sad resignation to a general excitement for finally being able to bring the fight directly to the enemy.  As they all stood to begin their preparations, Hawke’s voice arrested them, most in the middle of the very act of standing from their seats.

“Second Lieutenant Raijan will be in command of the boots on the ground.” Hawke added.  Major Kinny’s face registered surprise before covering it up.  Hawke caught it though, and knew he would hear about it later.  The other officers in the room just nodded, though a couple looked a little puzzled at what they saw as something out of the ordinary.  Usually, Hawke exhibited a healthy respect for the chain of command, mostly because he would not have promoted or hired someone to fill an officer’s slot unless he had complete confidence that person could get the job done.  By all rights, Major Kinny should have had the command. 

“Major Kinny, I need you aboard
The Fury
to monitor things from here in case things go wrong.”  Hawke offered, hoping that the slight peace offering would appease the man.  From the thunderclouds Hawke saw in the Major’s eyes before he snapped a sharp salute to the Colonel and did a stiff about-face before leaving the room, he knew it had not.  He grimaced inwardly knowing he would have to stop by the Major’s quarters to briefly explain his decision.  It was the downside of being a business.  Sure, they had a military chain of command, and were subject to the same military law as their current employer, but in the end being employed as a private military contractor was very much a decision and Hawke did not need that particular complication just now.   One by one the other officers filed out to prepare for the operation, until at last it was just Nathan and Hawke in the briefing room.

“That was a direct blow to that man’s ego.” Nathan commented.  Hawke nearly grunted in reply as he was staring again at the holographic image still being displayed on the holoprojector.  With an exasperated sigh, Nathan smacked the flat of his large palm hard on the tabletop with a resounding crack.  Hawke jerked in surprise, and glared at Nathan.

“What was that about?” Hawke demanded, irritation heavy in his voice.  Nathan returned Hawke’s glare with a stern one of his own.

“Snap out of it.” Nathan demanded sternly.  Hawke’s angry glare met Nathan’s gaze for a few moments more before he sighed and rested his head in his hands.

“You’re right.  I just thought…hoped, even…that we were finally done with this.”  Hawke finally replied.  Nathan sat down again in the seat to Hawke’s right.  He understood completely what he was going through.  It was something that Nathan himself felt strongly.  What will be the cost?  How many of us will die?  What if we finally have done one mission too many, and what makes us human has been so sublimated under years of callousness built to protect us from the horrors of what we do, that there is no road back?  Worse, what will be the cost this time?  There was always a cost.  Both He and Hawke had learned that by now.

“I did too,” Nathan replied, “but it’s too late for that now.  Now, we have to focus on what we have to do, and we can pick up the pieces later.  If we go into this
distracted we will get people killed.  You know that.”

“I know.  I know.” Hawke said.  The room was silent for a few moments as they sat there, with Hawke resting his head in his hands, staring at the tabletop, while Nathan calmly waited, his eyes
watching his best friend carefully.  After a moment, Nathan noticed that Hawke’s slumped shoulders squared up, and with a deep breath Hawke raised his head out of his hands and favored Nathan with a stare that was full of resolve.

“Alright.  Let’s
go.”  Hawke said, and with that both friends stood and exited the briefing room on their way to the operations room to begin monitoring the ongoing progress of the operation that was about to begin.

The operations room was something special to
The Fury
.  When the Talons had commissioned her to be built, it was in response to Nathan having finally convinced him that they needed a Battleship that could also serve as a command ship, capable of coordinating the movements of both space based and ground based units.  The result of this need was the special operations room they had built on
The Fury
.  It was located near the center of the ship, surrounded by as much armor as they could feasibly put on her.  There, the top brass could monitor any ongoing operations, adapting their tactics on the fly without putting too much additional stress on the ship’s captain, who commanded the ship from its bridge.   In a pinch, should
The Fury
sustain heavy damage to the bridge, the operations room had the added benefit of being able to serve as a secondary bridge, though in retrospect should such a thing become necessary,
The Fury
would likely be in dire straits.

Hawke
was the last to arrive to the operations room, and was greeted by the quiet, but vehement arguing between Nathan and Major Kinny.  Upon his arrival, the argument broke off, though Nathan’s face wore a dark expression, mirrored by the Major.  They looked as if they were close to coming to blows, had he not arrived.  Hawke knew he had to head this off.

“Major Kinny, the reason why I have asked
Second Lieutenant Kemai to conduct planetside operations this time is because I need him to gain more experience in command beyond the small unit tactics he excels at, as he is remaining with the company once the
Heaven’s Gaze
is launched, and we begin our explorations.  Since you have opted not to join us, I have chosen to take this opportunity for you to monitor the situation, and take command from the operations room, should the Lieutenant need assistance, or sustains injuries preventing him from continuing on in a command capacity, or is killed.  I value your experience of command, which is why I specifically requested you to be assigned to this contract aboard
The Fury
.”  Hawke explained curtly, having run out of patience with the man.  Major Kinny’s expression still looked angry, but less so.

“If I need to take command, shouldn’t I be planetside?” Major asked hotly.  Hawke nodded in acknowledgement.  When he discussed the idea with Nathan, he had made the same argument, but in the end both had come to an agreement on the issue.

“Normally, I would say yes.  However, after discussing the matter with Commander Schultz, I believe that your presence could potentially make the Second Lieutenant question his every decision.  I am sure you would agree that a commander that does that could potentially make costly mistakes resulting in a greater number of Marines lost.” Hawke explained, pinning the Major to the wall with a cold glare.  His expression informed the Major, in no uncertain terms, that this was not up for debate.  Though the Major still seemed a little disgruntled, much of the fire had gone out of him, which made Nathan heave a silent sigh of relief that only Hawke caught out of the corner of his eye.  Hawke let the tension in the room go on for a few moments more, keeping his gaze on the Major who began to look more than a little uncomfortable.  Then just like that, it was over.  Hawke cleared his throat and turned his attention from the Major to the large two dimensional screen built into the front wall that displayed all the squads, vehicles, supplies, and assets being deployed.  In the center of the room was a large holoprojecter, larger even than the one in the officer’s briefing room, projecting a topographical map of the area in which the operation will be conducted.  On the topographical map, he could already see the Marine Recon squad approaching from the West.