Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (11 page)

“
By now you
have noted the power pack,” he said. He held up the clip and
turned it. He jacked off a one centimeter by four centimeter
rectangular block. “This is it. Each ammo clip has it's own
battery pack. Earlier rail guns needed a large power source, making
them extremely heavy and hard to aim. This reduced their weight and
made them easier to handle. But they can fail like any other part of
the weapon.”

He handed the
corporal the weapon then picked up a larger weapon. It was over two
meters long, with a wide bulbous end that was split along its
vertical and horizontal axis. He turned and braced himself before
firing.

A blinding white,
blue, and purple shot leapt down the range and tore through the armor
plate at the end. The plate exploded outward, raining molten pieces
half way back up the range in a spectacular display. Energy crackled
and sizzled. They could hear the atmosphere pop as they rose from
their instinctive crouches and uncovered their ears.

“
Plasma gun.
Like the needler it uses a rail gun to accelerate a plasma round down
range. But it does so by turning hydrogen or some other material into
plasma in a plasma bottle. Which is energy intensive. Which is why it
has these massive battery packs. This is usually a crew service
weapon. We've got smaller ones planned, ones that use micro force
emitters, and we've got bigger vehicle mount ones planned. This will
make or break your day depending on which end you’re facing,”
he grimaced. “Don't screw around. You see someone on the other
side with this take them out fast. A plasma gun will go through just
about anything we've got fast. Even shielded systems will only take a
couple hits before they go down.”

“
Yeah,”
Sergei breathed. “I have
so
got to have one,”
he breathed. The gunny shot the big Liger a look and then set the
rifle down.

“
Here is
another weapon system,” he said. He held up a rifle. “You've
seen a stunner. This is its big brother a microwave laser also called
a maser. It will superheat a pinpoint area on a target in a
nanosecond. It can be used for sniping but it can easily be detected
and localized. To localize the SR-2204 you need a bunch of sensors to
triangulate.”

“
One of the
interesting things we discovered is this weapon can blind visual
sensors. Couple that with a stunner and you get a great long range
distraction.” Jethro made a mental note of that one. That trick
might come in handy in the future.

“
This is a
grenade launcher,” the gunny said. He put the laser down and
then hefted a small blocky weapon in matte green plastic. “We've
got two different versions, the dedicated one which this one is, and
another that mounts as an underside attachment to your standard
assault rifle. The underside one pulls your barrel down and makes it
harder to get on target fast so be aware of that.”

“
Most of you
know the basic three grenades. We've got a couple more. EMP grenades
can fry electronics in its attack radius. Bouncing betties will
bounce when they land and then frag at waist height, tearing apart
anything around it. Delayed rounds will blow a hole through an object
then a secondary charge goes off inside a millisecond later tearing
the place apart. Sticky grenades have a sticky material or magnet
that lets them stick to a wall or other surface and blow in a
pre-programmed direction. Sensor grenades can be fired and then you
can link into them, letting you see and hear what is around them.”

“
We've got
other weapons, more grenades, claymore mines, anti air weapons, and
even more toys in the toy box. But unfortunately I couldn't get the
clearance to use them here. You’re stuck using your dialed down
smoke, flash bang, or frag grenades for now.” He shrugged as he
grimaced. “I so wanted to look at mortars and grenade
launchers,” he sighed and shook his head. “We'll just
have to work with what we've got for now,” he growled. Jethro
shot a glance to Valenko. He was kidding right? The glance said. The
bear gave an infinitesimal shrug and then he went back to watching
the DI.

“
Which should
be enough. They did specify that we have to keep the park in one
piece gunny,” Corporal Jefferson said smiling.

“
Bitch bitch.
They can bill me.”

That earned a snort
of humor and chuckles from the group including the DI's.

“
A couple more
things,” Schultz said letting the humor die a natural death.
The gunny went over to the side and nudged a box on the ground. “The
neat thing about rail guns is we can swap battery packs in the ammo
clips. But even they are eventually run dry. So to keep the soldiers
going we've got a micro power plant here. It'll charge the batteries
and other equipment for a platoon. If you’re smart you'll have
two issues of batteries. One your platoon is using and the other that
is charging. That way you can swap them without having to wait.”

He nodded to them
then went over to another box. He nodded to corporal Brenet who took
a spade and dumped a load of dirt into the top hopper. A green light
on top lit. After a moment a package dropped out. “Field
expedited ammo,” the gunny said holding up the package.

“
This isn't a
replicator. What it does is compact and melt the stuff you toss into
it, wrap a ferrite jacket around it, and then reshape it into ammo
for our weapons. In this case assault ammo.” He tossed the ammo
onto the table. “It will fire just like your issued clips as
far as we know. We haven't tested it that well. That is about to
change today.”

“
Now, it's
time you got some hands-on with these weapons. First row forward,”
he ordered. He pointed. The row took two steps forward. “Break
down into interests. I want each of you to take a shot with each
weapon. Keep the plasma rifle at ten percent power or I will rip you
a new one. You read me?”

“
SIR YES SIR!”

Jethro had to keep
from blanching. The plasma weapon had been at only ten percent power?
Goddess of space! He so didn't want to be in the path of one of those
mothers if that was true!

“
Very well.
Let’s go to it. Corporal Jefferson will work with each of you
on the sniper rifle. Corporal Brenet will handle the plasma weapon.
I'll check you on the maser rifle. Move!”

 ...*...*...*...*...

Major Forth snorted
as he and Firefly watched the vid feed. “You were right,”
he said, not looking at the gunny beside him.

“
I was pretty
sure they were good,” Schultz growled, watching Valenko
silently instruct the team with hand signs.

“
Hostage
rescue?” First Lieutenant Pendeckle asked, watching the team at
work.

“
Aye yup. They
are good. I'll give them that. A few rough edges, but the quality is
there under the surface.”

“
I thought I
told you to back off? Give them some time off?”

“
I did. I gave
them paperwork, that heavy weapons sneak peek, their usual Sunday of
chores and light duty, and then book learning for the past two days
but they were bored to tears. They asked for this.”

The Major snorted.
He watched Hurranna grimace as Valenko detailed her and the arctic
fox to go through the ducts. She got busy with the cover plate right
away however, not protesting.

“
Interesting,”
he said as he shook his head. “He's changing the op plan.”

“
No plan
survives contact with the enemy,” Firefly responded. “Though
the duct plan is a bit questionable. Usually a bot would be employed
instead.”

“
Which is
probably what they would have done, but I limited their kit to what
they had trained with,” the gunny replied. The holo image of
Valenko motioned to Sergei and then made a knocking motion with a
closed fist. He held up two fingers and then pointed to two other
squad members, one the Gahsg and then pointed to Sergei to follow.
They each closed a fist in acknowledgment.

“
Where is
recruit Jethro? The panther?” the Major asked.

“
He's not
showing up on our instruments Major. He is partially cloaked most of
the time, he stands still for long periods of time. It is a security
concern.”

“
Huh. I wonder
if he'd be like that with implants. Couldn't you trace the energy
signature or his Wi-Fi access?”

“
Not if he
gets the recon package. He's the team close quarters and recon
specialist,” Firefly responded. “Which requires a
stealthy augment package.”

“
Agreed.
Still, we may require him to run an IFF when not in a combat op.”

“
If only for
my peace of mind you mean,” Firefly responded dryly.

“
Something
like that. Mine as well,” the Major said watching the team move
off. “Who's the sniper and rear guard?”

“
A selkie,
private Deja is the rear guard. No sniper since this is an indoor op.
No windows or means to target.”

“
Ah. Good call
I suppose. Though they could fire through the deck or the walls with
the right mix,” the Major nodded.

They watched as
Hurranna and the fox got into position. The assistant DI's and marine
volunteers playing hostage takers were focused on the two doors that
were bottlenecks to their area. Sergei led the team around the doors
to a wall panel.

“
What the
hell?”

“
If your enemy
expects you to come in one way, make a new door,” the gunny
said nodding. “I think I know where this is heading. What I'm
curious about is how he got the paste. I'll have to talk to Dixon the
supply sergeant.”

Sergei's large but
delicate hands set up a ring the size of a hatch in the wall. He
attached a detonator and then stepped to one side and gave a thumbs
up. Valenko nodded and clicked his throat mike twice.

At that signal the
selkie rear guard tossed a smoke grenade to the first door. The DI's
in the room shifted to focus on that area, tightening up.

Then another pair of
grenades clattered to the floor behind them. One turned just as the
first flash bang went off. He flinched, jumping back and covering his
face shield.

Pandemonium erupted
in the room. The wall blew open and Sergei charged through. His
stunner went off twice before a DI hiding behind a couch shot him. He
went down as his harness began to buzz.

But behind him the
others were charging. They were firing into the disoriented DI's near
the door. The lone man with the hostages turned to 'kill' the
hostages but suddenly a hand grabbed his harness. His alarm went off
and he sank to his knees, hands on his head.

“
Bang, you're
dead. With your throat ripped out,” Jethro growled. He looked
over to Valenko as the bear climbed through the hole. “Hostages
secure,” he uncloaked and rolled his shoulders.

“
Room secure,”
the Gahsg reported a second later.

“
Good, can we
get out of here now?” the fox whined from the air duct. Valenko
snorted, shouldering his rifle. He nodded politely as the referee
came in behind them, terminating the exercise.

“
How'd he do
that?” the Major demanded, turning to the gunny.

“
I'm not sure
sir,” the gunny said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “He's
a sneak specialist. One of the assassins of the cat clan. All black
panthers and some leopards and jaguars have this cloak ability to
varying degree. The black panthers have the most effective ability
though.”

“
I heard. His
sire Jet has become a problem for security,” Firefly said. The
holo replayed the exercise from various angles. Wind vectors and heat
sources were plotted on the various views. Finally they came together
into one large image.

“
I think I
have it. He didn't come in with the others. He slipped in the back
way.”

“
How? The DI's
rigged it with a grenade?” the gunny said shaking his head.

“
The fox. He
used a hook and fishing line to pull the safety and disable the
tripwire. See here and here?” Firefly pointed out zooming in.
They watched as the fox's hands played a line out of the air duct the
hook pulled the wire close so he could clip it with a tiny pair of
clippers.

“
Smart. I
don't remember that in the kit,” the gunny said amused.

“
Improvise,
adapt, and overcome. They'll do.” The Major chuckled. He
nodded, fist under his chin as he watched the after image of the
panther come in from above, clinging to the walls and door frame to
avoid any possible sensor plates or traps on the floor.