Chapter 2

UCDF Say My Name

Edge of the Andromeda System

ODM Briefing Room 1145 HRS

March 2^nd 2436

    Captain Robinson was still collecting her thoughts as the remaining marines from Drop Team Three shuffled into the room. She waited for everyone to get situated before starting the briefing. There were only seven ODMs in the room what was meant for a whole team. This was inevitable, as the war waged on familiar faces would disappear often replaced by a new face which would more than likely be killed as well. Friends were hard to come by these days, especially in the UCDF; if you had any when the war started most are probably dead. Robinson considered herself lucky to still have her ODMs. They seemed to be immune to the whole loss of friends unlike most of the regular Marine and Navy personal. She figured they had their own coping mechanism that just happened to be good enough to work with all that has happened.

            “Okay guys we have something big for you. As of 0630 long range sensors on Ares detected an anomaly. A scout Frigate, the UCDF Grafton was sent to investigate. All contact with the Grafton has been lost. Before we lost contact with the Grafton they sent us this image.” Kate said bringing up the image on the holodesk. A moment of shock and awe fell over the room as the contents of the image sank in to the marines.

            “Your primary objective is to investigate where the Promethean ship came from and gather any intelligence you can gather from the ships bridge. You will be assisted by the remaining members of Drop Team 3. I know you worked with them in the past, you guys are the best of the best, and we need the best for this. Your secondary objective is investigating what happened to the Grafton, if at all possible. I will now turn the time over to Lieutenant Jackson for the remainder of the briefing.” Kate said while nodding at Jackson.

            “Alright guys we got Promethean Capital ship on our hands and only a handful of marines. We don’t have much Intel on the layout of the ship, what we do know is where the bridge is located. Is there any questions?” Jackson said walking up to the holodesk.

            A silence fell upon the room as the men and women of Drop Team 5 began to fully wrap their heads that they would be the first humans to set foot on a Promethean Ship, let alone a Capital Ship. Once it all sat in they all began to perk up because they were about to be the first humans to set foot on a Promethean Ship. They knew if they won the war it will most likely come from the Intel that would come from the ship. Though they may never have their names in the history books, the feeling alone of knowing that they would play a part in the biggest part of the war and potentially win the whole thing was enough to get them pumped and ready to go.

            “Do we have any idea how much resistance we will be facing, I mean it’s a very large ship?” said Chief Petty Officer Kerby; the Teams only surviving medic, as well as one of the three remaining females. She has been part of the Teams for four years, but the way she acts it seems she would have been in her whole life. They rest of the team sees her as one of the guys. She had enlisted in the UCDF Navy in her twenties and later became a medic and joined the Orbital Drop Marines and became Drop Team Fives chief medical officer after the first major engagement DT5 was a part of; that is where she earned the nickname “Super Doc”. She supposedly ran into the middle of all the fire and pulled two guys out from the open and started treating their wounds and ended up saving their lives. One of those guys was Gunnery Sergeant Torres.

            “We are expecting little to no resistance, sensors are saying the ships life support systems are down in over 90 percent of the ship. The ships weapon systems appear to be down as well so it should be a relatively easy op.” Jackson said.

            “Will Chloe be accompanying us Lieutenant?” said Gunnery Sergeant Torres; the teams second in command. A very muscly guy with tattoos covering most of his body: the brass let him get away with it because of his skill with any type of heavy weapon. He comes from a long line of Marines dating back to the Afghan/Iraq wars on earth in the early 90s and early in the 21^st century.

            “Affirmative Gunny, as always she will be paired with me and not in the data pads.”

            “Copy that sir.”

            “Should we pack light or heavy sir?” said Private Young. The newest addition to the Teams. His father was the commanding officer before he was killed at Romulus a year before Jackson got put back into the teams. He had been eager to follow in his dad’s footsteps and enlisted as soon as he could and became a Drop Marine. He had requested to be put in the same team as his father. He is the teams master at Promethean technology, and one hell of a shot.

            “To be honest I would pack for a fight, we don’t know how reliable our intel is. I’d rather have more bullets then needed then run out. Anything else?” Jackson said looking around the room.

            They all nodded.

            “Alright then, go get geared up we leave in one hour. Dismissed.” Jackson said walking over to where Kate was sitting and took a seat next to her.

            “Aren’t you the least bit worried that this whole thing could be one big death trap?” Kate said with a worried tone.

            “Nope. If it is then they are in for one hell of a fight because we will not go down without a fight.” Jackson said confidently, trying to calm Kate down.

            “Be careful and don’t do anything stupid.” She said looking him in the eyes.

            “I won’t Kate I promise. But whatever happens, happens.”

            “Then why can’t you have that same attitude about our daughter?” She said. Instantly wishing she could take back those words.

            Jackson sat in silence and turned his head towards where Chloe’s avatar would appear and put his hand on his pocket over his heart. He kept a picture of their daughter in his pocket, in all aspects it is what keeps him from losing his mind and trying to commit suicide again. Then he stood up and walked out, leaving Kate in the Briefing room.

            “Jackson wait, I didn’t mean-. “ Kate said as the door to the briefing room shut.

            Kate sat in the briefing room in silence wishing she never had said those simple words. She knew he had tried everything to save her. Jackson practically lost his life trying to save their daughter. After they lost her he had become a completely different person. He had been diagnosed with a very severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had even been medically discharged from the UCDF. Kate had always wondered how he was able to get back in and gain the rank of Lieutenant; she figured it had something to do with him getting the AI implanted in him.

 

 

Author's Note

It has been a while since any of this has really been looked at because I thought I lost it about a year ago with my old laptop.