章節 37: Chapter 37: Boarding Action (1)
3 hours ago
Lt. Lincoln stood to the side as a parade of 2 meter metal giants boarded the Assault Shuttle. He looked down at his own metal body, marveling at the technology that allowed what for all intents-and-purposes was his soul to inhabit the ENTT.
He rotated his arms and shifted his torso in a few different directions, testing his range of movement. It was an odd feeling to be able to move his body as if it were his old flesh and bones, but instead of flesh it was ceramic armor and instead of bone it was an metal alloy composite.
As the last Marine boarded the shuttle, Lt. Lincoln received a neuro-comm from the commander.
"Lieutenant, the Sensor is detecting an Albrecht Field on the edge of the system. It seems our guests have arrived."
"Yes, Sir. We are ready to start down here."
"Then by all means, Lieutenant."
Lt. Lincoln grinned to himself. He had become fast friends with Commander Venata over the last few weeks of hunting Imperial Convoys. The commander had a surprisingly vast sense of humor, and was much more informal with himself and his Sergeants during the sort meetings they had after each attack.
Lt. Lincoln shook those thoughts from his head, settling into the calm, tactical mindset of an experienced officer.
As he allowed the ENTT bay arms to grip onto his shoulders, he instructed the pilot AI to maneuver the shuttle to the predetermined destination.
A few minutes passed as the Shuttle disengaged from the Shuttle Bay, drifting slowly free of the open bay doors before lighting off its Sauveterre Engine and accelerating toward the asteroid.
--
"This is going to be the most boring action yet. I'm waiting for the day we get to board a real warship." Sgt. Burr's voice reverberated through the integrated comms network that linked the Sergeants to Lt. Lincoln's own ENTT.
"When you get a round through that pretty head of yours, Burr, I'm going to celebrate the peace and quiet." Sgt. Gutierrez spoke in a deadpan voice, which earned a snicker from Sgt. Rotterdam.
"Cut the chatter," Lt. Lincoln interrupted. "The commander is about to start his distraction."
The banter stopped immediately, and Lt. Lincoln pulled up a 3D display that projected itself over the neuro-comm, allowing for each of his sergeants to see a slowly rotating image of the merchant ship Clar.
It was a massive ship, massing in at just under 70 million tonnes, smaller only than the Dreadnought-Class warships. A section highlighted itself in red, which clashed nicely with the hologram's dark blue hue. The highlighted section separated itself from the ship, further dividing itself into three levels.
"Alright, Marines, this is what we know." Lt. Lincoln used his neuro-comm to draw lines and indicators over the hologram, pointing to several points on the image. "This is the Main Cargo Hold, split into three levels in order of importance. The Sensor reads a few components the commander needs on the second level, as well as what looks like a few storage crate filled with GC's." He indicated a wall on the fist level. "This is the entry point. We will sweep through the Hold with efficiency, people. The commander expressed his desire for control of the Hold as quickly as we can manage."
Lt. Lincoln wiped away his markers, letting his sergeants plan their approach and strategy. He'd learned long ago to listen to his NCO's, since they knew what was what.
Sgt. Burr showed an unnatural level of competence, but as the Marine with the most boarding experience, the others followed his lead without much fuss. Once they indicated that they had a working plan, Lt. Lincoln stepped in once more.
"We have something?" Affirmations rolled in, and he nodded to himself. "Good, then let's begin."
As the pilot AI maneuvered the Assault Shuttle around the asteroid, It notified Lt. Lincoln that the Commander had begun his approach.
Lt. Lincoln nodded to himself, confident in the plan working. This would be the last time they would use such a trick, since the Commander was on the edge of upgrading the Venator to a Heavy Cruiser. It had been pure luck that one of the Light Cruiser's in a previous ambush had been damaged from a similar Asteroid Field. That had given the Commander the ability to upgrade a few days ago. It had also given him the Idea of using Asteroid Fields to control the pathways of the Imperial convoys.
Thinking of the Commander, Lt. Lincoln considered the changes he'd observed in Commander Venata in the past few weeks. His holographic image was gaining a more harried look, and the Commander's left eye was now completely pale. Lt. Lincoln wasn't sure if this was a cosmetic choice, but he was getting worried. The commander had mentioned that he no longer saw the statistics of other ships as a video game, but rather just understood the information. Lt. Lincoln was concerned that the Commander was losing himself within the ship.
Sometimes he would be the confident, affable navy captain, and others he would be a grizzled old man who had to be reminded of the concept of mercy.
Their most recent ambush had almost resulted in the complete and total destruction of the Convoy, not even bothering to salvage components. When asked, the Commander had simply said, "These people do not deserve to sail between the stars." The sergeants and Lt. Lincoln had to use pure logic to convince him in the end.
Lt. Lincoln heard the docking clamps tighten onto the hull of the Clar, and he banished his thoughts to a corner of his mind, promising to return later. He unclamped his ENTT from it's locked position, telling Sgt. Burr to get his squad ready. As boarding specialists, they would be first through the gap. Their extra armor from Lt. Lincoln and their extensive weapon systems made them the ideal squad to be the first into the cargo bay.
The plan called for a quick and brutal firefight to clearing of Level 1, followed by a measured sweep all the way down to Level 3. The commander had told Lt. Lincoln what was there, and Lt. Lincoln had been speechless. If they did manage to secure that cargo, then their mid-term goal of upgrading the Venator to Battle Cruiser size would be that much easier.
Red lights flashed, indicating a good connection between the shuttle and the merchant ship, and Sgt. Burr whooped.
"Here comes the good part, Hahahaha!!"
The port side door slid open, revealing a gaping hole with a clear view of hundreds of cargo containers.
The marines could only appreciate the view for a moment before a hailstorm of kinetic rounds ripped through the opening, ricocheting around the Assault Shuttle's interior, bouncing off armor and paneling.
Sgt. Burr hollered, leaping through the gap, followed closely by his two corporals and their marines.
Lt. Lincoln pulled up a small window that streamed a live video and audio transmission through Sgt. Burr's neuro-comm. Lt. Lincoln couldn't help but smile to himself as the big ENTT pointed the massive gun even with a line of what looked to be security guards. Even from a video, the Lieutenant could see a few wet spots below the guards legs.
Before the sergeant could even begin laying down suppressing fire, 3/4 of the guards dropped their weapons and fell to their knees with their hand behind their heads.
An audible, very disappointed sigh floated through the neuro-comm, and Sgt. Burr begrudgingly ordered his men to secure the guards. He wasn't sloppy, tasking one of his corporals to set security. After those instructions were carried out, Sgt. Burr sent the all clear signal through over the Platoon Command Net. Lt. Lincoln mentally keyed his own neuro-comm, connecting with the PCN.
"All right everyone, that went faster than expected, but we all know what's down there. Expect heavier resistance as we descend to Level 3. I wouldn't be surprised if we found at least a Company's worth of more heavily armed guards or maybe even Imperial Marines.
Sgt. Marcus, you're with Burr. I want a map of this ship by the time I set foot down on the floor, Copy?" A quick affirmation came through, and Lincoln watched out of the corner of his optical feed as another ENTT detached from the Shuttle and rounded up his squad. Sgt. Marcus had been invaluable asset during boarding. His ability to understand any ship's layout was priceless when you had to clear an unknown amount of rooms with an equally unknown amount of hostiles.
As Marcus leapt into the opening, Lt. Lincoln spoke again.
"Rotterdam, you're next. Repair any damage you find, then join Cpl. Sart at the entrance to the south corridor. I want that passage sealed before we begin."
"Yes, Sir." An ENTT about the size of a regular human detached, and a moment later leapt through the opening followed by a squad of marines toting all manner of torches and armor patches. Lt. Lincoln again was glad for the Commanders forthought when picking his Sergeants. At first, he wasn't sure why 2.5 meter armored giants would need to worry about needing repairs, but recent boarding actions had proved that humans had an uncanny ability to get passed "impenetrable" defenses. Sgt. Rotterdam had more than once saved a Marine who had ended up on the wrong side of an anti-boarding armor shell.
Finally, Lt. Lincoln turned to the last Sergeant.
"Gutierrez, you know what I want, but for the sake of your people, I'll explain. You are in charge of clearing any suspect containers, rooms, and elevators we com across. You have the most dangerous job here, no matter what Burr says.
Once Burr's people clears a section, you and yours will make sure we don't get any surprises. Copy?"
The ENTT with the identifier "Sgt. M. Gutierrez" floating above it's head nodded to him before gathering the remainder of the Marines on board the shuttle and jumping into the breach, leaving only the Lieutenant on board.
Lt. Lincoln quickly gathered his thoughts, separating them into categories of priority and who he needed to speak to, along with a handful of other things he thought about on a daily basis. Once his mind was organized, he joined his Marines.
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