Chapter 6: Snapping Things Into Shape Part 2

Four more days would pass. It was sometime in the morning of 0900. Inside the internal storage bay of the Lifen, the shuttles’ framework had been placed down. One shuttle was closer to completion than the other. Engineers were working at a steady rate. One crew member would be carrying a large torch welder and mending two pieces of metal together. Another engineer would be working with a vacuum cleaner to help ensure that excess particles wouldn’t collect in the zero-gravity environment. Two engineers would be trading comments while making sure that they would have the correct tools on hand. All the personnel carried goggles or other forms of eye protection.

A steady beat of swamp rock music was playing in the overhead speakers. It provided a small amount of overhead ambiance to the area without being too loud to override everyone’s conversations. Mizu, who stood not far from the nearest completed shuttle, was taking a short hiatus to recompose himself. He looked at the enclosed area. Large, heavy doors had sealed both sides, leading to the rearmost and forward-most compartment. The assembly area consisted of the shuttles connected in parallel to each other. They were mounted on each of the two conveyors. A container that had been converted into a small fabricated office and tool shop was near it. An overhead crane held onto a large piece of the dark gray hull for one of the shuttles.

Mizu decided that he needed to resume his work. He turned to look at Dean, that was busy talking with Amelia. They were standing near the first shuttle as Amelia was pointing at it. The chief engineer took a knee to the deck as she stated the obvious to him.

“Dean, it’s not going to work,” Amelia told him.

“I think that it would ... like totally work,” Dean replied in a calm but content-stoned state.

Amelia sighed. “Putting beds in the shuttle...”

“Like ... why not, Amy? If you ever get tired, you can simply crawl to bed and go to sleep.”

“In a shuttle where, according to you, you can lay down to sleep in a zero-gravity environment. You are proposing that we put mattresses in an already cramped compartment.”

Dean gave a smile of stupor in realization. “Yeah, I did say that you could lay down and sleep in there, didn’t I? Yeah ... you’re right. I guess we don’t need beds after all.”

Amelia did her best to steer Dean in the right direction. “I’ll tell you what. How about I set up a compartment where you can strap yourself in? A sort of private room, you can crawl in and have your own room to yourself.”

“Whoa ... really?”

“No, Dean. I’m sorry. Our time for these five days is critical. Most of the interior is going to be empty. We have to cut corners as it is to make this work. We’re thankful to have a toilet for this thing.”

“Oh ... bummer,” Dean remarked with a hint of disappointment.

Mizu tried to compromise. “Well, maybe we could still look into adding rooms and additional compartments after the training exercises?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Passengers will have a place to be alone and like ... not worrying about bumping into others.”

“No...” Amelia replied in a cordial but realistic manner. “But they would be bumping into the ceiling and having the worst case of claustrophobia to contend with. Look, if you want to add rooms, I’ll look into it in the future, but for now, no. But, I can tell you this,” Amelia stood up. “We’re on schedule. We should have these shuttles operational enough by the time of the training exercises. The one problem that I’m afraid of at the moment...” Amelia sighed. She looked at the other less completed frame before pointing to it. “One of the missile launchers that they delivered to us is faulty. It needs to be returned to Mars so that we can get a new one. I’m afraid that one of the shuttles wouldn’t be able to fire unless we can get the launcher to work.”

“That’s not good,” Mizu remarked and shook his head. “It ruins the whole idea of having stealth ships that can ambush a target.”

Amelia put her hands to her sides. “Especially with the fact that it’s going to take another two weeks before the next replacement is going to arrive. Unfortunately, we’re left with what we have.”

“Damn,” Mizu showed a hint of frustration. “What about Batrice? They should have a shit-ton of replacement parts.”

“I tried, but they claimed that all the parts are being used for elsewhere.”

“I don’t believe that one bit,” he shook his head. “Fort Batrice alone has more spare parts than anything. They didn’t even know what to do with them.”

He closed his eyes. For a brief moment, he wished that Batrice did offer it. Maybe, somehow, he could go with the ship back home and figure out what had happened to his family. However, even he knew that returning home would have most certainly meant a call for his arrest once he stepped off the Lifen. It was pointless.

“What are we supposed to tell the CO?” Mizu remarked. “She’s not going to be happy about this.”

“Hey, man,” Dean calmly said. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I think that Captain Shiry wouldn’t get mad at all because ... she sees us as bros, and we’re like ... bro’s to her. Like ... she wants us to succeed because ... she thinks we can. But ... we know that we think that she thinks that. But, she could think we think that she thinks that. So, it’s up to us to think that we think that she thinks that we think that. You know?”

Mizu wasn’t going to try to argue back. “I’ll ... try to think that way, Dean.”

“See?” Dean pointed at his head and his. “Like ... we can be as smart as the Captain because she is so smart. And being smart is smart.”

Amelia shrugged as she focused on her own thoughts. Then, finally, she gave up. “We’ll just keep focusing on getting the shuttles made. It’s all we can do.”

Dean looked up as he put his hands on his hips. He seemed to be thinking really hard about something. The squinting of his eyes seemed to show it perfectly. Ultimately, he stopped and gave a confused look to the two.

“So, like, nobody has a missile launcher thingy?” Dean asked.

“I’ve checked,” Amelia remarked. “Mars just got done making a bunch of new shuttles, and they are back-ordered on new parts. Batrice ... well, you already know. Oshun can’t spare the parts. Aphadus just got their manufacturing facilities started, so no. I’m not going to go down every ship roster in the UHN. By the time I finally find one, the training exercise will be over.”

“Huh...,” Dean rubbed his chin. “Like ... I think that maybe we should ask our T-sisters, you know?”

“T-sisters?”

“I think he means the T’rintar clan,” Mizu answered.

“Yeah, our Itrean-bros. And when I mean, bros, I actually mean women, because ... the Itrean are all women ... and it would be wrong to classify them as men. But they’re still our bros because we are all buddies, you know?”

“What is it that you are proposing?” Amelia asked. Her patience was trying to remain strong even if she was curious about what he was implying.

“We have like ... Mizu’s wives onboard. Lily, that’s her name. We just ask her to ... ummm ... make the arrangement to send a launcher to us. We then put the missile launcher thingy into the shuttle.”

“That’s...” Amelia seemed to pause as she looked at Mizu. “You think that the Itreans could procure a launcher for us?”

Mizu seemed surprised by the idea before he nodded. “By the time it reaches the training exercise ... maybe.”

“Hmmm ... I’m not sure if it could work. Hey, Samira! Come over here!”

Samira was busy carrying a piece of the dark metal to be applied to the hull. She carefully stowed it in the frame to prevent it from floating in zero gravity. She then walked around to the other side to confront the three.

“You’re a specialist on jury-rigging different components together,” Amelia commented. “You think that you might be able to put an Itrean missile launcher into one of the shuttles?”

“Are you serious?” Samira replied. Her tone questioned her sanity. “Alien technology into our hardware? It’s not a matter of putting it together and hoping that it works. They are totally incompatible.”

“Dean suggested an interesting idea since one of the two launchers is busted. I know we don’t have the parts to even try to fix the launcher they gave us.”

“Yeah, Mars got sloppy on this,” Samira complained as she turned her head to look at Dean. “After Cipra, they’re trying to replace the shuttles they lost after that battle. We were lucky to get what they could spare us. But, they delivered one launcher with a missing 3J transceiver. But ... alien technology? I’ve never done it before. Let alone. We would be working with shit that I know little of. Itrean tech is bio-mechanical and organic metals. I’ve looked at it some, and there are tendrils on some of that stuff instead of, you know? Wires? Plus...”

“I think that ... it would totally work,” Dean remarked. “You just put tendril and wire and ... they like ... become bros. You get a missile launcher thingy.”

“Really, Dean?” Samira gave a frown to him. Then, she pointed her hand at him. “This is coming from our genius of the operations that tried to install the main optic display screen upside down in one of the shuttles.”

Dean gave a dumb-founded chuckle. “Ha, yeah. I thought the computer was trying to display like ... a new language or something. You were nice enough to show what happened and fixed that. Thanks, Sammy.” He gave a smile and a thumbs up to her.

Samira rolled her eyes. Mizu practically face-palmed. Maybe this wasn’t going to work after all. However, Amelia was still intrigued by the concept. She pulled out her tablet and turned it on.

Amelia addressed her device. “Pull up the specifications on all currently commissioned shuttle-based missile launchers that the T’rintar clan uses.”

The tablet projected an overhead screen for the four to look at. At least two sets of specifications began to load up as it pulled up on the shared databases of the UWA and T’rintar clan. The green cylindrical profile of at least four Itrean shuttles appeared. The forward two boxes of the bow sections of these shuttles almost seemed to be mandibles of some sort. They would fit from the side and create a V-profile when looking directly in front of it.

“Both the Type 40 and 40H model uses a WE-76 micro missile launcher,” Amelia commented. “The Type 39 and 38 use the WE-75.”

“We don’t even use the same type of missiles,” Mizu remarked.

“See?” Samira said.

“But ... I could ask Li’lo if we could obtain the dummy missiles for it. I don’t think the T’rintar is going to mind relinquishing it for a simple training exercise.”

Amelia keyed in the commands to show the WE-75 launchers. It showed detailed specifications and technical schematics of the various hardware and circuitry involved. The blueprints clearly depicted the “tendril-like” wires that protruded from the end sides. It had been translated into English and Chinese as well.

“The only difference between both launchers is that the WE-76 has more space for munitions,” Amelia explained. “Both connect and operate the same way ... at least from the looks of it.”

Samira decided to push further and read the schematics, comparing them to her memory of the equipment. “Hmmm...,” she shook her head. “I would probably take the smaller launcher due to the room and space involved. But ... there are problems.”

“What?” Amelia asked.

“Even if you get the munitions and the launcher, connector port ‘1A’ and ‘2B’ as they like to call it ... it wouldn’t even fit into our core framework. We only have one connector port, and this has two to make it usable. I don’t see how we can try to get this done by the exercises. I’m sorry, guys, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“Umm...,” Dean seemed to squint his eyes a little bit as he concentrated hard. “Yeah, you could.”

Samira folded her arms. She was clearly not convinced. “Really? How?”

“Umm... 1A thingy is the firing command link-up port. 2B thingy is the receiver end thingy. You can connect the receiver thingy into the firing thingy. That leaves you with one thingy to connect to our shuttle computer thingy.”

Mizu had no idea what he meant by that. Amelia was processing the information as Samira gave a confused look.

“I don’t understand,” Mizu commented.

“Actually, it looks like we could do that,” Amelia stated as she looked at Samira. “That would free up one of the connectors. Our shuttle computer core processor only has one port for the weapons.”

“And it would also lead to a burnout ... I think,” Samira replied back. “Judging by these schematics, the entire launcher would shoot but then cease up after it fired. Even if we did that, the single connector isn’t compatible with ours.”

“Yeah, it is,” Dean replied.

“Dean, I’m trying to be nice.” Samira gave a scolding look at him. “I’ve worked with shuttles and putting things together my whole life. Even finding ‘human’ equipment to work with somebody else’s ‘human’ equipment isn’t always easy.”

“No, Sammy. It is. Those tendril thingies, they mend into the connector ports. They are like ... ummm ... they have little tendril thingies in them. Tendrils in tendrils. You can connect them, but ... you just need to make a ... translation program to process the commands.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Samira asked. She seemed surprised in her pragmatic state.

“My wife, Izzy. She received her gun from after Cipra, and like ... she wanted to make sure that she could make the additional solar generators work to create a nursery room back in our home on Cebravis. She took the gun apart and showed me some of the stuff inside it. It also had some of those tendril thingies too. I think she preferred it that way, you know? It worked because we managed to get the new room added.”

“So ... you actually do have some experience with Itrean equipment?”

“Well ... I know what I know. That launcher thingy has ummm...” He paused as he looked at the schematics. “Eight of those mini tendril thingies compared to the two that were in the gun. The port thingy on the computer in the shuttle has like ... ten. You just have to make sure to connect it upside down when you do it.” He lightly chuckled to himself. “Otherwise, the launcher wouldn’t work. I didn’t really notice it until I was lying on my back and trying to install the computer in that when I saw the ports.”

“You mean when you were trying to install the computer upside down?”

Amelia seemed to think about it and shrugged. “If you feel that you can get this to work, then we’ll do it. I can’t promise that it will work, but it’s what we got. The only thing that’s needed is a basic translation program for the launcher.” She pointed at the schematics. “Even with our knowledge, the languages of the alien software are going to be different.”

“You will need an Itrean to help assist you in this,” an unknown voice erupted from the overhead speakers of the storage bay. It filled the room, almost causing many of the engineers to halt their work. The music had died down instantly to make way for the voice. In seconds, Mizu realized that it was Shira by the tone and calmness of her speech. It was clear that the CO had been monitoring the construction. Perhaps she had been observing the conversations as well.

“Yeah...,” Dean happily said as he nodded his head up towards the cameras. “I could get, like ... Izzy to come and help make a translation thingy program for the computer.”

“Maybe Jenta?” Mizu suggested. “She might have some skills at it.”

“No,” Shira commented. “I would suggest someone with more ... tact ... towards it. Centurion Bekra would be more suited for the task.”

“It would have to be somebody that has plenty of good experience in software programming, Ma’am,” Amelia commented. “My computer technical skills aren’t perfect. The more help we have in this, the better.”

“I will contact Centurion Bekra and have her head down to the storage bay. Continue on with your work. Shira, out.”

The overhead speakers, once again, began to play music. Mizu knew what he needed to do next.

“I’ll contact my wife, Li’lo,” Mizu told the three. “I’ll let her know to make that procurement and arrangement to get a launcher shipped to us. Hopefully, an Itrean ship can deliver it to us before it’s too late.” Mizu looked at Dean. “Good job. Thank you.”

“Hey ... you’re all my bros, you know?” Dean replied with a shrug. He seemed very content with his inflections.

There was a moment of respect that was handed over to Dean. Samira’s brow lifted slightly as she nodded to him and walked off. Amelia remained content but gave a pat on his shoulder. Perhaps she had underestimated this odd stoned individual. Even Mizu could freely admit a similar feeling himself as he headed off...

In the adjacent sealed room of the storage facility was an extensive makeshift shooting range. The four recruits were on one side, near the closed doors that led to the shuttles. On the exact opposite side was the massive closed-door ramp. Beyond this led into space. The four stood in a relaxed formation. A set of moved-in gun racks and ammunition bins lined the sides of the recruits. Each of these racks consisted of a vast array of different firearms. In addition, rows of distant projected targets lined the door. Behind the projectors was a bullet catcher array. Stone and Ioren both stood next to each other as the marine master sergeant spoke to the four in front of him.

“Today is the day that you will learn how to shoot a gun,” Stone explained firmly. “In order for any of you to become a marine, you must learn what will be your final ultimate line of offense and defense in infantry combat. From this day forth and the days after you finish marine training, you will work in firearms training. In mine and the CO’s opinion, there is no such thing as receiving too much training. Each day, the UWA pumps out more rounds than we know what to do with,” He started to slowly pace back and forth, looking at the recruits in front of him. “I don’t care if you already have firearms training before you came to the marines. I don’t care if you received none at all. You will know how to properly assemble, dissemble, and operate all current known UHN firearms. UHN sailors know the basics of firearms and usage, but the marines are the best that the UHN offers. We know more in combat than those sailors do. It’s up to us to protect them and serve as the frontlines in all infantry-based battles to come.”

Despite the quietness of the group, there were hints of excitement on most of their faces. Firearms training was something that most were looking forward to the most. The early phase of basic training had reached an endpoint. Now it was time to get into the parts that mattered. Enlai had wanted this. Even Dariea had a hint of anticipation at this. However, Isandro and Gavrill were generally the least in favor of it. Stone continued his explanation. He pointed at the sealed door ramp behind him.

“Understand this,” Stone halted and gave a firm, stoic look at all four of them. “Safety will be important. It will be beyond important. Every person who serves on this ship is entitled to carry a firearm to protect themselves. Ioren and I carry our own sidearms. You will even note that the CO is carrying her own firearm at all times. You must earn that right. If I ever find that you purposely jeopardize any person’s life because you think that your cock is bigger than theirs in some ego-enraged argument, there will be no forgiveness by me. If you ever threaten another person with a gun and it isn’t a life-threatening self-defense situation, it will be treated with the utmost consequences. If you shoot and kill one of your squad-mates, then you are going out of the airlock, and only space will be your mistress. Is that clear!?”

“Yes, Master Sergeant!” the four recruits replied in unison.

“What are the four rules of firearm safety?”

“Treat Never Keep Keep!”

“Sound it off to me! Each rule and working our way down.” Stone pointed at Dariea first.

“Treat every weapon as if it were loaded!” Dariea replied. Stone pointed to the next.

“Never point your weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot,” Gavrill answered next.

“Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you’re ready to fire,” Isandro answered somewhat nervously.

“Keep your weapon on safe until you are ready to fire,” Enlai said.

“Good,” Stone said. “Always note that not all guns have a safety switch. There is also the fifth rule as well.” He pointed behind him. “Know your backstop. Know what’s behind your target. You need to be aware of your environment and where your shots are going. The difference can be that of accidentally hitting a person that is behind your target or the threat of ricochets. Know the power behind your rounds. For example, does my gun have the ability to penetrate the person and keep going to hit the person behind it? Does my round have enough stopping power at all? All of these factors are important. For this exercise, you will be using RRD-9 rounds. What are these? Anyone of you?”

“Rubber RPSS Delta rounds, Master Sergeant,” Isandro answered.

“Well done. And what does RPSS stand for?”

“Rocket Propelled Sound Suppressed.”

“Also good. Most modern firearms of today use RPSS rounds since they generate little recoil, carry the same power as caseless rounds and generate less audio noise. All UHN firearms use them. However, you may still find the need to fire guns that utilize caseless rounds. In this shooting range, the targets are 25 meters away. If it weren’t for the engineers that are busy on the other side, then we would extend the range further. Ioren will demonstrate the use of an Itrean AKT-2 and an equivalent RPSS round by firing on one of the targets.” Stone gave the nod to her.

Within an instant, Ioren turned around in her place. The magnetic wrappings on her feet helped keep her firm to the deck. She unholstered what looked like a small submachine pistol from her side. She raised the gun and pointed at one of the targets before she pressed a small button on the side. She pulled the trigger, and a small eruption occurred at the end of the barrel. The bang was present but not deafening. The bullet traveled and hit one of the distant targets. The projected image of a human torso showed that she struck it on the right lung. She re-engaged her safety switch and reholstered her gun to her side before turning around to face everyone.

“And now I will show what a caseless round will do,” Stone said. He turned around and pulled out his Desert Falcon. Despite the size of the submachine pistol that Ioren used, Stone’s gun was a semi-automatic hand cannon. He maintained a good foothold in his magnetized boots. He raised his gun without moving his head while keeping the sights at the target that he wanted to hit. He disengaged the safety and then pulled the trigger.

“BANG!” the gun erupted. Unlike the last weapon, the sound of the shot was loud and deafening, reverberating in the vast interior like a wave. A heavy 50 caliber round flew from the end of the barrel. It traveled to the other side of the room before striking the heart of the projection’s torso. The round continued to travel before it smashed itself into the bullet catcher array. The bang was so hard that it naturally caused Dariea and Isandro to jump a little bit. Ringing ears persisted for many of them.

“Nng...” Enlai cringed. Others had similar reactions.

While the recruits recovered, Stone ejected the magazine of his gun. Ioren followed suit with hers when she saw what Stone was doing. The master sergeant then pulled the slide back to remove the fresh round causing it to tumble in the zero-gravity environment. He caught it in the air before stowing it in his pocket. He waited for a few more seconds before putting his gun back into his holster.

“As marines, you need to anticipate what your opponent will use!” Stone yelled over the brief ringing of ears. “Different guns produce different sounds to them. Anti-material rifles produce a bang followed by a brief electronic wake to its after shot. The M70 produces a pop sound. The M81 produces a higher pop sound due to the slide and barrel assembly. Shotguns produce a hard thump. And, of course, there is the PDW-20 that produces a rat-atat clink to it. Itrean guns also produce their own unique sounds, such as the AKT-2. I would almost compare it to the ancient MAC-10s of former Earth. The Shal’rein portable railguns produce a heavy shot followed by a coil metal rattle that reverberates afterward. Then there is the Itrean seeker grenade.” Stone looked over to Ioren and nodded to her.

Ioren walked over to one of the containers. She pulled out what looked like a stick grenade of some sort. It had a black and blue tip to it. She then pressed a couple of buttons and hurled it over her shoulder. Immediately upon sending it flying, a set of propellers opened up. The internal device began to steer and control the grenade. It was little more than a flying drone. It gained control of its flight in the zero-gravity environment before it spun around to head towards the four.

“Incoming!” Stone yelled out.

There was a light beeping sound as the grenade began to home in on the four recruits. All of them reacted with a sudden shock of fear and surprise. As the grenade was closing in, the pulses in the beats began to increase like it was closing in on its target.

“Son of a bitch!” Dariea yelled out. She was running as fast as her magnetized boots could carry her.

“Ah ... Gavrill going to blow up!” Gavrill yelled.

The seeking grenade was relentless. Even with the amount of space made, the grenade reached the proximate location of the scattered recruits before it powered off, retracted its propellers, and slapped onto the ground with a proverbial thump to it. It lightly bounced off the deck and back wall before Stone walked up to retrieve it.

“Hmph...,” Stone remarked to himself.

“Ahh ... Gavrill knew that it was a fake,” the towering recruit responded.

“Yeah, and when we go and clean our uniforms, we’ll know how much of a liar you are,” Dariea fired back. The recruits returned back to formation after Stone snapped his fingers for them to come back.

“If that were not a dummy seeker grenade, most of you would be dead right now,” Stone explained and held the device in his hands. “This is a common Itrean HE/fragmentation grenade used by all clan species. They are easy to manufacture and practical in most airborne environments. Ioren once told me that dummy grenades are a common toy that are played with by T’rintar children ... their version of a ‘hot-potato’ game. The actual ones can be used to flush out unsuspecting troops in hard-to-reach areas or scatter formations. However, they are easy to counter with the right equipment.”

Stone gave the nod to Ioren. She then reached down and picked up a small cylindrical device. The master sergeant then tapped a button on the dummy grenade and tossed it. Once again, the device activated and flew. At the same time, Ioren threw the small device in her hand. For a moment, the seeker grenade was going to turn towards Ioren, but it turned and flew towards the tiny device that she threw. Upon reaching it, both devices powered off, and the dummy grenade slapped and magnetized onto the deck.

“A decoy?” Isandro commented.

“Private Isandro is correct,” Stone stated. “You will also understand what that sound is. It is the beeping sound followed by one of you firing a decoy grenade to save your squad mates. When you use these, you will launch it into an area where the grenade will cause the least amount of damage possible. We will also use our own disk grenades that I will show you tomorrow. For now, we stay with firearms. For the next couple of hours, we will stay simple and fire the M81 pistols. I would prefer the M70s since they are a little more accurate, but the military morons that made them decided not to put rail mounts on them. We can’t even add flashlights to them or a decoy grenade launcher.” Stone shook his head.

Stone gestured to the racks. “Go and pick up one of the pistols and pull out a magazine. I want you to approach the line here. DON’T insert the magazine in yet until I tell you too.”

The brief amount of excitement was slowly growing. Each one had picked up a pistol. Gavrill seemed to give a frown as Isandro nervously gripped the handle with both hands.

“Mmm...,” Gavrill mumbled as he picked out the magazine.

“Getting bored, private Farceur?” Stone firmly questioned him.

“Tiny gun, Master Sergeant.”

“Have you ever fired a gun?”

“No ... I see it in movies ... so I know how to shoot. I want the big guns.”

“You think that holding a gun like your pecker is going to let you have access to the bigger gear?”

Gavrill looked at what he was doing. He was holding the pistol and noticed that it was cocked at an awkward down angle. Enlai and Dariea both seemed to snicker a little bit as they got in line.

“Agh...,” Gavrill responded in agitation. He kept his cool as everyone was getting in line. Then, Ioren and Stone proceeded to walk to the formation. Stone placed himself in parallel between Isandro and Gavrill, while Ioren stood between Enlai and Dariea. This allowed the two to keep a more direct eye on their set of recruits.