Supernova Blitz

Chapter 17: Training and Tracking

Chief Grey yells, "LONG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The young marine cries back, "Crawling, Chief!"

Grey crosses his arms. His once-golden anchor on his shoulder is now red, indicating his precarious status. He was granted a held-demotion at his Captain's mast, meaning he's still a Chief for now, but if he acts out again, he'll be demoted two ranks below Chief, as if he was already demoted.

Of course, he doesn't really care all that much. They're not being paid anymore, and he still intends to do his job. If his real loss is responsibility, then so be it.

Then again, he does actually appreciate being the most knowledgeable person in the room sometimes. And, rather fairly respected. Grey barks, "You not notice the trip wire, Marine?"

"Tr-trip wire?" squeaks Long. Grey nods, and Petty Officer Fisher dumps a bucket of water on her, Mina, Rena, Pazna, and the other two rookies, Pratt and French.

Mina cries out, "Long! You've killed us all! Blegh..." Mina feigns death, and Rena cries out, "Every marine for herself!"

Long whines, "I'm sorry!"

Grey approaches, walking casually through the 'wire field' made of ropes, cables, and duct tape -almost literally ANYTHING they could find-. Grey takes a seat on one of the 5 gallon buckets serving as a post. The marines slump.

Grey growls, "EVERY enemy is different. Some use booby traps. Some use ambushes. Some will flood their sewers. Try to use your imagination and notice EVERYTHING out of place."

"Yes Chief!"

"It could be a loose deckplate, a missing bolt hole with a laser beam behind it, or a damn hole in the ground with spikes in it. I can't prepare you for every alien threat we might meet. Hell, I can't even prepare you for every human enemy there was. But, I can try to make you paranoid enough to hopefully save your life someday."

Long shouts, "I'm grateful Chief!"

Grey growls, "Don't patronize me, Marine. Get back to the beginning and try again."

"Yes Chief!" Long leads the rest of the way under the wire field, jogging back around to the beginning. Her seniors are less enthusiastic about the exercise, but Grey can always rely on them to put pressure on the rookies, if nothing else.

Grey asks gruffly, "Pazna, how many pounds of force does it take to trigger a Grodurn claymore?"

The rookie nervously replies, "Uh... Uh... Twelve, Chief?"

"WRONG! Twelve pushups right now! Go!" He shouts, "French! Your turn!"

"Three pounds, Chief!" replies the rookie.

"Wrong! And nice try. Thirty six pushups for you. Go!" The rookie groans and begins.

Rena replies excitedly, "Ooo! Ooo Chief pick me! I know!"

Grey growls, "Nice try, Thing Four. Classic 'he won't pick me if I pretend I know'. Twenty pushups. Go."

Rena groans, "Aww!" and Mina laughs. Grey instantly barks, "Thing Three, you join her."

Rena, as she starts her pushups, laughs at her sister.

Grey asks, "Pratt? Anything useful to say?"

"T-... Te-uh... Ten... Chief?"

"Twenty pushups for asking instead of telling. Go." Grey looks at Long, who tenses a little nervously. He asks gruffly, "Long? Any guesses?"

The young teen squeaks, "U-um... D-Do... Do Grodurns even use claymores, Chief?"

"You tell me," growls Grey. He won't tell her yet, but he always appreciates where her head is at.

Long squeaks, "Um... I don't think anyone's seen one, s-so... if we suspect... w-we should assume anything and fail safe, if p-possible."