//------------------------------// // 2 - Pre-OP Preparations // Story: Bug Hunt // by Swamphunter //------------------------------// "Hey Spike? Spike, ya there?" A rapping at the front of Golden Oaks Library got the attention of the lone baby dragon present inside. He had spent the day doing the monthly inventory of all the books in the library. As he stepped off of the ladder, he noticed the sun beginning to dip low on the horizon. He lost track of just how long he was stacking books. He opened the front door, and was greeted by the prismatic mane of Ponyville's top flier and weather manager. "Oh, hey Rainbow Dash. What's up? Did you finish that latest 'Daring Do' you checked out from us?" "Oh no way, Spike," said the cerulean pegasus, "I'm not even halfway done with it, yet. I came to let you guys know about this massive storm that's been brewing up over the Everfree. I talked it over with the other pegasai, and we all agreed to let this one run its course. I was just gonna let you and Twilight know about it so there isn't any confusion or whatever." "That's good to know, especially since Twilight's been cooped up on the observation deck since last night." Rainbow sighed, "Aw great, what is she into now?" "She apparently saw a UFO last night." "... a what?" "A UFO, or 'Unidentified Flying Object,' as she calls it," said Spike, doing air quotes with his claws. "It was some speck of light that flew over us and beyond the horizon. It got her all excited, and now it looks like she's going to pull another 24-hour bender." "Oh for pete's sake..." groaned Dash, "I'll fly up and try to talk some sense into her." Spike scoffed, "Heh, good luck with that!" Flying to the top of the tree, she noticed the purple unicorn peering through a telescope, aimed low along the horizon. A disheveled stack of books and notepaper sat next to her, obviously thrown together hastily with scribblings written on the notepaper in a very unorganized fashion. "Hey! Twilight!" The unicorn jumped away from the Telescope in a fright. Shaking her head, she gathered herself back up and looked over at a hovering Rainbow Dash, starring daggers right at the pegasus. Her eyes were puffy and small red veins could be seen running through the whites. It's obvious that Spike was not lying, Twilight had not slept in a day. "For Celestia's sake, Rainbow! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" "Sheesh! Calm down, Twilight!" "I am trying to prove that what I saw was not just some meteor, and that aliens from space exist! The last thing I need is someone sneaking up on me." "Look, I'm just here to warn you that there's a big storm heading this way from the Everfree. The other pegasi and I all agreed to let this one be the big downpour that Ponyville needs. Like usual with Everfree storms, if it gets out of hoof, then we'll come in to take care of it. Otherwise- "A storm? Tonight? Oh, great..." the unicorn groaned, "What if that UFO returns tonight? The cloud cover will prevent me from fully seeing it!" "I'm sorry about your Universal Floating Whatever, Twilight, but if Ponyville doesn't get this rainfall, it might face another dry season. If that happens, I'll have everypony from Applejack to Golden Harvest getting on my case about their crops not getting enough water. You know how ticked Applejack gets whenever her farm's well is dry." Twilight sighed and rubbed her temples with her hooves, "Alright, alright, good points... what time is it, anyway? How late is it?" "Too late for somepony that has been up for almost an entire day. Spike told me that you've been up here since last night. You really should stop with the all-nighters. It can't be healthy." "Sorry, it's just that what I saw was no meteor! It slowed down as it went over the horizon! No meteor can do that!" "Look Twilight," said Dash as she landed on the platform, "If it really is creatures from another planet, and they really are looking for some egghead to talk to, chances are they'll be back more than once." Rainbow reassuringly places a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Thanks Dash. If they want to talk, they know where to find us, I guess." "Yep! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got about fifty other ponies to go warn about the coming storm." Rainbow Dash took off from the platform and zoomed off into the heart of town. Twilight gathered up her papers and brought them inside. As she locked the double doors to the platform, she could see the wind begin to pick up as the tree branches swayed, and the first raindrops fall on the deck outside. She suddenly had a chill run down her back. The hairs on her coat stood on end as she tried to shake off the wave of goosebumps that just washed over her. Pondering, she thought back to the last words that Rainbow said in relation to the possibility of otherworldly visitors... "'The coming storm...' there's no way that they would come here just to harm us... would they?" "How many more you got, O'Donnell?" "This is the last one, Sarge!" Yelled O'Donnell over the hydraulic whining of the power loader he was piloting. "Good. Get out of that suit and head over to the lockers once you're done loading. We're going over troop assignments for the drops." The missile that was once carried by the power loader is now safely inside the firing pods. Thumping echoed around the hangar as Art gingerly made steps with the bulky suit. Odd. He's normally a pro at using the loader, maybe all the Acheron talk back in briefing got him worried about the drop. Because what Chuck said at the briefing was true. This does not look like some regular old bug hunt. A "bug hunt" is an old Colonial Marine term, it is an operation normally requested by Colonial Administration, or even Weyland-Yutani should the need arise, for the Marine Corps to eliminate an infestation of dangerous creatures that is plaguing a colony. Since Wey-Yu is the Number One name in terraforming these days on distant planets, a lot of "shake-and-bake" colonies that seemingly sprout up overnight often run into the local wildlife crossing the fences and trying to take back the land that was once their home. On pretty much all of the terraformed planets so far, the only inhabitants are large insects, hence the name of the term. "Hey Marcus, hand me that magazine on your left," my thoughts were interrupted by Collier. I placed the Franchi SPAS-12 that I was loading onto the stocked weapons cart, grabbed the magazine that was in front of me and handed it off to my right, as Andy took it and then slammed it into the mag well of the Armat M41A Pulse Rifle in his arms. He pulled back on the charging handle and the LED readout on the side lit up, showing the digits every Marine loves to see, "95," in bright red numbers. I looked across the cart where Andrew, Elizabeth and myself had been readying the weapons for the first drop. Lizzy looked preoccupied with figuring out how to load one of the M56 Smartguns. "You need to pull the bolt back before feeding the belt in, Liz," "I know that! I just never use these, that's all. Just gotta pull... back... on... this... and-" A sudden THWAP echoed off of the stainless steel lockers that surrounded us. The heavy Smartgun clattered to the ground as Elizabeth quickly grasped her hand, her face cringing in pain. "OW! The damn thing pinched me!" Andy stood to my right, facing Liz. His face was completely blank. "It... 'pinched' you." "Yeah!" "'Pinched'. You're upset that the slide of a Smartgun, 'pinched,' your hand." Lizzy's face quickly switched from wincing to confusion, "Y-yeah, it did. So... what?" "Do you know who you signed up for, girlie!?" Andy exploded, "This AIN'T the fucking Girl Scouts!" "Andrew, chill," I say, trying to defuse the situation. "You're complaining about 'pinching' your hand!? I can't wait to see your reaction when you LOSE that hand in combat!" Liz shrunk back from the dolly, half in embarrassment and half in fear from Andrew's outburst. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Okay, Andy? Time to go take a walk." "No! Fuck that, Marc! I am NOT going to deal with some green noob rookie bullshit during this op. This shit's embarrassing to the Corps." Liz took a seat on the bench as the humiliation washed over her. I proceeded to get into Mike's face. "HEY!" I shout, grabbing Andy by the collar and giving him a short shake, finally getting his attention, "We were all green once. Even YOU. Now take. A. Walk. That's an order." He used his left hand to push off my right that had him by the collar. He straightened out his BDUs and walked out the large pressure door to the hangar. I walked around the weapons cart and keeled down next to Liz who seemed to be on the brink of tears. "Aw come on, don't start crying. If the Sarge sees you, he'll be even worse than Andrew was. Here, give me your hand." Liz sniffed, and rubbed her hand before handing it to me. I proceeded to give her hand a little massage as I inspected it. The wound was nothing serious, there wasn't even any broken skin. "It just takes some time to get used to things around here," I said, "It's all about tact. Take for instance you hopping up at the briefing. Not the smartest move in the world, I must admit, but it's not that you did anything wrong, it's just that you're new to the company and guys that have seen a ton of experience who see a young, plucky up-and-comer like you automatically assume that you're a newbie who will be nothing but trouble." "Yeah, yeah. I guess I did get a little out of line thinking back on it." "Also, while this mission seems rather routine, the... stigma... attached to this sort of mission has some around here on edge. What happened on Acheron a couple months ago has a lot of shrap-heads wanting to be on their A-game. I guarantee that when Andrew comes back, he will have cooled off his stack." "Thanks Marcus." Liz sniffed again and wiped it with her forearm, "Now...," she looked down, "Are you going to cradle my hand for the rest of the op, or am I allowed to have it back so I can do my job?" "... Oh." I relinquished her hand and nervously chuckled, "Whoops." Got carried away. Same thing happened all the time with Sarah. Oh, Sarah... "Okay Marines! How's the weapon loadouts going?" Oh, Sarge... Wait. Shit. "Almost done, Sarge! Just got this one Smartgun left." Liz was already back on her feet as I was still kneeling down. Thinking fast, I grabbed the ammunition box on the ground and handed it up to her. "Y-yeah Sarge," I sputtered as I shot up from the ground to near-perfect attention, "Just one to go." "Good. The Captains are coming over shortly to go over assignments. Steedman, just a heads up that you should get prepped ahead of time." Huh? Why? I normally go with the rest of Iroquois. Wouldn't they get ready as well? The pumping thuds of the powerloader's steps cut off my train of thought as Art came over next to the large, open pressure door to the locker area. He slowly turned the yellow hulk around, facing out towards the rest of the hangar. He pressed some buttons on one of the control pads next to his left control stick, and the powerloader whined out loudly as it shut down. Art then popped open the front roll cage and unbuckled himself from the safety harness. Jumping down from the seat, he wiped his hands on his BDUs, turned to glance look over at the power loader, then turned back towards me. "Did they change loaders on me again? This is definitely not my baby. Where's Daisy?" "You'll have to ask Sarge. I wasn't on board when supplies were being loaded before leaving Gateway," I said, "Maybe the dock workers switched the loaders around." "Man, if those freakin' container-heads took my Daisy from me, there will be hell to pay. This thing handles like a tanker in a South Pacific monsoon." Val heard Art's bitching and came over from one of the supply closets, "What's this about Daisy now, O'Donnell?" "Sarge, did they take my Daisy from me? I sure as hell know that that loader ain't my Daisy." "Oh no, that's your Daisy alright. If I recall, all of the loaders were re-calibrated right before we left Gateway. A new firmware was released from CAT, and it was installed on all of the powerloaders to make them compatible with the upcoming Bougainville-class transport ships that are going to phase out the Conestoga classes." "Oh come on! That's practically WORSE than taking her away! Now I gotta do all the fine measurements to her controls all over again, it took me a week to get her feeling right the last time this happened!" "Oh Jesus, quit with the bitching O'Donnell," chuckled Sarge as he rolled his eyes, "You can do that on your own time, not the corps time." "Is there a problem here, Sergeant Valparaiso?" Strolling over from the other side of the hangar was Captain Robert Mathers, the second in command behind Captain Dykes and the Colonel. He is a relatively fresh face who saw his first action in the Arcturian revolution. This is, technically, his second full-fledged operation. "Oh no, sir. Nothing I can't handle." "Well, good then. Round them up, I have troop assignments for the first drop." A couple minutes passed as the entire ship started gathering in the hangar. I did what Val said and got my gear set up ahead of everyone else from I company. I knew where this was heading. They need the skilled hacker up front for this. The group that stood across from me that had gathered their equipment as well was the fresh faces that made up Hotel company. "COMMANDER ON THE DECK!" Everyone present straightened up into attention. The Colonel came around into the center of the group. "At ease, troopers. Now, the group to spearhead this OP will be Captain Mathers and Hotel company. Iroquois will be in standby, Golf and Foxtrot are in reserve." "Sir, why is Steedman already in his gear?" The punky brunette Lieutenant in the pilot's gear to my left with the rest of my Iroquois compadres poised a good question to everybody else present. "Don't tell me you're breaking up I company." "I'm sorry Kay, but Hotel will need a good hacker with experience down on the ground. Once we have the Alhambra, Iroquois is more than welcome to hook back up." The Colonel turned back to the rest of the Batallion, "Outside of Corporal Steedman, company assignments are standard as usual. The general Command call sign for this OP is the usual as well. Call sign: 'Baseplate.' Now move it, people. Let's get this done." And with that, the entire hangar went back hustling around. Hotel quickly hustled back to the lockers and armory area for final preparation, and I tailed along behind them. Chuck and Kay quickly came up behind and walked along side me. "What," I smirked, "You guys want to see me off?" "I just wanted to say that if you don't make it," said Chuck, "Don't worry. I'll tell your folks about what happened for ya." Well, that's just what I wanted to hear. I turn and stare at Chuck, only to find that he has that familiar dumb, cheesy grin of his plastered across his face. "Yeah, nice. Real fucking funny, Chuck." "Yeah come on, Chuck," exclaimed Kay, "He doesn't need that shit right now. He's gotta get into the right mindset for a combat drop here. Last thing he needs is negative waves." Chuck scoffed at her words, "Pfft, yeah, okay. 'Negative waves.' I seriously don't get you fucking Californians and your hippie voodoo bullshit. Spare me." "Hey now," I remark, "She's the one from Frisco. I come from the somewhat normal lands to the south." "Hey!" yells Kay. "No no no, don't try to weasel out of that one. Cali is Cali, man." I sighed, "Look, whatever man. We'll argue about Best Coast vs Least Coast later, IN PERSON after the drop. Anyways, thanks Kay. I know what to keep in mind when my number is called." Kay and Chuck peel off as I reach the armory doors. The familiar cart of weapons that I spent the last few hours working on with Andrew and Liz was waiting to be pilfered by the troopers awaiting the boarding call. I take a seat on a bench along the wall of the lockers, the double doors to the armory to my right. I take off my helmet, double check the camera on the right side to make sure it's powered on, make sure the neck plates on the back are secured, ensure that the headphone and mic ensemble on the left are connected... 'Born to Raise Hell' is lightly stenciled on the upper left. I remember when I first scribbled that onto my helmet when I took part in the drops against the Arcturian revolts. I also remember when I had scratched, "- is a risk taker and a heartbreaker!" just below my last name that is painted in black on my M3 chest piece, right underneath the collar. I did that right after my first combat drop on BG-126. The revving of engines told me it was time. The M577 APC pulled up outside the lockers. The panel door on the right side opened. "The tomb awaits," says my own morbid thoughts... "Alright Marines," said Mathers as he came in with his Armor strapped on, helmet in hand, "You know the drill. We come here, we're gonna conquer, and we're gonna get some. Is that understood?" "Yes sir," said several voices in the locker room. Multiple lockers could be heard slamming shut. The sound of combat boots began thumping towards the armory, near where I sat. "That's what we're going to do, kiddos, we're gonna get some. Okay Marines! On the ready line!" Everyone in the lockers began lining up. I stood, gave myself a couple more soft, awakening smacks to the face, threw on my helmet and fell in with the rest of the company. "Are you lean!?" "Yeah!" "Are you mean!?" "YEAH!" "What ARE you!?" "LEAN, MEAN MARINES!" "Then MOVE IT OUT!" We begin pulling weapons off of the rack. I grab my personal SPAS-12 shotgun from the right side of the cart, as the rest take their chosen preference of either M41A or M240 Incinerator. I normally would grab a Pulse Rifle, but since this OP is rather simple, I want to go lightweight. Less stuff to carry around. 'Let's go! Get on the ready line! Move it Martz, get hot! Let's go, god damn it!" Twelve marines now stand next to the APC, myself included. "Haha, outstanding. Let's pack 'em in! Get on in there!" We begin boarding the APC, stowing our weapons next to our seats. As I take my seat, I finally take a good gander around at the Marines I am heading in with. I barely recognize any of them. The only one I somewhat recognize is Martz. He was with Iroquois before I got taken off, but he never saw any action. Strictly a backup "In case of Emergency" kind of thing we used him for. "Ready to get it on?" Speak of the devil. He's apparently been promoted to lock-in duty. He closes down the crossbar, securing myself and another Marine to my right to the seat. "Heh, you know it, Stevie." "It's great to ride with you again, Marcus. Let's get this shit done." 'Hell yeah, man." As the other Marines are getting locked in, Martz closes the APC door. Mathers takes a seat at the command chair. In front of him are multiple video displays, showing our life signs and helmet cam feeds. The Captain taps his mic, getting a thumbs up from Martz. "Okay, Allen, let's go." "You got it, Cap!" Yells a voice from the front of the APC. The entire vehicle shakes to life as it peels out towards the dropship. "Baseplate," says Mathers into his com, "What's the status with Goose One?" "Hotel 1-1, Goose One is ready and awaiting your arrival," it's the Colonel, most likely overlooking all of the progress up in the bridge, "Parker, you there?" A much more staticy voice chimes in, it's Donald Parker, the pilot of Goose One. "Yes sir, standing by." "Hotel is en route to you. Lower the ramp and accept incoming convoy." "Roger." I could feel the APC pull a three point turn, and then begin backing up into the awaiting dropship. A loud grinding noise could be heard from the outside. This is the loading ramp of the UD-4L Cheyenne closing up with us inside. "Stand by, cross-locking now. Prelaunch Autocycle engaged." Various other extraneous mechanical noises emanated throughout the cabin. "Primary couplers released... hit the internals." Shaking. The feeling of being dropped. This is the dropship being lowered into the airlock. We then stopped. A slow groaning could be heard from above. "Cross lock and drop stations are secured." "Goose One, Hotel 1-1, this is Baseplate. We're reading some extra vibrations coming from the stations on our end. Do you see or hear anything on your end?" Mathers looks over his screens, over at us, and then replies, "That's a negative, Baseplate, we're showing all green here. Might be a false positive somewhere between us and the Bridge." "Understood, we'll keep an eye on it up here. Go ahead and continue with the drop procedure." "Stand by," continued Parker, "Initiate release sequencer on my mark." "Hey, Joseph," said the black Marine next to me, asking a question to the one across from him, "What was that saying that the Staff Sergeant said all the time in drop school?" "'We're on the express elevator to hell,' Barry! 'Going down!'" "Three, two, one... mark." The world suddenly seemed to flip upwards as I was thrust around in my seat. The operation was now underway, with us falling straight into the relative unknown.