Terran Marines Ch. 02b

Terran Marines (Ch 02b)

This is a continuation of Part 2a and doesn't really stand on its own. A bunch of new characters get introduced, so I've added a handy cheat sheet at the end of the story listing who's who and where they slot into the organization.

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The armor locker was a beehive of activity. The able Marines were hastily repairing what damage they could, loading ammo and ensuring that the suits were charging. Cron and Berts' armor was located next to his. Stephen did his best to ignore the empty spot where Johnson's armor was normally stored.

"How's it coming? What's your status?"

"Pretty good," replied Cron. "My armor is patched and ammo is loaded. The suit is at 80% of charge."

"Uh huh. Come 'ere, you." Stephen took Cron's face and looked deep into his eyes. "You're down-checked. Go to the infirmary and have them finish taking care of your arm and get the regen started."

Cron's face fell, "No, Corporal! I... I gotta be in on this one. I need to get some back for Johnson." Tears rolled down his cheeks and he grubbily wiped them with the back of a hand. "Please let me go!"

Stephen brought him in for a hug. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as the remaining Marines in the squad studiously ignored the scene in front of them.

"I would, but this one is going to be fucking hairy and I can't afford to nursemaid you. You're too doped up on painkillers. See if anyone here needs..." Stephen almost said 'a hand', but managed to change it to "... help. Go on now."

Cron nodded miserably and began to walk down the line.

"Well, wasn't that special!" Stephen whirled around to see Sgt Durand, the 2nd Squad Leader, leering at him. "I see you pussies are all weepy about losing some gash, I bet she gave it up to every..."

Stephen slammed a rigid forearm into Durand's throat, pushing him across the room to slam into a bulkhead (wall). Durand tried a short punch to Stephen's side, but he angled his body and Durand's fist slid off his back. Stephen pinned Durand against the bulkhead with his body and increased the force pressing against Durand's throat. Durand began to slap ineffectually at Stephen's head, but the steel bar at his throat wasn't letting up. Durand began to gasp as his oxygen was slowly cut off, when Stephen was roughly pulled away from Durand.

"AT EASE! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!" Stephen winced when he realized that it was SSgt Kerwalski, the senior enlisted Marine in the platoon.

"He... he assaulted me! Stephentried to kill me!" cried Sgt Durand.

Sgt Kronkit interrupted him, "I don't know what Durand is talking about. I didn't see anything. I did hear Durand mouthing off about Johnson, though, calling her something unprintable."

SSgt Kerwalski turned on Durand, "Oh yeah? Is that true?"

"No... no! I didn't..."

"Shut the fuck up and come with me." Kerwalski grabbed Durand by the arm and shoved him out of the suit locker.

"That's right you stupid fucker," muttered Kronkit. "He'd deserve it if he got himself fragged when we go back down there." He looked around as the squad stared at Stephen and him. "What are you all looking at? Get back to work!"

He turned to Stephen, "And you, control your temper! You do not want to go back down there if your head isn't screwed on straight. Got it?"

"Yes, Sergeant."

Stephen tried to shake off the incident and walked over to Berts. "How's your armor look?"

Berts slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm good, Corporal, thanks for standing up for Johnson, Durand is a prick. As for my suit, no major damage, ammo's loaded and she's almost fully charged. We were able to service your armor as well. Everything checks out."

"Thanks, bud."

Stephen wandered over to where Kronkit was supervising another fire team. "Hey, Sergeant. What's the plan for the drop?"

Kronkit looked disgusted, "There isn't a plan. The fusion plant's structure is thwarting our sensors, so we don't know what's going on inside. Not that it might matter too much as there's an absolute shit-ton of bugs roaming around outside. Too many to put in a recon team and expect them to get close enough to see anything without dying. We can't hit them hard from the air as the fusion plant is too vulnerable. A ricochet could ruin everyone's day."

"Shit, that sucks."

"It sure does suck for us."

"So what are we looking at?"

"Right now? Dropping right on top of the fusion plant and charging up the middle. At least there's a good chance that shit-stain Durnad would take a round through his running lights."

"Fuck, that'd be one hot LZ. And a good way to permanently buy a piece of this rock."

"Yeah, which is why the LT hasn't given us an OpPlan yet. RUMINT (rumor intelligence) suggests she may cancel the assault as we don't have the firepower to take down all those bugs, plus what may be outside."

"But all those colonists!"

"I know. Which is one reason she went into the morgue and dragged your sorry ass out of it." Kronkit held up his hands to ward off Stephen's glare. "Hey, I get it, but we'll need you for this one."

Stephen nodded and went back to check on Berts, who was busy helping other Marines. Everything seemed to be about done, except for a couple of suits that had been damaged and were frantically being repaired.

Stephen grabbed a set of HD goggles and its wrist control, then found a quiet corner to sit. He called up imagery of the fusion plant and he whistled at the number of bugs circling around the place. At least part of the fusion plant facility had been taken over by the bugs as he could see them milling around. There were dead bugs gathered around one part of the plant, suggesting that the colonists were actually making a stand in that part of the fusion plant. Perhaps the bugs couldn't use their heavier weapons as the bugs recognized the danger of the fusion plant.

He began to run different scenarios, starting with the entire platoon dropping directly on the fusion plant. That one didn't end well and the battle comp decided that casualties were 100%. He tried different variations. One was to have a fire team or squad set down some distance away from the plant and entice the bugs to chase the Marines. Not enough bugs chased off after the lure to make a difference and the remainder of the platoon was just too small to defeat the remaining bugs. He tried different variations on this theme, but it didn't make enough of a difference in the end, the Marines all died or they took too many casualties and couldn't break through to the colonists.

He then thought of the Alamo, the infamous battle in the old district of Texas and the various 2D movies chronicling the battle. He scanned the terrain around the fusion facility, looking for a terrain feature that wasn't too close, but was easily defendable by a squad or so of Marines. He found one and set up a scenario where one squad dug in and tried to weather the bug attempts to dig them out. Battle comp figured out the odds, incorporating the strong defensive advantage that the hill provided, known bug behavior and the weaponry of the Marines to calculate the result. The Marines on the hill eventually died before enough bugs were sucked away from the plant for the rest of the platoon to rescue the colonists, but they died hard and the number of bugs was significantly reduced. He fiddled with it for a bit before zeroing in on a defensive force of two squads. They lasted long enough to kill and draw enough bugs away so that the colonists could be rescued by the remaining Marines. The two squads died to a Marine, but the mission was accomplished. He saved the scenario, calling it 'Alamo' and squirted it to Sgt Kronkit.

As he continued to refine the scenario, he noticed others were making tweaks as well, professional changes that gradually refined the results, rather than his almost random hop-scotch of ideas. He quit adjusting things and watched in fascination as the other participants quickly refined the scenario. The Alamo force, as Stephen was still calling it, was composed of two squads while the final squad performed the rescue, herding the colonists and packing them like sardines into the two drop ships. There would only be time for one trip before the remaining bugs returned in force. Once the tweaking was done, the battle comp ran the battle hundreds of times, tweaking small elements until a final solution was proposed. The battle comp estimated that this solution would succeed roughly 80% of the time. Casualties were always heavy, particularly in the Alamo, but most of the colonists would survive. The Marines would have to make the necessary sacrifices so that the civilians would live.

He noted that an OpOrder was being generated using this scenario. Well, better make sure everything is ready to go.

The ride back down to the surface was bumpier than the first run. The obligatory Highway to Hell was playing over the boat's comm channel as they streaked for the surface. They came down 200km (124 miles) away from the fusion facility and took a nap of the earth flight profile, meaning that the boats stayed as low as possible and dipped down into every valley or nook that they could find. It made for a very, very rough ride as the boat would unexpectedly dip, rise and bank to try and stay as low as possible while moving as quickly as possible. Surprise was key to allow the Alamo Marines time to dig in. If they had sufficient time, the mission success rate went way up. It was for this reason that the ride was crazy harsh and through his HUD, Stephen could read the elevated blood pressure levels in all the Marines.

"Two minutes," the drop boat pilot announced.

"Sound off!"

The Marines rattled off their names in turn. The absence of Johnson's name stabbed into Stephen, but he hardened his heart for the upcoming trial.

"Make ready!"

"Thirty seconds!"

Then the boat pilot was yelling, "DROP! DROP! DROP!"

The Marines again were salvoed out of the bottom of the boat. The difference this time was that they were a bare 100m over the forest.

The boat had decelerated hard just before it dropped the Marines so that they would not be badly scattered. The reduction in speed also made the short altitude drop much more survivable. As soon as the Marines were released from the boat, their drop chairs kicked in max anti-grav. The seats fell away just a few meters over the ground, then the suit's jump jets kicked in. The landing was harsh, but all survived. Due to the low altitude, most of the Marine came down on top of the hill and there was very little scatter.

The LT's warm alto voice came over the platoon net, "Ok, follow your ball, it'll take you to the best spot to defend our position." Each Marine had been pre-assigned a defensive position and their suit battle comps showed them the quickest route to their individual spots. Having done this hundreds of times, there was minimal confusion as each suit found its spot. Once there, there was some shifting around, but the Marines rapidly dug in, knowing that the deeper they were, the better protected from the bug's lasers they were.

The Alamo was a short, but steep, rocky hill that was roughly 250 meters (800 feet) around. The majority of the Marines dug into the front of the hill facing the direction of the fusion facility, although some Marines were dug into the rear to provide a full 360 degree protection. The hill was mostly bare of trees, but was itself surrounded by the weird, almost tomato plant looking trees that comprised the vegetation of Tau Omega 6.

Once the Marines had dug in their personal positions, they began to improve the hilltop. Two Marines were sent out 300m to establish a listening post and emplace remote sensors. A third of the Marines stood watch from their holes, another third improved the hilltop by digging large holes for the heavier weapons they had brought and the final third planted traps and explosives on the most likely approach routes to the hilltop. The heavy weapons consisted of a heavy, automatic mortar and two gigawatt lasers. Two mini-fusion recharge points were also dug in, along with cases of extra autocannon, suit mortar rounds, and additional charges for the gauntlet flame throwers.

The faint sound of two autocannons firing brought the work on the hilltop to a standstill.

"Contact!" called the two man outpost. "Tens of bugs incoming!"

Stephen flipped his HUD display from the engineering plan to the tactical awareness display. The top portion of the display, which happened to be where the outpost was located, was becoming filled with bugs. The icons of the two Marines were moving back towards the hilltop rapidly.

"We're displacing and are didi-mao back to the Alamo!"

Behind Stephen, the automortar chugged and rapidly launched a dozen rounds to cover the two Marines.

"Everyone to your places, prepare to receive the bug attack!" called the LT.

Before Sgt Kronkit could yell at him, Stephen had Berts back in his hole. He looked around and yelled at an errant Marine to take cover. Once he was satisfied that Berts was set and his section of the line was good, he took cover as well. He extended a thin antenna up and over the rim of his foxhole. The antenna was equipped with a couple of sensors as well as a micro-lens camera, which gave him great visibility. He could also follow the status of the fight through his HUD. He raised his autocannon on its extendable mast which was just long enough to peek over the top of his foxhole.

The two Marines from the listening post came tearing back up the hilltop, bouncing and jittering like mad to avoid the bug's probing lasers. The dug-in Marines were providing a heavy covering fire and the big automortar would occasionally lob a round at a particularly large grouping of bugs. Once the two Marines were in their holes, the defenders reduced their rate of fire and took to sniping any bug that appeared. The initial group of bugs that had been chasing the Marines were all dead and only a few more bugs were starting to press against the perimeter. Stephen heard the automortar chug a few more times. It dispersed several additional remote sensor sets that began to feed information on bug movements. Stephen decreased the zoom on his tactical plot and it started to quickly fill up with bugs as a goodly number had started to move towards the Alamo.

A blinking alert let Stephen know that overhead imagery was available. He opened the feed which displayed the local area from their position to the fusion plant. Bug icons began to rapidly fill the display as the surveillance system spied them out. A corresponding count began to zoom upwards and when it passed 5,000 bugs, he could hear low swears over the platoon net. The count finally stopped at just over 6k bugs.

"Ok, people, knock it off," radioed the LT. "There's a shit-ton of bugs out there, but that just means plenty of targets for everyone. We need to husband our ammo, so make each shot count. I've arranged for the Basilone to provide some low yield kinetic strikes to our front if things start going south."

The platoon sergeant, SSgt Kerwalski came up on the net, "Squad leaders, while the pressure is still light, I need 25% of your people to continue digging out the trench system. Connect your individual positions then run trenches back to the CP. This way we can get ammo to all of you without exposing the runner."

The three squad leaders confirmed their understanding. Before Kronkit could task Stephen, he highlighted Berts icon and had him begin digging. The suits had a digging subroutine and could dig like a gopher with minimal input or exertion from the Marine, they just needed to relax and let the suit do its thing. Berts opened a storage container, pulled a collapsible shovel out and began to work. If the digging Marine ran into a particularly stubborn portion of soil or large rocks too big to move, a careful shot or two from their autocannon would break up the resistance.

Stephen kept watch and as he was assigned targets by the battle comp, he carefully sniped the bugs that the comp highlighted in his HUD. As long as the number of bugs was low and they were not too close, the battle comp would continue to assign targets to individual Marines, saving ammunition and hopefully keeping the bugs guessing as to the location of the Marines' fighting holes.

On the tactical plot, Stephen could see a large mass of bugs massing within the trees, just out of range. "Hey Berts, it looks like it is going to start getting hot again, come on back to your hole."

"Roger, on the way."

The Marine line settled in and waited. They could see the bugs milling around via the remote sensors, waiting for an unknown signal. The numbers grew until a significant portion of the 6,000 bugs in the area were massed in front of the Marines.

"It'd sure be nice if the Basilone were to drop a kinetic rod or two now."

"Yeah, Berts, I agree. It'd sure as hell make our job easier. I guess they're worried about shrapnel or debris damaging the fusion plant. If that thing went up, it'd ruin everyone's day."

On the plot, the bugs started to move en masse towards the Marines. As they came within sensor or visual range of the suits, calls of "Contact" came up and down the line. The slow, steady ZZZ of individual autocannon rounds went down range at a steady pace. As a round hit a bug, the duertonium needle easily punched into the bug (and most likely through one or two more behind it) while the plasma charge on each needle made the initial bug explode in an arctic blaze of white fire. The rate of fire slowly picked up as more bugs appeared. The sound of individual rounds being fired was soon drowned out by the cacophony of noise as the firing rate continued to increase.

As Stephen continued to serve targets, he watched the live feed. There were 15 suited Marines facing the on-coming bugs and together they could lay down an incredible amount of fire. He was amazed that any bugs survived long enough to fire back, but he could see the impacts of laser strikes around his hole.

The mass of bugs surged and Stephen stopped selecting individual targets, but served the largest groups of bugs. The battle comp indicated what portion of their front was his responsibility and the actual boundaries would shift depending on the number of targets available. He was still using short bursts of fire, but doing it almost constantly. He kept half an eye out on his ammo counter, but the nice thing about the needles was their small size. Each suit could pack an amazing number of rounds and additional blister packs had been fitted for this mission.

"Shit, Corporal! They tagged my autocannon, it's gone."

"That's Ok, Berts. Make your way to the CP, they brought along some spares."

Battle comp automatically noted the damage to Berts' suit and split his area of responsibility between Stephen and the Marine on the other side of Berts. The problem was, the reduction in fire allowed the bugs to get closer.

A large number of soldier bugs broke into the clear at the base of the hill and Stephen's battle comp indicated it was time to use mortar rounds to break them up. He obliged and sent a short burst of mortars from his suit. They arched up and down, decimating the group. Stephen was able to kill the rest of them, but the overall line of bugs surged closer.

The sensors identified another threat moving up. The worker bugs with their heavier weapons started to make an appearance. Some mounted heavier lasers, which weren't of too much use against the dug in Marines, but others carried their own mortar-type weapons and soon explosions started to bloom on top of the hill. Battle comp was able to calculate the back trajectory of the rounds and it initiated counter-fire. Stephen barely noticed when his mortar slewed around on its own and fired another short burst. He could hear the singular automortar in the middle of the CP begin a slow counter-fire. The mortar bugs were soon eliminated, but not before they killed a Marine and damaged another suit, severely enough that the Marine was out of the fight.

"They're targeting the remote sensors!"

Stephen wasn't sure who made the call, but he noted that the tactical plot was soon limited to what the Marines could see in front of them. Some data was coming from the Basilone in orbit, but the data wasn't very granular or accurate. Without the remote sensors, the Marines didn't have a very good idea what the bugs were planning, although if the number of bugs moving was large enough, the Basilone would be able to detect them from orbit.

Without the advanced warning they were used to, the Marines were surprised when the hilltop was inundated with a large number of bug mortar rounds. Even if the suits were impervious to all but a direct hit, the explosions interfered with their sensors and they were late in picking up a surge of bugs. The smaller, quicker and more agile Ninja bugs were mixed in and they dodged and danced around, making them very difficult targets.

Stephen went to automatic fire, but there were too many bugs and too few Marines. The noise was tremendous and Stephen could feel the sound through his armor. He absently noted that a few Marines from the unengaged side of the perimeter were moved up to help. Berts had also returned with a new autocannon and was back in his hole, but not before he stopped at Stephen's position and topped him up with both mortar and autocannon ammo.

The big Marine automortar went to full auto and it dropped a curtain of steel around the hilltop, knocking the bugs back and dropping them by the dozens with each shell strike. They fell back in disarray, but not before their own counter-battery fire located and then knocked out the Marine's automortar. The firing ceased, except for the occasional shot fired at a stray bug. The silence was almost too intense after the crescendo from the initial assault.

The first round had gone to the Marines, but they had lost a key piece to their defense. While the bugs did bug things, the Marines passed out ammunition, made hasty repairs to damaged suits and applied first aid to the injured, of which there were blessedly few. Stephen cautiously raised himself to look around. The area around his foxhole was glazed from multiple laser strikes. Berts hole was in the same condition. He lowered himself back into his hole, then followed a side trench a few meters, then quickly dug another hole. As he dug, he instructed Berts to do the same.

"Hey, Sgt Kronkit."

"Yo, what's up Stephen?"

"The bugs had a pretty good read on Berts and my hole location. Their lasers completely glazed the ground around it. We're both shifting a few meters away and digging a new hole. Might be a good idea if the rest of the squad does the same."

Sgt Kronkit thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll pass it up to the LT."

A few minutes later the official word came down for everyone to shift left or right and if they couldn't then to move forward or backwards.

"Marines, this is LT Hunter. We beat back the first wave with few casualties. Battle comp estimates we killed over 1500 bugs, so good job. But that was the easy fight, it's only going to get harder now. We're in this for the long haul and need to destroy as many bugs as we can so that 1st Squad can land and rescue the colonists. So be careful and watch out for your fellow Marines.

"That is all, carry-on."

Stephen shrugged, then realized he was ready and so was Berts. It had been a long morning so far and he didn't know the next time he would get some down time. Locking his armor at the joints, he relaxed and instructed his battle comp to wake him when the bugs began to approach the line again.

"Berts, set an alert then try to get a quick nap."

"Aye, Corporal."

Stephen woke to an incessant beeping. It felt like he had only been asleep for seconds, but when he checked his HUD chrono, he had been out for at least 20 minutes.

"Berts, you up? Bugs are starting to get close again."

"I'm up, Corporal."

Stephen grunted in reply, then began to fire at the single targets his battle comp assigned. Very quickly the battle comp was overwhelmed with targets and he began to fire in long bursts within his assigned firing lane. The fight so far had not been physically taxing as he could lock the suit joints and basically just sit and direct his autocannon. However, the constant need to mentally concentrate on the target selection and firing commands was taxing and he soon found himself sweating. Beyond directing his personal weapons, he had to keep an electronic eye on Berts while monitoring the squad radio channel, watch the tactical plot to avoid any surprises, drop a couple of mortar rounds on any likely clumps of bugs, call out if he spotted a worker bug with a heavy weapon or any one of innumerable actions a modern Terran Marine might be called upon to do.

He also kept an eye on his fellow fire team leaders. Cpl Bronson knew her stuff and had her team well in hand. On the other side of him, Cpl Trainor was new and Stephen knew that he sometimes needed help.

He opened a private channel to the Marine next to him, PFC Ramirez. "Yo, Ramirez, you need to use short, controlled bursts. You've used 50% more ammo than anyone else, but your kill count is just middling."

"Will do, Corporal."

"Good, listen to your battle comp." Stephen had his comp squirt some instructions over to Ramirez's battle comp to better guide him. He watched Ramirez for a few more minutes until he was satisfied with Ramirez's improved performance. He then switched his partial attention to the other Marines in Trainor's fire team. He helped out Pvt Watanabe with some timely advice. Trainor and the fourth Marine didn't require any assistance. He was glad that his left flank was doing better, just as the bugs launched a mass wave of soldier bugs at the Marines.

Time slowed into a blur of serviced targets, explosions and the never ending crescendo of sound that battered at him through his armor. Moments of sheer terror punctuated the bedlam as twice Stephen had to use his gauntlet flamethrower to burn away bugs standing over his hole. Two Marines were pulled from their holes and dismembered before the two gigawatt lasers rose on their pedestals and burned any bugs standing on top of the hill. The brief respite allowed the Marines to gain control of the fight and sweep away the last of the bugs.

Another unnatural calm descended on the hilltop as the Marines rose from their holes to survey the damage. The bodies of the two dead Marines were retrieved and carefully placed in the center of the hill near the CP. Ammunition and weapons were scavenged from the two ruined suits of armor and passed out to those in need. The entrenchments were repaired.

The LT came up on the horn again, "Ok Marines, we took a few licks this time, but we put a hurting on them. Battle comp estimates that we killed another 2000 bugs. They probably have one or two more efforts before we've worn them down enough for 1st to come in and rescue the colonists.

"When they come at us again, I want you all to bounce between your firing positions. This will help keep them guessing and zeroing in on your positions. Battle comp will let you know when it is your turn to move. Use your discretion as well.

"That is all."

Stephen snorted to himself. Just another wave or two. I just hope my death is quicker than Torrey and Brown's, pulled screaming from their holes. Of course, if you have time to scream, you have time to fight.

Automatically, he checked on Berts again.

The Lieutenant was wrong and the bugs sent four more waves at the Marines. It was the second of these waves that was the strongest and killed the most Marines. That fight devolved into hand-to-hand combat and Stephen fought out of his hole, shooting bugs off of other Marines and putting his combat blade to good use. The Ninja bugs were hard to target with the autocannon, but his flamethrower, set to a wide fan of flame, made them much easier targets. The gigawatt lasers were again key to clearing the hilltop and Stephen dropped flat when he heard the warning call that they were being employed. It was during this wave that the fire team leader on his left flank, Cpl Trainor, was killed, along with one of his Marines. Sgt Kronkit assigned Ramirez and the other Marine, Pvt Hanoka Watanabe, to Stephen.

Cpl Bronson and her team continued to lead a charmed life and all of them came through unscathed. Her team fought hard and for a while, she fought back to back with Stephen as they blew the bugs away from the fighting holes.

It was during the height of the last wave when the call went out, "1st Squad is on the ground!" It took ten minutes for them to evacuate the colonists. Once the two drop boats were clear, "Incoming! Take cover!" was sounded. Stephen jumped into a hole and curled up at the bottom. Seconds later an impact shook the ground and tossed him a few feet into the air. A series of impacts shook the ground, each shock wave tossing dirt and debris into the air. When the impacts ceased, a thick layer of dust hung in the air, obscuring the ground between the hill and fusion plant. Nothing stirred within the dust and Stephen probed it with his sensors. Nothing.

"Ok, Marines." It was SSgt Kerwalski on the comm. "Pack it up. Bring any downed Marines to the CP and grab anything that's still operable. The boats will be back in 10 minutes and we will be leaving at that point. It isn't known if the kinetic strikes from the Basilone damaged the fusion plant, but I don't think it's a good idea to sit around and find out.

"Now move!"

Stephen corralled Berts, Ramirez and Watanabe and began searching for any injured or dead Marines. Once their clean-up duties were done, they mustered with the rest of the survivors and boarded the drop boats.

It was a much reduced platoon that went through the litany of weapons, armor and gear maintenance. Twelve Marines had been killed over the two days and five more had been injured. Any weapon that managed to penetrate the armor usually killed the occupant unless the strike was to an extremity. Cron was already undergoing regen and would have a fully functional hand within six weeks.

It took a long time, but finally, the post-mission chores were complete and it was time for the post-mission party. Fight hard, play hard was an unofficial motto of the Terran Marines and their legendary fraternization rules were relaxed as a way to blow off steam and to mourn fallen companions. The individual Marines had started to drift off to the showers, to mark the 'official' unofficial start to the celebration.

Stephen wandered aimlessly out of the armory and found himself in the morgue, which was crowded with the bodies of the Marine fallen. He found Johnson's body and tenderly pulled the shroud back to uncover her face. He caressed her cheek and wept. He was lost in his thoughts and memories when he felt a slim hand gently lay on his shoulder. A sense of deja vu swept over him as he remembered the last time this happened.

"Claudius? How are you holding up?" asked LT Hunter in her warm, expressive voice.

"I'm doing Ok, ma'am. Just keeping Becky company."

LT Hunter stood there next to Stephen, sharing a companionable silence. After a suitable bit, she shifted, "She wouldn't have wanted you to stay here all by yourself. And don't say you're with Becky. She'd want you to be with the living."

Stephen hung his head, his chest wracked with sobs as he mourned her loss. LT Hunter knelt behind him and wrapped him in a warm hug. She gently turned him and brought his head to her chest and let him sob it out.

When he finally wound down, "There, that's good, I'm glad you got that out. Don't hold it in, it only festers and gets worse."

"Thank you for being here for us."

The LT smiled, "I'm not here for just the two of you. About half the platoon has been asking after you and if you don't show, you're going to disappoint a lot of them. Now come on. I can't have morale crash because you won't show up to the party."

She stood and brought him to his feet, then led him by the hand to the showers. About half the platoon were still in the showers and several were in the back having sex. LT Hunter brought Stephen in, then stepped to the side and ushered him in.

As she turned to leave, he stopped, "Leaving? I thought you might, uh, stay."

She smiled at him and it lit up her face, "No, not this time. You go. I see Cpl Bronson and her team are coming for you."

She saw the longing in his eyes and she returned the look, "Maybe next time." She grabbed him by the shoulders and gently turned him to face Cpl Bronson. She gave him a gentle push in the direction of the showers, then turned and left.

Bronson came up and wrapped Stephen in a warm hug, her naked breasts pushed up against his chest.

"Claudius, we're all missing Becky, she was something special. I know that the two of you shared a close bond and nothing can replace that, but she wouldn't want you to suffer. C'mon, let's go celebrate her life."

"By rubbing your tits on my chest?"

"Don't you think that she'd approve? You know that she'd be standing behind you, pushing you into the shower."

Stephen blushed. "I... I don't know. It's too soon."

"Nonsense! That is the purpose of the party, to celebrate life and death. To remember those that we lost and to become closer to the ones that survived. It will help you heal and come to grips with what we've all lost."

When Stephen looked to demur again, Bronson grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his head down to meet her lips. The tension in his body faded as she wrapped herself around him, drawing him in through his lips. He automatically wrapped his hands around her ass and pulled her groin into his. She could feel his hardness through his PT shorts and she moaned into his mouth.

He was surprised when he felt three more bodies fold themselves around Bronson and himself. He tried to look up to see who they were, but Bronson held his head tight. The other hands were actively groping him, slipping in between Bronson and his bodies to grip his cock, caressing his ass and cupping his balls.

She finally relaxed her hold on his head and Stephen came up for air. "Damn, Jackie. Your team really does everything together."

Jackie Bronson giggled, "Yes we do, or we do almost everything together. We haven't fucked a guy together, but I think that might change today."

"Yessss, Claudius, I think we ought to expand our repertoire," purred LCpl Jessica Vuong. "Becky had nothing but praise for the esteemed Cpl Stephen."

"Hey, how do you all know my first name?"

"Becky, silly!" admitted LCpl Annie McMaster. "You know, girls like to talk and she didn't have anyone else in your team, so we adopted her."

He pouted, "She wasn't supposed to tell anyone else."

"Don't worry," said Jackie, "we aren't 'anyone'. She trusted us with how she felt about you and what she wanted if she didn't make it through a mission." She giggled, "We're just following her last wish, which was to fuck you into forgetfulness."

"Yeah, I'm not sure..."

Jackie shut him up by placing her hand over his mouth, "None of that. You stink and need a shower. We're going to help. We'll see where the night goes after that."

He semi-willingly (because who doesn't want to be led to a shower by four naked ladies?) let himself be led to a shower where he was summarily stripped by four pairs of willing hands. Soap was dispensed and happily applied. Jackie soaped his cock, then used her ample bosom to ensure it was properly rubbed down, which promptly brought him up to full attention. Three sets of hands rapidly soaped and shampooed him, then pushed him into the shower spray to rinse off. Once the suds were gone, he was pronounced clean enough and was led away to be towelled off.

As he was being led out of the showers, Pvt Hanaka Watanabe, the young noob that Johnson had helped with her 'plumbing' connections at the start of the mission, stopped the procession. She was very, very naked and Stephen couldn't but help admire her trim yet rounded-in-all-the-right-spots body.

"Corporal Stephen, I-I just wanted to say thank you." Stephen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You were kind to me before the mission."

"That was Johnson."

"You were the one who sent her to me when I was struggling. I saw you point me out to her. And then... during the fight on the hill. Cpl Trainor died and I was cut out of the net and I felt all alone but you came and talked to me and fixed my connection and brought me on your team and then kept an eye out for me and blew away the bug that was about to kill me and I thought I was going to die but I didn't because you saved me and I can never thank you enough and I love you! I..."

Stephen, Bronson and the other three girls in her fireteam all stared at Hanaka in shock. The girls weren't quite as surprised when Hanaka launched herself at Stephen, wrapping him in a hug and then kissing him. He returned her hug and kiss, then gently disengaged himself, afraid he might mislead one so inexperienced. His relationship with Becky was definitely against regulations as it was verboten to become involved with a Marine directly under him, plus he was still processing the shock of her loss. He didn't need to go head first into another one and there was a little too much hero worship in Hanaka's eyes.

So he gently disentangled himself from her, "You're welcome, Hanaka. I'd have done the same for anyone." He tried to let her down gently, "I think Ramirez over there is interested in helping you de-stress."

"I... I was hoping that..."

Jackie Bronson intervened, "Sorry kid, but the good Corporal is spoken for tonight."

"Oh, oh right. The Fab Four have him tonight."

"The Fab Four have me tonight?" Stephen looked quizzically at Bronson.

"Catch up Claudius."

Stephen glared at LCpl Annie McMaster, then laughed and shook his head. "Even in death, Johnson is giving me a hard time.

"So, Annie, who made this decision."

Annie shrugged and looked at Jackie, who shrugged in turn. "I can't say. Now, I'm horny as fuck, enough of this jabber."

Jackie grabbed Stephen by the hand and led him out of the showers. The four girls had a fun time drying him with their towels. They ensured his member was dry, then had to do it again when his cock swelled and became erect, because they had to 'ensure that the job was done right.'

Once dry, Stephen was allowed to slip on his shorts, but the ladies just put on their t-shirts and paraded down the ship passageway, flashing their butts and other bits as they paraded through Marine Country on the way to their berthing area. They passed a few Marines who applauded their display and slapped Stephen on the back as they passed.

To Stephen's surprise, they passed the berthing area and went to the small training room where the Marines held hand to hand training and practice. The entire floor was covered with thick, but firm foam padding. At one end of the room, a taller, fluffier raised mat served as padding for when body throws were practiced. Jackie led the procession into the room and nodded at Annie who coded the lock shut.

"Someone's been planning."

"Well, I did reserve the room for my team to practice some hand-to-hand combat. We'll just be practicing an alternate form of wrestling. Any problems with that?"

"Noooooo. I'll be very happy to help you practice."

Annie slipped up behind him, grabbed the waistband for his shorts and worked them down and off. "Then you'd better get into the proper PT uniform, Corporal!"

The ladies took Annie's command to heart and stripped off their shirts. Stephen turned so that he could look at all four of the ladies at once. Jackie was the most voluptuous, Jessica the least with Annie and LCpl Mary Jones falling in the middle. They were all good looking and naturally in shape. Once their shirts were off, the four ladies pressed themselves up against Stephen, rubbing their breasts and crotches onto and over him. Annie pulled down his head and leaned up to him, kissing him deeply. She ground her mound on his cock and moaned at the sensation. At an unknown signal, the four girls rotated and Mary locked her lips on his. She humped her slick lips on his cock, then moved her lips to his ear.

"I don't normally take a dick, but I think that I'll make yours an exception."

Jackie heard the brief whisper and stood on tip-toe to whisper in Stephen's other ear.

"I've never seen her fuck a guy before, so take this as another sign of our appreciation."

Mary kissed him one last time before the girls rotated again. Jessica stood before him and like the others, she brought his head down so she could kiss him deeply. She nibbled on his lower lip while she groped his cock. She tilted it down until it pushed into the gap between her thighs. She rode his cock, rubbing it against her slit and getting it slick with her fluids. She reluctantly slipped off of him when the ladies rotated again.

"Finally!" moaned Jackie as she latched onto Stephen's mouth. She ground her mound on his erect cock, rubbing her clit on his tip. She gently pulled on him as she slowly sat down, pulling Stephen on top of her. The other three ladies followed them down. Jackie pulled him tight, crushing him onto her chest and wrapping her legs around his ass while locking her lips to his. Stephen felt wandering hands glide along his back, knead his ass and one set gently cupped and played with his balls. He shivered as a finger gently touched and probed at his asshole. It was an unexpected sensation.

Stephen decided to take back some control and pushed up to his hands and knees. Jackie tried to hold on to him, but he goosed her under the ribs and she automatically brought her elbows in to protect herself, allowing him up. He sat back on his knees which were almost touching her puffy labia. She was on her back, her legs sprawled out around him as he looked her over with hungry eyes. Jackie's ample breasts had flattened, but still held most of their shape. She wasn't thin, but beyond her breasts, she had very little extra padding anywhere on her body. Her belly was taught with a hint of firm abdomen muscles under her skin. Her mons was shaven bare and her puffy lips were beginning to flower open as her arousal grew..

"Do you like what you see?"

"Oh yes!"

Mary leaned down to look at Jackie, "I like what I see too!" She continued down and took one of Jackie's nipples in her mouth and suckled, drawing a moan from Jackie. Stephen thought that was a good idea and leaned down to take Jackie's other nipple in his mouth. He rolled her hard nub with his tongue, eliciting a series of moans. A hand slowly jacked his cock while one of the girls knee walked over to sit on Jackie's face. The five of them quickly degenerated into a pile of bodies. Stephen ended up on his back, Jackie riding his face while one of the Fab Four mounted his cock. He wasn't sure which one it was, but didn't really care as she rolled her hips and slid up and down his member, her silken smooth tunnel grasping his cock.

He pushed a finger up and into Jackie and she responded by grinding harder on his face.

"Oh fuck yeah, give me another finger, Claudius! Finger fuck my pussy!"

Stephen obliged and pushed another finger into her sopping hole, curling them slightly to put pressure on her g-spot.

"That's it, now work my clit!"

Stephen wrapped his lips around her prominent clit and sucked. With a cry, she came, bathing Stephen's face with her girl juices. The Four impaled on his cock soon shuddered to a climax, bucking and crying out as she squeezed him. Stephen tried to sit up but the Fab Four had other plans and he was shoved back down. Jessica mounted his cock and as Mary prepared to sit on his face, he saw Annie and Jackie curled up together.

It took Jessica several slow minutes to work herself all the way down to the base of his cock. Stephen could feel her tunnel slowly opening to him as she slid up, then slowly pushed herself down, gradually taking his entire length into her pussy.

"Oh fuck!" she moaned when she finally bottomed out. "That's a nice cock!"

"I know, right?" Annie smiled at Jessica, "Enjoy it while you can because I definitely want another ride."

He managed to get Mary off quickly and she rolled off of his face to join Annie and Jackie. Jessica was bouncing on his dick while rubbing her own chest. Stephen watched her impending orgasm grow as he felt his own climax approaching. Taking control, he grabbed by the hips and began to thrust up, pounding her pussy. One of the other girls moved behind her and worked her clit. Jessica came with a scream, clenching her pussy so hard he almost couldn't move and the sensations were enough to tip him over the edge and he flooded her velvet tunnel with his cream. She fell on top of him and he held her tight. The other members of the Fab Four cuddled around him, but not for long.

Jackie moved to crouch between his legs and reached between Stephen and Jessica's bodies to gently extract his cock. She slurped it into her mouth, cleaning off the combined juices coating his member. As she teased his frenulum with her tongue, she slowly jacked her hand along his length. He moaned at the sensations as he rapidly hardened. When he was fully aroused, she unceremoniously shoved Jessica off of him and looked down at Stephen, meeting his eyes. Jessica squawked in outrage from the rude push.

"Fuck me," demanded Jackie.

Stephen stood, then picked up Jackie and tossed her giggling onto the tall mats at the back of the room. He grabbed her ankles and drug her across the mat until her ass was just hanging over the edge, just at the right height. Switching his grip, he pushed one leg up and back, obscenely spreading and displaying her quim for everyone. She was dripping with arousal and he easily pushed his entire length into her. Her head rolled back as she felt his thick cock head slowly push into her, spreading her folds with his girth.

"Oh fuck yes, that feels good! Now fuckin' give it to me!"

Holding onto her hips, Stephen began to pummel her pussy, her ample bosom flapping back and forth in rhythm with each thrust. He was surprised when Jessica climbed onto the mat, facing away from him and sat her dripping cunt onto Jackie's face.

"Here you bitch! You wanted him so badly, suck his cum out of my pussy." He watched in fascination as Jackie obediently licked and slurped his cream out of Jessica. She worked Jessica's clit, then went back to drilling her tongue into Jessica's tunnel, sucking out what she could, then back to her clit. Jackie pushed a finger up and into Jessica, forcing out more semen which was quickly licked up. Jackie then turned to getting Jessica off, twirling her tongue around Jessica's clit while she worked her g-spot with her finger. Stephen leaned down, spread Jessica's cheeks with his hands, then tongued her asshole. Jessica cried out and flooded Jackie's face with girl cum and the rest of Stephen's cream. She slowly toppled off of Jackie and onto the mat.

Stephen grabbed Jackie's hips again and proceeded to work on his own, impending finish. The show Jackie and Jessica had put on had him revved and ready to finish. Jackie was grunting at each thrust as she wrapped her ankles around his back.

"Fuck Stephen, that all you got? Hammer my pussy!"

He stopped, his dick buried to the root and met her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, don't fucking stop! I'm so goddam close!"

He chuckled, then resumed pistoning into her wet sex, their bodies slapping together. He shifted his hips to gradually change the angle of his thrusts, watching her face intently until he found the magical spot.

"Right there, oh fuck!"

Even though the angle was a little uncomfortable for him, he kept working that magical spot until she was squirming. Mary surprised them both by dropping her pussy over Jackie's face and parking her head and tongue in their groin. Stephen groaned as he felt her tongue work on Jackie's clit, occasionally running over his shaft as he pushed into Jackie. Jackie's body jerked spasmodically underneath him as she came, screaming into Mary's pussy.

Stephen kept pumping, working to come to his own finish. He was getting ready to fill Jackie's box when Annie bent over the mat next to him and grabbed her butt cheeks, exposing her wrinkled hole and swollen labia. She wiggled her butt at him and looked coquettishly over a shoulder at him.

"Oh shit, Annie."

"Shut up and stick your cock in me!"

So he did.

Once Stephen and the Fab Four had fucked themselves out, they all collapsed on the raised, puffy mat. He never did get to slip his cock into Mary, but once they were all done she crawled over to him and leaned down, whispering in his ear, "I never had a chance to play with you the way I wanted, but save some for me the next time."

He smiled at her and kissed her cheek, "Any time, beautiful."

She grinned back at him, then moved away to cuddle with Jessica. Jackie lay with her head on one side of his chest and Annie was resting her head on his stomach.

Eventually Jackie hauled herself to her feet, "Ok team, it's getting late, you need to get up and to your racks, AFTER we clean up all the slime you skanky bitches dripped everywhere." She turned to Stephen, "That goes for you as well, Corporal."

"Aye, aye, Corporal!" They smirked at each other, dressed and went looking for cleaning supplies.

When the room was presentable, the group left. Stephen was surprised when Jackie took his hand and led him into the female NCO quarters she shared with three other female Marines. The room was dark and the other three occupants were in their racks, privacy curtains closing them off from the world. Jackie took him to her rack and they squeezed in together. He had to struggle to close their privacy curtain, but finally managed it. After some additional wiggling, he ended up on his back as she rested her head on his shoulders. They lay like that, resting easy in companionable silence.

"Did you love her?"

Stephen was silent as he thought about the question and examined his own feelings.

"You don't need to answer..."

"No, that's ok, I just had to think and do a little introspection."

"Pretty big word for a Marine."

"Yeah, well, I did some schooling on Luna."

Jackie laughed quietly, "It shows sometimes."

"So. To answer your question... No, I didn't love her. It was mostly infatuation and lust between us, but there was a spark and I think that there was room for us to grow closer and eventually love each other. We just ran out of time." She saw a tear slide down his cheek. "We were pretty good about keeping things quiet between missions. We didn't want to draw official notice, so this kept us from getting too close."

"We all knew."

"I figured, you really can't hide something like what we had in a platoon this tight."

"You were good for each other. I mean, we're all tight, but you too seemed to operate on another wavelength entirely. I swear, you could shoot her a glance and she'd know exactly what you wanted. Look how you had her help Hanaka."

"She was a smart woman. I didn't really need to explain much to her."

"Sure."

They fell silent as Stephen lay reminiscing. He fought to hold in the tears. He was surprised when Jackie took his face in her hands and scooted up so that she could press his face into her chest.

"Let them out, don't hold them in. Mourn for her, cry for your dead. That's why we party, to celebrate life and to celebrate the lives of our fallen." Stephen sobbed openly, his tears falling freely onto Jackie's shirt.

"Why? I miss her! Why was she taken from us? From me?"

Jackie rocked him, giving him her silent support as he worked through his grief. The privacy curtain twitched quietly and a lithe hand reached through to gently press against the back of his head in silent solidarity. Then it was gone.

He fell asleep clutching her tightly. She soon followed, her own tears dripping onto his face.

++++++++++

Epilogue:

"Ma'am, Cpl Stephen reporting as ordered!" Stephen came to attention and focused his eyes approximately six inches over LT Hunters head.

"At ease, Corporal. Please sit." She pointed a slim hand to a chair placed against the bulkhead. Stephen took the opportunity to look around the sparse cabin that served as LT Hunter's bedroom and office. As expected, it was very neat, but cramped. Her office was little larger than a closet with a desk and three chairs. The door to her bedroom was open and he could tell it was just large enough to hold her bed and a locker. Space was always tight onboard a fast transport, but at least the LT had her own stateroom. It was more than any other Marine onboard had.

"As you know, we're headed to Alpha Centauri to rebuild the platoon." Alpha Centauri held the Terran Marine headquarters, bootcamp and Officers Candidate School.

"Yes, ma'am."

"You did really well the last few missions and SSgt Kerwalski and I have done our best to keep an eye on you. You really were the heart of Third Herd and I know that Sgt Kronkit leaned on you a lot. The scenario you built for our last fight with the bugs shows that you have some tactical talent, something beyond your typical, junior enlisted Marine."

She stopped and stared at him for a few moments. Before he could start to fidget, she continued, "I think you ought to consider applying for a spot in the Officers Candidate Course when we get to Alpha Centauri. You won't have met the minimum service requirements to go right away, but by applying you'll state your intent and the Service will keep a closer eye on you."

She paused again, "What do you think?"

Stephen was floored, "I... I'm floored, ma'am. I wasn't expecting this."

"No worries, you still have plenty of time to think about it before we get to HQ."

"Thank you." He looked at her to see if that was all, then began to rise.

"Sorry, one last question."

He obediently sat back down.

"How are you doing?"

"Ma'am?"

"I know that you and Becky were close and while her loss hit us all hard, I know that she meant more to you." She looked him in the eye. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing ok. I've had good days and not so good ones. But everyone lost someone close, I'm not the only one who's hurting."

"Uh-huh. You two were different from the average buddy."

He nodded, not sure of how to answer. He was surprised to feel a tear forming. He was surprised again when LT Hunter stood up and crossed over to him, pulling his head to her chest. He broke down again and cried into her uniform, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Good, let it go." She made soothing noises until he cried himself out. She looked down at him, "I hear that you survived the Fab Four." He started in surprise as she smiled at him, "We can't get through our grief all at once, it takes time to work through it and it isn't healthy to bottle it up. Sometimes the strongest steel can be the most brittle and it takes tempering to make it strong and supple, able to bend and flex through the worst fights. You're getting there, but it takes time. Make sure to talk to someone if you need to. My cabin door is always open."

"Thank you." She slowly disengaged and walked back to her desk.

"So think about what I said about OCS, I think that you'd make a good Marine Officer."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Um, one final question. How did the Fab Four get their nickname?"

Stephen laughed, "We'd call them the lucky Four if it sounded good, but that's what they are, lucky. The entire team has been together for more than 18 months and no other team can claim anything like it. We take so many casualties that every few months there's always someone new in a team... but not the Fab Four. They do everything together and they do it very well. They've managed to cheat the odds so far and have been willing to fight to stay together. Jackie, I mean Cpl Bronson, turned down a promotion because she wanted to stay with her team.

"This has made them really tight and they do everything together. I learned that the other day."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I hope you enjoyed the story. I'll return to Cpl Stephen in the future, but their journey to Alpha Centauri will take them some time and I'm going to turn my attention to finishing up a couple of other stories.

Please vote! I will admit that it helps feed the ego as I try and craft stories that people will enjoy. Your feedback helps!

Notes:

Corporals and Sergeants are Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO).

Corporal (Cpl) Claudius Stephen - 1st Fire Team (FT) leader

Lance Corporal (LCpl) Berts - 1st FT member

LCpl Cron - 1st FT member

Private First Class (PFC) Becky Johnson - 1st FT member & point

Cpl Jackie Bronson - 2nd FT leader

LCpl Annie McMaster - 2nd FT member

LCpl Mary Jones - 2nd FT member

LCpl Jessica Vuong - 2nd FT member

Cpl Trainor - 3rd FT leader

Private (Pvt) Hanaka Watanabe - 3rd FT member

Pvt Jose Ramirez - 3rd FT member

Sergeant (Sgt) Kronkit - 3rd Squad Leader

Sgt Bernard Durand - 2nd Sqd Ldr

Sgt Janice Thomas - 1st Sqd Ldr

Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Kerwalski - Platoon Sergeant

First Lieutenant (1STLT) Joanna Hunter - Platoon Commander