Chapter Thirty-Six: Land, Loot, Survive…
Pierce, Federated Suns December 4th, 3007
"Why am I doing this?" A redheaded woman asked as she pushed the dirt.
"Because here in the Marksman, every single one of us learns how to be an infantryman. You will learn how to deal with Battlemechs, other Infantry, and how to deal with armor and come out not only alive. But victorious." Captain Sheppard told the entire platoon he was training with. His prosthetic needed to be calibrated and what better way than to get some work done at the same time. "While you are a part of this unit, you will develop interpersonal skills. All of us are capable of using armor and weapons, and a good handful of us are neurohelmet compatible and will go on to cross train into the mech piloting section." He explained "But first, you and everyone else here will start at the bottom just like the rest of us did."
"I bet Colonel Hull didn't have to do this." one recruit muttered to another one.
"I heard that." Lieutenant Mathis said. Crouching down next to the two recruits. "I've been with the Colonel from the beginning. And he was the one that instituted and started this training."
He dropped down and started doing the exercises with the two recruits. "The Colonel actually out performs many of us in our individual tasks simply because he works harder to learn and be better at them." He said calmly while continuing to do all of the different sets that Sheppard was putting them through. "I am an Infantryman, I love my job and I'm still a trained astech."
Mathis stopped doing the exercises when it was called for. Not a drop of sweat on him or even a hint of being out of breath. And raised his voice to finish what Sheppard had been instructing them on. "Here in the Marksman we do not expect perfection!" Mathis called out over the massive training ground in a booming voice. "What we do expect is that you always perform at your personal best. What that looks like is different for all of you. But the foundation for learning your limits starts here, at infantry school."
December 5th, 3007 location classified.
This was going to be the second depot that we were going to hit. The material we had gotten from the Manassas and Age of Discovery was going to keep us set for a while. But this next deep space depot looked slightly different from the first one we had stripped. Entering the SLIC captain's codes, Packer and I watched as the bay doors opened.
"That thing is massive." the pilot of the Messenger observed, looking at what the computers were telling him was a Texas class Battleship. As they eased in, they noticed why it had been parked in the depot. A portion of the side had been ripped off, exposing the interior to vacuum. The thing that stuck out to us was the massive Colossus dropship attached to its hardpoints.
After we had docked, we began to get the station powered up again.
Pierce, Federated Suns December 15th, 3007
"So you have strong bodies." Sheppard said, drilling the recruits. "That means nothing. A strong body leads to weakness if it doesn't come with a strong mind." He started to teach the basic organization of the Marksman.
"Who can tell me the basic formation used in the Inner Sphere?" He asked the classroom in front of him.
"You recruit." He selected one at random.
"It's a lance sir." The recruit responded.
"That is correct, and you would be right…." Sheppard paused. "If we worked like the rest of the Sphere. In the Marksman, we use what we have labeled the Fireteam." He stopped to let them digest that.
"The fireteam is a six unit measurement that is used for all of our formations barring aerospace and dropships." He turned to see a redhead giving him a slight glare. Then shrugged and moved on. "Can anyone explain why we use the same unit of measurement for all of our forces including infantry."
No one answered or put their hands up. "It's to help generate unit cohesion and better decision making." Sheppard answered.
"How does it help with unit cohesion if no one knows what their proper duties are?" The redhead asked with an angry look on her face.
"Well, while we do ensure the cross training is kept up to date, you will pick a primary focus and a secondary while you are here in the academy." Sheppard said. "For instance, I myself have a primary focus on Mech piloting, with a secondary in armor and I maintain my infantry qualifications at the bare minimum expected level." He paused. "Colonel Hull on the other hand, has chosen to cross train in everything. He is certified to do any of the jobs that are required in the Marksman, from the garbageman to the K-F drive engineer."
"Can anyone tell me why the Colonel would devote so much time to training in this way?" Sheppard asked, and then answered his own question when no one did. "He does this because of something he once told me. "I cannot ask anyone under my command to do something I am not willing to do myself." Sheppard paused his lecture here to let it soak in. "Colonel Hull, is one of the most talented Mech Pilots I have ever seen, a decent cook, and an awful driver.... But he wasn't willing to let that be enough. His personal best is by knowing all of you, and what your job entails and knowing where to put you so you feel like you are not only contributing something to the unit... But that you also feel valued for you to know, that once you are a part of this team, that you are a family. Cross training is a part of this because it builds those interpersonal relationships that a tight knit unit relies on in order to survive."
Looking at the clock, Sheppard almost fell over distributing the various study pages he had printed out. "Sorry for that ladies and gentlemen, I may have started rambling a bit there." He met the redheads eyes. "Kerensky, my office after the sims."
December 15th, 3007 location classified.
The Texas was a bust, the fusion reactor wasn't even able to be powered on and we had to manually remove the Colossus and Overlord from the drop collars. On the Colossus, we found a complete RCT. A good portion of them were Royals intended to liberate the Terran Hegemony, but after an RWR lucky nuke rendered the Texas inert, the SLN had towed it here and forgotten about it in the aftermath of the Amaris Civil War. The Overlord simply had a Battalion of Light mechs and some Aerospace fighters in their bays to support. Getting everything out of the depot, including all of the spare parts we could find, we headed for the Whirlwind. It was time to return to Pierce.
Pierce, Federated Suns, December 31st, 3007
"You look miserable here." Sheppard told the redhead seated at the table across from him. "If you want to quit and go back to the Dragoons, the Colonel left the offer open."
"You think I want to quit?" Natasha Kerensky snarled. "No, I just do not really understand why you do all of this "Cross training". It goes against everything I have ever known."
"Do you want to see what cross training looks like for real?" Sheppard asked, as he had her walk with him to the armor asset bay. Seeing the two Pegasus hovercraft that they somehow always managed to recover he grabbed the keys to one of them and gestured for Natasha to get in.
"Have you ever driven a tank or a car?" Sheppard asked.
"No, never." Kerenksy replied.
"Well, take it slow, ease the throttle forward, and we'll get started." He instructed.
Taking the copilot seat, Sheppard began to instruct on the different controls before letting her handle it.
"This is so different from my Marauder." Kerensky observed. "It feels different, like the controls are both less and more responsive somehow."
"That's because it is both. Tankers have to rely on what their instruments tell them, they don't have clear cockpits, and they're not able to compensate for things with a Neurohelmet like we as mech pilots are."Sheppard continued in his instruction, having had to break quite a few of the mechwarrior "mafia" out of their own heads.
"Now, take it as fast as you feel comfortable going." Sheppard said, triple checking his harness.
The Pegasus flew forward, and Kerensky maneuvered through the tanker obstacle course as fast as the Pegasus would allow. Letting out a whoop of joy when it reached its maximum speed. Powerslides, everything she could think of, she put that machine through until they were running low on fuel.
"So," Sheppard began. "What do you think?"
"When can I learn how to drive the big ones?" Kerensky asked. The grin on her face was prevalent.
"Well, improve your cross training scores, and we'll get you qualified on all of the hovercraft at least." Sheppard finished.
Pierce, Federated Suns January 31st, 3007
"Natasha Kerensky, for achieving victory over overwhelming enemy forces in both simulations and live fire exercises, we hereby promote you directly to Lance Corporal with all that that entails." Sheppard said from his podium as Kerensky walked up and received her rank insignia. Returning the salute he gave her before carrying on with the rest of the graduation ceremony.
Natasha was strangely happy with her decision to leave the Wolf's Dragoons for a bit. While she had initially raged at the thought of needing to be retrained, the Marksmen trainers had a method to their madness and had beaten down enough of her pride that she had a new viewpoint on it. Now, she would still prefer to be in her Marauder, but now she understood how to best use her armored vehicles and the Infantry that may end up under her command as a Lance Corporal. And if she maintained her qualifications in order to be able to take the VTOl's and various Hovercraft out for "Test drives" then that was nobodies business but her own.