Walker Brigade - Book of Incidents

"So, there he was in nothing but his skivvies, standing in the middle of the square shouting, 'I won, I won.'"

Everyone one laughed as Sam finished his story, then silence fell in the squad bay. Not two seconds after Sam had finished, the alarm sounded for lift stations. Seats were lowered to reclining positions as the shuttle engaged its mag-engines for liftoff. The ride to the transport was smooth and without event.

Unbuckling, I headed for the docking port followed by the Chief. I undogged the port and stepped through only to be stopped by a Marine with an armband identifying him as a SO, Security Officer.

"Sorry, ma'am, but until we make the jump, you will have to stay in your shuttle." The Chief pushed past me to stand in front of the Marine.

"Marine, Captain Latham has an appointment in sickbay prior to jump," the Chief said quietly, all the while giving the Marine a steely stare that would have curled the toes of an ordinary man.

"I'm sorry, Major, but I have no orders to that effect..." The Chief cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Get on the horn, and call the ship's surgeon, Marine. Either that or step aside and let us through."

The Marine turned to the bulkhead and picked up the com device there. He spoke softly for a moment, then hung up the handset.

"Sorry, Major, they didn't tell me. You and Captain Latham are free to go."

"Thanks, Marine," the Chief said as he brushed past him.

"Thanks, Marine." I smiled at the Marine as I went past him. Sweat broke out on his brow as I slowly slid against him in the narrow passageway. I was laughing as the Chief and I headed down the passageway to the sickbay. It was time for me to sleep my troubles away.

"Why do I have to go into coldsleep? It's only a two day trip to Earth," I whined.

"You know why. You and I wouldn't leave my quarters for the entire two days, and there is a lot to do," the Chief told me sternly.

"Fifteen minutes to jump," blared over the ship's comm as we entered the sickbay. They were waiting for me, as always. I hopped up on the coldsleep slab and lay down. The techs and doctors hooked me up, then injected the sleep drug.

"See you on the other side, Chief," I said as the darkness closed in.

* * * Max Jones

I made it back to the shuttle just as the jump alarm sounded. I was strapped in and ready as the jump engines came online and that queasy feeling spread through my gut. The all-clear sounded thirty seconds later. I left my quarters, heading for the squad bay. Delta squad would be joining us there for a joint squad briefing.

My squad was already in the squad bay when I entered. Marg Phillips was waiting for me as well.

"Chief, will I be going back to my old squad now?" She didn't look like she was anxious to go back.

"Do you want to?" I asked her.

"I don't know. I kind of like it here. I like serving with you, Chief," she whispered as Delta squad was filing into the squad bay.

"Do you want to stay? If you do, let me know at the end of the briefing and I'll have a word with Squad Leader Gilmore. Okay?"

"No need to wait, Chief. I'd like to stay." She turned and walked to the seat one of her teammates was saving for her. An Echo squad teammate.

"Max, how you doing?" Gilmore slapped me on the back as he entered the bay.

"Fine, Gil. How are you doing?" I turned to greet him and extended my hand, which he took in a firm handshake. Gil was an okay guy and a good squad leader, but he would always be my subordinate and he knew it.

"Marvelous, just marvelous, Max," he laughed as he accompanied me to the podium.

"Have you ever been to Earth, Gil?" I asked as we stopped at the podium.

"No, you?"

"Nope, can't say I've had the pleasure. Do you have anyone in your squad that has?"

"No, I'm sorry to say. I hope you do."

"I do. She'll be giving us a briefing here tomorrow." I smiled.

"Good, good. It's always nice to have some inside information." He sat down next to the podium.

"All right, let's get started," I shouted to the twenty-two troops in front of me. It immediately became quiet as a tomb.

"Here's our agenda for the next two days. One, a briefing by me that will commence immediately, about our mission parameters. Two, a briefing by a member of my squad, Simon Eckles, on the geopolitical situation in New York. Three, a briefing tomorrow by another member of my squad, Christine Shonner, on how to survive in New York. She was born and raised there and survived, so listen up to what she has to say. It could save your life. After Christine's briefing until jump end, we will be in the simulators getting the lay of the land.

"New York is a big place but most of the fighting has taken place in Central Park. We will be landing at Rikers Spaceport, and after debarkation, we will make our way to Central Park and quell any combat with whatever force is deemed necessary. The combatants have Class IV armor and, as you know, you have all been re-equipped with Class II Armor for this operation. There are two battalions of Marines attached to this operation, half in Class V walkers. The other battalion is comprised of a company of M'roby and two companies of Marines. Human Marines, that is." A gasp went up from Echo squad; the members of Delta squad were quiet since they had not dealt with the M'roby before.

"Once the park has been secured, a command post will be set up in the center by the lake. The Marines will secure the perimeter, while Delta and Echo squads bring the fight to the gangs on their home turf. Each fire team will have a company of Marines equipped with Mark V walkers as backup. Each team member will be in charge of a platoon of Marines. For this operation only, a Walker Brigade trooper outranks a Marine Walker. The officers of the Marine Walker battalion have been told the same thing. Don't abuse the privilege.

"During operations try to keep civilian casualties to zero. I don't want anyone not in armor hurt unless they are shooting at you. No ifs, ands, or buts. Clear?"

"Clear!" twenty-two voices answered in unison.

"Earth Forces will not be present during this operation. If you see, any Earth Forces hold them for questioning and bump them up the chain of command. That means call me! Clear?"

"Clear!"

"If Earth Forces fire on you or your team, the rules of engagement provide for you to shoot back. Clear?"

"Clear!"

"Any questions?" No one stood up to ask a question.

"Gil, anything you wanted to add?"

"Nothing right now, Max."

"Okay, let me introduce Simon Eckles." Simon walked up to the podium and started his briefing. I had heard it all before, but I paid attention so I wouldn't miss something that might be new. He went on for an hour and a half. As he took his seat, I resumed my place at the podium.

"Alright, tonight I want everyone to get plenty of sleep. Tomorrow will be hectic and long. Wake up will be at oh-four-hundred, Trooper Shonner's briefing will commence at oh-six-hundred. After that, it's simulator time. Dismissed."

"Max?"

"Yeah, Gil?"

"Can we talk? It's about Phillips." I sat across from him at the head table.

"Sure."

"She doesn't want to come back does she?" Wow, that was a shocker.

"No reflection on you, Gil, but no, she says she likes it here. Is that a problem?"

"Actually, it isn't. Trooper Kelly has worked out very well with the squad. He asked me to ask you if he could stay with Delta squad." I laughed out loud at that.

"Marg asked the same of me," I told him between laughs.

"Then it's settled. I'll have the necessary transfer papers drawn up so it will be official." Gil extended his hand and I took it in a firm grip.

"Fine by me." We both got up and left for chow and an early turn in.

9.04.0093/3

* * * Max Jones

For some reason, I was running through the streets of New York in just my skivvies. Looking behind me, I could see the mob as it got closer. They were dressed in Class IV armor except for the helmets. The heads sticking out of the armor were that of the M'roby. From the terrain, I could see I'm headed for Central Park. I put forth a gargantuan effort and ran even faster. I was pulling away from the mob when the damn street ended right underneath me. I was falling into the black silence of the underground.

As I fell into the darkness, this incessant buzzing was niggling at the back of my mind. The damn noise was getting louder and louder. Then I hit bottom and with a start was awake in my quarters. I sat up and looked around my room, wondering where I was. That's it, aboard ship on our way to Earth. Big day ahead of us, must get up now. The clock showed oh-three-thirty. The alarm was buzzing as I reached for the clock and turned off the alarm.

* * * Christine Shonner

My stomach was doing flip-flops as I approached the podium. I had never been very good at public speaking, and here I was going up in front of twenty-two people. I knew half of them, but the other half were strangers. As I stood behind the podium, I picked out Jolene with my eyes. She nodded to me and smiled. I kept my eyes on her as I started my briefing.

"New York as I know it is a rough, tough city to grow up in. There are gangs of gangs. If you didn't join a gang, you were beat up, and sometimes killed. The following symbols..." I paused to press a button on the clicker in front of me, and a holographic display lit up the center of the table, "are the signs of the local gangs that we will be running into. Their turf will be marked to let everyone know whose turf you are on." I clicked through about twenty symbols, pausing on each of them. As the symbol was displayed, the name of the gang was visible at the bottom of the hologram.

"This list will be available in a dataset for download to your walkers. Get to know them. Currently, there are only two factions on which we need to concentrate. The El Morto Diablos and the 47th Zulu Nation. These two have swallowed up all the other gangs in their areas, a list of which gangs are in which of the two factions is included in the dataset.

"All gang members will be armed. All gang members will be marked with their gang affiliation on the back of their left hand." I held up my left hand to show everyone the symbol of my gang affiliation before I became a Walker.

"Every gang area will have points of entry that are watched and guarded. From what I can tell from the intel I have read, seventy-second street is the dividing line between the two factions. North of seventy-second belongs to El Morto Diablos and south of seventy-second belongs to the Zulu Nation.

"As you can see," I clicked to the next image, "all the ground floors through the third-floor windows are bricked up. Entry points to buildings are fortified with sandbags and bars with gun positions on either side." I paused taking a deep breath. Jolene winked at me and gave me the thumbs up.

"There are gun emplacements on most of the buildings within a gang's turf, and at the entry points to that turf. Each gang controls their turf. Who gets in, who gets out. City service personnel have been paying small bribes in order to enter a gang's territory to perform their jobs. The City reimburses them.

"Anyone trying to gain access to a gang's turf without going through a checkpoint is fired upon, and if caught, beat up and dumped in a neutral area. Central Park was such an area." I paused referring to my notes. There was so much that didn't apply now. I skimmed through my notes looking for something else to tell them.

"A lot has changed since I was here last. I guess the only other thing I can tell you is that Manhattan Island was, is a fortified, armed camp where the local security forces fear to go. The city must pay entry fees to allow its service personnel to enter sections of the city where they need to do their job. For a number of months now they have not been allowed to enter.

"The island is now an urban wasteland where armed thugs control everything and everyone. They are the law since Earth Forces are now afraid to enter and protect its citizens. That's the way things are during the day. At night, even the gang members stay indoors behind their gun emplacements. The worst are the rape gangs that roam the island during the night. No one is safe at night on the island." I had to stop as memories flooded my mind of what a night on the island was like. The Chief was beside me in an instant helping me to a chair. He then took over the meeting.

"As you can see, the island is not a nice place to be. So keep your heads out and stay alert. I don't want anyone hurt because they were sloppy. I don't want anyone hurt period. So make sure you're aware of your surrounding's and who is who." The Chief paused, looking around the room.

"Alright, simulations begin at oh-eight-hundred hours. From now until then you have some free time. I suggest you go over the dataset Christine has put together so you know those gang identifiers without having to look them up. Platoon, attention." Everyone jumped to their feet and stood at attention. "Dismissed."

The room was now abuzz with chatter as they filed out of the squad bay. I slumped back down in my chair; my emotions still racing, feeling exhausted. Jolene was at my side slapping me on the back with congratulations.

"Chris, that was great," she said as she gave me her hand helping me out of my chair, and out of the squad bay, "You did an excellent job."

"Thanks, Second," I replied. I didn't know what else to say. She had helped me the night before, getting all the data for the dataset I had handed out.

"Let's go to the chow hall and get some coffee. You don't need to study up on those gang signs, do you?"

"No, I don't, but do you?"

"Nope, got them all last night, let's go." We had an hour and a half before simulations started coffee sounded good.

* * * Jolene Akers

Christine and I entered the chow hall and stopped at the coffee machine. As we were sitting down, Christine gasped I looked behind me and saw four M'roby seated at a table not far from us.

"What the fuck are those lobsters doing in here?" I whispered to Christine, who was still staring at the foursome.

"Christ if I know," Christine whispered back.

The M'roby continued to talk amongst themselves for a few minutes, then one of them noticed Chris and me. The speed of their speech and gestures increased, as they were all now looking our way. Chris and I continued to sip our coffee as the M'roby became more agitated. Finally, their drinks forgotten, one of them rose amid protests from his fellows and walked over to our table.

"Excuse me," He spoke English. Well, he didn't really, but he was wearing a trans-vocorder. It did the talking for him. He waited politely for a response from us.

"What can we do for you, Marine?" I responded the only way I knew how without causing a major incident.

"May I sit with you?" I could hear the twittering before the vocorder translated.

"Sure, Marine. Pull up a chair." This was going to be interesting. Christine was sitting quietly, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. "Close your mouth, Chris."

"Thank you, ma'am," the M'roby said, as he sat down at the table.

"You may address me as Second Akers, or if you wish to be less formal, Jo. And this is Chris."

"Thank you, Jo, Chris. It is nice to meet you. You may call me Jim, as you would not be able to pronounce my real name." He bowed his head as he introduced himself.

"Thanks, Jim. Now, what would you like to talk about?" I had a feeling I knew what.

"I have noticed your organization from your...what do you call..." Jim made a motion with his left arm.

"Arm."

"Yes, thank you. Your arm patches. They signify that you are in the Walker Brigade, do they not?"

"Yes, they do." So far, he had been pleasant and polite.

"They also signify that you are a member of Echo Squad?"

"Yes."

Jim said something in his native language but didn't allow the vocorder to translate for him. His fellow M'roby started twittering among themselves as Jim turned back toward us.

"I must congratulate you on a job well done on *&*$#4@!." The vocorder evidently couldn't translate the name of the planet. "Your group was very, very good."

"Just doing our job, Jim. No hard feelings, right?" Chris was wide-eyed again.

"Oh, no, you mistake my intentions, Jo. I was there, in the command bunker at the end. I can tell you now, but I did not want to meet the great maker in the sky. I was very relieved when you finally learned our language and we could negotiate a peace. Both our sides made mistakes. We just wanted the planet for its potential as a place to raise a crop that will only sprout in an arid environment such as *&*$#4@!. And from what I hear, your people just wanted to mine certain minerals, which when removed from the soil, would help our crops. So, in the long run, we in fact needed each other on *&*$#4@!."

"Uh," I didn't know what to say.

"Thank you, Jim," Christine said to him. She was smiling at him. He twitched and appeared uncomfortable.

"Jim, that's a smile It means she is happy, glad."

"I apologize. I still am not able to read facial expressions of humans."

"No need. From what I can see, I wouldn't be able to read your's very well, either," Chris said in response.

"You are probably correct, as we have very little movement in our faces. But there are ways to tell certain emotions if you would like me to demonstrate?" Jim was offering to teach us how to tell the mood of a M'roby. This was an offer that was too good to pass up.

"Chris, if you will entertain our friend, Jim, I need to make a call to the Chief."

"Sure Jo, no problem. I can tell Jim all about New York." Chris smiled at Jim.

"That would be greatly appreciated. And if my brothers may join us until your sister returns," Jim said pointing to the three M'roby at the other table.

"Sure, call them over," Chris told him.

I got up to go call the Chief, and tell him that Chris and I would be late to the simulation exercises.

* * * Max Jones

I was sitting in the squad bay going over some paperwork and having a cup of coffee when the com-unit buzzed. Great, it was probably another change in plans.

"Chief Jones," I said as I hit the answer button.

"Chief, its Jolene." Now I was really worried.

"Whacha need, Jo?"

"Chris and I are down in the mess hall and we ran into a group of M'roby..."

"You two didn't start anything did you?" I interrupted her.

"No, no, nothing like that, Chief. We got to talking..."

"What? You can understand them?" I was bewildered.

"Yes, they are using trans-vocorders," she paused, waiting for me to say something.

"Go on..."

"Well, we got to talking, and I thought that Chris and I should stick around and learn all we can from them since we'll be working closely with them in New York."

"Uh," I didn't know what to say. We could work around them in the simulation that wasn't the problem. The problem would be that they would be missing out on some valuable training. On the other hand, if we were going to be working with the M'roby, it would be great to get some intel on them before we landed.

"Ok, Chief?" Jo asked as I thought.

"Sure," I made a decision, "You and Chris get as much intel as you can. You can brief the rest of the squad later."

"Great. We'll see you later, Chief."

She was gone before I could respond. This is going to be an interesting mission.

* * * Jolene Akers

When I returned to the table, Christine was in deep conversation with Jim and the other M'roby. As I sat down, Jim stopped what he was saying and introduced me to his companions.

"Jo, I would like you to know my friends. The one on my far right is Sheldon, next to him is Edgar and next to me is Peter. This, my friends, is Jolene Akers, Team Leader of Team Two of Echo Squad," Jim said with a sense of pride. Why he was proud to know me or any of us from Echo Squad was something I just couldn't put my finger on at the moment.