Chapter One Hundred and Twenty: Training

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty: Training

Kentares IV, April 3rd, 3027

"Alright Sapphire, it's time to do that math homework." I said to my six year old.

"But dad, you hate math." She said exasperatedly. "I'm the one who loves numbers."

"And you loving math doesn't change the fact that I still need to check your work." I ruffled the strawberry blonde's hair. "I may not like math, but that doesn't mean that I'm not good at it."

"Ugh dad, I already brushed my hair today." She whined. "Now I have to do it again."

"Schoolwork before playing Saph, you know that." I said as I chuckled at my daughter.

"But why doesn't mom help me with the schoolwork?" Sapphire asked.

"Because she didn't exactly have what we would call a normal education." I said. "She would be good at teaching you the military things later though" I leaned over the six year old's desk in order to check her work and answers.

"I love you Dad." Sapphire said after a moment.

"I love you too sweetheart." I said, giving my daughter a hug . "I love you too."

April 4th, 3027

"Come on, you call that accuracy?" Natasha goaded her son. "I shot better than that at your age and I wasn't even infantry!"

Four sharp cracks resounded at the range as David fired the rifle he had into four separate bulls eyes. "Is that better Mom?" David asked sarcastically. "You didn't even appreciate the smiley face that I made for you."

"I did like it, your grouping was just bad." Natasha said with a smirk. "Do it in eight centimeters next time and I'll allow it."

"Fine," David scoffed. "I bet the other kids in the Academy don't have to go through this."

"No, they have to go through worse than this," Natasha said with a grin. "Sheppard doesn't care who your parents are, just that you learn and do what you're told. I'm giving you the prep course that's recommended for parents."

"Then why haven't you let me touch the simulators?" David asked. "We did the neurohelmet test already and we know I can pilot a 'mech."

"Because no one on this planet is a 'mech pilot first." Natasha recited. "Everyone learns how to do infantry tasks and serves in something other than a mech even if they're certified on a mech until they've proven they can do the job well."

"No one else does it like this though." David brought up, "They all use 'mechs first, and the Dracs have conquered more territory than anyone else ever had before the collapse of the Capellan confederation."

"Because this works better." Natasha said. "Having everyone share a similar skill base gives you an appreciation for what everyone else has to go through and allows you to take input from people who aren't "Mechwarriors". I might be one of the best 'mech pilots to ever live, but I got even better once I knew how effective combat vehicles were." Natasha grinned. "And let me tell you something, a 'mech is fun, but it doesn't beat piloting a hovercraft around."

April 17th, 3027

"Reverse, get us out of here!" Melissa Steiner commanded her Von Lucknercrew. "That's Kerensky's Nightstar and if we don't regroup with the rest of our fireteam we're not going to be going anywhere."

"Reversing." The driver responded.

"I'll have a ten second period to hit the 'mech in" The spotter said as he ran some quick calculations in his head.

"Do it, and keep moving." Melissa commanded before turning to her comms device. "Fireteam lead, we're falling back, we have enemy Assault 'Mech elements pushing us in."

"Copy that Saber 1, we've got you covered if you proceed along to navpoint Charlie." The Fireteam leader responded.

"Aye sir, we're pulling back to Charlie now." the Seventeen year old responded.

"Good, we've got fireteams Bravo and Delta moving in as backup now."

"Kerensky is onto us." Melissa said as the Nightstar began to move towards their tank. "And where she is, her Marauders aren't far behind."

"I'm backing us up as fast as I can." The driver said.

"Spin us around then, we need to be moving faster than this or we'll end up dead." Melissa ordered calmly.

"But that exposes our rear armor." The drivers stammered out.

"And if we're careful, we can evade until we reach Charlie, but until then we need to pour on the speed."

"Spinning us around now." The driver finally obeyed.

"Firing now." The gunner said as he sighted in the Nightstar. "LRMs are ineffective, using primary weapon." The vehicle shook as a round left the chamber. "Good contact, reloading."

"Keep us moving," Melissa commanded, we can afford to waste the ammo, but we can't fight if we're rendered combat ineffective."

"Ma'am, we've got one more kilometer before we reach Nav Charlie, and we've got a Gargoyle moving up on us fast." The Sensors tech reported.

"Fireteam lead, we're being chased by the Marauders, and we need a bailout otherwise we won't make it." Melissa said into the comms channel.

"Wait one." The fireteam leader responded. "Intercepting now."

Six Gauss rounds impacted the 80 ton assault mech, throwing it onto its back. "I want that thing dead and gone." Melissa ordered the gunner. "Kneecap it or whatever you have to do, but maintain fire until it can't get up."

"Yes Ma'am." The gunner grinned beneath his Mithril's helmet. "Rendering assault 'mech dead and gone."

"Saber 1, pull back immediately." The fireteam leader ordered. "You're about to get hammered."

"We can do this lead." Melissa said as they began to fire into the Gargoyle, just let us have this."

"Saber 1, you're about to have three 'mechs overrun your position." The fireteam lead tried to reel Melissa's tank crew in, but they were a little cocky and were still congratulating themselves when a Warhammer, Timber Wolf, and Summoner walked around the corner.

"Fuck," Melissa said as the trio of 'mechs hammered her tank until their computers said they were downed. "Well, we may have gotten a little too bloodthirsty there."

"Ya think?" Uncle Mark said over her comms channel. "Aggression is good as long as you know when to reign it in. We'll see you at the debrief."

April 21st, 3027

"So 2nd years, what did we learn at this term's live fire exercise?" Sheppard asked.

"That we're not as good as the Ducal Guard?" A cadet officer asked.

"Is that a question or a statement Cadet-Lieutenant?" Sheppard asked bluntly.

"A statement sir." The cadet-lieutenant responded.

"No, you're not quite up to the level of an elite overstrength combined arms regiment." Sheppard said with a smile. "But you outnumbered them, and most of them are in their thirties to fifties, so how did you let a bunch of old people beat you youngsters?"

"Because we got too eager to push forward." Melissa offered. "We did well in the first couple of days into the exercise, but when they started taking losses we got cocky and stopped considering effective tactics."

"Partially correct." Sheppard said. "How many of you fell for Hull's lone Warhammer ambush?" He asked the assembled officers. "A lot of you right?"

"Sir, how were we to know that there was artillery with Arrow IV missiles dialed in on his position or Infantry using TAG to paint us?" A Cadet officer asked.

"You weren't," Sheppard shrugged. "Even veteran units have fallen for that one if you've read the declassified reports I give you as homework." He chuckled a bit at the crestfallen expression. "You're supposed to be wary of anything that looks suspicious, and if you see something like that, you either call in for backup, or you lure someone out of their position."

"But Duke Hull's Warhammer outranged us sir." A cadet officer said, "And it has an AMS that would have prevented us from hitting him with our LRM carriers."

"Did you not have artillery of your own?" Sheppard asked. "The reason we use some of the ruined cities for training purposes is to get you accustomed to the urban environments."

"But what about potential civilians?" Another officer asked.

"Typically, we issue warnings to Civilians in any areas where there might be a potential for any sort of warfare going on. But ultimately, some civilian casualties are inevitable in war." Sheppard shrugged. "No one likes it, but there is always a round fired that accidentally hits somewhere that it shouldn't, or an undetonated LRM or SRM that a civilian goes to look at and collect as a souvenir that blows up in their faces. We try to limit them as much as humanly possible, but some collateral damage is inevitable in war."

"Is that why the Succession states only pursue military targets for the most part?" Another person asked.

"For the most part yes, but if you had asked that in the peak of the first or second Succession war, that would have been a resounding no." Sheppard shook his head. "The 1st and 2nd Succession Wars were plagued by people committing atrocities the likes we hadn't seen before aside from the Amaris Civil war. And we didn't see that level of atrocities again until Maximilian Liao's orders to the Maskirovka were carried out on many planets."

"Now, to bring us back onto the subject of the debriefing."

April 22nd, 3027

"They're shaping up pretty well Sheppard," I said with a good natured grin. "They certainly suckered Winson in."

"This is probably the second brightest batch of second years we've had yet." Sheppard responded, matching my grin. "The only ones that have this group beat are Carter's class."

"Fucking building droppers." I said. "I still don't want to know how they cooked up the plastic explosives so well."

"She majored in chemical engineering, Mark." Sheppard grinned. "Of course she was going to be able to do something like that."

"There's a reason we banned her from instructing anyone under third years while she was on the training rotation." Sheppard said smugly. "Say what you will about her, but she took combined arms to a whole new level with our instruction."

"Yeah, and now Zoe Carter is being moved up to CO of the 1st Marksman once she's off of her Maternity leave." I said with a smile. "She's come a long way from that brat we picked up on Pierce all those years ago."

"Yes she has." Sheppard agreed. "Now I'm sure you're here for more than discussing those kinds of things with me."

"Yeah, David wants to Enroll come august." I told Sheppard, "And Katrina wants an update on Melissa."

"Well, David is welcome to join provided he meets our standards." Sheppard said. "And Melissa has done superbly so far, she's risen to Cadet-Lieutenant and is earmarked for Cadet-Major and Colonel by her fourth year."

"I did note that she has a tendency towards aggression in her maneuvers." I said after consulting my pad for the Debriefing notes I had written down.

"Her taming that streak is the only thing holding her back." Sheppard agreed. "Aggression is a good thing in a soldier, but it needs to be tempered and leashed properly before you can be a good officer."

"Sometimes, you need to hold ground instead of advance." I agreed. "But She'll learn that over time."

"Tell Katrina that she's doing well, and that by the time she graduates she'll be a good officer for the LCAF." Sheppard said. "I'll even pen the note myself."

"No need for that, Sheppard." I said with a smile. "Katrina trusts me."

"Now, Frank is on course to graduate next year." Sheppard said, "But he wants to go into the medical field instead of the frontlines."

"That's great," I said. "I'm just glad he finally picked a field to go into."

"Yeah, he had Erika and I worried for a bit too." Sheppard said in response. "Just make sure he doesn't end up with Dr. Hale as a teacher, she scares me."

"No promises, Sheppard." I responded, "No promises."