It's What We Do

[Hunter Matheson 0]

It’s What We Do

 

Chatter on the Marine comm band had been pretty quiet compared to the last few days. The occasional update came down from Main* with a response from Actual,* but other than that they’d had almost nothing. Captain Granger’d put the word out for random frequency shifts and they seemed to be going pretty smoothly. Kal was pretty impressed at how Challenger OPS handled things; there didn’t seem to be any interference, not even the slightest static in frequency shift. Had to admit he’d been on some ops where that drove him crazy thinking it would be a dead giveaway to anyone trying to listen in, make it easy to follow the shift even though Actual assured him it wouldn’t be. But he wasn’t a comm officer. He was FORECON SWCC,* and damn proud of it.

 

The frequency shifted again. “...going in.”

 

A pivot toward Moa and Kal saw that his partner was as surprised as he was to hear Samuels’ voice. Moa shrugged; Kal moved on.

 

“Damn muddy down here; deep sucking mud. Eddies strong. Tighten the tether, Adams. Let it slip and you’re buyin.”

 

Kal thought he heard a snicker. As he passed Moa, the Maori gave the standard dive signal. Their favorite frogs were in the water, searching for something. Could get interesting.

 

“Engaging ocular monitor, direct feed, Main. Use heavy filter; diffuse light if any at all.”

 

Kal’s eyes remained focused on the launch pad perimeter as he listened.

 

“Contact. Body. Equipment. Ready to extract....”

 

“Zeus 1, this is Hera,” Captain Granger broke through the Major’s feed.

 

“Hera, Zeus 1,” said Kal without missing a step of his AOR.

 

“Confirmed hostile, Main era on surveillance record. Energy weapons. Go to red.”

 

Kal’s hand tightened on his SAW.* “Copy, Hera. Delta, go to red. Stay tight. Maintain standard AOR.”*

 

Damn, thought Kal. Just when it was nice and quiet. But, hell, it’s what we do.

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Main: Challenger

Actual: Cdr Morrison

FORECON SWCC: Marine Force Reconnaissance Special Warfare Craft Crewman

SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon

AOR: Area of Responsibility

Edited March 25, 2013 by Hunter Matheson