Jayme woke to the beeping of her com unit. She said, "Computer replay messages." The computer in that female monotone droned, <Gunny Corran has slotted your platoon for 0600 training at Camp Anderson gunnery range, contact him if a problem.Time now is 0430.>
Jayme woke, jumped in the sonic shower, and changed into battlefield dress. She grabbed her kit and headed down the hall to her platoon's barracks. Inside she hit the emergency alarm. The lights came on bright and the alarm sounded and people started falling out of their racks. "Everyone dressed for battle lines and fall in--in the corridor."
While Jayme waited she arranged for a shuttle for transport. Three minutes later everyone in BDU's fell in with five stragglers. She shook her head, and ordered, "Everyone to the shuttle in bay three. Marki you are co-pilot." Fifteen minutes later they left the station and headed planet side. Jayme was pilot even though she was reluctantly doing so.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Corran yelled down the line. The assorted phaser and projectile fire came to an end. Fifty yard away, holographic targets for the phaers, and "dummy" paper targets for the rifles made their way towards the firing line. Each of the individuals on the line inspected their work as Corran gave each target a look over as he passed them.
Staff Sergeant Hendricks approached with a Type IIIC carbine in hand. He had a belt with magazine pouches on it, and he appeared to have mounted a scope to the top of the rifle. "Come to test out my new toy Gunny."
Corran grinned. "Looks like it Mike. Private Jackson at the end of the line is having some problems in figuring out how to fire the carbine from a standing position. I think you could give him some much needed assistance."
"Hoo-ah. Corran. Heard that we're also expecting company."
"That's affirm. Captain Alcon's bringing her group down here for some live fire practice. From what I hear, their marksmanship standards need someimprovement."
"Well, you know I love a challenge." Staff Sergeant Hendricks smiled as he made his way down the line.
Captain Alcon and Corporal Rashan landed the shuttle and the troops exited like they meant business. After shut down both women joined the her platoon which had fallen in formation with the assistance of her senior sergeant. Everyone was in combat dress and had their field packs. They then double timed to the gunnery range. Ten minutes from the field to the range. Jayme came to a stop and returned the salute from Sergeant Corran. "Gunny this is the medical response Unit from the 28th MEF. We are all yours."
"Yes ma'am," Corran replied. He turned to face the assembled platoon. "Today, you will be instructed in the use of the Type Three B Phaser Rifle, Type Three C Phaser Carbine, the Type Five Phaser Cannon, and a few lucky ones will get the pleasure of being taught to use the S One Sniping Rifle." There were a few hushed mumblings in the group about being treated as recruits again. Corran paced in front of the platoon a few times, and then stopped. "I know many of you feel that you are being treated as recruits." He used his El Aurian empathic powers to get a general impression of the group. "I'm gonna break you all up into four groups where you'll be trained throughout the day in the different weapons." After his small briefing, the platoon began to break up, going off with different NCOs under Corran's command. Captain Alcon made her way over to Corran.
Jayme followed Corran to another area of the range where several bales of local grasses made a platform. She stood wearing her own pack and standard helmet and squinted down range and could barely make the red boardered target. "Wow. Where do we start Gunny?"
"Right here ma'am," Corran replied. You can go ahead and stow your gear over to the side, and put your BDU cap on." While Jayme began to take off her pack, Corran picked up the rifle that was laying in a weapons crate. He inspected it, and opened the bolt making sure the weapon wasn't loaded. When she was finished, he handed her the rifle. "Here you are ma'am. This is the Starfleet S One Sniping Rifle. It's a semi automatic weapon with a ten round clip. She fires seven-six-two millimeter projectiles and, with the proper training, has an effective range of up to and including two kilometers. The clip fits just ahead of the trigger guard. Lock and load ma'am, and take a few shots at the target down range."
Jayme took the weapon which was lighter then she'd anticipated and with her left hand seated the clip and slapped it into position. Kneeling, resting the weapon on the straw bale. With her left finger on the trigger guard she sighted the weapon down ranges, let out her breath and at the end fired off one test round. She watched as she "wounded" the paper target... She adjusted its butt against her shoulder and fired several more rounds carefully as the Gunny never specified a time limit. Ten rounds fired, she sat up popped the clip and opened the bolt. She looked up at the Gunny. "I'm having trouble compensating for the distance."
Corran took the Captain's weapon and inspected it for a second. "Yeah, these things get a little tempormental with the scopes. In my opinion, it's the weapon's only weakness." He checked the digital imager to make sure there were no system errors. After a few moments and toying around with the weapon, he handed it back. "I think I figured out the problem. New Canada has a gravitational pull of 1.2 Terran.equivilant. I'm sorry I didn't mention it ma'am." He handed back the weapon with a slightly dejected look about forgetting information.
Jayme smiled up at the Gunny, "That's ok, I'm from Mars." She loaded the clip from the crate and slapped the clip home. "With a standard phaser rifle that wouldn't be a problem...due to the speed of light and the distance isn't as far." She adjusted the angle for the top of the target and fired ten more rounds, they repeated the process, when he called a halt and gave her a few more tips.
After ten minutes of instructional firing, Corran called for a cease fire. He tapped a few keys on the target control, and the paper target was brought to them. He inspected the target for a moment before handing it over to Jayme. There were a few holes above the "head" of the target, and the rest were centered in the chest. There were a few in the head of the target, and a few random ones to the shoulder and arms. "You've got some pretty good groupings here ma'am. If it weren't for that Hippocratic oath of yours, I think you could become a very lethal marksman."
"Thanks Gunny!" She said looking at the target. "What's next?"
"Staff Sergeant Hendricks is teaching a group about the Type Five Phaser Cannon. I figure we can go over there and see how your group is doing."
Jayme secured the weapon and placed it back in the storage case, and received a smile and a nodd from the Gunny. "Sounds good. You and I should also sit and formulate an emergency response plan for the range, incase we need to evac anyone. But that can wait. I'd rather have my people qualified on all arms that they may have to use. Then we can deal with contingencies." Jayme said noting that her knee was sore but not to bad as she slung her pack over her shoulder and walked with the sergeant.
As the two approached the phaser range, there were some hoots and hollars heard from the group of medics as the two approached. The groups had broken down in to medics, hawk pilots, and mechanics. The pilots were with Sergeant Melak learning about the carbine while the mechanics were brushing up their skills with Staff Sergeant Mullarchy. One of the medics, a PFC was firing the Type Five down range. The cannon's three barrels spewed out phaser bursts, placing holes in the durasteel targets down range. As an energy pack was drained, it ejected out of the left side of the weapon. Another PFC quickly locked another one in to position.
"It appears that Corporal's Esteva and Neil have found something they like doing," Sergeant Hendricks said as he approached Corran and Jayme.
Jayme stood and watched with her arms crossed as the two worked as a team and when Hendricks called out "switch" as they completed the evolution and switched with only a minor pause in firing. "Yeah, those five PFC's in particular like to cause mayhem and pain." She shook here head and adjusted her cap, contining, "Nice to see they'll take direction from someone... certainly hasn't been me."
Jayme and Corran watched the medics switch in and out for a few minutes before continuing on to Sergeant Melak. Sergeant Melak was a half-Human half-Romulan with a quick wit and confidence to boot. He was talking calmly to one of the two men in the group. The two looked to be exchanging a few words when the Private fronted a credit chip. Sergeant Melak was quick to pull out one to match. The Private took the weapon and fired off a clip. Sergeant Melak took the weapon reloaded and armed the weapon and did the same. After a few moments of looking downcourse, the Private handed over the credits to the Sergeant.
Jayme shook her head, and grunted in satisfaction that the Sergeant had taken the fools credit. Jayme would address this in private but currancy was a method of identification and should never have been on his person.
She followed Corran farther down the row. "I am glad to see you have a top crew working for you and they have a sense of humor."
Corran smiled. "I'm lucky ma'am. I was told to draw from the talent that was on the station, and was lucky to find some volunteers. Staff Sergeant Hendricks, however, has been with me for awhile. He's one of the best. Right now, however, I have a small group of six. Colonel Tarik wants sixteen: eight snipers and eight support."
Jayme paused and shook her head. "I'd volunteer, but I don't think the Colonel would be willing to let me go." She huffed out a breath and continued, "and I really don't think you want any of these--if I have to discharge any them."
"I have no reason to believe you'll need to discharge them," Corran answered. "They're rough around the edges, but underneath they're still Marines, well trained and ready to do what they need to when it's needed." The two checked out the last group of instructees. They walked to the airfield in the sun, the day was looking to be perfect. She stashed her gear in the shuttle before making their way indoors to grab some chow.
Jayme pulled off her cap and stuck it in a pocket in the back of her BDUs as she stepped into the hall. "I hope you're right, Gunny." She took up a tray and started down the line not real hungry mostly wanting coffee but decided to eat anyway. Especially since it gave her a chance to talk with Corran...maybe he'd have some clues as to fix her unit. They left the line and found seats at the end of a far table.
Corran looked over the meal of mashed potatoes, corn, and "pieces of meat" as the Marines at Camp Anderson had come to call it. They weren't sure what meat it was, but they didn't want to dwell on it. He scooped up some potatoes with his fork and began to eat. "You know, if you ever want that knee to get better, you're gonna have to lay off carrying the pack and go on restrictive duty."
"Restrictive duty?" Jayme smiled at him, took a bite of the mystery "protein loaf", and thought about how best to respond. "Gunny, with this group and especially with those five...I have to lead by example." She put her fork down and sighed, and said, "I could ditch the pack. And for your information I've been cleared for full duty." She rested her elbows on the table and raked her fingers through her short blond hair. "Sorry, that was a cheap shot." She took another bite and relaxed against the back of the chair. "I have two senior sergeants who are great guys but one's an administrative genius and the other is an advanced medical practitioner with no field experience. And while I like Master Sergeant Hartman, I don't feel I can take this to him and I don't need the Colonel to think I can't handle this either. Any help from you and your's would be appreciated." Jayme said taking a sip of her coffee.
Corran took another fork-full of mashed potatoes and ate it. "Well, if I could give one piece of advice, it's not going to help them if you leave, so don't." He took a sip from the glass of water on his tray. "My next little piece of advice is to not always be the drill instructor. Be their friend as well. I've noticed that when you start treating others more as equals, they'll tend to go out of their way more to help. I'm not sure if it works as well for officers, but as enlisted we seem to get things done rather well that way. There's a point, however, when it has to come down to formalities. It's the sign of a leader to know when those points are." Corran finished what was left of the meat on his plate. "Lastly, I found this one to be true. Don't tell a member of your team to do something unless you were ready to do it yourself. When your group knows that you are perfectly willing to put yourself on the line in front of them, it's a confidence booster ma'am."
Jayme nodded. She ate a few more bites, then said, "Thanks Gunny. I've been here less then six months and maybe I am pushing to hard. I do appreciate you and your team taking the time to teach." They finished their lunch and dumped and stacked their trays and moved back outside. "I've never been here can you give me the two credit tour?"
"No problem ma'am." They walked across the compound and she noted the new buildings and he pointed out administration. They walked into that building and he showed her the Infirmary. Jayme took a few minutes to talk to the corpsman on duty, and to inspect the facility. "Good." She said and followed Corran out. Back to the field they saw that everyone had rotated stations. At the first station Sgt. Melak handed Jayme the carbine. After a no non-sense inspection of the weapon, Jayme nodded, took her stance and fired several rounds at the target. Melak smiled and nodded at Corran. She safetied the weapon and handed it back to the sergeant. "Thank you." They walked and watched another group and then found another empty station when Corran pointed to the straw bale. Jayme sat while he leaned against the stacked bales.
"Ma'am you said something about planing contingencies for an emergency evac."
She nodded and brought her right leg up and circled her arms around it. "You have 250,000 Terran acres of land here as a military reservation. I have a map that has the area gridded. All vehicles and training areas need to have flairs to mark off landing sites for the Hawks. Everyone has had buddy first aid and refresher courses are available- just ask. Our ETA here from the station is thirty-five minutes. Mostly its a clear zone for landing and take off that we need as you see."
"Shouldn't be a problem ma'am, maybe we could schedule some drills while you guys are training up...untilization of resources."
"I'm all for that. Lets schedule that for sometime this month." Jayme looked at her chronometer and noted the time. "Well do you think they've had sufficient time?"
Corran keyed his hidden mic. In response he got four clicks. "Appears that way." Jayme stood and walked with Corran back to her teams, and ordered, "Everyone back to our transport."