Jethro: First to Fight (87 page)

Commander Vargess would remain in charge
of the system as senior officer. Fuentes would remain on station with Hecate,
guarding the captured ships and system.

...*...*...*...*...

“Here we go again,” Jethro said as Deja
looked up. “Being paged?” the panther asked. Deja nodded.

“Good luck Marine.”

“We make our own. Time to slip and
slide,” Deja said leaving the compartment.

“Good guy,” Valenko rumbled.

“Very good.”

“Think we'll need these?” The bear
asked, looking up from his armor. His claws fingered a plasma burn and a sniper
hit. Both had done minor damage to his armor. The thing that bugged him was he
couldn't remember either hit in all the confusion. He was reluctant to go over
the video of the entire engagement again to find out. It didn't matter, he'd
survived.

“Somehow, something tells me yes. Which
means we need to get yours fixed and mine sorted out ASAP sir.”

“March to the sound of the guns,”
Valenko murmured.

“Yeah,” Jethro breathed. “Yes sir. That
we do.”

The End.

Finally! I finally got this done! Wow.
It took a while, but I'm there, at the end. :)

Okay, some things to get into. If you are
wondering about the threads and some stuff that really didn't get explained,
well, some of it you will see in the short stories or other books. Sorry. The
short stories sort of weave in to the main plots.

For those of you wondering about the
hymn (and especially you devil dogs who are having choice words over my
wording) I wanted something with history to it, but also a bit of an update.
And before you ask, yes the WATERFALLS on Montezuma were quite spectacular.
Just gorgeous. Pity the damn Xeno's had to blow the system up. Frack, what a
waste. I would have loved to have gone there for a vacation. Sigh. Oh well.

Tripoli had some nice surfing. I'm not
sure if it's the multiple moons or what. It could be because the continents
were mostly submerged and it had thousands of islands no bigger than New
Zealand and Madagascar scattered all over the planet. Dunno. Don't ask me, I
may live in sunny socal, but I'm
not
a surfer. (Though I do say 'dude'
waaaay too much.)

I think you get the picture there. :)

Um, what else... Can't really think of
anything right off the top of my head. Oh, I do want to thank Thomas for the
encouragement and occasional poke. Thanks dude. :)

 If I offended you or got something
wrong, oops, sorry. I'll try throw the rocks harder next time. What can I say,
my aim sucks. Quit dodging! Hold Still! :)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to
go take a deep breath, scream for a minute, then go get some ice cream.
Tomorrow I'll dive into either Jethro 3 'No Place like Home' or The Wandering
Engineer 6 'Pirate's Bane', or maybe I'll go work on Alive. Oh! I know! The
last 2 short stories to '13 Degrees of Separation'.... Hmmm... I dunno. We'll
see. That's for tomorrow. Tonight, chocolate fudge is calllllingggg
meeeeee.....

My blog:

http://cyberforge3d.blogspot.com/

Mechmaster:

http://www.mechmaster.co.uk/cg-lair/daleks_page1.htm

Medical and
cybernetics:

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-31/darpa-prosthetic-interfaces-give-amputees-new-hope

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-24/scientists-develop-worlds-most-complex-biological-computer

http://www.dvice.com/2013-4-12/microscopic-electronics-injected-directly-mouses-brain

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/31/stanford-genetic-transistor-transcriptor/

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/24/scientists-encode-mp3-dna-memory/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology

Military:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/edre.htm

http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%203501.1C%20W%20ERRATUM.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_acronyms_and_expressions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_education_and_training

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_base

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_exercise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

http://www.army.mil/article/86172/TF_Wings_tests_deployment_readiness_plan/

http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_slogans.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps_Recruit_Training

Suit and weapons
tech:

http://gizmodo.com/how-close-are-we-to-elysium-style-exosuits-993706204

http://www.dvice.com/2013-9-26/smart-rifle-jet-fighter-lock-and-launch-targeting-tech

http://www.dvice.com/2013-8-9/fully-automatic-gauss-gun-has-3d-printed-guns-running-scared

Other:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuance

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061117145710AANwJsi

http://www.20000-names.com/male_hawaiian_names.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova

http://www.dentalvet.com/Encyclopedia/P00352_SC01111.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

Ships:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_(science_fiction
)

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-06/new-alloy-can-convert-heat-directly-
electricity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_ships

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_system

http://www.dvice.com/2013-4-9/us-navy-gonna-deploy-frikkin-lasers-2014

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-3/supercapacitors-near-ish-future-batteries

Books:

Regenesis: How
Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves by George Church and Ed
Regis

Effects of
Directed Energy Weapons by Philip E. Nielsen

A Civilian's
guide to the U.S. Military by Barbara Schanding, PH.D.

NCO Guide 9
^th
Edition by CSM Robert S. Rush

The Basic
Training Guidebook by Sgt. Michael Volkin

Light Infantry
Tactics For Small Teams by Christopher E. Larsen

Naval
Ceremonies, Customs, And Traditions, sixth edition by Connell & Mack

Special thanks
to Jim Olson for providing me with a wealth of materials for research. I didn't
get a chance to use most of it here, but I will use more in Jethro 3!

Also, thanks to
Thomas Coates for working through some of the Military traditions. :)

Marines:

Major Jersey Forth:
Commanding
officer of the Marines. Senior most Marine officer. Former Captain of a
planetary militia on Avalon. Former Captain of the Marines before promotion
just prior to Admiral Irons departure from the Pyrax system.

Captain Pendeckle:
former Commander
of Agnosta 1st Marine recon detachment. Human male. Blocky body, broad
shouldered. Tough minded, but fair.

LT Myers:
1st Lieutenant,
Marine. No former combat experience. By the book persona, gruff, no-nonsense
personality like his noncom sergeant. Human male.  He preferred his bald
appearance to the Marine high and tight haircut. A former spacer with EVA and
security training. He was a club bouncer as a teen. He joined the college as
security guard prior to the pirate attack. The lieutenant signed on as a Marine
but was sidelined by a twisted ankle and missed the combat. Offered
compensation to officer training and accepted.

Sergeant Minachelli:
Lieutenant
Myers noncom squad leader. Human. Tough but fair.

Sergeant Yelt:
bluff
no-nonsense human male. The good sergeant is the posture image of a noncom
Marine.

Sergeant Zerric:
simple Marine,
pale skin, sunburnt, heavyworlder genes bald. He was a plodder, unimaginative
but reliable.

Valenko's squad:

Valenko:
Ensign and then
2nd Lieutenant brown bear/grizzly. Has two daughters, both Marines.
Estranged relationship with ex-wife/mate on Anvil.

Jethro:
Corporal later
Sergeant E-5. Panther. Sniper, scout, DI. Decendant of Tobias Mclintock,
Federation Cadre. Father was an assassin killed on Firefly.

Asazi:
Heavyworlder
former prize fighter. Amazon, has a healed broken nose and battered prize
fighter face. PFC infantryman. Later promoted to Lance Corporal. She has an
interest in Instructor training and became a junior DI with Jethro and some of
the other members of the squad.

Ox:
Tauren engineer, heavy weapons,
communications, and apprentice armorer. Lance Corporal- later Sergeant.

Sergei:
white Neoliger.
Heavy weapons and explosives. Private-PFC

Gusterson:
Medic, greyhound
corpsman, navy. Petty officer.

Kovu:
Private, uppity neolion with a
superiority chip on his shoulder. short black mane, normally would be scruffy.
He outmasses Jethro but was not as smart. Kovu has a reputation as a black
sheep in the cat family, bad boy. Cousin to Leo. He has cougar genes, so he has
a leaner frame and lacks a full mane. Kovu was demoted from Private to PFC to
Private after disobeying orders to see his girlfriend Kiara. Junior assistant
DI Infantry, spotter, and junior sniper.

Pa'nash, “Panache” :
Veraxin female
,
shooter/communication's tech Private. Suffers mild PTSD after boarding actions
during the pirate attack on Pyrax. A friend of Gunny Schultz. She bounced
around various squads and took several medical leaves of absence before ending
up on logistics. Gunny Schultz gave her a second chance.

The 'Fonz' Private Fonzarelli:
Human male,
rifleman/sniper black hair, he had a mullet and sideburns before joining up. He
is friends with Kovu.

PFC Clive Bret
: Blond blue
eyed human. Quiet and reserved, no nonsense professional Marine. Married with a
child on the way. Rifleman.

Harley Quinn:
Neo hyena
Private. Practical joker female. Rifleman. Went through F platoon with the core
veterans of Valenko's Squad.

Gunny Schultz:
Doberman, former
DI of F platoon. Reassigned to lead DI's on Agnosta.

Letanga:
cousin to
Jethro, Neoleopard. Sniper, Marine Private later advances to Corporal. Letganga
moved on to another squad.

Hurranna:
Neolynx former
member of F platoon and Valenko's squad from hell. Transferred to piloting duty
on San Diego.

Deja:
former pirate slave helmsman.
Selkie. Marine enlisted. Sergeant. Wants to be a shuttle pilot. Went through
abbreviated training on San Diego with Hurranna before completing his training
and returning to the Marines. Made it to Agnosta. Met up with a tribe of
Selkies near the North Pole. Piloted Firefly as helmsman during their run to
Antigua.

Kiara:
Neolioness,
daughter of Nara and Simba, love interest of Kovu. Kovu has a reputation as a
black sheep in the cat family, bad boy which makes

him appealing to the girls. She is a new
boot in training.

Others in the Pyrax system:

Commander Horatio Logan:
Former yeoman
and enlisted petty officer prior to and during Xeno war. Sleeper, he was awoken
over a century prior to the admiral and served as the Chief engineer of Anvil
space station before the admiral's arrival. Currently the commanding officer of
Pyrax.

1
^st
Lieutenant Sergio Junior
Valdez:
Son of Senior Valdez, former tug pilot turned small craft pilot and later first
fighter pilot in Pyrax. Currently acting LT Commander in charge of all pilots
in the system. (CAG)

System governor Paul Walker:
Elected governor
of the system. Tall, rather good looking and charming. A corrupt politician.
One of a group of people who conspired to remove the admiral from the system.
Walker has a wife and children but goes through mistresses like a buzzsaw. Any
who threaten him end up dead.

Lieutenant Commander Vargess:
Love interest of
Captain Mayweather. Captain of the Arboth class destroyer Fuentes. Sleeper,
former captain of an sublight militia gunship before transferring to the Navy.
He and a group of young officer cadets he was sheparding to the Naval academy
were lost when their ship was caught by the Xenos and booby trapped. Admiral
Irons and the crew of Firefly managed to rescue the sleepers. Commander Vargess
is a loyal supporter of the admiral.

Fuentes (AI):
ancient AI
recovered and rebuilt prior to the admiral's departure. The AI had only 1 of 3
cores and was partially insane. Fortunately the AI had been repaired and
returned to service.

Crew of Firefly:

Captain (Lieutenant Commander)
Mayweather:
Former
XO of the Carib queen, a star yacht. Rose through the ranks quickly to become
Captain of Firefly.

Lieutenant Commander Shelby Logan XO:
Daughter of
Horatio Logan, formerly his XO on Anvil, recruited as Chief engineer of Firefly
before taking over the XO slot. Technically outranks Captain Mayweather by date
of rank. Slated to take command of the factory ship/fleet tender Prometheus
when it is completed.

Commander Firefly (AI):
Old AI core of
the light cruiser Firefly. Technically outranks both colloid commanding
officers, but does not exercise command. The AI has put in for command track.

Janice Yu:
1st Lieutenant,
helm and navigational officer. Former helmsman of the Carib Queen. Personal
friend of the captain.

Purple Thorn :
1
^st
Lieutenant Elf tactical officer

Brighton Able
: Graveyard Ops
officer. 2
^nd
Lieutenant JG. Was an Ensign on the frigate Centurion.
Touchy human, very inflexible, lacks a sense of humor. Likes to throw his
officer rank around. Possibly in dire need of a vacation, or maybe his pipes
cleaned.

Riley:
Sergeant, Marine
armorer. Older armorer, can't hack the black. Former EVA suit tech on Anvil.
Before that Riley was an armorer on many worlds, making his way from one world
to the next as needed. Friend of Major Forth. Sergeant Riley is a bit of a
tinkerer, almost as much as his protégé Ox.

Anvil:

Lieutenant Governor and Anvil station
governor Enrique Salvador:
An old hand at playing both sides of the game.
Enrique will do what he does best, survive.
Former XO of the station.
Tough but pragmatic, politician able to compromise his ideals and honor to get
things done. Human, black hair with a bit of salt on the sides. Crows feet. Bit
of a dress up  queen, politician.

Smithy (AI):
dumb AI turned
“Semi” smart by Sprite, Proteus, and Firefly. Smithy is a plodder, focusing on
keeping the command staff happy.

Judge Hershey:
Judge on the
station. Renown for being above corruption and impartial.

Judge Farley:
Senior judge in
the system, he helped to refine the Pyrax Constitution. He is tough, hard on
crime and impartial to a fault.

Sheriff Trask:
Veraxin sheriff
on Anvil.

Lieutenant Commander (doctor) Thornby:
Chief Medical
officer of Anvil, also of the star system of Pyrax. Human, brown hair shoulder
length, with a clean face despite being in her 60's. Smart, but growing into
her role as an officer more each day. Before she had been reluctant to sign on,
but now she likes the reserve officer status. She has also started the
cataloging and resurrection project and is in charge of all medical personnel
in the navy.

Matilda, Dean and Lieutenant Commander:
Grandmother and
dean of Anvil college and San Diego academy. G-3 schools. Former secretary and
mistress of a prominent businessman Mr. Malfoy. Canned for being 'too old'. She
has grown into both roles, as the dean of the civilian college and acting
commandant of San Diego Academy. She is a natural organized person, able to
turn chaos into order in very short order.

Valdez family:

Senior:
Chief tug pilot
and owner of the growing tug business.

Mother and children:
Mrs. Valdez is
the glue holding the Valdez family together. Her brother in law is now serving
as one of the assistant chief engineers of the station. Her sister is one of
the heads of life support. Both they and their children know to be home by 6
sharp for dinner, as does Senior and her children. And woe any who forget to
wash first or are late!

On Destiny:

Captain Ferguson:
Tough civilian
Captain, one of the original crew of the Destiny. He rose from third mate on
Destiny to being a slave under the pirates, then was liberated. He took on the
job of Captain when no one else seemed able to handle the job after being
liberated. Human, with some college training and knowledge that he is caught
between masters.

Chief engineer Bailey:
Balding Neo
chimp. Tough, loves martial arts. Smart and independent, friend of the admiral.
Wives Galiet, Clennie, Sylvia, sons Fiben, John, and Devin

Everette:
Electronics tech
2
^nd
class. Wishes to become a tech reservist with the Navy.

Bryan Kelley:
Medic. Has
Coonies. Human, gay. Brown hair, tall, smart, lovable smile. Deep empathy.
Friends to Cheetara and the admiral.

Galiet:
Senior wife of
Bailey. College student. Tough, pragmatic. She stayed behind to attend college
while Destiny took the admiral into exile.

Sylvia:
Second wife of
Bailey, bonobo, pregnant with Fiben when Irons left Destiny. Bridge officer.

Clennie:
Bridge officer,
third wife of Chief Bailey. She had twins, John and Devin.

On Agnosta: