Chapter 1
Master Sgt Sandra Vazquez moved down the hallway of the temp HQ building with her typical take no prisoners approach. While a relatively small individual, her presence intimidated much larger Marines into avoiding and getting out of her way, in some cases not really realizing what they were doing. After a strictly perfunctory knock on the doorway she marched in and plunked down in front of the desk.
Command Sgt Major John Hicks looked over at Vazquez with an upraised eyebrow. She grunted. He grinned.
"What's the word?" She grimaced " Pretty much what we thought. Probably in a week, two at most."
His grin faded as he sat back and thought about it. "It is what it is, Sandra. We knew this was coming for the last month at least." She groaned "All those newbies. Trying to keep track of them, let alone keep em alive."
He looked at her sadly. "In other words, just as usual". She looked back at him "SSDD". He slowly smiled.
"would you really expect anything different?". She just glared back at him.
Hicks sat thinking after Vazquez left. After a few minutes, he got up and went into the inner office. The Staff Sgt at the desk in the main area looked up at him inquiringly. Hicks motioned with his head towards the closed door of the office at the back of the area. The Staff Sgt shook his head slowly. Hicks nodded and then went toward the door. He knocked briskly twice. "Enter" came the strong contralto voice from inside. Hicks opened the door, stepped in and closed it behind him.
Hicks moved to in front of the large desk that was central to the office. "Colonel, Vazquez has gotten word that in a week, at most two, we move out."
Col. Ellen Ripley looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Hicks nodded "She would not have said anything if it was not pretty much etched in stone." She nodded. "I know. Pretty sad that she finds out before I do."
Hicks grinned. "Nothing new there. The CO is always the last to know anything really important."
Ripley sighed. "Still have not heard if its just our regiment or the 25th and 27th as well. " Hicks looked at her and snorted. "We both know that this job is too much for one regiment, even us. So they will 'assist' us with the two new regiments. " Ripley shook her head. " I wish I could be as sure that they would be a help". Hicks cocked his head "Who says we think they are going to be a help?"
After Hicks had left, Ripley got up and walked over to the window at the far end of the room. It looked out onto gray and desolate, flat and virtually featureless plain. Omnicron 8 was technically inhabitable with a fairly good oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere; but it was dry as a bone and flat as a pancake- one of the most barren and monotonous planets ever found. Which in one respect made a good base for the Space Marines. No locals or environment to damage during maneuvers and training. Otherwise it was boring as a blank piece of paper.
She wondered if that had anything to do with why it seemed so hard to get the personnel in the new regiments trained up. After 12 years in the Space Marines, Ellen Ripley was somewhat cynical about things in general.
Of course how she became a Marine in the first place, let alone commanding a Regiment was a bizarre and twisted story in itself.
First officer of the freighter Nostramo over 70 years earlier, she had been the sole survivor (well, her cat had as well) of an alien organism that was as hard to kill as it was adaptable and devious. She had escaped in a emergency pod that unfortunately had not been found for 57 years. Things after she had been finally found had not gotten any better. Disbelieved as regarding her story, she eventually agreed to go back to a planet that the original alien had come from to find out why contact with the colony since established there had cut off communications. Going with her had been a platoon of Space Marines. The carnage that followed had left only Ripley, Hicks, Vazquez, now sgt then private Hudson, Lt Gorman (unconscious due to a fall), Newt (an 8 year old girl and only survivor of the colony) and Bishop, an android. It had been solely due to Ripley's experience with the alien, and the stubbornness of the marines that had allowed them to survive. It had since been discovered that the eggs of the alien had been spread by previous visitors to the planet since the colonies establishment to more then a dozen worlds. Only in the last year had the last of them been cleaned up- and cleaned up it was due to multiple nuclear warheads detonated to radiate the atmosphere and conclusively kill off the young- the mature aliens were little affected by anything like radiation. But the radiation did prevent the spawning of new generations; that and the lack of humans or any other living beings for the eggs to grow in and consume.
Ripley had adopted Newt, and was looking to perhaps sign on with another freighter to move on when she had received a visit from Gorman and a Marine Major. Gorman had been very complimentary to Ripley after it was all over and he had had a chance to talk to the other survivors. He in turn had talked to his immediate superior and the Major had made Ripley an offer that stunned her but in the end agreed to: joining the Marines to go after the Aliens. Originally only as an advisor, but Ripley had been convinced to formally join the Corps and go to Officer Candidate School: a grueling year long endurance trial. Ripley had surprised herself and others by breezing right through the school to graduate at the top of the class of 100. Her rise in the 10 years since then had been meteoric.
Her gift for improvisation, coolness under tremendous stress, and ability to focus and get the job done had propelled her to the point when last year she had been given the Regiment, and then immediately sent to take care of an uprising on a very nasty planet, Tebecus 3. She had shown equal ability at diplomacy (surprising herself immensely) and combat. No longer just considered a bug expert and eradicator, she was now considered able to handle any problem. Newt had decided to join the Corps as well and had just finished her first year as a trooper, and had been recommended to OCS as well. No one who knew her was surprised; ever since her survival on the colony for 3 months after all the rest (included her parents) had been podded she had been considered one tough cookie. Ripley was not exactly happy about it all – she had wanted Newt to have a much easier life. But the stubbornness that had allowed her to survive had remained intact all the years of following Ripley around in the Corps. The one good thing about her being in OCS right now made it sure that she would not be on the next mission, which looked like a real piece of work.
The buzzer on her intercom made its presence known. Ripley walked over to her desk and pressed the button "Yes?" Her aide, Bishop, returned from checking on supplies to replace the Sgt in her outer office, replied."Colonel Gorman is here". Ripley sighed "Send him in". It was very unusual to have an android in an official position, but Ripley was very loyal to those that had been there for her when it mattered, and also very practical at having those she could trust around her. Gorman had just gotten his promotion to Lt Colonel at the same time Ripley had gotten her full bird. Gorman had never had a problem with Ripley passing him by; his ego had never seemed to care. He was a full professional now, the early green Lt from the first Alien mission long since gone. He was now her XO of the 9th Regiment.
Gorman walked in and snapped a precise salute that Ripley returned much less precisely. She glared at him "I thought I made it clear that when it is just the two of us that we go informal". He smiled "Colonel, when I have news like this I just think it needs to be a little more formal." Ellen raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
Gorman stood straight at attention and announced "Colonel Ellen Ripley, it is my great pleasure to announce that I have been informed that you are to become acting Brigadier Ellen Ripley for the coming Expedition."
Ripley's eyes widened greatly and she sat down hard on the edge of her desk. "WHAT!" she yelled.
Gorman grinned even wider. "I was talking to a friend I have in HQ and he mentioned that they had decided to send all 3 regiments to Willon 6 and NOT to send a general to command it. Therefore since you are senior to both Colonels of the 25th and 27th, that makes you an acting Brigadier and commanding officer of the whole shebang."
Ripley had recovered enough to growl " Since I have only been a Regimental commander for just over a year why in the galaxy would they give me the command?" Gorman lost a lot of his smile as he said "Because the same friend told me that it looks like a dual mission and that makes you the best choice of any other possible commander. NO one has more bug experience, and you have shown an ability to make peace and war with humans depending on what the situation demanded. Sounds like a sensible decision to me."
Ripley's eyes narrowed "They think that there is an alien element to the trouble there"
Gorman nodded. "Not the Aliens we are used to- but a bipedal type similar to humans but much more generally nasty. Not as nasty as the bugs of course, but in the ballpark. They apparently are the ones stirring things up between the two religious groups. Not joining either one of course, but agitating, attacking and generally egging on the war. "Ripley frowned. "I would have thought that an outside influence like that would have gotten the two groups together in order to survive?" Clark shook his head. "No, they are so far gone that any cooperation is out of the question- and both of them see the aliens as a sign that they are right." Ripley shook her head "Sometimes I wonder if humans have ever really evolved."
The Command group had gathered at the conference room in the HQ building. Hicks, as the senior enlisted NCO in the regiment, called the group to attention when Cols Ripley and Gorman walked into the room. Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson, Riley (the other sgt in HQ and a survivor of their first operation after the colony, who had become part of the group then)and Bishop stood up until the Cols sat down at the table. Ripley growled "At EASE" and gave a nasty look to Hicks, who just smiled at her. "When someone is promoted we always have to give them a hard time, sir". Ripley just grimaced."Well, put a sock in it". "Yes, maam" they all chorused. Ellen rolled her eyes.
"I guess a little respect is too much to ask for?" They all smiled at her. The group had been together in one way or another almost 10 years, and formality was a thing of the long since gone past.
Ripley looked at them. She knew she was very lucky to have people like this around her, and she never forgot it.
"First things first. Since I am acting Brigadier, effective immediately Col Gorman is acting CO of the regiment. I hope he can find a way to instill a little more discipline in the command group." They all grinned at her.
Ripley then lost her smile and the group sobered up. They knew that from this point on it was all business.
"To start with, I have already called the 25th and 27th Regiments and have ordered their commanders and XO's to get here this afternoon for the first planning session. Full staffs will meet tomorrow morning at 0800."
The intercom buzzed. Gorman reached over and pressed the button. "Whats up, Wilson?" the voice came back:"Sorry to bother you colonel but HQ is on the com system and they want to talk to the Colonel right now."
Gorman looked at Ripley who nodded. "Put it on the screen here, Wilson" "Yes sir, coming up in 5 seconds"
Ripley turned towards the viewing screen as the Space Marines Galaxy and Anchor symbol came up to be replaced by the face of the Commanding General of the Alpha Quadrant, Lt General Williams.
Williams wasted no time getting to the point. " Colonel Ripley, the urgency of the situation on Willon 6 has increased and its been decided to send your brigade ASAP. Also, the Commandant has talked to the Council and it has been agreed that you will no longer be acting Brigadier. " He paused while some anger and worry spread through the room. Williams seemed to straighten up even more. "Colonel Ellen Rebecca Ripley, Space Marine SN 435-000-5679; you are hereby promoted to Brigadier General, rank effective immediately. This promotion is permanent pending formal approval of the Federation Congress." Williams then paused and smiled slightly. "General, it was decided that your rank needed to be formal to help with the mission, and this way it will be. Congratulations and good luck." Ripley blinked, shook her head, and said " Thank You general, we will do the best we can." Williams nodded. " I have no worries, General." The screen went back to the Corps Symbol.
For a moment the room was very quiet. Then Hudson, always the most emotional and open of the group, jumped up and roared " TO the NEWEST and BEST general in the Corps, WHOOORRRAAAHHHH!" He yelled to be followed by the entire group, even including the normally very quiet Bishop.
Chapter 2
Ripley walked down the hall towards the conference room accompanied by Gorman. She paused before the door, straightening her uniform, and almost unconsciously touching the brand new stars on her collars. She looked over at Gorman who had a definite smirk on his face that was immediately rewarded with one of her more fierce scowls. However, that had had served to get her mind of the reactions of the officers of the two other regiments that she now commanded to her getting the command and a promotion on top of it. Both of the other colonels commanding the regiments had more time in the Corps then Ripley had.
"ATTENTION!" was called out by one of the officers inside the room when Ripley walked in. "As you were" she barked, returning the salutes. "Be seated" she ordered as she took a seat at the head of the table. "just to let you know ASAP that our orders to proceed have been expedited. We will leave in 72 hrs." The other officers looked at each other then back at Ripley. "is there a problem?" she quietly asked. Colonel Williams, CO of the 25th, squared his shoulders and stated "General, we have several units some distance from here on training missions right now= getting them back will take until tomorrow. Which will leave us only 48 hrs to get them ready. Checking equipment and making sure all is ready will take at least 2 days. " "That is not acceptable. You will immediately recall all units and execute emergency return. That will have them all here by tonight. Then you will work around the clock until all is ready. The Troops obviously will get plenty of sleep on the journey."
The colonel blinked but nodded. "Yes Sir." Ripley then went on. "New data indicates that the alien element has more influence then originally thought. Intelligence now believes that they have been behind most of the troubles over the last 2 years and are actively working to foment violence and destruction. Our new orders indicate that removing that element is now the top priority. We will proceed on that conclusion. Of course once we get there and evaluate the situation up close things might change. If so, we will change. BUT as of this moment eradication of the aliens is the first mission. And I do mean eradication as in total removal. Sensor readings and observation from orbit indicates that there are 7 separate areas of alien control and influence. We will attack all 7 at once with everything we have. All indications are that all 7 are of the same size and strength relatively speaking, so we will assign a battalion to each area. That leaves 2 battalions free to act as reserve. Since those seven are grouped in two areas on the planet, one reserve battalion will go with each area. The 3 that are closely grouped near the planets capital will be the mission of the 10th Regiment. One battalion of the 25th will be the reserve. Colonel Williams and Colonel Jones, you decide between the two of you how the other 4 grouped on the other side of the planet will be attacked by what battalions. You are authorized to use all weapons up to but not including Nuclear. Unless something really different shows up we will not be using that option. Any questions?" Ripley looked at the other officers. They shifted somewhat, but remained silent. "All right then, Colonel Gorman is now commander of the 10th, you will coordinate with him as regarding the attack in his area. I will be oversight for the operation, and will be in the command ship. While I have no doubt at all that this operation will be a success, I also have no doubt it will not be as easy as it looks right now. I intend to give the regimental commanders full control of the battles, interfering as little as possible. BUT I warn you that I will jump in your puddle as soon as I see a major screwup. I want those aliens dead and out of the way ASAP, BUT I want no unnecessary casualties doing it. Is that CLEAR?" "Yes SIR" chorused back.
"Very well, I will leave you to it." The officers stood up as Ripley walked out.
Awakening from cold sleep was always unpleasant and disorienting. As Ripley slowly climbed out of her chamber, she wondered once again why she kept doing it. As always, Hicks was right there waiting for her.
She blearily looked at him, groaned, then growled. "OK, what is the situation?"
Hicks grinned at her unrepentedly. "We are at Willon 6 in orbit and all ships are present and accounted for. We have been hailed by the planetary government. They are rather eager for us to get here, get it done, and be gone."
"Well, we will try and give them full cooperation on that. But its not always as easy as it looks." Hicks nodded. "Yes maam." She glared at him again. "How many times do I have to tell you that I really dislike that term?"
Hicks grinned. "about one hundred more." She shook her head. "OK, let me take my shower and get some coffee and we will head to the com center."
Half an hour later, Ripley stood in the com center of the command ship and slowly drank her coffee as she listened to the Intelligence officer brief her on the latest data. Nothing much had changed in the 21 days since they had left. "OK, I want staff call in 1 hr with all CO's of the battalions included. " She looked over at Hicks and said" I want the command staff here in 20 minutes." Hicks nodded.
The command staff minus Gorman (who was huddled with the newly minted Lt Colonel that was now his XO of the Regiment-Gorman had gotten his full birds at the same time as Ripley's promotion) were in the conference room waiting for Ripley to appear. Hudson was his usual hyperactive self. "So what do you guys think –are we going to stay here or go planetside and join in?" Vazquez pinned him with a look. "What do you think- do you remember any time when She just stands and watches while others lock and load?" Hicks shook his head. "But it's a little different now- she has to over watch the whole operation and she cannot do that from ground side. Of course she wants to get down there amongst the troops but that is no longer her total prerogative." Hudson snorted. "You know that wherever it gets hottest she will be there. How many times have we had to shoot our way out of something?" Vazquez growled "That is the way she has always been since the first time. And as far as I am concerned, that is the way the CO ought to be." Hudson shook his head. " I have seen enough trigger time; getting on the command staff is supposed to be a way to get away from that. BUT we have seen just as much if not more." Hicks grinned. "Come on Hudson, don't tell me you signed up for the retirement package."
Hudson looked at him and grunted. "Good a reason as any. I want to do my 20 and then have some fun."
Vazquez looked at him. "Then you only have about 5 more years." Hudson looked startled. "Is that all?"
Ripley walked into the conference room. The troopers stood up and quietly waited for her to sit down. From the first day she had made it clear that as long as it was just them all the formalities were to be ignored. They stood as a mark of respect, and she accepted it as such. Ripley looked at them and smiled, slightly. "Just to let you know, you have all gotten a promotion. Hicks is now Brigade Sgt Major. Vazquez is now Regimental Sgt Major. Hudson is now master sgt and Riley is now First Sgt. Bishop even got promoted. He is now assistant to Brigade.
You will all continue those ranks when you are transferred to my staff. We will also, unfortunately, have to bring in some captains and a major or two for the full staff. I have been informed that the 6th Marine Brigade is going to be a permanent unit. So I will need any suggestions you have about bringing in good people." Hicks blinked.
"What about Colonel Gorman- he is going to have to bring in a whole new command staff for the 10th?"
Ellen nodded. "He knows and understands. He already has some ideas of people he wants to promote from inside the 10th. You people will make sure that he gets the best they have." Ellen smirked slightly. "Just so you know, we will not be going back to Omnicron when this op is over. We are going to be permanently stationed on Sidonia." She sat back and waited for the reaction. She was not disappointed. "Sidonia?" yelled Hudson.
"Holy Shit!". Vazquez widened her eyes. "I have heard about that place. Why in the world would the Space Marines put a brigade HQ there?" Hudson shook his head. "That place is a pleasure planet. Talk about the luck. Never have to worry about R & R there." Ripley grinned. "The Corps decided that they needed one billet that would be considered a real gem and we got lucky. Actually the planet is quite happy about this. They feel that they are a little ignored in favor of the Rim planets as regards Federal installations, and they know that it will also increase their security as well as their pocketbooks since the Navy is also going to build a large Station in orbit for a new dockyard and R & R facility. " Hicks just shook his head. He looked at Hudson. "Still complaining"
Hudson was grinning like a loon. "Things are really shaping up now." Riley, silent up till now, put his oar in. "We just have to make it through this op first." The others got quiet. Hudson looked worried. "Hadn't thought about that- so now we know what the priority is= get out of here with a whole skin!"
Ripley just looked at him and shook her head.
Chapter 3
The first day of the operation went well. Initial attacks by the support ships had caught the aliens by surprise and casualties were therefore quite light. All units had met their preliminary objectives and had established strong positions from which to strike. None of the units had had any real trouble and there had been no need for any reserves to be brought in. As a consequence Ripley had not gone down to the surface, preferring to wait for developments.
Trouble started the second day. In the capital area, the 1st Battalion of the 10th ran into a very strong position and got bogged down. Then the aliens counterattacked with more force then it was thought they had and started to drive the battalion back. Ripley then committed half of the reserve battalion in a pincer attack in the aliens rear, holding back the rest of the reserve just in case. It was good that she did as while the 1st battalion recovered and began to reduce the alien positions, the 3rd Battalion ran into the same problem. Ripley then committed the rest of the reserve, and that situation stabilized and then by nightfall began to improve.
Word was received from the other side of the planet of similar developments. Luckily, Col Williams had been as cautious as Ripley and had held back part of the reserve battalion after sending some of it to support one battalion of the 27th that had had problems. The situation improved there over night and by morning the aliens were in full retreat.
On the third day, when it was looking like the fighting would probably be over by that night, Col Gorman contacted Ripley. "I think you need to see this, General". Ripley knew that Gorman would not make such a request without a real good reason so she gathered her command group together and went down planetside.
The area had been chewed up pretty well, destroying most of what had been a very thick forest of trees that were not unlike Earths. Hicks as usual was on point, with Riley right behind him, then Bishop then Ripley, with Hudson and Vazquez as usual protecting their 6. This was in the 2nd Battalions area, which had not had much problem in their campaign. Ripley found Gorman near a rocky outcrop that appeared to have a cave.
"Any suspicions that this was entirely a local matter can be put to rest now, General" Gorman stated that while showing what was hidden in the cave. A complete, up to date and intact communication system, capable of full interstellar range. And it was undeniably Huklian. Who happened to be the Federations main rival (Or at least liked to think they were- the federation was 5 times their size). Just to top it off were the bodies of 6 Huklians, in full uniform. Ripley looked this over, sighed, then turned to Major Allen, CO of 3rd Battalion. "Report" she stated.
"General, we cleared this area early this morning. One of my patrols noticed camouflage that was shielding this cave and checked it out. They caught the Huklians by complete surprise and were able to kill them before they could activate the self destruct. As you can see, it would have taken out most of this area". That if anything was an understatement as the explosives in that cave would have done a pretty good job of removing Mt Rushmore.
Huklians were usually pretty fanatic and suicide attacks and such were not unusual. Ripley looked at the Major "Good Job, could the troopers tell if any comm was attempted during the attack?" "General, the unit was completely powered down- and it takes a good 15-20 minutes to get it back up again. From the time the LT sighted the camouflage to the death of the last Huklian was only 10 minutes. The Unit was cold. If it had been in use any sooner, we could have found that out." Ripley nodded. As a matter of standard procedure, the command ship was monitoring all frequencies and should have notice it in any even if there had been a transmission.
What made it interesting was that no such comm had been noted for the entire duration of the attack; so the Huklians had no idea at all that they had been found out. Ripley looked at the major. "I want a commendation written for the unit that accomplished this – this could be very important." Going over and taking a closer look at the equipment, Ripley realized that it was very new and could not have been on the planet for more then a year at most= which was right about the time all the problems started.
Ripley had left and gone right back to the command ship to contact HQ. She knew that THIS report had to go to the top Right AWAY and bypassed the Division commander, and the area commander, to contact the Federation Defense Department immediately. Keying in her command code and the special scrambler that was issued to all General officers, she put in the call direct to the Chief of the Defense Staff, a four star. Using the urgent code, she got through to him very quickly (the time factor worked out that he was in his office).
"General Ripley, I can safely assume that the reason you are calling is not because you have not accomplished your mission, or even that you have . Clearly you have found something you consider vital for command to know right away. So lets have it." General Budasion was well known not to suffer fools and always wanted to cut right to the chase. Ripley appreciated that. "General, the Huklians were behind the whole thing. We have absolute proof. A full interstellar com system and 6 Huklians in full uniform. The Com gear is only a year old. They were found right in the middle of the central alien encampment and had been heavily protected by them. Extremely good camouflage and everything else shows that they were closely working with the aliens. "
General Budasion looked grim. This could very well mean a full scale war. "Hold your current position, and do not in any way let anyone else know what is happening. I want a full visual record taken as well as official statements by the unit that found it all. Keep this as quiet as you can. " "Yes Sir". "You can expect a further com from command within the next day. This will be your ears only and on the priority channel with full scrambler."
"Yes Sir"
Ripley sat back as the General signed off. She slowly got up from the com center and opened the door- she had made very certain that she was alone. Hicks was on guard outside. "Have the com people return to their posts- but make sure that they understand that no outgoing traffic will be sent and that I am to be informed the minute anything comes in. " "Understood, general". She turned to Gorman who was waiting as well. "Colonel, have the unit that found this brought up to command immediately-and do it quietly. We need to keep as much a lid on this as we can. Above all else we have to be sure that none of the locals hear about it. Have intelligence make a full video of the equipment and the cave, everything there. And make sure they come straight back to the command ship afterwards. We need to keep the rumors down as much as possible. Hicks, you and Vazquez make it a point to keep an eye on them= we need to control this as much as possible. I know that it will be hard and probably not all that successful but we must do what we can. This whole thing is going to blow up no matter what, I just want to be sure we do not start it." Ripley headed towards her cabin and an attempt to get some sleep.
Riley looked at Hudson "All we have to worry about is not getting our butts shot off. Sure. IF a full war comes out, and that is what it looks like could happen, we won't see Sidonia any time soon." Hudson sadly shook his head. "Should have known it wouldn't be that easy."
It did not take long for the repercussions of the find to begin to be felt. By the time the unit had given their statements and the intelligence unit had made records of everything, Ripley was called back to the com center for another highly crypted conversation. This time the Defense Minister was there along with General Budasion and the Commandant of the Space Marines, General Stein. "General Ripley, do you have everything ready to go?" was the first thing General Budasion said. "Yes sir, are you prepared to copy?" "Send it". Ripley hit the key on the comm system. "We have also secured the cave but have not touched any of the equipment." The Defense Minister stepped in. "That is good. We are sending a ship with a load of correspondents to show it to. We want you to leave one battalion as security and take the rest of the Brigade to Ardenia 7 ASAP. When the newsies are done, that battalion will join you there. It is expected that the Huklians will try something quickly. That sector has no defense force at the moment since we are in the process of deploying the first wave of the fleet that is going to go after them. The 65 TG of the 7th Fleet will be the Naval support and coverage unit. It is thought the Huklians may try a spoiling attack to keep us off balance. And that area is the most likely target. If they try something, it will almost certainly be a raiding force that will escort an invasion force in an effort to secure the planet as a possible base or bargaining chip. Your brigade will be there to make sure it fails." Commandant Stein then spoke. "General Ripley, you more then justified your recent promotion here. So we have no worries that you will not fulfill the mission. Good luck and God speed" The viewer went dark. Ripley sat back and sighed. It was going to be ugly no matter what anyone thought. She got up and opened the hatch of the comm room. Hicks as usual was waiting outside. "I want an officers call in 30 minutes for all CO's, XO's and their staffs. I will need to speak to Commodore Hutchings ASAP."
Chapter 4.
Ripley stood in the conference room in front of her senior officers. "Colonel Gorman, the 2nd Battalion will temporarily stay behind as security for the find. It will rejoin the rest of the brigade as soon as possible. The rest of the brigade, ladies and gentlemen, will be heading for Ardenia 7 to prepare defenses against a possible Huklian attack. We will leave in 12 hrs, as soon as the rest of the troops get off the planet. I will be leaving first with the command ship and the 25th, who are already ready to go. The rest of you, saving the 2nd Battalion of the 10th, will follow ASAP."
Ardenia 7 was fairly earth like, the differences mainly being that it had more ocean and less land mass. Only 15% of the planet was solid ground, though there was a continent sized swamp in the Southern Hemisphere. The rest of the land mass was one solid Continent straddling the equator. Luckily it was not as hot as earths equator. There was no indigenous intelligent life, and only a small outpost. It actually had relatively little land animal development, most of the life on the planet was in the oceans. Ripley surveyed the 3-D simulation of the planet, and decided that there was frankly little reason to dig in, as since there were no cities or any kind of development, the Huklians could choose to land anywhere on the continent, and themselves dig in. Any way you looked at it, the Marines would have to go after them wherever they went. She looked over at the Commodore who was in command of the Naval group. "Commodore, I see no reason to put my people planet side. That only makes them a target and they will have to move anyway. This system has an extensive asteroid belt, and I intend to hide my transport ships there. That will free you up to go after the Huklians with all you've got" The Commodore smiled. " I was hoping that was what you wanted to do, General. I doubt that the Huklians will come with anything we cannot handle, so you should be free to go after them where ever they land, and not give them time to dig in."
It only took 2 months for a state of war to be declared. The Huklians denied involvement and claimed it was all propaganda. The Federation declared war after that. Under orders from the Executive Council, The Space Forces and Marine forces went into a defensive mode. Ripley had her forces well hidden in the asteroid belt, and the supporting naval force hid there as well. The 2nd Battalion had only been back with them a week when the sensors on the outskirts of the system signaled an unidentified force moving in.
"General, it looks like 6 Cruisers and 4 destroyers, and 8 transports with 4 support ships. I don't think we will have all that much trouble with their escort, but if we want to wipe out their ground forces we have to let them land= if we try and hit them first in space, the transports and support ships will get away while we are tangling with the escorts." The Commodore reported.
Ripley thought about it for a minute, then agreed. "We will give them 2 days=that is enough time for all of them to get off the transports but not enough time for them to fully deploy and dig in." It was settled; only the details needed to be worked out. Ripley called for a full staff meeting the next morning after the sensor drones had had a chance to scan the planet.
The next morning the meeting started out with the Naval Intelligence officer reporting the drones findings.
"The Huklians have landed 4 of their war groups-roughly equivalent to our Regiments. While we are somewhat outnumbered, once our Naval forces have taken care of their Naval forces, they can then bombard their positions which should sufficiently soften them up for the Marines to finish them off." Hicks and Vazquez looked at each other and grimaced. Easy for him to say, nice and safe in orbit.
Ripley stood up. "Alright, we know where they are and we have very good maps of the area. We have simulated this attack and so far there appear to be no surprises. All of their weapon systems have been identified and no new ones are showing up. We will land here, here and here and then each Regiment will drive right towards the center and their HQ. Once we have linked up they will be split into three parts that the Naval Force can bombard at will. After that it will just be a case of mopping up. Any Questions?" There were none; all involved agreed with the strategy and all were confident of the outcome. Ripley was a little worried since things seemed to b e going to well.
But nothing happened that surprised them at all. The Naval force was able to sneak up almost right into the Huklian escorts by using the asteroid belt as cover= it took only an hour to destroy them, with minor costs to the Navy. Ripley then took the transports straight down to the planet and hit the landing zones, while the navy was bombarding. All 3 Regiments landed and proceeded to attack the somewhat dazed Huklians. It took only 2 days for all three regiments to reach the objective, against increasingly desperate and steadily deteriorating enemy forces. The mopping up took 3 more days. In 5 days the Huklian force was either dead or POWs=and with their typical fanaticism only a little over 200 were captured, most of them badly wounded.
Ripley had just returned from a visit to ground HQ, which had been completely uneventful, much to the pleasure and surprise of Hudson. "I never thought we would pull this off so easily. We hardly broke a sweat." Hudson gloated as he drank a bear in the transport rec area. "Gotta admit we got this one done pretty easily" Riley admitted. "The General had a good plan and the Huks had no response once we took out their escorts." Vazquez stated. "Sure have got nothing to complain about- and that's a first" grinned Hicks.
Ripley got on the Comm to Command. "We are pretty much done here, General. We should be able to have everyone in and ready to go in 2 days." "Excellent work, general." The Commandant said. "Yours is the first attack and taking them all the way out will be good for morale. Its got to make the Huks think about it. After loading everyone, you are to proceed to Calder 5, and wait for further instructions there." "Yes, sir."
Ripley signed off and sighed. She then went to the meeting room for the Staff meeting.
"Calder 5? What in hell is there except a bare bones station. No shore leave worth the name." Hudson groused. "Because that is where command wants us to be, Sgt. I imagine that we are being held there as a reserve. I doubt we will be doing much for a while." Ripley stated. She looked around the room. "This op turned out very simple and pretty cheap to take care of. BUT I want NO ONE here to be under any illusion. This war has a ways to go."
Chapter 5
Ripley sighed as she finished the paperwork in front of her. As much as she disliked it in general, she was sorry to see it was done since there was absolutely nothing else for her to do. They had been on Calder 5 for over a month now and the whole Brigade was getting antsy. They had received all the necessary replacements in both personel and material early on and all that was done as well. They had had some maneuvers and simulations, and had accomplished about as much there as was possible. It was a good thing there was no real support installation as regards bars or anything like that or half the Brigade would probably be in HAC by now.
A knock on her door and in came Hicks. The look on his face spoke volumes. Ripley got up and followed him out the door down to Com. As she walked in the COM officer walked out leaving her alone; the door closed behind her and she knew that Hicks now was standing guard in front of it, with Hudson and Vazquez and Riley certainly nearby. Not that any support was needed; they would just want to be the first to know, and its not like they had anything else to do.
The CORPS emblem was emblazoned on the main screen; Ripley keyed in her personal code and sent it in.
In less then 10 seconds the face of the Commandant showed up. Ripley stiffened= if he was making a personal call then it was BIG.
He got right to it: "General, the HUKS caught us by surprise. While we have been kicking their butts good up to now, they managed to pull one on us. They snuck in a raiding unit and suicide drop right into Antares.
Took out the main station and half the supporting stations; got enough on the ground to cause almost 100,000 dead before we wiped them out. Needless to say the word has gone out to do it to them harder. A convoy will be arriving in 72 hrs to pick up your brigade. You will be going after their main colony on ISIS 3. The Navy will take out the Huks mobile forces and you will drop into the capital city and take it and hold it until the supporting forces arrive in 3 days. Yours is the only uncommitted force in the sector; the supporting forces have to come from Earth; and that is a full 9 days in transit. It will take you three days to get there. All available intell will be awaiting you on the command ship. There is not a lot; I fought this all the way to the Sec Gen but he was not giving an inch. I know this is a real hot potato but I have confidence you can handle it. Just get in and secure a perimeter; hold until relieved. Good Luck" The screen went back to the CORPS emblem.
Ripley sat there for several minutes in shock. A real half assed nightmare. She closed her eyes and shook her head. This is what you get for doing well and looking good=the real ball breakers come your way.
She got up and opened the door. "All senior staff in 30 minutes, brigade recall and prepare to move. We will be leaving in 72 hrs." The command section then began to resemble a kicked over beehive.
Ripley stood before the staff. "Short and sweet=the Huks hit Antares and raised hell and caused a lot of damage so we have to go into THEIR backyard and do worse. So we are going to assault their main Colony of ISIS 3 by taking out their mobile forces and assaulting their capital city, We are supposed to hold for 3 days for the reinforcement to arrive from Earth. We leave in 71 ½ hours. It will be an aerial assault. I intend to make it by aero chute since any other way would get us slaughtered. That means going in with light weapons. We will have the heavy stuff dropped by pod once we have a secured perimeter. My orders say the capital city; I intend to hit the outskirts so that we have a chance to pull this off. There is not a lot of intell but what there is will be waiting for us on the command ship. That is not good enough; so I want everyone who has anything to be wrung dry; get on the comm system and talk to everyone you THINK might know something. Security be damned; the speed of com systems is not much faster then our ships will get there so it does not matter if they get a little warning; we need data more then surprise . GET TO WORK"
Ripley was trying to straighten out her aero chute; it was twisting and throwing her off course. The high altitude winds were as expected; the weather was not too bad= cloudy and cool. ISIS 3 was a semi tropical planet but the capital city was in the high latitudes and was not that warm in comparison. So far the operation had gone as well as could be hoped. It seemed they had gotten surprise and the Navy had had little problem punching out the system defenses. Ripley had the assault force right on their heels and had gone in even before the shooting was over in orbit. Speed was everything in an assault like this. Hicks was nearby, as was the rest of her close staff. But the brigade was scattering more then she had hoped. Luckily the outer area of the capital was pretty flat and relatively open.
Damn. Never did get the hang of landing in these things. Ripley slowly got up, unclipping her harness and wanting to rub the bruises but that was not something the CO could do. Gorman had been unhappy about her leading the assault but she had claimed Commanders Privilege and he had been stuck leading the second wave.
So far so good. While scattered they were not fragmented and the cover fire from orbit had neutralized the defense capability of the capital, which surprisingly had been pretty light to begin with. Ripley looked around and noted that the units had formed up quickly and were already marching out to secure the perimeter. She took out her com unit and ordered the support force to start their run. It would take them almost an hour to get here and by then the perimeter better be secure.
It had been near pandemonium from the time the convoy arrived; they were able to get loaded in only 7 hrs which was 2 less then the book and they felt they needed every minute. The intel waiting was as sparse as Ripley had expected but once again her people had come through with better stuff and they had been able to get together a decent plan. Now it was just a case of seeing if they could carry it out and live to talk about it.
Ripley was worried. The HUK counterattack had been slow and weak; and it had been easily held off. The support force had arrived and landed the heavy weapons and the perimeter was becoming more secure every hour.
Things were going too DAMN well. Then her comm unit beeped. "General, the Commodore just let us know a HUK naval force entered the system and he is going out to meet it. We will be without support for a while at least." Ripley gritted her teeth. "Gorman, make sure our missile units are operational ASAP. The Huks have been waiting for this and that is why the counterattack was so weak. Once the supporting force is away from the planet then they will hit us with everything they have got."
Ripley looked at Hicks and ordered" get everyone on alert. I want all forces dug in in one hour max ready for a full Huk attack. I want our helo birds ready to move on 30 seconds of warning. That means they are wound up and cooking over. MOVE."
Ripley picked up her monosite and checked the perimeter over=or at least what she could see. The Sats had indicated the Huks were moving and would be hitting within the next 10 minutes; just over an hour after the support force had moved out of orbit. She knew her people were dug in as best as possible and the layout favored the Defense here; but she still worried. Numbers and capability of the HUKS were just not known.
The first incoming missile impacted the perimeter; more followed. But not many as the missile system intercepted most of them. Ripley listened to the reports; relatively minor damage and few casualties/so far so good.
Then the Huks sent in their armored forces=right into the teeth of the anti armor defense Ripley had insisted be given priority of placement. The Huks were unable to penetrate; most of the armor destroyed. Ripley was tempted to counter attack but she knew that that was too big a risk. So she waited. Then the Huks got stupid. They attempted what was basically an old fashioned human wave assault; Ripley had the helo birds up and using their heavy weapons right away= and it was a massacre. Perhaps as many as 50,000 huks died vs less then 100 of Ripleys people.
Ripley turned off her comm system. No point now. The Commodore had just reported that the reinforcements had just come in system. Not that they were really needed. The HUK counterattack had been such a failure and had cost them so much manpower that they had really been unable to threaten the perimeter. Ripley had taken a battalion out of each regiment and had them slowly moving into the capital city against relatively light opposition. She had given orders that they take it slow and cautious but it had not mattered. The First Battalion of the 10th was within half a clik of the government HQ and would be there before the support force landed.
Frankly, she felt she would be able to call the capital secured before nightfall.
Ripley stood in the capital building of ISIS 3 and saluted the Major General, Army, who had commanded the 2 divisions of the reinforcement force=which had not been needed at all. Ripley's brigade had taken the capital and had it secure before they had even gotten fully into orbit. Now she was giving it all up to the Army and preparing the Brigade to take off. Total casualties had been astonishingly light at only 155 dead and 322 wounded.
Hudson laid back in his seat and sipped the beer. "Not bad stuff, for navy piss."
Vazquez snorted "Like you ever really cared what it tastes like." Hudson grinned."Just being able to drink it is pretty good= I really thought we were going to get reamed bad on ISIS." Hicks grunted. "Yeah, we got no right to complain at all. Real light casualties and a Unit Commendation. And we get to go to Sidonia and set up the new base there= and be the first ones to enjoy the night life.'" Hudson grinned hugely "oh yeah"
Chapter 6
Ripley was worried. The last two ops had gone off so well and with the commendations and everything else she felt that the Brigade was getting lined up to get a real hairy one. Here on Sidonia it was too damn comfortable for anyone to be worried. She just knew in her bones that a real nasty one was coming and their luck could not last forever. They had been there for almost two months and while it was clear they were not needed as the war was going pretty well, Ripley was certain that the piano was about to be pushed out the window to land right on them.
Hicks knocked perfunctorily on the office door and walked in. Bishop in his usual calm fashion looked at him.
Hicks nodded towards the inner office. Bishop nodded back. Hicks walked to the door and knocked. "In" came the call from inside. Ripley looked up at Hicks from her desk. "OK, whats up". Hicks "Just got warning of an incoming high priority. Will be here in 20 mikes". Ripley sighed "we knew it was too good to last". Hicks nodded "two whole months and 3 weeks is a pretty long rest". Ripley groaned "for some it was".
Ripley sat in front of the Com screen fidgeting. She knew in her bones that a nasty one was coming. Then the Corps Logo came on screen, followed by the Chief of the Combined Staffs Ripley stiffened. The General looked at Ripley and nodded "General, it has been decided that the initial assault on the Huklian home world will go to your Brigade, in honor of its achievements" Ripley gritted her teeth "General, that kind of honor tends to be expensive". The General quietly acknowledged that and put it to her straight "Your brigade has the best record of any unit we have right now. This will be a hairy one but if anyone can pull it off you can. We are not hitting their strategic areas first since they have concentrated all their available defensive strength there. Instead we will hit halfway across the planet. Taking the Huklian home world is going to take time and we need a base to start from. That is what your brigade will be doing. You will be moving out in one week. It will take two weeks for you to reach their home system, by which time the Navy has promised there will be no Huk forces outside the home world to resist. Reinforcements are already on route and will reach you 48 hrs after you land. It will consist of first a full heavy corps of 4 divisions, followed by 4 more a week later. In 2 months we expect to have 16 divisions there. Your job will be to take the ground, hold it, and start building the base, Good luck."
Ripley stood before the staffs of all 3 regiments. "All right people, here it is. In Recognition for our good work, we are being honored by being sent to attack the Huklian home world and take ground that will be used to build the base from which we will take the entire planet. The good news is that its in a very sparsely settled part of that planet halfway around the equator away from their main population long as our luck holds I do not think that this operation will be as tough as it looks. But we have to go in prepared to fight for every foot of ground.
The Huklian home world was almost 20% larger then earth- about as big as a rocky planet gets. But it had
A much lesser amount of metal in its core so the gravity was actually slightly less then Earth's. It was mostly land= only 25% was ocean and that was just one big one. The population was said to be around 2 billion- the Huklians had been colonizing for almost 300 years and with their relatively low birth rate the planet had less then half the population pre space capability. It was mostly concentrated in the northern and southern 1/3 of the planet; and also mostly on one side; the reason for that was unknown. The area picked for the base was over 200 klicks from the nearest large city. The real key to landing was taking out the orbital defenses which were considerable.
Watching the bombardment of the orbital defenses from outside the huge asteroid field on the outskirts of the system, Hudson snorted" got to wonder how smart the Huks really are= orbital defenses have never stopped a real attack and that is where they put most of their money." Vazquez growled "Well that suits me fine=we do not have to worry about sophisticated ground defenses then." Riley shook his head "Maybe not sophisticated, but we all know how fanatical they are- once we land they are going to come right at us with everything they have."
Hicks shrugged "They still will have to get through the covering forces and we will have time to dig in. That is about the best we can hope for." Ripley listened to her staff (she had gotten the 3 captains and one major as expected, but had been surprised at the 4 Lts) and noted that they had not come up with any more then her grunts had, Which was no surprise either. She knew she had primo quality people there. She looked at the map of the proposed landing area. "OK, people listen up. You know your landing areas. The advance group will aero in and hold the landing areas for heavy transport. I want the whole brigade and all its heavy equipment on the ground in 12 hrs." The staff reared up and stared at her. She glared back "That is what I said. 12 hrs. Now make it happen."
Surprising herself, they actually did it in 11 hrs. Everything went right. No real opposition showed up=it appeared the Huks were expecting direct assaults on their heavily populated areas and got caught out. Ripley then ordered everyone to get a shovel and dig in. The Huk day was almost 26 hrs long, so by landing at dawn the brigade still had several hours of daylight left after all the heavy equipment had been landed. Ripley made sure the missile defenses were first up, then got the armor in position, then made sure the ground pounders were all dug in as much as possible.
The first night of any assault is always nerve wracking, and this one was no different, thought Ripley. Too much time to dream up bad possibilities. She knew the Huks were going to hit, just not when and from what direction.
She prowled the area around the command group, irritating her grunts because as she moved so did they.
Hicks finally had enough and confronted her= once again proving that he was very brave or very stupid. The betting was about even. "General, you need to get down and get some sack time and you know it."
Ripley fried him with a glare, then slumped and nodded. Riley was disappointed= he had been betting she would tear off Hicks head and shit down his throat. Hudson grinned as he pocketed his winnings. "As far as Hicks is concerned, her bark will always be worse then her bite."
It was an hour after dawn and except for some light shelling and skirmishing, the Huks had been quiet. To her surprise, Ripley had gotten a few hours of sleep. Feeling somewhat rested and just glad the night was over, she was sipping some actually not bad coffee and listening to the desultory gunfire when the Com system seemed to have a spasm = screeching very loudly. All heads whipped over to look at it; and its operator, who was holding his earphones away from his head. "What is it, corporal?" demanded Ripley. "I have never heard anything like it, General. Sounds like a type of feedback but I don't know." Ripley thought hard for a moment. "Shut it down NOW corporal! Hicks=use the tac radio and order all regular set s off NOW." She looked at her surprised staff."I think the Huks have figured out how to use our com gear as an aiming point. Everyone get to their holes NOW!" as she dashed toward hers.
As it turned out that was what the Huks were waiting for= to triangulate on the com systems and use them as a homing beacon for incoming missiles. Luckily Ripley's quick action negated most of it; only a fraction of the missiles hit the perimeter.
Then the Huks came out of the ground and made their assault. Unfortunately for them, they had counted on the missile attack doing serious damage to the command and control of the Marines. And it hadn't. Their attempt to lure the Navy away to prevent air support failed as well as the Admiral did not take the bait and kept the bulk of his forces on station. That support was crucial as the Huks had managed to get a surprising amount of power closer then anyone had thought. But that combat power found itself being shredded by the air cover, and then impaling itself on strong defenses. The vicious fighting lasted for several hours, before the Huks broke off the attack.
Ripley looked at the reports from all sectors and grunted in satisfaction. Casualties had actually been less then she had feared, and the Huks had been hurt badly. The reinforcements were already on their way, already in system from the latest info from the Navy. She knew that heavy reinforcements would be landing in only a few hours. She was a little worried since the Huks had to know that as well. But as time went by, there were no major attacks.
Ripley stood with her staff as the General due to command the final operation walked off his transport. The 3 star returned her salute. "Congratulations, General Ripley. Your brigade did excellent work here. The other two divisions should be landing tomorrow, and your brigade will be our strategic reserve. I do not see any major problems in winding this up; with our 4 divisions plus the Naval Support I really cannot see how the Huks can stop our thrust towards their major cities. They have already lost a large proportion of their heavy stuff."
Ripley just returned the salute and said nothing. She did not like anyone saying an operation was over even before the main battles were fought.
As it turned out the General was mostly right. Except for some suicide bomber attacks using fighters loaded with explosives, the Huks had pretty much shot their bolt in the early attack on Ripley's brigade. As it turned out, the Huks had sent too much of their military to other planets, and had not kept all that much on their home world. A very costly mistake.
Even after their major cities had been taken, there was still a fair amount of fighting left in the scattered areas away from the population centers. But Ripley and her brigade were pretty much out of it; and only one month after the major battles the Brigade was sent to Sidonia to start to establish the base there. Hudson was overjoyed; his bet had paid off and he was awash in cash.
2nd Lt Elizabeth "Newt" Ripley checked her uniform one more time. Satisfied, she walked towards the office door and went in. The person sitting at the desk looked up and nodded. Newt smirked a little= that was about as much a reaction as one would ever get from Bishop. He pressed the intercom button "General. Our newest officer is reporting in." A familiar voice from the intercom came back"Well, send him in". Bishop responded "General, The Lt is a female" "So what? Send Her in then". "Yes sir." Bishop then calmly looked at Newt. "You may go in, Lt". Newt grinned at him and winked as she walked in the inner office.
"2nd LT Ripley reporting in, General" Ripley snapped her head up and stared. The little girl she rescued from the Xenomorphs had grown into a tall, willowy woman. Ripley smiled. Then she got up from her desk, walked around it, and picked up the Lt in a bear hug. "Its so good to see you, honey!"
That night for one of the few times Ripley was able to relax and just enjoy herself. Able to let her hair down with her daughter and friends. Newt was very much aware that Ripley did not want to let her get into any serious action, but would not stand in her way. So Ripley was very surprised when Newt gave her her assignment: Aide to Brigadier General Ellen Ripley. Ripley stared at Newt after reading the orders. "How did you pull this off"
Newt smirked "who said it was my idea? It was actually the Commandant. He felt that you had done such a good job that giving me the temporary assignment as your Aide was a kind of reward. And I can let you know that I really do not want a line command- I realize that I am more suited to Intelligence. I like figuring things out; and solving puzzles is a big part of Intelligence."
Ripley closed her eyes for a moment in relief. She looked at her daughter "You know I always wanted you to have a normal life; get married, have a bunch of kids. But I knew that you really were not interested in all that. You had to be out there doing things. I happen to think that Intelligence IS where you will do your best. And I am quite willing to admit that not being on the line makes me quite happy."