Title: On the Bounce
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: All Harry Potter Books/Movies excepting the epilogue.
Rating: MA
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Starship Troopers.
Summary: After the end of the Second Wizarding War, Harry decides that he is done with the Wizarding World, and Hermione goes with him. Welcome to the Mobile Infantry. Crossover with Starship Troopers Book. AU
"Tara, you're falling slightly behind the line." Harry ordered as he landed and then pushed off into another loping jump, his Jump Jets firing to propel him on his way.
"Copy." Tara's voice came through the radio.
Tara was four kilometres from Harry's position, out of visual range, and he was keeping track of her on his heads up display, as in two long bounces she made up the difference. It was two months since Echo Section had begun to seriously train with Powered Armour. Naturally, Hermione had successfully gotten her Armour Maintenance Rating, and the training had also progressed to the stage where the Instructors were assigning temporary Trainee Sergeants.
For Third Company, Echo Section, the Trainee Sergeant's role was usually take by either Harry or Hermione, though Danny West, the Australian Wizard who had mentioned Harry's Patronus on the first night, had been Trainee Sergeant three times.
Using the chin plate and the eye tracker to indicate the next waypoint and sent the co-ordinates to the rest of the Section. This exercise was a semi-simple orientation exercise, but each member of the squad was almost a kilometre from the next, and they were to navigate and co-ordinate using only the Powered Armour's tactical display with the terrain map and ID beacons. Harry was in charge so he was keeping a close eye on the entire Section, which is why he noticed one of the beacons stop moving.
"Echo Section, drop and freeze." Harry ordered, landing and dropping to one knee. "Marcus, report."
Harry saw the rest of the Section stop, but there was silence from Marcus. Options ran through Harry's head. This could be serious or it could be one of the Instructors numerous tests. Scanning the transponders, Harry noticed that Hermione was the closest to Marcus' position.
"Hermione, head due West to Marcus' position. Recon and report." Harry ordered.
"Copy." Hermione reported.
Harry waited as he tracked Hermione's beacon as she approached Marcus' position. Harry was slightly worried given he could not track the other Recruits in the Section's vitals like he could his own. An Officer's Command Powered Armour would track the vitals of all the Troopers under their command, but it was not a feature of a Trooper's Marauder Powered Armour, which was what he was using.
"Sergeant, I have reached Marcus' position." Hermione reported. "He landed on the entrance of some kind of burrow or den and took a tumble. His vitals are stable but it looks like he has at least a dislocated shoulder and possibly hip."
Harry nodded to himself, knowing that she was reading Marcus' vitals off a display on the back of his suit.
"Copy." Harry said. "Echo Lead to Command. We need medivac at the following co-ordinates."
Harry rattled off the co-ordinates of Marcus' location.
"Confirmed, Echo Lead." Instructor Jansen replied. "Retrieval is on the way to indicated co-ordinates. Full Section extraction. The exercise has been scrubbed."
"Rodger, Command." Harry said. "Echo Section, converge on Marcus' location for retrieval."
Echo Section converged on the extraction point, and the Retrieval Boat came down a dozen feet from Marcus' position.
"Tara, Hermione, grab Marcus." Harry ordered as the door to the Retrieval Boat opened.
Two MI in Powered Armour were able to, barely, carry a single disabled MI in Powered Armour. Harry watched the surrounding area as Tara and Hermione manhandled Marcus into the Boat and then let the other five enter before boarding himself.
Jansen was on the Retrieval Boat with a pair of Medics, who started working on Marcus. Jansen moved over to Harry's position.
"I was listening in on how you managed the exercise, Potter." Jansen said. "Well done. Calling drop and hold was a good call, as was sending in Granger to investigate. In Combat you would need to do it differently though."
With that, Jansen went over to supervise the Medics working on Marcus.
"How's Marcus?" Tara asked as Harry and Hermione walked back into the Echo Section's barracks.
"Dislocated Shoulder and Hip." Harry confirmed. "He won't be able to do much physical training for the next few weeks, but he'll recover."
"So what's the plan then?" Danny West asked.
"We'll be working on your Magical training." Instructor Jansen said, entering with Marcus in tow. "Luckily Recruit Swartz did not damage his Wand Arm. Usually this training comes later, but in the MI we make the best of any situation."
The next few hours were concentrated on testing if the Recruits could cast silently, which the majority of the could to one degree or another. Harry and Hermione, with their war experience, were much more advanced than the other Recruits in their silent casting. Most of the other Recruits could cast two or three spells silently but Harry and Hermione could cast over a dozen, mostly combat related spells.
"Potter, Granger, assist with the others." Jansen said, as he was helping Marcus and Janet Renault, a French Witch who was struggling with silent casting.
Harry and Hermione split the remaining five between them and began the process of teaching them to feel the flow of their Magic when they verbally cast the spell and then to recreate the process without verbalising the spell.
"This is as important as any of the physical drills or combat exercises." Jansen informed them. "Just as you are expected to maintain radio discipline, you are expected to cast silently. There are three spells you need to be able to cast silently or you won't graduate from Training. The Aegis Shield, Locomotor and Homenum Revelio. Who, besides Granger, can tell me what these three spells do and why they would be useful for an MI?"
"Well, the Locomotor can be used to move objects, so it could be helpful in a medivac of a Trooper in Armour." Marcus said, indicating to his arm in a sling. "It would reduce the weight of the Trooper's Powered Armour, though you would probably still need two Troopers for manoeuvring."
"The Aegis Shield, unlike other shield spells, protects against physical and coherent energy attacks rather than against traditional spell attacks." Tara said. "That would give an additional level of protection against bullets and some protection against lasers."
There was silence for a moment.
"Ok, Granger, give me why an MI would need Homenum Revelio." Jansen said.
"Homenum Revelio will reveal any human in the area, regardless of how well they are hidden. A variation of the spell, Sentiens Revelio, will reveal any sentient in the area, which would include any aliens we may encounter." Hermione explained. "Naturally this would be invaluable in city fighting or in a possible ambush situation."
"Correct. Protection, extraction and detection." Jansen said. "90% of the spells M Class MI cast are one of these 'Vital Three', as they are known."
"Wouldn't a blasting hex or an Incendio be more practical?" Janet Renault asked.
"Why?" Jansen asked. "A grenade is just as effective as a blasting hex, and has a bigger radius. Your standard issue flamer gets better range and duration that an average Incendio. Sure you can use offensive spells if you run out of ammo or are getting swarmed, but all the weapons you will be issued are specifically designed to deliver as much damage as possible and they won't cost you any energy. The 'Vital Three' can, in the right circumstances, be more effective at what they do than your equipment, while no offensive spell can do damage more efficiently than your weapons will. In fact, apart from a few Officers, the only M Class MI personnel outside of Fifth Battalion, Second MI Regiment are a small cadre of Scouts."
Harry and Hermione nodded at this while the rest of the Recruits looked slightly sceptical.
TBC…
