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
Hermione shrugged her shoulders in her Powered Armour as she walked out of the Armoury headed towards the Starboard Deployment Bay on the Wildlings' Troop Deck. On the Avalon, there were two Troop Decks, the upper one for the Wildlings and the lower one for the Magi. To the aft of the main sections of each of the Trooper areas of the Troop Decks was the Gym, located halfway between the two so the Wildlings went down half a deck to the Gym and the Magi went up half a deck. On the Port and Starboard side of each of the Troop Decks were the Deployment Bays, each bay a combination of the mustering area and launch tubes for an entire Platoon to make a drop. With each platoon deploying from their own Troop Deck, the Avalon could deploy its two platoons either together or to two separate locations. Theoretically the two platoons could be deployed from opposite sides of the Avalon, such as two separate asteroids as the Avalon passed in between them.
Using the special sequence as she walked, which she had been shown after joining the Wildlings, Hermione opened the small compartment on the inside right forearm of her Armour. She placed her wand into the narrow compartment and then closed the compartment. All Powered Armour had such a recess in each inside forearm, though they were only used by Fifth Battalion. In her lessons with the Navy Armourer, Hermione had learnt the inner workings of the Powered Armour and it had answered her questions as to how they worked around M Class personnel. There were cables made of a core of platinum, wrapped in a bundle of titanium and sheathed in rubber coatings. The platinum was a good 'magical conductor', while the titanium was magically neutral and the rubber sheath isolated the entire cable from any electronics cabling, which were almost identical except they had a copper core instead of a platinum core.
Entering the Starboard Deployment Bay, Hermione stood with sixth squad and glanced over at Harry standing with second squad. After Lieutenant Wildman had reviewed the Platoon, they loaded into their capsules, the main reason why the nickname for the MI was 'Cap Troopers'. Each capsule was a big steel egg that was big enough, just barely, for on MI Trooper in Armour and fully loaded, with the Trooper strapped in securely enough that all they could move was their head inside their helmets and their thumbs to use the few controls of the capsule itself.
Platoon Sergeant Skinner went through first section, first through third squads who were loaded into the 'left hand' launch tube, while Lieutenant Wildman went through second section, fourth through sixth squads who were loaded into the 'right hand' launch tube, securing each Trooper into their capsule, so in case of a tragedy the last face the Trooper saw was either the Platoon CO or XO. The Platoon Sergeant and Lieutenant were strapped in by a Navy crewmember into the tiny two capsule centre launch tube.
Hermione was strapped into her capsule when the Avalon's Captain came over the radio and wished them good luck. A moment later the sharp deceleration of the Avalon pushed them to the side and then came the two muted thuds, more felt through the capsule than really heard, of Lieutenant Wildman and Platoon Sergeant Skinner being shot out of the central launch tube, a slight pause then the 'autofire' of the two flanking launch tubes. A thump as a capsule being launched, then a jolt as the capsules moved up like bullets in a magazine. Hermione always was a little bit nervous when her capsule was in the launch tube, more from being unsettled by the situation being out of her control than any real fear, but with a final jolt her capsule moved into the 'chamber' and with explosive force she was shot out of the Avalon. The launch pushed Hermione into the back of the capsule, but the strapping and the design of the Powered Armour absorbed the majority of the extreme but brief acceleration pressure.
For a few moments, once the launch acceleration faded, Hermione was briefly in zero gravity before the gravity of the planet below began to slowly increase and press her 'down' and the outer skin of the capsule began to heat up, with the surface temperature showing up on in her helmet's display. The outer shell heated up with the friction of the atmosphere and sloughed off, causing the ride to get rougher as the airbrakes of the second shell bit into the atmosphere, before they too began to burn off. The burn was uneven so she began a lateral rotation as the last of the second shell disintegrated. The third shell had three parachutes, each designed to last progressively longer and to slow the capsule down. Once the three parachutes were spent, the third shell separated leaving Hermione in just her Armour and a small plastic shell, with a thin metal coating, that she was strapped into.
Taking a proximity reading through a sensor on the plastic shell, showing that she was still high enough that it was too early to get rid of the inner shell and the temperature reading was stable enough that the shell would not automatically open for a while. Hermione settled in to wait and another minute passed before her capsule was jarred badly, most likely by a near miss from anti-air guns, so she popped the manual release of the plastic shell. Shaped charges first blew the straps securing her to the shell and then blew the four sections of the shell away from her. The moment she was clear of the shell Hermione deployed the first parachute attached to her Armour to jerk her off the screens of whoever took the pot shot at her as they followed the rest of her capsule down, before she cut the chute loose so she did not draw attention from falling slower than everything else.
Rotating slowly around as she fell, she surveyed the surrounding sky. The Troopers, the remains of their capsule shells and the decoy shells of the Wildlings filled the sky around her. Far off to magnetic east, opposite the rising sun on this planet which rotated around its axis in the opposite direction of the Earth, there was a vague cloud high in the atmosphere which was the Magi making their own drop. Stopping her lateral spin, she flattened out face down to survey the landscape below. Spread out below was a city that covered several square kilometres, with very few of the buildings more than a single story. Most of the buildings were various configurations of prefabricated buildings. Taking a bearing from both the City Hall, the largest building at three stories; and the water processing plant on the northern edge of the city.
Having gained her bearings, Hermione body planed further to the east towards her operational area, a square eight city blocks per side that she was responsible for 'securing'. Once she was close to her operational area she pulled her second chute and glided into the centre of her area, using her jump jets to soften the landing. After cutting loose the second chute, she began to patrol her area, moving down the roads in long bounds. Orders were not to engage unless fired upon first as they were here to put down a seditionist movement that had been terrorising the locals.
The MI radio frequencies were relatively quiet, with radio discipline being tight amongst the Troopers, but all of the civilian frequencies were being flooded with broadcasts from the Avalon urging the civilian populous of the planet to stay inside and avoid the fighting wherever possible. While under normal circumstances Fifth Battalion would not be involved in putting down seditionists, these seditionists were Magical. These Magicals were all what the Pureblood Supremacists back in England would call 'mudbloods'. No Magicals has ever settled on this Planet and there was no evidence of any Squibs settling there either. Without any infrastructure or knowledgeable masters to teach these emerging Magicals how magic worked or their history, in an ironic turn, these new Magicals believed themselves to be superior to the rest of the colonists and they should rule, and to hell with anyone else.
In the hours that followed, Hermione patrolled her area, mixing up her search patterns to ensure that the intervals between her appearance in any given area was random. Eventually the order came to head for the rendezvous point for retrieval without Hermione encountering a single seditionist. She made her way to the retrieval boat and boarded with the rest of the Platoon. A quick glance around showed that there were some Troopers with slight damage to their Powered Armour, but all of the members of the Platoon were there.
In the moments before the retrieval boat's hatch closed, Hermione saw another boat had landed and a high ranking MI officer, a small bodyguard of MI Troopers and some Intel operatives exit the other boat, which was not from the Avalon. The retrieval boat lifted off and they were soon back aboard the Avalon, though Hermione did see a courier in orbit near the Avalon.
Hermione found herself still in the Armoury after all of the Wildlings had been helped out of their Armour, surprised at how tired she was considering that she had not been in any actual combat.
"Get some rest, Granger." Corporal Alyssa McGonagall said, making Hermione realise she had been staring at the wall.
"I'm still good to help." Hermione replied.
"We got no drops scheduled and all the damage is minor." Alyssa insisted. "Get some rest. We'll take care of it tomorrow."
With a slow nod, Hermione left the Armoury, grabbed a shower and then returned to her bunk room where Harry was laying on his bunk.
"How did your end go?" Harry asked.
"Nothing happened for me. You?" Hermione replied.
"I got to stand guard as First and Second squads stormed the insurrectionist base with the Lieutenant." Harry informed. "So much for our first Combat Drop."
"There'll be plenty more." Hermione said. "Unless you want to go home and marry Ginny."
Harry shuddered at the thought. Hermione turned out the lights and climbed into her bunk. Soon they were both asleep.
TBC…
