Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread. I own Gonzo though.
Author's Notes: I recently read over my past chapters and suddenly noticed that I had forgotten to add chapter titles after a while. This is due to my lazy imagination and the sheer number of chapters this story has reached. I also noted quite a few grammatical errors in the past chapters, which is ironic as that's my biggest turnoff when reading. Lacking a proofreader I guess I'll just have to go over my work another 2 or 3 times to make sure nothing sneaks by. I'm also now using a thesaurus to keep from recycling the same old words over and over.
Fanfic Reader: I see. Well, I deleted a couple of the extra reviews. Tedious work though.
Thanks to all the others who reviewed. Your comments are appreciated. Seems no one likes Paiway… =)
Chapter 12
Meia, Jura and Gascogne marched down the hallway behind Renard, each absorbed in her own thoughts. All felt varying levels of apprehension about the meeting that was about to take place.
Would the mercenaries give up if the base was too heavily defended?
Were the rest of their crewmates on the Nirvana all right? What had happened to the Nirvana?
Their pondering was put on hold as Renard reached the briefing room's door, which slid open to reveal the full complement of the regiment's officers. The mercenary captain showed them to a row of chairs specially prepared for them before moving to the head of the room, where Kurtz was waiting. The colonel glanced at his second in command and nodded briefly.
"Let's begin."
Renard flicked a switch, darkening the room before activating a large holoprojector behind him. A three-dimensional image of the planet flashed into existence, complete with lines detailing longitude and latitude that also cut the planet into various sectors in a grid pattern.
He waited until the hologram had completed a full rotation before hitting another switch, stopping its movement.
"We've sent out a number of unmanned stealth surveillance drones to reconnoiter the surface. Based on energy emissions and infrared scanning, as well as images sent back from the scouts, we designated this planet as Type IV, with a civilization level of 0. Human settlements have been detected, but they're scattered and are apparently just getting through the Iron Age. More scans discovered a crashed colony ship resting in a huge impact crater in this area. Our information suggests it's inactive." a red dot appeared on the map as he indicated it. "As far as we've seen, the biggest city on the surface is where the Meranos base is located. The base itself seems rather small, with only a single ship in orbit as its defense. All this data points to the assumption that the facility is a secret operation, kept at minimal size to prevent others in the Meranos government from noticing. That's good, because it means we're only dealing with a rogue faction here, not an entire planetary government."
Another red dot appeared, marking the city.
"We can also assume, however, that should the planet be attacked, reinforcements will arrive in a short period of time. Therefore, this operation will have to be carried out with a great deal of urgency and precision. We have to land, recover the craft, and then extract everything before a distress signal can reach any help."
One officer raised his hand.
"Our heavier landing craft can probably take on the fighters and still get back into orbit, but we only have a pair of those left, and they'll have to make two or three trips if we also deploy heavy support for our troops. Are you only going to use infantry and hope that their equipment will be enough to take care of the base's defenders?"
Renard rubbed the side of his face, considering the question.
"We can utilize the drones to 'spot' for our orbital batteries and crack the base open with an ordnance strike, followed by a full drop of shock troopers directly into the camp. The problem with that is we could also damage or even destroy the objectives. Another option for us is not to use a planetary bombardment and instead drop assault pods to cover a landing inside the facility's perimeter, removing the necessity of utilizing heavy weapons batteries or armored vehicles to fight our way in. The thing is, that tactic is risky- with no inside information we won't be able to know if they have contingency plans for that sort of assault, or if the assault pods will be able to force the defenders to retreat or keep out of sight."
Corbulo stared at the datapad in front of him, going over the limited intelligence they had.
"So in other words, our best choice is to take it one step at a time by landing troops and supporting batteries and then working our way in."
"That's the gist of it. Of course, that method is also the one that requires the greatest amount of time."
"And what about their naval defense? We still have to neutralize that cruiser in orbit, and we also have to worry about any additional anti-ship weapons they have on the planet itself."
"There's no evidence that they have any planetary defense installations, though it's possible that they have a silo or two set up in remote areas. So far though, we haven't found anything."
"Doesn't mean it's not there."
Renard nodded.
"Correct."
Meia was amazed that the mercenaries had not yet considered the simplest solution to their logistical problems.
"What if we pilot the Dreads?"
Everyone turned to stare at her and her two companions, almost as if they'd forgotten they were even there. The blue-haired pilot continued without hesitating.
"That'd solve the problem of the transports having to make multiple trips. If we fly the Dreads out instead of you having to load them and then unload and come back for your equipment in a second trip, we'll get things done faster."
She watched Renard and Kurtz share a long look, knowing that the answer would come from these two, no matter what their subordinates thought of the idea. The Old Man cleared his throat.
"Well, we could let you do that, but…" he let the thought hang in the air, as though reluctant to finish.
"But what?" Meia locked eyes with him now, challenging him directly. The slightly bemused look on his face faded and he matched her stare.
"But we can't rely on you to just come back if that happens."
A brief laugh broke the sudden tension. Heads craned to look at Gascogne, who was grinning.
"You actually can count on them to come back. Paiway and I aren't going anywhere, and they're not going to leave us."
Meia was faintly annoyed that the Chief of the Register was speaking for her, but it was true, so she said nothing.
Kurtz considered it. They certainly didn't seem like the sort who would abandon their crewmates and friends. He'd always trusted in his ability to judge people, and his experience told him to go with his gut. He glanced over at Renard, but the other man's face was blank.
Great. Count on him to have no opinion when I actually ask for one.
Varius was going over the final inventory of equipment readied for use when the door hissed open and the Stone Soldier marched in, followed by the three Dread pilots and Gascogne, who really had no business there but had tagged along to take a look at the ship's military supplies.
"What's up, boss?"
Wordlessly, the captain handed him a slate with the mission specifics on it before walking past in the direction of the section where they stored extra personnel equipment. The others trailed in his wake, though Meia stopped when she noticed Hibiki watching the munitions officers going through prepared ammunition, counting boxes.
"Where have you been?"
"Who, me? I've been right here." The belligerent pilot crossed his arms.
"Next time, tell someone where you're going before you go."
"Hrmph." Thankfully, he said nothing more, surprising her a little.
"Come on, you'll probably need to get ready with the rest of us."
Inside the armory section, Renard was punching information into an interface located beside the door. Each pilot gave him their body sizes in turn, and he directed them along the rows of shelves to a suit of armor that would fit them. Hibiki was forced to use armor molded for a woman, though, as there were no male types his size.
Gascogne studied the well-organized and labeled shelves.
"There's a lot of extra armor here."
"There were a lot of casualties." Renard's answer came in a clipped tone, and she decided not to push it. The mercenary raised his voice, addressing all of them.
"This armor is a Valkoris Aegis All-Purpose variant. It covers your whole body with shock-absorbing plates that are fully insulated. It provides protection from impacts, explosions, electricity, and is highly resistant to laser weaponry due to certain silicates used in its construction. It can protect you from extreme heat of up to 1000 degrees Celsius and from chemical agents, biological agents, and radiation. It's also very lightweight, but is not fully powered, meaning you'll have to carry it without servo-assisted support like our heavier combat suits. The helmet comes with a respirator, a communications link, infrared and low-light optical scanners and filters that protect you from extremes of light or sound. The armor comes with a processor that will inform you of damage, a GPS and locator that connects to the ship's scanners to keep you aware of where you are, and a medical system that uses various interfaces to keep track of your heart rate, metabolism, and other vital signs. It also has a small field medical kit and injection system."
"The exterior plates can 'lock' their joints to fully absorb impact and keep you from breaking something during a fall. The processor controls it and the impulses move in a thousandth of a second, meaning it will very rarely interfere with your own movement. In case of malfunction, there is an override that will kill the system and let you act freely."
"Now, is there anyone here who isn't trained to use firearms?"
Hibiki raised his hand.
"We'll get you a sidearm, at least. All right, come with me."
He led the way into another section filled with racks of handheld weaponry.
"Since these weapons will only be used in the most severe circumstances as you're not supposed to be involved in the fighting, there's no need for anything fancy."
He pulled out an ugly-looking, snub-nosed weapon.
"This is a Valkoris subgun. It sprays needle-sharp plastic shards. It has a high rate of fire, almost no recoil, and very little noise." He demonstrated how to reload it, how to hold it, and where the safety was. Turning to Hibiki, he added a few words.
"There's no time for you to try fire it on a range, but it's simple to use. With the rate it shoots even panic fire can form effective suppressive fire, so just spray to get their heads down and then run for it."
He gave them all a while to fiddle about with their equipment and figure out what everything did, then checked his chronometer.
"We'll be starting in five minutes. Let's go."