Chapter 22
Heliopolis Station, High Orbit, Actium
May 6, 2545
1245
Spaatz
"You should have consulted me first."
Instead of replying straight away, Spaatz took a moment to take a large swig out of the steaming cup of coffee he had in his hand, both as a stall tactic in order to allow himself to gather his thoughts, and also because he really need that caffeine boost.
With both his attempts at disabling or destroying the Covenant capital ships having ended in failure, a sort of stalemate had emerged in space: while he had managed to force those cruisers out of position and away from the planet while simultaneously inflicting an untold amount of damage to the invading fleet, doing so had cost him quite a bit of casualties among his own forces. As both fleets withdrew to lick their wounds, the focus of the invasion had shifted to the surface of Actium, where Spaatz's ground forces were doing their best to contain the Covenant attack. Because of that, and the need to better coordinate with the various surface commands, Spaatz had finally decided to transfer himself back to his headquarters aboard the orbital defense platform Heliopolis Station.
Of course, as a naval man, Spaatz would be the first to admit that in a ground war slugfest, the likes of which was currently unfolding nearly thirty thousand klicks on the surface below him, he would be completely out of his depth. Which is why he was here, in a holoconference call, with the supreme commander of all military forces on Actium, a certain four star general by the name of Jason Langley.
General Langley was an Army general who had loyally served with the UNSC armed forces for nearly half a century. Unlike most general officers in his position, Langley had begun his career as an enlisted artilleryman, who had been able to work his way up the ranks with his sharp wit and sheer tenacity. A combat veteran who had been baptized by fire in the opening days of the Insurrection, Langley had ended up making the switch to logistics when he had been commissioned as an officer, however he still processed a keen tactical mind. In comparison to some of his other staff officers, Spaatz found he rather enjoyed working with Langley, even if Langley was somewhat humorless at times, especially during crises such as this one.
Realizing Langley was still waiting for a response, Spaatz lowered his cup and sighed.
"General," he began, "you'll have to excuse me as it's been a rather long day so far, so I apologize if what I'm about to say next comes across as rather…" he paused to think of an appropriate word, "…terse, but I'm not quite comprehending your dilemma here. Correct me if I'm wrong but, you are the supreme commander of all military forces here on Actium, are you not?"
"All UNSC forces," Langley corrected, a grim look on his face. "But yes Admiral, I am."
"And at the moment, the Covenant are on Actium… are they not?"
"That they are."
"Okay. Then, as the supreme commander of all UNSC forces on Actium, you should be able to engage the Covenant now as they are… on Actium."
Spaatz's eyes flicked up to Langley's face, hoping to see a reaction, but his hologram must have froze as his face didn't so much as twitch. Biting back a sigh, Spaatz continued.
"Perhaps, General, this is the result of my naval background, but this seems pretty straight forward to me. So, allow me to be blunt: what exactly is your problem here?"
Langley pinched the bridge of his nose, allowing Spaatz to see just how frustrated he actually was, and Spaatz began to regret his choice of words. "My problem, sir, as you so succinctly put it, is the fact that apparently, the only reason why the Covenant are on the surface of Actium at moment is because you let them get there. And the fact that you didn't so much as grant me the curtesy of a warning before you did!"
Spaatz couldn't help but sigh at that. Somehow he knew that was going to bite him in the ass, but it seemed like the proper thing to do that the time. "You are absolutely correct General, and I apologize for the disrespect I have shown you. However, you need to understand that time was of the essence when the decision was made, and as you were unavailable for consultation at the time…" Mindful of the cup of coffee in his hands, Spaatz did his best to avoid throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.
"At any case General," Spaatz continued, "it wasn't a decision made lightly. I had the full support of Colonel Harper – "
"Lieutenant Colonel Harper may be very good at gathering intelligence sir, but his biggest problem is that he see people as nothing more than pieces on a chessboard to be moved around by the player, of which, the majority of the time he considers to be himself," Langley interrupted. "In his position, that's excusable as he mostly deals with cold hard facts, but for a field grade officer, he has an alarmingly lack of knowledge when it comes to logistics and strategy."
Spaatz paused, but found he couldn't really refute anything Langley had just said. For the most part, that had been the impression he himself had gotten from Harper, though as someone who had to work alongside the likes of ONI, it was probably an essential skillset.
"Okay General, I will concede that Colonel Harper was perhaps not the best person to consult on matters such as these," Spaatz allowed, "but as you yourself point out, Colonel Harper deals in facts. And the fact is, you vastly outnumber anything the Covenant were capable of fielding in the short time their cruisers were on station over the city. So, again I ask: what is the predicament here…"
Spaatz trailed off as Langley quickly raised his index finger.
"On paper, Admiral," he insisted. "On paper, my forces outnumber the Covenant something like fifty to one. Maybe even a hundred to one. Hell, according to these documents, I have enough combat and logistical units to field, I don't know, something like eight or nine army groups, depending on how I allocate them."
"Okay…" Spaatz slowly began. "So that's what the documents say. But, given your reaction, I'm going to assume reality is a little bit different?"
"In reality, only about a twentieth of those forces are actually present on this planet."
Spaatz stared him. "Excuse me? How is that even possible?"
Langley grimaced. "Admiral, have you ever heard of the UNSC Army system POMCUS(1)?"
"No, I have not."
"It is an acronym that stands for Prepositioning Of Material Configured in Unit Sets," Langley explained. "Essentially, because of the heavy nature of UNSC Army equipment, both in terms of weight and logistical consumption, it takes a lot of effort to move said equipment across systems, especially since most of the Army was stationed in the inner colonies, while most of the hot zones were occurring in the outer colonies. As humanity continued to expand across the galaxy, so too did the time it took for the Army to respond to incidents. In order to compensate, the Army took to designating a number of planets sitting on the border between the inner colonies and outer colonies as POMCUS sites: locations where they would preposition entire corps' worth of equipment and vehicles. The idea being, the time it took to deploy to hot zones would be cut in half as a unit's equipment would be already halfway there."
"And Actium is one of those sites, I presume?" Spaatz guessed.
"Yes. Which comes into the problem of my paper army: all this equipment still belongs to the unit in question, so each unit keeps a small detachment at each POMCUS location to maintain said equipment. Those detachments still show up as a part of their parent units, so while on paper it may appear entire armored corps are present here on Actium, in reality, all together they maybe consist of about a company's worth of soldiers."
Spaatz sighed and took another sip from cup. "Okay. Talk to me then. What do you have on the ground?"
Langley gestured, and a map of Byzas and the surrounding area appeared. "Byzas falls within the AO of the XIV Armored Corps, but of its three assigned divisions, only one is physically present on the surface: the 53rd Armored. The situation on the ground is... chaotic, to say the least. The 53rd AD was in the middle of getting refitted after nearly being annihilated on Draco III and as a result, wasn't at full strength to begin with. Compounding the situation is the fact the Covenant landed right in the middle of the division, essentially cutting it in half."
"As soon as the Covenant touched down, I gave orders for all forces to begin an immediate counterattack, which promptly failed due to a lack of troops. One unit was however able to capture their objective, the town of Newington just south of the city, creating a hole in the Covenant's defensive line. Despite repeated attempts by the Covenant to dislodge them, they've managed to hold out though they're going to need reinforcements, and fast."
"To the north though, it's one giant mess. Soldiers weren't ready when the invasion began, units weren't in position, and most of my senior commanders are already dead or cut off. I ordered the 222nd Airborne Division in as soon as they arrived in system to try and take over the situation, but that didn't really work. The only reason why we haven't been overrun just yet is because a city the size of Byzas is not an easy place to take control of. But unless we act now, well, it's only a matter of time."
Spaatz massaged his temples. "What do you need from me?"
"Troops. First, I need you to federalize all colonial and provincial militias so that they'll be under my command."
"I thought Governor Sargsyan already did that?"
"No, all she did was declare martial law, which simply meant the Colonial Militia was taking control over the entire colony. But they're still under their own chain of command. I need you to federalize them so that they'll be under UNSC control."
Spaatz nodded. "Done. What else?"
"Reinforcements. I understand elements of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force(2) just arrived in system?"
Spaatz subtlety gestured at the camera for Kanin, who appeared just off screen and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, they have."
"Good. Drop them into the city."
"Byzas?"
"Yes."
"Why there and not in the south?"
"I've got enough CM units in the south I can use to bolster my defenses until the XXX Infantry Corps arrives from the south to take over, but I don't have that in the north. Furthermore, according to the reports I'm getting, the Covenant have suddenly shifted the weight of their attack north."
Spaatz looked at him, intrigued. "Really. Why?"
Langley shook his head. "Not sure sir. Surveillance seems to suggest the Covenant have gone into a search pattern: they're looking for something, though what that something is, I not sure. Early intel seems to suggest they're looking for some sort of UNSC high value target that was lost about an hour ago, but I just checked with all my commands and no one has noticed anything. Not sure about FLEETCOM though..."
Langley trailed off with an expectant look on his face, but Spaatz shook his head. He couldn't think -
He paused. ONI's spec ops team.
Ever since they had destroyed the Covenant's battlecruiser from the inside, they had gone completely dark. At first he'd been concerned they had been destroyed by their own nuke. After all, the bomb had gone off far earlier than he had anticipated.
But now, in light of the information he had just received, he was beginning to wonder if the lack of communication was for a far prettier reason: they had been avoiding him.
Spaatz resisted the urge to snort. That would be so typical of ONI to withhold critical information like that.
"General Langley, I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this call," Spaatz finally said. "You'll get your troops; I guarantee it. In the meantime though, I'm afraid I'm going to need to make a call to someone else."
Langley looked curious, but he evidently knew better than to ask. Bowing his head ever so slightly, his hologram disappeared, leaving Spaatz fumbling.
"Kanin," he said, and Kanin's anamorphic hare avatar abruptly appeared in front of him. "I'm guessing you were listening.
"Yes sir."
"Connect me to the Sonata."
Kanin disappeared. A few seconds later, his image was replaced by that of Major Volkov and Commander Luzader. As Spaatz expected it would.
"Gentlemen," he began, as he fought to keep a neutral tone to his voice. "I just received word that the Covenant have gone into a sort of search pattern directly over the city of Byzas, as if they were looking for something. Something big. Something absolutely crucial to the success of this war. Care to explain?"
"We lost our Spartan team," Volkov immediately said, causing Spaatz to blink in surprise. He didn't think they were going to outright admit to it.
"Come again?" Spaatz inquired. "What do you mean, you 'lost your Spartan team?'"
"Infiltration of the target battlecruiser went off without a hitch however during extraction, our bomb prematurely detonated for reasons currently unknown. As a result, Spartan team Argon was unable to extract in time and were ejected from the ship and landed somewhere in the middle of Byzas. At this point sir, we don't know where the Spartans are, what their status is, or if they're even alive at this juncture," Volkov quickly explained, and Spaatz could tell he was not happy about this turn of events. Of course, neither was Spaatz.
"Major," Spaatz began as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "The Covenant cruiser was destroyed by your team nearly an hour ago. Why am I just hearing about this now!?"
"We were attempt to gather intelligence so that we would be able to present to you a definitive solution to this situation," Volkov began, sounding a bit defensive, but Spaatz quickly interrupted him.
"No gentlemen, this is unacceptable, completely unacceptable!" he snapped. "It's one thing not to inform me of your presence in the system; at least you can hide behind the classified nature of your unit. But it's a different matter entirely in a disaster such as this!"
Neither Volkov nor Luzader said anything and instead, shuffled around somewhat uncomfortably. Given the situation, Spaatz couldn't help but derive some satisfaction at that sight, however fleeting.
He sighed and took another sip from his cup.
"But that's neither here nor there," he announced. "What's done is done. Now we have to figure out some way to deal with it. Information and facts. I need both. What do we know?"
Volkov shook his head. "Not much sir. At approximately eleven forty hours local time, an Army self-propelled surface-to-air missile battery picked up three rapidly moving objects entering the atmosphere at the estimated time and location of where Argon Team would have entered the atmosphere after being ejected from target 1-Delta. Unfortunately the SAM wasn't pointed in the right direction, so we weren't able to track them, but the predicted trajectory places them as having landed somewhere in downtown Byzas. Approximately one hundred and thirty three seconds later, we picked up Argon Team's transponder, unfortunately it lasted all of fourteen point seven six two seconds before terminating. Not long enough for us to obtain an exact lock."
"So they made it to the surface intact," Spaatz noted.
"Not necessarily sir," Luzader immediately interrupted, drawing Spaatz's attention. "Pardon the interruption sir, but we don't actually know if the team is intact or not."
Before Spaatz could ask for an elaboration, Volkov whirled around on Luzader.
"The very fact that we were able to pick up on their transponder would prove that they did Commander," he said, sounding surprisingly heated.
"Again, Major, we don't know that for certain!" Luzader immediately retorted. "Those transponders were hardly active for any significant amount of time. For all we know, that could have been an echo from something else or even a glitch in the system as it fell apart! You have to remember how far and fast they were falling when they hit the ground Major!"
"That signal was uniquely program and coded for the Spartans. There is absolutely no way anyone else could have duplicated the signal; we would have known!" Volkov retorted. "Furthermore, it's impossible for it to have been a glitch as those transponders were built to the same specifications as those found on escape pods and drop pods; they're virtually indestructible!"
"'Virtually' does not mean impossible! Case in point: the mere fact those transponders ended up shutting down!"
"Commander, the thing you're missing is that if those transponders had been damaged or destroyed in any way during the transit to the surface, then they wouldn't have activated at all!"
"Then how do you explain them shutting down!?"
"Someone had to have turned them off!"
"Hang on a second," Spaatz quietly interrupted, yet somehow managing to grab the attention of both Volkov and Luzader. "Are you saying, Major, that there's a possibility your team is alive?"
"Yes," Volkov immediately said, while at the same time Luzader firmly and definitively announced, "No."
"Uh..." Spaatz slowly began as he looked at his subordinates. But before he could so much as get another word in, the two officers whirled around on each other.
"Oh, you cannot still be clinging to this fantasy of yours Major!" Luzader snapped. "I'm sorry Major, but your team is dead! Period!"
"Commander, you knew better than I the official story behind the Spartan Program. And I have no doubt you also know the rumors because, as you so smugly pointed out a couple hours ago, you're a part of ONI and gathering 'intel' is a part of your job," Volkov coldly retorted. "Considering all those factors, how can you not even consider the possibility that Argon Team is alive?"
"Because I can do the math Major! And I don't care what the official or unofficial story behind the Spartan's background is, it is physically impossible for a human to survive that kind of fall!"
"Gentlemen," Spaatz quietly but firmly called out, trying to catch their attention as the conversation was beginning to get alarmingly heated, but unlike before, both officers completely ignored him.
"And yet," Volkov continued, "it has happened before! ODSTs and Army Rangers do it all the time! And in training no less!"
"That is under entirely different circumstances, and you know it!" Luzader snapped back. "Both units are utilizing specifically designed pods for that very purpose under controlled circumstances! And yet, soldiers still die all the time due to accidents!"
"And what would you call the prototype armor(3) Argon Team was wearing then!? Those have been proven to survive that kind of treatment!"
"Not after they've been blown up by a fucking nuke they haven't!"
"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" Spaatz suddenly roared, causing both men to jump in surprise. He was beginning to see why it had taken them so long to report back to him. "This bickering is pointless, as there is obviously not enough information to draw a satisfactory conclusion. Therefore, we need to approach it from another angle. Let's approach it from a worst case scenario: Major Volkov's team is alive, but unable to defend themselves. How badly would we be compromised if those Spartans were captured alive?"
Both men looked startled, as if that very scenario had yet to occur to them. Spaatz patiently waited for an answer, but after a few seconds of them not meeting his eyes, Spaatz sighed.
"You don't know."
"The problem, sir," Volkov said with obvious reluctance, "is that a lot of what the Spartans would know, we," he gestured at himself and Luzader, "wouldn't, simply because we don't have the clearance to know. Things like: past mission details and objectives. A list of colonies and bases they've been deployed to. Even the general specifications of the prototype armor they are wearing is unknown to us."
"Plus, sir," Luzader added, "these Spartans are as human as you and I. There's no telling what sort of information they've managed to pick up over the course of their career. Some of it probably was classified."
"Furthermore sir," Volkov continued. "There's evidence to suggest the Spartans have garnered quite some notoriety amongst the Covenant Empire. If the Covenant were to capture a Spartan, not necessarily even a live one, it could prove to be a massive morale boost for them."
"So basically gentlemen, what you're telling me is that it does even matter if your team is alive or not, it's in the UNSC's best interest to secure whatever is left?" Spaatz asked. "Alright then. Options?"
"MAC rounds sir," Luzader promptly suggested. "Prior to contacting you sir, we were able to narrow our search area down to seven potential crash sites. A MAC round, even a low powered one, fired at each of those sites would ensure the complete and utter destruction of any potential remains."
"No, out of the question," Spaatz immediately replied. "No weapons of mass destruction. Even if I was inclined to risk blasting holes into my own MLR, the situation in orbit right now is too tenuous; if I were to divert even one ship or station to provide that kind of MAC support, it would weakened my fleet's defensive posture considerably and we would run the risk of being swept from our position at which point we'd lose everything."
"Then we use missiles and bombs instead sir. Surely your ships can fire a volley of Archer missiles without having to move from their positions?"
"Sir, I would like to object to the usage of indirect fire for this sort of mission," Volkov interjected before Spaatz could reply. "With so much at stake, we need to ensure that all trace of Argon Team and their equipment have been completely eliminated. In order to accomplish that with indirect, we'd need to score a direct hit on their crash site. But, given our current lack of intel, that would obviously be impossible."
"So what do you propose we do then Major?" Spaatz asked.
"We send in a ground detachment. A team of sappers, escorted by a squad of riflemen perhaps, go in with thermite and burn all traces of the Spartans. It's the only way to be a hundred percent sure Argon Team and their effects have been secured." Volkov paused. "I would like to lead the detachment."
Spaatz raised an eyebrow at that last request, but ignored it for the moment in lieu of focusing on the first part. "I thought most of your support elements had yet to arrive in system Major?"
"That is correct sir, which is why I would need to requisition a detachment from troops already deployed in the city."
"I was under the impression that your team was still classified, need to know information."
"Yes sir, it still is."
"And you think you'll be able to find enough soldiers already on the surface with the proper security clearance to know about said team?"
"Well sir, I only need enough to fill one detachment. But with that being said, the detachment doesn't need to know what we're looking for, only that it's crucial to the survival of the UNSC and humanity as a whole. Admittedly though, that can only be accomplished if I'm leading the team."
Spaatz gave him an odd look. "You're only requesting one detachment?"
"Yes sir."
"But Commander Luzader just said there were seven potential crash sites. Furthermore, reports from the ground seem to indicate the Covenant are also searching for your team. If you only have one detachment, how do you plan on reaching your team before the Covenant do?"
"By ensuring the Covenant are completely and utterly distracted by other matters. Sir, it is my understanding that elements of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force has already arrived within the system. If you could insert them into the city itself, the influx of UNSC reinforcements will put the vast majority of the Covenant forces on the defensive, preventing them from effectively continuing their search and hopefully buying my detachment enough time to locate and secure Argon Team and their effects."
"'Hopefully,'" Spaatz echoed. "I'll admitted Major, that's not quite a word I was interested in hearing at the moment."
"I'll be the first to admit sir, this is not a foolproof plan. However, it is the best option we have at the moment."
Spaatz mentally sighed. Well, he had been planning on inserting the 9th MEF into the city already. "I suppose you'll be requisitioningan ODST unit from the 9th MEF?"
"Uh, no sir, I wasn't planning on it. In fact, I was hoping to requisition a unit from the Army airborne division that was inserted about half an hour ago."
"Oh?" Spaatz asked, surprised. "And why is that?"
"Multiple reasons sir, first and foremost: I've seen the reports regarding the situation on the ground sir, and I know we're going to need all the Marines we've got just to hold the city, including all the ODSTs. The Airborne, on the other hand, we can afford to have allocated to other task."
Spaatz considered what Volkov had just told him. While his logic was sound, Spaatz couldn't help but think there were other reasons why Volkov was insisting on using Army troopers instead of Marines.
Still, he supposed it didn't matter. This mission needed to be accomplished. Who accomplished it was irrelevant.
"You have a name for this operation?" Spaatz finally asked.
"Yes sir. Operation White Knuckle."
Spaatz almost snorted. White Knuckle. How apt.
"Very well Major, you have a go. Coordinate with my aide-de-camp for whatever supplies and equipment you may need. Commander Luzader, keep me informed on the progress of the operation. That is all. You're both dismissed."
Both Volkov and Luzader immediately snapped to attention before their holograms disappeared, leaving Spaatz to stand there, mentally reviewing everything that had just been discussed.
"Kanin," he finally said, blinking as Kanin's avatar abruptly re-appeared. "Have you been informed about our situation?"
"Yes Admiral. I'm currently discussing the finer details with Major Volkov at the moment, as we speak. He should be ready to execute the operation within the next half hour."
"Good. Inform me the moment he does. In the meantime though?"
"Sir?"
Spaatz cleared his throat. "Send in the Marines."
XXXXX
UNSC Gallipoli (CVA-171)(4), High Orbit, Actium
May 6, 2545
1300
Private First Class Adel Savaschi
"This is some bullshit man," Private First Class Adel Savaschi snapped as he walked back to his team.
To Adel's irritation, his friend and team leader, Corporal Samuel "Sam" Yilmaz didn't even bother looking up from the Rubik cube he was messing around with.
"What's the fucking problem now," Sam asked, sounding bored.
Adel frowned at Sam's disinterested tone, but he quickly rallied.
"I was just talking to Marvin," Adel said as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction he had just come from. "You know, that sniper from H&S Company? The one that looks like the fucking Juggernaut?"
The third and last member of their team, Lance Corporal Isaac "X" Xanthus looked up from the data pad he was reading. "Yeah," he said. "Lance Corporal Mobuto(5). What about him?"
Adel noticed Sam finally looking up and Adel mentally grinned to himself, glad he finally had his team's attention. "Well, I just talking to him, right? Shooting the shit, trying to find something to do, right? Well, he fucking told me that the fucking Army is in the middle of deploying to the surface, right now!"
He paused to allow Sam and X a chance to react, but instead, all they did was stare at him with an expectant look on their faces. After a few moments of silence, X finally spoke up.
"Yeah…?" he cautiously prompted. "And…?"
Adel stared at him. "What do you mean 'and?' The Army is deploying. We're not."
"…so?"
"'So?'" Adel sputtered. "So it's a bunch of fucking bullshit! We should be the ones going down first, not the fucking Army!"
Sam immediately threw his hands into the air. "Really? Really? That's what's got your panties in a twist!?"
"The Marines are always the first to fight," Adel insisted. "Everybody knows that! Everybody!"
"The Army got here before we did," X pointed out. "Why wouldn't they get deployed first? Honestly, I'm more curious as to which unit is here in system. I heard it was an airborne division."
Adel waved his hand dismissively. "Who the fuck cares X? Soldiers: they're all the fucking same. Bunch of fucking casuals running around with automatic weapons, thinking they know how to fight a war. What Command should have done was send in some Warriors: us!"
"You know, I like thumping my chest just as much as the next guy," Sam drily noted, and Adel glanced at him, only to feel a stab of irritation as he realized Sam had already turned his attention back to his Rubik cube. "But in this case, I'm all for letting the Army deploying first. Fuck it: let them be the first to fight."
Adel stared at him in shock. "How can you say that!?"
Sam gave him a stare that clearly said he thought Adel was being an idiot.
"You realize by them going in first, they'll be the ones to soak up most of the plasma fire?" Sam pointed out. "I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to die on some shithole planet."
"What, like meat-shields?" Adel asked out loud after a moment of consideration.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. It's what the Army's good for, right?"
"I guess that makes sense," Adel allowed after a moment's pause. "It's just, we're so fucking close to finally seeing some action! We've been sitting here for like, an hour already. When are they going to send us in!?"
Sam gave an indifferent shrug before returning to his Rubik cube.
"You know Adel," X airily commented, "They say 'patience is a virtue.'"
Adel couldn't stop the derisive snort from escaping him. "And which one of your philosopher friends said that? Wait, let me guess: Confucius? Or, wait, was it Pluto?"
"My mother," X casually corrected while giving Adel an odd look. "And I think you meant Plato."
"What?"
"You said 'Pluto,' which was the Roman god of the underworld. Or the goofy dog from that cartoon," X added with a shrug. "Plato with an 'A,' on the other hand, was the ancient Greek philosopher."
"Whatever," Adel said dismissively. "They're all the same."
"Bottom line is," Sam suddenly interjected, "we get sent in when Command sends us in. And until that time, you know, chill the fuck out. Sit down or something."
Adel was about to protest, as he still wanted to complain, but seeing at how disinterested his teammates were, he relented. Shoving his helmet aside so that there was room on the deck, Adel plopped himself down onto the ground. Immediately feeling bored, he looked around for something to do.
"You still working on that?" he asked as he watched Sam fumble around with his toy.
"Yeah," Sam bluntly said. "This is not exactly the easiest thing to solve you know."
"Well, I solved it in like, five minutes," Adel declared.
Sam paused in his actions to raise an eyebrow. "And how'd you do that?"
"Oh, I just took the stickers off," Adel casually replied.
Sam let out a loud snort. "Of course you would do something like that."
"What does that mean!?" Adel aggressively demanded.
"Means you're an idiot."
Adel opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it after a moment's thought.
"Okay, fair enough," he admitted.
Sam merely snorted and turned back to his cube. In the meantime, Adel glanced in X's direction. X was still busy reading his data pad, looking completely enthralled, and the sight caused a surge of jealousy to swell up inside Adel; how could his teammates be so preoccupied, and leave him to sit around, bored out of his mind?
Feeling more than slightly annoyed, Adel shoved his hands into his pockets, only to pause as he touched something. Pulling it out, he realized it was a short piece of paracord. A wicked grin slowly appeared on his face.
As subtly as he could so as to not attract X's attention, Adel scooted over until he was sitting right next to his teammate. Fortunately, X was too distracted by his reading to notice anything was amiss. Then, very carefully, Adel lifted the piece of string and began sliding it across X's screen. Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, Adel sneaked it forward, trying to see how far he could get it before X noticed.
"Cut it out," X suddenly said without looking up and Adel hastily withdrew the string and hid it behind his back.
"Cut what out?" Adel replied as innocently as he could.
He could see X rolling his eyes but aside from that, X didn't do anything, causing Adel to mentally start grinning. As soon as X returned to his reading though, Adel pulled out the string and started the process all over again. This time however, he wasn't able to go as far before X's head snapped up, and he glared at Adel.
"Dude, I'm trying to read here," he announced.
"What?" Adel innocently replied, even as he continued to inch the string forward. "I'm not doing anything."
X flicked the string off his screen. "I'm serious Adel, cut it out," he firmly stated, causing Adel to snicker.
"Okay dude, whatever," he said.
An annoyed look passed over X's face, but for the most part, he didn't seem inclined to do anything about it. Shooting Adel one last glare, he returned to his reading.
This time Adel waited until X looked like he was thoroughly distracted, before trying again. He started to creep the string forward, but before he could go more than a couple of centimeters forward, X immediately grabbed the string, ripped it out of Adel's hands, and hurtled it halfway across the room.
Adel stared at X in shock for a couple of seconds, before the anger started seeping in and in retaliation, he slapped X's data pad out of his hands.
"What the fuck Adel!?" X immediately snapped as he swooped down to recover his pad. "What the fuck is your goddamn problem?"
"My problem? What's your fucking problem asshole?" Adel snapped back, just as heatedly.
"My problem is, I'm trying to get some reading in before we have to deploy, but some fucking cunt keeps bugging the shit out of me!" X seethed. "Seriously, fuck off Adel!"
"Fuck you!" Adel snarled back. "Chill the fuck out Isaac, it was just a joke! Where's your goddamn sense of humor? Jesus Christ!"
X shoved him.
Adel immediately leapt to his feet but before he could get anywhere, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
"Knock it off you two," Sam snapped as he forced Adel to sit back down. Adel tried to resist, but he had no leverage and plus, Sam was a lot bigger than he was. "X, go back to your happy place. Adel, what the fuck? Grow the fuck up and fucking leave X alone, holy shit."
Adel tried to protest, but Sam sent a death glare in his direction, causing Adel to relent.
"He fucking started it," Adel nevertheless mumbled as Sam released him.
"Don't give a shit," Sam retorted. "Go find something else to do besides bothering X before I find you something."
"Is there a problem here Corporal?"
Adel's head snapped up at the stranger's voice, and he turned around to see a lieutenant, one of the newly assigned ones to the company, standing behind him with a disapproving look on his face.
"No Lieutenant Silva(6)," Sam respectfully said. "My Marines were just burning off a little bit energy. Everything is fine now sir." He finished that last part with a glare directed at Adel, and Adel resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"That's nice Corporal," Silva condescendingly said. "But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your helmets."
Adel looked around, confused. Neither he nor any of his teammates had their helmets on at the moment.
"Sir?" Sam asked, sounding just as confused as Adel felt.
"Why aren't you wearing them?" Silva elaborated.
"Because it's rather hot in here sir," Sam replied. "And these helmets are also rather heavy.
Adel watched as Silva's lips curled up in a sneer.
"Corporal, the MEU commander has put this entire battalion on full alert status, did he not?" Silva asked.
"He did sir," Sam confirmed.
"And part of being on alert status, Corporal, is that all Marines need to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. Which means, having all your protective gear on and ready to be used!" Silva barked. "What do you think would happen if the Covenant were to suddenly attack us right now Corporal?"
"Well, seeing as how we're on a ship at the moment sir, I would hope the Navy would shoot back first," Sam dispassionately replied.
Adel did his best to avoid giggling as Silva's eyes narrowed.
"Are you trying to be insubordinate with me Corporal?" Silva growled.
"No sir. But, with all due respect sir, it takes, like, five seconds to put our helmets back on," Sam pointed out.
"Probably less than that," X quietly commented.
"Probably less than that, sir," Sam echoed, inclining his head in X's direction.
"... Corporal, if you had any sense to think for yourself, you would have become an officer. But you didn't, and here we are," Silva stated, and Adel felt his hackles rise at the condescending tone and arrogance in Silva's voice. "Put your helmets on Devil Dogs, and don't ever take them off unless I give you expressed permission to do so. Is that clear Marines?"
"Or would you rather be NJP'd?" he added, seeing their hesitation.
"No sir," Sam emphatically answered. He turned to X and Adel. "Alright Team 2, you heard Lieutenant Silva: get your helmets on."
Adel silently grabbed his helmet off the deck and placed it on his head. He waited for Silva's approval, only to see the man staring at him with a pointed look on his face. Suppressing a groan, Adel reached up and secured his chinstrap.
"Good," Silva finally said. "And keep it that way."
Without so much as another word, Silva spun around on one heel and walked away.
Adel waited until the man was out of earshot before reaching up to undo his chinstrap, but Sam quickly caught his eye and shook his head.
"Don't push it," Sam warned. "This might be retarded as hell, but Silva has the authority to yank you from this team and confine you to the ship if he feels so inclined."
Adel quickly lowered his hand. The sounds of footsteps approaching them caused him to tense up, but it turned out to only be his section leader, Sergeant Jaff.
"You guys alright?" he asked them. "Just saw what happened."
Sam viciously spat in the direction Silva had gone. "What's his fucking problem?" he snarled. "Who died and made him the Commandant of the entire Marine Corps?"
"No one, he's just an asshole. Unfortunately, he's also a well-connected one: I heard his uncle is some kind of bigshot in the ODST," Jaff explained, before sighing. "But, and I'm sorry to say, you guys are going to have to get used to him. Company commander has decided to go ahead and attach all the support weapons teams to the infantry platoons before we head down, and you guys were just reassigned to Silva's 3rd Platoon."
"What?" Adel loudly exclaimed. "You got to be kidding me! We're going to have to deal with that asshole all day? Fuck that! Thanks a lot Sergeant."
"Non nobis solum nati sumus(7)," X muttered.
"Hey, wasn't my call," Jaff protested, as all present sort of pretended X hadn't just said anything. At this point, everyone in the company was used to X randomly dropping quotations and they had all learned to just roll with it. "It was the Skipper's. And I can't countermand his orders unless I have a very good reason to."
Adel grimaced, but kept his complaints to himself. He knew there was nothing that could be done.
"But, look on the bright side: at least you'll be under Staff Sergeant Reynolds'(8) command."
Adel immediately perked up at that. In his opinion, Staff Sergeant Malcom Reynolds was one of the most badass Marines in the entire regiment.
"Get your stuff guys, and head over to 3rd Platoon," Jaff continued. "Skipper wants all platoons situated before we start loading up in the Pelicans.
Adel enthusiastically nodded, his anger at Silva already forgotten. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed his rucksack and tossing it onto his shoulders.
"Dude, this is so fucking cool," Adel enthusiastically exclaimed, awkwardly holding onto his equipment as he and his team headed to where 3rd Platoon was located. "We get to fight with Staff Sergeant Reynolds himself! You know, I heard he used to be, like, an operator for some Innie group decades ago."
"Really? I heard he had been a smuggler before he enlisted in the Marines," X commented. "Had his own ship and everything.
"No, that was afterwards; he was an Innie first, but then the UNSC kicked his group's ass, so he ended up becoming a smuggler," Sam corrected, with just barely a hint of a sneer.
"Is that right?" X asked, surprised. "Well, if he was an Innie, how and why'd he join the UNSCMC? Would have thought he wouldn't have wanted to join his former enemy. Hell, I would have thought ONI wouldn't have let him enlist."
"Supposedly he was on Harvest the day the Covenant invasion began," Sam explained. "What I heard, he and his crew ended up trying to rescue a bunch of civilians. Held an entire battalion of Covenant warriors at bay for hours. Managed to get, like, a hundred civilians off-world before the end."
"Of course, a bunch of his crew ended up dying," Adel added.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, among others, I heard he lost his pilot, his ship's preacher, and his girlfriend. Supposedly she ended up dying in his arms. Last words and all that."
"Damn," X whistled. "He certainly got the short end of the stick. So, what, he enlisted to get revenge or something?"
"That, and while his lover was dying, he got down on his knees and swore a blood oath to the old gods that he would hunt down and kill every single Covenant warrior who dared defile the galaxy, starting on that day until his last day..."
The entire group stopped mid-stride to stare incredulously at Adel, who sheepishly grinned.
"That... last part might not have been true," Adel meekly allowed. "But it's what I heard!"
"I think someone was trying to take the mick out of you when you were told that Adel," Sam drily noted as they continued their walk. "At any case, Staff Sergeant Reynolds is a pretty good platoon sergeant from what I hear; hopefully he'll be able to keep Silva in check."
Adel nodded in agreement.
Reaching the spot where 3rd Platoon was camped out, Adel watched as Sam walked up to one of the nearby Marines.
"Hey Private, we're looking for Staff Sergeant Reynolds. Know where he is?"
"Yeah, he's over there," the man said, pointing at a lanky brunette man sitting in the corner of the room. "Hey Staff Sergeant!"
Reynolds got up and walked over to them.
"Yeah Tracey," he said as he walked up. "What's shiny?"
"These gents are here to see you," Tracey announced, gesturing at Adel and his team.
"Staff Sergeant Reynolds? Corporal Yilmaz, 3rd Assault Squad, Weapons Platoon. Skipper said we're getting reassigned to your platoon?"
Reynolds' face immediately brightened. "Yeah, I heard something like that. So, you're my team of assaultmen, huh? Well, come on."
Adel quickly picked up his stuff again as Reynolds brought them back to the corner he had originally come from.
"Find a seat folks," Reynolds commanded. "Ain't got much to do 'till we get sent down. Y'all be attached to platoon HQ, so get mighty comfy with the Marines 'round here. Gonna be seein' a lot of them in the next few days."
Adel nodded in acknowledgement. Finding an empty spot, he dropped his stuff, letting it hit the deck with a loud thump, before taking a seat. Settling in, he took a look around. There weren't too many Marines in this corner, aside from the assigned platoon corpsman, a forward observer, the RTO, and Reynolds himself. The presence of all these support personnel made Adel realize this corner was probably reserved for the staff of 3rd Platoon's headquarters. Fortunately, Silva was nowhere to be found.
"You Marines shiny over there?" Adel heard Reynolds call out. "Need anything? Food? Water?"
"Nah Staff Sergeant, we good," Sam replied.
"Y'all sure? Calm before the storm Marines: best enjoy it."
Sam glanced at X and Adel, who both shook their heads.
"I don't like to eat before getting on a Pelican," X explained. "Makes me air sick. Like, violently."
Adel could see Reynolds grimacing. "Well, we ain't be wanting that, now would we? Least you fellows can take your helmets off. Might as well be comfortable."
Reynolds walked off, leaving Adel and his team in shock.
"Did he...?" X asked.
Sam snorted.
"God damn, I hate this fucking job," he muttered out loud.
For his part, all Adel could was shake his head.
1. POMCUS was a real US Army system. As mentioned here, the idea behind the system was to preposition equipment at certain locations in order to speed up deployment time, only in the US Army's case, it was prepositioned in Europe (specifically Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands,) and intended for use in the event the Soviet Union launched a conventional invasion of Europe. Obviously, with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the system was never needed, and eventually disassembled.
POMCUS was intended to be used in conjunction with Exercise Reforger (return of forces to Germany,) though I'm not going to get into that here.
2. 9th MEF: the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force is actually a canon unit. It was mentioned in the official novel, Halo: Contact Harvest where it was Sergeant Avery Johnson's parent unit. (Sidenote: if this was an actual USMC unit, it would actually be written out as "IX Marine Expeditionary Force.")
3. Volkov referring to the armor Argon Team was/is wearing is intended to be a character error. The armor the Spartan team was wearing is nothing more than the regular Mjolnir Mark IV power armor which was the last version not to incorporate energy shields. Volkov refers to it as a "prototype" because he doesn't know better.
4. UNSC Gallipoli is named for the Gallipoli Campaign of WWI. In February of 1915, the Entente powers (primarily the British Empire and her colonies, most notably forces from both Australia and New Zealand) attempted an amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula, which at the time was part of the Ottoman Empire (who of course, was one of the Central powers.) The objective of the campaign was to seize control of the strait that provided a supply route to Russia, as well as capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople, which could potentially have knocked the Ottomans out of the war.
Due to a variety of reasons, the invasion ultimately failed, with the attack being called off after eight months of warfare and massive casualties on both sides. Among the Entente, the campaign was a large and humiliating defeat and forced a number of political changes in the British government, whereas it was a great victory for the Ottomans, however the campaign did cause massive damage to their natural resources, arguably weakening the Ottoman's long term ability to wage war.
With that, on an entirely different note, I want to mention that the UNSC Gallipoli is intended to be an Orion-class assault carrier. According to Halopedia, there are three carrier classes utilized by the UNSC Navy, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to explain just how I think the carrier roles should be.
I mentioned back in chapter 16 I feel like naval carriers would play more of an amphibious warfare ship role than the traditional super aircraft carrier role, but more specifically, the way I see it is as follows:
- the Epoch-class heavy carriers, which are the largest class of Navy carriers (of which, the UNSC Liaoning, São Paulo, and Illustrious from chapter 16 were intended to be,) are the Halo equivalents of modern day amphibious assault ships. In modern days, amphibious assault ships are vessels that are capable of transporting marine expeditionary units and as such, come equipped with all manner of features: well decks in order to be able to launch landing craft, amphibious vehicles, and hovercrafts, a flight deck to launch either helicopters or V/STOL fixed-wing aircraft, as well as hangers to store and maintain said aircraft. Modern day examples of amphibious assault ships include the US Navy's Wasp and America-classes, as well as the French Navy's Mistral-class.
- Orion-class assault carriers, which are the second largest navy carriers, are intended to be similar to amphibious transport docks. Amphibious transport docks are similar to amphibious assault ships in that they (usually) have well decks, flight decks, and hanger facilities, but (usually) no capability for launching and recovering fixed-wing aircraft. IRL examples include the US Navy's San-Antonio-class and the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's Type 071.
- finally, the Poseidon-class light carriers are the equivalent of dock landing ships. Like before, there are usually well decks and flight decks, but (usually) no hangers. (Though, obviously in the Halo universe, that would be different.) Real life examples are the US Navy's Whidbey Island and Harpers Ferry-class of ships.
5. Mobuto is a canon character that first appeared posthumously in the Halo official novel, Halo: The Flood. In the novel, then Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto's body is discovered by the Master Chief John-117 in the depths of the Library during his quest to recover the Index. Having been mutilated by the Flood so badly, not even Flood Infection Forms could make use of it, the sight of Mobuto's body inspired the Master Chief to complete his mission.
6. 2nd Lieutenant Gustavo Silva is not a canon character, but he is intended to be related to one: Major Antonio Silva, an ODST officer who appeared as a minor antagonist in the novel, Halo: The Flood. (He's the one in charge of the construction and defense of Alpha Base on the Halo ring. He's also the one that wanted to bring a Flood-infested Covenant battlecruiser back to Earth.) As mentioned when LT Silva appeared in my other story, Missing in Action (chapter 2,) in my head-canon, Gustavo is the nephew of Antonio Silva.
7. "Non nobis solum nati sumus" is a Latin quote from Roman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero's treatise On Duties (Latin: De Officiis,) though according to Wikipedia, Cicero himself took the quote from Plato's Letter of Archytas. Translated into English, it means "Not for ourselves alone are we born."
8. Staff Sergeant Malcom Reynolds is a canon character. He first appeared in the first level of Halo 3, though he's a gunnery sergeant in that game. He's one of the sergeants helping Johnson look for Master Chief in the woods after he crash lands. His first name has actually never been revealed, but given the fact that his face actor is Nathan Fillion, who is most famous for playing Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on the 2002 scifi TV show Firefly, I think it's pretty clear Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds is supposed to be an expy of Captain Reynolds, and as such, that's how I'm going to be treating the character.
Marine Trivia
Seeing as how this is the first time among all my stories I've had a Marine as a main character, I thought it would be helpful to create a list of... trivia (I guess that would be the right word) about the Marines I've picked up over the years. Most of this strictly pertains only to the United States Marine Corps, but seeing as how the UNSC Marine Corps is specifically mentioned in canon as having been based on the USMC, I figured the same rules would apply.
When reading this list, try to keep in mind that my information is from all over the place, so I can't necessarily source the information, and it might not be necessarily accurate any longer.
So I guess the first place to start would be the difference between a Soldier and a Marine. In the English language, a marine is merely a TYPE of soldier, but in the US, a Soldier is specifically a member of the United States Army while members of the USMC are strictly Marines. The idea being, with the Marine Corps being a more elite force when compared to the Army (whether this is entirely true or not is debatable), "Marine" is a title one has to earn, and not simply given. To give an analogy, it's kind of like the difference between calling someone a "mister" (or missus) versus calling them a "doctor." You want to insult a Marine? Call them a soldier. (This is also why people in boot camp are simply called "recruits" as opposed to Marine: as they haven't graduated yet, or proven they can graduate from boot camp, they thus haven't earned the title of "Marine.")
Speaking of insults, one of the most serious insults you can call a Marine is "boot." What is a boot? A boot is simply an inexperienced Marine. A newbie, so to speak. The term usually refers to Marines who just graduated from training (hence the term boot, as in "boot camp,") but not always. A junior NCO going on his first combat tour, for example, would be considered a boot among his or her more salted brethren.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine" is how the saying goes, which is why one of the other more grievous insults to call a Marine is to call them an "ex-Marine." In the English language, an "ex" refers to something or someone that had been, but is no longer. Going back to the idea that "Marine" was a title one had to earn, once you've earned that right to call yourself a Marine, you will always be part of that Brotherhood and there is no way to lose that, which is why you can't be an "ex"...
...unless you fuck up so badly you end up getting kicked out of the military. In the US military, that's known as a "dishonorable discharge," and that's usually reserved for those individuals who have committed crimes so grievous, they would be considered crimes in the civilian world. Like war crimes. So, in the USMC, an "ex-Marine" is anyone who received a dishonorable discharge. (In case anyone is curious, a "former-Marine" is what you call a Marine who was "honorably discharged" from the service.)
Taking a step back to boot camp, something to note: the USMC doesn't actually have Drill Sergeants. That's an Army term. What the Marines do have are "Drill Instructors." I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I do believe it has something to do with the fact that in boot camp, recruits are supposed to call their trainers "sir" or "ma'am" to get them in the habit of using those terms in their everyday speech. However, because you're never supposed to call a sergeant or NCO "sir/ma'am" (as those terms are reserved for officers, commissioned and warrant,) but most DIs are in fact, NCOs, the workaround is to simply call them "instructors." (The Army works around that simply by having their recruits call their instructors "sergeant," though that has fluctuated through the years.)
Speaking of how to address the sergeant ranks in the USMC. In the Army, those between the ranks of E5 to E7 are simply called "Sergeant." It doesn't matter what type of sergeant they are, whether they be simple buck sergeants, staff sergeants, or sergeant first classes, they are simply known as "Sergeant." (Or Sar'nt. Sarge is not really a term used anymore and from what I've read, some Soldiers actually consider it insulting if you call them that.)
In the Corps, it's the complete opposite: you HAVE to refer to all NCOs by their full rank. So, if a Marine sees a corporal, s/he'll address them as "Corporal." But, if they see a gunnery sergeant or a staff sergeant, they have to address them as "Gunnery Sergeant and Staff Sergeant," respectively.
There doesn't seem to be an official reason for this, at least, none that I've seen. However, I have read explanations from Marines the reason for this is that it's a sign of respect, as, (as they put it,) NCOs in the Corps actually EARN their rank, as opposed to simply given their rank. (Marines get promoted at a far slower rate than, say, the Army.) And while usage of the full rank is a rule in garrison, I'd wage it's less strictly enforced in other situations. Like, say, in the middle of a firefight.
Other interesting tidbits: the Marines usually call their bases "camps" (ex. Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton,) whereas the Army usually calls their bases "fort" (ex. Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, Foot Knox.) The terms are used as a reflection of both services respective nature: as the expeditionary force of the United States, the Marines are constantly on the move, hence the term "camp" which implies a more temporary nature. In contrast, the Army is more stationary, more permanent, hence the term "fort." (This is not a one hundred percent rule as the Army has and does use the term camp for their bases.)
Another interesting fact is that there are no such thing as "infantry" units in the Marine Corps. Let me first clarify: there are absolutely infantry units in the Marine Corps. They just simply aren't called that. What are they call then? Well, "Marine." As in, 1st Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division, etc. Anytime you see a unit with the word "infantry" in its title (ex. 1st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, etc.,) it's an Army unit. Strangely enough, artillery units in the Marine Corps are also simply called Marine units (ex. the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 14th Marine Regiments are all the current artillery regiments in the Marine Corps,) but I can't seem to find a reason for why that is.
You'll notice that I used the term "regiment" and "division." Like the Army, the Marine Corps also organizes their units into battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions. However, whereas in the Army, there's a certain rigidity to units. Whereas a Soldier might identify themselves as being a part of say, the 101st Airborne Division, or the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, most Marines will usually just say they're Marines (as opposed to saying they're part of the 2nd Marine Division or the 7th Marine Regiment.)
There are two main reasons for that. As a whole, Marine units have a tendency to be more flexible in their organization, as they're designed for "plug and play" so to speak. What I mean by that is that theoretically, swap any two Marine units of the same type (say, 1st Tank Battalion with 2nd Tank Battalion,) and they should be able to do the exact same job to the exact same degree of success. The same can't be said about the Army. The 40th Infantry Division, for example, plays a radically different role from the 1st Cavalry Division, with both units utilizing different equipment, different tactics, and are even organized differently from each other (40th ID is not only an infantry division, but also belongs to the National Guard whereas the 1st Cav is an Army active duty armored division.)
The reason for the Army's rigidness when compared to the Marines ties in directly to the second reason for the different ways units are perceived in both branches: the Marine Corps is, and always has been, vastly smaller than the Army. For example, the largest the Marine Corps had ever been is during WW2 where it was able to field a grand total of six Marine divisions. In contrast, in the same time period, the US Army consisted of over 91 divisions, of which, 22 were assigned to the Pacific Theater.
Counting divisions is, of course, not the most accurate way of determining a service branch's size, as both the Army and the Marines had units that weren't organized into divisions but it does give you a good idea of just how different in size both organizations were and are.
With that in mind, there are some pretty big differences between the way Marine units are used verse the way the Army utilized theirs, but I'm not going to get into that in this chapter.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next time.