Prelude
Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 9:06 pm
Date:Tuesday August 8, 2179, 1200 UTC
Location: Gateway, Earth Orbit
Mission Time Index: 0:00:00
The Marines of the Easy Eights stood at attention. They were a newly minted unit for the sole purpose of investigating the whereabouts of the missing 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment of the USCM that had been sent to Acheron. Last contact had been made by Bishop, the android Executive Officer of the Sulaco one week prior. 24 hours and the Easy Eights stood in the Marine Barracks of Gateway Station awaiting deployment.
The 8th Regiment had been dissolved following the unification of the United Americas in 2104. Now, 75 years later and the Colonial Marines were stretched thin and the thought process was to send in a unit that would not cost the United Systems and ICC too much money or manpower.
2nd Lieutenant Haydon Knutson looked out at his new command. He had just graduated from Annapolis two months prior and had been serving as a recruiter at the Gateway Station while he awaited an activity duty posting. His dark gray eyes swept over each member of platoon. He noticed the arrival of Colonel Cadence Layla Novak.
“Atten Hut,” he quickly barked his midwest accent coming through. He watched proudly as the fresh boots and the veteran Sergeant all jumped to attention.
“At ease Marines and for craps sake take a seat already. We have a mission to brief and a flight for you leatherheads to be getting onboard in less than 30 minutes.” Cadence settled down into the command chair and looked around her. The stink of new filled her nostrils and wondered if command knew what they were doing by assembling such a green unit. Not that it really mattered she thought, those decisions came from above her pay grade.
“Please hold all questions until the end. Then if you have questions we will answer them the best that we can with the intel that we have.” She paused as everyone nodded their heads in affirmative.
“Okay, at approximately 1000 we received a message from the Android Executive Officer on board the Sulaco. He stated that he was manually piloting in a dropship to LV-246 to rescue the survivors of the 9th Regiment. After that there was no further contact and no answer to any hailing.” She reached over and flipped on the hologram. “Twenty-six minutes later this appeared on our satellite feeds within the Boridino Sector.” A bright flash is seen on the farthest planetoid in the system. “We can only assume that either a nuke was released or the Atmosphere Processor overloaded.”
She stood up and began to pace back and forth as she spoke, “Twenty-four hours ago, command lost all contact with the automated systems of the Sulaco as she was enroute to return to Gateway. All transponders and tracking devices are likewise offline.” She spun on her heel and faced the marines,”You are tasked to land on Acheron somewhere at or near the colony of Hadley’s Hope. Acheron is, or rather was in the process of being terraformed so the atmosphere should still be breathable. The landscape is harsh and definitely not inviting. To the best of our knowledge there are not hostiles present. Acheron has no indigenous lifeforms. The sunlight is very limited due to a thick cloud covering so sunrise and sunset are not important factors in this mission. You will be placed in Hypersleep for the three week trip to conserve fuel needed to run the life support systems.”
She settled back down into her seat and looked around at the group. “You are all professionals and as such I expect nothing but the best from each and everyone of you. Now at this time the table is open for for discussion.” She looked down at her wrist, “You have 10 minutes for questions and 5 minutes for final prep before you are to enter your pods.”
<Tag the Easy Eights>
Location: Gateway, Earth Orbit
Mission Time Index: 0:00:00
The Marines of the Easy Eights stood at attention. They were a newly minted unit for the sole purpose of investigating the whereabouts of the missing 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment of the USCM that had been sent to Acheron. Last contact had been made by Bishop, the android Executive Officer of the Sulaco one week prior. 24 hours and the Easy Eights stood in the Marine Barracks of Gateway Station awaiting deployment.
The 8th Regiment had been dissolved following the unification of the United Americas in 2104. Now, 75 years later and the Colonial Marines were stretched thin and the thought process was to send in a unit that would not cost the United Systems and ICC too much money or manpower.
2nd Lieutenant Haydon Knutson looked out at his new command. He had just graduated from Annapolis two months prior and had been serving as a recruiter at the Gateway Station while he awaited an activity duty posting. His dark gray eyes swept over each member of platoon. He noticed the arrival of Colonel Cadence Layla Novak.
“Atten Hut,” he quickly barked his midwest accent coming through. He watched proudly as the fresh boots and the veteran Sergeant all jumped to attention.
“At ease Marines and for craps sake take a seat already. We have a mission to brief and a flight for you leatherheads to be getting onboard in less than 30 minutes.” Cadence settled down into the command chair and looked around her. The stink of new filled her nostrils and wondered if command knew what they were doing by assembling such a green unit. Not that it really mattered she thought, those decisions came from above her pay grade.
“Please hold all questions until the end. Then if you have questions we will answer them the best that we can with the intel that we have.” She paused as everyone nodded their heads in affirmative.
“Okay, at approximately 1000 we received a message from the Android Executive Officer on board the Sulaco. He stated that he was manually piloting in a dropship to LV-246 to rescue the survivors of the 9th Regiment. After that there was no further contact and no answer to any hailing.” She reached over and flipped on the hologram. “Twenty-six minutes later this appeared on our satellite feeds within the Boridino Sector.” A bright flash is seen on the farthest planetoid in the system. “We can only assume that either a nuke was released or the Atmosphere Processor overloaded.”
She stood up and began to pace back and forth as she spoke, “Twenty-four hours ago, command lost all contact with the automated systems of the Sulaco as she was enroute to return to Gateway. All transponders and tracking devices are likewise offline.” She spun on her heel and faced the marines,”You are tasked to land on Acheron somewhere at or near the colony of Hadley’s Hope. Acheron is, or rather was in the process of being terraformed so the atmosphere should still be breathable. The landscape is harsh and definitely not inviting. To the best of our knowledge there are not hostiles present. Acheron has no indigenous lifeforms. The sunlight is very limited due to a thick cloud covering so sunrise and sunset are not important factors in this mission. You will be placed in Hypersleep for the three week trip to conserve fuel needed to run the life support systems.”
She settled back down into her seat and looked around at the group. “You are all professionals and as such I expect nothing but the best from each and everyone of you. Now at this time the table is open for for discussion.” She looked down at her wrist, “You have 10 minutes for questions and 5 minutes for final prep before you are to enter your pods.”
<Tag the Easy Eights>