command of 3 rd Battalion. Danford realized he only had one choice on his next action. The battalion wasn’t in danger of being overrun, it had been overrun.
“Get me a channel to fleet, Colonel Summers and OT.” It took a second for the AI to set up the link.
“Connected, Colonel Summers is on the line, as well as Orbital Targeting, as per request.”
“Broken Arrow, I repeat Broken Arrow. This is Captain Danford, temporary command of 3 rd Battalion. We are operating in a jam intensive environment and require immediate support. Available intelligence is transmitted with this request.” Danford made sure his AI attached all the data they had collected from their drones and frontline Marines to the transmission. The tac net meant that everyone in orbit should already have the data, but he’d rather make certain and know they saw it. This wasn’t a moment to make a mistake like that.
Danford’s Broken Arrow threw multiple things into action. Colonel Summers would be prepping for an opposed landing, should the situation stabilize enough to risk more troops, but she’d already been doing that so she didn’t have to take any additional actions. The real change was for the fleet assets in orbit. Guadalcanal and her sister ship Truk would be rotating to face the planet and dig deep into the upper atmosphere. Her escorts would follow suit. In a few minutes, all hell was going to break loose. Danford switched to the Battalion channel, though that only consisted of two depleted companies and one depleted RASAT at the moment.
“This is Captain Danford. Broken Arrow protocols are in effect. Those jammers are still going to make this difficult. With our LOS drone flight we are getting close to a triangulation, so the fleet will go for those first. Once they go down, the RASAT will spearhead our push into the zone. Watch for incoming kinetic strikes and stay the fuck out of those zones. Remember, kinetic strikes don’t care if you’re friendly or not. They’re hostile to everything living and most things not. The lines in there are a mess so we aren’t going to try and have any ourselves. This will be a close ranged brawl. Remember, our brothers and sisters are going through the ringer in there and they’re counting on us to have their back. We’re not going to let them down.” Danford couldn’t hear it but, all across the line, the marines let out a howl. They were ready and no amount of sleep deprivation or exhaustion was going to slow them down, not while their own were trapped out there.
“Stim injection, standard dose.” Danford barked at his AI. It complied, though Danford suspected it would get on him about sleep and too many stims before too long.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In orbit, Flag Captain Ledger had already received full launch authority from the Admiral. She was authorized free-fire authority with all conventional ordnance until the commander on the ground was satisfied. Colonel Summers had already confirmed approval for a Broken Arrow, not that any Marine officer worth their oxygen would ever deny an on-scene commander’s request for Broken Arrow. They didn’t train their people to invoke them in anything but the direst of circumstances and Ledger had seem some fights where they were warranted but not called in. Marines were a special kind of crazy determined, giving ‘never say die’ a new depth of meaning. Guadalcanal was in the upper atmosphere now, firing her forward position and braking thrusters continuously to stay in orbit.
“Forward magazines prepare for rapid fire, targeting profile as locked into the computer.” Ledger faced straight forward. She knew many marines quite well and she knew how serious a Broken Arrow situation was. Nobody wished for it, but when it did occur the marines on the ground knew Navy had their back. She also knew that she was about to kill some Marines, maybe a lot of Marines. Broken Arrow removed danger
“Get me a channel to fleet, Colonel Summers and OT.” It took a second for the AI to set up the link.
“Connected, Colonel Summers is on the line, as well as Orbital Targeting, as per request.”
“Broken Arrow, I repeat Broken Arrow. This is Captain Danford, temporary command of 3 rd Battalion. We are operating in a jam intensive environment and require immediate support. Available intelligence is transmitted with this request.” Danford made sure his AI attached all the data they had collected from their drones and frontline Marines to the transmission. The tac net meant that everyone in orbit should already have the data, but he’d rather make certain and know they saw it. This wasn’t a moment to make a mistake like that.
Danford’s Broken Arrow threw multiple things into action. Colonel Summers would be prepping for an opposed landing, should the situation stabilize enough to risk more troops, but she’d already been doing that so she didn’t have to take any additional actions. The real change was for the fleet assets in orbit. Guadalcanal and her sister ship Truk would be rotating to face the planet and dig deep into the upper atmosphere. Her escorts would follow suit. In a few minutes, all hell was going to break loose. Danford switched to the Battalion channel, though that only consisted of two depleted companies and one depleted RASAT at the moment.
“This is Captain Danford. Broken Arrow protocols are in effect. Those jammers are still going to make this difficult. With our LOS drone flight we are getting close to a triangulation, so the fleet will go for those first. Once they go down, the RASAT will spearhead our push into the zone. Watch for incoming kinetic strikes and stay the fuck out of those zones. Remember, kinetic strikes don’t care if you’re friendly or not. They’re hostile to everything living and most things not. The lines in there are a mess so we aren’t going to try and have any ourselves. This will be a close ranged brawl. Remember, our brothers and sisters are going through the ringer in there and they’re counting on us to have their back. We’re not going to let them down.” Danford couldn’t hear it but, all across the line, the marines let out a howl. They were ready and no amount of sleep deprivation or exhaustion was going to slow them down, not while their own were trapped out there.
“Stim injection, standard dose.” Danford barked at his AI. It complied, though Danford suspected it would get on him about sleep and too many stims before too long.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In orbit, Flag Captain Ledger had already received full launch authority from the Admiral. She was authorized free-fire authority with all conventional ordnance until the commander on the ground was satisfied. Colonel Summers had already confirmed approval for a Broken Arrow, not that any Marine officer worth their oxygen would ever deny an on-scene commander’s request for Broken Arrow. They didn’t train their people to invoke them in anything but the direst of circumstances and Ledger had seem some fights where they were warranted but not called in. Marines were a special kind of crazy determined, giving ‘never say die’ a new depth of meaning. Guadalcanal was in the upper atmosphere now, firing her forward position and braking thrusters continuously to stay in orbit.
“Forward magazines prepare for rapid fire, targeting profile as locked into the computer.” Ledger faced straight forward. She knew many marines quite well and she knew how serious a Broken Arrow situation was. Nobody wished for it, but when it did occur the marines on the ground knew Navy had their back. She also knew that she was about to kill some Marines, maybe a lot of Marines. Broken Arrow removed danger
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