[h3] September 24, 2190
USF The Arcadian
Marine Barracks One
Kashvi Sikander Sadek
Polaris System 
[/h3]
[hr]

“First squad, on your feet!” Kashvi roared in a voice that seemed much too loud to have come from a slender woman. Marines leaped up, scattering playing cards, credit chips, and pornography of a staggering number of designs in all directions. Those marines not in first squad scooped up the mess with practiced efficiency. 

“I want gear for an EVA suited and booted in five minutes, armor and breaching gear!” The chaos in the barracks resolved into military efficiency in a surprisingly short amount of time as the armory was opened Corporal Kent began to slide out the reinforced plastic cases that contained the powered boarding armor. Marines were already stripping naked to put on their pyjamas, a rubber undersuit that was inseam with hundreds of sensors to help their armor mimic their body. Battle buddies began attaching the composite plasteel armor plates and syncing the pieces together. Kashvi stripped off herself and began pulling on her own pyjamas. Steele crossed to her and began to help her get strapped in.


“Weapons ma’am?” Stelle asked as she strapped a shoulder guard into place.

“Listen up!” Kashvi roared again, cutting through the excited babble. “We are going to be boarding an unknown vessel” The murmur grew in volume as the world ‘alien’ spoken by a dozen lips.

“We aren’t planning on hostilities but…!” she paused until silence could assert itself, “If this is our first contact with alien life it would be pretty fucking embarassing if some jar head blew the head off the first ET we meet. Lock. Your. Safety. And anyone that unlocks it without my say so better be looking forward to spending the rest of the tour scrubbing the shitters with her toothbrush!”


Steele slid the clamshell chest plate over Kashvi’s shoulders and sealed it with a series of pressurized hisses.

“What is this?” she demanded, pointing down to her suit. The letters KSS had been stenciled on the breastplate in regulation fashion but someone had added a small ‘i’ between two of the characters so her armor now read ‘KiSS’ Steele shrugged.

“You should be so lucky, I got ‘GuNS’ Griselda Steele admitted. Kashvi couldn’t hold back a snort. Steele was the armorer but she also didn’t lack for a bust that was worthy of the epithet.

“I shall consider myself blessed,” she promised.

“Ma’am!” Charming called as he entered the barracks from the opposite end at a jog. He had come from the office the two of them shared at a run, his weapon tucked in the crook of his arm. There was a click and Charming’s voice began to pipe through a comm implant in her mastoid bone, inaudible to anyone but her. His voice was being cast by a microphone affixed to her First Sergeant's throat that allowed him to subvocalize ensuring privacy for sensitive discussions between the senior personnel.


“Requesting permission to lead the second fireteam,” he said without preamble. Kashvi began to shake her head but Steele was trying to put her helmet on so she aborted the effort and let the armorer seal the helmet into place. First squad consisted of ten marines, a corporal and medic. It would be split into two teams one led by Corporal Hussien the other by Kashvi herself.


“Can’t do it Top,” she replied as she flexed her gauntlets, her helmet visor lighting up with green tell tales that informed her everything was functioning within specifications.

“I could stand in for Hussien,” he insisted all but bouncing with eagerness. In his heart of hearts Charming wanted to be where the action was, and especially wanted to be one of the first humans to board an alien vessel.


“We cant put the whole command staff on a single boarding mission, on the off chance we all buy the farm,” she pointed out.

“Understood Ma’am but you said yourself there was no indication this would be a hostile AO,” Charming wheedled. Kashvi knew what the regulations said but she also knew that Charming was one of the few veterans in her cadre. Given the importance of this op…

“Fine,” she decided, “suit up.” She cut into first squads comm-net with a flick of her tongue against a selector in her helmet.

“Top will be joining us, leading element two, so put your game faces on,” she declared. Charming was beaming from ear to ear as he put his own chestplate on. PRC had been enhanced to PRinCe by their graffiti artist. 

“XO,” Kashvi declared, the word switching her to a link with the executive officer, “Marine element ready for embarkation, moving to the shuttle bay now.”