Chapter 27: Speed vs. Strength

Daniel was a bit put off being stared at by three, no, four giant robots. The fourth had the name Sgt. Rotterdam (Engineer) hovering above her, with three upside-down chevrons above her name.

Two of them, Lt. Lincoln (Tank) and Sgt. Burr (Charger), were 2.5 meters tall, both sporting belt-fed mini-guns attached to the outside of their forearms.

Lt. Lincoln had visibly thicker armor, probably attributed to his (Tank) title, as well as a blue upright rectangle signifying his Lieutenant Rank.

Sgt. Burr was just as tall as Lt. Lincoln, but his armor was slightly thinner, and his legs were longer and strongly framed, signifying his (Charger) title, as well as chevrons matching Sgt. Rotterdam.

Sgt. Gutierrez, who was in the Sphinx ENTT, was smaller and had even thinner armor, but her arms were surrounded in metal supports. Her fists also had what looked like protruding knuckles and her forearm had a thin chamber that had a small, shiny point sticking out. She didn't have a mini-gun on her arm, so Daniel wasn't sure what weapon system she would use.

As a (Boxer), she would be able to put her skills to the test only in close-quarters or tight spaces. In Daniel's mind, that meant she would probably do well with a sidearm, like a pistol, and a close range weapon like a shotgun or submachine gun.

Sgt. Rotterdam, the (Engineer), was in the smallest ENTT, the Bennu, but her stature was offset by the giant fabricator strapped too her back.

Fabricators relied on 3D printing and micro-precision machines to assemble anything one could think of. However, as they got smaller, so did the available machinery. The one Sgt. Rotterdam had would only be good for extremely simply printing and very limited precision machining. Daniel guessed she could only provide limited armor repairs and maybe simple weapon system parts.

She also was unarmed, and Daniel became worried he'd have to purchase individual weaponry for each of his Marines, something his dwindling bank account wouldn't like.

He looked up at Lt. Lincoln, who was still at attention. Daniel guessed that with a machine body, he could and would hold that position until Daniel said otherwise.

"At ease."

All four relaxed, the closer three now noticing Sgt. Rotterdam.

"I see you've selected three Sergeants already, Lieutenant. Any ideas on the fourth?"

Lincoln stood motionless for a moment, and Daniel was annoyed that his Marines lacked any discernible facial features he could read.

"No, Commander. These three each have skill sets I'm familiar with using, but the other five..."

He trailed off, obviously waiting for Daniel to suggest one.

He smiled at the Marines.

"Yes, that does sound like a conundrum."

Daniel stroked his digital beard, sporting a wide grin.

Even as robots, the Marines were exuding tension, practically shouting at him to suggest someone.

"Alright. Since you guys are unfamiliar with any of the ship layouts, base configurations, or city planning of this galaxy, I suggest you pick Sgt. Marcus. He will be uniquely equipped to understand the layout of anyplace you happen to be assaulting."

Lt. Lincoln nodded. Blue text flashed across his Sensor, and the fabricator behind them whirred to life, printing Sgt. Marcus.

An hour later, after a Q&A session with Sgt. Rotterdam about her new home, the final Sergeant stepped off the platform.

Lt. Lincoln, now used to the onboarding process, stepped over to the new addition and began explaining the situation.

Sgt. Marcus was also unarmed like Sgt. Gutierrez and Rotterdam. He was in the Sphinx ENTT like Sgt. Gutierrez, but also had a sensor suite attached to his back. It was covered in wiring, antennae, and wire ports. He also had a mildly larger Optical Sensor.

Daniel looked over his new "Inner Circle", then called for their attention.

"Alright, now that you are all here, please follow me."

He led them out of the Barracks and into the Hangar, which was empty, something Sgt. Burr was in a hurry to announce.

"Where's our ride, Commander?"

He sounded incredulous, and Lt. Lincoln spun on his heel and stared into his cracked Optical Sensor.

"Fix your tone, Sgt. Burr, or I'll draft YOU as our Assault Shuttle."

Sgt. Burr straightened.

"Sorry, Sir! Won't happen again, Sir!"

Then to Daniel.

"Sir, please punish me, Sir!"

Daniel stared hard. He knew that these Marnies had been thrown into an insane situation, but he needed them to be Marines, and letting that sort of familiarity and attitude to linger would result in disaster.

"Don't let it happen again, Sergeant."

He stared into the broken lens for a moment, then turned and gestured.

"As Sgt. Burr so aptly observed, we lack an Assault Shuttle. I am able to make you one, but since I lack sufficient experience in boarding actions, I will delegate the decision to you.

He sent an image to each of them, similar to what he'd done with Lt. Lincoln hours before, only this time he was only one who could choose.

**

[Marine Compliment]

Choose One Assault Shuttle:

1. AS-637 "Falcon"

- Capacity: Platoon

- Armor: 200/200

- Speed: 1 km/sec

2. AS-412 "Ibis"

- Capacity: Platoon

- Armor: 150/150

- Speed: 3 km/sec

3. AS-843 "Heron"

- Capacity: Platoon

- Armor: 100/100

- Speed: 5 km/sec

**

Daniel looked over the options.

He preferred the "Ibis", since it would be the most balanced option. Since his Apep Missiles had a range of 500 km, if he launched the Marines simultaneously, they would reach their target in under 10 seconds, mere moments after his missiles hit.

However, he was a layman when it came to this, so instead of speaking he focused on the Marines.

"These are your options. Basically, you can go for extreme survivability but slower speeds, extreme speed but very low survivability, or in-between."

Lt. Lincoln spoke first.

"All three of these ships were experimental when we went on ice, so I don't know how to compare them to the Eagles we used. In fact, everything about this ship was experimental."

He shook his head. Then, all eyes turned to Sgt. Burr, who had begun waving his hands around.

Daniel knew the Sergeant was looking at the 3D images of each ship, spinning them around, studying them from all angles.

After a moment, Sgt. Burr visibly flinched, obviously realizing that everyone was staring at him.

"What?"

Lt. Lincoln sighed in exasperation.

"Sgt. Burr, you have the most combat drops and the most boarding actions of anyone here, so you are uniquely equipped to suggest the proper shuttle."

Sgt. Burr looked around, silently asking if the Lt. was serious. When everyone kept staring, he looked back at the Lt.

"Sir, I suggest we pick the 'Heron'."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up.

"Sgt., Explain."

Sgt. Burr jumped at the voice, before looking down at Daniel.

"Commander, the most vital role of an Assault Shuttle is to transport Marines from our ship to the enemy's in as little time as possible. The longer we are in the open, the more likely we are to get targeted. Even one Rail Gun round would shred an Assault Shuttle's armor. The faster we get to the target, the more likely we will survive."

Daniel thought about it, and the more he did so, the more it made sense.

Assault Shuttles didn't have shields. Shield Generators had a nasty habit of imploding if they encountered a similar field touching their own.

So, Assault Shuttles had to fly through an active battle field, dodging missiles and Rail Gun rounds all while relying only their Armor. Even though the other two Assault Shuttles, the Ibis and Falcon, had heavier armor, it would only take two missiles or a handful of Rail Guns to shred their armor.

Although their speed would keep them in open space for mere seconds, ships like the Light Cruisers that Daniel was destined to be after had up to four Weapon Hard-points, and any combination of Missile Launchers, Rail Guns, and Laser Mounts would be deadly.

Daniel's current tactical doctrine consisted of depleting enemy shields at range with the Apep's, before closing to 20 km with the Horus' and hammering the armor and trying to score hits on critical systems.

20 km would allow the Heron to close in just under 4 seconds, while the Ibis would be in space for just under 7 seconds, and the Falcon would be in the open for an entire 20 seconds.

"Well said, Sgt. Burr."