The “Battle” of Brecourt II - Part 6 of 6

Posted on Mon May 15th, 2023 @ 5:40am by Captain David Tonelly [Reece] & Captain Gary Taylor & Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lieutenant Kurt "Berlin" Vogel
Edited on on Wed Jun 7th, 2023 @ 12:56pm

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Brecourt II
Timeline: The Past
1482 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

=== CONTINUED FROM PART FIVE ===

THE UNDERCROFT

There was something very odd about this buildings undercroft. Every structure had a purpose, a reason. The floors above them had been damaged but these lower floors seemed mostly undamaged. Sam checked his six before answering DuBois. "Something's not right. What the hell is this place? And why so much damn resistance? We have found nothing. So what the hell is so damn important that they are throwing so much at us? We're taking heavy losses. And we can't afford to keep that shit up. I still have the rest of the platoon on the scope. Tricorder says two Brecourt lifesigns and a third fading. Thirty more meters. Listen up....we're changing our tactics. No more murder holes and no more fatal funnels. These walls...they're some kind of concrete. We're making our own doorways. I'm setting my weapon to wide-angle beam and DuBois and I will take point. I'll fire first, disintegrate the wall. DuBois, you pour fire into the hole. And we cut our way straight along this line to the target. You two..." here Woolheater ordered the other two marines, "...cover our six and watch the corners like the Colonel said. Stay. Frosty!"

"Roger sir." DuBois replied.

It was getting increasingly stressfull as they proceeded through doors and walls to the targets. For the moment, Woolheater's tactic seemed to work. They made about twenty meters (65 feet) before the Brecourt changed their tactics.

Deeper and deeper the marine fire team went. Until they reached a spot about 10 meters (thirty-two feet) from the civillians. And they had no choice but to clear the next room. Sam's combat tricorder could barely read another other friendlies. There was a room in front of them, with four Brecourt just waiting. Behind them at their six, were another group of Brecourt closing in. And the civillians along with at least sixty more were 32 feet away.

The Brecourt started firing first.

"DuBois! I'm calling for backup. HOLD THE LINE!" Sam attempted to make the urgent call for backup from what was left of the platoon.

=A= URGENT! BABY BEAR TO ALL TEAMS. WE NEED BACKUP. WE ARE PINNED DOWN. ALMOST AT THE CIVILLIAN TARGETS. URGENT HELP NEEDED =A=

Sam called but he couldn't hear if anyone heard. Maybe someone heard. The sound of close phaser fire was loud and the air acrid with burning items. The dim lighting and the oppressive atmosphere.

"Liminal spaces" Woolheater said. Suddenly realizing why this place was so unusual. Why it was so oppressive.

A liminal space refers to a transitional or in-between state or place. It is a concept a way of describing a state of ambiguity, uncertainty, or transformation. Samuel understood it as a "threshold". A physical location that exists between two distinct areas or states, such as a hallway, a doorway, or a transitional area. These spaces are often characterized by their lack of specific purpose or identity and can evoke a sense of disorientation or suspension.

The Brecourt had been experimenting with psychological torture. And this place seemed to serve absolutely no purpose. Other than to creep everyone out.

Sam recognized the feelings of ambiguity, confusion. A sense of being "off kilter" and uncomfortable. This place had a purpose. It had one purpose.
And they had fallen into it. They had been played. In a flash, Samuel understood what this place was all about. The Brecourt knew that SFMC would never leave civillians behind. This was a death trap. An elaborate liminal space existing in a state of transition, where boundaries are blurred, and individuals or are in a limbo-like state, neither fully in one place nor another.

Sam said to DuBois, "We have to get the civillians and get the fuck out of here. This is a death trap." Sam looked at DuBois and he hated what he was about to say next. He hated it with his whole being. "DuBois? You're on point. You're the tip of the spear." Make a hole and let's go!"


Suddenly, everything froze. The familiar chirp of the computer signaled the end of the program. Sam closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance, "Awww...shit!". The computer announced,

=A= Simulation end. Objectives partially met... =A=

Sam repaeted thoise words for he had head them dozens of times before, "Objectives partially met..."

The computer continued, =A=... simulation parameters exceed maximum divergence parameters. Simulation end. Scoring... =A=

Sam slung his weapon in one hand and his other hand went to his chin, "Here it comes..." he said as they waited for the machine to calculate. As they waited, various parts of the simulation faded and the "enemies" vanished. Just the players were left on the holodeckas the computer whirred and clicked. Sam was optimistic, "Oh come on...we did better this time!"

=A= Working...scoring complete. Objectives met four. Losses incurred...88%. Damages sustained...76%. Antagonists neutralized...70%. Protagonists survival 100%. =A=

Sam looked at the group, "That's....y'know....not terrible."

=A= Working...Air support. Orbital and space superiority engagement. Combined score...74%. Ground forces. Advancement, Search and Rescue or Recovery of non-combatants...combined score...17%. =A=

Sam said, "Ach! Oh shit. Here it comes."

=A= Ranking score...905. =A=

Sam sighed and was generally annoyed. "905 out of 5000. Dammit. We did worse. Does anybody ever win? Anybody?"

David walked over shaking his head. "I lost my shit a bit too much on that marine hologram." He looked over at Man'darr and nodded. "I know, I know! Chalk it up to old man syndrome. When the program reacted that way about the civilians, I wasn't here anymore. I was back on Earth, during the Wars. I actually witnessed fully trained soldiers do exactly what that program did. And I reacted pretty much the same way then too." He let out a frustrated sigh. "What's that human phrase about old dogs learning things?" He chuckled softly at his own expense.

Sam, covered in goo from the exploded Brecourt and his own camo grease was all smiles, "XO, nah...I felt the same way. You have guys like that on your squad; brings everybody down. Great shot when I was on my knees. I was so pissed that they got the drop on me. They never come up the stairs! When I saw that laser sight bead...I was so happy. Worth it."

Kurt Vogel sauntered up to the pair. “I heard a rumor that some platoon was able to score over 4000 once.”

Sam acknowledged the German, " 'sup stick jockey. Four-thousand my ass. They must have run the sim a million times. Brecourt have never come up the back stairwell. I felt something was bad when I saw the three Brecourt setting up a rocket launcher. I'm thinkin'...oh, that's new!" Sam offered the pilot a fist-bump. "You were cold as ice today. All of you" Sam indicated to the other pilots.

"I'm curious to know, who are the people we're portraying y'know? In fact, I'm a find out right now. Computer?" The machine whirred in acknowledgement. "On this simulation who is the character of 'baby bear' based on?"

The computer accessed the data and replied, =A= The character of 'Baby Bear' is based off of Starfleet Marine Corps Sniper Captain Todd Groover. A member of SFMC 33rd Battallion from Camp Falkirk. He and other members of the 33rd Battalion including the Combat Air Support Groupand the Task Force Implaccable are immortalized in the training simulation "The Battle of Brecourt II =A=

"Wait. Stop. I know that. What happened to him and the reast of the Battalion?"

=A= Captain Groover was killed in action rescuing twenty-seven civillians from a combat zone along with two-hundred and ninety-seven marine ground infantry. There were only three survivors. A holographic simulation of the battle has been recreated and is widely used as a training excercise. Brecourt II has been compared to the marine equivalent of the 'Kobiyashi Maru' test. The objective is to save as many as you can and get the highest score and accept that not every situation in combat will go as planned. The highest score ever recorded was commanded by Segeant 'Grandpappy' William 'Wild Bill' Reece. Earning a final score of four-thousand, his batallion was commended for their quick thinking and unusual tactics in rescuing the civillians. =A=

Sam looked at Kurt and then David and said, "Well...looks like we've got some catching up to do?"



[OFF:]


Legend:

*Close Air Support - Fires provided by aircraft to support ground forces
#Bandits - Enemy aircraft
**Pollack - Fighter slang: to paint a target with infrared lasers to aid in detection for targeting. Term comes from the noted painter Jackson Pollack
##Gulf Romeo - Brevity code: Gun Run
***Alpha Fox - Brevity code: Anti-fighter
###BDA - Battle Damage Assessment
****Alpha Charlie - Atmospheric Combat

 

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