Unity

Chapter 8

Tina, Jen, and I met with three other cadets from the other barracks we were grouped with over breakfast. They introduced themselves as Rachel, Bruce, and Andy. We had just begun discussing our upcoming mission.

"Looks like we have twenty-one fighters, seven cruisers and three battleships that need manned," I began. "I want to get as much planned beforehand so we're as prepared as can be when we get the final details."

"I hope you all are serious about this," Andy said. "I've never been to the lunar colony, and this might be my only chance."

"We're serious," I reassured him. "Alright, we have a squadron of fighters. Let's start there. Tina here is undefeated in the sims. I don't know if you have ever had the pleasure to face her. I nominate her to be squadron commander."

"I remember her," Bruce said. "I have no problem with that. I'm just happy to have her on our team. It looks like we have some good talent, why don't we just rush in and take them out?"

"Sounds like a great way to get blown up," Tina answered.

"It seems to me," I interrupted, "that the scenarios can be broken down to three environments. The first environment would be open space. With no obstructions, it would require both sides to respond quickly to each other's actions. The second environment would be an asteroid field, or somewhere with limited visibility. This would test our ability to hide as well as seek out hidden enemies. The last environment would be next to a gravity well, like a planet or moon. There might be variations, but I think they would all fit into one or more of these categories."

"It makes sense," Rachel said after a moment of quiet reflection. "We've all been through enough sims that match that breakdown."

"We just need to come up with a few plans for each," Tina interjected.

"First, I want to create a list of everyone's strengths. I want to be able to put our people where they can do the best," It didn't take long for us to get positions assigned for this morning's mission. We left the mess hall an hour after that, with our food mostly untouched. We made our way to our assigned briefing room.

Lieutenant Briggs was waiting for us when we arrived. "Everyone take your seats," he commanded. "We don't want to waste any time." He waited until everyone was seated and all eyes were on him. "The mission you have been assigned today is a search and destroy mission. An enemy fleet has been discovered hiding in the Asteroid Belt. Your mission is to find and neutralize this threat. The size of the enemy fleet is unknown, but it is believed they are heavily armed and aware of your intentions. The location of the enemy fleet has been narrowed down to this section of the asteroid belt. It is a small section but is still large enough to easily hide. There will be thousands of obstacles of various sizes. Sensors won't do you much good. You have fifty minutes to put together a plan and present it for my approval."

We immediately started refining one of the plans we had previously made for a scenario such as this. Lieutenant Briggs seemed impressed that we already had a general plan in place. Forty minutes later we had a solid plan. We presented it to Lieutenant Briggs for approval, and to solidify it in everyone's minds. Once our time was up, we headed to the simulation deck.

Once the simulation started, we organized ourselves into three groups. Two of the battleships were allocated three cruisers and eight fighters. I had five fighters and a single cruiser along with my battleship under my command. I didn't mind having less. It fit right into our plan. As soon as everything was organized, the fighters set off to recon, and map the area. While the fighters were away the cruisers and battleships arranged appropriate hiding places. The asteroid field was a mess of asteroids in varying sizes. Several could have hidden multiple battleships easily. The fighters returned and indicated there was no sign of enemy forces. It would have been impossible to spot them from far away with as much interference as there was.