Justan Katel
(?)Community Member
Distinct Genius
Offline
- Report Post
- Posted: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 07:25:47 +0000
Please state your name and rank for the records.
You very well know who I am, you arranged this event.
I know who you are, this isn't for our records. This recording is for the Terrans. The uniformed man sitting in the chair sighed before rubbing his eyes.
My name is Lieutenant Irell Zarbon, 771st Rangers. Specifically, I am a commanding officer of Seventeenth Platoon, Second Company.
What is the name and function of your unit, Lieutenant?
The 771st Rangers are known as Dragoons. We're named after that large scaled beast that they found on Foehammer. Our job is to deploy via drop pods to hostile locations and secure the area.
Thank you Lieutenant. You were part of the fleet that responded to the distress call on Telfirma, correct? The lieutenant closed his eyes for a second, before making an annoyed humming noise.
That is correct. The Fourth Naval Group was sent in to respond to a garbled distress transmission, piggybacked on an emergency beacon. It detailed the Terran Federation, and a severe xeno threat. Command presumed a show of force would be better than a small scouting response. I'm glad they decided to do so.
I think we can all agree on that. What was your role specifically in the operation?
I was in a command role. After a quick determination of positions, threats, and local geography, my platoon was deployed along with the Nineteenth to the RTS Lights of Orion, to link up with a combined Terran/Trojan force, led by Majors Hunt and Nala, respectively.
What happened with the deployment?
The actual deployment went smoothly. There was little whelp- Err, enemy resistance in orbit, and our drop pods landed mostly on target. The Lights was on the planet's surface, and we touched down in a forested area some hundred meters away. As we made our way to the ship, we stumbled over a few alien corpses, likely made by the forces we were linking up with. Just outside the ship, we encountered some light resistance-
Light resistance? The official report says that your unit ran up against about twenty alien soldiers.
As I said, light resistance for two platoons of Rangers. There were three hatches we were using as ingress points, and we split our platoons accordingly. Lieutenant Tyrell and her unit were to stay outside the ship, cover our entry points, ensure we weren't flanked, and provide cover for extraction. My unit was to enter the ship, link up with Major Nala's unit, and then secure the Lights of Orion. I had the fortune of entering the ship using the same hatch Nala did, running into Corporal Mian and some injured Terrans. The Corporal damned near shot my head off as the hatch opened.
She almost shot you? Why would she open fire on a friendly?
We were the first reinforcements she'd seen, and from the looks of it, she was expecting one of those aliens, not a Ranger to come through that hatch. As I said, it was fortuitous that I came through that hatch. Seeing Mian in person, I was able to sync up our comm frequencies and encryption codes. Within a few minutes I was able to communicate with the Majors, and get their location and a sitrep.
So, you weren't able to communicate with the forces on the ground until you met up with them in person? Why?
The Operat....ion's Agent in charge had decided to route all orbital and planetary communications through the operations hub at the local Trojan facility. She also put in place an authorization policy, where all outside communication was blocked, pending her approval. She then had the misfortune of making herself, how shall I say, indisposed.
She died?
Her status is classified, and that is the end of that train of conversation.
Understood. So, you linked up with Major Nala and Major Hunt?
Yes. They had fallen back to the armory and the adjoining rooms on that deck, and hunkered down. A few of the aliens had penetrated that far into the ship, and they were holding them off for the time being. My squad quickly moved to intercept, while the other two squads in my platoon moved to secure the bridge and the engineering bay. After a quick jaunt through the frigate and a firefight, I met up with a weary, but relieved, Major Nala. From there, I radioed up to Major Thom and Admiral Henderson in orbit, relaying our situation. I was instructed to continue with my original orders, which was to turn the survivors over to Tyrell's platoon, who would escort them back to the extraction zone. My platoon would finish securing the Lights of Orion, and after completing that objective, an engineering team would be sent down to recover the ship if possible. Tyrell would escort that team from the landing zone to the ship, and continue to provide overwatch as needed.
But that's not what happened, is it? Irell shook his head.
Things never go according to plan. I broke my squad apart, leaving one fireteam at the armory, one to secure the main hatch, and then my fireteam would escort Nala and the Terrans down to Tyrell. She was to restructure her defenses, leaving a fireteam at each entrance. Her squad would escort the survivors to the extraction point, and third squad would secure and hold the landing site. This was already done as we existed the ship, where I handed over escort duty to her.
At that point, your squad, her two squads, and the entirety of the survivors were outside the ship, correct? Irell nodded.
Yes. It was at this point, there was a planetary tremor. The shaking was so intense, it nearly knocked me to the ground, and did so for many of the other Rangers and survivors. A report came in from the Major, informing us that the alien vessel had decided to lift off, and make its way towards orbit. That was an issue for the Fleet to solve. What was an issue for me, was the several dozen incoming projectiles into my area. Projectiles that I was informed of as they closed into visual range. I shouted for everyone to take cover, return to the ship, and scatter, depending on where they were located. As it turns out, the projectiles were aliens being deployed, not unlike how the Dragoons operate. There were several different kinds. Most were giant, four meter tall "heavies", mixed in with a bunch of the regular grunts, and some tougher ones, "assault units". And this is the part you want to hear about, isn't it. The interviewer nodded. Major Nala, in all her fearlessness, was directing Terran and Trojan soldiers towards optimal locations to hunker down, when one of the damned things rained down on her location. I saw it with my own eyes, Major Hunt dived to the side and shoved Nala as hard as he could. Damned fool, he got himself mostly crushed by one of the heavies, trying to save Nala's life. The alien pod still nicked her though, caught her left shoulder and knocked her a good few meters back. Overloaded her PIE generator, cracked most of the Tiberium plating on her left side, and left her flat on her back, wounded. Broken bones, lacerations, internal damage. She's still in medical, recovering.
So, if Major Hunt saved Major Nala's life, why did you call him a fool?
Because he damned well was one. We ran the telemetry after the battle, and it matches up with what SnowCrash was informing her as she stood there- The damned whelp pod would have missed, landing just behind her position. I'm not saying she would have been unscathed, but Hunt's leap actually put her in more danger. And it got the damned fool killed on my watch. Anyway. The rest of the fight was hectic, and we managed to hold our positions and drive the whelps off. The Fleet pounded the whelp ship into oblivion, it crashed back into the planet a few hundred kilos off.
According to the reports, your unit suffered no further casualties beyond Major Hunt. Is that correct?
Yes. We did take some injuries, a few of them life threatening, but all the survivors were brought to the extraction zone and pulled back. Our mission was to bring them back, and we did. It's a shame about the Major, from the debriefing I heard, he was a good man and a fine officer.
The interviewer tapped a few buttons on his datapad, and then sighed. You're free to go Lieutenant. I'll make sure this is put on the official record and sent to the requesting parties.
Joy. By the Emperor.
By the Emperor.
You very well know who I am, you arranged this event.
I know who you are, this isn't for our records. This recording is for the Terrans. The uniformed man sitting in the chair sighed before rubbing his eyes.
My name is Lieutenant Irell Zarbon, 771st Rangers. Specifically, I am a commanding officer of Seventeenth Platoon, Second Company.
What is the name and function of your unit, Lieutenant?
The 771st Rangers are known as Dragoons. We're named after that large scaled beast that they found on Foehammer. Our job is to deploy via drop pods to hostile locations and secure the area.
Thank you Lieutenant. You were part of the fleet that responded to the distress call on Telfirma, correct? The lieutenant closed his eyes for a second, before making an annoyed humming noise.
That is correct. The Fourth Naval Group was sent in to respond to a garbled distress transmission, piggybacked on an emergency beacon. It detailed the Terran Federation, and a severe xeno threat. Command presumed a show of force would be better than a small scouting response. I'm glad they decided to do so.
I think we can all agree on that. What was your role specifically in the operation?
I was in a command role. After a quick determination of positions, threats, and local geography, my platoon was deployed along with the Nineteenth to the RTS Lights of Orion, to link up with a combined Terran/Trojan force, led by Majors Hunt and Nala, respectively.
What happened with the deployment?
The actual deployment went smoothly. There was little whelp- Err, enemy resistance in orbit, and our drop pods landed mostly on target. The Lights was on the planet's surface, and we touched down in a forested area some hundred meters away. As we made our way to the ship, we stumbled over a few alien corpses, likely made by the forces we were linking up with. Just outside the ship, we encountered some light resistance-
Light resistance? The official report says that your unit ran up against about twenty alien soldiers.
As I said, light resistance for two platoons of Rangers. There were three hatches we were using as ingress points, and we split our platoons accordingly. Lieutenant Tyrell and her unit were to stay outside the ship, cover our entry points, ensure we weren't flanked, and provide cover for extraction. My unit was to enter the ship, link up with Major Nala's unit, and then secure the Lights of Orion. I had the fortune of entering the ship using the same hatch Nala did, running into Corporal Mian and some injured Terrans. The Corporal damned near shot my head off as the hatch opened.
She almost shot you? Why would she open fire on a friendly?
We were the first reinforcements she'd seen, and from the looks of it, she was expecting one of those aliens, not a Ranger to come through that hatch. As I said, it was fortuitous that I came through that hatch. Seeing Mian in person, I was able to sync up our comm frequencies and encryption codes. Within a few minutes I was able to communicate with the Majors, and get their location and a sitrep.
So, you weren't able to communicate with the forces on the ground until you met up with them in person? Why?
The Operat....ion's Agent in charge had decided to route all orbital and planetary communications through the operations hub at the local Trojan facility. She also put in place an authorization policy, where all outside communication was blocked, pending her approval. She then had the misfortune of making herself, how shall I say, indisposed.
She died?
Her status is classified, and that is the end of that train of conversation.
Understood. So, you linked up with Major Nala and Major Hunt?
Yes. They had fallen back to the armory and the adjoining rooms on that deck, and hunkered down. A few of the aliens had penetrated that far into the ship, and they were holding them off for the time being. My squad quickly moved to intercept, while the other two squads in my platoon moved to secure the bridge and the engineering bay. After a quick jaunt through the frigate and a firefight, I met up with a weary, but relieved, Major Nala. From there, I radioed up to Major Thom and Admiral Henderson in orbit, relaying our situation. I was instructed to continue with my original orders, which was to turn the survivors over to Tyrell's platoon, who would escort them back to the extraction zone. My platoon would finish securing the Lights of Orion, and after completing that objective, an engineering team would be sent down to recover the ship if possible. Tyrell would escort that team from the landing zone to the ship, and continue to provide overwatch as needed.
But that's not what happened, is it? Irell shook his head.
Things never go according to plan. I broke my squad apart, leaving one fireteam at the armory, one to secure the main hatch, and then my fireteam would escort Nala and the Terrans down to Tyrell. She was to restructure her defenses, leaving a fireteam at each entrance. Her squad would escort the survivors to the extraction point, and third squad would secure and hold the landing site. This was already done as we existed the ship, where I handed over escort duty to her.
At that point, your squad, her two squads, and the entirety of the survivors were outside the ship, correct? Irell nodded.
Yes. It was at this point, there was a planetary tremor. The shaking was so intense, it nearly knocked me to the ground, and did so for many of the other Rangers and survivors. A report came in from the Major, informing us that the alien vessel had decided to lift off, and make its way towards orbit. That was an issue for the Fleet to solve. What was an issue for me, was the several dozen incoming projectiles into my area. Projectiles that I was informed of as they closed into visual range. I shouted for everyone to take cover, return to the ship, and scatter, depending on where they were located. As it turns out, the projectiles were aliens being deployed, not unlike how the Dragoons operate. There were several different kinds. Most were giant, four meter tall "heavies", mixed in with a bunch of the regular grunts, and some tougher ones, "assault units". And this is the part you want to hear about, isn't it. The interviewer nodded. Major Nala, in all her fearlessness, was directing Terran and Trojan soldiers towards optimal locations to hunker down, when one of the damned things rained down on her location. I saw it with my own eyes, Major Hunt dived to the side and shoved Nala as hard as he could. Damned fool, he got himself mostly crushed by one of the heavies, trying to save Nala's life. The alien pod still nicked her though, caught her left shoulder and knocked her a good few meters back. Overloaded her PIE generator, cracked most of the Tiberium plating on her left side, and left her flat on her back, wounded. Broken bones, lacerations, internal damage. She's still in medical, recovering.
So, if Major Hunt saved Major Nala's life, why did you call him a fool?
Because he damned well was one. We ran the telemetry after the battle, and it matches up with what SnowCrash was informing her as she stood there- The damned whelp pod would have missed, landing just behind her position. I'm not saying she would have been unscathed, but Hunt's leap actually put her in more danger. And it got the damned fool killed on my watch. Anyway. The rest of the fight was hectic, and we managed to hold our positions and drive the whelps off. The Fleet pounded the whelp ship into oblivion, it crashed back into the planet a few hundred kilos off.
According to the reports, your unit suffered no further casualties beyond Major Hunt. Is that correct?
Yes. We did take some injuries, a few of them life threatening, but all the survivors were brought to the extraction zone and pulled back. Our mission was to bring them back, and we did. It's a shame about the Major, from the debriefing I heard, he was a good man and a fine officer.
The interviewer tapped a few buttons on his datapad, and then sighed. You're free to go Lieutenant. I'll make sure this is put on the official record and sent to the requesting parties.
Joy. By the Emperor.
By the Emperor.