Training

© 2020 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  rabbi-tom


I am feeling frustrated.

It’s getting hot in the armor, but the environmental controls are compensating for my increased level of exertion. The cooler air feels good on my fur, and the sweat is drying.

Pity it’s not doing much for the smell.

Subcaptain v’Tal, my predecessor as the Kith’s second-in-command, had admonished me to refresh my training on boarding actions and other tactical exercises, so after getting permission from Captain k’Jen I reserved time in one of the AGB 58836’s training simulators. After selecting a training scenario, I donned boarding armor and began the simulation. The half a day I reserved should be sufficient.

The scenario is the most complex and difficult in the database, assaulting a ship whose crew had had time to prepare for a boarding action. I had three teams at my disposal, and success depended on disabling the Terran ship’s self-destruct system. The target vessel selected by the computer was a Terran battleship. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that a warship of this size would have more than one ship’s boarding parties engaging it.

The first two runs through the scenario, the boarding shuttles had been destroyed before reaching the target’s hull.

On the third run, I had all three shuttles dive to the target at high velocity to evade the Terran fire-control sensors. One shuttle hit the hull at full speed and exploded, leaving me with only forty shlani to breach the hull and carry out the mission. True, Subcaptain v’Tal had boarded and neutralized a Terran ship with twenty shlani, but that had a been a disabled Witch-class patrol cruiser, not a battleship that was still operative.

I ordered the hull breached and the boarding party was met by a storm of weapons fire. We were all killed before we could get close to the either the self-destruct systems or the reactors.

Aka, I am feeling frustrated.

The fourth attempt went much better, in my opinion. I made it aboard, and the boarding party had almost reached the ship’s antimatter storage area when the crew self-destructed.

This was almost as irritating as the game that Meredidh and I are playing. Thankfully, there are no baristas.

I hope.

After a brief rest, I tried again. This time I again disregarded the first principle, that a commander should achieve the objective with a minimum of casualties. I died from multiple penetrating impact wounds, but enough of the shlani reached the antimatter storage that the computer awarded me a partial victory.

I disagreed with the computer. The survivors were only capable of stopping the ship from destroying itself. There was the option of disabling its engines by ejecting the storage unit, but there were risks of self-destruction. A partial victory.

A failure, in my opinion. I have a proficiency rating of 7.2; I should be doing better than this. I have to be doing better than this.

Is it the difficulty of the scenario? I doubt it.

For the sixth attempt, I try a more indirect approach, hiding the boarding shuttles in the Terran ship’s sensor empennage before beginning the action. This time is successful in that all three shuttles lock onto and breach the hull simultaneously. With me staying behind according to established doctrine, I make better progress coordinating all three teams, moving them from strongpoint to strongpoint.

One team secures our escape route, and with the second team in possession of the self-destruct system, I move the third group to take the battleship’s reactor. The area is fortified and heavily guarded by the Terrans.

I order the third team to fall back to the shuttles, and the second team to eject the antimatter storage unit before it, too, retreats. It twists my tail to leave the task not fully accomplished, but the ship will be unable to destroy itself and will soon lose power with the loss of one of the reactants.

We escape with the loss of eleven dead and wounded.

The simulator shuts down and awards me a victory, increasing my proficiency rating to 7.4. A long critique follows, which I read before forwarding to my padd. The computer alerts me to the fact that my time is nearly over, and then it finally hits me.

I am sweaty and hot, despite the armor’s environmental systems, and my arms and legs feel stiff and sore. I have been in armor and the simulator for six full cycles; I feel exhausted and very, very hungry. I head for the armory to drop off the suit.

Groaning softly I extricate myself to let the armor begin a cleaning and maintenance routine, and I head for the shower to do the same for myself. The hot water will feel very good.

After I’m satisfied I’m clean, I will visit the dining area here on the ship and eat before returning to the Kith. I’ll read that critique, and attend to my usual duties.

My padd is blinking as I leave the shower. Gartabin k’Jen asks if I wish to have lastmeal with him, if I am not otherwise obligated. I think I know what the topic of conversation will be. Aka, Meredidh and I have made no plans, and the Mifrakn Lō dah Thorfass’n is still in-system, so I shall agree to his invitation.