In The Torpedo Bay
In The Torpedo Bay
“I will be keel-hauled by a bashi-bazouk,” declared Staff Sergeant Hernandez. “I will dance a jig all along the dockside of High Plymouth in my military issue skivvies. In my time in the space navy’s army’s own wet navy I have seen things fouled up beyond all recognition, things that would make every mother’s son and daughter break down and weep in pity. And now this.”
Private 3rd Class Joy remained braced against the bulkhead. There didn’t seem anything to say.
The sergeant dramatically swept their arm about to take in the compartment. “Here we have the aft torpedo room of the Galactic Force Armed Submersible Vessel Police Action, a technical marvel dedicated to launching self-propelled and directed mini-warships that are capable of fighting, hiding, observing and even returning to base if for some reason the campaign should be suspended, or providence forfend, ended. It requires elite marines, with specialised knowledge and experience of the systems that operate here. It requires, in fact, a machinist/torpedo gunner dual-rated specialist. And they have sent you, Joy, straight out of which branch school?”
There was no escape. The bare metal walls of the 10m by 5m compartment were just barely visible by the complex and confusing panels and machines, the grinning marines in overalls and ragged uniforms formed an impenetrable barrier to escape out the one hatch to the rest of the vessel. “Cook’s School Sergeant.”
“Cook’s School.” He let the phrase roll off his tongue. “Though you have at least also completed basic training. Hygiene, discipline, fire and movement, field stripping a plasma gun. Not much call for that here. So what use are you Private Joy?”
Well that was going too far. Taking out his frustrations with the Navy Bureau of Personnel on Joy was unfair. Joy looked him in the eye. “I can make a pretty good cup of coffee sergeant.”
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12 months ago this was an exclusive story for subscribers to my Patreon. Now I have released it to the world on this merry Christmas Eve. Please enjoy.
"Space navy's army's own wet navy." The submersible service of the space marines is a pretty good joke, and certainly not inspired by anything in history, by the way did you know that the US Marine Corps (The US Navy's army) has it's own air force?
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