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Corpsman Dromah on Black Ops Mission

Date: 1098-215

Placeholder for Stepping Stones I, Mikhel Dromah on Black Ops Mission

Mid-tech world, requires mid-tech weapons and equipment to hide who is conducting the Operation. Early laser weapons, chemical slug throwers, cloth armor, blade weapons. No high-tech med equipment, either.

Attempt to stop the further use of atomics, marines assigned to take out a hired mercenary unit hired by the rebel nobility planing another bomb near the Imperial controlled spaceport.

Jökull's Jackels, sub-licensed under Spinward Security Corporation (SSC) Licensing Agency and Broker, was chosen as the cover unit. Uniforms and gear were acquired to emulate the Jackels, as the Marines infiltrated the town near the spaceport, and eliminated the rebel detachment conducting the atomic bomb production. The Jackels are a Sword Worlds mercenary unit, with no association to the Imperium, except on the bad side. (Jökull - Icelandic for 'icicles' or 'glacial')

On second thought, let's make Jökull's Jackels the bad guys, and use another Imperial unit for the cover. Makes more sense...

Still looking for a canon target mercenary unit...
Audley's Avengers looks like the fall guys. Outfitted to TL8, so appropriate to the planet. Put this unit under SSC license.

Jökull's Jackels could be licensed under Insurgents, Ltd. Which makes more sense, too. The Jackels could be deviating from the plan, and letting off another nuke to ruin the planet, cause strife among mercs and the Imperium, and other chaos.

“Don’t”, came the whisper.

Corpsman Dromah kept bandaging the wounded marine, ignoring the word.

A bloody hand covered Dromah’s, and tried to lift it from the bandaged stomach.

“Stop.” It was a bit louder, but it took nearly everything the marine had left to force the word out of the mangled chest. Blood was coughed into the air in a fine mist. “Don’t. Others… Need… Help. Not me.”

Star Marine Lapabe Keiinma was in really bad shape, but Corpsman Dromah could save him. It would be touch-and-go, but Lapa was saveable. Dromah was not going to lose him. Lapa was a really good Marine, and worth any two others in the Platoon.

Lapa reached out and touched Mikhel’s face with his good hand. He turned Mikhel’s face towards his own. “Mikhel. Stop. You know me. You can see the wounds. I’m missing too much. Don’t make me live.” Lapa coughed again, and his voice got weaker. Lapa beseeched Mikhel with his eyes. “You know what it means to me. Don’t make me live with parts missing.”

Dromah’s heart fell. Lapa was a Purist. One of the splinter sects that believed in the sanctity of the God-given body. Nothing artificial or unnatural was to be done to the body, and that left out a lot of modern medical science. No cloned replacement parts, no force-grown limbs, no augments or cybernetics. Lapa wouldn’t be allowed back home when he retired, if he was not wholly of his original form. Which meant he wouldn’t ever walk, nor likely dance, again. Dromah would save Lapa, only to have Lapa end his own life as soon as Lapa could manage it.

Dromah grabbed a hypo, and filled it with painkillers. Lapa, who wouldn’t survive long without continued work, was going to go to sleep without pain. Dromah looked Lapa in the eyes, and pressed the hypo into Lapa’s chest. “I’m never gonna forget you, Lapa.” Dromah tried to keep the tears in and put on a brave face. “You know I won’t pray for you, but you will be remembered as the hero you are. As long as I live, you will be known in this universe.” Lapa smiled and closed his eyes. As Dromah heard Lapa start to mumble a chant, Dromah packed up his gear and headed to the next casualty. Sometimes this job really sucked.

This mission wouldn’t have been sent, if there hadn’t been Purists, or marines like them. This was a covert mission, with no external contact with any Imperial units. The team was dressed in uniforms either borrowed (stolen) or made to be exactly like the kit worn by Audley's Avengers, a TL8 outfit, that was somewhere on Simok. Just not here, doing what Dromah’s team was doing. So, no TL gear above 8, certainly not any TL14 body augments.

Because we weren’t carrying anything that would give us away, we could, and were ordered to, leave bodies where they fell. We didn’t have evac of any type, because Audley's Avengers didn’t use anything but indigenous resources. They didn’t have the money. But, they were on the ground somewhere on Simok, and the Imperium had to stop the Jackels.

The mission came up because the Imperium got some intel. The Rebel nobles had already used an atomic weapon, which was why the Marines were even here. But, there were political reasons the Marines were only guarding the starport. There were influences from Imperial nobles and megacorporations, just not enough to completely take over the prosecution of this conflict. The Pharaoh was still in charge, and hadn’t officially asked for help. There were mercenaries on both sides, like Jökull's Jackels, who were brought in on the rebel side, sub-licensed under Insurgents, Ltd. The Jackels were Sword Worlders. Really vicious and tough.

The intel said they were not following their contract. They were going to do something in line with their own agenda. And that something was to light off another atomic weapon. This would be right down their ally, as it would go a ways to ruin the planet, with the additional bonus of causing strife among merc units and the Imperium, and other chaos. At least that is what the Int Geeks were saying. The Jackels had to be stopped. But, we needed proof, or to use other means to stop them. Which explains why we were grubbing around the outskirts of the Downport, looking for some mercs doing things they shouldn’t be doing.

And because Dromah didn’t have any augments, and was the best they could scrounge up on short notice, he was running around with cloth bandages and cat-gut sutures for his tools. The Purists knew his reputation, which is why they were willing to put their bodies on the line. The young ones also had that ridiculous “invincibility” myth going on in their heads. Tech Level superiority only worked when you had it, and we had lowered ourselves to the level of the natives. Nothing better than cloth armor, and no high-tech toys to see better or detect enemies earlier. The Jackels certainly didn’t care about anyone’s belief in superiority. They had their own myths about which they were nearly fanatical. And they knew how to use their weapons.

The marines had closed in on the Jackel’s location in a warehouse, and attempted to surround it. But, when the first team went in, they got pummeled. The Jackels might be low tech, but they knew tactics to match, and they didn’t miss a thing. Which was why Lapa was in the condition he was in. Dromah could have gotten him back in one piece, but that piece would have been considerably smaller than the one he started the mission with.

What was that?

Dromah had moved on to the next casualty, and as he was applying a bandage, heard a noise behind him.

The Marine teams had moved further into the warehouse, so he should have been alone with the casualties. Lapa wasn’t going to be moving under his own steam ever again, so it wasn’t him. And Dromah didn’t have any of his usual energy toys to deal with problems. Making any noise would likely attract more problems, so the auto-pistol stayed in the holster. Out came the bayonette. Dromah was not the person to get into a knife fight with a hulking Sword Worlder, so quiet and quick was the only way this turned out in Dromah’s favor.

Surprise and speed saved Dromah’s life, and allowed him to take out the much bigger Sword Worlder. Had it been the other way around, or even a fair fight, Dromah wouldn’t have survived. He just didn’t have the size or strength to take out a full-sized soldier. But, the Sword Worlder looked like he was going after the casualties. Not that Lapa would have noticed, but the others were stable, and there were trucks and local hospitals. The local hospitals could get the light wounds patched up until the unit returned to the Navy doctors and care. Then, things would be better. But the casualties had to get that far. That was one Sword Worlder that was going to be asking the angels what hit him.

The team ended up taking out all the Jackels, and they found the atomic weapon. It was almost ready to deploy. Another crisis averted, and the team made its way back to the Downport. All the casualties and bodies were recovered, and nothing that shouldn’t have been, was left behind. That being said, Dromah had lost a man. Dromah made excuses for why Lapa hadn’t made it, but the Navy doc was pretty pissed.

Dromah’s reputation as a miracle worker was the reason he was on the mission. And the doctor was smart enough to see what had been done, and knew what could have been done. He was not accepting of the excuses. But, there wasn’t any proof of wrong-doing, and Dromah had saved everyone else, including a marine that had taken a few through-and-through shots to the lungs. The Doc couldn’t explain that, but the breathing marine was still with them.

The mission was a success, and all the marines had come back, with one fatality. The Higher-ups were happy, and Dromah was promoted. Again. Bad words!