A New Beginning

******

The 'Jean-Paul' docked at Amethyst station with the help of four 'tugs', the small powerful ships pulled the massive cruiser into the docks. The huge engines of the 'Jean-Paul' being far too powerful for the delicate docking procedure.

Sargent Hank Choi and newly promoted Corporal Jake Gibbons walked along the corridors of the station to the central barracks where the promised replacements were.

"Think we'll get any vets Sarg?" asked Gibbons hopefully.

Choi shook his head in the negative, "Already seen their files. All new and sparkly eyed." His tone slightly resigned as he hadn't expected to be getting experienced men.

Gibs said nothing, he knew that once the squad was back up to deployable size they would be dropped back to Uraisa Six, now classed as a hostile planet. Twenty was the minimum number, which meant that would make nearly all of those deployed raw troopers.

The only mission they had been on since Uraisa Six was a simple supply run, anything else was against regulations with only five of them, Jess didn't count.

They passed a few other Marines as they got closer to the Barracks, professional looking men and women that respectfully nodded to them as they passed.

Choi presented his papers to the desk Sargent, the Marines were one of the few groups that still used paper, almost everything else was done by computers.

The Desk jockey read the requisition order and grunted unhappily, Choi had found that over the years of his service, desk soldiers were a dour and unhappy lot.

"Follow the yellow line, room eight." The sad looking fellow said with a bored tone.

"Thanks." Said Choi with a polite smile, just to piss the guy off.

They marched down the brightly lit hallways and scanned the door numbers as they did.

Room Eights door was open and the young men and women inside were making the usual noise of low chatter, laughter and the occasional 'Bing' of Seraphim, the game everyone played at some point in their lives.

"TENNNNHUT" shouted Gibs as they walked through the door.

Causing a mad scramble to stand at the end of their assigned bunks, backs ramrod straight and faces as blank as they could manage. All staring straight ahead as if their very lives depended on it.

Choi sauntered down the aisle, looking straight ahead yet seeing everything.

Most were dressed, some were in various stages of undress, one young man was in a towel with still wet hair, a young girl had been interrupted while dressing, standing erect in just her bra and knickers.

Another was fully naked and was obviously a PG as she was as hairless from the neck down as Jessica was. Her defect was obvious as she stood an easy six feet tall and had tiny breasts that would have been deemed too small for a PG.

Choi was a bit surprised, it was highly unusual to have two PG's in one squad.

He stopped in front of her. "what's your name girl?" he snapped out.

"278. Sargent." She replied without hesitation.

Choi walked on and stopped next to a ginger haired young boy with a florid face full of freckles. "Name." he demanded.

"Hicks, Sargent." The boy bellowed out.

Choi grimaced, as he stopped in front of a girl that looked about fifteen, he knew she wasn't, but by god she looked it.

"Name."

"Ramirez, Sargent." She shouted in a surprisingly strong voice.

He continued on to the end of the billet and then marched back along between the scared looking kids, that's how he saw them, a bunch of kids, not one older than nineteen and looking like they should still be in school.

There was one other problem, there was only fifteen of them, the PG didn't count so that still left him a body short.

Choi suspected someone had pulled a fast one on him as he pulled up the transfer records on his handheld.

It took a bit of digging, but there it was. At some point between earth two and Zulu Station three troops were reassigned and the PG was added.

It was a smart move, he needed fifteen and as far as the manifest was concerned he had fifteen. But in reality he had fourteen Marines that actually counted for deployment purposes.

Choi handed the readout to Gibs who saw the underhand juggling and swore, "Fuck me Sarg, Caps going to have a fit."

Choi nodded but didn't reply straight away, in the back of his mind his idea for Jessica was falling into place even more smoothly with this development.

Gibs watched his Sargent's face for any clues, but it was unreadable as he looked at the young men and women he would have to turn into a real Marine Recon Unit.

The silence was long enough to become uncomfortable for everyone but Choi.

Gibs blew out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding when Choi spoke.

"Sort them out, packed and racked. I want them onboard the 'Jean-Paul' ASAP." He turned on his heel at took a few strides away before stopping and turning back.

"And Gibs...give 278 a fucking name." he growled out before turning back and marching away with purposeful strides.

Gibs turned to look at the youngsters who were still rigidly stood at Attention. "At EASE." He shouted.

"Okay boys and girls, you heard the man. PACK it UP, every single one of you worthless cunts need to show me how a Marine gets his shit together in less than five." His voice thundered through the room.

He watched with a stony face at the ensuing chaos. While he thought about what to call the new PG, he had never named a person before and wanted to do right by her.

*****

Jessica and Harris ran through some CQC moves, she hadn't had much training in unarmed combat or using her standard issue Ceramic blade.

Harris was one of the best, he had won the battalion championship four years running now and pushed her hard.

"You have great balance Jess, but stop looking at just my blade, you need to see not only me, but also know and use your surroundings." He said at one point.

So far he was surprised at how fast she was learning, she seemed to be a sponge, soaking up everything he said and taught her, rarely needing to be shown or told twice.

She had even managed to get through his guard once.

The bunk rooms door banged open and in marched the new recruits.

Harris glanced over at them in surprise and Jess let out a squeal of fright as she stabbed her blade into his thigh.

"FUCK." He yelled and looked down at the knife sticking out of his leg.

Jessica scrabbled for her sealant, she had thought he would block her, but his nanosecond of distraction had let her thrust past his guard.

Harris waved her off. "It's fine, happens all the time in the ring." He said through gritted teeth. "Just help me to medical."

Jess got under his arm and helped him hobble out of the bunk room as the new recruits gapped at the sight of them.

Hicks looked at Gibs, "erm Corp, did a PG just stab that guy?" he said with a confused look.

Gibs glared at him, "NO, a MARINE just stabbed that guy."

He looked at their confused faces and knew that if he didn't know Jessica like he did, he would be looking a bit the same way.

It was best to get things straight, he didn't want one of them to try anything with Jess, the put down by Choi or any of them would be harsh.

"Get ONE thing straight in your heads, Jessica IS a Marine. She gets ALL of your respect and at NO point do you treat her as a PG."

They all looked incredulous.

Gibs snorted and his nostrils flared angrily. "DO YOU GET ME?" he screamed at them.

"WE GET YOU Corporal." They shouted back automatically.

Their training kicking in and even if they didn't understand it yet, they would obey the new rule he had just shoved down their throats.

"Susanne, front and centre." Said Gibs at the newly named PG.

She hesitated, unused to having a name.

"NOW SUSANNE." He yelled at her.

She lept forward and saluted smartly. "Yes Corp?" she said in an unsteady voice.

Gibs rolled his eyes, she was nothing like Jess. He could tell straight away she wasn't anywhere near as smart and probably thought that she liked being used as a sex toy.

"Take bunk six, from now on you will learn to be a Marine." He growled out.

Bunk six was next to Jessica's and it placed her two bunks away from any of the newbies.

She smiled vacantly, "Yes Corp." she said in her squeaky voice.

Gibs glared at the rest of them, "Stow your shit people, you have Sim Combat in twenty."

The youngsters ran for the bunks and claimed the ones that were available, the brightest and smartest of them picking ones near to the veterans.

*******

"You can't be serious." Said Captain Rawlings.

"I can't just MAKE her into a PFC, Christ, the shit would hit the fan." He continued as he looked up at Sargent Choi.

Choi stood 'At ease' in front of the Captain. "She's better than a lot of Marines Sir and until I get a real replacement, Regs won't let us deploy." He said doggedly for the third time.

Rawlings scrubbed his hand through the stubble of his hair. He thought again about Choi's idea.

Technically it could work, declaring 186 as KIA and then putting her on the rota as a planetary recruit was possible, just seriously fucking illegal.

"Hank, we do this... shit me, we are skating really fucking close to the edge." Rawlings sighed out.

"Jerry, let's be honest, we got screwed by the company, YOU need a Recon unit. I need a full platoon." Choi said with all honesty and a frank look on his face.

"YEAH, yeah, problem is...this makes her human, you DO realise what THAT means?"

Choi shrugged, "So what, we lose sixty percent of our Marines in planetary wars, how long do you think she will last?"

Choi was lying, he had every intention of making sure she didn't die, but his figures were accurate enough to sway.

Rawlings rubbed at his chin, and his next words made Hank Choi smile inwardly.

"Fine, but she needs a full name, next of kin and all that shit. Where are you going to get that?"

Choi lent forward and placed an ID card on Captain Jerry Rawlings desk. "Meet Jessica Davis, orphaned on Helicon Seven, no living relatives and planetary Volunteer to join the Marine Corp."

Rawlings picked up the card with a smile, "How legit is this?" referring to how deep the coding went.

Choi grinned, "Twelve generations, with ties to the now extinct Davis family, it's the very best."

Rawlings nodded, he knew the price of an ID like this and wondered just how many of Choi's men had had to chip in. Still, he needed a Recon team and this was the best answer for now.

"Okay Hank, but this bites us, I'm going to say I know fuck all."

Choi shrugged, "I know that, just make her a Marine, we all die sometime."

Rawlings laughed at that, Choi was living proof that some Marines were unkillable.

A few keystrokes and it was done, 186 was dead, Jessica Davis was born and a Marine.

"Get the fuck out of my Office Sargent, you have planet fall in one week." Said Rawlings with a broad grin.

Choi saluted smartly, "SIR, YES SIR." He said and then turned on his heel in proper military fashion.