The 122nd
Chapter Three: The Briefing
The elevator doors closed and soon after Bryan entered, he pushed the lobby button. The elevator began to hum and move toward the top. Bryan watched as the numbers went from three to two to one to lobby until finally stopping. As the elevator doors opened, Bryan was greeted by the constant activity of men going in and out of a very large room that had couches and chairs with tables. The room was a lobby and it seemed to be alive with activity. Ahead of him were two glass doors which led outside. There was a concrete pathway starting from the entrance and leading further down to other buildings and facilities which had yet to be explored. To the left of the doors was a room within the main lobby which was accessible only by a door with a keypad. Inside that room was a window and a receptionist of some sort who's sole purpose was to ensure that nothing wrong happened in the lobby. There were about four privates sitting around reading books and chatting with each other quietly about their day. The mood of the room was mellow, quiet, and peaceful and the captain had no intention of disturbing it.
As Bryan made his way outside, he was immediately greeted by a strong gust of wind and a very bright sun. He had forgotten how much he missed the sunlight and his eyes professed it for him. Bryan began following the concrete path as his eyes adjusted slowly to the light. The path led straight and had many branches leading to other buildings on his left and right, but he kept on the main concrete path as it made a left after three buildings. As he continued walking, he looked in wonder at the large metal wall which separated him from the outside world. It was a standard procedure to fortify any new base upon first establishing that base with some sort of fencing or wall as no one could ever tell what would lie out there in the unexplored landscape and wilderness.
Bryan slowed to a stop when he reached the landing pad. On the pad was a large drop-ship with it's landing gear down and a group of soldiers who looked like they were waiting for the rest of the team. It was no surprise that they saluted Bryan as he came within hearing distance. Bryan smiled and saluted back. They then all lined up and stood at attention. Bryan knew that they expected him to be the commanding officer of this squad, but even at his ranking there was still one more person that he did not see among the faces who lined up that would be taking charge of this team of soldiers.
Bryan slowly let his smile fade and said "At ease soldiers."
They all began to relax a little, but stood in the line just as before. After realizing he would have to tell them that there was yet someone still higher than him, he said to them "I'm going to be your commanding officer. However, I don't quite know what this mission is about myself."
He caught a few faces looking at each other in wonder and he frowned hoping not to stir a commotion among the soldiers.
Bryan said "Since he isn't here, we might as well relax."
Bryan stood there waiting as the soldiers seemed to have finally picked up on what he was saying. They slowly began to talk amongst themselves and break the line until after a few minutes, they were all in a group again talking just as they were before. One soldier walked up to him and saluted him. Bryan saluted back as he stood there, taking the defensive attitude toward the soldier. He seemed to be a private like almost all of the rest were. He appeared to be five feet, seven inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. With short blond hair and blue eyes, Bryan wondered if a man this handsome had someone back home waiting for him.
Bryan said in a calm voice, "How can I help you?"
The soldier said "Permission to speak freely, sir."
Bryan replied "Permission granted."
The soldier shot a smile and then said "My name is Brandon. I haven't seen your face before so I thought I'd get a chance to greet you."
Bryan smiled in return with gratitude and replied to the private, "I'm captain Bryan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
It only took a few minutes of his presence there before he sensed another person approaching. The soldiers, once again, resumed their line formation and Bryan stood in front of them again as he had before. The person approached them and as he got closer, Bryan was able to make out the details of this person. By the awards and ranks displayed on his uniform, Bryan was able to identify the person's rank as an admiral. It was a high rank indeed and Bryan began to get a bit stiff at the thought of an admiral accompanying a captain with a squad of soldiers outside the installation. The admiral approached the soldiers with a sense of authority, one that Bryan did not resonate as he walked. Bryan guessed it took many years and a lot of experience to earn that air of authority and he admired him for it.
When the admiral approached the soldiers, he stood about two feet next to him and saluted the captain. Instinctively, Bryan faced the admiral and saluted back. The admiral turned to the rest of the soldiers and salted them. They saluted him back.
The admiral then said in a firm voice after waiting about a minute, "For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is admiral Richard. I am the commanding officer of this installation. It is my best interest to brief you on your mission with the captain here and explain to you the details of what you are about to encounter."
Bryan stood ever so still listening like a hawk. Admiral Richard had that British accent as he spoke. The admiral paused and then continued.
"For those of you who haven't met captain Bryan yet, I will put in a good word for him now. He is competent enough to keep you out of trouble and reliable enough to go to when it all goes down to hell. I want all of you to have the same amount of trust in this officer as you would for any lieutenant that would be accompanying you on this mission."
The admiral took a deep breath in as he paused again and then continued on.
"Today, you will all be venturing out to a remote place on this planet that we cannot get a good map of because of interference with our equipment. This place, from what we were able to make of it, is a forest with a large grassy opening and some sort of natural cave formation. You will be transported via this drop-ship-"
The admiral pointed to the drop-ship without looking away.
"-to that destination and it will be your mission to explore that area, making sure there are no hostile lifeforms or sentient life there. If you happen to see either of those two, I want this squad to act in accordance with procedure. You are NOT to harm the life form - sentient or not - unless it becomes an immediate threat to you or the lives or your squad members. If at all possible, avoid action with anything you encounter. We don't want to have a bloodshed on our hands here."
The admiral gulped and took another deep breath, seeming to imagine the consequences of such a thing.
"No. That is not how I want this to go. With any luck you will just be out there with the grasshoppers and the birds making sure nothing bad is out there. Once you have remained in the vicinity for-"
The admiral paused thinking after that sentence.
"-lets make it for five hours. After five hours, if you do not have anything to report I want you all to return here for debriefing."
The admiral grinned and said to the soldiers, "This is a peaceful mission. It isn't nearly as bad as others you have been on. You boys take care and return in one peace. Is that clear?"
The soldiers shouted in one voice "Yes sir!"
The admiral saluted the soldiers and they all saluted the admiral back before the admiral finally turned to Bryan. Bryan saluted the admiral who in turn saluted him back.
The admiral said to Bryan, "Captain, I realize this is your first mission out here. Take care of these boys. I want them back in one piece. You are to keep in touch with me through the installation. I will be there monitoring the mission and your progress. If anything should happen, let us know. Is that clear?"
Bryan said in a firm voice "Yes sir!"
The admiral subtly smiled and said "Good."
The admiral turned to the soldiers once more. He then turned around and began walking back the way he had come. The captain watched the admiral slowly distance himself further until he finally escaped from the captain's view. Bryan blinked as he starred at the admiral's departure hoping that this wouldn't be a mistake after all...
As Bryan made his way outside, he was immediately greeted by a strong gust of wind and a very bright sun. He had forgotten how much he missed the sunlight and his eyes professed it for him. Bryan began following the concrete path as his eyes adjusted slowly to the light. The path led straight and had many branches leading to other buildings on his left and right, but he kept on the main concrete path as it made a left after three buildings. As he continued walking, he looked in wonder at the large metal wall which separated him from the outside world. It was a standard procedure to fortify any new base upon first establishing that base with some sort of fencing or wall as no one could ever tell what would lie out there in the unexplored landscape and wilderness.
Bryan slowed to a stop when he reached the landing pad. On the pad was a large drop-ship with it's landing gear down and a group of soldiers who looked like they were waiting for the rest of the team. It was no surprise that they saluted Bryan as he came within hearing distance. Bryan smiled and saluted back. They then all lined up and stood at attention. Bryan knew that they expected him to be the commanding officer of this squad, but even at his ranking there was still one more person that he did not see among the faces who lined up that would be taking charge of this team of soldiers.
Bryan slowly let his smile fade and said "At ease soldiers."
They all began to relax a little, but stood in the line just as before. After realizing he would have to tell them that there was yet someone still higher than him, he said to them "I'm going to be your commanding officer. However, I don't quite know what this mission is about myself."
He caught a few faces looking at each other in wonder and he frowned hoping not to stir a commotion among the soldiers.
Bryan said "Since he isn't here, we might as well relax."
Bryan stood there waiting as the soldiers seemed to have finally picked up on what he was saying. They slowly began to talk amongst themselves and break the line until after a few minutes, they were all in a group again talking just as they were before. One soldier walked up to him and saluted him. Bryan saluted back as he stood there, taking the defensive attitude toward the soldier. He seemed to be a private like almost all of the rest were. He appeared to be five feet, seven inches tall and weighed about 145 pounds. With short blond hair and blue eyes, Bryan wondered if a man this handsome had someone back home waiting for him.
Bryan said in a calm voice, "How can I help you?"
The soldier said "Permission to speak freely, sir."
Bryan replied "Permission granted."
The soldier shot a smile and then said "My name is Brandon. I haven't seen your face before so I thought I'd get a chance to greet you."
Bryan smiled in return with gratitude and replied to the private, "I'm captain Bryan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
It only took a few minutes of his presence there before he sensed another person approaching. The soldiers, once again, resumed their line formation and Bryan stood in front of them again as he had before. The person approached them and as he got closer, Bryan was able to make out the details of this person. By the awards and ranks displayed on his uniform, Bryan was able to identify the person's rank as an admiral. It was a high rank indeed and Bryan began to get a bit stiff at the thought of an admiral accompanying a captain with a squad of soldiers outside the installation. The admiral approached the soldiers with a sense of authority, one that Bryan did not resonate as he walked. Bryan guessed it took many years and a lot of experience to earn that air of authority and he admired him for it.
When the admiral approached the soldiers, he stood about two feet next to him and saluted the captain. Instinctively, Bryan faced the admiral and saluted back. The admiral turned to the rest of the soldiers and salted them. They saluted him back.
The admiral then said in a firm voice after waiting about a minute, "For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is admiral Richard. I am the commanding officer of this installation. It is my best interest to brief you on your mission with the captain here and explain to you the details of what you are about to encounter."
Bryan stood ever so still listening like a hawk. Admiral Richard had that British accent as he spoke. The admiral paused and then continued.
"For those of you who haven't met captain Bryan yet, I will put in a good word for him now. He is competent enough to keep you out of trouble and reliable enough to go to when it all goes down to hell. I want all of you to have the same amount of trust in this officer as you would for any lieutenant that would be accompanying you on this mission."
The admiral took a deep breath in as he paused again and then continued on.
"Today, you will all be venturing out to a remote place on this planet that we cannot get a good map of because of interference with our equipment. This place, from what we were able to make of it, is a forest with a large grassy opening and some sort of natural cave formation. You will be transported via this drop-ship-"
The admiral pointed to the drop-ship without looking away.
"-to that destination and it will be your mission to explore that area, making sure there are no hostile lifeforms or sentient life there. If you happen to see either of those two, I want this squad to act in accordance with procedure. You are NOT to harm the life form - sentient or not - unless it becomes an immediate threat to you or the lives or your squad members. If at all possible, avoid action with anything you encounter. We don't want to have a bloodshed on our hands here."
The admiral gulped and took another deep breath, seeming to imagine the consequences of such a thing.
"No. That is not how I want this to go. With any luck you will just be out there with the grasshoppers and the birds making sure nothing bad is out there. Once you have remained in the vicinity for-"
The admiral paused thinking after that sentence.
"-lets make it for five hours. After five hours, if you do not have anything to report I want you all to return here for debriefing."
The admiral grinned and said to the soldiers, "This is a peaceful mission. It isn't nearly as bad as others you have been on. You boys take care and return in one peace. Is that clear?"
The soldiers shouted in one voice "Yes sir!"
The admiral saluted the soldiers and they all saluted the admiral back before the admiral finally turned to Bryan. Bryan saluted the admiral who in turn saluted him back.
The admiral said to Bryan, "Captain, I realize this is your first mission out here. Take care of these boys. I want them back in one piece. You are to keep in touch with me through the installation. I will be there monitoring the mission and your progress. If anything should happen, let us know. Is that clear?"
Bryan said in a firm voice "Yes sir!"
The admiral subtly smiled and said "Good."
The admiral turned to the soldiers once more. He then turned around and began walking back the way he had come. The captain watched the admiral slowly distance himself further until he finally escaped from the captain's view. Bryan blinked as he starred at the admiral's departure hoping that this wouldn't be a mistake after all...