Lieutenant Colonel (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 6) by Jonathan P. Brazee

Author:Jonathan P. Brazee [Brazee, Jonathan P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, War, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Military, Space Marine
Amazon: B013TQ6IIE
Publisher: Semper Fi Press
Published: 2015-08-30T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

“Nice digs,” Colonel Bertrand Nidishchii’ said as he looked around the office.

“This is just the dean’s office. You should see the president’s,” Ryck responded.

“Life in Academia must be nice,” Bert noted. “Maybe we chose the wrong line of work.”

The two friends sat quietly for a moment before Ryck cleared his throat and said, “I was rather surprised when I heard it was you coming for the investigation. You’re not even in Division.”

“Well, about that. The commandant is extremely interested in what happened here, as are many in the government. The St. Regis Brigade’s recent advertising has raised more than a few eyebrows.”

After their defeat, the mercenary company’s bigwigs decided to break tradition and put out an advertisement, even if they insisted it was just a press release, on how their battalion had “held off” not only a Marine battalion, but one commanded by the famous Lieutenant Colonel Ryck Lysander. The slight matter of the claims not meshing with the facts was conveniently ignored, but Ryck’s heart fell as Bert spoke.

“Those grubbing bastards will stoop to anything to try and regain the respect they’ve lost,” Ryck muttered.

“The commandant has taken it personally, and he’s vowed to clear this up before he steps down. We’ve got a PA team going over all the BDA images, and I’ve seen the story boards of what they plan to release. I think you’ll be pleased.”

“What about Papadakis?” Ryck asked, only somewhat mollified by what Bert had just told him.

Lieutenant General Papadakis was the current Director of Marine Corps Operations and was slated to be the next commandant. He considered himself an intellect and innovator. The Raider Battalion had been one of his babies, and he had privately blamed Ryck for the loss of life during the fight on Acquisition. And while the new assault battalion had not been his idea, he had never-the-less honchoed it through, approving the final T/O[12] and T/E,[13] to include accepting the Armadillos. Several messages from others had reached Ryck that Papadakis had blamed Ryck’s tactics for the deaths, not any deficiencies in the Armadillos’ design.

That had pissed Ryck off, even if there was a bit of truth to that. The Armadillos were not suited for assaults against a well-armed opponent. There was no doubt about that. But Ryck had known that before stepping across the LOD. He should have come up with a plan to defeat the simple method that the mercs had used to engage the tracs. But he was damned if he was going to shoulder the blame for a shit piece of gear.

General Papadakis was also Bert’s direct boss. Ryck didn’t know what that inferred. Bert was his friend, but the mission came first, and if Papadakis had given Bert specific orders with regards to Ryck, Bert would have no choice but to obey.

“Let’s just say you are not going to be on his Christmas greetings list. But my boss and the general don’t always see eye-to-eye, and the general convinced the commandant that someone from

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