Lieutenant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 3) by Jonathan P. Brazee Page B

situation were reversed, any wounded Marines would be afforded proper care.  The moral issue trumped tactics.
    “OK, call it in,” he told Doc. 
    He wasn’t just going to call a timeout in the battle, though.
    “Staff Sergeant Mourka, can you get parole from the two Code 3s, then stand by with the Code 1 until he can get casevac’d?” he asked the First Platoon sergeant.
    Ryck knew a Kracivik merc would honor his parole, even if he wasn’t wounded.  The two Code 3’s would pose no problem. 
    “Roger that, sir,” SSgt Mourka responded.  “I’ve got the rest of Second Squad providing security now, and I’ll leave two Marines in here with the mercs.”
    It would still be crowded inside the office, but that freed up Ryck’s Third Squad and Joshua.  Ryck called them in.  The AIs kept trying to firm up the intel, but things were still hazy.  They estimated that there were between eight and 15 mercs inside the two main QC labs.  They seemed to be pretty spread out, probably around the major pieces of equipment.  The mercs would have guessed that Killington would try and protect its assets and make sure the ROIs were limited.
    Ryck needed to keep up the momentum.  He couldn’t let the mercs adjust to the flow.  But Capt Portuno had given him a direct order to get into the building, then assess the situation.  This screamed against all of Ryck’s instincts, but orders were orders.
    With his four key Marines, he quickly went over the newest intel, sparse as it was, and their original plan.  Not much of the plan had to be adjusted, which was both surprising and frustrating.  It was surprising because no plan survives the actual start of a battle, and frustrating because they could have flowed right into the second phase of the assault without hesitation. 
    Ryck’s “assessment” took all of 45 seconds.  The captain may have wanted a more detailed assessment, but Ryck had at least obeyed the letter of the law.  The only change Ryck made was that after First and Second cleared the two main labs on either side of the building with Third in the middle acting as a reaction force, he tasked Third, with Joshua, to clear the environmental lab at the far end of the building.  The sensors were not picking up anything from that area, and Ryck thought that might be a safer opportunity to see how Ariana—and Joshua—would react.
    He was about to give the order to blow the doors into the lab floor when he had a change of heart.
    “SSgt Mourka, I think I need two of your Marines for a little breaching.  Can you spare them?”
    The staff sergeant readily agreed, and a few moments later, two PICS Marines lumbered up, their heads almost touching the ceiling.  Ryck told them what he wanted, and both moved into position.  Ryck put First and Second Squads right off the PICS Marines’ hips.  At his signal, both PICS Marines simply punched out two entries into the lab, then stood aside as Ryck’s two squads poured in.
    Always make your own entrance was the rule, and with simple, non-structural walls separating the office from the lab floor, Ryck knew the PICS Marines would have no problem creating new entrances, and that with no real resistance, there would not be damage to any equipment on the other side.
    For a moment, as the Marines poured in, there was no response.  For only a moment, though.  Just as Ryck was following First in, the mercs opened up.  An automatic weapon opened fire from an elevated position and in back of the lab.  Several Marines were hit before they could get in among some of the bigger pieces of equipment in the room, but no one was taken out.  Their bones had worked as designed. 
    Shadows flitted between the testing equipment as his Marines took them under fire.  Ryck could see sparks as darts rebounded off of plate armor, but enough found their way through, and several mercs went down.  One was down hard in the middle of an opening, yet at least one Marine continued to pour fire