THE ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT DURING ASSAULT MISSIONS
CASE STUDY: UEE PARTURITION
Analysis of the First on-ship Military CQC Scenario in Man’s History
M-WAT Lessons – Evaluation 4
Fleet Lieutenant Cyrillian, Laban J.
Publishing Date: 12 July 2272
OEA Fleetmen Vs. UEE Holdouts
1. Scenario, Short History
SSVA: Speed, Surprise, Violence of Action. This is what the combatants of the OEA Languish discovered in the grueling sweep-and-clear battle that took place over the course of a week, on a single UEE-era Warship class vessel. For those who do not know, a UEE Warship of that time displaced a space no longer than five-hundred meters, and no taller than three-hundred-fifty. In an open-air combat environment, and on an emplaced enemy, that distance makes an easy shot for any soldier. Within an aether-faring vessel, there is nothing but tight corridors woven upon even tighter corridors of cold steel, where a firing lane is rarely further than twenty meters, and more often than not, well-within five.
The UEE Parturition was one of twelve Warships commissioned by the United Earth Empire between 2189-2193AD. It was just smaller than the UEE Flagship Eminence, and held a revered position among mankind’s fledgling-fleet of aether-faring military vessels. The UEE Parturition was the last hold-out vessel of the defunct UEE government. The vessel mysteriously disappeared on its last mission, only to resurface, seemingly out of thin aether, seventy six years after it was reported missing.
Only one vessel at the time was available to respond to the anomaly, which was Battleship OEA Languish. Languish scanned the ancient UEE vessel, and determining it to be uninhabited they immediately boarded. Unfortunately for all involved the vessel was not uninhabited. It is unknown how this fact was kept secret.
Once boarded first contact was made almost immediately, beginning with the killing of Fleet Commander Byrd. Attempts to reason with the survivors of the UEE Parturition were met with violence. Still, things wouldn’t have gone south as they had, were it not for the remaining UEE Servicemen, having somehow been driven mad, locking the Parturition’s Drive Core into full-drive. This launched the ship into the aether for the duration of the battle. Due to these events, and with dwindling resources, combatants were sealed in a deadly fight for survival, as OEA Fleet reinforcements attempted to track and trail the ghost ship, which had long been thought lost.
After close of mission, the Parturition had been hauled into port for a thorough clean-up before presentation to the Tribune. A Government Contractor played whistle blower with the now defunct “Whispers of Truth” news organization, and managed to slip a camera past screening. In actuality, the camera was slipped on board post-induction. Upon seeing the carnage wrought on the UEE Parturition, and illegally examining ship’s logs, the Contractor confessed he’d felt a sting of conscience, and contacted Whispers of Truth. A camera was then “floated” on board from a rented transport, through a small waste expulsion tube, wherein it was then retrieved by the Contractor and utilized without authorization from the OEA.
This event brought its attention to the public Debtor, and presented future generations of tacticians with the chance to develop new combat doctrine. Such occurrences are few and far between, and, after this event, many jumped at the opportunity. What came about from the battle on the UEE Parturition was something called M-WAT: Movement Within Aetherial Terrain.
2. Tactics
Unfortunately for those involved, then-modern tactics had only world and planet-bound experience to work off. The OEA had just come out of a decades-long conflict on the Earth’s surface. As such, the Ascendancy only trained their fighters in MOUT (Movement Over Urban Terrain). Due to the broad nature of MOUT in its application within standard building construction, combatants found that most of their training did not apply on an aether faring vessel, and had to quickly improvise new tactics after mass casualties were sustained from utilizing insufficient methods.
To any in the OEA, the term “Tunnel Rat” may ring a bell, because after the Parturition, such terms became an SOP. For those uninitiated, a Tunnel Rat is a singular man, generally on the slimmer side, sent forward through a tight space to check for occupants, routes of passage, supply caches, even small bases. Often encountered in these tunnels, are traps, enemy occupants, blocked passages, pitfalls, etc. These tunnels are often no larger than one meter in diameter, and thus sending in more than one Tunnel Rat is counter to combat efficiency. Reports from combatants stated that, often, Tunnel Rats were volunteers — men of a certain violence. When no volunteer was had, it was the smaller members being forced to cast lots. Suffice to say, the casualty rate of the Tunnel Rat was near ninety percent.
Standard CQC procedure called for fallen enemies to be “double tapped” before passing clearing lines. Fleetmen of the OEA Languish quickly discovered that this wasn’t enough. Necessary aether technologies had rendered standard arms insufficient against double hulled Hard Suits and nano-technologies, both which were used by these UEE combatants. Surviving Fleetmen — which were but only a handful — had attested to this much. Due to insufficient penetrative capabilities of then-current arms, often, a combatant’s armor would absorb the killing blow of the bullet, leaving transferred kinetic energy to render them merely unconscious. Repeated occurrence resulted in combatants utilizing boots and blades to confirm kills on downed foes. What surprised the Ascendancy Fleetmen the most, was the advanced level of technology possessed by the defunct United Earth Empire. Before then it was unknown, at least publicly, that the UEE had ever possessed such a degree of advancement. Where they acquired that knowledge is unknown, and is outside the scope of this evaluation.
The UEE Parturition, being by then classified as an ancient vessel, was composed of components which had not been serviced in nearly a hundred years. How those UEE Servicemen managed to survive for that long on existing life support systems is unknown. Beside combating oxygen loss, the final nail in the coffin for the unprepared Fleetmen was the occurrence of loss of level. Sporadically, the Parturition’s Lev-Line would deactivate, taking Fleetmen by surprise and causing them to float out from behind cover during the sudden event. Having believed that the UEE Parturition was empty, the OEA Languish had been docked when the Parturition’s Drive Core was activated. Parturition’s systems would have been umbilicaled to the Languish, and so none of the men had been outfitted with aethersuits equipped with maglocks or extended life support systems. This fact cultivated the development of M-WAT.
Fleetmen found that with loss of level came increased life expectancy of Tunnel Rats and speed of their maneuvers, most traps and pitfalls having been set with a fixed level in mind. On occasion, Parturition’s Lev-Line would incorrectly level the ship, or level some areas opposite of a directly adjacent area. Fleetmen had to get creative, fast. They began probing spaces with small throwable objects. Fleetmen also used solid, fixed and un-fixed objects to propel themselves during loss of level. Even the corpses of fallen allies and enemies alike. Anything to provide the force and momentum necessary to get to safety.
It was here where the known military doctrine of SSVA played a vital role in survival. Fleetmen used their wits, strength, and anything and everything that would give them an advantage over the already emplaced enemy, whom also had the benefit of fighting on their home turf. Doors and tables were used like shields, and welding equipment found on board was utilized to seal passageways and previously cleared rooms. Scrounging, itself, became a tactic of M-WAT, utilizing anything available to gain the advantage.
Thankfully, formulation technologies were not in widespread use during the age of the UEE, if at all, and so Fleetmen had an extreme advantage in this regard – nearly even a handicap, if it were a training scenario. The Obelisk Holo-Mesh can be used for formulating temporary barriers, shields, tethers, and small tools. The Holo-Mesh is the single reason why OEA Fleetmen were able to perform as well as they did, and not all were equipped with one. I say again, the only reason OEA Fleetmen were not immediately wiped out was because of the formulation capabilities of the Holo-Mesh. It is my opinion that all Ascendancy Servicemen should be equipped with an Obelisk Holo-Mesh, or some variation, thereof.
3. Loyalty to Orders and Chain of Command
At the end of the week-long slog through blood and trap infested steel hallways — most not even large enough to fit a heavy armored Minotaur — was a complete surrender of all participating combatants. A truce was initiated verbally after the final exchange of fire, when all ammunition had been exhausted. With nothing more than edged weapons and fists, the truce was verbally agreed to, on the spot. The remaining UEE Servicemen, of which there were only four, agreed to surrender the ship if OEA Fleetmen would retreat to an aft portion. The conditions were agreed to, and OEA Fleetmen retreated.
Beside the ultimate failure to adhere to Ascendancy orders of: “sweep, clear, and command,” of the one-hundred-ten men that pushed through contact to quell the UEE Holdouts, only three survived. During that week of combat, twelve Fleetmen refused to fight, with four of them having gone AWOL, disappearing into the ship, seemingly having cracked under the strenuous mental pressure. Of the men who remained able and willing to fight, all expressed insubordination, which was addressed through direct physical or verbal confrontation, from either officers or peers.
4. Morale
Reports from surviving Fleetmen stated that the combat was the most grueling they’d ever experienced. Mental breakdowns were frequent, and insubordination and desertion ran rampant through the ranks. Combatants state that the tight corridors, creaking groans, and humming of ship functions induced intense paranoia and claustrophobia. Due to the interconnected manner of aether ships, there was no certainty that an area recently cleared would not be re-populated moments later. The enemy had not once elaborated on their hostility. Most had been reduced to inane babbling and mad whispers. Fleetmen assumed the UEE Servicemen were fighting for the sake of their Empire, but discovered that was not the case during an interrogation of a captee. That interrogation was reported to only have further unsettled the Fleetmen.
5. Dangers, Mitigative Techniques
Eyes and ears. These two organs had the highest rate of catastrophic loss for combatants. Eyes, because of a lack of protection from increased amounts of fragmentation due to the all-steel environment and tight quarters. Ears, because of, again, the tight quarters and steel makeup of the environment causing the sound waves to compress and reverberate on all surfaces. The harmful effects of both fragmentation and sound had a profoundly adverse effect upon combatant health in comparison to a terrestrial environment, even an urban one. Ascendancy Fleetmen had early-on removed their helmets, due to the claustrophobic nature of the environment, and inadequate comfortability of the helmets, themselves. For these reasons, it is my recommendation that further research be done on ensuring Ascendency Servicemen have comfortable, fitted equipment.
6. Conclusion
The orders of the OEA Fleet were to sweep, clear, and command. After a week of fighting, this order was ultimately disobeyed. Subsequent Military Tribunes carried on for several years, and would have concluded with a Court Martial for the three remaining OEA Fleetmen, including myself, whom fled the Parturition upon disabling engines. However, due to the extra-ordinary situation, the Tribune decided on pardons and an Honorable discharge for the three surviving members.
Only four UEE Servicemen survived, with one who was alive at the verbal truce perishing due to wounds sustained during the final exchange of fire. The identities and location of the three surviving members of the UEE Parturition are classified.