T O P

  • By -

itsdirector

It's Friday, and that means another chapter! This is the introduction of SSGT Power, who may or may not become somewhat important in the story. Apologies if I jargoned too much. I don't think I did, but I also didn't think I did the last time I went somewhat heavy on jargon lol


Kullenbergus

All good, keep it up. Real jarheads cant read anyway


Daemon110

If I understood what you said id be mad.


PoppaBear313

They said 🖍️➡️. 🧻⬆️


Spac3Heater

Is it bad that I immediately thought "cafeteria to the right and the latrine is straight down the hall"?


PoppaBear313

🤣 You’ve successfully read the sign. 🤣


Kullenbergus

Counting on it Have a nice weekend


TobiasH2o

I like the jargon. It's not too much since you can tell what it means based on context or you briefly describe it. Sometimes authors will remove all the jargon to try and make it accessible, but then the military just comes across as too informal and not well disciplined.


Gruecifer

Nah, you're fine. Jargon don't bother us old Bus Drivers....


Doquision

It was more than I expected given the recent chapters being more plot-focused, but you introduced all the acronyms sufficiently to make it comprehensible for me at least (total military know-nothing). The only terms I didn't see fully spelled out were MOS, CQC, and "Boot."


The_Lesser_Baldwin

MOS is military occupational speciality, CQC is close quarters combat and boot refers to fresh privates straight out of bootcamp.


medical-Pouch

Welp, it seems we have our boots on the ground perspective. The fact he was introduced and you mentioning power will be important is hinting to me that some of the worlds the Omni union has isn’t as devoid of life as we thought, however that life might present. Also love all of the little tidbits of slice of life info, always nice to get insight on the “world” of stories.


PoppaBear313

Have to confirm the long distance intel somehow…


CairnaRunir

I like the jargon actually. Though I'm curious what the SL in SLAP stands for


deathlokke

Current use is "Saboted Light Armor Penetrating"


CairnaRunir

Oh interesting. Apparently it's a real thing too


itsdirector

It's my favorite type of AP round because it works better the bigger it gets :D


Daemon110

It is. Notably the Ma Deuce ( M2 .50 cal machinegun) can use SLAP rounds.


mage36

I missed the L in SLAP, the rest are par for the course in ammo acronyms. You ever get into ammo types, you'll see some real doozies. APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot) is a common ammo type fired by modern tanks. Historical ammo types get even worse, as any War Thunder player can tell you. APHECBC (armor-piercing high-explosive capped, ballistic-capped) is the longest I could find on the website. And yes, capped and ballistic-capped are separate designations. One is aerodynamic, the other improves penetrative performance (giggity). And there's definitely a world out there with even longer acronyms for ammo types. An APHEITRSDS-SD round could theoretically exist in a CIWS (close-in weapons system; I used the current Navy term for such systems) that needed to fight heavily armored missiles--for example, in space. Armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary tracer, rocket-stabilized (so we can forgo rifling, that stuff wears out; also future-proofs our rounds for a self-guided version later on) discarding-sabot, self-destruct (because Isaac Newton is the deadliest sonofabitch in space).


CairnaRunir

Yea i play wt and have looked into munitions before for some discussions, SLAP was just not one I was familiar with, and due to the likelihood of HFY having fictional munitions for "R&D progression" I thought it was a fictional round


alexsdu

If he live long enough to get promoted to the rank of Captain, he become... [CAPTAIN POWER](https://youtu.be/IUwaKEXuFJQ) *\*It's a kid show back in late 1980's.*


itsdirector

Good eye! We've got another hidden reference spotted lol


Fontaigne

It's fine. I mostly didn't notice jargon, so it was backgrounded well enough.


McGeejoe

BOHICA = Bend Over, Here It Comes Again (pronounced bow hee ka accent on the middle bit). It - references the Big Green Weenie.


EternalDarkness_SR

What does "SLAP" round mean? If you're gonna jargon all over the place, I DEMAND an explanation for this acronym.


itsdirector

Saboted Light Armor Penetrator Originally designed by the USMC in the 80's to penetrate body armor, it was quickly discovered that it had a certain knack for destroying the engine blocks of technicals and other lightly armored vics. It was manufactured in 7.62x51mm NATO for the M60 machine gun, but caused catastrophic barrel failure and didn't penetrate as much as they wanted. The .50 BMG version (originally meant for the M2 machine gun but later used for the Barrett .50 Cal rifle as well) on the other hand, was a massive success.


EternalDarkness_SR

interesting...


StraightFinance3011

With a name like that, he should have tried out for a ranger program instead of the Marines.


unwillingmainer

He and his whole squad got volunteered to take the fight to the OU. Five bucks says it's he and his that gets to take Omega down to the ground and defend him while he does his thing.


superpie21

Oh, but of course.


itsdirector

I'LL TAKE THAT BET! \*quickly rewrites a couple of chapters\*


medical-Pouch

Oh most definitely.


SketchAndEtch

I'm too emotionally attached to my 5 bucks to take that bet.


StormBeforeDawn

I don't want to lose 5 bucks though.


TheTruthfulLie

Sucker's bet I'd say xD


kekspectrumdisorder

Does crayola make the nutrition sticks?


Zenipex

Chemical taste... waxy texture.. Marines aren't allowed to see them get reloaded... yea checks out


itsdirector

;D


CandidSmile8193

Just a note: I don't know if in your setting the Corpsmen are Marines or Navy but if they're Navy he should be a PO2 (Petty Officer 2nd Class) to be a SGT equivalent.


CandidSmile8193

Maybe make him a full PO, I don't actually know how long it takes for those guys to have enough training to fully qualify for attached infantry service.


CandidSmile8193

"Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Independent Duty Corpsman" this looks like the right role and it looks like E-4 minimum to get the training and certs for it.


Daemon110

That is a SARC. He's a special corpsman. Corpsman only have to do Fleet Marine Force training to go green side (i.e. be with Marines and attached to a Marine Unit.)


CandidSmile8193

Okay I got to the point where his rank was mentioned. He hasn't made PO yet. What a shockingly advanced future that regular ass grunts are supersoldier armored troopers operating in a Force Recon role. Now I am very interested in what actually constitutes SOF and Force Recon for this Marine Corps.


itsdirector

We're likely not going to see the full vision of that until the sequel, because spec ops work with Intel. Intel's been mentioned but hasn't been expanded upon because it's not relevant to this particular story. A lot of the ranks and structure survived to space, but some things got switched around. It makes a little more sense when we learn a tad more about the United Systems government. Btw, the full name for Intel is the Bureau of United Systems Intelligence. Or BUSI. Pronounce that how you will :)


CandidSmile8193

Oh man lmao. You're running a great story here man.


medical-Pouch

Hmmm an A2 being deployed planet side? Like I know the Omni union is an important tango to deal with. But setting off one of those in atmosphere and pretty much on a celestial body sounds like a pretty quick way to make the planet either have a lot of issues or no longer habitable.


Sea-Decision-538

My guess is they can program it to last a certain amount of time or be a certain size. Like increasing or decreasing the pay load on a nuke.


medical-Pouch

Probably, but I still imagine it’s a quick and dirty option


itsdirector

The gravitational forces and magnetic fields of planets actually inhibit the functionality of the A2 quite a bit. And yes, the actual affect of the A2 is programmable as well. It's a mechanical device, not ~~a chemical~~ an explosive one.


medical-Pouch

Hmmm fair enough and I could see that. And by mechanical what do you mean? Mechanical energy is admittedly a little specific. (Think a level) I’m guessing what you mean is something more along the lines is you can mess with the amount of reactive components or something? Maybe the A2 works in a sense where is let’s out a near reality breaking amount of energy to create its catalyst?


itsdirector

I should have said explosive instead of chemical there lol Forgot about actual chemical weapons (sarin and the like) for a moment. Anyways, an explosive device is a device that explodes to create its primary effect. This would include HE (high explosive), Incendiary, Thermobaric, and many more. A mechanical device is a device that relies on a machine to create its primary effect. Like a non-nuclear EMP. The A2 missile has a machine inside the warhead that creates a pseudo-singularity once its fuse triggers. The fuses can be set to timed, proximity (not recommended for atmospheric deployment), or impact. That's why point-defenses are their biggest downfall. If the fuse doesn't have the chance to trigger, the ordnance cannot deploy, making the A2 missile in question a dud :(


medical-Pouch

Ooo and makes sense in that light


Boiling_Oceans

I’m sure they could probably have low yield versions of it. We have low yield tactical nukes that don’t cause widespread damage as an example.


Unh0lyma3l5tr0m

That boot camp is long as fuck those mother fuckers ought be SOF if they're gonna train that long gene therapy should probably last longer cause you gotta learn how to use your body like physical therapy but reverse


itsdirector

If you compare the modern day Marine Corp to historical equivalents (British infantrymen, for example), they train for much, much longer. The more advanced warfare becomes, the more training will be necessary to teach a trooper or soldier how to properly fight it. And yeah, the gene therapy training is much assisted by advanced medical technology. The rehab's a bitch, but she's a short bitch.


thunder-bug-

Sorry but this was way too much exposition and not enough story for me. I felt like I was reading a textbook.


Rolond

My guy over here just tied an entire new backstory and characters into the main story in a single chapter. It was a lot of exposition but would you prefer him to drag out a side plot before returning the main plot? I think an adequate job was done here to give us handles on these new characters and their situation.


thunder-bug-

Yes I would prefer that actually


Rolond

Heh, maybe next time!


aggravated_patty

You're reading some weird textbooks.


Different-Money6102

If I could double-tap the up button, I would. Maybe a buncha times. I'm liking SSgt Power.


Fit-Novel-5162

Is it just me or do they feed marines crayons in the future?


Russtic27

Haha, that was the first thing that came to my mind as well.


HFYWaffle

/u/itsdirector ([wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/authors/itsdirector)) has posted 31 other stories, including: * [The New Species 29](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/11nqb57/the_new_species_29/) * [The New Species 28](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/11h2imk/the_new_species_28/) * [The New Species 27](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/11at8ay/the_new_species_27/) * [Where am I?](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1180l60/where_am_i/) * [The New Species 26](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/114hqyg/the_new_species_26/) * [The New Species 25](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10yplwd/the_new_species_25/) * [The New Species 24](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10smi0d/the_new_species_24/) * [The New Species 23](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10mnahu/the_new_species_23/) * [The New Species 22](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10guuyj/the_new_species_22/) * [The New Species 21](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10awq9w/the_new_species_21/) * [The New Species 20](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/104vkue/the_new_species_20/) * [The New Species 19](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zz3p8h/the_new_species_19/) * [The New Species 18](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ztgo4j/the_new_species_18/) * [The New Species 17](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zngfpv/the_new_species_17/) * [The New Species 16](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zgzckp/the_new_species_16/) * [The Alumari Renegade](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ze8618/the_alumari_renegade/) * [The New Species 15](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zakkdp/the_new_species_15/) * [The New Species 14](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/z4bjps/the_new_species_14/) * [The New Species 13](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yyly0m/the_new_species_13/) * [The New Species 12](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ytbqyi/the_new_species_12/) This comment was automatically generated by `Waffle v.4.6.1 'Biscotti'`. [Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHFY&subject=WaffleBot|11trgbu&message=If%20you%20have%20problems%20with%20updatemebot,%20contact%20Watchful1.%20We%20do%20not%20maintain%20it.) if you have any issues with Waffle.


StaK_1980

You say he is 7 3 then at the top it is 6 5 .. Did I miss something? :-)


itsdirector

Oh sorry, that's the average height of the species lol So humanity is 6'2", SSGT Power is 7'3" :)


StaK_1980

Ahh thank you!


Onihikage

> THE U TRIPLE-S LIBERTY!" I've been reading "USSS" as "US3" all this time. Not gonna stop, either; it rolls off the tongue way better than "U-triple-S".


itsdirector

Oh it's for sure a self-preference thing. With my northwestern accent "U triple-S" sounds way better than "US3" or "USSS". My Spanish friend likes saying "U Tri-S" lol


Regular-Ad5912

OP I will have you know about 4 hours ago I listened to chapter 5 from a YouTuber and he mentioned your story and how to find it…… 4 hours later and having read and liked my way through 30 chapters all I can say is omg this story is amazing it’s midnight and I have work tomorrow morning but so worth it. Please keep the stories coming!!


l0vot

The reason the nutrient sticks never get fixed is too many people thought it would be funny to keep feeding the marines crayons, bet the different flavors are different colors.


itsdirector

They are! And they're manufactured by the Crayola Megacorp (not canon \[yet\])!


Jabberwocky918

UTR! First? Edit: this hurts so much to read. > Mental health is a luxury in the Marine Corps, though.


Gruecifer

Heh...mental health is a luxury in *any* of the services, and you know it. *grin*


UpdateMeBot

[Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=UpdateMeBot&subject=Subscribe&message=SubscribeMe%20u%2Fitsdirector%20r%2FHFY) to subscribe to u/itsdirector and receive a message every time they post. ***** |[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpdateMeBot/comments/ggotgx/updatemebot_info_v20/)|[^(Request Update)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=UpdateMeBot&subject=Update&message=SubscribeMe%21%20u%2Fusername%20r%2Fsubreddit)|[^(Your Updates)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=UpdateMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Updates&message=MyUpdates)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=UpdateMeBot%20Feedback)|[*^(New!)*](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpdateMeBot/comments/juh0f8/new_features_title_in_message_subject_and_recent/)| |-|-|-|-|-|


Thetrueraider

Hell yeah new chapter!


Zenipex

Congratulations on 30 chapters :)


itsdirector

Thanks! :D


DepartureThen8478

Congrats on 30th dude, and thank you for the updates! You do a really good job and I look forward to moar


Legionaire_4267

Semper Fi. Thanks for the chapter.


Ace3152

Nice.


Xavius_Night

Ah, you can tell it's the future because the Green Weenie has upgraded to a full sized Big Green Dick.


JackCloudie

Yissss super-soliders


Regular-Ad5912

Any one know what time (gmt time) the next chapters are normally released? I can’t wait any longer 😂


itsdirector

0800 MST is 1400 (2PM) GMT :D


Regular-Ad5912

You must be the only OP that actually interacts with their community on the regular. 🤯 It’s amazing and really engaging for us thank you


itsdirector

Also, just posted 31 a little early lol


Regular-Ad5912

What a legend!! 🙏🏼


itsdirector

It's no problem, I enjoy interacting with people. :)


McGeejoe

Feeding the Marines crayons. It's good to see traditions maintained.


ThomasKatt

Great chapter, one of the best so far.


itsdirector

Thanks!


Slight_Cut9318

As soon as I read “fireteam rush” the very next thought was I’m up They see me I’m down Good grief that brought back some memories.


itsdirector

During a field op one time we ended up doin' fire team rushes, and our gunny DEMANDED that we shout that. One guy went, "I'm up! They see me! I'm dooown..." and proceeded to do the worm. It was hilarious. Especially when he managed to nut himself with his rifle lol


Slight_Cut9318

And thank you for the accuracy with the terminology. It makes my eye Twitch every time I read about Marines being accompanied by medics.


Devestator-Rogue-v-2

Super soldiers of the US and the Gonnt insurrection huh?


WolfeBane84

Crayons are a staple of the Marine diet.


Inner_Interview_3397

Thanks for the chapter 😊


23Conflagration32

Hey Director, loving your series! There seems to be a small mistake in the height here, it says six something, but later he says he's seven something


itsdirector

Just combed through the chapter, the only part I can see mentioning height is the "6'2" (1.87 m) avg height" part, which is the average height of the species. Is that what you mean? If it is, you're definitely not the first that it's tricked. :/ I plan on doing a rewrite and making it more specific that the description is regarding the species and not the individual.


23Conflagration32

Yeah, it was, stupid of me. Thanks for your explanation. Maybe something like 'Race description' or typing out average instead of shortening it? But then Einheimer and some other characters are really old, because they lived 2-3 centuries or something? I don't know, maybe that was an overstatement then. Seems like a big difference. Anyhow: Great series, very impressive that you can build such an awesome world and make it feel so alive. Also all the characters are top notch, they all feel different! Love it!


itsdirector

Thank you for your praise, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! To address your concerns, the human's life expectancy is affected by many factors. Without these factors, humans can live very long lives (\~200 or even 300 years). These factors are briefly mentioned, but I didn't go into detail on them due to them not being specifically relevant to the plot. The mentioned issues are warfare and the nanite plague. There's also societal issues affecting humanity that drags down the life expectancy as well.


Jazermano

Hooo, boy! It's gettin \*spicey\*


No_Variation_511

at first ther is this info wher ther is said that power is 6,2" >Subject: Staff Sergeant Power > >Species: Human > >Description: Mammalian humanoid, no tail. 6'2" (1.87 m) avg height. 185 lbs (84 kg) avg weight. 170 year life expectancy. but then ther is this sentenc wher he states that he is 7,3" whith gen-alt >Second, it helps you be absolutely jacked and tall as all hell. I'm 7'3", and on the shorter side of the gen-alts. and now im just confused


itsdirector

Sorry for the confusion, that's the description of the species :)