A Lecture On Fighting On Dante To Militia Recruit Unit 0986-77 - Dante 899
By Captain T.R.Harcon

" OK your sorry buncha pukes it's time to learn just how easy it is to die on this planet and not just with the help of any of the opposing company forces. The environment of this place doesn't have a cause, it'll just kill you for the hell of it.

Rule One, your suit is your friend. Abuse your suit, forget to maintain it or change the filter cartridges in your helmet and it'll kill you quicker than you can think. Know how many guys on the lines I've seen die 'cos their suit systems jammed or they were too lazy to patch up minor damage ? Too many that's what. It's no good having a weapon if the feedback systems in your gloves quit on you and you can't pull the trigger. You'll fight in that armour, live in that armour, sleep in that armour and by the end of your first week on the line most of you will die in it, so look after it..! The company didn't pay out all that money just so you could have a made to measure coffin. On this hell hole, that tries to pass itself off as habitable to humans, the weather, atmospheric dust and extremes of temperature will do all they can to try and get you systems to break down, freeze up or malfunction. So learn how to keep that Crackshot maintained 'cos you won't find many suit techs hanging around when your down the bottom of a shell hole up to your waist in mud with a systems crash. Filters are vital to your survival so check them daily and when you can afford it have your suit fitted with it's own internal air system. Current standard issue filters ain't catching all the biologicals in the atmosphere these days and anyway when your in the middle of a sandstorm trying to breath through your helmet vents feels like having a sodden towel shoved down your throat. Also a lot of the bio weapon and chemical crap from the main battle fronts stays up in the atmosphere, then get washed down in the rain these days. So keep your helmet on when it downpours or your really gonna know what it means to have a bad hair day.

Rule Two, never lose your weapon and never mistreat it. Like your suit it's the only thing between you getting shipped home in a box, only the company don't bother going to the trouble of shipping you home, they'll just kick you in the nearest ditch along with the other dumb ass KICs. If it comes down to having to rely on those 603 pea shooters your all carrying 'cos your Warmonger quit, then you are well and truly up shit creak. Now I ain't knocking the 603, it's a great gun for the ladies or plugging civvies with on Mort, but you try one on a suit of Sarge and it ain't even gonna feel it and it sure as hell won't stop it pulling your head off. My advice, buy yourself a decent backup weapon as soon as you can, bet you'll seen them Marines around the base, ever wonder why they carry. 50 CAL Blitzers ?? Think about it. And don't just learn those weapons maintenance drills, I mean really learn them, you need to be able to put that Warmonger back together with your toes, in a force ten gale with the ghost of Commander Adams breathing down you neck if you want to survive here on Dante.

Rule Three, never mess with anything that could be booby trapped. I ain't just talking about the obvious stuff here like dud shells and out in the minefields, anything and I mean anything you come across on a battlefield could be blow up in your face. I've lost count of the number of stupid ass grunts I've seen getting themselves blown up messing with Thresher Tech rifles or suits 'cos they thought they'd get a nice bonus from R&D. Messing with anything is usually not good for your health on Dante, especially out in the old battle zones where who knows what the hell your gonna find.

Rule Four, never count on electronics, nav gear or com equipment functioning correctly when your in the field. All of the above are guaranteed to go on the fritz the instant your life is on the line. So don't go relying on sector command getting that request you put for air support just when you need it and pulling you balls out the fire. Chances are all they got is static. Likewise for the most part trying to navigate from sat data or GPS will have you walking off a cliff or into a Thresher trench rather than where you want to be. Guys who go running around in zero visibility following the coordinates off one of them things don't tend to last very long. The same goes for driving, if you can't see where your going it's probably better not to go anywhere and if you go blundering about in the middle of a sand storm chances are you'll end up getting blown away by some trigger happy 'Shark Hunter' MBT crew who can't see shit either.

Rule Five, never count on Medevac pulling you. All the guys who took non fatals and though they'd wait it out till a nice comfy ambulance chopper came along are currently pushing up the KIC averages. In this war if you need something done, do it yourself and that includes patching yourself up. Military theory says a wounded man is more of a drain on resources than a dead one, well you can forget that one 'cos on Dante, company policy is if you get wounded you get left and stuff the theory. I've seen guys amputated their own limbs in the field, rather than wait for medevac to arrive, and survive. And anyway whatever you loose Karma can stitch it back or grow you a new one, well most of the time anyway...

Rule Six, never volunteer for anything......! It's usually a bad idea....