posted
Writing a story for my Sci-Fi/Fantasy Lit class and need a few pointers on some things. I'm not going to give away too much of the plot, but here's a small part of it:
It's set on a planet where a large rural farming settlement has grown in the area surrounding the base of a dormant volcano. Beyond the farmland is dense, unexplored jungle. A large corporation looking to exploit the resources of the jungle (i.e. lumber) sends a survey team on a prospecting expedition into the bush. They disappear when communications go down. Some time later, one member of the team crawls out of the jungle telling wild stories that no one believes (more on that later ) but the possibility of other team member's survival prompts the corporation and a few colonists to call for a search and rescue operation.
The colonial marines, which are based on a nearby planet/system undertake this operation, but not enthusiastically so. (The "planet of damn farmers" has rejected their assistance in the past and they furthermore take the attitude that the corporation should be responsible for it's own people.) Basically, they consider it a nuisance and aren't going to dedicate any more resources to it than are necessary to appease those calling for the operation.
My first question is this: How many people would they send? What would their ranks and organization be? (I envisioned a number of grunts and an officer to oversee them.)
THE OFFICER: She's competent and experienced, doesn't particularly relish the thought of working with ungrateful civilians, but intends to see that she carries out her duties in full. I figure she shouldn't be too high of a ranking officer, but that she'd be resourceful and proficient enough that the Corps would leave the entire operation to her, basically figuring that she could do the job and that the higher-ups wouldn't have to waste their time worrying about her coming crying back to them. What should her rank be? Would Major be too high? Would Lieutenant be too low? (Unless it would make the most sense, I'd rather not have it be Captain because of the confusion with naval terms.)
THE GRUNTS: Numbers? Ranks? Organization?
The detachment of soldiers will be supplemented by a few civilian volunteers and at least one representative from the corporation.
Thoughts?
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Y'know...this sounds an awful lot like some James Cameron shoot-em-up.
Titanic, I think.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Doesn't the number of people sent really depend upon how many troops they have in the first place, how big of a jungle they're searching, how quickly they want to finish the job, &c.? Also, doesn't it depend upon how many characters you want to write? You'll probably need your token "redshirt" who gets killed as soon as the action starts. Maybe an intellectual scientist-type. A gruff "drill sergeant" type. And so on.
I'm not saying you shouldn't pay attention to this sort of thing. Obviously, it wouldn't make sense for them to send a three-star general with 50 soldiers. But it really doesn't make a lot of technical difference whether there are four people, or six. Or whether their leader is a captain or a lieutenant colonel. You're choice should be dictated by what works best for the story.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Y'know...this sounds an awful lot like some James Cameron shoot-em-up.
Titanic, I think.
Quiet, you.
Tim: Yeah, it's just that I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the way military units are organized and what the smallest detachment comprises, etc., and I'd like to be as realistic as possible while still maintaining the dramatic integrity of the piece. I'm doing some googling on the subject now. I just thought there might be people here who would know off the top of their head what would sound reasonable and what wouldn't.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
A fifteen man team under a Lt. sounds about right to me, a nice platoon size. With a sergeant and two corprals to dispence NCO wisdom to the green privates.
Registered: May 2002
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posted
Well, if these are the main characters, it might be kind of hard to write fifteen of them. And a smaller team could, if necessary, be rationalized by the fact that they didn't want to send anyone at all, so they're going to send as few people as possible.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Let me guess who those 4 people would be: a general, a civilian scientist, a sergeant, and a private... The general has his mind elsewhere, the scientist is a beautiful woman, the sergeant is a sadistic butcher, and the private is Our Hero (TM), who is dumb as a rock but nevertheless manages to save the day and get the girl...
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
There is no one right answer. The forces sebt would depend massively on the doctrine and organisation of the military involved; plus the political situation; plus the logistics (if the only starship available to transport them is a brigade sized transport then there may be no economic saving in sending less than a brigade - 'men are cheap, fuel is expensive' is a perfectly valid rationale in a SF universe) and equipment involved (are they searching on foot or from helicopters?).
The military might send as little as a two 'investigators/advisors' who will do little more than ask questions and make suggestions. Or they might send a whole battalion or more if they have one on hand the CO thinks that a 'jungle training exercise' is a good idea.
Looking at historical equivalents can be helpful.Imagine that this was India under the British Empire. What would the Brits send? Probably a squadron of local light horse under a British officer (NCOs might be either British or local).
Searching jungle is very labour intensive. The better the sensors and the faster they can move then the fewer troops are needed. A company on foot with Mk 1 eyeballs is going to find squat. They will know this and hence won't take the mission seriously. OTOH a squad in power armour with tricorder type sensors will think they have a reasonable chance of finding anything that's there.
A platoon sized force or smaller is easiest to write for. Lieutenant to give orders and delberate, the platoon sergeant to gove down to earth advice and snarl and a whole bunch of grunts (most of whom are just cannon fodder, but some have personalities/roles that are easily labelled - the joker, the educated one, the medic, the sharpshooter, the newbie). Yes it's a massive cliche, but this sort of thing always is.
-------------------- "My theories appal you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters and you don't like my tie." - The Doctor
Registered: Mar 1999
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![[Wink]](wink.gif)
) but the possibility of other team member's survival prompts the corporation and a few colonists to call for a search and rescue operation.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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