treecats who bond with Marines

we know by know what happens when a cat is bonded to navy personnel. if the ship goes into combat then they either use their own skin suit or a life support box.

but what does a marine do with their 'cat?

ok again if it is a ship fight then the previous options apply but if it a boarding or planetary combat?

does the cat allow itself to be left "safe" in orbit possibly hundreds of miles from their person? given how separating a cat and his person causes both serious pain I can see that being very hard on the pair.

I suppose a ground HQ could be set up and the cat could stay there, but again HQ may be quite a distance from where the human is.

as combat is so dangerous I can't see the 'cat being allowed to accompany their human into battle (try to save the treecat marine jokes until at least page 2 of the thread please!).

I would expect you'd get reclassified to a specialty where it doesn't cause issues for you and your cat. It's pretty much impossible to not separate them for possibly weeks if they were in a line unit, and even in training you'd be routinely separated for days.

Dauntless wrote:we know by know what happens when a cat is bonded to navy personnel. if the ship goes into combat then they either use their own skin suit or a life support box.

but what does a marine do with their 'cat?

ok again if it is a ship fight then the previous options apply but if it a boarding or planetary combat?

does the cat allow itself to be left "safe" in orbit possibly hundreds of miles from their person? given how separating a cat and his person causes both serious pain I can see that being very hard on the pair.

I suppose a ground HQ could be set up and the cat could stay there, but again HQ may be quite a distance from where the human is.

as combat is so dangerous I can't see the 'cat being allowed to accompany their human into battle (try to save the treecat marine jokes until at least page 2 of the thread please!).

Interesting question.


Certainly before Paul inspired his relatives to invent the skinsuit for 'cats the only physically possible options were to ride out combat in a survival module (which just can't practically be brought into infantry combat) or have no environmental protection. That's very risky on most missions, and flatly impossible on some (EVA boarding, or the extreme HALO power-armor jumps).
Once skinsuits became avalible it's not so impossible for a 'cat to come on the mission. But for most missions they'd be a liability. Good as their senses are they don't help against enemies using radar, thermal, or other advanced sensors in a more open environment. So hopefully the 'cat would still be willing to stay out of the dangerous environment where it can't help (and might increase risk to it's partner)


Now there are some kinds of missions where a 'cat would be very useful. Anything where you're doing close quarters search and clear the 'cat's ability to detect human mind glow could provide useful intelligence before the marines entered (or stuck sensors past) doors. I seem to recall that the ability to feel mindglow isn't limited to line of sights, so the 'cats could sense people hiding in the next room or two. Signalling their marine could be useful intel - even if they try to stay out of the direct combat.

But I don't know if the Marines have updated their policies to allow the 'cats in some combat situations. Though I assume they were always allows to be present for prisoner interrogation afterwards.

Jonathan_S wrote:

Dauntless wrote:we know by know what happens when a cat is bonded to navy personnel. if the ship goes into combat then they either use their own skin suit or a life support box.

but what does a marine do with their 'cat?

ok again if it is a ship fight then the previous options apply but if it a boarding or planetary combat?

does the cat allow itself to be left "safe" in orbit possibly hundreds of miles from their person? given how separating a cat and his person causes both serious pain I can see that being very hard on the pair.

I suppose a ground HQ could be set up and the cat could stay there, but again HQ may be quite a distance from where the human is.

as combat is so dangerous I can't see the 'cat being allowed to accompany their human into battle (try to save the treecat marine jokes until at least page 2 of the thread please!).

Interesting question.


Certainly before Paul inspired his relatives to invent the skinsuit for 'cats the only physically possible options were to ride out combat in a survival module (which just can't practically be brought into infantry combat) or have no environmental protection. That's very risky on most missions, and flatly impossible on some (EVA boarding, or the extreme HALO power-armor jumps).
Once skinsuits became avalible it's not so impossible for a 'cat to come on the mission. But for most missions they'd be a liability. Good as their senses are they don't help against enemies using radar, thermal, or other advanced sensors in a more open environment. So hopefully the 'cat would still be willing to stay out of the dangerous environment where it can't help (and might increase risk to it's partner)


Now there are some kinds of missions where a 'cat would be very useful. Anything where you're doing close quarters search and clear the 'cat's ability to detect human mind glow could provide useful intelligence before the marines entered (or stuck sensors past) doors. I seem to recall that the ability to feel mindglow isn't limited to line of sights, so the 'cats could sense people hiding in the next room or two. Signalling their marine could be useful intel - even if they try to stay out of the direct combat.

But I don't know if the Marines have updated their policies to allow the 'cats in some combat situations. Though I assume they were always allows to be present for prisoner interrogation afterwards.

Are there any bonded Marines? I don't think we've ever seen one in the series.

But it is clear that there is no way a marine could do a lot of the things he/she has to while carrying a treecat. Frankly it would add a huge weight in terms of carrying the cat and supplies for it.

And there would be now way to carry them into a battle. Or at least not until Paul Tankersly's invention. And with a bubble helmet, they lose the use of their teeth, a formidable weapon. Not to mention the problem of how well their claws would do against armor.

This is one that probably is unanswerable unless RFC chimes in.

ldwechsler wrote:Are there any bonded Marines? I don't think we've ever seen one in the series.

IIRC, the cat that helps Michelle with interrogations is bonded to a Marine.

Weird Harold wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:Are there any bonded Marines? I don't think we've ever seen one in the series.

IIRC, the cat that helps Michelle with interrogations is bonded to a Marine.

You remember correctly:

Shadow of Freedom, Chapter 24 wrote:The admittance signal chimed, and Michelle Henke glanced over her shoulder at Master Sergeant Massimiliano Cognasso. Master Sergeant Cognasso—Miliano to his friends—was scarcely accustomed to hobnobbing with flag officers who also happened to be fourth in line for the imperial throne. He was, however, a twenty-T-year veteran of the Royal Manticoran Marines, and while he might not have been precisely comfortable, he didn’t seem all that distressed, either.
Nor did the real reason for his presence seem especially flustered. The treecat on Cognasso’s shoulder had his head up and his ears pricked as he turned to look at the inner side of the cabin hatch, but although the very tip of his fluffy tail was kinked up in a question mark, it was also still and alert. There were exactly two treecats in Tenth Fleet, as Michelle had made it Gervais Archer’s business to discover. That was actually an amazingly high number, given how few treecats adopted humans, but only Cognasso and Alfredo had been close enough for Gervais to get them aboard HMS Artemis in time for this meeting.

Italics are the author's.

Vince wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:
IIRC, the cat that helps Michelle with interrogations is bonded to a Marine.

You remember correctly:

Shadow of Freedom, Chapter 24 wrote:The admittance signal chimed, and Michelle Henke glanced over her shoulder at Master Sergeant Massimiliano Cognasso. Master Sergeant Cognasso—Miliano to his friends—was scarcely accustomed to hobnobbing with flag officers who also happened to be fourth in line for the imperial throne. He was, however, a twenty-T-year veteran of the Royal Manticoran Marines, and while he might not have been precisely comfortable, he didn’t seem all that distressed, either.
Nor did the real reason for his presence seem especially flustered. The treecat on Cognasso’s shoulder had his head up and his ears pricked as he turned to look at the inner side of the cabin hatch, but although the very tip of his fluffy tail was kinked up in a question mark, it was also still and alert. There were exactly two treecats in Tenth Fleet, as Michelle had made it Gervais Archer’s business to discover. That was actually an amazingly high number, given how few treecats adopted humans, but only Cognasso and Alfredo had been close enough for Gervais to get them aboard HMS Artemis in time for this meeting.

Italics are the author's.

OK, they do have one. But I have no idea how it could work in terms of combat. The treecat would have to wait until the fighting is over to rejoin Cognasso. Either that or there was tech to handle it that the author didn't mention...which would be a surprise since we know that Tankersley did design a special outfit for Nimitz. Since that time, the treecat could have gone along but might well have been limited.

ldwechsler wrote:

OK, they do have one. But I have no idea how it could work in terms of combat. The treecat would have to wait until the fighting is over to rejoin Cognasso. Either that or there was tech to handle it that the author didn't mention...which would be a surprise since we know that Tankersley did design a special outfit for Nimitz. Since that time, the treecat could have gone along but might well have been limited.[/quote]

My guess, since the Sergeant is specifically mentioned as a twenty year veteran, is that he bonded with his treecat after he'd been in the Marines for some years.

Given the Navy regs allowing treecats and their adoptees to stay together almost certainly apply to Marines as well, that would mean the Marines would probably do something similar to what happens when treecat adoptees need 'maternity leave'. They place the Marine adoptee in entirely necessary posts which are less front-line. Since Master Sgt Cognasso is in Tenth Fleet, that might well include shipboard posts, interrogation etc.

We also know, from the Torch series, that having a treecat is very highly regarded for security officer type posts. I doubt the M Sgt is doing any drops in hostile areas, but he's very likely heavily involved in the security duties Marines are used for.

Bluesqueak wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:

OK, they do have one. But I have no idea how it could work in terms of combat. The treecat would have to wait until the fighting is over to rejoin Cognasso. Either that or there was tech to handle it that the author didn't mention...which would be a surprise since we know that Tankersley did design a special outfit for Nimitz. Since that time, the treecat could have gone along but might well have been limited.

My guess, since the Sergeant is specifically mentioned as a twenty year veteran, is that he bonded with his treecat after he'd been in the Marines for some years.

Given the Navy regs allowing treecats and their adoptees to stay together almost certainly apply to Marines as well, that would mean the Marines would probably do something similar to what happens when treecat adoptees need 'maternity leave'. They place the Marine adoptee in entirely necessary posts which are less front-line. Since Master Sgt Cognasso is in Tenth Fleet, that might well include shipboard posts, interrogation etc.

We also know, from the Torch series, that having a treecat is very highly regarded for security officer type posts. I doubt the M Sgt is doing any drops in hostile areas, but he's very likely heavily involved in the security duties Marines are used for.[/quote]

That makes sense but Henke had to have Archer "reach out" to get the guy. You'd think he would be pretty much at hand since the top intelligence folk should be near the boss.

I have a feeling that will be even more true now that treecats who are not bonded will join the fleets.

ldwechsler wrote:OK, they do have one. But I have no idea how it could work in terms of combat. The treecat would have to wait until the fighting is over to rejoin Cognasso. Either that or there was tech to handle it that the author didn't mention...which would be a surprise since we know that Tankersley did design a special outfit for Nimitz. Since that time, the treecat could have gone along but might well have been limited.

Tech suitable for a multi-millionaire to afford to indulge in.