“...and then they just drove it through the wall, Captain? Is that your report?”
“Yes sir. The Steel Cap unit employed a tactical breach utilizing the HOG assigned to them.”
Kaz had to stifle a chortle as Captain Reynolds gave his briefing to Arty who sat behind his desk looking at the laptop before him. The pampered Lieutenant Colonel looked like he’d just sucked on a lemon but quickly schooled his expression into that plastic smile he was so famous for.
“Understood, Captain Reynolds. I appreciate your candor in this matter,” Arty replied as he tapped something into his laptop. “Speaking off the record, while they are outside my chain of command, I do wish they would at least act like soldiers.”
“Agreed, sir. They’re quite unpredictable, sir.” Reynolds knew that though Arty had “spoken off the record”, he was a stickler for protocol anyway. Kaz, standing a few paces behind him, kept her mouth shut because she had some words that were not “protocol-approved” to describe the Steel Cap’s actions. They were fanatics, dangerous frat boys with pretty uniforms and a mandate from the government to do whatever they thought was right. She couldn’t even dream of the chaos they’d cause in a more dangerous mission.
“Well... all’s well that ends well, Captain. I am keeping them with your unit but I’ll be sending a strongly worded email to their commanding officer, I assure you.” Kaz resisted the urge to roll her eyes; as if a “strongly worded email” would do anything.
“Thank you, Colonel.” Reynolds said crisply. Kaz marveled at his ability to play military politics and constrain himself. She would have flipped Arty the bird, kicked over the potted plant next to him, and popped a squat in the corner to let him know what she thought of them assigning a Steel Cap squad to their unit.
“I appreciate the difficulty they, and the delays in the arrival of your equipment, have caused. However, you did an exceptional job dealing with the insurgents.”
“They were insurgents, sir, right?” Kaz asked and Arty looked at her like it was the first time he had noticed her.
“Y-yes, Lieutenant.” he said, caught off guard. “Our MPs interrogated them. Between their confessions and the cache of weapons, we’re sure they’re the real deal.” There was a softness in Arty’s normally prim and proper expression, like he understood what was going on behind Kaz’s eyes. Maybe there was more to him that Kaz gave him credit for.
“Thank you, sir,” she said back.
“Now, Captain. Onto the matter of your next assignment. I want your unit to get a little rest for the next two days, but then we’ll have you run a shakedown on your squad’s full compliment. The Perths should be in by then and we’ll have the full roster of personnel.”
“Aye, sir. Thank you, sir.” Reynolds said crisply.
“Oh, and Captain... go get ‘em!”
~ ~ ~
“Does he always do that?” Kaz asked once they were far enough away from Arty’s office for him to hear.
“Do what?” Reynolds asked, having been lost in his own internal dialogue, no doubt about the upcoming arrival of their full complement.
“That whole ‘go get ‘em!’ thing.” Kaz said, mocking the fist pump gesture he gave.
“I guess? I can’t say I really noticed. He is kind of an odd duck.”
“You don’t recall a colonel pumping his fist and giving lines like he’s from a goddamn anime?”
Reynolds shrugged and rubbed his bald head subconsciously. “No, not really. I mean, now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ve noticed him give that line a few times, but he does so many other weird things that it doesn’t register on the ‘weird things Colonel Artem does’ meter.”
“What could be weirder than that?”
“Well, he goes for power walks at 2 AM while speaking positive affirmations to himself while two aides follow behind him.” Kaz snorted at that.
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, and he keeps a pet guinea pig.”
“Why is that weird?”
“Oh, it’s not the guinea pig that’s weird. It’s the way he dresses it up in military uniforms, takes pictures of it, and puts them into his power point presentations.” Kaz stopped walking, giving Reynolds a disbelieving glare.
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“You’re fucking with me, right?”
“Honest to god. And the outfits are really detailed. Like that man has a real talent with a sewing machine.”
“Get out of here.”
“Nope. We think he thinks they ‘lightened them up’ or something, but it’s really jarring when a guinea pig with a hand-sewn mini beret and a plastic rifle from a toy shows up on a slide evaluating the infiltration plan of a suspected Mithrian stronghold.”
Kaz let out a barking laugh. “Dude is psycho.”
“I think he’s just... ill-fit for command.”
“Strong words coming from an uptight guy like you.”
“You know what I mean, Kaz. Like, he is for sure somebody’s son.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know. I got to see a little of his records at one point. Mostly postings near the Arkadynets. Moved him around a lot.” Postings near the capital of Arkadynets were generally either for instructors, political positions, or bureaucratic ones. If Arty got set up as the commander of Starymost base near the front, either they were running really low on people at his rank or they wanted the base to have a political appointee at the helm, possibly both.
“Well, let’s get some shuteye, Kaz. Your fang is way ahead of us; I heard they sealed him up in the basement this morning.”
“Yeah and he absolutely hates it.”
“Perfect. Couldn’t be happier about that,” Reynolds said with a tired smile.
“Yeah, I get a certain joy in torturing the thousand year old vampire. It’s like a hobby. I even had them place a rose on the lid of his coffin to make it feel like home for him,” Kaz said sweetly, knowing from the old church that it probably sealed him in. Oh, was Yevhen going to be grumpy when he woke up...
~ ~ ~
“Attention!” Lieutenant Kory said as Captain Reynolds walked into the hangar bay, followed by Zora and Kaz. The work crews stopped their work on the Perths, though the infantry were already in formation. This was the first gathering of the unit command had set up for them.
“At ease,” Reynolds replied, standing before the gathered soldiers. “If you have not been briefed, I am Captain Wojciech Reynolds. This is my aide Ensign Zora Zelenko and Lieutenant Kazimiera Mazur. We’d like to welcome you all to the 1st Recon-Armor Platoon, Taskforce Starymost. They gathered us here for one thing and one thing only - to hunt vampires.” While there was no muttering, there was some uncomfortable shifting. All the enlisted men and women of the new reinforced platoon knew that going up against fangs was a death sentence, but they were disciplined enough to say anything out loud.
“Now, I know what you're all thinking. Reynolds here has lost his damn mind and throwing a bunch of our best and brightest against a bunch of blood-sucking supermen is just going to result in a lot of bodybags.” There were a few low chuckles in response to that. “Well, I may have my moments where I am less than on top of things, but this isn’t one of them. You see, Command has decided to fight fire with fire and gifted us with a little toy. Lieutenant Mazur?”
Kaz grimaced but nodded and the shadows behind her congealed into the smirking form of Yevhen.
“How ya doing, kids?!” the vampiric asshole said, extending his arms to either side in mock welcome. That got their attention and a few soldiers stepped back or looked nervously at one another.
“That’s right! Lieutenant Mazur here bagged herself a fang! Pacted in a moment of utter desperation but now we’re going to use her lemons to make lemonade. He’s a ripe asshole but he’s a ripe asshole who kills other fangs. How does that sound? We’re going to suit up, clip a leash onto this fang, and use him to break the back of Mithris until either he dies, Lieutenant Mazur dies, or we all die trying. How does that sound? Want your pound of flesh from Mithris? I mean, what did you all sign up for?!” Reynolds asked with a big dumb grin and he got the expected enthusiastic response from the gathered soldiers. He let it die down a bit.
“Sounds like you’re all on board! In that case, welcome to Fangbreaker Platoon!”
More cheering and hooting.
Reynolds smiled before he motioned Zora to the front.
“Ensign Zelenko here will introduce your officers.”
“Y-yes. Hello. I’m, uh, Captain Reynold’s aide and - ” Zora never seemed good at public speaking but she was muddling through it. “ - this reinforced platoon will be organized into three sections. Our core maneuver element will be the light mechanized infantry platoon under the command of Lieutenant Marissa Kory. First squad is the 132nd Light Infantry Detachment, Arcadian Army. That unit will be led by Sergeant Taras Horbach, reporting to Lieutenant Kory. Second squad is from the 1st Steel Cap Auxiliary Infantry Detachment, Starymost Sector. Electorate Sergeant Edict oversees that squad with operational control over their movements in response to Lieutenant Kory’s commands.” Once she got going about logistics, Zora was in her element. “There is also a platoon headquarters and support section attached to this infantry platoon. This element will be led by myself and will have a field presence in the form of a support truck for medical, signals, resupply, and logistical needs.”
“Our recon element will be led by Senior Lieutenant Anton Jordan and takes the form of the 12th Recon Lance, Arcadian Army,” she continued, motioning towards a young, grim-looking, thin man with a scarred, bald head who nodded in acceptance, “They bring 6 Mackay scout mechs, and Lieutenant Jordan will report directly to Captain Reynolds. He will also be serving as the task force executive officer. Please direct logistical and personnel matters to Lieutenant Jordan.” Zora looked around to make sure everyone was following, which only about half of them seemed to be.
“The final element will be our heavy fire support lance which will be commanded by Captain Reynolds himself and consists of two Perth heavy mechs. Our tactical asset - ” Zora said, carefully choosing her words, “ - is attached to this lance as well as they respond to orders from Lieutenant Mazur. Auxiliary and support elements not deployed in the field will be overseen by Starymost base personnel and will flow though my platoon headquarters and support section.” Zora paused and looked around, unsure of what to say next, “Understood?” she tried, though it seemed like more of a polite question than a definitive statement.
1st Recon-Armor Platoon, Taskforce Starymost (CPT Reynolds) “Fangbreakers”
│
├── Light Mechanized Infantry Platoon (LT Kory)
│ ├── 132nd Light Infantry Detachment (Sgt. Horbach)
│ ├── 1st Steel Cap Auxiliary Infantry Detachment (Electorate Sgt. Edict)
│ └── Platoon HQ & Support Section (Ensign Zora Zelenko)
│
├── 12th Recon Lance (SNR LT Jordan) – XO, Task Force
│ └── 6x Mackay Scout Mechs
│
└── Heavy Fire Support Lance (CPT Reynolds)
└── 2x Perth Heavy Mechs
└── 1x Tactical Asset (Yevhen)
