Keszijcë
26 July, A.C. 393
st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"
20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii
1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"
FOB Oingo Boingo
FOB Oingo Boingo is now one of many forward operating bases surrounding Novus Concordia. As the name implies, the Euphemians built the rather oddly-named base following their ground forces' arrival in Tangaliro for the final phase of the war. It is largely staffed by troops of the International Coalition.
Another day, another instance of the 'same old'. There was a tension in the air — and Natalka, with her unmatched genius as the best platoon commander around, could only suspect an operation was on the horizon. Or it was the fact the commander was so benevolent as to give her money, and maybe she'd see if all was well with him today. The fact the company commander cared about her wellbeing was good, to say the least. In the past day, it seemed their operation against the Claytonists had led to some gains made by the central government in Kezijce, to which the focus would no doubt shift east to the interloper of the insurgents' logistics and man-flow, Navenland.
"Ah shit. Here I go again." Natalka muttered to herself, double-checking her Luxure™ perfume before lightly knocking on her superior's door. Hopefully there'd be something interesting for the unit, and by extension, herself, on this day.
“Oh?” Klaudiusz announced from behind the door.
"Good morning, sir. I came to see if there were any documents. I, uh, heard rumors of a mission," She replied from the other end. Natalka was still a bit nervous about being in her superior's presence after the last incident. It had felt rather lowly of her to ask him for money, and she still couldn't really look him in the eyes after that. Maybe she could apologize for getting herself into debt in the first place.
“Come on in.” He stated, knowing what exactly was up.
Nodding, Natalka opened the door, awkwardly looking about the room in a vain attempt to avoid eye contact. "Right. I, uh, hope you're well, sir." She quietly made her way to the chair opposite to her superior's and seated herself, anticipating the documents in question.
Sipping from a mug of coffee labelled ‘BEST COMMANDER’, perhaps a little vain, he drew his eyes towards a certain stack of documents on the table. “You would, uh, be correct. I guess things are ramping up, considering we’ve already gotten a new mission.”
"Yeah, no kidding," Natalka tried to calm herself down in the company commander's presence. "Must be important if they're already throwing us back in. Was— was your driver replaced? And is he alright?" She added.
“He’s… alright, but I need a driver, so they went and looked for a new guy. He’s some mixed Gallian-Zachod, kinda shady but he’s only temporary.”
"Right, I see— what's the rundown on the next mission?" Natalka asked, leaning back in her seat.
“We’re going to Navenland, actually. It’s probably gonna be a two-day thing, given the distances involved. Basically, the Claytonites are beating up the Navenlanders in a village called… uh… Willebrord? I think? Anyways, they’ve gotten mostly surrounded, so we’re going to a nearby Euphemian firebase, gonna link up with them. Second company’s also coming with us, they’ll provide artillery support. And basically, we’re gonna break the encirclement and get the Navenlanders out. Preferably we kick Restorationist ass while we’re at it, so that they don’t come back in the future.”
"Right. Uh," Natalka looked to the documents in question, as if in anticipation.
“In the future, apparently I’ll get to decide whether we rebase to the Euphemian firebase, or we can just stay here at Oingo Boingo. I’m inclined to stay at the firebase though, because I feel like we’re gonna be spending some time in Navenland now that we’ve sufficiently helped the Kezij.”
"I hope the conditions are, um, sufficient to keep our company in good spirits." Natalka had certainly grown accustomed to the comforts of FOB Oingo Boingo, and going to a back-end Euphemian firebase would surely be a disruption of her usual schedule.
“I’m sure they will. Or maybe they won’t, who knows?”
"Hopefully. Can I get a quick read of the documents?" Natalka gestured to the Avila folder on Klaudiusz's end of the desk.
“Sure,” he said, turning them over to her grasp. “I should uh, highlight one thing though. There’s been a noticeable uptick in the last couple days of a rather.. new phenomenon. Suicide bombers. Claytonists dress up as civilians, strap bombs to themselves and try to get close to our vehicles. Don’t let anyone get close in town.”
"And I'll make sure the same does not happen to yourself and your vehicle, sir," Natalka had begun reading through the folder's contents, curious. "I find it somewhat ironic they're willing to die for something that's already dead."
The company commander chuckled at Natalka’s first comment. “Ironic, yes, but this is reality.”
"..hm. A group of Euphemian tanks is keeping watch over the bridge. Maybe we can convince them to lead the way for us? I'm sure those big tanks have a lot more armor than we do." Natalka was already reading the 'intelligence' section of the spreadsheet, undoubtedly interested in what she was seeing.
“Well, you know how the Euphski are. It’ll take some talking, but I think our commissar has a way with words for them.”
"Of course." Natalka continued reading through the document. This mission seemed to have a bit more 'fluff' than the others, to say the least. "It seems they might want us to distribute things to the local towns too, in our spare time. I never thought myself a charity worker, sir." She'd laughed at one of the listed sub-tasks on the paper.
“Hearts and minds are important of course,” He made a quick, cheeky wink. “But we can’t shoot Claytonists all deployment. The Aenarans have been trying that in Siedunland for years now, but it’s not working because they’re too stupid to think about why they’re getting shot at by hicks in the woods.”
"Well, I wouldn't call the Aenarans smart. They're not exactly 'fit' for the kind of operations the Coalition's doing out here... which is probably why they stayed in their bombers and let the real soldiers handle the heavy lifting." Natalka joked, continuing to skim through the spreadsheet. She'd caught something handwritten on the paper, a metaphorical 'fine print' of sorts. "..Five thousand Federal Dollars, sir?"
“Hope you’ve got a coat with extra-tall shirt collars, or else this mission’s gonna be hell...”
The platoon commander couldn't help but conceal her embarrassment by clearing her throat. "Uh, well, I've been wanting to buy a nice Euphemian pistol. The .50 Executor. I could, uh, do with the money — because that gun's worth two months' my pay."
“It’d certainly look nice - and it’s not mischambered Tangaliroan garbage.”
"..how long is this mission going to be?.." Natalka asked, perhaps out of concern for the fine print.
“Maybe a couple hours - I don’t factor travel time into the mission duration.”
That was enough to make her sigh with relief. "Yeah, maybe I will be wanting that gun. I tried to buy it earlier today — but, uh, I didn't want to go into debt again, so I decided against it... about that extra $2,000, though.."
“I don’t blame you if you’re not up for it just yet… it’d be nice, of course, though.”
"Well — alright, fine." She seemed only slightly annoyed by the prospect of receiving yet another financial donation from her superior. "..if you don't mind me asking, where do you get all this money? You get paid about as much as I do, and I don't have this much money."
“Don’t worry about my sources… I should specify, though, that I’m not in any danger of going into debt, if that’s what you’re asking.”
"Just making sure you're not involved in anything criminal, sir." Natalka replied.
“I don’t deal drugs or anything,” He almost scoffed at the idea. “Euphemians do that, not me.”
"Good, good— just looking out for you's all." She squinted to the document to find a specification as to when the briefing would be. It was about 9:45 AM right now — she was privileged enough to be able to visit early now — though by the document's implications, the briefing would be at 11 sharp.
“Well- I get that. Briefing’s at 11, bit earlier than usual.”
"Probably due to the long drive ahead of us. I'll be around base if you need to ask about anything — I mean, I hear there's some rumors and drama going around the unit. Not about me or you, of course — but I intend to look into it."
“Well, if it’s about your men, that’s your responsibility, I suppose.”
"I'll keep them in check, sir." Natalka got up, documents in hand. Today would be a long day.
Natalka had emerged into the informal 'tank hangar' that typically housed their vehicles. Maybe it was the increasingly cold weather that was becoming commonplace since the nuclear tribulation of UV Day, but she was wearing a rather fancy tent cloak she'd managed to snatch off logistics, its collar rather exaggeratedly leading up her neck. Waiting atop her vehicle, she noted she'd come for her superior's briefing right on time.
As usual, most of the company had already trailed in, aiming to be punctual, while the rest were now arriving.
“...so today, our theater of operations has gotten changed. We will be, for the foreseeable future operating in Navenland instead of Keszijce. As for today’s mission, we will be going to the town of Willebrord. It is currently surrounded by the Restorationists, the town being defended by a whole bunch of rag-tag groups and units of the newly formed Navenlander military. There is a Euphemian firebase near it which we will go to firstly, and then from there we will proceed to the town. I’ll spare the details until we’re there, but there’s also a bunch of side objectives we have on our plate, a bunch of which I feel inclined to tick off. Dismissed, it’s gonna be a long drive - I think about four hours.”
Quickly, Natalka climbed aboard her vehicle. Her crewmates didn't seem to question her new choice in fashion — no doubt they'd seen crazier antics from their commander. "All is well?" She questioned, trying to ease the tension.
"For certain, ma'am." Otmar nodded, cleaning the lens of his weapon. "It'll be a long drive. Maria, get some songs on."
Their convoy approached at full speed — it'd been a pretty long, albeit uneventful drive, save for a few delays. Apparently an Alvimian logistics convoy had been ambushed along the highway, and it'd taken about two hours to fend off Claytonists and clear the way once again. They were approaching 'Firebase Martinez' now, the Euphemian military complex situated not far from the roads proper. Being what it was, it was rather heavily guarded, of course. Natalka's vehicle, per usual, led the way, given it carried mine detection equipment.
Natalka noted her driver was slowing down as they approached the guard post, a few of the Euphemians present nodding and allowing them forward. Soon enough, they were entering the confines of the base, a few self-propelled artillery guns and multi-launch rocket systems in place, presumably to be used against Claytonists to the east and north.
"Halt." Natalka ordered, her subordinate nodding and bringing their vehicle to a stop in one of the spaces, the platoon commander watching as the rest of the convoy similarly parked. It'd be a good time to climb out, maybe get an idea of what was going on. There was plenty she could find out just by asking around — or looking, for that matter. Departing from her vehicle, she waited for the rest of 1. Kompania to come to a halt before waiting for Klaudiusz, no doubt intent on finding the Euphemian CO and having a word with him. One thing came to mind before she did so, however, which brought her hurrying back to the vehicle — to the driver, specifically. Her driver seemed fixated on the music she was listening to, which made it rather easy for Natalka to take a few musical datacassettes and tuck them into her coat before leaving once more. Now she would look for the company commander before the both of them would have a word with the Euphemian CO, which was to say whoever ran this base.
That task was easy enough, Klaudiusz and the commissar stepping out of the hatch of their vehicle, parked just behind Natalka’s.
"Sir." Natalka nodded in acknowledgement, adjusting her cloak to better cover her neck in the cold. The nuclear winter was becoming increasingly apparent, without doubt — much to the chagrin of those who denied such a thing. Natalka didn't understand in the least what nuclear winter exactly was, or how it worked — but it was getting colder, and it was already 'sweater weather' in the middle of what'd otherwise be the Mederune summer.
“Huh?” he asked, curious at her frank tone.
"The commander should be somewhere around here," She began, looking about the tents and makeshift compounds. There were about a few dozen Euphemian soldiers hanging around the complex overall, which was notably small for such a place.
“Yeah, let’s go look for him.” Klaudiusz motioned the commissar, perhaps hoping to get a quick smoke judging from the lighter in his hand, to come and follow him and Natalka.
The young platoon commander could take note of a few items of curiosity as they wandered about the small maze of tents and emplacements that comprised the facility — a loud BOOM from the self-propelled guns startling Natalka and leaving her trembling. As the dust settled, she could see a man who seemed to stand out among the soldiers, perhaps due to the indication of his rank on his uniform — a Major.
"Major James Milhouse Cat's-Eye Fido K. Stux," He introduced himself without delay. "You're the Za-Ko that're helping us today, huh?" He seemed to take a careful look at the two, looking to Natalka for a rather prolonged period before muttering something to himself. "Right — welcome to Firebase Martinez. I'm the 'captain' of this 'ship'. You've come here for the latest intel on the Clay-tard positions, right?"
“Yeah, and we’ve come to help blow them up,” Klaudiusz began. “It’d be nice if we didn’t go in blind.”
"Right this way, then." The officer began towards one of the tents, which was haphazardly labeled 'HQ'. It was a rather short entry for both of the gentlemen, save for Natalka, due to her height. Inside, it was what one would expect of a Euphemian headquarters — radios, magazines, cocaine, cigars and—
Natalka found particular interest in a certain handbook that was amidst the documents.
It seemed rather out of place — especially given these were basic grunts, not CBI 'spooks'. There'd be no harm done in taking something that'd already been stolen. If Klaudiusz could just ask the questions, she could take it — it could sell for a good price, or maybe the company commander would find curiosity in the manual.
"So, this is Navenland," The Major gestured to a screen that'd been propped up, bulky wires leading to mobile generators readily humming outside the tent. "Now, this is us," He zoomed in on the map, which seemed to be impressively advanced, given its touch-screen capacities. Natalka herself was pretty impressed by how fancy a 'backwater' Euphemian base was. "Now, in these zones I've labeled A, B, C, D, and E, there's a heavy Restorationist presence. Our C4I aircraft have also confirmed CBI HUMINT — there's a minefield on the other side of our main way into Willebrord. Combat engineers have been a fucking incompetent bunch — so we've been waiting for them. Anyway, your job: link up with those tanks, wait for the engineers to demine the opposite side of Loovelden Bridge, and, well — the rest comes naturally. We're going to help the Navenlanders break out. Also — I called a gunship earlier, they're busy. Most of the job will be done by you, airborne infantry, and whatever mechanized and armored we can spare." While the Major spoke, Natalka had managed to discreetly take the manual in question.
"Any word on the... suicide bombers?" Natalka asked.
"They've begun strapping bombs on themselves, yes. Crazy bastards — infiltrated the towns. I'd advise caution if you proceed with any 'hearts and minds' missions in the nearby hovels." The Major nodded.
“So, wait with the tanks for the bridge to get cleared and then just drive to Willebrord. I feel like there’s some strings attached,” Klaudiusz mused.
"Well, you're free to sit on your asses until the engineers arrive. I'm sure you'll find something to do in the nearby towns— ah, shit. Right, I forgot you Za-Ko got 'disciplinary standards' and all that." He chuckled, no doubt implying something.
“We’ll find something else, just not in the way you’re thinking..” He gave a mild chuckle.
While the two men talked, Natalka's eyes were once again carefully studying the tent's interior. A datacassette lay near a radio, conveniently concealed from view. A piece of tape labeled the item in question to be 'ACTIVITY OF KOTZ' — which was enough to make her curiously sneak the cassette in question into her tent cloak.
"Right, good, good. I hear y'all's bringing artillery. If that ain't enough, we've got a few guns of our own on standby." The Major nodded, looking to one of the tent's confines — just on the other side, a SPH-M233 Lightbearer was positioned, gun aimed upwards to the sky. Natalka had seen it fire as they came in earlier. "Anyways, good luck — don't get yourselves killed out there." The man nodded, silently dismissing them. Natalka was first out of the tent, being greeted by a rather odd sight — a bunch of Augustans were beating one of their crewmen senseless, howling in their incomprehensible hick dialect. Not far from the scene lay an ATR-M73 anti-materiel rifle. The commissar and commander were next to be greeted by this sight, Natalka quickly realizing the man in question was Izaak.
"..um." She wasn't sure whether to intervene, given the fact they were rather outnumbered here.
Klaudiusz paused, running over to the scene, though it was rather unfortunate that they didn’t share a language in common at this moment. “What the FUCK is this!” he shouted, pre-emptively placing his gun near his pistol holster. Klaudiusz's escalation had triggered a rather quick chain of events that had led to most of the Augustans drawing firearms of their own, the commander stepping out of his tent to see the source of the fuss — and quickly losing his shit as well.
"What the HELL is going on here!" He shouted, assault rifle already drawn as he walked over. He wasn't aiming it, though he seemed inclined to grab it in this situation.
"—I was going to ask the same—" Natalka, fortunately, could speak Euphemian.
"YOU!" He shouted to one of his men. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Now," The man began. His helmet was decorated with the 'crossed bars' of the Augustan flag, no doubt indicative of his state loyalties. "I's jus' mind'n my b'sness when the Tango sumbitch jus' walks pas' my dumass and snatch's my COUSIN'S fuckin' gun!" He exclaimed. "I wadn't gon' let no for'ner tarnish the Perry family line, y'know'msay'n?"
"—por-kooz-nik, can you tell me why the hell YOUR men are runnin' about and stealing shit from MY men?" The rather irritated Major asked, undoubtedly butchering Klaudiusz's rank.
“I don’t fuckin’ know, but it’s MY responsibility to fucking punish him, and not your mens!”
"Precisely. GET THE FUCK OFF HIM!" The Major called to the soldiers, who quickly dispersed, leaving the bruised crewman on the ground, to which Natalka hurried over to check on him, visibly concerned by how he'd gotten his 'ass kicked', so to speak. "Now, I'll be willing to overlook this rather unfortunate disciplinary incident regarding your men. Never happened."
Without any drama, the commissar went over to Izaak, unceremoniously dragging him up by his arm.
“I would be appreciative, Major... It seems our commissar’s pretty pissed already,” The CO commented.
"Tch. No kidding. Our unit can get pretty rowdy with the foreigners sometimes. I'm the smartest of this bunch of hicks — I'm from Torch City, by the way." The man explained, no doubt to dissuade the already widespread stigma about the 'hicks' from the particular Euphemian state in question.
"Right. I thoroughly apologize for the behavior of my subordinate." Natalka nodded, composing herself. The Major seemed to study her for a moment, before looking to Klaudiusz as she turned away to tend to the insolence of her subordinate.
"You're Klaudiusz, then?"
“How the hell you know my name? Did I get a reputation or something?”
"I ain't heard of any Klaudiusz 'round these parts, I just happened to notice your sub-or-d'nate's choice of wear." The commander's remark was enough to make Natalka raise the tent cloak just a bit higher, rather embarrassed by it all — thankfully the commissar and the others were busy focusing on dragging Izaak back to the convoy.
Klaudiusz quickly fumbled around in his pockets, pulling out a $100 Federal Dollar note. “I don’t think we need to worry about that,” he said. The intent was obvious.
"And that'll cover my expenses for the week," The Major chuckled, accepting the bribe. "Don't worry, por-kooz-nick. I been seen worse."
Quickly, Natalka took her leave and caught up to the group, the rather beaten Izaak being dragged along by the commissar. He'd taken quite the beating, it seemed. "Is he alright? Does he need medical attention?" She asked, the question probably directed to the commissar himself tasked with dragging the soldier back.
“Doubt it. Try asking him,” He said quite plainly, evidently more interested on dragging the gunner back to his vehicle.
“Why don’t you just throw me in a jail. That’s what you commissars do, right?” Izaak laughed under his breath as he continued to be dragged
“You being a gunner’s more important,” The commissar stated, contemplating whether he should give Izaak a jab to the ribs to make him shut up.
"Why were you.. trying to steal that gun, Izaak?" Natalka asked, a bit more concerned to her subordinate's wellbeing.
“It’s not like they were using it, hicks too busy fucking their own cousins.”
Natalka wasn't about to lecture Izaak on stealing — the only difference between them was that she hadn't gotten caught. "Try not to have another one of these 'incidents' happen, okay?"
“Yeah, yeah…” Izaak seemed visibly in pain from the beatings, deciding to keep his mouth shut rather than say anything in the presence of the commissar. As the group returned to their respective vehicles, Natalka paused, waiting for her superior — she'd fetched a few interesting things from the Euphemian CO's tent while they'd been there.
As the commissar finished dragging Izaak along, setting him alongside his vehicle, Klaudiusz approached from behind. “Well, that was a fucking mess and a half.” he commented.
"I found a few things there you might find interesting," Natalka reached into her coat's pocket, producing two items of notable interest — a CBI manual on a mysterious martial art, and a datacassette. "Check 'em out in your spare time and see if anything important's inside. Figured you'd find it interesting."
He took both items out of her hands, though he did have a comment about it, conveniently for when the commissar was already heading off nonchalantly to Fura. “Guess that Izaak's not the only one up to no good… well, I’ll be, uh, ‘confiscating’ these.”
"Sure thing, sir.." Natalka smirked, walking back to her vehicle. It would be a rather long day — given the plethora of tasks that would no doubt soon befall them. They were off to a simple start, though it was fairly obvious there'd be plenty of waiting involved. Maybe she could check up on her men once they'd reached the bridge.
"What was all that about?" Otmar gruffly asked, evidently having been smoking while he waited.
"Izaak tried to steal an anti-materiel rifle from the Euphski. Didn't go too well for him — they kicked his ass." Natalka replied, climbing aboard her station. "Maria, we're moving again."
Soon thereafter, the driver nodded her assent from the cabin, the vehicle's engines starting as they began out of Firebase Martinez.
"Rumor?" Natalka asked her driver as they began down the road.
"It's simple, really," Maria began from the driver's seat. "There's been a romance brewing between Osad's two upstanding crewmen, right under your nose. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been listening in on his quarters."
"Okay, I think I know where this goes." Natalka sighed, visibly discontent with her subordinate's crass commentary. "..somehow, it's one of those things that's so crazy it's believable. Rumor or not, I'm gonna look into it."
The group continued down the road, vehicles pushing forward through the wooded backwater of Navenland. Natalka had decided to order a slight detour from the nearby town of Zilverkamp, preferring a path to the bridge that would avoid getting into an urban area.
A few minutes passed before they'd made it back onto the main roads, the silhouette of the bridge amidst the typical evening sights welcoming the unit. The Euphemian armor was unmistakeable, the tanks vigilantly watching the other side of the river, barrels aimed at the ready. Maria slowed down in turn, more cooperative than usual, as she seemed to get most of the mission's 'memo'.
"Right, we're going to have a word with the Euphski." Natalka said, noting her subordinate was bringing them to a halt just behind the Euphemian tank platoon. As soon as the vehicle had stopped, she'd stepped out once more. Her injuries were, for the most part, recovering still, Natalka no longer having use for a crutch — though occasionally the annoying, sharp pain would shoot up her leg as she walked. Today was no exception, the young platoon commander swearing under her breath as she approached the Euphemian tank, climbing atop to call them to attention, giving a slight knock upon the vehicle's roof.
The response came a few seconds thereafter, the Euphemian tank commander taking note of the equally Euphemian flak jacket Natalka happened to be carrying about her. "You Za-Ko here? We've been sitting with our thumbs up our asses all day waiting for the fucking engineers."
"Uh, yeah." Natalka nodded. "Any, uh, intel on what's ahead of us here?"
"Yeah. The entire damn town of Loovelden's been rigged. Traps all over. They might even have a few anti-tank guided missile emplacements, which is pretty fuckin' rare for Charlie." The phrase 'Charlie' was, of course, referring to the Claytonists. "The fuckers are gettin' smart, too. They've begun doin' shit to hide from the thermals. Ghillie type shit, covering themselves with mud, charcoal — anything you can think of, they're tryin' it. It's been giving the Coalition a real hard time out in these parts. The ambushes keep comin' by the number... when y'all begin moving, be sure to watch your ass." Natalka took note of the man's nametag, which read 'YAURIE'.
"Right. Will do." Hopping down, Natalka figured to herself it'd be a good time for a routine check — and a few other things — before she'd bring the information to Klaudiusz himself. The rest of the convoy had largely come to a halt right now, which gave Natalka her usual opportunity to check on her subordinates. Given the little mishap at the Euphemian firebase, she'd be sure to check up on Osad first. Approaching the vehicle in question, she knocked upon the rear door, waiting for a response on the other end.
The rear door to the vehicle was cracked open, as Izaak slowly peeked to see who it was.
"Good day, Izaak. I hope you're well — especially after what happened. I'd been worried and all.." Natalka greeted him, glancing inside the vehicle. "I just came for the usual check." Given the fact the commissar wasn't too much of an enforcer in the aspect of rules, she was moreso checking for anything that would be of immediate danger to the crew's safety.
“Couldn’t be any better.” Izaak replied with a sarcastic tone before opening the rear door fully to allow the platoon commander entry. Natalka took a moment to look about, mindful of her subordinate's rather bad mood. Understandable, given he'd just had his ass handed to him by a bunch of rednecks.
"I'm sorry about what happened earlier, of course — just try not to get in trouble next time," Natalka added, looking about the interior of the vehicle. Kneeling down was a bit difficult, given some of her injuries, but she continued nonetheless, searching about the vehicle. "You've all been doing pretty well in the past few missions," She began, haphazardly crawling below one of the benches. "I'm proud of you all, I gotta say." Natalka was genuinely proud in her platoon — by some means or another, their casualties had radically dropped as of late.
“I just do what I need to survive, as is everyone else.” Izaak dropped his annoyed tone to talk seriously with the platoon commander. “Find anything interesting?”
Natalka had caught onto something below the benches, though she was now trying to get out of the rather tight space she'd found herself in. "Um— I think so. Anyways, I've been thinking, since I'm so proud with you guys, maybe I can bake us some cookies again—" She'd finally managed to get herself out, a rather unpleasant magazine in her hand. "Alright, which one of you's going for the Utsanji drawings again? Not that I judge."
While Natalka had been searching, Izaak had gotten himself comfortable in the commander's chair. “It looks like you’ve seen your fair share, commander.” As he finished off his sentence, the rear door opened again as Olek entered the vehicle. “How nice of you to join us, Olek.” Izaak jokingly called to his superior, who was clueless to the extra guest within their presence.
"Myself and your gunner were just having a nice conversation on the Utsanji 'art' being carried aboard this vehicle. Hide them better next time — I feel this commissar'll probably take it for himself if he catches you." Natalka joked, gesturing to the magazine in question.
“Nice to meet you too…” Olek trailed off as he took the ‘art’ in question. Looking through its contents, he quickly set it aside. “Commissar’s into this shit now?” He jokingly questioned.
"Well, that's up to interpretation. Either way," She began to flip through a few of the pages, her expression turning to a frown at the rather vulgar content of the 'book' in question. "..this should either be thrown out or put someplace safer."
“Could I have my book back?” Izaak gestured with his hand out, as if waiting for it to be given to him. “People pay top dollar for this stuff, I would prefer something good not go to waste being ‘thrown out’.”
"..oh, it's yours. Okay." Natalka closed the magazine, handing it back to her subordinate. "Give me a little bit of whatever you make selling that and I'll be sure to go easy on future checks. I'm, uhh.. strapped for cash, kinda."
“Oh? Looks like we’ve got a deal.” Izaak extended his hand, presumably waiting for a shake to seal the deal.
"Of course." Natalka didn't mind looking the other way to certain.. infractions her subordinates committed. "—actually, while I'm here. Can I ask you a question? Privately, preferably." Of course, she intended to get to the bottom of whatever 'rumor' Maria was implying, regarding Katarina and Izaak. To do so in Olek's presence would only embarrass the gunner.
“Sure. Here or outside?” He questioned, getting up from his seat and stretching with what little room the vehicle had to offer.
"Um, outside. Don't worry, I'm not going after you or anything. It's regarding your fellow crew, actually." Natalka led Izaak out of the vehicle, stopping to leave Olek a reminder. "—and please make sure Katarina's alright." Leading Izaak out of the vehicle, Natalka brought them to a somewhat secluded treeline, wondering to herself how exactly to put it into dignified words. "How do I say this.." She began, looking down. It was just a rumor, right?
“Say what? You took me all the way over here, must be serious.” Izaak began looking around, watching to make sure no one interrupted their conversation.
"I'm sorry if this offends— but I've overheard a rumor regarding yourself and your driver." She explained, trying to study his response.
“Rumor? From who?” Izaak became defensive, asking numerous questions to try and find who told her the information.
His defensive nature had gotten her suspicious — but perhaps asking directly would be best. "I don't want to start any drama in the unit by telling who I heard this from — but I've been hearing claims yourself and Katarina are, you know.. romantically involved."
Izaak stared at her for a brief moment, before breaking into a fit of laughter. “Me and Katarina? Could you tell me more about this ‘rumor’?”
"I've heard that you and Katarina have been, well.. fraternizing in your quarters." She replied.
“I will not confirm or deny anything, best to keep my name clear. Do me a favor, will ya? Please drop the rumor about me and Katarina, and I’ll stop teasing you about what you do in your alone time with the Company Commander.” Izaak jokingly replied, seeming to hint back at what Maria had previously revealed over the last open comms incident.
"Izaak, it's my job to make sure everything's going well in the unit. I just wanted to confirm if it holds any weight. I'm firmly against any rumors being spread among this unit, be they about me or you. It disrupts trust among our comrades, and I don't want that." Natalka's reply was serious in contrast to Izaak's, though she didn't exactly seem fased by her subordinate's implications.
“To answer your question, No. There is nothing going on between us.” Izaak reassured his superior, who seemed to be annoyed with him. “Relax, I was just joking. No need to get serious all of a sudden.”
"I'm serious because I care for you, and don't forget that." Natalka reminded him. "None of you are expendable — I'm here to see you all prosper, succeed, and most of all, survive."
“You seem to hold a view that the higher-ups don’t. Throwin’ us here like meat to a grinder.” Izaak seemed to fidget a bit as he took out a cigarette to smoke.
"It doesn't matter what the higher-ups think. We're in this together — which is why I need you, and everyone else, really, to do your jobs. And you have been doing your jobs. Wonderfully, I might add. Just.. keep it up." Natalka seemed to have expressed her mind sufficiently to Izaak. Hopefully he'd understand, or at least be motivated by her assurances.
Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, Izaak sighed before speaking. “Yeah, you are right. Thanks for the reassurances, I’ll try to continue doing my job well.”
"..and be sure to vote me for best platoon commander!" Natalka called, making her way out of the woods.
"Ah shit. Here I go again." Natalka muttered to herself, double-checking her Luxure™ perfume before lightly knocking on her superior's door. Hopefully there'd be something interesting for the unit, and by extension, herself, on this day.
“Oh?” Klaudiusz announced from behind the door.
"Good morning, sir. I came to see if there were any documents. I, uh, heard rumors of a mission," She replied from the other end. Natalka was still a bit nervous about being in her superior's presence after the last incident. It had felt rather lowly of her to ask him for money, and she still couldn't really look him in the eyes after that. Maybe she could apologize for getting herself into debt in the first place.
“Come on in.” He stated, knowing what exactly was up.
Nodding, Natalka opened the door, awkwardly looking about the room in a vain attempt to avoid eye contact. "Right. I, uh, hope you're well, sir." She quietly made her way to the chair opposite to her superior's and seated herself, anticipating the documents in question.
Sipping from a mug of coffee labelled ‘BEST COMMANDER’, perhaps a little vain, he drew his eyes towards a certain stack of documents on the table. “You would, uh, be correct. I guess things are ramping up, considering we’ve already gotten a new mission.”
"Yeah, no kidding," Natalka tried to calm herself down in the company commander's presence. "Must be important if they're already throwing us back in. Was— was your driver replaced? And is he alright?" She added.
“He’s… alright, but I need a driver, so they went and looked for a new guy. He’s some mixed Gallian-Zachod, kinda shady but he’s only temporary.”
"Right, I see— what's the rundown on the next mission?" Natalka asked, leaning back in her seat.
“We’re going to Navenland, actually. It’s probably gonna be a two-day thing, given the distances involved. Basically, the Claytonites are beating up the Navenlanders in a village called… uh… Willebrord? I think? Anyways, they’ve gotten mostly surrounded, so we’re going to a nearby Euphemian firebase, gonna link up with them. Second company’s also coming with us, they’ll provide artillery support. And basically, we’re gonna break the encirclement and get the Navenlanders out. Preferably we kick Restorationist ass while we’re at it, so that they don’t come back in the future.”
"Right. Uh," Natalka looked to the documents in question, as if in anticipation.
“In the future, apparently I’ll get to decide whether we rebase to the Euphemian firebase, or we can just stay here at Oingo Boingo. I’m inclined to stay at the firebase though, because I feel like we’re gonna be spending some time in Navenland now that we’ve sufficiently helped the Kezij.”
"I hope the conditions are, um, sufficient to keep our company in good spirits." Natalka had certainly grown accustomed to the comforts of FOB Oingo Boingo, and going to a back-end Euphemian firebase would surely be a disruption of her usual schedule.
“I’m sure they will. Or maybe they won’t, who knows?”
"Hopefully. Can I get a quick read of the documents?" Natalka gestured to the Avila folder on Klaudiusz's end of the desk.
“Sure,” he said, turning them over to her grasp. “I should uh, highlight one thing though. There’s been a noticeable uptick in the last couple days of a rather.. new phenomenon. Suicide bombers. Claytonists dress up as civilians, strap bombs to themselves and try to get close to our vehicles. Don’t let anyone get close in town.”
"And I'll make sure the same does not happen to yourself and your vehicle, sir," Natalka had begun reading through the folder's contents, curious. "I find it somewhat ironic they're willing to die for something that's already dead."
The company commander chuckled at Natalka’s first comment. “Ironic, yes, but this is reality.”
"..hm. A group of Euphemian tanks is keeping watch over the bridge. Maybe we can convince them to lead the way for us? I'm sure those big tanks have a lot more armor than we do." Natalka was already reading the 'intelligence' section of the spreadsheet, undoubtedly interested in what she was seeing.
“Well, you know how the Euphski are. It’ll take some talking, but I think our commissar has a way with words for them.”
"Of course." Natalka continued reading through the document. This mission seemed to have a bit more 'fluff' than the others, to say the least. "It seems they might want us to distribute things to the local towns too, in our spare time. I never thought myself a charity worker, sir." She'd laughed at one of the listed sub-tasks on the paper.
“Hearts and minds are important of course,” He made a quick, cheeky wink. “But we can’t shoot Claytonists all deployment. The Aenarans have been trying that in Siedunland for years now, but it’s not working because they’re too stupid to think about why they’re getting shot at by hicks in the woods.”
"Well, I wouldn't call the Aenarans smart. They're not exactly 'fit' for the kind of operations the Coalition's doing out here... which is probably why they stayed in their bombers and let the real soldiers handle the heavy lifting." Natalka joked, continuing to skim through the spreadsheet. She'd caught something handwritten on the paper, a metaphorical 'fine print' of sorts. "..Five thousand Federal Dollars, sir?"
“Hope you’ve got a coat with extra-tall shirt collars, or else this mission’s gonna be hell...”
The platoon commander couldn't help but conceal her embarrassment by clearing her throat. "Uh, well, I've been wanting to buy a nice Euphemian pistol. The .50 Executor. I could, uh, do with the money — because that gun's worth two months' my pay."
“It’d certainly look nice - and it’s not mischambered Tangaliroan garbage.”
"..how long is this mission going to be?.." Natalka asked, perhaps out of concern for the fine print.
“Maybe a couple hours - I don’t factor travel time into the mission duration.”
That was enough to make her sigh with relief. "Yeah, maybe I will be wanting that gun. I tried to buy it earlier today — but, uh, I didn't want to go into debt again, so I decided against it... about that extra $2,000, though.."
“I don’t blame you if you’re not up for it just yet… it’d be nice, of course, though.”
"Well — alright, fine." She seemed only slightly annoyed by the prospect of receiving yet another financial donation from her superior. "..if you don't mind me asking, where do you get all this money? You get paid about as much as I do, and I don't have this much money."
“Don’t worry about my sources… I should specify, though, that I’m not in any danger of going into debt, if that’s what you’re asking.”
"Just making sure you're not involved in anything criminal, sir." Natalka replied.
“I don’t deal drugs or anything,” He almost scoffed at the idea. “Euphemians do that, not me.”
"Good, good— just looking out for you's all." She squinted to the document to find a specification as to when the briefing would be. It was about 9:45 AM right now — she was privileged enough to be able to visit early now — though by the document's implications, the briefing would be at 11 sharp.
“Well- I get that. Briefing’s at 11, bit earlier than usual.”
"Probably due to the long drive ahead of us. I'll be around base if you need to ask about anything — I mean, I hear there's some rumors and drama going around the unit. Not about me or you, of course — but I intend to look into it."
“Well, if it’s about your men, that’s your responsibility, I suppose.”
"I'll keep them in check, sir." Natalka got up, documents in hand. Today would be a long day.
ERRORERROR ERROR
PORA DNIA
11:00
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Natalka had emerged into the informal 'tank hangar' that typically housed their vehicles. Maybe it was the increasingly cold weather that was becoming commonplace since the nuclear tribulation of UV Day, but she was wearing a rather fancy tent cloak she'd managed to snatch off logistics, its collar rather exaggeratedly leading up her neck. Waiting atop her vehicle, she noted she'd come for her superior's briefing right on time.
As usual, most of the company had already trailed in, aiming to be punctual, while the rest were now arriving.
“...so today, our theater of operations has gotten changed. We will be, for the foreseeable future operating in Navenland instead of Keszijce. As for today’s mission, we will be going to the town of Willebrord. It is currently surrounded by the Restorationists, the town being defended by a whole bunch of rag-tag groups and units of the newly formed Navenlander military. There is a Euphemian firebase near it which we will go to firstly, and then from there we will proceed to the town. I’ll spare the details until we’re there, but there’s also a bunch of side objectives we have on our plate, a bunch of which I feel inclined to tick off. Dismissed, it’s gonna be a long drive - I think about four hours.”
Quickly, Natalka climbed aboard her vehicle. Her crewmates didn't seem to question her new choice in fashion — no doubt they'd seen crazier antics from their commander. "All is well?" She questioned, trying to ease the tension.
"For certain, ma'am." Otmar nodded, cleaning the lens of his weapon. "It'll be a long drive. Maria, get some songs on."
ERRORERROR ERROR
PORA DNIA
17:41
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Their convoy approached at full speed — it'd been a pretty long, albeit uneventful drive, save for a few delays. Apparently an Alvimian logistics convoy had been ambushed along the highway, and it'd taken about two hours to fend off Claytonists and clear the way once again. They were approaching 'Firebase Martinez' now, the Euphemian military complex situated not far from the roads proper. Being what it was, it was rather heavily guarded, of course. Natalka's vehicle, per usual, led the way, given it carried mine detection equipment.
ERRORERROR ERROR
TRANSKRYPCJA V185.55
KANAL 1. KOMPANIA
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/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "Well, this looks to be the end of the roadtrip. Firebase straight ahead."
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93RP Epickiraptor "Fura"] - [por. Klaudiusz Kabacinski] /// - “Commissar, wake up-”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93RP Epickiraptor "Fura"] - [st.kbz. Anioł Sofroniusz Osinski] /// - [mumbling] “My fuckin’ back hurts…”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93RP Epickiraptor "Fura"] - [por. Klaudiusz Kabacinski] /// - “We’ll need to do some negotiating, top negotiator.”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "We're just gonna talk to the CO of this base, right?"
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93RP Epickiraptor "Fura"] - [por. Klaudiusz Kabacinski] /// - “We might also need to do some smooth talking. Euphskis have some nice big tanks around, and I think they’ll help us into the town, if we can convince them.”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanislaw"] - [SK/OT-93PRZPW Zabójcaraptor "Osad"] - [sierz. Olek Marjan] /// - “Give em drugs, and they’ll just about do anything.”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "Maybe you're onto something, Olek. I'll keep that in mind."
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93RP Epickiraptor "Fura"] - [st.kbz. Anioł Sofroniusz Osinski] /// - “I would prefer not to encourage the distribution of drugs.”
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "Victimless crime, commissar. The Euphemians are already hooked on coke, why not give them a bit more?"
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Natalka noted her driver was slowing down as they approached the guard post, a few of the Euphemians present nodding and allowing them forward. Soon enough, they were entering the confines of the base, a few self-propelled artillery guns and multi-launch rocket systems in place, presumably to be used against Claytonists to the east and north.
"Halt." Natalka ordered, her subordinate nodding and bringing their vehicle to a stop in one of the spaces, the platoon commander watching as the rest of the convoy similarly parked. It'd be a good time to climb out, maybe get an idea of what was going on. There was plenty she could find out just by asking around — or looking, for that matter. Departing from her vehicle, she waited for the rest of 1. Kompania to come to a halt before waiting for Klaudiusz, no doubt intent on finding the Euphemian CO and having a word with him. One thing came to mind before she did so, however, which brought her hurrying back to the vehicle — to the driver, specifically. Her driver seemed fixated on the music she was listening to, which made it rather easy for Natalka to take a few musical datacassettes and tuck them into her coat before leaving once more. Now she would look for the company commander before the both of them would have a word with the Euphemian CO, which was to say whoever ran this base.
That task was easy enough, Klaudiusz and the commissar stepping out of the hatch of their vehicle, parked just behind Natalka’s.
"Sir." Natalka nodded in acknowledgement, adjusting her cloak to better cover her neck in the cold. The nuclear winter was becoming increasingly apparent, without doubt — much to the chagrin of those who denied such a thing. Natalka didn't understand in the least what nuclear winter exactly was, or how it worked — but it was getting colder, and it was already 'sweater weather' in the middle of what'd otherwise be the Mederune summer.
“Huh?” he asked, curious at her frank tone.
"The commander should be somewhere around here," She began, looking about the tents and makeshift compounds. There were about a few dozen Euphemian soldiers hanging around the complex overall, which was notably small for such a place.
“Yeah, let’s go look for him.” Klaudiusz motioned the commissar, perhaps hoping to get a quick smoke judging from the lighter in his hand, to come and follow him and Natalka.
The young platoon commander could take note of a few items of curiosity as they wandered about the small maze of tents and emplacements that comprised the facility — a loud BOOM from the self-propelled guns startling Natalka and leaving her trembling. As the dust settled, she could see a man who seemed to stand out among the soldiers, perhaps due to the indication of his rank on his uniform — a Major.
"Major James Milhouse Cat's-Eye Fido K. Stux," He introduced himself without delay. "You're the Za-Ko that're helping us today, huh?" He seemed to take a careful look at the two, looking to Natalka for a rather prolonged period before muttering something to himself. "Right — welcome to Firebase Martinez. I'm the 'captain' of this 'ship'. You've come here for the latest intel on the Clay-tard positions, right?"
“Yeah, and we’ve come to help blow them up,” Klaudiusz began. “It’d be nice if we didn’t go in blind.”
"Right this way, then." The officer began towards one of the tents, which was haphazardly labeled 'HQ'. It was a rather short entry for both of the gentlemen, save for Natalka, due to her height. Inside, it was what one would expect of a Euphemian headquarters — radios, magazines, cocaine, cigars and—
Natalka found particular interest in a certain handbook that was amidst the documents.
It seemed rather out of place — especially given these were basic grunts, not CBI 'spooks'. There'd be no harm done in taking something that'd already been stolen. If Klaudiusz could just ask the questions, she could take it — it could sell for a good price, or maybe the company commander would find curiosity in the manual.
"So, this is Navenland," The Major gestured to a screen that'd been propped up, bulky wires leading to mobile generators readily humming outside the tent. "Now, this is us," He zoomed in on the map, which seemed to be impressively advanced, given its touch-screen capacities. Natalka herself was pretty impressed by how fancy a 'backwater' Euphemian base was. "Now, in these zones I've labeled A, B, C, D, and E, there's a heavy Restorationist presence. Our C4I aircraft have also confirmed CBI HUMINT — there's a minefield on the other side of our main way into Willebrord. Combat engineers have been a fucking incompetent bunch — so we've been waiting for them. Anyway, your job: link up with those tanks, wait for the engineers to demine the opposite side of Loovelden Bridge, and, well — the rest comes naturally. We're going to help the Navenlanders break out. Also — I called a gunship earlier, they're busy. Most of the job will be done by you, airborne infantry, and whatever mechanized and armored we can spare." While the Major spoke, Natalka had managed to discreetly take the manual in question.
"Any word on the... suicide bombers?" Natalka asked.
"They've begun strapping bombs on themselves, yes. Crazy bastards — infiltrated the towns. I'd advise caution if you proceed with any 'hearts and minds' missions in the nearby hovels." The Major nodded.
“So, wait with the tanks for the bridge to get cleared and then just drive to Willebrord. I feel like there’s some strings attached,” Klaudiusz mused.
"Well, you're free to sit on your asses until the engineers arrive. I'm sure you'll find something to do in the nearby towns— ah, shit. Right, I forgot you Za-Ko got 'disciplinary standards' and all that." He chuckled, no doubt implying something.
“We’ll find something else, just not in the way you’re thinking..” He gave a mild chuckle.
While the two men talked, Natalka's eyes were once again carefully studying the tent's interior. A datacassette lay near a radio, conveniently concealed from view. A piece of tape labeled the item in question to be 'ACTIVITY OF KOTZ' — which was enough to make her curiously sneak the cassette in question into her tent cloak.
"Right, good, good. I hear y'all's bringing artillery. If that ain't enough, we've got a few guns of our own on standby." The Major nodded, looking to one of the tent's confines — just on the other side, a SPH-M233 Lightbearer was positioned, gun aimed upwards to the sky. Natalka had seen it fire as they came in earlier. "Anyways, good luck — don't get yourselves killed out there." The man nodded, silently dismissing them. Natalka was first out of the tent, being greeted by a rather odd sight — a bunch of Augustans were beating one of their crewmen senseless, howling in their incomprehensible hick dialect. Not far from the scene lay an ATR-M73 anti-materiel rifle. The commissar and commander were next to be greeted by this sight, Natalka quickly realizing the man in question was Izaak.
"..um." She wasn't sure whether to intervene, given the fact they were rather outnumbered here.
Klaudiusz paused, running over to the scene, though it was rather unfortunate that they didn’t share a language in common at this moment. “What the FUCK is this!” he shouted, pre-emptively placing his gun near his pistol holster. Klaudiusz's escalation had triggered a rather quick chain of events that had led to most of the Augustans drawing firearms of their own, the commander stepping out of his tent to see the source of the fuss — and quickly losing his shit as well.
"What the HELL is going on here!" He shouted, assault rifle already drawn as he walked over. He wasn't aiming it, though he seemed inclined to grab it in this situation.
"—I was going to ask the same—" Natalka, fortunately, could speak Euphemian.
"YOU!" He shouted to one of his men. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Now," The man began. His helmet was decorated with the 'crossed bars' of the Augustan flag, no doubt indicative of his state loyalties. "I's jus' mind'n my b'sness when the Tango sumbitch jus' walks pas' my dumass and snatch's my COUSIN'S fuckin' gun!" He exclaimed. "I wadn't gon' let no for'ner tarnish the Perry family line, y'know'msay'n?"
"—por-kooz-nik, can you tell me why the hell YOUR men are runnin' about and stealing shit from MY men?" The rather irritated Major asked, undoubtedly butchering Klaudiusz's rank.
“I don’t fuckin’ know, but it’s MY responsibility to fucking punish him, and not your mens!”
"Precisely. GET THE FUCK OFF HIM!" The Major called to the soldiers, who quickly dispersed, leaving the bruised crewman on the ground, to which Natalka hurried over to check on him, visibly concerned by how he'd gotten his 'ass kicked', so to speak. "Now, I'll be willing to overlook this rather unfortunate disciplinary incident regarding your men. Never happened."
Without any drama, the commissar went over to Izaak, unceremoniously dragging him up by his arm.
“I would be appreciative, Major... It seems our commissar’s pretty pissed already,” The CO commented.
"Tch. No kidding. Our unit can get pretty rowdy with the foreigners sometimes. I'm the smartest of this bunch of hicks — I'm from Torch City, by the way." The man explained, no doubt to dissuade the already widespread stigma about the 'hicks' from the particular Euphemian state in question.
"Right. I thoroughly apologize for the behavior of my subordinate." Natalka nodded, composing herself. The Major seemed to study her for a moment, before looking to Klaudiusz as she turned away to tend to the insolence of her subordinate.
"You're Klaudiusz, then?"
“How the hell you know my name? Did I get a reputation or something?”
"I ain't heard of any Klaudiusz 'round these parts, I just happened to notice your sub-or-d'nate's choice of wear." The commander's remark was enough to make Natalka raise the tent cloak just a bit higher, rather embarrassed by it all — thankfully the commissar and the others were busy focusing on dragging Izaak back to the convoy.
Klaudiusz quickly fumbled around in his pockets, pulling out a $100 Federal Dollar note. “I don’t think we need to worry about that,” he said. The intent was obvious.
"And that'll cover my expenses for the week," The Major chuckled, accepting the bribe. "Don't worry, por-kooz-nick. I been seen worse."
Quickly, Natalka took her leave and caught up to the group, the rather beaten Izaak being dragged along by the commissar. He'd taken quite the beating, it seemed. "Is he alright? Does he need medical attention?" She asked, the question probably directed to the commissar himself tasked with dragging the soldier back.
“Doubt it. Try asking him,” He said quite plainly, evidently more interested on dragging the gunner back to his vehicle.
“Why don’t you just throw me in a jail. That’s what you commissars do, right?” Izaak laughed under his breath as he continued to be dragged
“You being a gunner’s more important,” The commissar stated, contemplating whether he should give Izaak a jab to the ribs to make him shut up.
"Why were you.. trying to steal that gun, Izaak?" Natalka asked, a bit more concerned to her subordinate's wellbeing.
“It’s not like they were using it, hicks too busy fucking their own cousins.”
Natalka wasn't about to lecture Izaak on stealing — the only difference between them was that she hadn't gotten caught. "Try not to have another one of these 'incidents' happen, okay?"
“Yeah, yeah…” Izaak seemed visibly in pain from the beatings, deciding to keep his mouth shut rather than say anything in the presence of the commissar. As the group returned to their respective vehicles, Natalka paused, waiting for her superior — she'd fetched a few interesting things from the Euphemian CO's tent while they'd been there.
As the commissar finished dragging Izaak along, setting him alongside his vehicle, Klaudiusz approached from behind. “Well, that was a fucking mess and a half.” he commented.
"I found a few things there you might find interesting," Natalka reached into her coat's pocket, producing two items of notable interest — a CBI manual on a mysterious martial art, and a datacassette. "Check 'em out in your spare time and see if anything important's inside. Figured you'd find it interesting."
He took both items out of her hands, though he did have a comment about it, conveniently for when the commissar was already heading off nonchalantly to Fura. “Guess that Izaak's not the only one up to no good… well, I’ll be, uh, ‘confiscating’ these.”
"Sure thing, sir.." Natalka smirked, walking back to her vehicle. It would be a rather long day — given the plethora of tasks that would no doubt soon befall them. They were off to a simple start, though it was fairly obvious there'd be plenty of waiting involved. Maybe she could check up on her men once they'd reached the bridge.
"What was all that about?" Otmar gruffly asked, evidently having been smoking while he waited.
"Izaak tried to steal an anti-materiel rifle from the Euphski. Didn't go too well for him — they kicked his ass." Natalka replied, climbing aboard her station. "Maria, we're moving again."
Soon thereafter, the driver nodded her assent from the cabin, the vehicle's engines starting as they began out of Firebase Martinez.
ERRORERROR ERROR
TRANSKRYPCJA V185.55
KANAL 1. KOMPANIA
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/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.kpr. Maria Taylor Tell-it-to-My-Heart Olimpia Jadwiga Wolanski] /// - "I've been hearing rumors lately... about Izaak and Katarina."
/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "You can keep it off comms, kapral."
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"Rumor?" Natalka asked her driver as they began down the road.
"It's simple, really," Maria began from the driver's seat. "There's been a romance brewing between Osad's two upstanding crewmen, right under your nose. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been listening in on his quarters."
"Okay, I think I know where this goes." Natalka sighed, visibly discontent with her subordinate's crass commentary. "..somehow, it's one of those things that's so crazy it's believable. Rumor or not, I'm gonna look into it."
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TRANSKRYPCJA V185.55
KANAL 1. KOMPANIA
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/// [ZAFOR] - [Zachodu National Guard] - [55. Dywizja Pancerna "Ataman Mezowski"] - [20. Zmotoryzowany Legion Kawalerii] - [1. Kompania "Venerators of Saint Stanisław"] - [SK/OT-93K Kanonraptor "Kudłaty"] - [st.sierż Natalka Kaja "Mizerykordia" Stolarz M. Saszor] /// - "The bridge shouldn't be far from here. Leading the way."
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The group continued down the road, vehicles pushing forward through the wooded backwater of Navenland. Natalka had decided to order a slight detour from the nearby town of Zilverkamp, preferring a path to the bridge that would avoid getting into an urban area.
A few minutes passed before they'd made it back onto the main roads, the silhouette of the bridge amidst the typical evening sights welcoming the unit. The Euphemian armor was unmistakeable, the tanks vigilantly watching the other side of the river, barrels aimed at the ready. Maria slowed down in turn, more cooperative than usual, as she seemed to get most of the mission's 'memo'.
"Right, we're going to have a word with the Euphski." Natalka said, noting her subordinate was bringing them to a halt just behind the Euphemian tank platoon. As soon as the vehicle had stopped, she'd stepped out once more. Her injuries were, for the most part, recovering still, Natalka no longer having use for a crutch — though occasionally the annoying, sharp pain would shoot up her leg as she walked. Today was no exception, the young platoon commander swearing under her breath as she approached the Euphemian tank, climbing atop to call them to attention, giving a slight knock upon the vehicle's roof.
The response came a few seconds thereafter, the Euphemian tank commander taking note of the equally Euphemian flak jacket Natalka happened to be carrying about her. "You Za-Ko here? We've been sitting with our thumbs up our asses all day waiting for the fucking engineers."
"Uh, yeah." Natalka nodded. "Any, uh, intel on what's ahead of us here?"
"Yeah. The entire damn town of Loovelden's been rigged. Traps all over. They might even have a few anti-tank guided missile emplacements, which is pretty fuckin' rare for Charlie." The phrase 'Charlie' was, of course, referring to the Claytonists. "The fuckers are gettin' smart, too. They've begun doin' shit to hide from the thermals. Ghillie type shit, covering themselves with mud, charcoal — anything you can think of, they're tryin' it. It's been giving the Coalition a real hard time out in these parts. The ambushes keep comin' by the number... when y'all begin moving, be sure to watch your ass." Natalka took note of the man's nametag, which read 'YAURIE'.
"Right. Will do." Hopping down, Natalka figured to herself it'd be a good time for a routine check — and a few other things — before she'd bring the information to Klaudiusz himself. The rest of the convoy had largely come to a halt right now, which gave Natalka her usual opportunity to check on her subordinates. Given the little mishap at the Euphemian firebase, she'd be sure to check up on Osad first. Approaching the vehicle in question, she knocked upon the rear door, waiting for a response on the other end.
The rear door to the vehicle was cracked open, as Izaak slowly peeked to see who it was.
"Good day, Izaak. I hope you're well — especially after what happened. I'd been worried and all.." Natalka greeted him, glancing inside the vehicle. "I just came for the usual check." Given the fact the commissar wasn't too much of an enforcer in the aspect of rules, she was moreso checking for anything that would be of immediate danger to the crew's safety.
“Couldn’t be any better.” Izaak replied with a sarcastic tone before opening the rear door fully to allow the platoon commander entry. Natalka took a moment to look about, mindful of her subordinate's rather bad mood. Understandable, given he'd just had his ass handed to him by a bunch of rednecks.
"I'm sorry about what happened earlier, of course — just try not to get in trouble next time," Natalka added, looking about the interior of the vehicle. Kneeling down was a bit difficult, given some of her injuries, but she continued nonetheless, searching about the vehicle. "You've all been doing pretty well in the past few missions," She began, haphazardly crawling below one of the benches. "I'm proud of you all, I gotta say." Natalka was genuinely proud in her platoon — by some means or another, their casualties had radically dropped as of late.
“I just do what I need to survive, as is everyone else.” Izaak dropped his annoyed tone to talk seriously with the platoon commander. “Find anything interesting?”
Natalka had caught onto something below the benches, though she was now trying to get out of the rather tight space she'd found herself in. "Um— I think so. Anyways, I've been thinking, since I'm so proud with you guys, maybe I can bake us some cookies again—" She'd finally managed to get herself out, a rather unpleasant magazine in her hand. "Alright, which one of you's going for the Utsanji drawings again? Not that I judge."
While Natalka had been searching, Izaak had gotten himself comfortable in the commander's chair. “It looks like you’ve seen your fair share, commander.” As he finished off his sentence, the rear door opened again as Olek entered the vehicle. “How nice of you to join us, Olek.” Izaak jokingly called to his superior, who was clueless to the extra guest within their presence.
"Myself and your gunner were just having a nice conversation on the Utsanji 'art' being carried aboard this vehicle. Hide them better next time — I feel this commissar'll probably take it for himself if he catches you." Natalka joked, gesturing to the magazine in question.
“Nice to meet you too…” Olek trailed off as he took the ‘art’ in question. Looking through its contents, he quickly set it aside. “Commissar’s into this shit now?” He jokingly questioned.
"Well, that's up to interpretation. Either way," She began to flip through a few of the pages, her expression turning to a frown at the rather vulgar content of the 'book' in question. "..this should either be thrown out or put someplace safer."
“Could I have my book back?” Izaak gestured with his hand out, as if waiting for it to be given to him. “People pay top dollar for this stuff, I would prefer something good not go to waste being ‘thrown out’.”
"..oh, it's yours. Okay." Natalka closed the magazine, handing it back to her subordinate. "Give me a little bit of whatever you make selling that and I'll be sure to go easy on future checks. I'm, uhh.. strapped for cash, kinda."
“Oh? Looks like we’ve got a deal.” Izaak extended his hand, presumably waiting for a shake to seal the deal.
"Of course." Natalka didn't mind looking the other way to certain.. infractions her subordinates committed. "—actually, while I'm here. Can I ask you a question? Privately, preferably." Of course, she intended to get to the bottom of whatever 'rumor' Maria was implying, regarding Katarina and Izaak. To do so in Olek's presence would only embarrass the gunner.
“Sure. Here or outside?” He questioned, getting up from his seat and stretching with what little room the vehicle had to offer.
"Um, outside. Don't worry, I'm not going after you or anything. It's regarding your fellow crew, actually." Natalka led Izaak out of the vehicle, stopping to leave Olek a reminder. "—and please make sure Katarina's alright." Leading Izaak out of the vehicle, Natalka brought them to a somewhat secluded treeline, wondering to herself how exactly to put it into dignified words. "How do I say this.." She began, looking down. It was just a rumor, right?
“Say what? You took me all the way over here, must be serious.” Izaak began looking around, watching to make sure no one interrupted their conversation.
"I'm sorry if this offends— but I've overheard a rumor regarding yourself and your driver." She explained, trying to study his response.
“Rumor? From who?” Izaak became defensive, asking numerous questions to try and find who told her the information.
His defensive nature had gotten her suspicious — but perhaps asking directly would be best. "I don't want to start any drama in the unit by telling who I heard this from — but I've been hearing claims yourself and Katarina are, you know.. romantically involved."
Izaak stared at her for a brief moment, before breaking into a fit of laughter. “Me and Katarina? Could you tell me more about this ‘rumor’?”
"I've heard that you and Katarina have been, well.. fraternizing in your quarters." She replied.
“I will not confirm or deny anything, best to keep my name clear. Do me a favor, will ya? Please drop the rumor about me and Katarina, and I’ll stop teasing you about what you do in your alone time with the Company Commander.” Izaak jokingly replied, seeming to hint back at what Maria had previously revealed over the last open comms incident.
"Izaak, it's my job to make sure everything's going well in the unit. I just wanted to confirm if it holds any weight. I'm firmly against any rumors being spread among this unit, be they about me or you. It disrupts trust among our comrades, and I don't want that." Natalka's reply was serious in contrast to Izaak's, though she didn't exactly seem fased by her subordinate's implications.
“To answer your question, No. There is nothing going on between us.” Izaak reassured his superior, who seemed to be annoyed with him. “Relax, I was just joking. No need to get serious all of a sudden.”
"I'm serious because I care for you, and don't forget that." Natalka reminded him. "None of you are expendable — I'm here to see you all prosper, succeed, and most of all, survive."
“You seem to hold a view that the higher-ups don’t. Throwin’ us here like meat to a grinder.” Izaak seemed to fidget a bit as he took out a cigarette to smoke.
"It doesn't matter what the higher-ups think. We're in this together — which is why I need you, and everyone else, really, to do your jobs. And you have been doing your jobs. Wonderfully, I might add. Just.. keep it up." Natalka seemed to have expressed her mind sufficiently to Izaak. Hopefully he'd understand, or at least be motivated by her assurances.
Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, Izaak sighed before speaking. “Yeah, you are right. Thanks for the reassurances, I’ll try to continue doing my job well.”
"..and be sure to vote me for best platoon commander!" Natalka called, making her way out of the woods.
