Humble Beginnings?
Fortress of Comhghall
Layarteb City, Layarteb
07:20 AM Local Time
27 June, 2012
Staff Sergeant Nikolaj Holth was a relatively young man, having celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday just a week ago. Two days later, he had been on a plane heading for Layarteb City and his new posting at the Cottish Military Mission to Layarteb, where he would serve as a glorified administrator at the headquarters in Layarteb City, helping co-ordinate Cottish-Layartebian operations and exercises, testing new weaponry the Cottish military considered purchasing, and taking part in public ceremonies and official meetings. Now, five days after first arriving, he was participating in his first meeting at the Layartebian Emperor's fortress.
The 184-centimetre, broad-shouldered man had been pulled from where he had served up until nine months ago, as Platoon Sergeant of a Paratrooper rifle platoon, becaused he had been declared medically unfit for paratrooper service after having suffered a serious accident during a battalion-sized HALO training in Sørheim. His canopy had failed to open completely, meaning that Nikolaj impacted the ground at 70 kilometers per hour instead of a leisurely 4 kph. He survived the fall, but broke his pelvis and legs on impact. After spending six months in the military hospital outside Tverr, healing his bones and rehabilitating himself, he had finally been released back for general service. Unfortunately, the medical tests carried out back in Skogborg showed that the fall had caused minor damages to his spine. According to the military doctors, if he tried jumping out of an aircraft in jump harness with full combat rig, there was a chance the spine would collapse and kill him. As a result, Nikolaj was declared medically unfit for paratrooper duty. The hard training he had endured in the hospital to get back had all been motivated by the desire to rejoin his unit. As a result of his dreams being shattered by the doctors. the 28-year old wounded warrior had been in a limbo for the past few months, not being sure what to do now that he was no longer paratrooper qualified.
The fair-haired man had joined the Army in 2001 during the Patriotic Liberation War at seventeen, lying about his age after having seen his whole family succumb to the Cottish Flu Pandemic and the subsequent Smolenski invasion. The Army, short on personell, accepted him into the ranks of the infantry. Three months after joining, he got his first taste of combat north of Nygårdsheim in Ingermannland, where his company took on and defeated a reinforced Smolenski company. Three months of combat followed, including the epic battles of Kurba, Rostov, Manturov and Sjarja, where the young boy's character was shaped by war and conflict. In the process, Nikolaj had earned himself several medals, including the small blood-red ribbon on top of his "salad" on the left-side chest of his uniform jacket that denoted him as a Hero of Cotland, the highest honour the Cottish military could bestow upon its service-members. After the war, Nikolaj had stopped for a moment and taken stock of his life so far. His family was dead. His country was in shambles and threatened after a year of warfare and pandemic. He determined that he had no life-skills outside the military, so why not go with it for a while and see if he couldn't pick up some life-skills along the way? So he re-upped, volunteering for continued service. After serving three years in the infantry, he joined the Paratrooper Corps in 2004 with the rank of Corporal, went through Jump School and Sergeant School, becoming a freshly minted Sergeant in 2008 at age 24. In 2009, at age 25, he was in combat once again as part of the Cottish invasion force in Scotland, where the Cottish and Layartebian armies took on the remnants of the Goodrule Army in a campaign that rivalled even the Patriotic Liberation War in savageness. Nikolaj had excelled as a squad leader and, when his platoon leader and platoon sergeant was killed, as a platoon sergeant for the rest of the war. For this, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and promoted to Staff Sergeant. After these two campaigns, he participated in the Operation KODIAK, the Cottish assistance mission to Apolonia in early 2011, and rotated home in mid-2011. A few weeks later, the accident happened.
After receiving the devastating blow, it had been a while before the Army had decided that they couldn't just throw a decorated hero out on the streets without trying to give him another job first. So, it was decided to send him to Layarteb for a cushy position overseas, which would earn him better pay (service in the Military Mission was considered as a deployment, which entitled those ordered there to deployment pay) and soft duty. In the minds of the Office of Personell, it was a good move. For Nikolaj, it was his own personal hell. He wanted to be out in the field getting dirty, not sitting behind a desk all day in his best uniform, but that was what he had to do now.
This fine morning, Nikolaj was accompanying the Chief of Mission, a Lieutenant General who was also dual-hatted as the Cottish Military Attaché to Layarteb, to the Office of the Emperor of Layarteb for the monthly meeting between the Layartebian military leadership and the Cottish ambassador and military attaché, which served as a liason between the two remaining October Alliance member states. Dressed as was fitting in his Service Grey, the maroon beret of the Paratrooper Corps neatly rolled up and tucked into the left-hand pocket, the tall Cot stood out, even though most of the other Cots in the delegation were dressed as he was. The two rows of ribbons in the "salad", the maroon beret and ditto belt in place of the black leather belt, and the marksman badges and starred jump wings (signifying that he had carried out combat jumps), as well as the chevrons on his collar in place of the stars the officers had, singled him out. Naturally, his uniform was perfectly pressed, the buttons and various bits of metal shined, and his shoes polished to a shine.
As the delegation came to the main reception area outside the Emperor's office, the Cottish delegation were met by a secretary dressed in a dark skirt and a white silk blouse. The auburn beauty smiled as she welcomed the delegation and asked them to enter. Nikolaj, being a mere aide, was told to wait outside and that he'd be fetched if he was needed. Being the disciplined soldier that he was, Nikolaj acknowledged the instructions with a simple "Yes sir," and remained at attention until the doors closed.
As they closed, he quietly took himself down from attention and winced as his back complained. His back still didn't like him very much, and he didn't like taking painkillers if there wasn't a need for it. After closing his eyes for a moment to fight back the pain, he opened them again and looked around. The secretary had sat down behind the large, ornated mahogany desk and seemed to be doing some paperwork. As he looked at her, she looked up and smiled to him. Taken slightly aback at being caught peeking, Nikolaj flashed her a quick smile and made for the sitting group that was placed opposite the secretary, across the room. Perhaps sitting down would make the back stop acting up.
As he sat down, he couldn't help but resting his eyes on the secretary, who sat directly opposite him now. Taking the chance, he looked her over. The clock was just shy of 07:30, but the woman was immaculately dressed and groomed, dressed as she was in a tight, dark short skirt and a white blouse - Nikolaj guessed it was made of silk - that only helped to enhance the feminine curves and shapes of the beauty that sat with him in the room. Her crossed, long legs were wrapped in flawless, black stockings and ended in a pair of high-end black heels. Her auburn hair was held up in a tight knot behind her head, but Nikolaj guessed that she was even more beautiful if she allowed the hair to be released from its confines.
She looked up from the papers and found him looking at her again, causing Nikolaj to rapidly shift his eyes to a classic piece of art that hung on the wall as he blushed slightly at being caught for the second time in less than five minutes. Waiting a few seconds, Nikolaj looked back at her and found her gaze fixed on him, a playful smile on her lips.
Nikolaj swallowed quietly as she opened her mouth.
