The pretty man closed his eyes and shook his head with a smile. “So pessimistic. Miss Vang, do you fear that you will be deposed?”
“I’m practically counting on it.” The woman said, “I do my best, but everything feels like it’s spinning out of control. I don’t even have my own life together, how can I safeguard the dream of the Republic?” She put her chin in her hands and sagged onto the table. “I have to constantly act like I have it all together and I think it’s driving me nuts. But if I let up…I know it’ll slip away. I’m just afraid of when, not if, I finally lose it…what’s going to be next. I’m only twenty years old, but…if I drop the sky now, would I ever be able to lift it up again?”

“Many great men suffered more than one failure, Miss Vang,” the man finally finished setting up the back row of his side of pieces, “They have suffered many indeed. Some that they could do nothing about. Great people have become such because of the lessons from their mistakes, some became even greater after they thought it the end. Pray, have you heard of the recent plight of Halmeggia? A young queen has ascended to the throne after its turmoil. Many would compare one young female leader to another.”

“I would rather not be compared to a monarch who rules in name only,” the young woman grumbled.

The man shrugged with a smirk. “Time will tell how long that will be the case. Even the most gentle may be hardened by necessity for their power to establish order. So long as they do not turn overly cynical and risk spoiling their ideals, hm?”

The woman said nothing, and leaned back in her chair, looking over the chess pieces with eyes half shut, and said nothing.

“So, Miss Vang. What are you doing in Netilland? May I know what you seek to accomplish?” the man changed the subject.

“Netilland has been expanding. Mittelsosalia has been expanding.” The woman rattled off like reading notes, “The Archduchy and the Union of Valstener States has recognized our existence, but Netilland hasn’t. One of the territories they recently acquired was a section of northern Sosaldt, an alliance of warlords saw what way the wind was blowing and promised not to make trouble. It’s no secret that the lords of the north and I have plenty to disagree on, and now that I’m not some piece of meat that they can squeeze and prod instead of taking seriously, they’re afraid. Anybody can tell that Mittelsosalia and Netilland will butt heads at this rate. I’d rather put off inevitable conflict until the Republic has settled further. Lord Wossehn’s stabilizing presence works enough wonders, I’d rather not place even more strain upon his finances, bottomless as they are.”

“An admirable goal, to stave off war.” The man agreed with a nod, “Though the Ellowian army’s flight into Sosaldt has left many wary. How many of them went further west and found refuge in Mittelsosalia, I wonder..?”

“There are many principles I’ve been forced to be flexible on.” The woman said firmly, retreating further into her coat, “Some, I can’t back down on. That’s why I’m visiting the occupied Ellowian territory too. I’ve been approached concerning Ellowie. Concerning its army, air force, the like, and they have plans. Plans that I have to see whether or not I want to support.”

“You aren’t denying harboring them, I see.”

“Only a moron would think I wasn’t.” the woman said matter of factly as she crossed her legs, “If I presume my enemies are morons then I’ll be finished.”

“A dangerous thing to not deny anyways.”

“You’ve noticed my protection detail, surely. The one I brought, as well as your shadows you still have following me.”

The man shrugged again. “You are an exceedingly valuable investment, Miss Vang. It would not do for you to be assassinated on that principle alone, not to discount your personal value to myself.”

The young lady’s expression softened, but her talk was still of politics. “Be that as it may. I’ve heard plenty about what is happening in occupied Ellowie. It’s awful that another republic has fallen, been subjugated, especially by a bastardization of one like Netilland, not to even begin on the subject of Twaryi. I have to see if these rumors are substantial, because if they are…”

“One can hardly blame Netilland for its rapaciousness, hm?” the young man arranged pieces upon the board evocatively, “After their loss, and sacrifice, they are suddenly blessed with a bounty such as this. Their leaders are men of conquest whom never had, nor thought about, a prize of this scale. Is it not only natural that they gorge themselves to illness upon this feast?”

“That is no justification to pillage the country.”

“If you are to parley with them, then you will have to see matters from their point, no matter how you disagree.”

The woman slumped in her chair. “This is all so tiring. You can see why this is frustrating, can’t you? It’s all a game that I can’t help,” she reached a finger over and knocked over her king, “but feel I’ve lost before I’ve started playing. Yet I’m still moving pieces around anyways. It’s okay for me to want to just be normal again, isn’t it?”

The man sighed and stood up. “Consider what you think normal, I suppose. It is hardly unusual to long for the pillars of the past, but such will hardly support the world of tomorrow for eternity. Find new sources of strength, take them, if you must. You can only have the past drag you back so far before you lose sight of the future, Miss Vang.” He made for the door, “Until next time, Miss Vang. It was a pleasant evening, but I must needs be going before next morn. I have much to attend to elsewhere.”

A pause. A firming of the mouth and a holding of breath. “Wait..!” the woman got up from her chair with a clatter and strode to the door ahead of her guest, grabbing hold of the man’s arm and pulling it close to her. She looked up at him as he turned to her, her eyes dark and heavy with sad hope. “Won’t you stay the night? You can’t need to head off so soon. Wherever you’re going, it could wait, can’t it?”

The man steadily smiled, and brushed the girl’s hold off of him with his other hand. “Were I any less than who I am, I would happily remain here until sunrise, but I am as I am, and naught can slow my pace. The future advances towards us with dizzying speed, and I in particular cannot afford to tarry. I wish you luck and safe tidings in your ventures, Miss Vang. You would not still be in this position if you had no place occupying it. Your father would have nothing but pride and admiration for your endurance, I assure you.”

The man pushed the woman to the side and stepped out the door, closing it slowly behind him. The girl stood in place for a moment, stunned, before leaning against the wall and pushing her head into it. “…Shit.” She swore to herself, in a voice so weary she felt she was like to collapse before she made it to bed.

-----

You are Lieutenant Richter Von Tracht, and…well, you’ve had many hats. Your current one lacked its usual horsehair tuft, as that had clashed with a set of goggles you had grown attached to. The current Coordinator Von Tracht looked like an odd blend of Lieutenant and Kommandant; were it that the man who wore that costume was a similar mixture. You felt slower, less steady than in the past- and your recent skirmish hadn’t changed that feeling. What had made things feel more energetic and responsive as you had in the past was your spar with Anya; what that told, you didn’t know and weren’t sure what to think about.

That was not the current business, though; you had dragged your sparring partner and second in command on a trip to the local Ubergangszentrum- UGZ 09, to be specific. Known less clinically as Ackersdol; though very few actually called it that. As a “transition center,” the inhabitants of the overcrowded town turned slum of Ackersdol were hardly meant to stay there permanently, though the estimate of how long their residence would be was ever uncertain, delayed, or unsaid.

The UGZ was surrounded by a razor wire fence, patrolled on the inside by garrison troops; you and your party had called a staff car to take you there on the main road, and the guards at the gate waved you on in without a glance; getting into the UGZ was far easier than getting out again. A team of patrolling penal soldiers gave your group dirty glares as you walked on by after getting out of the car; Anya had shot one of their number dead in the past, and though she was completely justified in doing so, the camaraderie between penal soldiers of being in their lot together was a strong force. You’d want to keep Anya close; though whether she would cooperate with that was another matter.

The UGZ itself was an odd place in more ways than one- to any person who hadn’t been through the circumstances you had been in, it would just seem like a dusty, dirty town, with old construction still there but build on top of and in between in an attempt to house the many, many Ellowians that had been crammed into the place beyond its capacity. However, you could see tendrils of pale Presence energy spinning into the sky and blowing on the breeze, along barely perceptible currents of spirits. Oddly shaped creatures flitted about here and there, save for in the shadows where the black tar-like forms of Hungry Darkness lurked, white pearlescent masses of eye-like spheres glaring at you from the odd cranny. One time you had come here and seen the cloaked figure of a Stareling, bigger than a man, lingering in the middle of a road, before it abruptly severed itself from the earth and unfurled its covering into wings and seemed to fly away- something you’d never seen that rather creepy looking spirit do, and would rather not witness again.

Without your fiancée or any real consultant on Presence creatures, you loathed to approach anything too unfamiliar looking- though it was often unavoidable. The UGZ was practically infested, and you wondered what wandering Soulbinders thought of it.
All you could do for that was ignore it best you could, though. If anything felt too cold or itched too much to be near, you strayed away, and following instinct was your best option, from what you could tell. Thankfully, your time in the Border Zone had educated you on what parts of the UGZ were the most spiritually dense.

Your current destination, for example, was one place blissfully free of the unusual energies and the “life” that subsisted off of it. No place was free from the empty stares of idle Ellowians, though; they ranged from angry and hateful to desolate and depressed and everything in between. Anya’s presence at least dissuaded the odd prostitute trying to ply her trade. You’d been harried by one in the past, but she had been discouraged from the start and gave up easily- these people weren’t used to being poor, to having to live on handouts. At least it wasn’t a mugger, which you’d heard would have been equally likely with the rise of crime in the UGZs, both of exploitation and of black market trading. It was truly a wretched place; though, many said defensively, temporary- and a situation that all involved were doing their best to improve. The people of the UGZ were a unique case; many Ellowians had been allowed to continue living on their land, but some places were deemed to be of too much strategic importance to allow any but Netillians to occupy them; thus the Ellowians had been forced out of said places and put on the UGZs.

The place you were heading was the UGZ’s administrative center; protected by its own fence and guards, it housed supplies, arms, and more important, the man you intended to meet; the overseer of this whole operation, Sub-Lieutenant Rurik Maenesko. An oddly low rank for an overseer over just around four thousand souls, but Maenesko was hardly a usual man either.

An obstacle stood in the way of your meeting, though.

“Shit.” Anya swore, and she edged behind you. “That’s a lotta scumbags up there.”

Said “scumbags” were penal soldiers; a truck of them, apparently stopped at the gate for one reason or another, and not looking like they would be moving soon. They appeared frustrated, complaining to themselves about what must have been the cause of their delay- not that you could hear them at the distance you maintained. Penal soldiers were pitiable themselves, but their rough and ill-disciplined nature (that was rumored to be encouraged in order to oppress the Ellowian population) rarely made them popular with those who had to deal with them further than pointing them at a target and letting them loose.

“Maybe you will not draw their attention if you closed your jacket,” Von Metzeler criticized Anya.

“It’s not that!” Anya hissed, “They know the uniform and my face, that bunch in particular. I can just scram. It’ll be less a pain in the ass. In fact, I’ll do that now.”

>You’re sure there won’t be any problems. Best for you all to keep together and push on.
>So be it, then. Anya can take care of herself just fine.
>Really, you were the only one who needed to meet with Maenesko. Have Von Metzeler and Anya stick together outside while you went in.
>Other?

Past Threads are collected here: https://pastebin.com/UagT0hnh
Twitter for announcements and various horseshit is @scheissfunker

As a reminder, you've come here to investigate recent disorder; that is, disorder that has been much moreso than in the past in the UGZ. It was voted to meet the big cheese of the place first and foremost, but if you have any other ideas of places to look or to go someplace else first, then you can write that in.

>>3447533
>So be it, then. Anya can take care of herself just fine.

>>3447533
>>You’re sure there won’t be any problems. Best for you all to keep together and push on.

>>3447533
>You’re sure there won’t be any problems. Best for you all to keep together and push on.

>>3447533
>>Really, you were the only one who needed to meet with Maenesko. Have Von Metzeler and Anya stick together outside while you went in.
Maybe encourage them to snoop around outside if we're going to be in there a while

>>3447533
>>You’re sure there won’t be any problems. Best for you all to keep together and push on.

>>3447795
Supporting

Sorry for the wait, I basically immediately fell over and couldn't get up.

>>3447564
No ugly girls allowed in the fort.

>>3447625
>>3447748
>>3447959
Don't make eye contact- if you look at them they might think you're interested in them.

>>3447795
>>3447963
Leave everybody outside.

Writing, then.

“There won’t be any problems,” you asserted, “Just keep on walking. I’ll deal with it.”

“Yeah, I bet you will.” Anya said with the tone that belied how likely she thought that statement was to be true.

“One moment.” Von Metzeler bent down to Anya’s level and started buttoning her jacket.

“Hey!” she shoved his hands off, “Knock that off!”

“If you make a scene you’ll attract unwanted attention,” Von Metzeler said curtly, “Your midsection is distracting to Lieutenant Von Tracht, for whatever reason, doubtless it is to others. I am sure you can make a small sacrifice to stand out less than usual to not cause trouble.”

“Trouble’s comin’ either way!” Anya spat, “And it don’t care what I look like.”

“If we may move onward.” You suggested. “And not speculate on what I am distracted by.”

Von Metzeler immediately straightened and was attentive. “Sir.”

It looked like a struggle for Anya to not make a smart comment. She made up for it by kicking the point of her boot into a set of buttocks- not Von Metzeler’s. You accepted it and made as little objection as possible. As much as you would have liked Anya to have been wrong about her mere presence making a scene…she was absolutely right. Usually when she disagreed with a decision enough she would simply flagrantly disregard said suggestion or order, but here, she must not have been fond of just walking off and doing her own thing if it meant leaving the protections your position might grant.

“Hey!” one of the penal soldiers, some dirty looking scoundrel with a face like a rodent said through a nose that had practically been broken backwards, his uniform sagging on him. Rather than a rifle, what looked like a double barreled hunting shotgun was slung on his back. Penal soldiers were low on the requisition priority list and often had such scrounged weapons. “That’s half-face!”

“Figures.” Anya muttered, and she reflexively reached to the back of her trousers; where you knew she concealed a small pistol most of the time. It wasn’t the strongest sort but, as could be concluded from the time she had defended herself, it hardly mattered when its magazine was emptied into a target in a few seconds.

“Damn, it is, isn’t it? Hard not to recognize that ugly mug.” Another penal spat as he rounded the corner; the truck was starting to unload as Anya’s presence was announced. “Archduchy dick-sock. You won’t be able to slip away forever.”

“Slip away?” Another man rounded the other corner while Von Metzeler showed your papers to a bored gate attendant. “I don’t think so. What’s stopping us from beatin’ her down right here? Nobody’ll come round for a few minutes, that’s enough to drag her out and make an example…”

“Won’t be more’n more time we’ll pay off getting’ shot any’s,” another agreed, sauntering up.

Unlike Strossvald, Netilland’s military law’s punishment for rape was not death. Penal soldiers were often said to lose hope and, considering that punishment for misdeeds usually translated to further service, took such as an excuse to misbehave more. Their friends and family were already either under scrutiny of the Kommissariat or in political dissident camps, usually- some were sympathetic to their loss of hope.

“Cease your harassment of my retinue,” you stepped forward.

“Cease your harassment!” One of the penals said in a mocking voice.

“So she just gets to get away with killin’ one a us?” Another sneered, “We not even human t’ you anymore? Faelrman had kids, y’know. Don’t they deserve a bit ‘a justice? Shouldn’ had t’ die for trying to have some fun with our miserable lot.”

Von Metzeler gestured to you. You were going through, now. Without another word, you tapped Anya’s shoulder, and she followed. She seemed completely calm, maybe even bored. Whether that was meant to be an insult towards them or she actually didn’t consider them threatening was uncertain.

“Hey, don’t you walk off while we’re not through talkin’ to you!” the rat face sniffled at your group. You heard tussling behind you, and looked back; one part of the squad had begun to harry the gate staff while a few slipped by to pursue you.

“Won’t take a minute…” one of the men said darkly.

You heard Anya begin to slip her pistol out of her pants, but Von Metzeler stood between you and them, hand resting on his saber- a plain, utilitarian sort, with a dull steel sheathe and very much not the sort of blade one would picture somebody so unusual as to carry around their saber constantly (like Von Metzeler did) would wear.

“Go on.” He said, “I shall deal with the riff-raff.” You knew that Von Metzeler was an accomplished swordsman, but you weren’t particularly sure what his plan wa- “If they wish to have their retribution then they shall earn it as is proper in civilized times.” He explained to you.

Ah.

“Would you stop being a bonehead?” Anya snapped, “This is my problem. I’ll deal with it.”

>You would have to refuse Von Metzeler’s and Anya’s proposals. Anya was your retinue; if anybody should duel in her place, it was you.
>You’ll just leave the Lieutenant to that, then. Advise him not to lose.
>Tell Von Metzeler to stand down. Anya could take care of herself if she so insisted, and you hardly needed to antagonize the penal battalion more than you had already.
>Would these people really respect a duel? The only way to deal with this was force. Wade into the fray and teach these dogs a lesson.
>Other?

>>3448105
>Would these people really respect a duel? The only way to deal with this was force. Wade into the fray and teach these dogs a lesson.

>>3448105
>Would these people really respect a duel? The only way to deal with this was force. Wade into the fray and teach these dogs a lesson.
Imagine trusting penal legionaries.

>>3448105
>>Would these people really respect a duel? The only way to deal with this was force. Wade into the fray and teach these dogs a lesson.

Please use a knife or pistol unless we want our asses kicked.

“These people won’t respect a duel, Lieutenant,” you told Von Metzeler, stepping forth. “The only way this will be dealt with is appropriate force.”

“So long the girl is not involved.” Von Metzeler said that, but you knew full well that Anya wouldn’t be able to help herself if things escalated further.

You had both your knife and your pistol on you; the blade was as long as your hand and well sharpened, a combat knife you had picked up from a pile of Ellowian arms spoils, and well balanced for fighting- you figured. Really you knew as little about fighting with one as you did with your fists. You also had your pistol- but did you really want to have this escalate into a gun fight? In the middle of a Netillian base in the UGZ? It would undoubtedly cause no small fuss, though it would practically ensure your victory…

>Draw your knife.
>Draw your pistol.
>It was three on three, if you counted Anya; insist that you keep it to arms and legs.
>Other?
Note that drawing a weapon does not necessarily entail using it- in fact, unless you state otherwise, it’ll be presumed to be used as a thread firstly.

>>3448163
>Draw your knife.

>>3448163
>>Draw your pistol.
Threaten them with it but don't hesitate to use it on them. I'm too autistic for a write-in but something to the effect of another step and you're dead.

>>3448163
>Draw your knife
>Inb4 you call that a knife

>>3448167
>>3448170
Knoyfe

>>3448169
Playing to strengths

I'll get writing after I eat dinner.

Rolled 72 (1d100)

You whipped your hand to your side and drew your combat knife in what you hoped was an intimidating gesture, with a short shick. “One more step and we’ll be having problems.” You declared.

The penal soldiers did not seem very impressed.

“For crying out loud.” Anya huffed, “Gimme that!” she wrenched the knife from your hands and with her next movement, swung the knife out, and released it in a spinning drive towards…

>DC 75 rolling under for Tomboy preemptive strike, degrees of succ apply

>>3448288
Seems like we should honestly be training with melee weapons as well if we're going to get into stuff like this.

The knife sliced in between the lead man’s legs and stuck- he screeched shrilly and his hands rushed to his groin.

“What are you-“ you nearly spat out in surprise before Anya took you by the arm.

“It’s three on two now! Get in there, dumbass!” She slung you forward, and you moved more out of surprise than the force of her pull, small as she was. You ended up stumbling into the man on the right, who was just as surprised by you spinning and tumbling into him as you were. Anya had moved in your shadow, though, and it was only from the sound of whipping cloth that you realized Anya had moved behind the off-balance Netillian and tripped him, and before he had even fallen to the ground, her boot was speeding for his crotch.

You had to look away for that one but the thin little squeal that emitted from the man told you that he wasn’t getting back up quickly. A second crack told you that Anya had kicked him in the face as a follow up. The man whose manhood now had your knife sticking out of it still clutched dumbfounded at his legs, but as the knife fell away, and he inspected himself, suddenly seemed relieved.

The third man had been distracted enough for Von Metzeler to draw steel and put his sword to his throat. A quick surrender, you saw, had been forthcoming, but that left the issue of the last man.

He was dumbfounded, though he picked up your knife and weighed it in his hand, eyes flicking across targets- his gaze quickly alighted upon Anya.

>This scuffle was over- declare it as such and enforce it with your pistol.
>Get in the way of where you thought that knife to be soon flying.
>Ask politely for your knife back- surely he could tell this fight had ended.
>Other?


>>3448300
That's what Anya has been doing, sort of, though with more focus on hand to hand- Richter has progressed from "shit" to "unimpressive" over the time skip.

>>3448317
>>This scuffle was over- declare it as such and enforce it with your pistol.
>Get in the way of where you thought that knife to be soon flying.

>>3448319
supporting

>>3448319
>>3448317
Supporting the ol Richter special

>>3448319
>>3448324
>>3448330
Draw gun- maybe it'll keep Anya from getting another scar. Or you, since you're getting in the way.

Alright then. Writing.

Rolled 57 (1d100)

“That’s enough,” you declared, drawing your pistol. The way the penal soldier was looking at Anya, though, with that knife balanced in his hand, “This is over, get ba-“ the penal wound up his arm and chucked the knife at Anya.

It was a good thing you were already moving to get in the way, you thought as you made a bound right as his arm wound up. Time seemed to slow down in a familiar fashion as you blocked Anya from the knife with your body- perhaps only thinking too soon that this would probably end poorly.

>Enemy roll DC roll below 65, degrees of success apply

You barely managed to bring your arm up in time as the knife flew home, and it stuck in the meat of your forearm with enough force to send it into your face. The knife burned, but your blood was running too hot for you to notice much. Yet.

“Dumbass!” Anya was quickly at your side, “What did you do that for!?”

The penal soldier blinked, and suddenly realized that the knife had not been stuck where he intended it; and it had flown into a man who had a gun pointed at him.

>Shoot him (where?)
>Tell him to leave
>Thank him for returning your knife
>Other?

>>3448368
>Thank him for returning your knife
>Tell him to piss off (gesturing with firearm appropriately)

>>3448368
>Tell him to leave before you return the favor. With a bullet.

>>3448374
>>3448376
supporting

>>3448376
Supporting.

>>3448374
>>3448376
>>3448382
>>3448386
Thanks for giving my knife back. Now leave before I shoot you.

Writing.

“Thanks for returning my knife.” You said, keeping your arm raised, though your next statement was much less coolly made. “Piss off before I think about returning the favor. With a bullet.”

The penal soldier began to drip with sweat, but stepped sideways, then stumbled, and fled. Von Metzeler allowed his prisoner to go at that point, but Anya pinned down her subject for a bit longer, withdrawing her own bladed implement and cutting a long strip out of the penal soldier’s uniform before letting him back up, giving him a boot in the ass as he fled.

“You’re such a fucking retard,” Anya muttered venomously as she took your arm and inspected it. “Your uniform’s messed up now, may as well have sparred with it on.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Shut up, retard.” Anya started sawing at your coat, cutting through the sleeve to where the knife had been embedded. Once it and the skin beneath were exposed, she yanked the blade out in one hard pull.

“Ow!” you couldn’t help but snap sharply.

“Shut up.” Anya muttered as she bound your wound in a dirty strip of uniform cloth. “Get it checked out later. Unless you’re so prissy you won’t show up out of uniform. Not that Maenesko’d give a shit.”

“M’am should give the Lieutenant a word of thanks, methinks,” Von Metzeler said as he thumbed his saber, now sheathed, casting a dour look towards the gates, “Or at least an apology.”

“I didn’t ask for him to get in the way,” Anya sulked as she tied the knot on your arm firmly, “And I said to let me deal with them myself. You dipshits felt the need to get involved. The help is appreciated, but I didn’t fucking ask for it.”

>Demand a reward for coming to her rescue. (What?)
>Say nothing. If she wasn’t going to appreciate this then you should be thankful she at least felt responsible enough to treat you.
>Other?

Also

>Go get the wound treated, or go right on to the administrator?

>>3448406
>>Say nothing. If she wasn’t going to appreciate this then you should be thankful she at least felt responsible enough to treat you.
>Go get the wound treated, or go right on to the administrator?
There a medic at the HQ? If so get it bandaged first.

>>3448406
>Say nothing. If she wasn’t going to appreciate this then you should be thankful she at least felt responsible enough to treat you.

>Go get the wound treated

>>3448413
>>3448406
Yep

>>3448406
>>Say nothing. If she wasn’t going to appreciate this then you should be thankful she at least felt responsible enough to treat you.
>get wound treated

>>3448411
>>3448413
>>3448431
>>3448437
Say nothing, get wound actually treated.

Alright then, writing.

>>3448406
>>Say nothing. If she wasn’t going to appreciate this then you should be thankful she at least felt responsible enough to treat you.

>Other?
How does Richter feel...mentally about getting a knife stuck in him. He seems oddly dulled to all this. Whether or not we want him numb to this violence is a different question.

>>3448465
>Other?
>How does Richter feel...mentally about getting a knife stuck in him. He seems oddly dulled to all this. Whether or not we want him numb to this violence is a different question.

Funny isn't it?

Sorry for the delay, I elected to do something ill advised. Update will be soon.

Anya’s objections were met with silence from you. Maybe Von Metzeler expected a thanks or apology, but you didn’t- and you knew better than to insist. It was better to just be thankful that she had felt responsible enough for what had happened to immediately bandage you- even if it was with a dirty strip of uniform rag, and she had cut open your uniform coat to get at it properly. Your other uniform coat had been destroyed in an unfortunate incident that was not to be spoken of- and a replacement for that one was yet in coming. Either you would have to find a suitable replacement or hope you could repair this one to a satisfactory level in time for the social at Kamienisty. That you were taking Anya to.

“Go ahead and inform Sub-Lieutenant Maenesko that I’m here,” you told Von Metzeler, “I’m going to go to the clinic here to have this treated more permanently.” You looked to Anya. “You too.”

“Yeah,” she started to walk off, “Don’t get in the way of any more knives on the way there.”

On the way to the clinical tent that stood to serve the garrisons as well as the administrative and logistical staff of the UGZ base, you stared at your wounded arm, and couldn’t be brought to mind being stabbed too much. Was that odd? Well, you had been splattered with spall before, and that had hurt a lot more. Being shot in the chest with a rifle had hurt too; maybe it could have killed you, but Maddalyn had healed that wound shortly after you received it. Maybe it was a matter of perspective?
Oh, now it started hurting more. Ouch. Yet you still didn’t feel too affected by it.

Maybe you were just strange.

-----

“You got this fighting with Penal Troops?” the doctor asked you as he cleaned your wound with alcohol; the sting made you recoil.

“Yeah.”

“Why?” the doctor threaded his needle with suturing thread, “You should avoid antagonizing them. They have it pretty bad off, you know. Plenty think they’re already dead. Enough commit suicide rather than lashing out. Fighting them only makes them feel more persecuted.”

“We were hardly the ones who struck the first blow,” you defended yourself.

“Perhaps not. But the Penal Battalions are unjustly treated, and I believe that is the background to much of their violence. As a doctor, I have a responsibility to all human life, you see.”

“Does that include the Ellowians in the UGZ?” you asked. “I don’t mean to accuse you of anything. I just haven’t seen much in the way of hospitals here.”

“No, I understand.” The doctor said as he finished your sutures, “Indeed. I do treat the injured and sick Ellowians, but supplies for such are tightly handled. Medical supplies cannot be taken off of this base without proper permissions- and most of it is reserved for the garrison. I can do my best in my off hours, but without proper medicine and supplies it is difficult to do very much. Home remedies and basement chemistry can take you some ways, you can hardly improvise, say, a vaccine. Whooping cough has been spreading like wildfire among the children, and there is very little that we can do about it.”

“I see.”

“This should about do it, then,” the doctor wrapped your wound in clean gauze, and gave it a pat. “Avoid strenuous activity until the wound has had time to heal; if the stitches fall out, have them reapplied. If you fought with the Penal Soldiers and knives were involved, I’ll be expecting some in short time, I wager. You had best leave before they arrive.”

-----

Sub-Lieutenant Rurik Maenesko was a subdued man, who you’d only ever seen working, or when not occupied by papers and forms and sums, reading. He scarcely went outside, and was quite pale for an army officer. Officially he was a Lieutenant of the Netillian Army, but he had formerly been a junior officer in the Netillian Coastal Defense Fleet. This was an identity he clung to, in spite of the army uniform he now wore. For its small size, the Netillian Navy had no shortage of pride, you’d heard, and was loathe to surrender any of its leadership to the Army; apparently, Maenesko had done something to make his superiors dump him off, though it didn’t seem to be because of lack of competence. No supplies went missing without a subsequent investigation, and his distributions of such were nothing if not fair by any account- indeed, the people of the UGZ hardly had much to say about him in particular, for all the venom borne towards his masters.

Perhaps it was because Maenesko was not a typical metropolitan Netillian; he was from the eastern reaches of the country, and a shadow of Old Nauk darkened his speech, an accent you were told was common to east Netilland because of its history as home to a significant Nauk minority, though of a different breed than the Rourmarken to the north of Netilland. Such people were referred to as Netinauk, you’d heard, but Maenesko rarely referred to himself as such. Others though, you heard referring to him as a Penguin or a Rotmouth; variations of impolite names for his people based on their preference of fermented marine cuisine, and rumor had it, the effect this had on their body odor. You hadn’t noticed such from Maenesko, though.

File: tcqscene141.png (703 KB, 900x588)

703 KB PNG

When you met with him, his office was in chaos as usual, but on closer inspection one would find an unusual order in it, as though Maenesko was the center of this storm, and knew well what was blowing about in the wind. In the piles of papers one could ever spy a clip, or a note, or some small indicator that the messiness was solely upon the surface of matters.

“Coordinator Richter Von Tracht,” he said tiredly from amongst the hills of office detritus, dark circles under his eyes as usual, that nevertheless deigned to rise to look at you rather than the papers, “Your second in command told me you were coming. Your Nowicki said you got into a fight with Penal soldiers. Don’t do that.” Maenesko had difficulty understanding the concept of what a Retinue was; he simply referred to Anya by her surname. Something that would clue most people in to her actual bloodline even though most would assume she was of Strossvald by her accent.

“They started it.” You repeated your excuse to Maenesko.

“Try to avoid them, please. It makes things even more difficult when our own troops are skirmishing with each other. We have enough to worry about with the Ellowians and the Twaryians. Not to mention the Kommissariat potentially coming in to inspect the contents of my stool.” Maenesko had a less than respectful view of the Kommissariat- it took stones to trash talk them so flagrantly.

“Well, Sub-Lieutenant,” you started, “I’m here to investigate something that’s looking like it’ll be troublesome. There’s been more than a few riots recently, and I’ve been told that they’re merely the prelude to something larger. I’d like to make a preemptive strike, if you will.”

“I see.” Maenesko didn’t seem terribly excited. “I suppose you’d like to know why the people would be upset. What they riot and fight over, what they protest against, or against not having. Besides being conquered and occupied.”

“Well, yes.”

“There’s certainly no shortage of things to complain about,” Maenesko said blithely. ”The winter has not brought snow yet, but it’s certainly cold- and getting colder. There’s already plenty of complaints about the lack of heating. Fuel oil is hardly going to come here, of course, and neither is coal. My only real hope is with the logging operations down west, but I would be forced to ask that they provide firewood for charity, since I can hardly promise them any profit. So of course, there’s no chance of that happening. That’s only one of many little grievances, though.” Maenesko sighed and leaned sideways on his fist.

“Have there any troubles with food rationing?” you asked. You doubted that the Sub-lieutenant would have had trouble managing things, but he could only get what was requisitioned.

“No, actually,” Maenesko said, brightly. “In spite of headquarters’ best efforts to give as little as possible, the Ellowians of the Ubergangszentrum may not be eating lavishly, but they are at least not starving. That’s at least something going decently. However, there are five thousand two hundred thirty eight Ellowians being held here in the transition center, last the official count went by.”

“Five thousand?” you coughed, “Last I heard there was near four.”

Maenesko nodded. “More arrived by train, from the capital sector, though now, there are probably a fair fewer. Crime is through the roof, and so are cases of poor health. Sickness has been sweeping through the pre-adolescent population, and, of course, we have next to no medicine or clinical supplies. Drugs have been sneaking their way in, what with the focus on security going largely one way, and prostitution among the women and girls is now distressingly common, many cases of such being forced by gangs. At the very least, their primary customers have been provided with sufficient protection, so venereal diseases at the very least are not flourishing. Meanwhile, working age men, for lack of work permits to exit the UGZ, end up listless, and without extra Gildr for luxuries beyond bread, it’s no surprise they seek whatever small gain they can in gang activity. Their children are sick and dying, their women are being violated by foreigners, and the men are unable to do anything but either sit around or act as criminals as they’re cooped up in a fence. It’s no wonder that they’re angry.”

“Not much we can do about that, is there,” you said scornfully.

“No, not without more medicinal supplies and work, or some measure for these people to at least maintain their dignity. Mind you, there are the well-to-do within the UGZ, they are whom I must work most closely with in order to prevent things from deteriorating further, but the primary troubles come from the common “poor,” whose numbers swell daily. However, there is one thing in particular accelerating the chaos. Rumor has it some insurgents have snuck among the population; they’re said to be the motivators behind the increased rioting, and all signs point to them preparing for a much larger scale disruption than before, and soon.”

“A violent armed uprising would be bad.” You said, to summarize.

“Quite. I would suppose that that angle would be the one you would like to work on, unless you were to pull alleviations to the other matters out of your cap.”

“I’m still thinking on it.”

“You have my audience, Coordinator.” Maenesko pushed a paper about idly, and rolled a pen off the table. “If you have any questions, I am here to answer, but I’m afraid I can’t offer much more support than what’s already present. Anything more tangible than information, I’m hard pressed to provide. If you know anything, of course, that might help me give you a better conclusion, I’ll share any theories I have that develop from what you tell me that I don’t know.”

>Ask Sub Lieutenant Maenesko questions to help achieve your current objective- to find out better what is causing the riots and buildup of resentment, and to hopefully eliminate the source or at least impede disaster.
>You have enough information; start a more focused search (where?)
>Other?

>>3448609
>Questions

How often have weapons been confiscated here?
Are there any other Netilland police here besides Penal heh soldiers?

Is there anyway to get more work for the men? Boost army recruitment, labor projects, more work permits? Maybe offer workers for the loggers in exchange for a percentage of the firewood?

>Other?
I don't think there's anyway to sift out the insurgents before they strike besides setting up some kind of trap.
Or unjustly strike the worst hotbed district to provoke a response.

Tell him sources have indicated that there's going to be an attack on Kamienisty, maybe they'll be coordinated with a simultaneous large attack here as well.

We could try and ask Mayor Hamtaro if he has UGZ contacts and follow up from there.

>Other OTHER
Don't let Emma go with Hilda when she leaves. As it is we're going to have find out a way to dispose of the ghost.

>>3448647
Why so hostile towards Emma?

>>3448609
>Questions
Is it possible to start some logging operations around here using the Ellowian workers
Maybe part of the resentment could be redirected toward the prostitution gangs?

>>3448647
Supporting.

>>3448669
Supporting. I think both of us can turn a blind eye to some firewood being siphoned off.

>>3448609
Supportan >>3448647

So I've stayed up way too late and will be sleeping it off but to answer a few things you would know off the bat-

>>3448669
>Is it possible to start some logging operations around here using the Ellowian workers?
The work permits include the logging and related operations; an expansion of such somehow would certainly not be out of the question, but there would be competition with local colonial workers.

>>3448647
>Are there any other Netilland police here besides Penal soldiers?
Another company in the 5th Combined Infantry (your battalion here) helps out around the place too. It's a meant to be 50-50, but usually ends up around 60-40.
>Is there anyway to get more work for the men? Boost army recruitment, labor projects, more work permits? Maybe offer workers for the loggers in exchange for a percentage of the firewood?
This'll be properly answered in the update but as for recruitment, the Combined Infantry's assimilation program does recruit from the UGZs as well as POW camps. It wouldn't be out of the question to try and pull some strings to get a section of "reinforcement" to prioritize from UGZ-09, but such would cost Requisition and/or getting a favor; perhaps an option later when Requisition is actually introduced.

The rest will be asked in character and answered when I write the update-after I sleep. Any other questions and such as well.

>>3448810
Sleep tight, you little shit

>>3448669
I'm >>3448647

For Emma, it occurred to me that when she and Hilda were doing the whole 'merge' thing before she got a free bun in the oven, one horrifying solution to Emma not having a body would be to just take Hilda's either temporary or not. We never did address that when mosshead Fie brought up the idea and now that Hilds has a passenger already whose to say Emma won't want the kid instead.

>>3448879
First of all, Emma can only ride in Hilda because of Hilda's unique circumstances. Her baby probably doesn't have the same soul hollow. Second, Emma can't overtake a body, only share in the sensations. Third, I wouldn't worry about Emma hopping into the baby for at least 8-10 years. I doubt she's be a fan of lying, crying and shitting herself.

>>3448887
I was thinking more Alia from Dune, I'm more worried about the fact that she's been growing in size and Maddy's earlier warnings that she can become parasitic if she gained too much mass.

I'd just rather the sudden but inevitable betrayal happen near us as opposed to Hilds.

>>3449012
The issue is that would place Hilda next to Richter/Players and that my friend is objectively worse for Hilda than anything Emma could do to her, if she is even going to do something.

>>3450112
Oh absolutely, she should head back to Richter's parents, just without the spooky parasite specter following.

Well this'll be a late start for today. But I am here now and writing.

“I suppose the foremost issue being the insurgents,” you started off, “Have you been seizing any weaponry? Or found anything of the like?”

“One can hardly restrict a man from having a knife in a sane society, though we naturally have restrictions against Ellowians owning firearms in the UGZ- we’ve had to take possession of a few on the way in, and sometimes a successful raid reveals a few more that snuck in, though there have not been any large scale captures.” Maenesko frowned, “Though that isn’t necessarily a good thing. What we’ve found there to be is a trickle, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of caches. Merely that they could be hiding them well. On the other hand, that could all be hogwash, in this business, it’s best to assume things from a pessimistic standpoint, don’t you think?”

“I guess.” In summary, what had been confiscated betrayed little. “I’ve heard tell that the Social coming up at Kamienisty would be an attractive target to any insurgents nearby.”

“I have thought the same. You think that a diversion here would be an aid to such a strike?” Maenesko asked. You nodded. “If that assumption is correct, of course, which would mean any insurgents near here have ceased laying low as they have- or a new group has moved in with better unity and capabilities. However, if a large scale uprising here would be planned to coincide with the night of the Social, then that means they have no choice but to delay until such. That gives us one week of valuable time.”

“Do you think that if we stop this, maybe they won’t hit the Social?” you asked, somewhat hopeful, “I’ve been invited to go there and I’d rather it not be the sort of party that ends in a gunfight.”

Maenesko shrugged and made a noncommittal grunt of admitting ignorance. “Who knows? Kamienisty’s certainly going to be well guarded at that time. Without the benefit of a distraction, it might be too risky to try and attack it. However, the Social could likewise be too good a target to not try for anyways. After all, the guest roster has not been fully revealed.”

“Are you hoping to be invited?” you poked at Maenesko.

However, he was unperturbed. “Even without the benefit of rank and status, nobody who’d be sent to a UGZ would be invited to mingle with neo-nobility. Not that I would attend an army event even if invited. No, it’s because, among the expected set of peacocks strutting around, the vainest peafowl of them all may deign to arrive to join in the dance and drink. Surely you know of whom I speak.”

You hardly had to guess. “High Protector Wladysaw XI, I presume.”

“Self-styled king, with a throne bestowed upon him by his people’s enemies. What a character. Imagine if you were an insurgent near here, and such an opportunity as putting a bullet in him arrived. Would you be able to resist? The guest roster beign kept uncertain is part of the little games of the neo-nobility, you see. Who will the mystery guest be? Who would be the most exciting? Wladysaw XI indeed loves being the man of the hour.”

“You seem very certain of that.”

“Can you say you disagree, if you know of the man’s character?”

‘Hm.” Maybe, maybe not. Would he who newly called himself King of Ellowie (under Netillian authority) be so insecure that he went to a party potentially as dangerous while also lacking in grand significance? Perhaps all he did, by Maenesko’s reckoning, was venture about from gathering to gathering…though Maenesko seemed to have no shortage of spite for the neo-nobility either. “I have another question, then, which would ease the population’s woes somewhat. I’m sure you’ve already thought about it, but I just want to be sure; to know why they can’t be done, too. There’s more men seeking work than work permits-“

“Far more.”

“Yes. So I wouldn’t suppose we could just…make more work? Expand the logging to the west? Recruit more people into the assimilation program? If there’s not money to do those things, maybe…some wood harvested could be divided into firewood? That would alleviate the problems with cold, at least.”

“Yeah. Lack of funding sort of quashes work expansion. More work requires more funding, which requires more money that would be preferred to be dumped into Netillian ventures. Like I said. The higher ups only want to give as little as they need to. They’d need something more frightening than letters of warning to spur them into further action. Something like a huge uprising, not the threat of one.” Maenesko put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “As for paying in resources…it’s a decent idea. Loathe as the lumber companies are to part with trees they could be felling and selling without having to give up a cut of it. However, certain areas are restricted due to danger of insurgents. Expanding in those places might convince the companies to cut a deal such as you describe, perhaps even one slanted generously towards the workers. Perhaps a small investment to fund replanting of saplings.”

“So…”

“I’ll tell you what, Coordinator. I can talk with the well-to-do and have them spread word of work coming up. If I can make this appetizing enough to the logging and lumber people, then they should bite at this. However, I have no power to create safe areas, to clear out woods in order to exploit them. So for this to work, I’ll need help. Preferably yours, since you seem invested in it. I would think I would need to add some sugar that I don’t have in order to draw any other sort of aid.”

“…What about more recruitment?” you asked first.

“Well, Coordinator. Do you have weapons and uniforms to give them? Clout to let you drag away…how many recruits? How many Ellowians do you have in your company? One platoon?”

“A large platoon. About sixty of them.”

“Hardly much of a valve for pressure then. I like the log cutting idea much better. It lets them work, gets firewood into their homes, and the surplus can be sold to their fellows for an injection into the economy that isn’t drugs or prostitution. Maybe you don’t like the idea of doing something for nothing, but maybe…?”

>Mission offered: Clear out forests of insurgent activity
>Take it, or no?
>Make a counteroffer?
Also, just in case,
>Other things?

>>3450863
>>Take it
Better than making all these people rot in these concentration camps.

>>3450863
>>Take it
Baby steps but sounds like a plan.

>>3450863
>>>Take it

>>3450863
>Something like a huge uprising, not the threat of one
Curious coincidence which may benefit him more than it seems at first. Especially since his disdain for the army and nobles.

First:
>Make a counteroffer?
This is a favor we are doing, someday we may call to collect.
But more or less
>>Take it
Lets us take the Netilland Greenhorns out for a spin, potentially disrupts rebels and keeps the people warm and toasty.

File: companyweek1_1.jpg (1.22 MB, 3000x2106)

1.22 MB JPG

One more update for tonight.
>>3450882
>>3450915
>>3450918
>>3450953
Generous souls, you lot. Though you'll note that this is a favor.

Writing, though in regards to who to take along, that'll come up; for now, though, a display of the unit, not including your tank platoon.

You may notice a few things here; requisition points and fuel points, namely. Fuel points are generally eaten at a rate of one per vehicle taken out on a mission. Your fuel reserves are refilled every week, but they cannot be banked- you cannot exceed your maximum fuel. It's too scarce in the Border Zone to try and hoard it all to yourself!

Requisition Points, meanwhile, allow you to reinforce, upgrade units, request new units, the lot. Costs for buying toys and reinforcing will come later. RP and RP income can be increased through missions and/or favors. Generally, the way one is supposed to get more reinforcement and fancier gear is to demonstrate a need for it, but palms can be greased and egos can be flattered for potentially as much if not more effect.

On to the actual company, though. You may notice a few things- for one, the antitank, mortar, and munitions caster sections are empty. This is because, technically, your unit is understrength! These sections are supposed to arrive at a later date, but the list might take a bit to get down to you...unless you spend some RP.

A Strossvald platoon of any quality at all would have a light mortar team per platoon as well as company mortars, but for a Netillian Light Infantry company, platoon level support comes in the form of rifle grenades.

Of course, you may also be asking "what the fuck is a munitions caster." To answer that, it is a squat tube, developed from gas grenade launchers used to quell "unrest," but it launches heavier things faster; just don't obstruct the gas vent. The most frequently used munitions include smoke, high explosive, and tear gas (chemical weapons treaties don't apply to insurgents, or so is said), all of which are delivered by way of 3.7 centimeter grenades launched at a relatively close distance, often directly.
It's an old-timey thumper.

A platoon's experience is next to its name at the top. They'll gain experience as they go out on missions; and thusly, get better. 4th platoon is "Seasoned-" this is due to a concentration of Ellowian POWs who were put in the unit by the Assimilation Program. Not too long ago, more than a few of them were defending their homeland against the people they now serve. Is that treason? They certainly don't seem to think so. Better to try and help their fellow Ellowian under occupation than rot in a prison camp, they're told; and they're willing to take that explanation. Also their friends and families might have eyes on them.

Pretend Richter's estimation of his Ellowian platoon strength isn't as off as it is; there's actually 75 of the fuckers, not even counting the platoon commander, his senior NCO and runners.

>>3451209
Should also note, that things like medics, communications, administration; those are not counted on this setup. These are only the people expected to attend a fight.

Upgrades aren't necessarily limited to such; more might come, or in a different form. If you find or capture things, for example, in quantity to distribute to a platoon, that may become a factor.

I'll set up a similar sort of deal for your tank platoon later.

“I’ll take it on,” you replied without hesitation, “It’s some progress, at least. Though…this is a favor, isn’t it? If in the future you can do something for me, I can expect this to be remembered, yes?”

“As I said,” Maenesko creaked his chair back, “I’m rarely given more than the minimum needed. I doubt I’ll be able to pay you back in a material fashion, but I will do my best, if you need help I can provide. Of course, I can certainly say, the UGZ and the Ellowians certainly won’t look upon a favor done for their welfare lightly…”

>In a place like the Border Zone, where much more talking and posturing is done than heavy fighting, rumor and repute can accomplish as much if not more than bullets. Different factions will think of you differently, depending on who you are and what you’ve done. As an example, at the moment, the Twaryians and Penal Battalion likely don’t think much of you. However, your status as an Assilimation Program unit with Ellowians in it helps your reputation with Ellowians and the UGZ. Proper reputation updates will be provided at end-of-week phase updates.

“The people here won’t mind if I drive out Ellowian insurgents?” you wondered, “I would think they’d not care for that much.

“You would think, but things are more complicated than that. Plenty are tired of war, others don’t like the way some insurgents go about things. Some think it’s better to try and change things from the inside rather than fighting what many would think is a rather impotent resistance, around here, at least. Anyways, when can you start?” Maenesko asked, “Here’s a little information on the sector to clear out, by the way. If you ask the logging administrators they can tell you more.” He sought out and handed you a few pieces of paper.

“To…morrow.” You answered, glancing at the pages. “I’d like to do it as soon as possible, but the unit is fixed for the time being; defensive drills. We were up to mischief across the border. Deserved mischief, but still. Plus, I’d like to gather some more information.”

“Hm. I understand.” Maenesko leaned back forward again. “Was there anything else?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright then. This was a good meeting. Send a missive when you’re through; I’ll make sure it’s known who did the UGZ this favor. Don’t get into any more fights with the Penals, if you will. The company captain’s already complained plenty for what little has happened.”

-----

After your parting with Sub-Lieutenant Maenesko, you were quickly walking back through the UGZ with your accompaniment; you weren’t sure what more you could do here that would either be too risky or simply not produce much in the way of results; or both of those things.

“Logging, huh,” Anya pulled at the papers in your hand that Maenesko had given, “Lemme see that, don’t hold them so high!” Exploiting Anya’s short stature was one of the few things you could literally hold over her. You could easily hold the papers at a level you and Von Metzeler could look at them while denying Anya an easy view. “What sorta trees do they want?”

“Kalamarz Firs,” you deigned to tell Anya. “Their seeds were once used to make ink, but they’re sturdy and useful for construction. So it says.”

“Firs, what, like a Langenachtfest tree?”

“The ones that look like that, yes, but with black bark.” You looked back over another page, “They grow rather quickly for trees, but apparently, in Ellowie, something makes them grow a lot faster and a lot taller. Some think it’s the soil, but nobody’s sure.”

Though you had an idea of what it might be. You’d seen a fair share of Kalamarz Firs around Ellowie; and you noticed, in these times of spirits, that the trees practically drank presence. Currents of presence speeding towards the mountains would swirl about them, and in mornings where presence-fog gave an eerie light to the surroundings, such would be cleared from around Kalamarz. Emma didn’t like them; she said they beckoned to her, somehow. You told her trees couldn’t talk, but she insisted on the feeling.

“They’re not the only trees under demand, but this section of forest is relatively dense with them.” Von Metzeler observed. “This is within marching distance, but it’s a fair bit away. You plan to clear it out?”

“Run off any insurgents, get rid of any bases, traps, the like, yes.” You looked sideways to Anya, who, in a moment you were off guard, reached up and snatched the papers from your hand. “…Ahem. Anyways, can you talk to the Ashes and see if they know anything about these people here?”

“I can tell you about them already,” Anya’s eyes flicked down the first paper. “They came around a bit recently. Haven’t been causing much trouble except locally, which I guess is how they’ve stayed off the radar. Part of a bigger group calling themselves the Revolutionary League.”

“Do the Ashes have any connections to this…Revolutionary League?”

“Nah.” Anya said, “Nah, the Revolutionary League are sort of weirdos. Some of the kids’ve said that the Revolutionary League is in cahoots with the Twaryians. Something about toppling the Imperial domination over Vinstraga or whatever. They don’t like Netillians at all, and they like the High Protector, King, whatever he is, even less. So they work with the Twaryians. Funny, huh.”

“What counts as Imperial domination?” you asked, wary of the slight often used against Strossvalders of being Imperials.

“Hell if I know.”

“Who are you planning on sending?” Von Metzeler asked, “This mission would require at least a platoon. Perhaps two. How about tanks? Although, if you perhaps wanted to take…another route, might I suggest bringing the Ellowians? If you wanted to, say, parley, then these folk may take more kindly to countrymen. Though I certainly would not attempt to go unprepared for a fight.””

>Choose who and what you intend to bring to this mission. It will be a sweep and clear over wooded terrain, ranging from light to dense forest. Every mechanized asset you bring will consume one fuel. You must also leave at least one platoon at your base, in order to maintain security. Refer to the above chart for your infantry options.
>Your armor options are as follows-
>X-80: 80mm howitzer armed support tank. Rear hatch accessible.
>X-50: 50mm armed tank. Rear hatch accessible.
>X-51: 50mm armed tank. Possesses a hull machine gun.
>X-52: 50mm armed tank. Possesses a hull machine gun.
>You have three available tank crews, and four tank commanders. If you wish, you don’t actually have to take any armor- nor do you have to go yourself, but there will be a perspective switch to the commander of the mission upon its start if Richter is not in command of it.
What, don’t you remember that Anya has experience as a tank commander?
Also;
>If there’s anything you want to do in the UGZ, say so- also, anything you want to do or take care of back at camp, since there’s a day before you can go out anyways. This would include speaking with Emma, for example, as well as any information you want try and pursue.

>>3451263
>X-80: 80mm howitzer armed support tank. Rear hatch accessible.
>X-51: 50mm armed tank. Possesses a hull machine gun.
>2nd and 3rd Platoons
If these guys are pro-Twaryian I think we want them gone from both a Netillian and Strossvalder point of view. As for tank commanders, Metzeler and us can go.

>>3451263
Seconding >>3451315
Speak with can-fairy, maybe take an hour to reevaluate our letter to Maddy.

>>3451315
>>3451320
Supporting.
As for additional info just wondering how a Twayrian unit or the insurgents they're supported would compare in terms of equipment so we know what to expect (and maybe what upgrades to prioritize)

>>3451263
>X-80: 80mm howitzer armed support tank. Rear hatch accessible.
>X-51: 50mm armed tank. Possesses a hull machine gun.
>1st and 2nd platoons
>1 section from the Ellowian platoon for potential parley
Since we're doing it for the sake of the inhabitants of the UGZ, we have some parley potential.

>>3451263
>Spoiler
I forgot but that also didn't end so good for her at the time.

>>3451315
Supporting, although at some point we should take the Ellowian group out for a spin.

>>3451401
I think we should save the Ellowians for the next time we go up against the Twaryians; IMO to most of the insurgents these guys are collaborationist dogs so I'm not that sure how receptive they'll be to them.

>>3451315
Supporting
Also do this >>3451320

>>3451263
Cant wait to deforest some sort of ancient spirit well and release a legion of demiphantoms

Send Krause in the X-51, we should be finishing paper work.
Send the Ellowian contingent, supportted by 3rd so they can get slme practice in.
1st can maintain security and 2nd should be ready to respond to any emergent matters.

Happy moving day, Jesus.

>>3451315
>>3451320
>>3451401
>>3451577
X-80, X-51, and the 2nd and 3rd.

>>3451375
Same tanks, different platoons, extra squad.

>>3451756
Send Krause in X-51, 4th and 3rd platoon. How interesting.

>>3451320
>>3451345
>>3451577
Talk to spooky sister.
>Reevaluate your letter
It's a bit late to have cold feet! It's already been passed out of your hands.

Anyways. Writing.

“You and I will take 2nd and 3rd platoons,” you told Von Metzeler, “And the X-80 and 51.”

“What about me?” Anya asked.

“Can you talk with your contacts and ask them how well supported this Revolutionary League is? I want to know what we might be dealing with better.”

“Yeah, but,” Anya gesticulated, “You won’t be trying to learn more when you go and mess with them.”

“Maybe you can come another time.”

“Hrrrgghmmm,” Anya made a noise of complaint, “Fine. I swear, I’ll be biting the dust before I ride on top of a tank again…”

Anya had been along a few times inside of a tank; her small size made her fit well into otherwise cramped places in a few of the turrets, but you got the feeling she either liked being in a commanding position, or was simply claustrophobic, for how she wanted to lead- but you had three sets of crews and three officers for them, so there hadn’t been a demand for her skills on that front.

As you continued out of the UGZ, you thought about the letter you had passed to the Mayor to be sent to Maddalyn. It was too late to change it, but you wondered now, perhaps the Major’s mockery not helping matters, if maybe you had done it wrong if you had done it for her sake rather than yours…

-----

Upon returning to camp, you diverted towards the small cottage that you had designated Hilda’s “home.” It had been abandoned during the war, and was furnished very plainly save for a few whimsical choices in décor, but it had no occupants and had reminded you of Hilda’s actual home back in Salzbrucke. It was certainly cozier than the tents; and also more resilient against the spiritual atmosphere of the land. Whether that was due to it being a dense construction made of brick and stone or if there was something else to the place hardly mattered- it meant that in addition to housing Hilda, it could keep Emma, a companion who lacked physical form, safe from outside threats as well.

Emma was unpredictable. She could be tender, or spit fire and salt. It must have had something to do with the fact that, at heart, she was still a teenager, and emotionally immature. That on top of being horribly murdered, though some of the things she had done made you wonder if she could be excused for everything. She was certainly useful- a spirit was very much an asset for spying and scouting against those who lacked even the knowledge that such a thing as Emma even existed. You’d heard Maddalyn say once, you could swear, that spirits could possess people. Whether Emma could, you weren’t sure, but that would also be undoubtedly useful…

“Afternoon.” You greeted Emma as you walked in.

“Hey.” The flickering blueish ember said back, flatly. You ”heard” her, supposedly, as a matter of convenience to your senses; as far as you knew, the ball of ethereal flame had no mouth, no throat, nothing, though if you looked closely enough, you could swear you saw the shadow of the young girl she used to be…one could joke that even without appearing to have means to speak, she spoke more than enough, but Emma’s form had changed drastically since arriving in Ellowie. She had ceased being able to fit into a ration tin, and the blue flames appeared to stem from a more tangible core, the fires themselves more vigorous, sparks floating off of them and settling in the air before blinking dull. It was an ill match to a voice that otherwise came from a snippety young teen barely into puberty. “Took you long enough. I’m starving.”

Emma floated forward without waiting for an answer and stuffed herself into your chest, where you felt pins and needles as she drew forth presence from you. Normally, she’d be feeding off of Hilda, you’d heard, but when Hilda had gotten ill the ember had requested you take the scarred woman’s place. You supposed, thinking back, that such was only fair. Though…

“That felt like more than usual,” you said as Emma’s flames ceased to tickle you, “More than back in Sosaldt certainly.”

“I’m hungrier. You don’t always eat the same amount, do you?” Emma sulked defensively with a tightening of focus of her flame, “If I went outside it wouldn’t be as much, but apparently I’m grounded.”

“You aren’t grounded, it’s dangerous,” you countered, “Last time you went out without somebody to hide with you said you saw a Soulbinder. Believe it or not I’d rather you not just vanish without me even knowing.” As is, an Ember like Emma was something normally, you’d heard, eliminated on sight by Soulbinders. Poltergeist had merely captured her, for whatever inscrutable reason, while the Riverman had apparently tolerated her, but those two were hardly indicative of what you had heard of the sorcerers’ behavior in a general sense. Which was to say, the Riverman was a novice without the connections or influence to be noticeable, while Poltergeist was some inhumanly powerful thing who was strong enough to bend to nobody. Anybody in between would be incredibly dangerous for Emma, and over time, she had only become more and more of what must have been an alarming hazard to any Soulbinder…

“How’s Hilda doing?” Emma veered away from the subject. “Is she any better?”

You knew this was coming, but you had to look to the side anyways. “…I’ve decided to send her off.”

“Where.”

“My parents’ place,” you said to Emma, with a touch of offense, like she might imply you’d banished her with no thought. “She’s sick. She’s pregnant. There’s no way I can keep her here anymore. It’s too unsafe for her.”

“She won’t like that.” Emma’s voice turned heated, “You think she didn’t know what might happen to her, if she promised to protect you? Do you think she’s retarded?”

“Of course n-“

“’Cause she is.”

…What? Your objection died in your throat.

“You make her retarded. She won’t listen to anything if she thinks it’ll help you, or make you happy. It really pissed me the hell off. Hilda’s practically unkillable, y’know. She’s pretty clever when she can think, too, but she can’t do that around her. If anything would have killed her, it would have been her trying to please you. So good job.”

This was giving you conversational whiplash. “Good job for…what?”

“For getting her away from you. Maybe. When is she leaving?”

Oh. You didn’t know whether to be happy about that congratulations or not. “Last train out today.”

“You say goodbye to her?”

“Of course I did.”

“How?”

“I apologized.”

You didn’t think a ghost could cough, let alone a sprite made of incandescence, but Emma seemed to splutter. “Wimp. Wouldn’t have been anything to do just a little something she wanted. But, wow, did something crawl up your ass last night and move into the vacant lot in your head?”

“Har har.” You sat yourself in the chair by the tea table that was just beyond the front entrance of the little cottage. There was still water in the tea pot, but there was as little to brew at the moment as there was heat in the water. “I did come here to do more than be criticized.”

“You could use a little more. I’ve got a question for you.” You looked up at Emma wearily in response, an unspoken prompt for her to get on with it. “You remember what you told me? What you told the other chumps in the basement of my house when you screwed off? They actually think you’ll come and help them, I bet. When you’re crammed in a place like that, time goes by so fast. I only knew how long it sort of was because I looked outside sometimes. They’ll wait for years and not even realize it. So here’s the deal. I’m not that patient. I don’t have to stay here.” She floated close to your head, “I know I’ve been getting bigger. Weirder. I’m also feeling more alive, better than I’ve ever felt since I died. I know you don’t know how to get me a new body. I don’t think you were trying to trick anybody when you said you’d try to find a way, but it’s been how long, with nothing? You’re sending my friend away. That’s good for her, but if you’re keeping me around, then I need something. I’m a person, damnit. I’m not some dog to be shut inside until it’s time for a walk. I’ll go mad.”

You tried to be amenable. “What do you want, then?”

”I wanna eat.” Emma sputtered again. “…I mean, I mean, it’s not like I’m being crazy, right? At the very least, I don’t want to be alone. I already died, I’ve already lost literally everything, but my time, my existence, still has value, right? I’ve been helpful! I’ve been good! I just…want something for it all besides being allowed to stay in a house without being killed again.”

“You haven’t actually said what you wanted.” You pointed out.

“Think of something.”

…You felt the need to bury your face in the table.

>Not yet. Maybe after you’ve gone on a diet and can fit in a convenient can again, fatass ghost.
>I suppose it’s the least I can do. (Give/promise something?)
>If you’re worried about being lonely, I can send you back with Hilda. She shouldn’t be without friends either, and this place isn’t good for you.
>If letting her eat more made her happy…why not? You were allies, weren’t you?
>Other?

>>3452310
>>I suppose it’s the least I can do. (Give/promise something?)
Vague platitudes. I don't want to do anything hasty with this weird parasitic ghost creature that would make them dangerous or something. Let's get Maddy's take, or a soulbinder.

>>3452310
I'd say bring her along tomorrow and let her go hog wild on any prisoners we take, but those spooky fir trees mentioned earlier have me concerned, so maybe the next time
>Not yet. Maybe after you’ve gone on a diet and can fit in a convenient can again, fatass ghost.
I didn't even know blue text was a thing wowzers

>>3452310
>If letting her eat more made her happy…why not? You were allies, weren’t you?
>>3452310
>I suppose it’s the least I can do. (Give/promise something?)

Eat some penal soldiers

>>3452434
Whoops didn't mean that.

Just take the
>I suppose
vote

>>3452310
It begins.

>I suppose it’s the least I can do. (Give/promise something?)

For now you can stick close to us tomorrow, but if you want something specific then think more about it you fubsy phantasm.

Maybe we've been spending too much time working for the intelligence service but that thing Maenesko said about how it would take a real attack instead of just warnings to get him the supplies he needs got me thinking. Since we have the Ashes basically in our pocket in that they're listening to Anya who's keeping them from doing anything, what if we used them to feign an attack on the UGZ which Maenesko could use as an excuse to get more attention paid to his situation? Of course the attack would be coordinated with Maenesko's men so as to only produce limited casualties and only cause a convenient amount of destruction, so there would be no real risk. Then the Ashes would be satisfied that they're playing soldier and doing something to help the situation in the UGZ so they won't go off and actually get themselves killed. And if they start launching "successful raids" on the UGZ maybe they'll gain more legitimacy as a resistance group and manage to make contact with the Revolutionary League so they can feed us information on them? Eventually we could turn them into our own little false flag force to launch resistance "attacks" wherever it's convenient for us. I think the Major would be proud of an initiative like that.

I died, but I'm back. Probably for the better because I couldn't focus at all.

>>3452422
>>3452784
>>3452436
She wants something? Then you can give...something. You're not a mind reader!

>>3452432
Go on a diet, lardo!

>>3452842
Wouldn't that be an interesting thing to do. Though...well, maybe visiting their retreat and seeing them oneself would help shed light on the ability to accomplish that. The overwhelming majority of them are actually children, after all, with even the eldest being around fourteen.

Anyways, writing.

>Anons feeding the ghost
The more she eats, the closer she is to that parasitic existence Maddy warned us about. If this continues we'd have to put her down. Should've sent her back with Hilda.

>>3453172
It'll be fine~

>>3453174
You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?

>>3453181
>kFVSn3bR
So she can feed off of a pregnant women who doesn't know better? I'd rather have our eyes on Emma.

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“I suppose it’s the least I can do,” you attempted to acquiesce, “Though…I’m unsure what you want, or what I even could give you. If you see something or think of anything, then tell me. I promise I’ll do my best to try and keep you at least compensated.” Vague platitudes were the only thing you could think of making- you had little idea of what Emma could become or even was, and if you had learned anything from messing about with spirits, it was to not tempt fate, or otherwise assume something was harmless.

Though the thought to let her begin brazenly sucking the souls out of Penal Soldiers certainly came to mind.

“Can’t think of anything, huh.” Emma intoned blankly, “Can’t remember anything? Fine. But you better not be screwing around with me.”

“Remember anything? What were you supposed to remember, you fubsy phantasm? “I’m not, and I won’t. If you want something specific I need a clue, at least. I’m not a mind reader.”

“Yeah, you need a clue, alright.” Emma snorted, “Whatever. I’m a girl. Isn’t that enough of a clue?”

It wasn’t, not at the moment, at least. “If you don’t want to be locked in the house, it’s safe inside the tanks. We’re bringing them out tomorrow. You can come if you like.”

Armored vehicles were proof against many things, but one thing one wouldn’t expect them to resist was spiritual influence; yet they did. Iron and steel obstructed presence, you had learned as one of the first facts about spirits. Most metals did, evidently. That meant the interior of a tank was a safe refuge from the bizarre energies Ellowie had swirling about.

Oddly, that simple offer seemed to brighten Emma up, though maybe not in a way you liked.

“Inside the tanks…heh heh heh. Okay. Deal. No takebacks.”

No takebacks? “Of course not.”

“Heh heh heh heeee…”

You’d tell Emma that the place you were going was full of Kalamarz later. For once, she seemed in a mirthful- if potentially a malevolent sort of- mood. Led along with presents, she remained but an heckler at most rather than a serious danger.

A good thing, since if time came where you had to destroy her because she had become dangerous, you weren’t sure if you could do it.
It would be so much more simple if you had somebody who knew anything nearby; but the closest thing you could get was the odd mystic who seemed to know as little as you did while purporting to be practically omniscient; a special sort of useless. Soulbinders and their Acolytes passed through from time to time, you knew, but actually drawing one’s attention was…risky. People weren’t supposed to know they existed, so advancing on one was a big risk. Especially if doing so managed to get you roped into the conflict between the Oblitares and the Mountain Elders’ factions. With such a risk for mere knowledge as that, how could you be blamed for being uncertain how to go forward?

The tea set seemed to peer at you; it’d been a while since the supply here had run dry, and you hadn’t had any in a while. No- there was a new box hiding behind the pot, now that you looked, though beaten and labelled in…Caelussian? How odd. You didn’t think Hilda even liked tea, yet here was a new set anyways. Not that you’d ever tried a Caelussian blend; maybe it was something Hilda was more familiar with, and thusly why it was here?


>Is there anything you want to ask Emma about before going?
If so, or if not, there is also the matter of, perhaps, using the rest of your day to go and visit the Ashes to plan something like >>3452842 if you like, or even, just to see them yourself.
If there’s no other plans or I didn’t miss anything wanted to be done today, I can go ahead and advance things to the next day.

>>3453253
I'm fine just going about the rest of the day as to doing something like >>3452842
It is a clever plan but I don't know how I feel about using child soldiers to fight and die in false flag attacks just to impress the IO, a shady fucking institution if nothing else. I'd need a bit more convincing.

>>3453253
Okay with advancing to next day, it's a neat plan but it needs a large number of kinks worked out so let's hold off for now. Also if we get found out we are super fucked.

The only thing I'd wanna ask Emma about is if she's seen supernatural monsters capable of eating either her or us. And if she does see any to warn us right away.

>>3453253
I would ask if she is still ok with being put in a box, at least in emergencies.

Also I would like to see if she would tell us about how much soul stuff she eats off a person at a given time, because if it is growing we might have to talk about keeping it from continuing to grow. Because as much as we like Emma, she’s not a human soul, she’s a parasite with Emma’s memories and name, and I’ll leave her in an ammo crate in the ground before I would choose to endanger someone else’s life due to pity for a dead girl.

>>3453272
+1
I don't think Richter would stoop so low as of now.

>>3453272
The idea is that they would be coordinated to attack places where the soldiers had been briefed to only make a show of fighting back so they wouldn't end up in an actual firefight. Of course there's always the risk of them receiving actual fire but I figure since they've already formed an armed band there's a risk of them getting themselves into trouble anyway if we don't put them to use somehow.
It's true there are a lot of other variables though, for example looking back Maenesko says it might take a full blown open rebellion to get his superiors to pay attention to him so orchestrating some raids might not even do the trick.
At any rate if we have nothing else to do I would still vote for at least taking a tour of their camp and feeling out whether there's any task we can set the kids to before they run off and get themselves killed.

>>3453365
Im worried that their a bunch of impulsive brats who might take it to far because we ordered the local garrison to play nice. They could very easily get caught up in their own impetus and cause the garrison to actually mow down a bunch of preteens or be killed/captured themselves.

>>3453253
Give me one of everything boss, ask the underage ghost about her can, an update on any potential spooky scary skellingtons nearby and visit the Ashes. Out with the Panzers. We Child Soldier False Flag Psy-op Commander Quest now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKpdDalhfks
Poor Hilda.

>>3453898
>having sympathy for HIlda
Fuck off, she's gone forever now, and good riddance.

>>3454073
Yeah thank god she's away from us. She might actually recover a tiny bit. I worry about Anya though. She has more of a spine than Hilda, but how long until Player autism gets her too?

>>3453898
>Richter is chick magnet.
>Even dead girls can't stay away.
>All the women in Richter's life is miserable.
I'm sure the joke has been made before, but lord is it sad.

>>3454214
The big twist that's coming when anons finally break the IO conditioning is Richter's actually a giant homo. Immediately upon finding out the crew will desert, the harem will fall apart and Reich tanks will fall out of the sky and kill everybody. Richter spends the afterlife in the spooky purgatory shack making paper planes out of the notebook and playing fetch with Hummel. Poltergeist knew the score from the beginning and has been grooming him for his boipussy all along. Reliable source, my dad works at tanq's basement.

>>3454275
It’s those darn chemicals in the diesel fumes turning the tank commanders gay

The heck is up with all you people?

>>3454275
I believe it

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>>3454319
We see the truth.

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>>3454337
Sorry for the image for ants

>>3454343
The clock is a clue that Emma is actually a member of Owl 3's deceased family

>>3454343
Hmm, we could possibly hide Emma in that teapot if the need arises.

>>3454275
Fuck that
He loves Maddie's sloppy wet kisses too much to be gay.

>>3454396
Listen, Maddie is as flat as Von Metzelers personality so maybe "she" isn't all that "she" seems.

>>3454396
That just means Richter is into little boys which checks out with anon's theory.

>>3454399
Von Metzeler isn't flat. You take that back or I'll make my shrouded manservant make you take it back.

>>3454343
>>3454353
the truth is out there

>>3454399
>>3454402
>Flat girls can't be feminine
>Forgetting about Maddie's fat ass
You fucking cretins go back to whatever den of villainy you came from.

>>3454353
But wait, there's more. *packs pipe with blackflower* Observe the table, if you will. One tea pot, yet two mugs are present. Now, excusing the presence of one suspected "ghost", Hilda has been living and dining about this cottage alone, or so she's been leading us to believe. In actual fact Hilda has been sharing her teatime with another in secret. The identity of that mystery person being none other than her unborn child! How can I jump to such a conclusion, you ask? The answer lies steeping beneath our very noses. Hilda's fetus's proclivity for exotic Caelussian teas is already something of a legend among the sommeliers of Ellowie, an unmistakable, dead giveaway. However, I'm afraid the good Lieutenant's haste to put Hilda and child in pussy prison has robbed us of the element of surprise. I fear he may already be wise to our intentions to expose his birth and this train ride back to Strossvald the perfect excuse for him to slip into obscurity. We must pursue him and see to it that he's brought before justice and stuffed back from whence he came to serve his full sentence.

>>3454449
Or Hilda just drinks from two separate cups like a decadent barbarian.

>>3454594
That dork probably pours two cups of tea at a time just to maximize her chances of scalding herself

Late start, bad sleep, you've heard it before. But FKMT is an addicting drug.

Update soon.

>>3454275
Canon.

“I’ve got a few questions for you.” You decided to ask Emma; you would not inquire after what she was giggling about. “You haven’t seen any monsters, like…I don’t know, something that could eat you, or me?”

“What, like a giant crab?”

“No, more like…” How to describe a demiphantom? “Not an animal, but like a ghost or spirit.” Living Stones did live in Emre; they got right pissed off when you accidentally kicked them, and they pinched hard with their claws.

“Nah. Maybe stuff I wouldn’t want to be around, but nothing that’s hurt a person I’ve seen.” Emma told you, “Maybe the biggest ones are the ribbon thingies in the sky, but it’s not like I go that high. I’m sort of high on the food chain, actually. I’ve eaten a few things.”

“You’ve…eaten things.”

“Like little things. To see if I could. What’s with that look? You’ve never just eaten some food that was lying around?”

“Idle food doesn’t tend to be alive.” You pointed out.

“Well these things aren’t alive either!” Emma whined, “They’re just those little weird shape things, they’re not things like me…Whatever, I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Why eat other will-o-wisps when you eat presence off of Hilda and I anyways?” you asked, “How much are you eating each time, anyways? From your perspective.”

“I feel like I’ve told you that before.”

“Tell me again.”

“Well,” Emma sighed, “Think of like…a big barrel of rice. If you had about as much as would fit in these mugs here, that’s a decent amount of rice, right? That’s sort of what it’s like. It’s enough for me, but it’s not like it’s much out of the barrel at all. There’s so much there I couldn’t even imagine eating a fraction of it, let alone the whole thing.”

A barrel of rice certainly would be too much for one person, but what would happen if a village came to sup from it, You couldn’t help but wonder, “One last thing. If worst came to worst, would you be fine with being put in a box? Something like the can you’ve outgrown?”

Emma said naught, and floated back over to the table. “Open this teapot for me?” You did, and she nestled inside it as best she could. “It’s not like I can touch things. Eventually I get tired of looking at stuff, especially in here. The view out the window’s fine, but it gets samey. If I’m in a can, a pot, a box, it’s like I shut off, I think. So really, what’s the difference between being closed in a house and being closed in a box? I was stewing in a barrel for years without thinking, what’s a bit longer?”

That was a rather depressing view of it, but there was a flaw to that last part of the metaphor. Maddalyn had made the claim that Embers had no relation to the people they thought they were; that they were imposters at best. The clump of spiritual energy claiming to be Emma was not the girl that had been murdered and stuffed in a barrel of liquor. Though…did that really matter, either? She certainly thought she was the same person. You never had met the other Emma. What difference would there have been if Maddalyn had never told you about the nature of an Ember?

Your gaze had wandered over the tea box again, and Emma piped up about that. “She got that a couple of days ago. Went over the border to get it, pro bono, there isn’t a leaf to be found around here for most. Most Netillians prefer coffee in the morning and nothing else apparently, but the Twaryians still do tea plenty enough for it to be found easy. Isn’t that nice of her to have thought of?”

“Why, though?”

Emma’s fire spat and sputtered. “Judge above. Get the hell out of here.”

-----

Hilda would be heading back to Strossvald now, you wagered; along with your letters. The rest of the day passed without much incident other than the field kitchens managing to serve something truly abominable for dinner. Anya compared the sausages in the stew to something so inappropriate and revolting that it put you off eating any when the image she conjured turned out to be a dead ringer for what their taste and texture was. It hardly mattered for the rougher members of your crew. You could swear Jorgen and Malachi would eat lichen and dock lice rather than miss a meal.

As wandering spirits lit up the night with softly glowing faux-fireflies and phantom fog, bizarre tendrils and whorls drifting under and through the clouds, the mind went towards the UGZ- towards potential schemes.

Namely, it was concerning what Maenesko had said about the lassitude of his superiors towards actually doing much of substance to help the people they had stuffed into the slum settlements. Without serious thread and damage, they were content to sit on their hands and wait for an actual problem to occur, unheeding of any portents that, if addressed, could prevent any disaster from happening in the first place. One could think that, in your broader mission to make mischief, something like that could only be helpful, yet here you were about to undertake a mission the next day to try and alleviate it.

To be fair, it was to try and help the Ellowians; though, you also thought, didn’t you have the means to draw attention from Maenesko’s superiors, to kick start them into taking proper action? Anya had The Ashes in her pocket, but something could be done with them beyond simply convincing them to do nothing. By manipulating both pieces in what would otherwise look like a legitimate attack, a serious attack and thus further threat could be crafted to spook Netillian Border Zone Command, while in reality there would be very little risk of anybody being hurt- due to both sides being puppeteered by a single group.

On the same note. The Ashes were, make no mistake, child soldiers. It was more than that exploiting them would be morally questionable, but that they lacked experience and discipline, and were thus unreliable. You had to be cleverer than simply throwing them at problems, at minimum, even if the situation turned poor enough that your principles might be tested.

It was simpler, true, to simply dissuade the shattered remnants of Ellowie’s future from destroying themselves. Perhaps Anya’s solution was the only step that could be reasonably taken. Yet, they were a piece in this current game going on- if one thought about it, if one refused to exploit youths when doing so could save a country, save many more people, which was the moral superior? Were you powerful enough to try and make that judgment, smart enough, free enough?

Maybe this sort of thought could have been avoided in the past. Did you really have any choice, though? When the Intelligence Office had approached you and offered you the mission to desert your forces on a crusade to Sosaldt, would your heritage have let you refuse, to take up a comfortable position on the line where you did not have to think about anything? Such would have meant losing your fiancée, but…would that have been the only option?

A sudden flash of confusion, that only lasted for the briefest of moments, but left you blinking at the sky as you sat away from any other company to be alone with your thoughts. ”Is this what I want?” Was the thought that sprang into mind for but an instant. Well, what you wanted most was to fulfill your obligations to country and family, of course. To serve honorably and with valor, as your ancestors would expect, and to continue said legacy as far into the future as you could.

…Right?

An eye flicked over to your companions. Would any of them be able to help with this doubt, or could you simply forget it and move on?

You dozed off right there with that teensy doubt still poking in your head, and even though it was gone by morning, it still left a little space that you weren’t sure how to account for.

-----

Next afternoon, the time of potential battle had come.

“Here’s what’s happening,” Yourself, Von Metzeler, and Lieutenants Abetz and Kristoph of 2nd and 3rd platoon, as well as their senior NCOs and squad leaders were in attendance for the briefing to today’s operation. Abetz and Kristoph were much like Captain Kelwin (who was also in attendance, but wasn’t coming on the operation) was- new blood, promoted by necessity to fill holes in leadership. Abetz was very eager to prove himself, perhaps recklessly so, while Kristoph had a similar sentiment but in drill had shown that he failed to plan ahead much of the time and preferred to take on problems at the rate they were encountered- a tendency to rush on ahead without checking for mines, to put it one way, but he at least didn’t share Abetz’s quirk of stopping in his tracks when surprised. You knew little of the squad leaders, but for now, they wouldn’t be your problem.

You pointed to a crudely drawn map on a blackboard with a stick you had picked up off the ground for want of a proper instrument. “This is going to be a simple sweep and clear operation through about two square kilometers of forest. We’re looking for any insurgent hideouts, strongholds, and of course, insurgents themselves. According to intelligence, there might be about twenty to thirty fighters in this cell, as well as a dozen or so non-combat personnel. If a person is unarmed, take them into custody. Von Metzeler and I’s tanks will be supporting you in case anybody reaches a difficult target or is engaged in a heavier manner than thought. This cell shouldn’t have anti-tank weaponry so armored support should be unable to be resisted, though those on foot should keep an eye out for booby traps and improvised weaponry such as fire-bottles.”

That information had been found out by Anya; or rather, one of her wards in The Ashes. Apparently lost little girls could make excellent spies- and Anya had no qualms about simply sending the kids out to look for things. They so relished the chance to help their “big sister,” especially if she framed it as training. Apparently, the Revolutionary League cell had eagerly divulged the information you had now; and the little Ashes girl had left with no trouble and conveyed all she heard to Anya.

File: forestop_1.jpg (139 KB, 900x750)

139 KB JPG

“This cell is rumored to be receiving support from the Twaryians,” you continued, “They’ll be armed with Ellowian weaponry captured during the war, but make no mistake, they will be relatively well armed. If they choose to make a fight of this, they’ll be perfectly capable of doing that. There’ll be none of the household hunting shotgun or basement bench-made pipe pistols here. If you encounter a base with no occupants, search for any weapons caches. We don’t know exactly where their hideouts are, but we strongly suspect them of having outposts here…and here.”

A little white lie. Anya’s little mouse had found out where the larger establishments were- they were coincidentally exactly at the points you placed on the larger map.

“If there are no further questions, I’ll begin with our execution.”

>Any questions you have that can be answered- as best as Richter knows
>Otherwise, go ahead and plan out how you’re going to do this. This placement is only demonstrative- you don’t have to take this approach, this formation, or anything; go at this how you think you should. That said, some example plans are-
>Sweep from south to north; no need to make this a pitched fight, but make sure these insurgents know that they are no longer welcome to squat here.
>Have both platoons encircle the operations area; close in and destroy this cell totally, if possible.
>Mass firepower- have both platoons and tanks overwhelm one outpost, then the other. This should result in little opposition that won’t be immediately destroyed
>Any other plans are of course on the table.
Also, bear in mind that the infantry platoons don’t have wireless radios- but your tanks do. Thus is why Von Metzeler and Von Tracht are split up on this example diagram that also shows the operations area. The dark zones on the map, by the by, are dense forest and foliage; the sort that is very difficult for tanks to cross through. It can be attempted, but it wouldn’t be wise; you’ll have to test against getting stuck or just being unable to pass through in general.

>>3455427
Notable, also, is that these hideouts aren't necessarily the only place insurgents will be- and such should be accounted for.

>>3455427
>>Sweep from south to north; no need to make this a pitched fight, but make sure these insurgents know that they are no longer welcome to squat here.

>>3455427
>>Have both platoons encircle the operations area; close in and destroy this cell totally, if possible.

File: Operation Please Don't Fu(...).jpg (136 KB, 900x750)

136 KB JPG

>>3455427
>Any other plans
Have Von Metzeler and his group start the battle at outpost A trying to draw them away from the black clump of trees in the center. When Von Metzeler either needs help or thinks he's drawn as many as he can we hit them in side unexpectedly.

I doubt we're going to get all of them, these Netillians are too green and the forest too dense without something getting in the way. I'd rather we hit them hard when they don't expect it and draw them away from their likely booby trapped bases.

I don't want to circle around them either just in case they have other bases we don't know about and get hit in the back.

>Any questions you have that can be answered- as best as Richter knows
How dry is the forest? Forest fires are bad.
Are these soul sucking trees? If not Emma would be helpful here.

>>3455511
>How dry is the forest? Forest fires are bad.
It's still pretty damp. It isn't raining today, but things are far from bone dry.

>Are these soul sucking trees? If not Emma would be helpful here.
These are indeed the Kalamarz Firs; they're not the only trees about, but this section of wood is plenty dense with them.

This whole map is forest, by the by, in case it wasn't clear; the trees are just visual shorthand. They're all over the place, the light and dark is the more proper indicator of "trees" and "a whole heck of a lot of trees."

>>3455427
>Have both platoons encircle the operations area; close in and destroy this cell totally, if possible.
Just like not!Hannibal at not!Cannae.

>>3455503
Supporting

>>3455533
Also, roughly how far apart are the hideouts on the map?

>>3455741
Just around half a kilometer. They're pretty close together, but it's a lot farther in a forest.

>>3455427
>Sweep from south to north; no need to make this a pitched fight, but make sure these insurgents know that they are no longer welcome to squat here.

No point in destroying people who can be valuable to us in the future. We're not here to strengthen Netilland.

>>3455427
>>Have both platoons encircle the operations area; close in and destroy this cell totally, if possible.
We don't exactly have to kill them all; prisoners for intel would be nice. Also securing whatever weapons they have would be great as well if they have Ellowian military stocks.

>>3455427
>Have both platoons encircle the operations area; close in and destroy this cell totally, if possible.

Sorry for the lack of updates today, it turned out to be pretty busy! I'll try and do a lot tomorrow to make up for it.

>>3455487
>>3455751
South to North

>>3455511
Other plan!

>>3455503
>>3455737
>>3455795
>>3455968
Encirclement.

“We’ll have both platoons stretch out and try to encircle both the outposts, and anything near them,” you illustrated with a sweep of your stick, “Second platoon and I from the south, Von Metzeler and third from the north. It’ll be one hundred twenty plus and two tanks against around thirty, so we shouldn’t have any problem sweeping up and catching them all in our net. We shouldn’t need to shoot them all; if they surrender, we’ll gladly accept such. Von Metzeler and I will have radio contact with one another,” Though it was sure to not be great with all the trees, but your close proximity to each other should help with that. “So all elements should be aware of where each other are. Keep your runners moving so we don’t advance unevenly, we have a numerical advantage but the amount of ground we need to cover in order to fully encircle this bunch means we’ll be spread somewhat thinly. I don’t anticipate trouble, again, but if there is, then pull back and allow reinforcements to arrive. There’s no reason to turn this into a meat grinder. Are there any questions?”

Abetz immediately spoke. “So nobody should be here except this insurgent cell, right? We can just run up and beat them down?”

Abetz was the sort of young man who was very easy to get motivated; and likewise seemed like the sort who rushed to get himself in trouble, though unlike Kristoph, he seemed to know what he was getting into most of the time- whether his capabilities matched what he assumed he could take was another thing, so it was important to try and warn him off this.

“If a fight starts, then you should absolutely not have a fair duel. We have a significant numerical advantage. If you get into a shootout, then make nothing even resembling a charge or offensive until your chances of being disrupted or defeated are zero.” You lectured the Netillian lieutenant, “Is that understood?”

Abetz nodded eagerly; it was funny to think about how you were both the same rank, yet you felt so much more experienced than he. Even then, you had only actually been a Lieutenant for a couple of months or so; compared to the service history of, say, Anya, who had been a child soldier and had been in mercenary war bands until recently, you still must have seemed green as a celery stalk. Yet here you were standing tall and proud over this lesser.

Though you had to admit, you sympathized with Abetz. Something about the frontlines drew you to them; the horrors of war you had read about felt like they simply melted away both during and after their occurrence. If anything absolutely terrible had happened, they had faded away into foggy memory, with the exception of those whom had been close to you being hurt. Those memories did not so readily sink into a sea of mist as the rest.

Was it the same for Von Metzeler, you wondered. Was it the same for Krause? Would it be the same for these young officers, or were you special..?

You are, aren’t you? Surely you remember that.

“…If that is all, then prepare your men to march. Let’s make this as quick as we can, I want to be back in time for a well-deserved supper with as many men alive and able to share in our win for today.”

-----

As boots tromped over dry road and damp grass not yet quite warmed by the newly present sun, treads clinking in concert as quiet tank engines buzzed your armor forward, you couldn’t help but think of your fuel reserves, nearly extinguished but two days into the week, and how you would have to wait a full week before you received more from the Border Zone’s logistics management- as well as a bit off the top from New Jorgenstohn. You’d have about enough fuel after this to send one tank on one more mission until then; hopefully nothing too serious would occur.

“You’ll want to stay inside here, Emma,” you told the sprite, whom, due to the no takebacks rule, was allowed to accompany you. “Kalamarz trees will be all over this section of forest, but they should be harmless to you as long as you stay in that particular metal box.”

“Oh, this box will do just fine,” Emma purred, “After all, it’s going to be full of hot, sweaty men stripped to the waist, bumping up against each other, barely any room to move without their muscles and wet skin bumping, and with how much bigger I’ve become, there’s hardly any room for me, I might get squished in between~…”

“Bossmehn,” Malachi’s voice crackled back, “Yorghostsswardieo.”

“Yeah, uh,” Stein said nervously to your front and flank, “I’m not used to being creeped out by ghosts like this. Can’t she say something more along the lines of wanting to suck out our souls?”

“Eheheh…” Emma snickered like she thought of something completely inappropriate. “Sure.”

“Please stop that.” You sighed.

“What, can’t I tell a few jokes?” Emma whined, sounding hurt. “It’s just for fun, I don’t mean anything! You promised so long ago, and I’ve been patient! Come onnnn!”

“What? What’s the ghost saying? She’s still fuzzy for me.” Hans crackled back as well. While in Sosaldt, he had received a treatment from a wandering Mountain girl called Fie that had purged his ability to sense spirits; it had been slowly returning, probably as a result of being in this cursed land, but the “progress” had been slow. Whatever had triggered his sensitivity though, had ensured its regrowth, unlike Anya, who still as ever lacked any ability to sense spiritual apparitions. Even though you’d heard of soldiers sighting such in the company…especially the Ellowian platoon.

Such was another reason you kept Emma safely inside.

“What’s the hold up?!” Emma complained again, sparks from her agitated flames prickling against you, “I wanna see the meat market! Strip!”

“Howwoldses lessgost?” Jorgen asked skeptically, “Sends tooyung formeh test.”

>Was this *really* the time for this nonsense? Tell her to put a lid on it or you’ll put a lid on her. This wasn’t agreed to.
>Insist that now wasn’t really the time you were thinking for something like this, but maybe you could make it up later…(How?) There is a sauna in the area, alternatively, one could be constructed.
>So what if it was winter? You supposed you could oblige. This would be a straightforward skirmish anyways, you could take this easy…
>Other?

>>3457271
>So what if it was winter? You supposed you could oblige. This would be a straightforward skirmish anyways, you could take this easy…

Sweaty tankmen

>>3457271
>So what if it was winter? You supposed you could oblige. This would be a straightforward skirmish anyways, you could take this easy…

>>3457271
>We'll strip on the way back. Right now we have to concentrate.

>>3457271
>>We'll strip on the way back. Right now we have to concentrate.

>>3457271
>>We'll strip on the way back. Right now we have to concentrate.

>>3457271
>>Insist that now wasn’t really the time you were thinking for something like this, but maybe you could make it up later…(How?)

She is distracting. Getting us distracted may get us killed, does she want to see dead sweaty tank men? Do not answer that Emma.

Sauna time later works.
Sauna time with Anya later works better

>>3457271
>We'll strip on the way back. Right now we have to concentrate.
Sauna :----DDDDDDDDD

I am up and at it now.

>>3457291
>>3457300
Sweat Lodge Can, initiate

>>3457365
Make it up later. In a sauna. Dangerous territory, that suggestion.

>>3457320
>>3457345
>>3457363
>>3457763
Save it for the after action report.

Alright then. Writing.

“Not right now,” you told the flickering Ember, who even for a phantasm of ethereal flame seemed to be getting very hot and bothered. “We’ll strip down on the way back. Right now we have to concentrate.”

“’Scuse me? The ghost wants us to take our clothes off?” Hans asked, “What’s wrong with that? You gonna have difficulty concentrating with half naked men, boss?”

The intercom resounded with snickering.

“All of you can go jump in a lake.” You grumbled.

“Fine. You’d better not put it off again.” Emma huffed meanly, “Though I bet you wouldn’t be very distracting at all.”

You’d beg to differ. It was true that you were relatively slimly built, but it wasn’t as though you were flabby. In fact, you felt fitter than ever, as Anya had included physical training as part of her regimen. It felt like you were back in basic again; though you hadn’t looked at yourself in a mirror, you figured you probably looked better than ever. Let Emma be persnickety, though.

This was all getting around the fact that it was winter; not the coldest, but chilly regardless. Thankfully, when the engine was on, at least, the tank was warmer, though it didn’t take long for the cabin to cool back down again once it turned off. Unlike the m/32, the X series didn’t have trouble with running hot; the interiors had felt proportionately cooler.

The crew was still heckling you over perhaps a poorly thought out statement of reasoning, so you decided to hang out of the top of the commander’s cupola. With how closely you’d be working with the infantry and how close a potential fight in a forest would be, you planned on huddling back inside once it was time to operate, but for now, you leaned over the top of the turret and watched your surroundings close in gradually as plain turned to scrub, then into light forest.
Emma flitted out, then immediately ducked back into the lip. “Brrr. Those trees…” All the attempts at sultriness had left her tone; for the better, you thought, but it was a stark shift from but a few minutes ago. “What do you want with them, anyways? That’s what you’re out here for, right?”

“We want to chop them down.” You gave a very short summary.

“Good.” Emma sniffed, “They’re awful. I hope they get clear cut.”

You couldn’t say you could agree with that sentiment. It’s not like you’d heard of anything odd about Ellowian trees before, or from anybody besides unreliable mystics, but your new knowledge of spiritual energies made you wary of the trees all the same. They could be harmless; yet your doubt still suggested that cutting the wrong one down would cause a demon to crawl out of the stump, or the like. Well, you wouldn’t be the one cutting these trees down, silly. Yes, you thought, but you’d have to tell Stein to try and watch where his shots were going.

-----

In accordance with the plan to encircle and squeeze a loop around the insurgent stronghold, you and Von Metzeler’s forces split up a good deal before the section of forest you were to clear out. It would be expected that the insurgents would range a good distance out, and it would be best for your intentions to be unclear to scouts until as late as possible. Thusly, it would look like Von Metzeler had gone in a completely different direction until, hopefully, it was too late.
A complication was encountered, though- albeit not an unexpected one.

It started with a symbol, cut into a tree. You considered yourself quite a good hunter- you’d gotten enough practice at it, at least. It gave you an eye for noticing small details, especially in a forest. Footprints of animals, scrapings on trees, dung- very ordinary things could be used to track your prey with remarkable accuracy. Similar to a scraping from a deer on bark, you saw a symbol that was clearly manmade, cut into a tree with a knife. It wasn’t something you recognized; it appeared to be a triangle with a line through it.

It made you suspicious. That suspicion caused you to keep a particularly careful eye out, and it paid off.

“Wait,” you called out to the squad advancing ahead of you, as your eyes caught a glimmer of something. “Stop right there.” You got out, and confirmed what you saw- a tripwire. “Further out than I would have thought,” you commented to yourself.

“What is it, coordinator?” Lieutenant Abetz had been closeby, and he walked up to get a look at what you had disembarked to inspect.

“A tripwire mine,” you told him, gesturing to come around a tree, and inspect the fist-sized cylindrical charge. A thread was laid out tight, and tied around a tree opposite of the one the mine was nailed to. “Ellowian standard. It’s a multipurpose weapon, you can set it up in a few ways.” You tested the thread with a finger.

“Woah, what the hell are you doing!?” Abetz jumped back, “Don’t do that with a mine!”

“I’m checking the tension,” you explained, “These can have different fuses. As long as you’re careful, you can test it this way to see if you can disarm it the easy way. See how it’s taut? That means if you break the line, make it loose, or otherwise make the line slack, the mechanism will trigger. It’s not like a tab you pull on a grenade, that’s another type. If that were the case, you could cut the line with a sharp bayonet or knife and disarm the trap. If you tried that with this, the thing would explode.”

“Oh.” Abetz stared warily at the explosive, “So how do we get rid of it?”

“See this small hole?” you pointed to an aperture on the side of the explosive, near where the line cast out from it, “That’s how you access the fuse. Every mine has to have a way of disarming it safely, otherwise, you can block off your means of advance, or your engineers can’t remove them. A small metal rod would go in there. A twig or toothpick could do it, too, so long as you’re not concerned about the mechanism snapping them. You could also gum it up with heavy grease or glue, I suppose.” You stood again, “Though, they’ve definitely taken said safety keys away from the mines themselves. You’ll just have to keep an eye out and avoid these. We’ll have to call in an engineering unit to clear this out, or we can do it ourselves once we find where they’re keeping the disarming sticks.”

“Where did you learn all that?” Abetz asked.

“I read a few books.” You answered. A lot of books, really. “Have your squad leaders gather and tell them what I just told you.” Back to your tank you went, to share your discovery with Von Metzeler.

“A triangle with a line through it?” He asked after you told him what you had found, “I have not seen anything of the sort, but I will keep an eye out for it.”

“It means their minefields are marked,” you said, “There’s no way they’d completely surround themselves with mines.” Especially since an Ashes girl had been in the same general area; you wouldn’t have sent her yourself, but Anya had told you that the Ashes had set up booby traps themselves; and often had used the smallest to do it, before she had put a halt to those operations. She seemed confident enough that nobody would come to harm, at least.

“Interesting.” Von Metzeler said, “So we may potentially attack where they have no mines, or we can continue as we were, though risking advancing through trapped territory. I would personally advocate adjusting our plan to advance along their pathways, once we find them. They would have to be great fools to advance quickly through mined territory, even if they placed the traps themselves. With control of the in-ways, we would be able to outpace any careful retreat through said areas.”

>That sounds good. We’ll avoid the marked minefields, and keep control of the quickest routes.
>No, keep things as they are. We know the minefields are here, so if the men are careful enough, we should be able to continue advancing and still trap any insurgents in our net.
>I dislike the idea of leaving any ways open, even mines. We’ll take the majority of our forces along these ways in, but I say we should leave elements to guard the edges of the trapped sections anyways. (How large of elements? Keep in mind each platoon has 5 squads of 15.)
>Other?

>>3458420
>>That sounds good. We’ll avoid the marked minefields, and keep control of the quickest routes.
Let's try to maintain the surprise factor. Also trusting relatively green troops to navigate a minefield doesn't seem very advisable.

>>3458420
>>That sounds good. We’ll avoid the marked minefields, and keep control of the quickest routes.

>>3458420
>That sounds good. We’ll avoid the marked minefields, and keep control of the quickest routes.
I hate this choice but the alternatives seem like too much work for these grunts to pull off while still preserving our numerical/not-stepping-on-mines advantage. If we're going to go whacking down the designated paths they'd better keep their eyes peeled because I don't feel like being set on fire by an angry bush today.

>>3458433
>>3458450
>>3458567
Going with that plan. Because no mines are mine mind.

Writing, then.

Rolled 55 (1d100)

“That sounds good,” you told Von Metzeler, “Once we find where the minefields aren’t, we’ll avoid any place with markings and lock down the quickest routes in and out. I’d rather keep out of dangerous ground with troops this green. It’ll be safest and quick too.”

“I will advise Lieutenant Kristoph to do such, then,” Von Metzeler acknowledged, “I should not have to tell you this since you saw the signs in the first place, but do keep cautious.”
“I shall.” You switched to intercom. “Driver, take us to a full left. I want to travel laterally until we find a place that’s marked to not have mines. We’ll keep going from there until we have every approach covered, then we’ll decide what to do from there.”

So you went; and the routes in were discovered. Or rather, from your direction, one route. Von Metzeler reported the same; apparently the ways in to the center of this forest were broad, but they were indeed the only apertures. That Von Metzeler had stumbled upon the way in at first and everywhere else he looked was trapped, was just his good luck. At the very least since you were in a tank, such mines didn’t pose much a threat to your person, so long as you remained rather low in the cupola.

…It was quite convenient that the gaps in mines were in places where your tank could still traverse. Perhaps that was because the cell here thought it was too difficult to make the more open areas intimidating? That the lack of channelization would make tripwire mines less effective? In any case, it meant that you didn’t have to leave your comfortable armored shell, and more importantly, that you would be able to support the Netillians if (or, perhaps, when) a fight started.

The first contact was not had on your side, but on Von Metzeler’s, and it wasn’t what was expected.

“A strange woman was wandering around,” he explained to you over the radio as you listened attentively, the tank slowly creeping forward behind the infantry; you had instructed them that the tank’s guns were much more helpful to them than its armor, and the story of the grenade from yesterday had re-instilled proper wariness of clumping up behind your vehicle. “Kristoph was unsure what to do with her, but I insisted we take her into custody. Most likely a non-combat member of this group, though she does not seem local.”

“How so?”

“She does not appear Twaryian nor Ellowian. A Netinauk, from what the men said of her accent.”

“Odd indeed.”

“Oddity does not grant them freedom as of now, though. We march on.”

So you did, steadily, but the pace quickened as confidence among the troops surged, and your deduction of there being a lack of mines where there was no symbols, was gradually granted more trust.

>Rolling for first detection; less than 70 is the DC...for the foe.

With the greater concentration of troops along the approach avenues, your force looked intimidating indeed, you thought as you spared a look around. It was quickly approaching time that you would be encountering an insurgent outpost…Surely you should have encountered resistance by now? Or a patrol?

“Lieutenant, how close are you to encountering Objective B?” you asked Von Metzeler.

“I would think to be coming across it in about five minutes.”

“Objective A is in my visual. No sign of enemy,” you told him, “Hold on for a minute.”

Indeed, the beginnings of a hastily abandoned camp were showing themselves; visible due to the speed at which whatever possible had been extracted or dismantled. That was only from a distance, though, and of a few of the improvised structures. It could have just as easily been simply messy.

>Have your troops go around it. Link up with Von Metzeler and concentrate forces around Outpost B
>Tell Von Metzeler to go ahead with his attack. You would investigate here; he likely would have no issue even in the worst scenario, where the people from A had fled to B seeking a more defensible position.
>Remain here with a small party (How small?) and trust Abetz to forge on ahead, so you could investigate this place while they finished business.
>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out.
>Other?

>>3458791
>>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out.

>>3458791
>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out.

We were never going to successfully encircle them in their home turf and a forest to boot.

They are likely hiding around in hidden spaces, especially if there are only two safe ways in or out.
Just start chucking explosives into the campground to smoke any hidden ones or provoke the rest

>>3458791
>>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out.

>>3458952
Just would like to make sure that anybody going for the preparation to assault is fine with wanton use of explosives at unidentified targets and zones before confirming vote

>>3459028
I would vote against it since if this is a trap the enemies are most likely in the forest surrounding the camp waiting for us to wander into it. Barraging it unnecessarily will just destroy evidence and do their job for them.

>>3458791
>>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out

>>3458791
>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move around this place to find the insurgents
They absolutely are around the camp in the forest, and the minefields were there to channel us to the prepared defensive positions. If we move in on the camp we'll be walking into a trap.

>>3458791
>>Treat this as a trick; prepare the troops for assault, and then move on this place to clear it out

You leaned your chin on your fist. No enemies? None that were visible, at least. The defensive purpose of minefields was to channelize a foe; the best way for a smaller force to take on a larger force, after all, was to restrict the greater quantity force’s ability to exploit its numbers through maneuvering. This had to be a trap of sorts.

“Abetz!” you called to the infantry commander, who came running with his senior NCO. “Have your squads get ready to attack. I’m expecting a trap in that encampment, of some sort.”

“But it looks empty.”

“Looks. If I’m wrong, then there’s a delay. If you’re wrong, then men die. Understood?”

“Uh, yeah.” The green officer tilted his helm nervously, but his NCO pulled on his shoulder and led the Lieutenant away. Non-commissioned officers were a vital part of any army to form the bridge between commander and line man- one of Netilland’s problems with its expanding army was a lack of skilled NCOs, which was something that had to be amended as soon as possible, but there was only one real way to do that- and you were helping in such a process.

“Gunner, scan for targets,” you told Stein, “If anything starts shooting from inside there I want an explosive shell right down the pipe. Hans, do the same with the bow gun. I won’t need you fiddling with anything when there’s only one person I need to talk to.” Your choice of tank had been the X-51, while Von Metzeler had taken the X-80, which was armed with a squat barreled eight centimeter howitzer. Its armament meant that it lacked a machine gun; less fatal a flaw than would be in independent operation of tanks, as the environment here of constant surrounding infantry meant that close in defense was plenty handled.

“Keeping an eye out for all this nothing, boss,” Hans said back. “You know, I think they might have left.”

“That would be convenient, but I doubt they have our convenience in mind. Hence our current approach. We’ve no good idea of how fanatical this group may be. If we assumed their combat potential was split between two camps, then yes, fifteen against sixty and a tank would be rather suicidal, but they have the potential to use irregular tactics to devastating effect. Caution is the order of the day.”

“Feften agens, aye, wotbout thertaganns seyxeh?”

“Sexy what?” you asked. “Oh. Sixty.” Two to one odds indeed wasn’t the classical for an attack; even with the force multiplier of an armored vehicle, the terrain had to be taken into account. “…Keep watching, I’m going to speak with Von Metzeler.” There was a possibility of something, which you figured you should warn your fellow officer about. “Lieutenant Von Metzeler. Have you encountered Objective B yet?”

“No. I am keeping a tight leash on the infantry commander.” Von Metzeler answered. “You are at A?”

“I am. It appears at a glance to be abandoned, but I’m advancing carefully. I just want to mention the possibility that the fighting force here fled to Objective B in order to consolidate their numbers.”

“When do you estimate they would have done that?”

“If they did that,” you insist, “…and I’m not sure.”

“Do you wish for me to delay my own movement to wait for you to be more certain?” Von Metzeler inquired, “I should warn that, if we do not force an engagement to lock them down, it may be possible for the enemy to flee on an undiscovered exit path. I understand your desire to prevent losses, but we do have an objective of eliminating their presence here.”

>It should be fine. Don’t delay on my part; I’m just keeping a trap from being sprung on me.
>Go ahead and delay. If we encounter nothing, then we’ll want to both hit that last outpost at the same time.
>Double time your people, I want to see if I can get a reaction from this place should combat start elsewhere. Can you do that for me?
>Other?

>>3459922
>>Double time your people, I want to see if I can get a reaction from this place should combat start elsewhere. Can you do that for me?

>>3459922
>>Double time your people, I want to see if I can get a reaction from this place should combat start elsewhere. Can you do that for me?

>>3459922
>>Double time your people, I want to see if I can get a reaction from this place should combat start elsewhere. Can you do that for me?
No need for a full scale assault initially; a probing attack should suffice for drawing any insurgent attention.

>>3459922
>It should be fine. Don’t delay on my part; I’m just keeping a trap from being sprung on me.
Don't forget Von Metzeler is also likely to encounter a trap. Don't send him to facecheck the fog of war.

>>3459922
>It should be fine. Don’t delay on my part; I’m just keeping a trap from being sprung on me.

Here once more.

>>3459962
>>3459966
>>3459975
Forward, quickly! Though a probe should be enough at first.

>>3459976
>>3460160
Go as normal.

Getting this done, then.

Rolled 95, 46 = 141 (2d100)

”Double time your people,” you told Von Metzeler, “I have a feeling. If that feeling’s wrong, then it won’t be any big deal, I think. Close to contact, I want to see if there’s any reaction from this place if fighting starts to its northeast.”

“Lieutenant Kristoph should need no encouragement,” Von Metzeler said, “I merely need to cease holding his lead. I shall do my best to limit any damage, then.”

“I can trust you to keep level-headed. No need to go all out at first, drawing anybody out from here shouldn’t require more than a probe.” You said as a sendoff, before peeking over the edge of the cupola and waiting, until Abetz came back, and informed you that everything was ready before rushing off again. Well, you could still keep an eye on things while he advanced his men; with Von Metzeler charging forth, any reaction from this place would come before you breached it proper. Ideally, an all-out attack wouldn’t be the opening, but whether Kristoph would agree after being let loose was another question.

A sharp explosion boomed through the trees; Von Metzeler’s tank cannon making an opening shot. That was followed by a crescendo of rippling crackles as an entire platoon opened at once, presumably as suppression. It was impossible to tell if there was any return fire, as you waited for a response from the encampment, the Netillian riflemen creeping closer nervously.

Well? You thought, If you’re there, do something! The uncertainty of combat was straining- once shells began to fly, ironically, everything went calm, at least in the past. These days, you felt you couldn’t be so sure of that, but in the hardest fights of your career, it had been that way…

…Nothing. Not a shot came in or out of the camp as Abetz’s platoon stormed in, half of it on the outside covering the advance of the other; a two three ration of cover and assault. You ordered the tank forward, and upon closing with the camp, in spite of the combat further away, the mood along the infantry had relaxed. A few people had been rounded up, but they had readily surrendered, and had been unarmed. Some leadership had taken the initiative and were questioning them, but there was no fight to be had here.

“Von Metzeler,” you tried over the radio, “How is progress?”

>Battle modifiers are such- +10 for tank support, -10 for being green. Penalties for attacking a defensive position of this scale nullified by armor. Former dice is yours, greater is better.

Rolled 2, 4, 4 = 10 (3d5)

>>3460521
Fortunate tidings.

Damage is done thusly, then. Casualty factor is reduced by the difference in factors of ten, so your people take four less out of the combined result of 2d5. The tank puts an extra dice on the enemy; the third dice does not apply to your result.

“We have managed to buckle the opposition at Objective B,” Von Metzeler reported, “It appears that not all of them are here. Even our probing attack was forceful enough to exploit an advance; our overwhelming numbers did the rest of the work. Those that were not eliminated or captured are in flight. There did not appear to be traps in or in the vicinity of the camp itself.”

“Good,” you nodded to yourself. “You said that not all of them were there. How many, then?”

“I do not know precisely, but from a glance…approximately half of the predicted number in this cell. Where the other half are if you did not encounter them, I cannot say for sure, but if I were to guess, they are moving to my current position. This can be exploited, though I am sure that those we drove away from here, at least a few of them, will encounter their allies and warn of what has happened.”

>Pursue them and mop them up, then. I’ll take my people and chase after the group that’s left here.
>Stay and occupy that camp. At best, the enemy will stumble into you. At worst, they will be attacked by us in the rear in a position unsuited for their defense. Either way is fine, really. I’m going to chase them down.
>If the other group is leaving, it’ll be a waste of time to try and catch them in a forest they know. Let’s focus on occupying their positions and securing the ground.
>Other?

>>3460544
>>Pursue them and mop them up, then. I’ll take my people and chase after the group that’s left here.

>>3460544
>>Pursue them and mop them up, then. I’ll take my people and chase after the group that’s left here.

>>3460544
>>Pursue them and mop them up, then. I’ll take my people and chase after the group that’s left here.

>>3460544
>Pursue them and mop them up, then. I’ll take my people and chase after the group that’s left here.

>>3460548
>>3460606
>>3460608
>>3460637
Too bad they split up, huh? Time to clean up and then...clean up.

Writing.

Rolled 9, 66 = 75 (2d100)

“Go ahead and mop them up, then,” you told Von Metzeler, “I’ll take my people and chase after the group that left here. From what you said, there’ll be twenty of them at most if all those that escaped from your side link up with them. They’ll be caught out of position; I’d say it’d be doubtful for them to even stick around and fight. Do you have any casualties to report?”

“Yes. One of the men in the platoon was hit in the torso. It does not look hopeful, but the captive I took earlier claims to have medical experience. I am having her help treat him, then we will move on to insurgent wounded.”

Medical care was typically handled at a battalion level; company medics, while frequently accompanying operations when possible, often lacked proper training beyond possessing morphine, sulfa powder, tourniquets, and gauze. Such was the difference between life and death sometimes, but wounds to the torso often demanded much more thorough treatment. Whatever Von Metzeler’s prisoner’s training had, it would have to be more than mere folk medicine.

A single squad remained behind in “Objective A” in order to keep it and the captives taken there locked down as the rest of the platoon went to pursue where it was thought the enemy would be; half would go on the direct route, while you and another section would take a way through less dense forest; the most direct route was of a sort of terrain that was unable to be traversed by your vehicle with certainty, and Malachi had made sure to let you know such as best he could. You counted on them not going through their minefields; but also on them helping their brethren. It would be rather coldhearted of them to simply abandon them at the first sign of trouble…unless such was arranged.

It was not you who encountered whatever set off the next round of shooting, though.

>Same skirmish rules as before- First is your (rather, Von Metzeler's) side's roll, second is the enemy. Same bonuses apply.

Rolled 2, 3, 1 = 6 (3d5)

>>3460828
Nasty.
Time for damage. Enemy gets 5 of it nullified, though the tank is providing an extra dice against them. Also, the overwhelming force of your side's numbers makes it difficult for them to attack effectively; give you a factor of nullification of 2, due to being about four times greater in mass in infantry alone.
Someday I will actually codify proper rules for this.

“We’ve found them,” Von Metzeler reported soon after, “It appeared to be the group that came from your direction. Lieutenant Kristoph charged ahead into close terrain and ran into an ambush he did not expect. As a result, it seems that the enemy slipped away.”

“Damn him,” you muttered, “Casualties?”

“The Lieutenant managed to avoid being seriously wounded, but the squad he was with received a heavy blow. I am uncertain yet, but I would predict at least three.”

More than had been inflicted in the attack on the outpost itself, at least. “You did tell Kristoph that an enemy would be coming this way, did you not?”
“Of course I did.”

“Damn.” You tapped a finger on the top of the tank. “Do you know where they slipped off to?”

“To the north.” Von Metzeler told you, “Apparently there is a small trail they left open, specifically to use for escape. A wounded prisoner informed us of such, though I would doubt the veracity of that information. It could very well be a trick, and the enemy, having lost us temporarily, may be going another direction.”

To the north was dense forest; though, where else could the insurgents of the Revolutionary League cell go? Any other direction, you could close off with ease, and in the open terrain, even intercept with your tanks. What to do…

>Take a party north yourself. You’d chase down this group, but trying to do so with a large group could result in casualties from mines; something you’d like to prevent more of (Means disembarking from the armor)
>Spread out the troops and chase down these insurgents. You certainly couldn’t have them escape now, could you?
>Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.
>Other?

>>3460853
>>Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.

We've driven them off, let's go through their bases and see what we can find, then destroy/capture all the equipment they left behind. Also perhaps we should deactivate the mines in the area? Or at least put up a sign or something.

>>3460853
>>Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.

>>3460853
Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.

There will always be more rebels.

>>3460525
I can't help but notice this system does not reflect the usual quadratic relationship between numerical advantage and enemy losses.

>>3460853
>Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.

>>3460853
>>Stand down. They had been driven off, and you had their outposts and prisoners- they wouldn’t be coming back any time soon, and trying to engage further could only provide you more wounded with little more in profit.

Aight.

>>3460869
>>3461137
>>3461207
>>3461247
>>3461252
Enough of this running around in the woods, if they want to leave, then so be it.
>We've driven them off, let's go through their bases and see what we can find, then destroy/capture all the equipment they left behind. Also perhaps we should deactivate the mines in the area? Or at least put up a sign or something.

You don't have to take care of the mines, you have full justification to shrug and say that that's not your job and call in some engineers to come and do it for you, but you'd have to sit around anyways and provide security. If you want to, should you find the safety pegs, you can just teach people to get rid of the mines yourself, too. It'll be part of the next vote.

>>3461237
>I can't help but notice this system does not reflect the usual quadratic relationship between numerical advantage and enemy losses.

It is....extremely sloppy at present. Due to being barely existent. Indeed, numerical superiority is a very important factor; however, at present, I think I can get away with it without things being too awful because of how relatively small scale and in a closed environment the present things have been. If you have any simple ideas, I'd be willing to hear them for when haha I decide to make small scale combat rules.
Really I could have broken out the Luft rules for something this big but, eh.

Anyways, writing time.

“If we’re not sure if it’s a trick, and we’ll have to scatter about in mine laden forests to try and find them, I say they can run off and be away,” you said with resignation to Von Metzeler. “Have the men stand down. We’ll occupy their bases and take care of our wounded. We’ve got their prisoners and their bases and supplies. They won’t be coming back here, I bet.”

“If that is your judgment, Lieutenant.” Von Metzeler replied.

“Do you have an objection?”

“I do not.”

“Very well then.” You switched your headset back to receive from the intercom and sighed. This was an operation you could take or leave, so far; you supposed it was more experience for the troops, at least. It would depend on what you found here, as far as supplies and arms denied to the enemy. You could meet with Von Metzeler for going over that, though. The platoon commanders could be left to secure the area, while you discussed matters with him.

-----

“Lieutenant Kristoph is a fool,” Von Metzeler told you shortly, as you got out of your tanks and walked around the conquered Outpost B, the smell of gunpowder still in the air, a tree gouged by an explosive shell barely standing up in the middle of it all. “He thinks himself a champion of old, and though he is a competent enough fighter, it affects his leadership skills. His lack of caution has caused three men to be seriously wounded. They are such that they will certainly need to spend time recovering elsewhere, even if they return to frontline service.”

“That is in addition to the one from before, hm.” You noted.

“…It is a strange thing, actually.” Von Metzeler seemed troubled.

“What is?”

“That man seemed to be terribly hurt. He was shot through, I am sure of it; in the stomach, too. However, the woman I first took into custody volunteered to help them, and when the reports of further wounded came, the two medical personnel left to help treat them, leaving her alone with him…and she informed me that the wound was not as bad as thought.”

“That is a good thing, is it not?” You asked.

“No,” Von Metzeler said curtly into his hand, which was holding a contemplative curved finger to his lip, “Well, yes, it is. But. It is extremely odd. The man too claimed that he was perfectly fine. There was bloody bandages, yet he seemed healthy, himself. He lacked the countenance of one shot, even. It was as if he had never been shot at all from how he spoke of things, and the medical personnel certainly thought that the wound had been serious indeed.” Von Metzeler squinted at you, “I would normally think there was a collective leave of senses, had I not seen this sort of occurrence before.”

You couldn’t help but swallow uncertainly. “Indeed. It will…have to be looked into. Where is this woman?”

“She has been restrained once more.” Von Metzeler said, “I am unsure what to do. On one hand, one would think it obvious, but on the other, we have no idea whom they are, and they were near the enemy…perhaps inquiry would be dangerous.”

>…Keep her in custody. We will question them later, along with the rest. For now, we will pretend as though this never happened.
>I will meet with this woman myself. Tell me where you are keeping the captives, and I’ll get her alone.
>We both know what may be happening. Maybe we can offer her a deal. A mutual understanding. They seem unusually willing to aid the wounded, even if they are foes.
>Release them immediately. I want none of whatever they have to offer.
>Other?

Also

>Roll for loot- give me four sets of 1D4. Four units of supply have been found here, and the four D4 will correspond to what they are.
1-Weapons and Ammunition
2-Explosive Materiel
3-Victuals and Necessities
4-Smuggled Contraband

And

>The safety inserts for the tripmines were found. It would take practically the rest of the day to sweep over the ground and clear it out; and would be risky, as well. Do you wish to do the work of minesweeping yourselves, or spend 1 Requisition point to call in engineers to clear it out for you?

Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>3461323
>I will meet with this woman myself. Tell me where you are keeping the captives, and I’ll get her alone.
>We both know what may be happening. Maybe we can offer her a deal. A mutual understanding. They seem unusually willing to aid the wounded, even if they are foes.

>Do the minesweeping ourselves

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>3461323
>>3461332
Supporting.

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>3461323
Supporting
>>3461332
>>3461382

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>3461323
>>3461332
Fourthing

>>3461332
>>3461382
>>3461390
>>3461417
Unfortunate, was hoping that we'd get some guns out of this.Hopefully the contrabrand is actually useful.

>>3461332
supporting

>Spoilered

Coward

based and maddy pilled

Excellent poast quality

But Maddy is pure. Pure!

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Aight, I'm done.

This is why the Judge doesn’t talk to us anymore.

Every day, we stray further away from the Judge.

Assisted Rape a shit! A SHIIIIIIIITTTTTT!

Sorry Maddy, the Major is the only one who's going to be drinking any pee around here

Best husbando

Where's the art for my boy 'Literally the saviour of Panzer Commander Quest' Colonel Adolphus Hiedler?

>>3462427
Colonel Hiedler did nothing wrong

>>3462525
>did nothing wrong
>condemned the luftpanzer project to collect dust forever

He deserves nothing.

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>>3462011
>>3462017
>>3462021
>>3462029
>>3462097
>>3462102
I miss her every fucking day.
I hope she likes our letter.

>>3462542
I think you're thinking of Colonel Talmeir. Hiedler is the literally who gefreitor-turned-commander from Mittelsosalia who singlehandedly (no magic tanks necessary) btfo'd the Death Heads entire city state with a bunch of hilux'd infantry carriers and naval guns and then travelled the lengths of the continent to save Richer's bacon in military court after everyone had forgotten about him. He also has a cute little moustache he strokes when he's nervous. Basically the based character ever introduced.

>>3462698
I’m gonna be honest if it’s not a waifu or a tank I pretty much forget who’s who.

>>3462742
The only waifus are the tanks tbqh famalam

>>3462745
In this case with our Hobart’s harem of tanks, I woulf have to agree.

I am back to write.

>>3462011
>>3462017
>>3462021
>>3462029
>>3462097
>>3462102
>>3462106
>>3462215
>>3462232
>>3462341
You spoil me, really.

>>3461332
>>3461382
>>3461390
>>3461417
Go meet with the weirdo; maybe offer a deal. And send the people to do minesweeping themselves rather than pulling favors to get the woods cleared.

The loot pull was one of explosive materiel, one of basic sundries, and two of smuggled contraband. Seems these outposts were preferring to deal in things more subtle than thought!

Writing, now, though.

“If inquiry is dangerous, as you say, we both know what may be happening,” you muttered lowly, out of easy earshot, “Though maybe we can offset the danger with a deal, form a mutual understanding. She at least seems unusually willing to aid the wounded of a foe, as far as we know. If you tell me where the captives are being kept, I’ll meet with her myself. Alone, where maybe, they’ll feel safer in acknowledging anything they’re keeping hidden.”

“Or not so hidden,” Von Metzeler said, “I am afraid I cannot allow you to be alone with them out of that same caution. We will meet with her together. Perhaps were this a cloaked figure that appeared as though a boogieman from a child’s dream, I would hesitate, but this mystery appears of our world. My curiosity will not be sated this time with a shrug, you see.”

You shrugged yourself, to that. “So be it, then.” You had been more thinking of her away from her fellow captives, than you isolated yourself in particular. “Has your investigation of this camp revealed anything useful for us to take as spoils? All that was found at Outpost A was a crate of canned fruits, bread, and toilet paper.” It wasn’t as if the last thing wasn’t something it was nice to not have a shortage of, but neither food nor basic sanitary luxuries were in particularly short supply for your people, at least.

“Several interesting things, yes,” Von Metzeler told you as you steadily turned round to go to where prisoners were being kept temporarily, “Interesting things, that I am sure would have rather not been taken from them. One was a small crate packed with plastic explosive. If it were to be set off, the crate itself would have made a devastatingly powerful explosion, but it appears they would have rather used it more efficiently. More to the point, it was unopened. Packaged safely as to avoid accident. I was wary of it being a trap, but a brief investigation rendered that possibility exceedingly unlikely. The box was emptied of its contents and filled once more to make certain, of course.”

“That’s good to keep out of the hands of any insurgents.” Whatever their plans for the explosives had been, even a small crate could be divided into several very deadly and destructive explosions.
“There were also two long boxes of another sort of contraband. It appeared to be mixes of drugs both illegal and permitted; cigarettes, morphine, blackflower hashish, Mountmoss.”

“Mountmoss?” That was one you hadn’t heard of.

“It is a sort of lichen that has hallucinogenic properties when ingested. It isn’t proper moss, as far as I know.”

“I see.” What you could do with two big boxes of drugs besides turn them in didn’t occur to you. You supposed that you could appropriate some of the blackflower; not for its common use, but to keep the voices and dreams away- since you had run out of blackflower that had been provided to you, they had returned- though they had faded again recently, they would come back all the same, and probably soon. Your interest in its more infamous uses were nil. “I was rather hoping for a weapons cache, truth be told.”

“If they had enough to be significant, then I suppose they were a priority to evacuate, or keep well-hidden elsewhere,” Von Metzeler hypothesized, “Otherwise, perhaps this cell was not the sort that put a focus upon spreading armed resistance.”

In some ways, that sort of activity was more dangerous than a group that came out to fight directly, you thought to yourself. One that only fought if they needed to, and otherwise only sought to sow tension and discontent. “Did these crates have any indication of where they came from?” you asked.

“No.” Von Metzeler answered, “How far down the line any labelling or manifests were removed is unclear, if the boxes had them in the first place, though the explosives appeared to be in their commercial transportation, at least.”

You supposed that was to be expected.

“Come,” Von Metzeler beckoned, “She is over here. I will get her away from the rest.”

-----

The woman was an ordinary looking sort; she was plain of appearance, normal of build and height (coming up to around your nose), appeared perhaps just a touch older than you and Von Metzeler; and had a countenance you could only describe as gentle. There was no anger or upset shade about her face, only perhaps a hint of worry. She had long, golden brown hair that touched to her lower back, and was dressed for the chilly climate in a heavy collared shawl, a cream colored coat, and boots that went up high on her thighs, as well as heavy woolen gloves. All were a bit beaten, like she made a habit of wandering. She wore round glasses over brown eyes, and had a hairpiece on the side of her head that appeared to be a set of faded violet cloth petals forming a vague flower shape that might have been an individual bluebell, in some time before it had suffered from age.

“Coordinator Von Tracht,” Von Metzeler said to you, “This is Miss Yva.”

“Already on a first name basis, I see.”

Von Metzeler’s eyebrow twitched. “It is not abnormal to treat a favor with courtesy in response.”