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/qst/ - Quests


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Dust specks flickered in the dull yellow light of the hotel room, glowing from a weathered shaded bulb that hung over an even further beaten table. A pair of people played a game of chess on this table- neither liked the accommodations much, but did not mind them, either. For they were not to be here for long- especially as one was about to neatly end the game.

“Checkmate.” The victor was a handsome young man, who ever wore a sly grin and a playful glint in his eyes, golden brown locks falling from the top of his head like clouds over a cliff. “You have improved, Miss Vang.”

His opponent was a woman younger than he, young enough that some would scarcely call her an adult at all. Yet her eyes told of harshly learned experience. Were one to remove the black gloves upon her hands, they would find her palms and fingers rent by terrible scars, but otherwise, she had the look of a fresh faced youth, one that would not be unexpected to be found tittering about fashion and blushing at men such as sat across from her. Her appearance could be described as rather mundane, were it not for the faint shadow of a small scar on her jaw and the eyepatch she wore; largely for decoration than need to keep anything hidden or protected. She had finished a short and tired sigh. “Not enough to beat you, though, huh.”

“That would have been truly shocking, but do not pretend as though my compliment is undeserved,” the handsome man began rearranging the pieces upon the chessboard, “Your technique is a leap beyond what I left you with- you are thinking ahead to a much greater degree. It is truly reassuring that you improve and learn on your own. The daughter matches her father; were it not that he kept you so sheltered from the world, you might have become a force to match him in little time.”

“Why are you here, Loch,” the woman crossed her eyes and stared through her guest, “I am lonely and you know it. It feels like you’re taunting me by showing up for a chat in the night and a quick game of kings. I want to go to cafes, I want to dance.” She set her finger on her king and tipped it back and forth. “I want to keep wanting that even if, now, what I’ve become wants those desires to be cast off.”

“Mind that your thirst not make you drink from a poisoned well,” the young man set his back row in place, “Nor that your hunger fools you into consuming a clod of earth that you wished to be a truffle.”

The woman shifted in place and frowned, like she felt unjustly lectured. “I’m not that dumb, and I’m pickier than that. I’m not some nobody anymore, I’m one of the most powerful people in Sosalia. If I wanted somebody’s body, I could have them. I don’t want that, though. I want to hold somebody in my arms that knew me before I had all this, this…status, the republic, everything Cyclops has. Somebody who knew me when I was powerless, and would like that…instead of this thing I’m having to become, whose power could evaporate in a heartbeat.”
>>
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.
>>
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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.
>>
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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
>>
>>3454319
We see the truth.
>>
>>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.
>>
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“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.
>>
>>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
>>
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>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
>>
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Best husbando
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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.”
>>
This Yva didn’t seem very unusual- you had been more expecting…you didn’t know, perhaps some mystic in a robe, or somebody in mountain fashion. You could have seen her on the streets and thought nothing of it. She was so unthreatening that it made you doubt your suspicion already. She looked like more a librarian than anything else.

Her voice, of course, fit the rest of her. “You are the leader of these men?” She asked, her voice lower pitched but soft, “If I may ask, may I be allowed to aid more of these wounded men? I possess medicines that will ease their pain and help them regain their health. Their fight is over, surely you would grant them succor?” The slight accent of the north tinted her tongue; a much softer version of what Old Nauk did to your Yaegir crewman Jorgen’s speech.

“I would like to know who you are and why you are here, first.” You requested of Yva, “Are you a member of this group, the Revolutionary League?”

As you were asking this, you felt something touch you. Not like a hand, but like a breath on the shoulder, which alighted like a cool hand before spreading out over your body. Yva cocked an eyebrow slightly, but answered you. “No, I am not. I simply help all who I can in this unfortunate country. I do not believe that the ill and needy should be discriminated by their allegiance. I am not from this place; I have no side to take, but that of helping those who are in need and reach out for help.”

“You understand I have little proof that you are telling the truth.” You pointed out.

“I have no reason to lie.” Yva’s tone was not defiant; she spoke as though to genuinely persuade. “I only wish to help. Would you accept?”

“We would,” Von Metzeler said before you could ask anything, “Coordinator, I will take Yva to look after the wounded. We shouldn’t bother her with more questions, not while she could be helping. Do you agree?”

>They already have medical aid attending to them. You, and her, can wait. I have more questions. (What?)
>Now just a moment, we have made no proper agreements. I want to make an arrangement before anything. (What are the conditions?)
>Go ahead, I suppose. I can’t think of a reason to keep you.
>Sorry, Lieutenant, but I want to watch this person’s methods as well. I will come too.
>Other?
>>
>>3463346
>Sorry, Lieutenant, but I want to watch this person’s methods as well. I will come too.
I smell dark, manipulative magicks
>>
>>3463346
>>Sorry, Lieutenant, but I want to watch this person’s methods as well. I will come too.
>>
>>3463346
>>Sorry, Lieutenant, but I want to watch this person’s methods as well. I will come too
>>
>>3463346
WIZARD
BULLSHIT
>Other?
SHOOT HER
>>
>>3463374
>>3463378
>>3463382
I'm not leaving you alone with a lady, you rake.

>>3463536
Shoot her.
You have heard that this doesn't work as well as it should.

Writing.
>>
>>3463607
Well fine since she's somehow resisted holy purification from the Sun, first shoot her then cut her head off and stake her heart. Liberally douse the remains in onion vinaigrette and educational pamphlets about the Judge. Bam, one less bloodsucker.
>>
Already you were suspicious; but were Yva a soulbinder, the important part was, was she aligned to the mountain lords of this continent, or the Oblitares of the east? As far as you were concerned, both were equally dangerous cases; the former for their safeguarding of the unknown, the latter for their wish to destroy it and knowledge of it. As far as you knew, so far, you had betrayed nothing- Emma remained in your tank, and the marks apparently left from being fed on by spirits wouldn’t be out of the ordinary here- you’d noticed Embers that weren’t Emma floating about sometimes, which you attributed to Soulbinders being more busy with one another than with their normal occupation of exorcism.

“I do agree that she should be helping, Lieutenant,” you told Von Metzeler, “But you don’t need to take her away by yourself. I want to watch this person’s methods as well; I will come with you.”

“…I apologize if we are overly pressuring, miss.” Von Metzeler said, in your opinion, quite unnecessarily.

“It is all right.” Yva said, “Will you take me to these unfortunate people? I admit that an audience makes me nervous, but to deny help for concern of my comfort would be ill mannered.”

“Of course.” Von Metzeler led her on, again, leaving you behind.

He led the lot of you to a place where three Netillian soldiers lay side by side, in varying states of distress. The medics had done all they could, but they were all pale, and though calmed by morphine, it was doubtful whether they would survive until proper medical care came for them. Yva looked at them one by one, from side to side.

“This one…appears to be the most in need. Though I will only need to do little…I have my doubts that these wounds are as terrible as they appear. The human body is sturdy, and our wills are strong. The bridge between life and death can be blocked with less of a wall than one might think.” She removed a glove from one hand; and moved to put her ungloved hand on a soldier’s chest wound, removing a phial with her other. “This is a compound that has recently been invented,” she said, “It aids in clotting and disinfectant. It is powerful, but scarce.” She unwrapped the bandages some, and slipped an applicator beneath the bandages. It seemed like she only used a few drops, before reapplying pressure with her bare hand. You looked for any sign of sorcery- but the way she leaned over her patient and that she pushed on top of a bandage made it difficult to see anything. When Maddalyn had used her stitch spells, she had been far less subtle about the matter; but then, as far as you knew, she was a (relatively) normal human woman. Yva…may have been something more. Maybe.

“Suturing the wound after this should quicken his recovery,” she said, “But I should move to the others.”
>>
The other men had exactly the same procedure done to them; you did your best to spy anything out of the ordinary, but…there was nothing you could point out. A glance at Von Metzeler to see if he had the look of one who had seen something to catch onto…but his eyes were not on the wounded, or their injury.
“Von Metzeler,” you whispered, “Have you seen anything?”

“Hm?” Von Metzeler looked at you, and said quietly, “No.”

You squinted at him. “…You have been looking at the woman this whole time, haven’t you?”

Von Metzeler turned slightly cross. “Do not make strange implications. If you suspect her to be carrying out something odd, why would you look at her hands? Have you never acquainted yourself with the tricks of a stage magician?”

“I think one is trying to fool me now and his name begins with an R.”

“May I have some help in removing the bandages of this first man?” Yva interrupted your bickering, rising to her feet again, “I believe the medicine will have taken proper effect at this time. It is quite fast acting…”

“Of course,” Von Metzeler answered quickly, “Von Tracht, if I may borrow your knife. My sword is rather unwieldly for this sort of work.”

You handed it to him, handle towards him, but you didn’t look at him, at first. Instead, you were thinking how on earth you’d catch this person…if you wanted to catch them in the act, for whatever reason, or at least prove to yourself further that she was what she might be...

A realization. The tricks of a stage magician; of course you would be watching her, but if you were to do that, would she truly reveal herself?

>Make any attempt to discover her methods and catch her. Maybe such could be used as leverage? (What?)
>Did it really matter what she did or how? Calling her out would be suicide anyways, be thankful she was treating your people. You could keep her around as long as you wished if you took her into custody anyways.
>Let her finish and allow her to leave. Your trade for her help would be to not expose her.
>Other things?
>>
>>3463764
>Did it really matter what she did or how? Calling her out would be suicide anyways, be thankful she was treating your people. You could keep her around as long as you wished if you took her into custody anyways.
>>
>>3463764
>>Did it really matter what she did or how? Calling her out would be suicide anyways, be thankful she was treating your people. You could keep her around as long as you wished if you took her into custody anyways.
>>
>>3463764
>>Let her finish and allow her to leave. Your trade for her help would be to not expose her.
>>
>>3463764
Actually changing my vote from this >>3463851
to this >>3463855
>>
>>3463764
>Did it really matter what she did or how? Calling her out would be suicide anyways, be thankful she was treating your people. You could keep her around as long as you wished if you took her into custody anyways.

She's probably sucking out their soul or something. We do not want her around, she can compel the minds of others. Only Poltergeist mucking up our Prescence is protecting us I bet. Hell for all we know she was the head of this rebel operation.

If we wanna be dicks we should drop her off at the UGZ. It's crawling with both those in need and spooky bullshit. If she tries to resist this mention how much the people there need a doctor.

I still just wanna shoot her.
>>
>>3464018
>trying to shoot wizards
>>
>>3464027
Also, she put metzeler under a spell or some shit. I just kind of want her out of our hair.
>>
>>3464030
Look I'm not saying with a handgun. With one, no, two Hellfire shells.
>>
>>3464084
I don't know how the mind slaves would feel about that. Did we bring the Hellfire shells anyway? I'm not sure they'd fit in our current tonks gun.
>>
>>3463764
>Did it really matter what she did or how? Calling her out would be suicide anyways, be thankful she was treating your people. You could keep her around as long as you wished if you took her into custody anyways.
>>
Here again.

>>3463813
>>3464018
>>3464357
It doesn't matter how she does whatever- as long as you keep her from roaming free.

>>3463855
>>3463884
Let the wizard leave and make them not your problem anymore.

>>3464102
>Did we bring the Hellfire shells anyway? I'm not sure they'd fit in our current tonks gun.
It was elected to not bring them. And you are correct in that they are 4,7cm shells- your current tank guns are not the right caliber to actually fire it, unless you removed the warhead and sort of jury rigged it onto the front of something else- obviously not the best way to try and use it.

Writing. Also, gonna roll for mine clearing. DC's a 50- anything higher, increasing by degrees of 10 after the is the number of accidents.
>>
Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>3464390
Ahem.
>>
>>3464391
More work for the wizard.
>>
…Of course, you could look all you wanted, but did it really matter? You were all but certain this woman was a soulbinder- what could you do about it? As long as they weren’t trying to make a fuss, what harm were they? Calling her out would be suicide. Whatever she did or how she did it, so long as you could keep her in an inconvenient box, she would be within reach in the case of being actually needed, anyways.

True enough, you were tempted to just let her leave and be done with it. Maybe you were greedy; maybe you still wanted to know just what they were doing here. Maybe, you really didn’t want a soulbinder running around causing trouble. Could you contain one? Perhaps not if she really wanted to escape your clutches, but as far as you knew with Soulbinders of all stripes, they had to at least pretend to respect the laws of the land, and to do their best to not expose themselves as powerful practitioners of sorcery. The key thing, though, was to not give them a particular reason to think you a personal enemy- considering you’d never heard of Soulbinders until you’d met Maddalyn, who had been fussing around with matters that had caught enough attention as to warrant the appearance of Poltergeist, you guessed that you had to really screw up in order to actually piss them off rather than annoy them to the point where they simply vanished. The Riverman, after all, had been bound by something as silly as debt, which in spite of him being much feebler than the other sorcerers you encountered, was something to keep in mind- as even the Riverman was leagues above a normal human as you in might.

When Yva (if that was her name; most Soulbinders went by titles, so who could say if that was a cover name or her actual identity) had finished, you noted that she had not been sloppy about her alibi; the wounds hadn’t vanished, she had messed with them so that they were suddenly much shallower and less damaging than they had initially been. The renewed energy of the wounded was explained away as simple nerves. The wounds that remained were stitched with little trouble and rebandanged. Indeed, there was still a wound- yet it would be one that would remain for far shorter a time. They became a kind that didn’t even normally send men away from the front, not in this situation, though they certainly wouldn’t be allowed the chance to reopen them normally.
>>
Yva was kept around afterwards- because your work wasn’t done, not until the sun was low on the horizon and the shadows of the Kalamarz loomed long. Technically, the work of mine clearing was left to engineering teams (or when they weren’t around, penal companies) but this area wasn’t one that you’d been asked to do anything about- you’d have to call in a favor to get an engineering company here, and you didn’t have many of those to go around. Since you would have had to stay anyways to keep said detachment safe, you bit down, and after a short meeting with leadership to teach them how to use the freshly discovered safety inserts to disarm the mines once more, you sent them on their way to enlighten their men, so this forest could be made safe for exploitation again. You doubted Maenesko would consider it a favor if you left all the mines around, after all.

In spite of your best efforts to prevent them, though, there had been accidents. Three times, the tripwire mines had found men before they found them, and every one had resulted in a crippling. You tried not to be callous in deciding that such was no particularly great tragedy, since so long as you were holding Yva in custody, you could demand her “help,” However, with this latest round, she seemed to have grown wary of you trying to dump people on her- this time, less of the wounds were not as bad as they seemed, though you noted that she was more of a bleeding heart than you assumed; what she did repair seemed to prevent death at least.

Mines such as these weren’t particularly powerful; they weren’t very good at killing people, really, and such was their nature. However, they did do a fantastic job at creating cripples, and the men who had been struck by mines would be leaving the unit, marked off as casualties. Perhaps they would return in the coming months, but for now, third platoon’s might was reduced.
>>
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Not as much as it could have been, though. Thanks to Yva, your casualties had effectively been reduced by half, even if she restrained herself from making them “none.” Not something you held spite for; though you wondered if she felt anything for the trade of potential hypocrisy in exchange for not blowing her cover.

Speaking of which, you had to decide what to do with her now- as well as the other prisoners. You could very well do what you liked with most of them, as they were unapologetic insurgents and you owed them no favors, but Von Metzeler insisted that Yva had aided you; and had not been a fighting member of this cell, if she had been related to it at all- thusly some consideration should be given.

There was also the matter of what to do with the loot you found- discovering and turning in contraband was something the higher ups were fond of, so turning in these crates of drugs would earn some recognition that you were doing something- along with turning in prisoners, which this operation had produced roughly a dozen and a half of. However, perhaps you could find something else to do with it? The Blackflower, at least, would be useful for you personally…

>Turn in all of the prisoners, including Yva- that was the best way to make her somebody else’s problem.
>Keep the prisoners at New Jorgenstohn- you might have a plan to use them for something later.
>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty.
>Other?
Also-
>Your current loot consists of 1 unit of explosives, 2 units of mines, 2 units of contraband (drugs), and 1 unit of sundries. The sundries, though appreciated for their basic uses, are not worth much in singular units at all, but each unit of contraband and explosives can be turned in for 1 RP each, and captured war materiel such as mines can be turned in at a rate of 2 for 1 RP.
>Thus, select what you want to turn in, and what you don’t want to, for whatever reason. Blackflower is a controlled substance in Netilland, and if you wish to take some out of the shipment, you’ll want to keep that in mind.

Shopping list to spend RP on will come at the end of the operation week- you're still on week 1, after all.
>>
>>3464642
>>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty.
>>Keep some of the blackflower and turn in the rest.
>>
>>3464642
>>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty
>>Turn in all the loot
>>
>>3464642
>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty.
>Keep Blackflower and Explosives. Turn in the mines and the other contraband.
>>
>>3464642
>>>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty.
>>>Keep the blackflower and turn in the rest
>>
>>3464666
Supporting.

Play up how impressed we are at her Soul Sucking good deeds and that deserves a much better place than where the rest of the rebels are going.
>>
>>3464642
>Turn in the prisoners, but put Yva in the UGZ- if she was really up to charitable deeds, that place had need of plenty.
>Keep Blackflower and Explosives. Turn in the mines and the other contraband.
>>
>>3464660
>>3464683
Gotta feed the habit.

>>3464665
Everything to battalion command!

>>3464666
>>3464704
>>3464762
Keep some hash and the big box of explosions. For a party.

General agreement to stuff Yva into the UGZ. Will it keep her inside with its guards and razor wire fence, or with its needy?

Writing now.
>>
As the sun set, you assigned Von Metzeler and the platoon under his care to escort the prisoners and most of the loot gained to turn in to Battalion Command- even though this assignment was one taken of your own volition, they were never ungrateful for prisoners and supplies. Though, before the drug shipments were confiscated for good…you took a few packages of thick, sticky blackflower hashish, wrapped in yellowed wax paper. You could tear a bit off of each chunk to ward off the Demiphantom from your dreams and your senses; and ensure you only slept when you intended to.

With as much as you took, you anticipated your supply lasting a decent while, though not eternally. It would help, of course, that in spite of the poor repute a man found with blackflower might accrue, you intended for nobody to consume this but yourself. For men, blackflower was an extremely weak drug; it gave the sort of calm that quiet meditation could grant, at most; such was not why it was widely regulated. When it was ingested, or inhaled in smoke form, by the fairer sex, the effect ranged from taking leave of their senses to having them overcome and being put to sleep. Such effects had such obvious exploitation that it was unquestionable why possessing it was illegal in many places. However, you had seen folk of the mountains use it for seeming ritual purposes- and you knew that it had an effect on spirits, as a repellent.

>Prisoners turned in to Battalion Command- +1RP
>Supplies, Battle Loot and Contraband turned in to Battalion Command- +3 RP
>Blackflower Hashish obtained; Don’t Breathe This (if you’re a girl)
>Second and Third Platoon have gained experience. With two more operations, they will be considered regulars.

What to do with Yva was another story. Part of why you sent Von Metzeler away was to deal with her; you suspected she had…you didn’t know, cast some sort of spell, maybe? What was planned was probably something Von Metzeler in such a state would object to.

“I am not being allowed to go free?” Yva asked you when you approached her, “Have I done wrong by you?”

“No.”

“Yet I am still held against my will.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”
>>
“It’s business,” you brushed off that line of questioning, “But you have helped us, so I want to do you a favor. Instead of being sent to prisoner camps, where you’d be interrogated and questioned as an insurgent or accomplice, I’d like to take you to the Ubergangzentrum…well, Ackersdol. It’s not the most pleasant place, but if you want to help people like you say you do, there’s no shortage of people who need it there.”

Yva half closed her eyes at you, peering through her small spectacles. “I have heard of the UGZ. I know that the multitude there are in distress by no fault of their own. I would suggest that the charity that must needs be shown there should be granted by those who imprisoned them, but I do not suppose I am being given the benefit of choice.”

“Correct.”

“I suppose then,” Once more, her voice lacked defiance; it was overflowing with acquiescence. “I will be doing my best in Ackerdol, for the foreseeable future.”

The two of you must have known that she had no reason to follow your commands, accept your power over here, or for her to linger for more than a moment in the UGZ after you had deposited her there; you’d have to see if her principles matched the elusive nature of a soulbinder.

-----

Yva, you decided, would be deposited in the UGZ properly the next day; it seemed cruel to dump a woman in such a place right at nightfall. Meeting with Maenesko was a priority, though, and he appeared pleased with the news you brought.

“You have no idea how much this will help tensions,” Maenesko told you, as he sifted through more papers and wrote something down with a pen before moving on to another form. “what people are willing to tolerate skyrockets when they have their economic needs met. You said you captured a cache of drugs, as well?”

“Yes,” you said, “The less of those coming in here, the better, yes?”

“Well, yes, but,” Maenesko settled into his hands again, “What you seized was likely coming nowhere near UGZ-09. The people smuggling the drugs into here are likely Netillian military men or administrators dabbling in the black market.” He noticed the ready look you gave him, and said, “No, I’m afraid it’s not another errand I can demand of you. At least not yet. You see, with new arrangements with the bands in Sosaldt, including the ones that so kindly joined with the nation recently, black market traffic into these occupied territories has exploded. Make no mistake, plenty of those higher than I am profit from this. After all, those most hurt by it tend to not be their countrymen. So it goes, and we bleed this country further dry. Hopefully, when time comes that these trespasses are answered for, it’ll be soon enough that the rest of Netilland won’t be caught in the storm.”

Or yourself, hopefully. “So no more things to do to earn favors from you?”
>>
“Afraid not.” Maenesko said, “If you’re looking for things to do, I suppose you could ask the commander of the Penal Battalion, or one of his company commanders. Try to redress some of the wrongs between you. They also tend to know people in the black market, if you wanted to try and get in closer with them for reasons we don’t need to elaborate on. There are also community leaders in the UGZ, as well as local Ellowian settlements, that may appreciate an attending ear. Then again, you have engaged in two operations in as many days, no? Perhaps some rest is warranted.”

That much could have been true; your fuel reserves were nearly empty, and if Battalion Command ordered you to do something soon, and you had no fuel for your tanks, then you’d be forced to either not go, or to go on foot. A prospect that did not excite you.

>Your mission from Maenesko is complete. You’ll want to pick what to do next. Pick or write in one. Down time and/or exercise can have multiple things done in it, but a mission oriented task will have focus on its own content.
-----
>Maybe it was time to mend relations with the Penals. You’d arrange a meeting with them tomorrow, maybe a joint operation would do you both good, if they had anything in mind.
>You could certainly try and help the UGZ community leaders some more. Anything to stave off a dangerous potential riot and/or uprising here.
>You weren’t unpopular with the rural Ellowians, but they were also some of the people who could be the most dangerous to your own. Meeting with them could be beneficial.
>Best to slow down for now- you had other things in mind anyways, people to visit, loitering to do. (What matters to try and take care of? Or people to visit? (You have still not met with The Ashes, for example. Particular sorts you want to seek out are also acceptable write ins.)
>Everybody earned a break- save for your Netillian troops. If they thought they were done drilling and exercising, they were wrong. (Spends the next days training; they will gain experience from such like if they were in the field, the equivalent from going on one op. Of course, if they are training, they are unavailable for other tasks.)
>Other?
>>
>>3465190
>>You could certainly try and help the UGZ community leaders some more. Anything to stave off a dangerous potential riot and/or uprising here.
>>
>>3465190
>You weren’t unpopular with the rural Ellowians, but they were also some of the people who could be the most dangerous to your own. Meeting with them could be beneficial.
>>
>>3465190
>>You weren’t unpopular with the rural Ellowians, but they were also some of the people who could be the most dangerous to your own. Meeting with them could be beneficial.
Bring our Ellowian platoon with us for this.
>>
>>3465190
>>Everybody earned a break- save for your Netillian troops. If they thought they were done drilling and exercising, they were wrong. (Spends the next days training; they will gain experience from such like if they were in the field, the equivalent from going on one op. Of course, if they are training, they are unavailable for other tasks.)
>>
>>3465190
>>>You could certainly try and help the UGZ community leaders some more. Anything to stave off a dangerous potential riot and/or uprising here.
>>
>>3465190
>>You weren’t unpopular with the rural Ellowians, but they were also some of the people who could be the most dangerous to your own. Meeting with them could be beneficial.
>>
>>3465190
Rural Ellowians

It's good to have contacts everywhere when the shit hits the fan, and options for us to peruse when we need to make mischief.

ALSO
For the next time we see the Black Ops Babe, offer her something imported from Strossvald. Let's see how patriotic she is.
>>
>>3465190
>>You weren’t unpopular with the rural Ellowians, but they were also some of the people who could be the most dangerous to your own. Meeting with them could be beneficial.
>>
Arma has ended. It is time to write again.

>>3465226
>>3465259
Further UGZ work. It's big, nasty, and the happier its people the less you'll have to deal with.

>>3465257
Drilling and exercising.

>>3465236
>>3465241
>>3465332
>>3465510
>>3466159
Hit up the hicks; they're the all important in-between, and you can't be taking any risks with the land itself. Also bring your own Ellowians.

Also try to remember your imports next time you want to be insulted.

Writing soon then.
>>
The rest of the day was spent, after returning to camp from the UGZ, considering the options Maenesko had proposed you could look into. In the end, it appeared most profitable to you to try and find any outstanding issues suffered by Rural Ellowians in the area; though the UGZ was the greatest concentration of the native peoples, there were still plenty of small villages of Ellowians, and some small towns even, that had not been transplanted or colonized. Such people had the most influence over the stretches of land between large settlements, and in the Border Zone, they simply could not all be occupied. Thus was why they were often suspected to be aiding insurgents; few could say otherwise if accused of course, but more importantly, due to their relative defenselessness against roving raiders or those who wished to exercise power over them, more than a few disgruntled sorts did spring from them.

There had been a few stories that were hardly pleasant rumors for the villages to hear. That one place had had all their women and girls carried off and savaged, that one had been burned down because an old drunk insulted an officer while they were visiting a larger city, and the spiteful officer had found where they lived and had it put to the torch, a place that was forced to give up a child every week so that they could be butchered and consumed by an evil commander and their cronies…that last one was probably false, but you had heard that the other two had most likely happened; mostly because the Major had let it slip to you in one of your meetings.

“The vaunted 13th Guard’s Infantry battalion, indeed, had an entire village’s maidens and young carried away, to a place they’ll not like return from soon.” she had mused to you and Von Metzeler, having gone to meet her together once. She had thought much more of Von Metzeler’s selection of drink than she ever had for yours; that was to say, she still referred to it as low brow. “Their repute and position, as well as that they are thoroughly infested with political officers, gives them that sort of power. It is quite an effective tool…for us. The Kommissariat just can’t help providing blackmail material, in their assumption that they are untouchable.”

“They will be wrong.” Von Metzeler asserted. “The wicked do not need wait for death in order to receive Judgment.”

“Oh? Yes, by all means, simply because they think themselves untouchable does not mean you cannot touch them, but should you do so, you must do as a young man’s crush does in a dirty dream; that all they can claim is that they think you laid a finger upon them. Elsewise naught I nor the Archduchy can do may protect you against them. They will certainly not hesitate to touch you like Sosaldtian brigands.”

Colorful metaphors aside, the message was crystal clear.
>>
A message you’d have to keep in mind when trying to coax the rural Ellowians into aiding you; they might not have had any reason to dislike you and your unit personally- the presence of their countrymen in your unit in particular even comforted them, you heard, but you were still occupiers, allies of their enemies. Plenty of things remained rumors rather than objections and complaints due to them lacking the strength to avoid easy reprisal. The Kommissariat especially were a powerful force in the governing Military Council of Netilland, and by extension, its occupied territories. Little wonder that most doubted any could be a shield against such, or their cronies.

Said cronies took a variety of shapes and forms; rural ranger constabularies, Guards units, and, especially quite recently, Sosaldtian mercenaries from the north, especially from the recently reincorporated territories, not hired in particular force but still recognizable as picked thugs. Such were especially feared, you had heard, though you hadn’t had the displeasure of dealing with any. That said, you had little idea of any plights of the rural villages, at least the local ones. The combination of them clamming up, and you simply being too busy with organizing units under and beside the battalion and company.

Thinking about this clouded your mind during the morning routine (even moreso than Anya's body normally did); after you had dumped off Yva at the UGZ, you came promptly back for your session of being run into the dirt, doing pullups and squats and other exercises until you thought your limbs would fall off (for want of proper training equipment such as weights, daring not improvise them), and when all that was done, having a spar while Anya seemed completely fresh, while you were out of breath. It didn’t take her long to have you on the ground, but with your face towards the ground instead of in a place it could make an attack.

“Get your head in the game!” Anya said irritably, “You barely put up a fight at all.

“If you wanted me to have a better crack at it you could have made things fairer,” you complained back. “I’m tired.

Waah, I’m tired.” Anya mocked you, “If you want to complain about things being unfair then lose a good head of height and ten kilos. Life’s not fair and neither is taking it.”

“Yeah, whatever, I know.” You ceased any struggle. “I’m thinking about work. I can’t just let the world fade away when I’m being knocked around by a scruffy overgrown alley cat.”

“I oughta sock you for calling me an alley cat.” Instead of socking you, Anya shoved you face first into the ground and sat on your back. “What about work.”
>>
What about scruffy and overgrown?“I can think of somebody who needs to lose ten kilos right about now. Ow!” you snapped that last exclamation when Anya twisted your ear in response to the smart remark. “I’d rather not sit around doing nothing, you see, since everything’s established now and we’re not in the middle of the storm of initial occupation and arrangements and all that other mess.”

“An awful lot of complaining from somebody who kept dumping off their paperwork on other people instead of doing even half of it. No wonder your academy score were crap.”

It had been a mistake to have Anya overhear Krause and Von Metzeler and you talking about the academy. Your scores hadn’t been crap, they had been middling save for in your areas of interest.

“As I was saying,” you tried to get back on track as you pushed yourself up enough to rest your chin on your arms rather than grass. “There’s things we can do, from the perspective of everybody watching us, to keep everything from flying to pieces before it would be good for anybody. That thing we did yesterday, for example. It means now, we’ve lessened the pressure in the UGZ. So I want to see if we can ease things elsewhere; the rural villages and towns, for example.” Wait, the thing yesterday… “Ah, crap,” you sighed.

“What?”

“I forgot something.”

“What’d you forget, dummy?” Anya asked. You had forgotten to give Emma what she’d asked for. Who could blame you? She hadn’t tried to remind you. You certainly didn’t come away from the operation in much a mood for goofing off, either. However, Anya had had the secrets of presence and spirits and such kept from her. She was blind to all of those things anyways; she wouldn’t believe a word of it. “I’ll start guessing embarrassing things until you say it.”

“No, it’s not that important, it’s just an annoyance.” You brushed off. Anya seemed satisfied; perhaps disinterested by how genuine that was, so she didn’t try and dig any deeper, or carry out her threat. “Anyways, instead of doing nothing, I figure we may as well make friends with the locals. The Ashes, they’re war orphans, are they not? From the villages and towns?”

“Not all of them, but yeah. A decent few.” Anya told you, “There’s too many of them for the little places to take care of. They don’t have a place, but they’re pissed off and can’t do anything about it.” She sighed and soughed. “I know how they feel, y’know.”

“I’m curious about how they feel, considering.” You put forth. “I’d like to get better acquainted with these people, understand how they feel about all this a bit better, maybe. You were from a rural town yourself, were you not?”

“Yeah. You shot the hell out of it, remember?”

“I’m sorry about that.”
>>
“Yeah, don’t be,” Anya said with a sway of her hand, “It was a shithole. The only thing worth a damn there was my sister, and she’s doing…” Anya clicked her tongue and you heard her teeth grind together a bit, “She’s doing her retarded idiot thing as usual.”

“You don’t think you’re worth a damn? Because I-” you asked. Though she cut you off and answered your question before you could follow up with…whatever you were going to follow that with.

“’Course I do, but that’s not the way they saw it.” Anya said firmly, “Look, I’m not gonna bore you with all the details. I fell out of a whore that didn’t want me, flat on my face, and when my mom died I found her in the garbage dump with her head smashed in because somebody didn’t think she was worth giving money. Yet all that time, I didn’t leave.” She poked a finger in between your shoulders, two, three times, like she was trying to put a thought to each one as she paused. “…Right, see, all this nationhood stuff, this glory to the Archduchy and whatever, I don’t get it, see?”

Being from Sosaldt, a place that all but rejected identity beyond anarchy, and instead a collective of outcasts from over the world and city states of varying wealth and power, it was understandable that Anya didn’t understand those things; even though it was hard to stomach hearing at first.

Anya went on. “But I’m not gonna say it’s stupid or pointless or whatever shit a lotta people liked to say in Todesfelsen, even in Guisseizenholz sometimes. Everybody finds something important to them, but they don’t need a lot to be happy. The last straw was when a bunch of fuckers kidnapped Alina; before that, I was fine with just living in that shit hole even if it didn’t want me from the day I was born. Point is!” She punched you lightly on the shoulder, “These people thought their Republic was important, now it’s gone. Maybe things weren’t perfect before, but they’ve certainly gotten worse since then. ‘Cause of that, there’s not much standing between them and running off and doing something stupid, just like I did when I thought I was losing everything important to me.” You felt her lean forward and put her chin in a hand. “…More’n once, even.” You weren’t sure what to say, until Anya slapped you on the back. “Hey, hey, what’s with the silent treatment? You wanted to talk about these people, yeah?”

>Yeah. Tell me what you think about them, and what you think we should do to get their trust, from your perspective. (Offer your own ideas, opinions, as well as queries?)
>I want to talk about *you*, actually, after what you’ve said. (What about?)
>Other?
You can’t pick both. Eventually Anya’s going to get tired of sitting on you.
>>
>>3468586
>>Yeah. Tell me what you think about them, and what you think we should do to get their trust, from your perspective.
How are they doing food and shelter wise?
>>
>>3468586
>>Yeah. Tell me what you think about them, and what you think we should do to get their trust, from your perspective.
>>
>>3468586
>Yeah. Tell me what you think about them, and what you think we should do to get their trust, from your perspective.
>>
>>3468586
>Spoiler
Well when you get tired just switch positions. hue

>>Yeah. Tell me what you think about them, and what you think we should do to get their trust, from your perspective.

Do you think we could get the kids back into one of these villages someday if we support the villagers somehow?
Any ideas for getting the Komissariat off these peoples backs? What if we distracted them with something else?
Do you think we could get them to contact other Rebel groups if they trusted us enough?

I'm thinking that while we shouldn't go full Liberator here, maybe we can convince enough of the Rebels to specifically target Netilland units hostile to our interests and supply the info needed to hurt them. Komissars, penal units, visiting Nobles; cause enough trouble nearby the UGZ to get resources devoted over there as well maybe.
We supply them the means/info, they go and cause a ruckus giving them a vent against the occupiers we dislike, also raising the tension in the area considerably and keep the Rebels from targeting us.

>Other?
tanq just how much of our mission do our tankers/Anya know?
>>
>>3468593
>>3468606
>>3468691
>>3468767
Mission Oriented,

>>3468767
>tanq just how much of our mission do our tankers/Anya know?

Enough to not question too much, not enough to know who's pulling strings. IE- only Von Metzeler and you know the Major.

Anyhow, writing.
>>
>>3468767
Only thing to note is we have to make sure nothing can be traced back to us otherwise we're in deep shit if someone leaks/get captured.
>>
>Writing
>Twelve hours later

I don't even know. I guess I had to be a corpse today or something. I'll have it out soon though now.
>>
“Yeah, tell me what you think about them,” you said, in reference to rural Ellowians. “What do you think we should do to get their trust, you think? I’d imagine you’d heard more about them than me, too. Especially with the Ashes. They’re just living in the forests, yes? Could we get them back into the villages someday if we gave the places enough support?”

Anya shook her head. “Nah. It’s not that simple. Sure, there’s too many of them for any place to just accept them all, but they’d have to want to go back in the first place. They’re all orphans or just as good as much, they’ve left their homes, and they’ve found new friends in each other. They might not be as much fighters as they wish they were, but they still want to fight. They won’t accept any sort of peace where they go home and just live under the Netillians or Twaryians or whatever, and that’s because they’re sure there’s still hope. A few of the Ashes, they still have fathers…in the army. The Military Council don’t like anything about that getting out, I know, so who knows how many of them actually got out, but the Ashes and those country people both believe that their army’s still out there, and more importantly, that they’re coming back.”

Anya referred to, of course, the Ellowian’s actual military, which managed to slip out of the country in unknown numbers into Sosaldt during the twilight of the war. Much as Netilland and Twaryi may have wished to entrap and destroy Ellowie’s army and air force, it was obvious from how much was censored that they had been unsuccessful. Very little information was let out about anything even approaching a certain number- all official sources insisted that the numbers of those who escaped were low, and not a threat.

“So you’re saying as long as they think the army’s out there, they won’t want to be our friends, because we may as well be an enemy they’re still at war with.” You summed up.

“Unless we were to do some things that would make ‘em think we’re on another side.”

Such was incredibly risky, of course, and you stated as much. “If anybody thinks that at all and has a reason to believe it, we’d be dead.”
>>
“There’s not really another way, though, huh?” Anya pressed on, “Anything they want taken care of means you take one side or the other, at least as far as they see it. So either we go for that, and be careful about it, or we stay as the best part of what they still think is the side that needs to be beaten, no matter how much they like them. That’s a gap you’ll never cross, if you’re trying to cross it as Coordinator under Netilland. When you get right down to it, when the chips are down and the big battle comes to end the war that they still think is as good as going on still, they’re still seeing you as standing under a different flag when that comes, under the same flag as the people who conquered them, who bullied them, take their things away, no matter how much of that we didn’t do.”

“You make it sound like us trying to combat the abuses of Kommissars who think these places their personal fiefs, among others, isn’t worth the time,” you mused, “That’s not the case, is it?”

“I’m just saying how it is when everything’s down. They’re sure that’ll be some day. Not saying they won’t appreciate it, but you’re still who they think you are, unless you dress yourself up. Like going to a party in a mask or something.”

Or putting a tomboy in a dress.

“Or better,” Anya added, “You make them think you’re only pretending.”

“Pretending?” you repeated, “What do you mean?”

“You know how the Ellowian platoon is a thing, the assimilation program and all, you’d think that all these rural people would think they’re traitors. But they don’t. Helpful, huh? Wonder why they think that.” Anya poked you in the shoulder energetically, “It’s ‘cause they think they’re not really working with the Netillians. And that’s cause of things like, you know the commander of your fourth toon? Lieutenant We…Weel see? His wife and kid were part of the mob of people that left with the army. Anybody you ask about him, if you’re the right sort, of course, they won’t be shy about saying their opinion. So that’s another way. If you want to play both sides, seem like the sort that’ll turn coat, and that way you don’t risk getting screwed in the ass by the Kommissariat since they won’t find anything for sure.”

“Do you have a preference?” you asked.

Anya shrugged. “I’d rather not get killed.”

“You’re sure about that?”
>>
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anya cuffed you in the back of the head. The balance between her sitting on you and her using your head and shoulders as a stress ball was beginning to tilt askew. “I know that we’re here on funny business, but we don’t have to let anybody actually know that if it won’t help anything.”
“…Anyways. Do you have any ideas for what we should do, to help these people? Even to start, really.”

“To start, huh?” Anya said thoughtfully, “Yeah, it’s not like there’s some big singular bad guy. Every jerk’s got their slice of the pie. So it depends on whether you’d want to dip your toes in or dive headfirst, ‘cept it might be a pool of piss. Easy game’s the mercs. Northern Lords’ fodder prancing about who aren’t used to anybody standing up to them, then you have the Penal Soldiers, who’re more used to bumming each other than a woman I bet, and then you have the Kommissariat and their guards units, who’ll probably just laugh at you if you try and intimidate them.”

“I’m supposing you’re listing this off of local examples?” you asked. When Anya said yes, you considered your other options. “So what if, instead of fighting, we just provided the villages with necessities? I don’t know, do they need food or whatever?”

“Nah.” Anya said, “They’re doing alright at actually living. Besides, anything you gave that the other guys wanted, it’d be taken away anyways.”

“What if we gave them things like guns and explosives?”

“I can’t see that going wrong.” Anya’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “No way those things could end up being used against you instead. That’s not even going into what would happen if you were found out.”

“Fair point,” you admitted, “But if we controlled it well enough. Maybe by getting into contact with insurgent groups besides the Ashes? The villages would know them, right?”

“They would, but,” Anya shifted her position on your back to cross her legs and put all of her weight on you. “It’d be better for me to get the Ashes to do that. I can keep them safe. If you try to act like a spider with a hundred webs eventually somebody’s gonna come with a broom to sweep one up and you won’t be able to do anything about it. You’re a coordinator, not a Kommandant. I can tell you that you don’t got the metaphorical girth to swing hard enough to bust down a building, so don’t try it.”
>>
“I have no intention of attempting demolition with my manhood,” you stated obviously, “But I suppose I’ll have to narrow down my list, as you’ve said. Give me my options, which you know of?”

Anya ran you down a list of three villages nearby, each with a different oppressive overlord. It was as she mentioned; one was pushed around by a Penal Company, the one that neighbored you on the line, even. The other two lingered north, further away from the border. There, two miniature feudal states existed managed by competing Kommissars. One was a senior political officer assigned to the 13th Mechanized Guards Infantry Battalion- the Brass Gauntlets. As a guards unit, the battalion had access to very good equipment, including armored assault transports that looked like a bus had had an affair with a pile of scrap iron. Anya made note that they had plenty of Munitions Casters- a weapon that you were sure Anya crushed on more than on any human. Finally, there was the Sosaldtian mercenaries under the Kommissar who was a political rival of his fellow in the Brass Gauntlets; his faction had paid for these mercenaries out of their pockets, apparently, but maintained them further by allowing them to exact tribute from occupied territories. Notable about the local group here was their possession of a tank- the build wasn’t known, though Anya implied that it certainly wasn’t a puny sort. It certainly was clear that the tank was very much part of their intimidation tactics, as it was an assault variant that spewed hot death from a set of flamethrowers mounted upon it.

>Go after the Penal Battalion’s mock subject; you were used to dealing with their brand of mischief, and nobody would mind if you slapped them about.
>See what you could do about the Guards unit; they were a tough target, but if you could do something about them, you could do something about anybody.
>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
>Other actions/questions/plans?
>>
>>3471869
>>See what you could do about the Guards unit; they were a tough target, but if you could do something about them, you could do something about anybody.
>>
>>3471869
>>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
>>
>>3471869
>>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
>>
>>3471869
>>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
Doubt the higher ups will care ask much if a bunch of mercs get roughed up rather than their own pet Guard units.
>>
>>3471869
>>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
I'd like to get our hands on some more mechanized units but that tank would be cool as hell to capture.
>>
>>3471869
>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?

As much as I want to steal that tank or Guard Unit APC our unit is not built for skulduggery. We are good at tonks and getting our shit kicked around when not in a tonk.

Although watch that the mercs are part of the Iron Hogs.
>>
>>3471869
>Handle the Sosaldtian Mercenaries. They weren’t comrades on the line, or even members of the army. Surely you could take them on?
>>
>>3471930
I'd say the more obvious issue is that if the Kommissariat decides to investigate at all having the missing equipment mysteriously appear in our sector basically is a giant sign saying 'WE DID IT'.
>>
I return.

>>3471930
>Although watch that the mercs are part of the Iron Hogs.
You can actually be quite certain that they aren't. Mercenaries hired by Netilland tend to be from the North of the region; the Iron Hogs make their home in the central-western territories.

As for votes,

>>3471871
Take on the big cheeses

>>3471891
>>3471893
>>3471904
>>3471905
>>3471930
>>3471944
Handle the mercenaries.

Get out of Sosaldt. Go right back to dealing with its people. Just can't get away, huh?

Writing.
>>
“I’m thinking we take on those mercenaries,” you said, “Sosaldtian brutes. Plenty familiar with them.”

“And getting beaten by them.”

“You hardly count.”

“I was talking about Nash,” Anya said, “If I turned you over and shook you I bet you’d still be coughing up piano keys, is what I heard.”

That gave you some pause for thought. Nash the Night Beast, a “Lord of the North,” had once had an altercation with you in a bar. The resulting combat had not been a high point in your history. “Would he be around here? I know most of the mercenaries here are from the north of Sosaldt.”

“Nah.” Anya dismissed that concern, “He’s too important to be bumbling around here. Anybody who’s here is either low on the chain or some irrelevant little band that wandered over for the easy work. Probably the latter. From what I know of the Kommissariat they don’t like people answering to anybody other than them, if they’re too strong. A Lord of the North’s definitely in that category.”

“So how big would an irrelevant little band be?” you asked.

“Maybe two or three dozen.” Anya said, “There’d be less of them in one place but more of them spread out if they were a contracted group. If they’re independent they have to bring all their management, their friends, the lot. It’s not like Schweinmann and Accounting went out on every job, after all. If they have a tank, though, you’d best bring your own, if you want to whack them personally, instead of talking it out or posturing.”

“Would it be possible to talk it out?”

Anya shrugged. “Nobody wants to get blown apart by a tank. But if you don’t take them out and you’re not convincing enough, you’re just wasting breath anyways. What are you going to do, rat them out to the Kommissariat that employs them?”

“I suppose we’ll see when we go out there. Speaking of which, can I get up now?” You asked behind you.

“You could always get up.” Anya pointed out. “I just figured you weren’t moving because you liked lying around in the grass.”

She still didn’t get up, and you had to roll over and scramble to your feet to finally be freed. To be honest, in addition to them being a more acceptable target, you wanted to take the mercenaries’ tank- though whether it would be practical to keep it with you or not would be a problem. Could the Kommissar be too much a problem if you exercised the law against a mere band of paid thugs? You’d have to see.

-----
>>
Lieutenant Wielzci was the commander of 1st Company’s 4th platoon; the part of the formation that was made up of Ellowians, integrated into the occupying forces by the Assimilation Program. Lieutenant Wielzci and you shared some form of kinship, really- not that you knew him well, but you knew what his history was. He had been a tank commander. Yet, here he was in charge of a light infantry platoon. It was only to be expected, due to his status as an ally only warily trusted by those he served. An Ellowian “volunteer” couldn’t be allowed near equipment they could do serious damage with, so the former armor officer now lacked his steel mounts.

As convenient as it would have been for him to have been local to this area, he had actually been from the capital region; where High Protector Wladysaw XI now reigned. Ellowians were supposed to refer to him as King, but you’d heard plenty in fourth platoon didn’t refer to him by his chosen title or the title Netilland had bestowed upon him; rather, corruptions of such often combined with a derogatory modifier. “King of Leeches” or “High Weasel” and the like.

Wielzci couldn’t have been much older than you, if he was at all, but he had apparently been married and with child- as Anya had said, both were rumored to have fled the country. He was ever clean shaven, though he shirked grooming standards and had his ink black hair grown out and tied into a ponytail behind him. It was apparently a style he had favored in his younger days, but no one dared mock him for it; for as soft as his features were, he was stern of voice and hard edged as broken glass. When he spoke, his subordinates listened.

“Lieutenant,” you said as you approached him in his camp. He had stood ready to meet you, as a runner had been dispatched beforehand.

Wielzci saluted stiffly. “Coordinator.”

“I had the thought to take you and your men out on a mission today, of an unusual sort. First through third platoons have all had some time out. Your turn has come, and I think the ground is of the sort you and your people are more suited to.”
>>
Wielzci was clearly intrigued by your comment of the mission being unusual but he kept a stiff upper lip. “And?”

The lieutenant was staring into you with frigid eyes- you felt it necessary that you lay the whole situation out. “I have heard of the rural population of these lands having come under distress. As your countrymen, I was thinking you and your men would know the climate better, and that they would trust you to come to their aid.”

“We can only come to their aid with the command of and under the watchful eye of our betters,” Wielzci said spitefully, “But I guess you’re right. We would be a more welcome sight.”

>Decide what you’ll take on the coming mission, out of 4th Platoon. You are expecting to face from two to three dozen potential hostiles, who have the support of a single piece of armor of unknown make but thought to be of a close assault type.
-----
>Take the whole platoon out, and one of the tanks; you expected to have to look like you would win a fight handily- perhaps even have to execute that fight.
>Take a squad with a tank; you wouldn’t need much, you just wanted to talk this out.
>There was precious little fuel left. Take the platoon out, but not any vehicles.
>Other?
Also, if you're bringing a tank, make sure to state which one.
>>
>>3472373
>>Take the whole platoon out, and one of the tanks; you expected to have to look like you would win a fight handily- perhaps even have to execute that fight.
Bring the X-51; anti-armour capability is more important in this case IMO.
>>
>>3472373
>Take the whole platoon out, and one of the tanks; you expected to have to look like you would win a fight handily- perhaps even have to execute that fight.
x-51 because of the anti armor capabilities
>>
>>3472373
Supporting this >>3472403
>>
>>3472373
>>Take the whole platoon out, and one of the tanks; you expected to have to look like you would win a fight handily- perhaps even have to execute that fight.
>>3472403
Supporting
>>
>>3472403
>>3472418
>>3472419
>>3472420
X-51 and the whole of 4th Platoon- make like you're ready to wipe them out.

Writing.
>>
Hey tanq so what's Ellowie's, Netilland and Twaryi's tank doctrine. Do they employ the same battle line concept or what? Am I wrong to assume the Reich is the first to start using armor is pseudo blitzkrieg tactics?
>>
>>3472610
Also supporting this question. We've seen the Twayrian tanks from Sosaldt but kinda curious to know what the Ellowians and Netillians have. If they're still fielding those tankettes our guys were using in the Republic even the T-8s will just massacre them.
>>
>>3472610
> what's Ellowie's, Netilland and Twaryi's tank doctrine. Do they employ the same battle line concept or what?
That's a good question. As far as Ellowie goes...well, their armor tactics are a bit defunct as their army is no longer an operational force (or so Netilland insists) but their tactics were focused on the defensive side of things, so you had two general breeds of tanks. Heavily built, relatively slow tanks with thick armor, and quick tank destroyers. The latter were a newer development in response to heavier tanks being built; the Iron Hogs in Sosaldt had a pair of such tanks, equipped with powerful 75mm cannons that can skewer just about any tank in setting from further away than they can engage. However, the Ellowians put more faith in layered defenses, artillery, and their near legendary air force (which is also supposedly defunt) than armored offensive tactics, so the armor units were always lesser in number than most.

Netilland' armor doctrine is scattershot and confused. Most of the time they've used a copy of Strossvald's battle line concept where tanks supported the line with limited attacks in spearhead sectors and fast reinforcements to endangered ones. However, as the army reforms in present, they're switching gears to having independently operating armor and mechanized units similar to what one would call Reich doctrine; but they're actually based off of Naukland theory. More on that to follow,

The Twaryians are a bit an enigma. There wasn't a history of them using Reich tactics; however, recently, as in, as of their war with Ellowie, they have been using doctrine straight out of the Reich playbook. Caelussian military doctrine in general is rather fuzzy because of their isolation from the continent until recently, but it's clear that the recent change in doctrine is definitely to a Reich one and not to a Caelussian model, which one might find odd considering that the Caelussians are otherwise so dominant in Twaryian affairs.

>Am I wrong to assume the Reich is the first to start using armor is pseudo blitzkrieg tactics?

Yes and no. Technically, the Emreans invented it in the final days of the Emrean Liberation War, and it was developed upon since then. The Reich picked up on it soon after, and Naukland learned from Emrean advisors. Sosalia has had to more learn it through osmosis.
>>
>>3472634
>We've seen the Twayrian tanks from Sosaldt but kinda curious to know what the Ellowians and Netillians have. If they're still fielding those tankettes our guys were using in the Republic even the T-8s will just massacre them.

The Ellowian arsenal was rather formidable to much of the Netillian armor force; their relative small numbers meant that they weren't as deadly as they could have been to the offensive, however. There were two basic models- the El.P-3, the El.P-5, and the El.P-7. The 3 was a slow, well armored tank that one might describe as "medium"- its gun was a mere 40mm, but its armor was resistant to most guns of its own caliber, and those similar. You've seen the P-5; that was the tank destroyer the Iron Hogs had in Sosaldt, and there weren't too many of them. The P-7 was an emergency design of sorts; as part of an attempt at a rapid buildup of equipment prior to Ellowie's final war. It was made to be cheap and plentiful, and indeed a lot were made, but they were inferior to the P-3 in every aspect save for speed, as they were quite a bit quicker.

The Netillians have a mess of things. They have a lot of the old tankettes; they also have a smattering of newer tanks. They have m/28s, for example, as well, and m/28s with new model turrets that are larger, more spacious, and that carry 37mm guns. There's also self propelled guns of several sorts made for attacking the fortifications of their Ellowian enemies. Their armory is broad enough that there's been pressure to excise the older stuff from the inventory, but with the expansion of the army, that hasn't been an option.

I haven't designed a lot of Netilland's unique inventory that hasn't already been seen; I'll have better and more info when it becomes more relevant.
>>
>>3472728
Nice. From the description the EI.P3 sounds a lot like a Matilda II. Also totally unrelated to our current setting but what tanks are the other major nations (Reich,Naukland,Emre) fielding now in comparison to what's out there in Sosalia?
>>
Apologies for the delay, whenever I sit down to think while being stuck on a part of an update lately it seems I've had a tendency to fall over and die for a few hours. It's really not good. In the meantime, though.

>>3472739
>Also totally unrelated to our current setting but what tanks are the other major nations (Reich,Naukland,Emre) fielding now in comparison to what's out there in Sosalia?

This is actually a bit more relevant a question than one might think at first, because Strossvald's primary tank inventory actually consists entirely of Naukland designs. The m/28 and m/32 are both Naukland designs; Naukland actually doesn't use the m/32 much at all, since it was rejected for use as a standard tank by its country of origin in preference of using the version of the m/28 with the new model turret. This is due to its very defensible geography; the same mountains that stopped the conquests of Kaiser Alexander still defend it very well. Naukland is aligned with Emre on the continental stage, and thusly it actually considers Caelus its greatest threat. Any money for personal defense tends to be preferably given to its navy, thusly.

The Reich fields particularly nasty new mediums and land-battleships, called the KPZ-30 and KPZ-29 respectively, though the majority type is an old type that's been upgraded far beyond its original state, which is the KPZ-24, on its E variant. Strossvald actually still uses the A variant, as a training and reserve vehicle.
KPZ-24s showed up in Luftpanzer at a couple points.

Emre has a rich history of armored warfare and tank design as newly born rival to the Reich. Tragically, it is so far away that I haven't done up anything for it besides a few text blurbs, since they don't really export to Sosalia.

Sort of a summary of things is that beyond Sosalia tank technology tends to be a bit more advanced, and the newest designs more capable. Naukland in particular has quite a profitable market in Sosalia- the m/28 shows up in many of the northern Sosalian territories.
>>
“We’ll be taking your whole unit out,” you told Wielzci, “Assemble your squad leaders so I can tell them what’s going on. As a summary for you, we’re going and seeing if we can free a village from being picked clean by a Kommissar’s Sosaldtian mercenary thugs. There’s enough of them that, if it comes down to a shooting fight, we’ll want a whole platoon. They’ve got a tank too, so we’re bringing our own.”

There was a nostalgic air about the slight frown Wielzci gave, as though he was used to occupying a completely different position than the one he was about to have. Though, he nodded, and left to gather his NCOs.

With this choice, though, you would only have drops of fuel left for any panzer operations; in other words, not nearly enough to take them out and use them. Hopefully, there would be no more need for them until the week’s end, when the fuel ration arrived. After all, if any assignments came down from on high, you were expected to carry them out, tanks or no tanks. As much as basic training prepared for it, you weren’t quite prepared to get into an actual foot fight. You and Lieutenant Wielzci would suddenly have uncomfortably much in common.

Once again, you took out the X-51; it was getting a lot of work in, you noted to yourself; hopefully the Valsteners had built it to take the abuse you were putting on it. However, it was probably the best tank you had for anti-armor purposes- it had a powerful five centimeter cannon that could take on just about anything you expected to find on the field (save for a T-15) and the forward placement of its engine was at least some assurance of additional protection from a direct hit; its armor was quite deeply sloped too, in spite of being a fair bit thinner than the m/32B you were used to. Data from the testing of the similar captured models had pointed to the X series generally being able to resist fire from up to and including 23mm cannon fire, with the X-21 being able to resist 28mm. Suffice it to say, you were much more vulnerable, but that just made one of the most important rules of tank combat apply more. Said rule being; always fire first.

One could say that such was true of any gunfight, but a tank’s armor had an intoxicating effect on those who didn’t know better. A presumption of invincibility; something that you had been told you yourself had. Well…you didn’t feel quite as invincible as you once did anymore.

As you were getting ready to get in the tank, you saw the blueish flame of Emma peeking from within the tank- she had requested to stay there…for some reason. You found out why soon enough.
>>
“No more waiting!” she declared, “You forgot, you forgot, you forgot! I’ve been stood up for a whole day and I’m not having it anymore! If you’re going anywhere, it’s with your tits out!”

You were immediately resigned to this.

“Why the hell are you taking your shirt off?” Hans asked about your abrupt action, “…Oh. It’s the ghost runt's deal, huh?”

“We’re going to see a bunch of Sosaldtian mercenaries,” you recounted to him, and the rest of the crew, “They’ll hardly be impressed by proper dress code anyways.”

“I don’t see why we’re included,” Stein grumbled, “I didn’t volunteer to be anybody’s eye candy, let alone a ghost’s.”

“I have the ability to haunt you for the rest of your life. Obey, mortal. Heh heh heh.” Emma snickered at her own joke. Then, she vanished.

“Where’d she-“you started, but you heard Jorgen yelp from behind you.

“Agh!” he started trying to brush Emma off of where she had glued herself to him, but his hand phased through her.

“Don’t struggle!” she hissed, “You’re big and burly, you’re messing up the appeal! God, I could just bury myself in this chest hair and die in it.”

“Kohmmandehrrr,” Jorgen protested, “Ehdon’t lehkthes! Geddedweh!”He swatted at Emma futilely, before stopping, stunned for a moment, and closing his hand around her and managing to finally “throw” her away. “Shehdrenkmeh!” he accused.

“Did you drink him?” you asked Emma.

“Hee. No. I might have licked him.” Emma seemed extremely satisfied with herself. “What’re all those looks you’re giving me? Come on, nobody would have complained if I looked like I should look like! I was already cute, I’d be even cuter! I’m not a kid, I’m just well preserved from floating in spirits for years!”

“Commander,” Stein said warily, “I don’t want any of my soul drunken by this creepy ghost.”

>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
>Tell him and everybody else to suck it up. She’s just a silly ghost, she can’t hurt anybody. They should be thankful a female finds them attractive after all this time away.
>Offer a way out; anybody who couldn’t handle it could trade places with the spiritually deaf Anya.
>Make a sacrificial lamb to take all of the “abuse” (Who? Note that Emma might not accept if your choice is not to her tastes)
>Other?
>>
>>3473214
>>Tell him and everybody else to suck it up. She’s just a silly ghost, she can’t hurt anybody. They should be thankful a female finds them attractive after all this time away.
>>
>>3473214
>>Make a sacrificial lamb to take all of the “abuse” (Who? Note that Emma might not accept if your choice is not to her tastes)
Myself
>>
>>3473214
>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
>>
>>3473214
>>Offer a way out; anybody who couldn’t handle it could trade places with the spiritually deaf Anya.

Gonna hit that big red button.
>>
>>3473214
>Tell him and everybody else to suck it up. She’s just a silly ghost, she can’t hurt anybody. They should be thankful a female finds them attractive after all this time away.
>>
>>3473214
>>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
>>
>>3473214
>>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
You said eye candy you little brat.
>>
>>3473214
>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
>>
>>3473214
>>You had to agree. Tell Emma to stop acting so...whatever that was. She could look, no touching, and especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.
>>
>>3473265
Alternatively we CAN do this for her if she goes back to scouting for us. Maybe not here in spooky for us but in the future.

If we're risking our lives out here for our pay she's gotta earn her keep if she wants that good stuff.
>>
>>3473214
>Tell him and everybody else to suck it up. She’s just a silly ghost, she can’t hurt anybody. They should be thankful a female finds them attractive after all this time away.
>>
>>3473214
>Tell him and everybody else to suck it up. She’s just a silly ghost, she can’t hurt anybody. They should be thankful a female finds them attractive after all this time away.
>>
>>3473106
So given the IO was talking about upgrading the tank force are we ever going to see a totally original Strossvald tank design any time soon?
>>
>>3473230
>>3473293
>>3473701
>>3473708
Suck it up, it's just a little wisp.

>>3473239
...martyrdom! Why do I get the feeling that it's not actually such?

>>3473251
>>3473401
>>3473458
>>3473506
>>3473559
Ew, creepy ghost, no touching the performers or you get bounced.

>>3473265
>>3473688
Tag in another broad. Alternatively...trade for further favors in the future? I guess?

Seems like it's time to tell this ghost off. She's making the men uncomfortable. How does a ghost even lick somebody anyways?

Writing.

>>3473794
What they were likely more referring to was upgrading the old stock of m/28s to current new model turret standard and increasing the volume of m/32s. The m/32 is a rather modern piece of equipment after all, in spite of its teething troubles. It's a lot cheaper overall than retooling everything for unproven designs in turbulent times such as these.
>>
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>>3473947
>>
Much of you wanted to tell the crew that there was little to worry about- Emma wouldn’t be hurting anybody, she was just a little girl, but at the same time…this was more than a bit much.

“Emma,” you hissed to what most would perceive as air, “Calm down. Stop acting like…whatever this is. Only looking, no touching, especially no licking. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“No fun,” Emma pouted, “I haven’t eaten yet, you know. You’re dangling bacon in front of me and saying not to snap for it! Well, really,” she floated up beside you and hummed, “Some of you are more like lean ribs instead. Not really my preference. No wonder your girlfriend’s so skinny, she’s barely getting anything to munch on.” She seemed to hold her flames in more, and was quieter when she said, “…I think this’d be more fun for everybody if you got into it. You mess around with that Anya girl, you know things don’t have to be so serious all the time…” She floated about by Hans, who had discarded his torso’s clothing to fit in with the rest, “This guy can’t see me, right? Anyways, where’re you getting off telling me what to do? You’d better believe you’re paying extra for putting it off so long!” Hans yelped as Emma stuck herself to his chest, and presumably chewed off a chunk of his presence.

Emma did not cease terrorizing you and your crew as you hastily set off- the Ellowians must have thought you madmen for how you scrambled about half naked. Emma was right, though; the can you used to catch her with and stuff her inside was simply too small to accomplish the job anymore, and she spent half the trip flitting about nibbling at the crew, to the great distress of Stein and Jorgen, the latter of whom you didn’t presume to be overly superstitious like your gunner but reacted to the ghost like an elephant in a tale to a mouse. It was funny in its own way to see a member of a ferocious warrior race like the Yaegir jumping and barking at a little wisp…though you were concerned that it might hurt his efficiency.

Eventually, you noticed that the ghost wasn’t zipping about the tank anymore; something you questioned your crew about on the intercom.

“Eyyvegodddher.” Malachi said to you.

“You’ve got her?” you asked, “The hell do you mean, you got her?” The crew member adjacent to Malachi was Hans; whose perception of Emma was still fuzzy. He wouldn’t be able to say what was happening, not really.

“Jaas behnnes.” Malachi reassured you.

Well, as long as she wasn’t causing any more trouble; you really didn’t need your gunner and loader of all people jumping like fleas every time Emma poked at them, often accompanied with a tinny little cackle.
>>
Rolled 1 (1d3)

It was just in time, too, as signs on the road pointed to your destination having come close; the village of Ottisskarb, population last marked as seventy. It had a bit of history as a silver strike, way back, but that had been some time ago and the find had been tiny, and dusty, abandoned buildings made up a section of the village long abandoned, while most of the inhabitants lived in the other half, though it looked identical to the other side from a distance.

You didn't have to get close to see what was there, though.

>Rolling a d3 to see who's around right now- 1 is a distinctive lack of what you were looking for, 2 is a bit of such, 3 is a lot of it.
>>
“Doesn’t seem to be anybody we’re looking for around,” you commented to Lieutenant Wielzci as you stopped the march for a minute to organize the platoon.

“Perhaps you should dress yourself again,” Wielzci said back, “If there is nobody around to try and impress.”

“Oh.” You said, “Hey,” you called down into the tank, “Where’s my shirt and jacket? It’s starting to get really cold up here.” How did Anya stand this, you thought as your exposed skin was nipped at by even a gentle breeze.

“Cannsehm fend,” Jorgen buzzed at you.

“Yeah, can’t find it, commander.” Stein agreed. Something about his tone made you think he was lying.

“Well,” you sniffed, “Try and get it before we reach the village, or I’ll catch a cold.”

-----

By nefarious means, you could bet on, the upper portion of your uniform remained unfound when you reached the village and it was time to disembark. At the very least, you were fit enough to avoid too much mockery when you got out, the only one among your crew that lacked uniform pieces, even though you had your scarf and hat and goggles.

“We’re rather far from the beach, Coordinator.” Some smartass sergeant called out. You elected to ignore him, in favor of waiting for Wielzci to return from meeting with the seniors of the village.

“They won’t be around for a few hours, they said,” Wielzci told you when he came back. “That gives us a few options. Maybe we can talk it out like gentlemen- we have enough guns here to force a polite audience, at least. If not, then we can certainly get the drop on this bunch when they come back, though ambushing even bunch of mercenaries, if they’re under the payroll of a Kommissar, sounds pretty damn silly to me. It’d be the best way to conserve lives, though.” Wielzci gave a spiteful scoff, “Not that I bet we’re worth much, huh.”

>I don’t command cannon fodder. Nuts to what the Kommissariat thinks, we’re springing an ambush next these clowns come to collect their unlawful toll.
>You’re right, we don’t want any repercussions. We’ll come straight out and tell them to get lose or we start shooting.
>Maybe it’s best we did this far from the village. Let’s ask where we can find where this bunch are making their base of operations, since it’s certainly not here.
>Other?
>>
>>3474456
>>Maybe it’s best we did this far from the village. Let’s ask where we can find where this bunch are making their base of operations, since it’s certainly not here.
>>
>>3474456
>>Maybe it’s best we did this far from the village. Let’s ask where we can find where this bunch are making their base of operations, since it’s certainly not here.
>>
>>3474456
>>Maybe it’s best we did this far from the village. Let’s ask where we can find where this bunch are making their base of operations, since it’s certainly not here.
I am interested in nicking their tank or something in a scuffle though
>>
By the way I'm having a game for the next few hours, so expect a fair bit of delay.

...Not like my initial writing phase today, that is. That shouldn't happen again, and by shouldn't I mean it's guaranteed to continue happening just to spite my intents. I'll announce when I'm through and writing of course.
>>
>>3474456
>Maybe it’s best we did this far from the village. Let’s ask where we can find where this bunch are making their base of operations, since it’s certainly not here.
>>
>>3474456
>>I don’t command cannon fodder. Nuts to what the Kommissariat thinks, we’re springing an ambush next these clowns come to collect their unlawful toll.
>>
>>3474532
Thanks. Take your time.
>>
>>3475072
Hoo ee now did I. Christ.

>>3474459
>>3474463
>>3474477
>>3475013
Crash their party

>>3475071
Plan a surprise party

Writing.
>>
“I’m thinking it’s best we kept any fighting away from the village,” you erred on the side of caution, regarding the people you were intending to help, “Let’s ask where this bunch is making their base of operations, since they’re certainly not here. We can go hit them right where we won’t miss any.”

“Bold, to attack them in their own grounds, where you can hardly claim to be acting in anybody’s defense,” Wielzci pointed out coldly, “And to attack them where they may be fortified.”

“An attack where they would be unprepared for one,” you countered.

“Mercenaries and brutes these people’s oppressors might be, have you forgot whose pay they take?” Wielzci insisted, “Again, you might be overly bold to assume you can simply attack a Kommissar’s men, let alone potentially attacking the Kommissar himself. Man of Netilland you may not be, but making an enemy of its government while surrounded by its armies seems unwise. Or rather, moronic.”

“I would have you trust me on this,” you said with more than a bit of annoyance, “The only way we can rid this village of its troubles is to strike with such force that none dare threaten it again, let alone those who are exploiting it now. I am hardly the equivalent of some whelp barely weaned from mother’s milk. If there is a complication, I will deal with it.”

“My trust in you is tentative, Coordinator,” Wielzci warned, “My men trust me to weigh in their favor when considering an operation’s execution. I only ask that my trust in your judgment will have your guarantee that it is not misplaced.”

You frowned at Wielzci. “…Of course it isn’t. Now, shall we get directions to these goons’ lair? The sooner we knock at their door, be it to arrest them, assault, or parley, the better.”

-----
>>
Netillian plains flashed by, bleached with freshly fallen snow, the cold outside only barely felt near the window of the train car which was otherwise comfortably warm. Hilda had received a small cabin for this leg of the journey; going out of Occupied Ellowie had required a much more cramped train, and being around strangers made said strangers nervous…around Hilda. Especially as she was recently. She had to keep her face covered around them, and that had its own ill tidings to most. Here in private though, she could take her kerchief off, breathe, not feel her own breathe blowing back at her from the cloth.

Hilda had never been to Netilland, though she knew of her country’s wars with it. She hadn’t thought that the fields of white that stretched into the hills could be so…beautiful. Calming. Like she thought the sea might be. The landscape was doing its best to draw her attention away from its worries, and in its stark simplicity, it was easier to clear her mind.

…She wanted to be with Richter. Maybe he was hopeless in a few ways, and he didn’t seem to know what he was doing, or be able to understand what Hilda wanted, but he did consider her something more than some lurching creature, or a spooky, ugly shootist. She knew she couldn’t have him, didn’t deserve him, or anybody, but she was who she was. Her brother’s sister- greedy, and having to hold herself back from just taking what she wanted with the power she had. Hilda didn’t want to hurt anybody…well, now she was a murderer. She had had to, unhappily, redefine her principles, to not hurting those who were important to her, or whom she had obligations to. Then even further to try not to hurt them. How long until she strayed even further from her ideals?

It had been too much. It was understandable, wasn’t it? She hurt all over, she was sick, she carried a child from a person she wanted as badly as she could to forget. It would have driven her mad if she didn’t do something. It was so little, too. Richter would sometimes drift off to sleep, a sort he could not be stirred from. Hilda had first noticed him randomly nodding off to one of these during a lesson in literacy, and had learned of how he was utterly lost in dreams in such a slumber, usually until morning.

…So…she had…lain beside him. She didn’t touch him, no matter how good it would have felt to throw her arms around him and pull him close. She just…lay down next to him. It made all the hurt go away, all the stress and uncertainty fly away.
>>
Hilda had done this whenever she could. There was nothing wrong with it...was there?

Emma had told her that she should demand something of Richter. That she deserved it; convinced Hilda that, even if she didn’t, then it wouldn’t hurt to ask. She’d put it off, until it couldn’t be delayed any more; because Richter was sending her away. It could have been because she was ill and unhealthy...or because he had found out what she was doing. Hilda hoped dearly, for some reason, even though there was nothing wrong with it (right?) that it had been the former.

With their parting, though, Hilda had asked for something she wanted, from the bottom of her heart, more than any money or gift…and it was something she couldn’t have.

…She supposed she didn’t disagree, much as it hurt to think such.

The snow. She could have this view of the snow, at least. And…her eyes glanced down to her stomach.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, putting her hand over her body, “I do have you, but…you should have a better mother than me…”

-----

“That’s it, over there.” Wielzci pointed out the mercenary encampment to you, as the platoon and your tank . It near mirrored your own- a series of large, canvas tents, with a hastily erected shed to shelter vehicles from the elements. You couldn’t quite see what was there; though you could probably shoot through the tents at what was underneath. A decent shot at destroying the biggest threat before it could be levelled at your troops…though part of you really wanted to have that tank fall into your possession. How would you explain it falling into your possession?...You’d think of that if you actually did take it.

The mercenaries were clearly not used to waking early; besides an outer network of watches, the contingent appeared to not be battle ready, though their encampment was (much like your own) ringed with stacked sandbags, watch posts, and foxholes, presumably in case of a sudden insurgent raid.

>You were here to wipe them out; capturing anybody would only present problems. Line up the platoon and unleash hell. (You’d better have a good excuse or alibi lined up should this be investigated)
>March up, surround the encampment, then inform the mercenaries that they are under arrest. They are breaking the law of the land with their actions, after all; even if they are being purposefully ignored or exempted.
>You didn't know enough about the place; for example, Wielzci's worry that a Kommissar might be here, visiting, inspecting. You at least ought to take a visit yourself and see- maybe do a few other things in their camp, too, if you were admitted.
>Maybe it was short sighted to attack them here. Wait for them at the village; they’d be coming there in a bit anyways.
>Other plan/s?
>>
>>3476180
>>You didn't know enough about the place; for example, Wielzci's worry that a Kommissar might be here, visiting, inspecting. You at least ought to take a visit yourself and see- maybe do a few other things in their camp, too, if you were admitted.
>>
>>3476180
>>You didn't know enough about the place; for example, Wielzci's worry that a Kommissar might be here, visiting, inspecting. You at least ought to take a visit yourself and see- maybe do a few other things in their camp, too, if you were admitted.
See if we can't scout them out first.
>>
>>3476180
>You didn't know enough about the place; for example, Wielzci's worry that a Kommissar might be here, visiting, inspecting. You at least ought to take a visit yourself and see- maybe do a few other things in their camp, too, if you were admitted.

>Other plan/s?
Maybe if they ghost wants to see some man tiddies she should get her spectral ass and scout out that place with us. Surely they've cleared any spooky trees away?

If they are too well defended then ambushing them would be better because at least then we could play the naive fool who thought the raids were from rebels or bandits until we found out too late.
>>
>>3476180
>>March up, surround the encampment, then inform the mercenaries that they are under arrest. They are breaking the law of the land with their actions, after all; even if they are being purposefully ignored or exempted.
>>
>>3476235
>Surely they've cleared any spooky trees away?

Kalamarz firs are common in Ellowie; but you're not in a forest of them, at least. Emma can avoid the random stray tree, if you want to send her out.
>>
>>3476180
Send Emma out to scout first before we do anything hasty. I also think it would be a good idea to surprise attack the fortification if the kommisar isn't there and put all the mercs under arrest and confiscate their weapons. Of course, the tank might be lost on our possession somehow who knows.
>>
Alrighty

>>3476191
Investigation!
>>3476200
>>3476235
>>3476338
Make the fat ghost do exercise and look for you. (This'll be broken up, since obviously new information will affect any choice.)

>>3476242
Excuse us sirs but you have to come down to the station.

Writing.
>>
“Have your men wait,” you told Wielzci, “I’m going to try and clear up a few things back and above.” You made a show of vanishing back in your tank, though rather than speaking on any radio, you spoke on the intercom. “Which one of you’s got Emma?” Malachi burbled a response. “Send her up, I have work for her.”

“Sheesleppeng.”

“She’s sleeping? What do you mean? She doesn’t sleep,” you contested. “Not outside anything, at least.” It wasn’t an entirely certain affair. Emma described something that could be tentatively called sleep when shut inside a can or a box, but it never occurred when she was out and about from any recollection you had. “Actually, let me see.” You made the awkward, stumbling, half crouching and crawling journey from the turret, around Stein, and to the compartment Hans and Malachi shared, doing your best not to bang any exposed flesh against a myriad of pointed protrusions of junk along the way; and failing. Malachi rose slightly to turn and face you in the space between his and Hans’s seats; he cradled Emma in the crook of his arm, where she smoldered in rather more subdued a state than normal.

Malachi muttered something that must have been in his native language for how nonsensical yet earnestly spoken it was; you guessed that it must have meant Rise and Shine or the like, as he stroked the air above Emma’s fire, and she seemed to brighten up again and become recognizably incandescent.

“What?” she chirped, “What is it? I was comfy.”

“You need to earn your keep.” You told her. “I need you to look around this camp up ahead and see if somebody’s there. You’re looking for somebody dressed in dark green, big black poofy pants, black shiny boots, gold braiding all over their uniform, and an oak leaf and hammer emblem around their neck. That’s what a Kommissar looks like.”

“Why do you want to find one of those?” Emma asked, “Do you want me to eat him or something?”

“Do I want you to…no. I want to see if one’s in there so we don’t accidentally kill him. I want you to look around for anything else, too, things like the number of people, anything particularly interesting, whatever we might want to know if we get into a fight.”

“Are there any of the scary trees outside?”

“Kalamarz are all over Ellowie. Of course there is, but there’s only a couple and they’re a bit far away from where we are.”

“Hmmm.” Emma made an apprehensive grunt, “…Show me.”
>>
Rolled 5 (1d5)

You beckoned her back up through the turret, and you felt her tingling flicker crawl up with you as you poked out the cupola. Out here, you had to cover for the rest of the world, which meant no talking to ghosts. A simple flick of the finger was gesture enough to point Emma to where you wanted her to look.

“Alright,” Emma said, floating up and out, “…I’ll be back, then.” As she flitted off, you thought about how she didn’t have any smart words to say about Malachi’s accent, or his physique; had she gone to him out of preference for his physique, or out of his nature? Maybe you’d ask later.
For now, though, as Emma went off, and you looked at Lieutenant Wielzci, you noticed his eyes following the sprite towards the camp, before looking curiously back at you. How much can you see, you wondered, Do you suspect anything? Encountering a soulbinder had made you yet warier of sending Emma out, but you doubted one would be among this bunch- and Emma had met a few Soulbinders. If she saw their distinctive aura, then she would surely flee, and it wouldn’t be a long run back to the safety of the tank. Everything would be fine- so long as this mess of spirits and wizards didn’t grow beyond where it was right now.

-----
>1: He’s there, 2: Something Else is there, 3: Both of those, 4-5: Nada
>>
Emma floated back about ten minutes later.

“I didn’t see anybody like that Kommissar guy you talked about,” Emma said flatly, “Sort of boring there, really. Everybody seems pretty groggy, breakfast is on. Good enough looking stuff, I guess. Might be about twenty six people, I might have counted a few of them twice, not counting about six people who didn’t look very fight-y. I guess they’re just there to help around the place, do cooking and stuff.”

“Did you look at the tank?” you asked.

“Yeah. It was like…sort of like some brick thing with a little hat on top, in how it looked. Three short little pipe things, two on the sides of the front and one in the top thing, all black around the ends like they were burned. The weirdest thing was…you know how your tank has this thing to see out of, and other tanks have like a slit in the armor? Their thing had some metal plate over where I think the driver’s supposed to see out of. It was pretty weird.”

Emma’s description was rather vague. “How big is it?” you asked.

“About the size of your tank.”

Bricklike and about the size of your tank; the X series were actually not particularly small, in spite of their light armor; they were only somewhat smaller than an m/32. That and the other descriptors placed the likely classification of this mystery vehicle as some variant of m/24; a rather old design, but one that had received plenty of reworks over the years and, in the Netillian army and places where their equipment trickled out like in Sosaldt, a common platform for auxiliary purposes like engineering assault vehicles. Or at least, such was your best guess. Most importantly, from the sound of it, the enemy tank had no anti-tank weaponry on it. That gave you a substantial edge.

>Ask Emma any more questions about what she saw?
Also-
>Go and investigate yourself some; you wanted to see a few things for yourself, and perhaps do some talking (what are you looking for, or want to talk about?)
>You knew enough now. It was time to take action (Select one of the action plans from the previous vote)
>Other?
>>
>>3476631
Just want to check if we choose to hit the camp here and now how good of an excuse is it to blame it on Ellowian insurgents (like that group that we chased off earlier)?
>>
>>3476636
Insurgents in the area haven't attacked camps directly, let alone razed them; for them to be reported as doing that would be to imply that a large group brazen enough to do that popped up, or one with enough skill at the very least. Suffice it to say there would be a particularly concerted effort to find said group and wipe them out for the risk they present.
>>
>>3476641
>You knew enough now. It was time to take action
Pull back and wait for them at the town then.
>>
>>3476631
>>You knew enough now. It was time to take action
>Wait for them at the village; they’d be coming there in a bit anyways.
>>
>>3476631
>>Ask Emma any more questions about what she saw?
>Go and investigate yourself some; you wanted to see a few things for yourself, and perhaps do some talking (what are you looking for, or want to talk about?)
>>
>>3476673
What's your plan with this? I want to ambush them, here or at the village, doesn't matter to me. Are you gonna try and set up a parley?
>You knew enough now. It was time to take action
shoot the shed where the tank is a couple of time, then when we're pretty sure it's knocked out do
>March up, surround the encampment, then inform the mercenaries that they are under arrest. They are breaking the law of the land with their actions, after all; even if they are being purposefully ignored or exempted.
>>
>>3476708
Don't mind ambushing them here but we need a good enough reason to keep the Commissar off our backs.
>>
>>3476728
I was thinking maybe we can go get civilian clothes from the village to dress up our ellowian soldiers and then make sure while we're attacking they say how they're freedom fighters from some group we know of from the ashes. I forgot what they're called but it's been talked about. When the commissars want to take revenge on the brazen rebels raiding their troops and stealing equipment it's not our problem.
>>
>>3476765
If we could blame it on those guys we chased out of the forest that'd be great yeah. The only thing that means is that we'd need to hunt them down ourselves before we get any unwanted attention from the guy who hired these mercs.
>>
>>3476772
We could do that easy, I think it'd be worth the tank at least. If we can salvage it of course.
>>
>>3476782
We'll need to hide it somewhere else though for the time being. If the higher ups show up in our sector and find it in our camp we're fucked. Better to put it away for a while and later just say we took it back form the rebels or something.
>>
>>3476631
>Ask Emma any more questions about what she saw
So it's blind in the front to not scorch the inhabitants and it has three spouts. Good to know.

Did it look like it could move out right away or was it opened up and they were repairing it?
Did she spot any noticeable lookouts, have we been seen?

Also fuck trying to capture this thing, it's even more volatile than ours. Put a shot through a spigot and it'll light up. That and it's distinctive as hell, we're already going to be pissing off some Kommissar somewhere, way better to ambush them somewhere else and fade away. Disguises take too long and if we announce our prescence then the Kommissar will wreck our shit for the rest of our stay here. Plus the mercs will just laugh at us and be ready for an attack.

>You knew enough now. It was time to take action
>Wait for them at the village; they’d be coming there in a bit anyways.
Hit them before they reach the village itself.
>>
>>3476631
>You knew enough now. It was time to take action
>Wait for them halfway to the village; they’d be coming there in a bit anyways.

Screw the tank, we probably won't find any crew willing to man that powder keg. And trying to capture it would give it too much freedom to burn our troops.
>>
>>3477346
>Screw the tank, we probably won't find any crew willing to man that powder keg
>who is anya
>>
Alright, time to get writing. In spite of this chronic tiredness. It'll be fine.
Also I started writing this response four hours ago and then fell asleep. So it'll definitely be fine now.

>>3476673
Ask...nothing? Go yourself, I suppose?

>>3476666
Pull back to the town, says quads satan. Though I think later support with this following plan?

>>3476708
Whack their tank, then walk up and tell them that that was an appetizer, unless they'd like their receipt now.
>>3476765
And claim to be insurgents. Going from preventing false flags to perpetrating them. And other steps I won't link the posts of for the sake of brevity but can summarize as planning to take that tank and get away with it.

>>3477066
Ask the ghost about its readiness, and if it seemed you were noticed. In any case, move in the direction of the village and hit them when they come. Screw getting the vehicle, and screw disguises.

>>3477346
In between ambush, better to destroy vehicle.

Pretty sure final decision is to start doubling back and set up an ambush. I'll add a few more specifiers to next vote before you actually throw down.

So writing now.

>>3478798
Requisitioning crew is an option whenever the buy phase comes around; and since you're in charge you don't really have to listen to their complaining, but then, you're also probably not trying to make friends with crew or commanders you buy with points anyways.
>>
You had a couple more questions for Emma, and continued your conversation as it was within the confines of the tank- speaking with seemingly nothing outside was a bad move, and being seen speaking with something people could see but couldn’t identify was even worse. “This tank. Did it look like it was in a state of readiness? Did it seem like it could move, I mean, or was it under repair.”

“I’unno,” Emma replied with the auditory equivalent of a halfhearted shrug, “It looked okay to me.”

“Also, with any lookouts. Do you know if we’ve been seen? Anybody talking about us not being as well hidden as we think?”

“Nah, they seemed pretty drowsy in general. If they knew you were here they weren’t making a big fuss out of it. I’d think they’d hear the tank, but they’d probably have thought it belonged to somebody they had no beef with anyways. I did hear them talking about when they were gonna head out, in a couple hours. They said they were going to nab a few of the girls, ‘cause they weren’t getting enough for their protection. Just in case you wondered what they were going there for.”

“I suppose you can take the brigand out of Sosaldt…” you muttered darkly. “We’ll take care of this.” You got back up out of the X-51. “Lieutenant,” you addressed Wielzci after shoving yourself up through the cupola, having finished speaking with Emma, “I got an update from the people at HQ I’ve got looking into this. Seems like the best thing to do with what we know and they know is to go with heading back towards the village and ambushing them either there or on the way.” Ambushing convoys or patrols was also much more in line with typical insurgent activity; attacking a camp was quite bold, by comparison. What you wanted to disguise this attack as was still uncertain; different alibis required differing levels of commitment to verisimilitude.

Wielzci squinted at you skeptically, as though he doubted your sources, but he asked no questions- was he accepting fortune, or did he have an inkling of the truth? “Of course, Coordinator. Even if they do not deploy their whole force, an ambush of enough of them should prove quite intimidating.”

“Right,” you nodded, “And if we get enough of them, we can walk into their camp anyways. Easy pickings.” Maybe, you could even do that while they were out?
>>
Wielzci leaned to his side and spoke something to his senior NCO, who replied with a furtive affirmation and ran off, presumably to prepare 4th platoon to move. “I should say, Coodinator,” Wielzci peered off to the Sosaldtians’ camp, “If you want to disguise our operation as the most likely culprit, consider that the insurgent groups do not tend to have access to anti-tank weapons, let alone tank cannon. Alternate means of disabling their armor ought to be considered…unless you have a plan to cover that.”

You leaned back in the turret. “I did say to trust me, did I not?”

“You did.” Wielzci, however, appeared to still be considering what you thought an entirely reasonable request. “However, Strossvald’s method of fighting ambushes and defensive actions is, as far as I have heard from history, rather questionable, for their success. I would ask that you hear my counsel on the execution of this. I would say that it will be easier to dispatch this band from an ambush within the town, but that will also certainly invite reprisals when, not if, news spreads. The same would happen if they were ambushed on the way, probably, since an insurgent band large enough to severely damage this group would be enough a threat to hold the village “they” were defending as a bargaining chip. So if you want to ambush these people and destroy them, I would advise making it seem as though it could have been done by only a few.”

“How would you do that?” you asked.

“With an improvised explosive device on the road. Though,” Wielzci shrugged, “I have no idea if that is feasible for you to try.”

Maybe it was, though. you thought. If you had anything convenient laying around for such a purpose…

>Set up an ambush midway to the village; as to try and avoid its involvement.
>Set up an ambush within the village itself, to make it clear that it is under protection; a risk to try and mess with.
>Attempt a raid upon the enemy camp after they leave; maybe it would reduce the chances that this would be interpreted as the village cooperating with insurgents if the attack was on the encampment itself, though that would step up efforts against brazen insurgents all round…
>Other?
Also
>Make an attempt to disguise and/or pass yourself off as insurgents?
>You won’t be seen; best to have the only impression of yourselves be of gunfire and smoke.
>>
>>3479105
>>Set up an ambush midway to the village; as to try and avoid its involvement.
>Make an attempt to disguise and/or pass yourself off as insurgents?
Keep our tank back unless things get hairy, or to just destroy the enemy tank. I also would like to make an improvised mine with a tank round of something, like in pic related perhaps. When we're attacking instruct to troops to scream the name of some insurgent group we know of, as long as it's not the Ashes. Also I'm still for going and getting civilian clothes for our troops, or at least trying to disguise our troops uniforms.
>>
>>3479105
>Set up an ambush midway to the village; as to try and avoid its involvement.
Whole point of this is to keep Ellowians safer.
Too bad we don't have that crate of explosives with us for an IED.
If we did maybe we could pull off an insurgent attack.

>Make an attempt to disguise ourselves
If we use the tank they'll know it wasn't insurgents and if we don't use the tank we'll be boned.

If we were to impersonate a different Netilland army group though, say as the 13th Mechanized Guards...
Especially since they are already known rivals to the Kommissar in charge here and they have armor.
How we do that is a very good question, maybe we leave a few alive and proclaim this area under the protection of other Kommissar Whatisface.

Does Richter know their names? Maybe if we remove our unit insignias beforehand.
>>
>If we were to impersonate a different Netilland army group though, say as the 13th Mechanized Guards...
Especially since they are already known rivals to the Kommissar in charge here and they have armor.
How we do that is a very good question, maybe we leave a few alive and proclaim this area under the protection of other Kommissar Whatisface.
I really like this disguise idea, swapping out my bad one >>3479149
for this>>3479173
>>
>>3479173
>Too bad we don't have that crate of explosives with us for an IED.
Nobody said that you can't go get it, they're not going for a couple hours.

>Does Richter know their (the Kommissars') names?
He isn't very familiar with them as of now, no, but it would be rather simple to find out in the future. The Political Officers aren't exactly making too grand a show out of all this after all.
>>
>>3479105
Supporting >>3479173
>>
>>3479173
Supporting.
>>
>>3479173
+1. Also send someone back to get that crate.
>>
Also, any chokepoints along the way that would be ideal for an ambush?Preferably like a bridge or forests on both sides of the road.
>>
>>3479105
>Attempt a raid upon the enemy camp after they leave; maybe it would reduce the chances that this would be interpreted as the village cooperating with insurgents if the attack was on the encampment itself, though that would step up efforts against brazen insurgents all round…
>You won’t be seen; best to have the only impression of yourselves be of gunfire and smoke.
>>
>>3479303
>bridges
No, unfortunately.
>flanking forest
There's parts with scrub and light wood, and denser copses sometimes, but nowhere that would be perfect for an ambush. It's enough to hide, not enough to restrict enemy 360 awareness.
>>
>>3479546
Alright then, just to check what means we have of detonating those explosives? Tripwire, manual det cord, remote control etc.
>>
>>3480324
I'll be writing soon with another planning thing that'll give a run down on that and setup on the area itself, but you have manual electrical detonation, which is the intended way of setting them off as demolition charges, and...not really any other way. One could jury-rig a pressure plate, but without much control over finer mechanisms and things to keep things of too light a weight from setting it off, there'd be a pretty big risk of it being set off by anybody who steps on it. Though maybe that's ideal.

In case it isn't clear how much explosive is in this crate, it's a good forty to fifty kilograms of hexogen-based plastic explosive. How much of that one would want to use in this is...well, we'll see. Suffice it to say that much is enough to not want to be anywhere near it if it all went off at once. What were the insurgents planning to do with it? Good thing nobody found out.
>>
>>3479173
Going with this majority supported plan; with the potential bonus of using explosives. After all, in order to get everything ready for this false flag, you'll need different uniforms for your guys. Ellowian soldiers wear a different uniform to Netillian rank and file, after all.

Getting everything together, update should be soon, though it'll probably be brief.
>>
“We can do that,” you told Wielzci, “An improvised explosive device. Though we’ll need to do a bit of courier work. Lend me some of your people; I have an idea that’s either very clever or very silly.” Wielzci looked rather cross until you specified, “The repercussions would be on me. The plan itself should go fine for you and your men; we’ll set up an ambush midway down the road before the village itself to keep it from being harmed, and to limit its involvement. However, we’ll also disguise just who we are. Not as insurgents; somebody with a different sort of personal stake. Lend me a few men, we need to go get a special package, and some spare uniforms and helmets.”

With the knowledge that there was a delay, it allowed time for your group to get additional supplies for what would be an ambitious plan to set two foes against one another. At least, such was the hope. At bare minimum it would at least provide a solution to the current problem, though the more layers you put on this disguise, the more you wondered whether you could claim any reward, for fear of providing more threads for any investigation to follow. Could you defend your actions in a trial? Of course you could. Netilland had military conduct laws like any country did, but making an enemy of the Kommissariat would be to invite harassment by those fond of working above such niceties as conduct law.

Of course, while the errands were run to retrieve the necessary supplies, the men were sent to the ambush point to prepare. In the meantime, you explained your plan to Wielzci.

“Disguising your whole platoon would be impractical,” you said, gesturing to his uniform; the dark green Netillian standard tunic, but also to his black trousers and light grey striped helm that identified him as a member of the Ellowian forces under Netilland. When Wielzci gave you a baffled look, you remembered to actually explain your plan. “Right. My intention it, after the coming battle, rather than presenting yourselves as the 4th platoon of the 1st company of the 5th Combined Light Infantry Battalion, you’ll appear to be from the 13th Guards Infantry, Mechanized. You’ll lack the usual battle bus, but, the presence of a tank should fool the less enlightened, as these Mercenaries are. Since the 13th are the pets of the Kommissariat, I intend to us the cover of the rivalry I’ve heard of between their political crony and the one who commands the enemy I intend us to fight.”
>>
“A few problems.” Wielzci offered, “Ellowian accents are quite different from Netillian ones. As is your own accent. If you intend to disguise are people, we’ll be doing impressions, at best. Do you think that will be enough?”

“These are people of Sosaldt. I don’t expect them to be incredibly familiar with the varied accents of the continent. I went there once and convinced people I was an Emrean with but a caricature of their way of speaking. I would also rather us not unnecessarily expand the amount of people involved; we don’t need anybody blabbing about this action to anybody listening too closely, regardless of the justice of it.”

Wielzci frowned, and his eyebrows set. “…If you think it will be enough, though perhaps you at least want Netillians speaking rather than any of us. Another matter. Do you know the identities of the Kommissars we are to be “working” for?”

“I do!” you proclaimed proudly. Though your knowledge was only minutes old; you hadn’t known before you contacted Von Metzeler back at HQ to find out for you. “The Kommissar who is embedded with the 13th Mechanized Guards is Captain of State Security Zohl, while the man whose henchmen we engage today are under Captain of State Security Vanberg. So, upon our swift victory, we should inform any survivors that we learned of their intent to inflict harm upon people under the protection of Captain Alrik Zohl, and that they only received just punishment for their impudence.”

The Ellowian officer’s doubt of you decreased; slightly. “Let us go over this plan one more time then, before we dive headlong into what you say will either be very clever or very silly.”
>>
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>Plan your operation; placement of units, explosive, the like.
>Two squads can go into a hex, and given the nature of the engagement, it’s best to assume they’ll be shooting from one to two hexes away. Of course, they are using rifles- they can potentially engage from further. Your tank’s cannon is also quite the ranged weapon!
>Any unit in hexes with trees in them can assume to be hidden from most passersby; though if an enemy passes within one hex and they do not immediately engage they may be spotted.

Besides placement of units and engagement orders, there is the matter of:

>Placement of improvised explosive device. Determine how much of your explosive you want to use, whether you want it set off with pressure or manually, and if you want to bury it or disguise it by the road. Burying the charge will reduce the chances of it being spotted to negligible, but it being underground will also reduce the explosive power of the blast.
>It hardly needs to be said that half of your 40-50 kilograms of explosive let alone the full amount will utterly wipe out a squad sized element stepping atop it, or a tank rolling over it, of course. It will also produce an incredible sound.
>So, if you would rather not draw the attention of potential reacting forces, maybe not using it would be a decent idea. IEDs going off is a sign to many of an insurgent ambush, after all, and a good way to set everybody in the area on alert.

Also, the matter of meeting-

>Determine who will meet with the survivors, to set a spark to the kerosene that is the rivalry between Kommissars with a false claim of your identity. Whether Ellowians will be enough, if you will speak for them, or if you’ll grab somebody from the other formations with a solid Netillian accent
Of course, any other concerns and questions may be brought up as well.
>>
>>3480553
Should also say; probably important to determine where you want to hit them on the road, too.
>>
>>3480553
Split the platoon between Sites B and C with the tank at B.
For the IED use 5kg I guess and bury it for manual detonation at the intersection.
>Determine who will meet with the survivors, to set a spark to the kerosene that is the rivalry between Kommissars with a false claim of your identity. Whether Ellowians will be enough, if you will speak for them, or if you’ll grab somebody from the other formations with a solid Netillian accent.
Maybe Captain Kelwin? He doesn't sound like he's that fond of the current regime. Other than that I'm not sure if we could trust the rest of the Netillians in the company with this. Otherwise we should be the only one talking I guess, unless any of the Ellowians or our guys can fake a good one.
>>
>>3480591
Sounds like a plan. Would 5kg buried be enough to destroy the tank?
>>
>>3480617
It is; but you'd have to be sure to hit it dead on instead of blowing the hell out of it when it's roughly near the spot. Alternatively, if it hits the track, that's certainly enough to blow it off without needing to be too precise.

You have a tank anyways if it doesn't work.
>>
>>3480633
I guess since its a flamethrower tank it's going to be even more flammable right? Hopefully the explosion sets something off.
>>
>>3480553
>Put everyone in site c.
>>
>>3480686
It's two squads per hexes, we wouldn't be able to hide everyone there.
>>
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Alright then, setting as per planned here >>3480591

I'll be writing in about twenty; if there's any last minute objections to the precise placement, go ahead and let me know.
>>
>>3480996
Looks good.
>>
“I want the charge set at the intersection, here,” you pointed out the spot to Lieutenant Wielzci once you had gotten back, “And your platoon divided between that patch and this set of woods. It’ll only be a big enough charge to take out that tank; we’ll have to deal with the rest the old fashioned way. It’d be nice if the armor went up like an incendiary bomb and took out way more than we could hope, but that probably won’t happen. The bomb’ll have to be manually activated, too. It’s smallish so we have to be precise. Tell your sergeants that there’s two scenarios where they have to get their men shooting. One is the bomb going off, the other is if we get seen first and we have to start shooting for one reason or another. Point being that either way, the guys on the point next to the road will be shooting first. Thusly I want you to have one of the two squads there, the ones closer to the road, to dress up in the normal uniforms I brought. They’ll also be who the Captain is accompanying; he’ll be our Netillian voice to sound a convincing substitute for you Ellowians.”

Captain Kelwin, the commander of the company (nominally- the training program arrangement meant that you basically decided on actions, while he learned by example and osmosis), had been brought here for this, after you had told him the situation. You weren’t sure if it was the greatest idea- after all, he was a member of the Defense Party which the Kommissariat was the main sponsor of, but when you had stressed that this mission was against thugs and to prevent violence against Netillians, he had accepted his part in it; as well as his responsibility to not tell others of the part he played here.

It was a bit risky to bring him to the front lines here, but you trusted the Ellowians to do a good job of this ambush. Even though their whole platoon wasn’t made of seasoned veterans, it had enough of them that the iron spirit of the country once rumored to be unbreakable surely was with them.

Wielzci had no questions or issues, which was good, because it was too late to mend any that he should find; or maybe he knew of some, but knew that fact the same.
>>
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Rolled 43, 16 = 59 (2d100)

Everybody got in their places, and you waited- and waited. You grew concerned that Emma’s information had been wrong, but twenty minutes later than anticipated, you heard the sound of approaching engines, slowly coming up the road. A quick peek out the cupola, beyond the piled up branches and grass heaped up on the tank to disguise it as a pile of rubbish, told you that it was keeping pace with marching men. The wear of the mercenaries was drab, nonstandard, and rough- a match for those that wore it, though their weapons seemed shiny and new. A courtesy of Kommissar Vanberg, you presumed.

A faintness fell over you suddenly when you realized you hadn’t been breathing. Natural nervousness; it would clear up when things got started. That was the crux of the issue now, though- when it started.

A screening squad of a dozen or so was ahead of the tank, and another squad among the tank itself- the armored car from earlier trailed behind, but you weren’t concerned with it, as it had no weapons. On the matter of the tank, your presumption was indeed correct- the lumpy, blocky form of an m/24, chunky and brutal in design- the ancestor of your own m/32, in a way, though its turret was gone and replaced with a smaller turret that housed what must have been a flamethrower. Odder still, it appeared every vision port was plated over. Nobody was sticking up out of the tank- how did it see where it was going..?

The way the mercenaries had their formation set up was dangerous, getting back to the issue of engagement. The forward screen meant that there was a chance, however small, that the disturbance in the dirt road where the explosive had been buried, and the wire leading away from it, might be detected. Worse, if they had a sharper eye than expected, they might see the adjacent Ellowians ready to ambush them, and have a forewarning.

As they drew closer, and you quietly urged Stein to not turn the turret til necessary, for Malachi to be ready to turn the engine over, you felt your heartbeat in your ears; come on, blasted battle, start.

>Two rolls for the enemy here- one to detect the mine, the other to detect the ambush squad that they’ve ended up adjacent to. DCs are 5 and 20 respectively, roll under.
>>
The screening force drew over the place where the charge was- it seemed that the improvised explosive had escaped their attention, which was a relief, but they slowed down…stopped…

“Hey, who’s out there?” you heard a shout into the woods. Shit on a Judge-forsaken stick. “Who the hell’s out there? Better fess up, else we can get yer asses cooked well done!”

>No getting out of this. Give the command yourself to open fire- get your tank ready to engage your rival armor.
>Get a runner to go to the discovered group and have them try and lead off the screen; maybe the tank can still roll over the mine in the road.
>Trust Captain Kelwin to deal with this; he was with the element that was discovered, things were still fine.
>Other?
>>
>>3481120
>>Get a runner to go to the discovered group and have them try and lead off the screen; maybe the tank can still roll over the mine in the road.
Bait the tank forward.
>>
>>3481120
>>Get a runner to go to the discovered group and have them try and lead off the screen; maybe the tank can still roll over the mine in the road.
Fucking hell.
>>
>>3481120
>No getting out of this. Give the command yourself to open fire- get your tank ready to engage your rival armor.

Who knows if it will actually roll over that specific spot, and better that it stay away and not get a chance to roast those closest to it. Shoot it now before it gets a chance to fire.

>Other?
Trigger the mine first as a signal and distraction then hit the tank. Even a mobility kill will keep our nice flammeable forest from getting us all burned alive.
>>
>>3481155
Actually I'll switch to this.
>>
>>3481155
Supporting
>>
>>3481142
Pls get on the mine

>>3481155
>>3481161
>>3481208
Go time.

Seems it's time to start this. Writing.
>>
Dinner and a few errands interrupted my update. Even though we're pretty low on the page, I think I can still power us through this fight.

Update soon!
>>
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“Lieutenant!” You hissed down to the platoon commander, “We’re starting this now. Have your men set off the charge. Even if it’s not under the tank, we’re starting this. I’ll have the tank taken out.”

Wielzci gave you an Okay hand sign, and departed. In the meantime, you went back into the tank, and tapped Stein on the shoulder.

“Once the explosive goes off,” you said, “I want you to plug that tank right there.” Stein nodded, and you popped back out, squinted for any developments.

As the men ahead presumably stopped, so did the vehicles come steadily to a halt. However, you noticed something a bit off. When a man waved for the vehicles to stop, he went around the tank and waved to the car behind it. Sure, you couldn’t see any vision ports on the tank whatsoever, but…

>Select what point on the enemy you want to fire your cannon at. Targeting grid will come up after.
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>>3481948
Hmm, maybe the armored car has their leader in it with a radio to direct the tank? Anyway, I think we should send a shell through the car and then the tank.
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>>3481948
Hit the car!
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>>3481948
The tank's barrels.
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>>3481948
Every instinct is telling me to hit the tank but if the car gets away our lives get a lot harder. Also if it is spotting for the tank then hopefully be blinded.

>center line on car side door that we can see

We miss we are dead.
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>>3481948
Hit the car. Assuming our guys suppress the infantry we should have enough time to reload for the tank.
>>
Rolled 3, 4 + 1 = 8 (2d5 + 1)

>>3481964
>>3482171
>>3482218
>>3482601
The car!

>>3482216
The tanks armament?

At first I was going to have the grid and rolls, but then I think about it for more than a moment, and, well, this is an approximately 100 meter shot at a stationary target with a tank cannon. If your gunner can't hit this with his eyes closed you might need to get his head checked.

Getting all this going, though not before I roll for the bomb going off.
>>
Rolled 4, 2, 2, 4, 3, 4, 3, 1 + 8 = 31 (8d5 + 8)

“…Belay that,” you told Stein as the turret’s manual mechanism began to make fine adjustments to the close target. You had a feeling that shooting at the tank wasn’t the most effective target. In addition, the car could swiftly escape if it wished; that couldn’t be tolerated. Reasoning quickly dictated that it be the first target. If you were wrong…such happened. “Put an AP shot through the door of that armored car, Jorgen, have a high explosive shot ready in case of over-penetration. I don’t want anything flying out of the net we’ve cast.”

“Got it, commander.” Stein said back, and the turret began to creak the other direction; fine adjustments stopped just in time, as a sharp KRACK boomed to the east; no sooner had the sound and rush of pressure ceased than the opening volley arrived all at once; it sounded like a thunderous hailstorm suddenly breaking in the wake of the X-51’s cannon firing.

A clang as the shell caved in the armored car’s door, followed by a more local clang as the shell casing was forced by the automatic ejection mechanism to knock down into the bottom of the tank, and a sliding ring as Jorgen swiftly replaced the munition and heaved it closed again.

“Ledd!” he cried to Stein over the intercom.

“Firing!”

Another boom of the cannon, whose second report was so swift because of the skill of your Yaegir loader- scarcely had the damage from the first shot fully revealed itself when the car was buckled even more as a high explosive shot crashed through plating only meant to stop small arms fire. The whole thing bulged slightly with a muffled POOMF, before it sagged on its axles, still with no sign of movement.

“Adjust right, quickly!” you said urgently, but as you kept your eye on the tank it…didn’t move. At all. Surely even inside that the combat was close enough that they’d at least start moving, wouldn’t they?

In the meantime, the Ellowians had been making the most of having the initiative on an unprepared enemy. They had no want for easy targets as their unfortunate victims found themselves being torn apart from two sides, with naught for cover but to try and pin themselves to the ground and vanish among the dead grass.

>Rolling for Ellowians shooting. As the enemy gets no attack roll of their own due to being taken off guard, they'll just have to suffer the damage; which due to flanking fire and being ambushed, each shooting unit gets an additional damage dice and a plus one.
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The shooting was practically over before it started. In but a few deadly sweeps from the thunderstorm you had unleashed upon the mercenaries, the well trained fire of the Ellowians, presumably combined with the effects of the bomb going off early, whomever it had affected, enemy opposition appeared reduced to nothing.
Hopefully, you thought, There would be people to actually speak with to carry out the second conceit of this ambush…

Even with the battle ending so swiftly, within but a minute you had kept your eye on the enemy tank; had Stein hold off on opening fire, because the whole time, it had still not moved. Why? No turn of the turret, no peek from inside from any hatches, not even a nudge back or forth. It was as if it had fallen asleep, its exhaust still steaming the chilly air behind it.

The Ellowians were clearly as uncertain of your judgment as you were wary of how to make it; once you heard a quiet sarcastic rasp to “shoot the damn thing,” but you had still waited. What was happening?

>Approach it carefully and crack it open, take a look inside.
>Best to be safe. Destroy the tank, regardless of whether it has taken any action.
>Meticulously destroy the armament; if it starts to react, destroy it.
>Other?
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>>3482712
>Send some disguised Ellowians to take a look inside
No point in giving ourselves away.
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>>3482712
>>3482718
Supporting
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>>3482718
+1. Though be prepared to shoot if it does anything funny.
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>>3482718
>>3482766
Supporting
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>>3482712
Before we send anyone
>Other?
Do we have any soft target shells we could bounce off of it first? A smoke shell that we just ping off the front?

I just want to CLANG the fucker and see if anyone is inside, hell even some small arms fire instead if we don't have duds.
What was this remote controlled?
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>>3482773
Knock on the door. And no, you don't have anything special for the 5cm gun besides AP and HE, but clanging the outside of a tank isn't hard to do. Could just throw a rock at it even, if you don't want to fire a bullet at it.

>>3482718
>>3482757
>>3482766
>>3482772
Send the Cosplay Squad to check inside. After safety measures.

Writing.
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“Lieutenant,” you said to Wielzci, who had remained by you the whole time, and seemed near bored with how well this had turned out, “I don’t know what’s up with that tank, it hasn’t done a thing since this fight started or ended. I want our disguised squad to go up and check it out. If it starts doing anything, I’ll put holes in it, but I want it investigated first. Just to be safe, I want it knocked on first. Whether it’s a rifle shot, or junk thrown at it, just something to try and see if it’s…awake?”

Wielzci nodded to you, and relayed his instructions to a runner. In no time, the Second Squad of the platoon, who had been dressed in the Netillian uniforms in spite of their Ellowian identity, had approached the tank- Carefully. One man crawled on his belly towards the still puttering machine as his squad watched from the trees. Him and the rest of his comrades exchanged a few signals once he was close, and promptly, the man rose to his feet to the flank and behind the tank, well out of the way of any flame gouting pipes, and heaved a fist sized rock onto the tank.

No response.

The man then, seemingly a bit lacking in caution as he did so, strolled up to the tank, and opened the side hatch- it wasn’t even locked. Any crew on the inside would have cursed the moment they had left it as such, but…
>>
The man turned back towards his fellows and made a signal that looked like he formed a zero with his hand. This was relayed back until it reached Wielzci. When you asked him what was going on, he explained.

“It’s a Roboterpanzer.”

You blinked at him. “What the hell is that supposed to be?”

“Or Automatank, it has a few names.”

“That didn’t answer my question.” You’d never heard of anything called that, and you thought yourself decently versed on the military equipment of the continent.

“It’s…” Wielzci furrowed his brow looking for an explanation, “It’s an empty shell controlled by radio waves, or something. You see the antennae up there? Except it won’t be talking to anybody. They’re usually used for attacking fortifications; you had to be careful of ones that were big armored bombs in the old days. Judge above knows what this lot were doing with one. The armored car behind probably had the control system in it, they tend to have a trailing vehicle controlling them.”

“This would have been helpful to know before,” you grumbled.

Wielzci shrugged. “With that type, it’s difficult to know until you crack it open. It still has controls on the inside to drive it around without the radio controller, after all.”

>Interesting. Too bad it’s going to be blown up.
>It can be driven on its own, hm? Might as well appropriate it, even if its control system is likely destroyed. Whether to keep it or dispose of it elsewhere can be decided later, it just can’t be left here. (Writing in any plans for it would be good in this case too)
>It’s more trouble than it’s worth to destroy it or take it. Just leave it there and let somebody else come to collect it.
>Other?
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>>3482831
>>Interesting. Too bad it’s going to be blown up.
Drop a bunch of grenades inside and call it a day.
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>>3482831
>>Interesting. Too bad it’s going to be blown up.
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>>3482831
>>Interesting. Too bad it’s going to be blown up.
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>>3482831
>Interesting. Too bad it’s going to be blown up.
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>>3482832
>>3482842
>>3482844
>>3482868
Blow the thing up, call it a day.

Speaking of which, we're just about to drop off, so I'll chop this right here. Next thread will be...either this evening or tomorrow. Is it wise to keep going back to back? No, but I'll do it anyways unless otherwise announced on twitter. Thanks for playing in the thread.
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>>3482979
Thanks for running.



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