Thread: In the Emperor's service [Ghostwolf and Dionysius]

Ghostwolf said Standing before the men gathered before her, hands clasped behind her back, Verena nodded to herself and smiled. Satisfied and pleased at both the men and her performance in addressing them. She was impressed, the men seemed well turned out for the most part as they stood to attention. Nothing overly unacceptable or order of order, they were on duty after all and had been gathered without any prior warning. These men were experienced they spent most of their time in the field, and had been transferred straight from one conflict to this one. She couldnt expect them to be as presentable, as sharp, crisp, and shiny as a newly raised regiment. They would have picked up bad habits, they would have become complacent, and let some of their standards slip, but the other side of that was they had that combat experience, they knew their enemy, and had spilled their blood in the Emperors name. In all likelihood, some of them had probably ditched unnecessary equipment long ago, that which served little purpose or was too heavy, or rattled and shined too much, other pieces were probably lost in the field. No, as it stood, the Commissar was pleased with the men arranged before her. There appeared nothing urgent which stood out as demanding her urgent attention to correct. So when the Captain asked if she had anything more to say, she shook her head in response, watching as the men were dismissed and headed back to the their duties and what they were doing beforehand. The Captain asked her what she would like to do, attend the briefing or be shown to her quarters, and it was only then that Verena realised how tired she was, and would have welcomed the opportunity to rest. Yet, that was yet another thing she would have to get used to, she would have to build up her stamina and endurance. It was likely she would spend most of the time wear and exhausted, craving sleep and rest, best to get used to it as soon as possible. Besides, it would be much better to show willing, that she was interested in the regiment and the men who made it, and attend the briefing to find out and assess the current situation. Ill accompany you to the debriefing if you dont mind Captain Id prefer to be kept informed about what has been happening. There will be plenty of time to rest at the Emperors side. She smiled at the Captain, a small chuckle accompanying her own dark humour. Please, lead the way she indicated with her hand, nodding politely. As the pair began to set off to their destination, Verenas boots kicking up small puffs of soft white powder as the snow began to lay, she asked him a question. Tell me Captain, is there anyone I should keep an eye on within the Regiment, any trouble makers? Better to know early, so she would know their history and be prepared to deal with them. Click to expand... Marcus smiled at her sense of humour, appreciating the effort from her. No doubt the commissar was weary from her travels to be here, he would have understood completely if she had wanted to rest up. It was likely that soon they would be at war, and everyone wouldn't be getting much sleep then. But no doubt the officers and NCOs would be glad to see the commissar there at the new briefing, even if they would still be a bit suspicious. He lead the way back in the direction of his own command tent, where they had first met, as the enlisted men went back to their work, cleaning weapons and re-equipping amidst the cold, going about their duties easily. This weather was similar to their homeworld, and the Draconians were used to working in generally unsavory conditions. Not many, no. A few unruly men, as ever, it's to be expected, particularly considering the kind of work we do. Days of quiet and holding our breath, before sudden intense violence, usually at close range, and often with casualties. It can be unsettling not knowing when we'll next be engaged, and often we're lying in wait, trying to ambush a technologically superior enemy with more firepower and better armour. Sometimes the men take it badly, and it used to be a lot worse, particularly after our founding. But now it's just the veterans left, and they all know what we're up against. A bit of casual gambling in some squads, sometimes we unearth a bit of contraband and occasionally narcotics. But nothing too serious usually, particularly when we're on the ground. I think they get bored with all this waiting. Corporal Ghent tells me you found him with a dataslate of some kind? he laughed, guessing what it had been. He's a good kid, not the brightest, but good at what he does. He's my communications officer, and can work miracles with all of that kind of tech. As they were approaching, he added We did get into a bit of a scuffle a few weeks back, with another regiment. Praxians, armoured infantry, they're camped over that way a bit. A few bruised egos, nothing more, still don't know what was at the bottom of it all The tent flap opened and they stepped into the relative warmth, with a semicircle of the other officers. Marcus strode to the center, turned, and rested back on his desk. Right gentlemen, let's begin with first platoon, Fitzwilliam? The Lieutenants went through the areas which they had examined during their reconnaisance, several outposts along a twenty mile perimeter which they had been scouting to the West of the Hive. Troop strength, density, location, equipment and also movements were all duly noted, transcribed by the Corporal she had admonished earlier. The conversation was quite openly run and informal, with observations being noted throughout by all participants, and it built up a picture of a generally well guarded western flank which would be difficult to assault easily. After they had discussed all elemenets of the operation, Blake nodded to Verena. At this point I'd like to invite our new Commisar to ask any questions of her own to you, considering our regiment, the operation we've just been under, or the general state of the mission here?