It was early afternoon by the time they had landed and their equipment off-loaded from the dropship. After unceremoniously leaving the crates in a premarked zone the crew had left Elias and the group of recruits to work out what to do next. Normally on arrival to a planet he would be escorted by a company manager to the barracks or office where they would be stationed. Instead he was stood around looking at the recruits who were in turn watching him and waiting to be told what was going on.
"Mouse, a little help?" He said, turning away from the group and helping to check on some of the boxes.
"Nope. 'fraid not. This is your area. Shout at them or something. We won't know what we're doing tonight until Slim comes back from her reccy of a spot to set up." Mouse didn't even look up from his inventory as he spoke.
With no other choice, and wanting to give a good impression, Elias got up on one of the boxes to draw everyone's attention.
"Form up, two lines." He shouted at the recruits. It was a painful exercise to watch as they struggled to follow even this basic instruction. Some were still not used to the slight difference in gravity and were moving too fast or too slow depending on what was normal for them. Others just seemed confused at the concept of forming lines without more detailled instructions about the spacing or direction to face.
"Fucking hell." Elias whispered. Ignoring the chuckle coming from behind the storage crates. "That was a sorry mess." He spoke louder at the group as a whole who had settled into formation finally.
"Next time I want two lines, I want them immediately without the noise." Elias knew he wasn't here to make friends, not yet. "You are the first platoon of Nidus company. A scene like that will only be tolerated once. All of you have completed Basic Training. In theory you can fire a weapon; defend yourself; attack the Swarm; make and break camp; work in a squad and under command. It is time to put that theory into practice. First thing tomorrow we will be heading out on to the Crust. We will be spending several days heading to our destination and then fighting to secure a ziggurat." He paused and watched the effect of his words on the group. They looked a mixture of nervous and excited, some more attentive to his speech than others.
"So, let me be clear. A mess like I just saw will kill you. If I give a command you follow it, immediately and to the letter. The chain of command here is simple. I am in command." He imagined all the training sergeants he had worked under and did his best to imitate their demeanor. "Right, front row; report to Mr Sinclaid to collect your basic pack and shelter. Back row, report to me for weapon and armour issue. We have until Ms Hui gets back to get geared up. You don't want to know what happens if that deadline is missed."
Elias clapped his hands to set the recruits off in motion. Half looking lost and a little scared as they tried to work out who Mr Sinclaid was. Fortunately Mouse was feeling generous and appeared from behind a crate. One of the brighter ones aimed straight for the only other person in the unloading area and the other recruits quickly followed. It was organised chaos and busy as Elias issued armour; weapons and two batteries to the twenty-five recruits. Mouse soon had twelve fully equipped recruits loading the rest of the equipment into the troop carrier or a large trailer hooked up behind it. The other thirteen were with Elias who broke down the empty crates as they went; loading these as well in case they were needed later.
Slim was impressed to return to a silent group of recruits stood to attention watching Elias dressing down almost every member for a failing in their equipment. Soon the whole group, bar one, were doing push-ups in punishment. Then the whole group was doing push-ups as the only recruit to get her equipment right smirked at her fellows.
"I managed to find a farmer who will let us use a field for tonight for five credits. He's got a barn with power and water; said we could use that as well for the price." Slim filled the others in as they watched the recruits finish their push-ups one by one.
"The bastards in the barracks wanted five credits a bunk and then had the audacity to add an extra two credits as a single night supplement." She added when Mouse raised an eyebrow at the idea of sleeping in a field.
"Good work Slim." Said Elias. "It will be a good experience for them to set up camp and safer than doing it for the first time on the road." He too would prefer a warm shower and then warm bed, but the look of appreciation from Slim made him feel the white lie was worthwhile.
"Come on you sorry lot. We're moving out." Said Elias. "Fall in behind the carrier."
Though driving the troop carrier was not a particularly hard skill to learn, Elias was the only one with the skill that meant he needed to drive. He jumped in to the cab with Slim and Mouse following him. Rather than lowering the ramp and allowing the recruits to rest on the journey to the field he had planned to make them run behind. Unfortunately now he was in the cab and they were outside waiting for the ramp to lower. This gave him the perfect opportunity to use the command function with his neural link.
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"You've all just had month's of rest on the way here. Time to put your training to use. Form up, same lines as before." They quickly got over the confusion of hearing his command directly through the voice interface and lined up facing the rear of the carrier. "Right. Maintain formation as we move. If you even think of activating that power armour before we are out on the Crust that's a fifty credit fine." Elias switched on the engine and started to move out.
"How am I doing?" He asked Mouse, concerned he wasn't coming across seriously.
"Well, I don't think they like you..." he replied, "but that's a good thing? Right?"
Slim chuckled. "You're doing fine. Ignore him." She said. Elias brightened at this statement. "You need to be a dick if you want them to listen to you." She finished, bumping fists with Mouse who snorted with laughter.
"Hey." Said Elias.
He decided it would be better to ignore them both as he followed Slim's directions. It took them to an empty field in the outer area of the settlement. It was bordering the Crust with only a barbed wire fence giving protection from anything approaching the edge. Elias brought the troop carrier along the dusty track that marked the inner edge of the field and parked. There was a small dwelling next to a larger barn that were one field further in towards the dome. Either side of the field were more fields, some covered in short stalks that showed the early growth of corn.
Looking at the compass on his HUD map he saw that they were on the Eastern side of Southwatch, making it the right side to set off the next day. Setting camp was one of the key things that would be keeping them safe for their journey across the Crust. Like he had said to Slim, good to get the recruits to practice while they could.
"Time for you lot to start working as a team." He looked at the two lines in front of him.
"You." He pointed at the end of the front line. "What is the first task when setting camp?" The recruit looked stunned. It was a simple question, information that would have been drilled into them in Basic Training. Elias watched as he checked the surrounding area, suspecting a trick question.
"Ummm. Clearing the Crust." The recruit replied.
"Clearing the Crust..." Elias left a weighted pause to see what would happen. He needed to force them to respect him from the start. Then once it was earned properly he would be able to ease off with the show.
"Clearing the Crust, Sir." The recruit tried again.
"Correct. So, let's clear the Crust." He waited, there was always one smart-arse in a group and it was useful to know which one to watch for. He shot a stern look at Mouse who was obviously wanting to butt in with the obvious statement. Number four in the back row finally obliged.
"But Sir, there is no Crust on the field." Said the recruit, causing those around him to cringe in response.
"You, number four, back row - front and centre!" Elias shouted, calling the smart arse out in front of him. He waited for the recruit to come out of the pack and stand where he pointed. Once out he ignored the recruit stood on their own and faced the rest of the group.
"You are lucky, it seems we have an expert on camp formation in out midst." He pointed at the poor recruit. "He is right, there is no Crust here, but out there," he pointed across the field to the area beyond the barbed wire, "there is. Tomorrow night you will need to clear a camp; build a camp and secure it for the night. Tonight we are fortunate enough to have an expert to show us how." He moved in front of the lone recruit. "Do you know why it is called a utility weapon as well as an energy weapon?" He asked, holding out the grips of his own weapon. He waited.
"No Sir." Came the reply.
"Because it can be utilised in all sorts of ways. Spade." He made a selection via his neural link and twisted the two grips causing them to link together and form a shovel. "Fork." He said, sending a new message to his grips. The shovel transformed into a fork. He turned back to the group.
"I will save our expert the need to explain that the shovel is used to cut the Crust, the fork to move the segments after cutting. For our platoon we will need to clear space for the carrier, the shelters and then five metres clear around. That's a lot of Crust to clear. Who here has cut Crust before, moved it?" None of the hands moved. None of the recruits had come from a planet with Crust.
"Good that we have someone to learn from then." He picked on the smart arse once more. "Take your weapon out of the holsters." He guided the recruit and showed him how to form a shovel and then a fork. "Now go and show us how to cut Crust." He yelled.
It was cruel but he was trying to make a point, don't be smart. Don't talk back. Just do what you were told. Once the recruit started running towards the Crust Elias shouted once more.
"Where are you going recruit?" The recruit looked stunned and confused as he stopped in his tracks and almost hopped from foot to foot, not sure if he should carry on or return to the group.
"When you are cutting Crust, you work in threes." Elias said to the group. "Our friend here is an expert, so he might be able to manage on his own, but the rest of us have to remember the basics." He pointed at the two recruits nearest his current victim.
"You, weapon out, select a fork, you clear the Crust away. You, weapon out, select rifle, you watch over for any threat." Elias waited for all three to follow orders and make their way towards the edge of the field. Once they were halfway he turned to the rest of the group.
"What are you lot waiting for, an invitation. Groups of three, go join them."
Soon all the recruits were out cutting and clearing the edge of the Crust. He had them move the freshly cut pieces to the side and pile them up. Left alone it would maintain its shape and slowly fuse back with the underlying Crust. It really needed to be moved to a processing area and crushed down in the hope it contained a Shard or two; that was the true value of clearing Crust. If they moved the pieces into the field and then it connected with the main body the fusion would only cause a mess that the farmer would not be thankful for. Whether the farmer could maintain the additional land they were clearing would be up to him, he would probably make money even if he just transported the cleared Crust for processing elsewhere. Elias considered it a gift for his hospitality. The recruits all rotated through roles and managed to clear a reasonable area of a metre depth across the twenty metre width of the field. There was one group of four to make up the numbers so the first group cutting got a second turn.
Elias had to break up the groups and get them to reform into squads of five to set up camp. Soon there were six lines of tents spreading out from the long edge of the carrier. The inner line had a larger command tent and three tents for Elias, Mouse and Slim. Then there were five lines of five tents; one for each squad. He had the recruits place torches five metres out from the edge of the camp. With the camp organised he left one squad to guard as the rest of them ate. He set the watch at two hours and numbered off the squads so they knew the order.
As Elias made one last patrol of camp he noticed that the small groups of recruits would sit straighter and smarten up when they thought he wasn't looking and saw him coming their way. Pleased with what he saw he wanted to complete one last chore before retiring to his tent for the night.
"Recruit." Elias said, picking out the one who answered back earlier.
The man snapped to attention, wide eyed as Elias called him over.
"Yes Sir." He said, waiting for Elias to shout at him again.
"You did well setting camp recruit. Next time just remember that no-one likes a smart arse." Elias said. He watched as the recruit looked relieved that this was all and nodded brusquely before heading back towards the command tent.