Eirik was watching the many hundreds of men getting organized on the square below. From his brother's office, he had a great vantage point of the entire square and everything that went on.
"Any particular character traits the trainers should look for when selecting squad leaders?" Lasse asked from behind him.
"Men that are ambitious, but faithful. They will seek to elevate the achievements of their men to those worthy of legends but still care enough about the individual soldier to not sacrifice them in the name of glory." Eirik answered absentmindedly. one of the groups of 100 men getting divided upon the square down below was looking significantly scruffier with an appalling lack of discipline.
They were horsing around, pushing and shoving, some of them on the verge of starting a fistfight. They all stopped at the same time when a giant of a man came rushing over towards them, screaming his head off. His legs were the size of tree trunks, his arms the size of most other men's thighs, and a chest and stomach that looked like it was carved from solid rock. On account of the distance, Eirik could not make out the words, but with the way the man was gesturing and shouting, he didn't need to in order to understand the meaning.
"Who is that man?" Eirik said and pointed. Lasse came over and looked out the window.
"That's Teddy" He answered and chuckled as Eirik raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm serious, that's his nickname. As terrifying as he is to look at right now, I saw him weep over a pet bird that died a few weeks ago. He has a heart of gold and a gentle soul... When he is not on duty...." Lasse added the last sentence, more as an after-thought.
"...Summon him," Eirik said, his face expressionless.
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Bjørn, nicknamed Teddy, was walking up the stairs to the station commander's office. If he had understood the messenger correctly, it was the mysterious and elusive Captain that had secured the current station commander's position. He didn't mind, the station was flourishing as a result, traders and smugglers fighting for the limited docking spaces. The preliminary work needed for a dock expansion had already been completed and it looked to be a BIG dock.
Not that Bjørn knew much about that stuff. He had always gotten by as a thug and bouncer. Joining the new mercenary group that was being created on the smuggler station was only a natural evolution of his path in life. He was just happy it was going to be a legit group operating properly, with contracts and everything.
It was hard to explain dirty money to his mother and sister but during his time as, first a recruit, and now a squad leader of the worst of all the screwups and weirdos that had found their way into the *Steel Wolves* mercenary group, the pay had been proper, for once, and he had a satisfying paper trail to show off to the Terran government's tax collectors. He had been offered help with filing his taxes by the group and had eagerly taken the offer. Like most people in the outlying systems, his knowledge was of a far more worldly character.
He found himself outside the office door at the top of the stairs and knocked softly. despite his attempt at discretion, there was a thundering as the door rattled and he sighed inwardly. The only downside to being this big was that everything you did was either seen as intimidating or downright aggressive.
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"ENTER" A voice he didn't know rang out from inside the office and he entered just in time to see the station commander sending a disapproving look at the man in front of him.
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Eirik looked at the mountain of muscle that was shuffling into the office and had a hard time keeping a straight face. Standing 2.3 meters tall (7 ft, 7 inches, American) with wrists the size of Eirik's neck and hands big enough to fully engulf Eirik's head, the man in front of him looked curious more than anything. A strange reaction to being summoned in front of an unknown figure.
"Greeting soldier. Take a seat" Eirik said and gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk. With a bit of an effort, the mountain managed to sit down.
"What can I do for you, sir?" Bjørn directed the question at Lasse as he didn't know where to place Eirik on the ladder of hierarchy.
Lasse gestured to Eirik who spoke again, "You will be talking to me. I just have some general questions. First, why are the soldiers in your combat group looking and acting the way they do?"
"Because they do not do well under rules and regulations. They score the highest in the combat simulations and on the firing range, but they score the lowest in terms of discipline and behavior. This put them in the average middle of our statistics. They excel at not standing out, as that usually is rewarded with more work." Bjørn explained patiently. This conversation was old to him, having been repeated timeless times over these passing months.
"I see. In other words, professional underachievers..." Eirik mused to himself for a moment before stretching out a hand towards Bjørn. "Congratulations, soldier. You are now in charge of my commando group. You will be given the toughest and most difficult of assignments and will be rewarded accordingly. Please inform your men, that if they have any complaints, I will be more than happy to meet with them and explain my reasoning. But only this one time."
"Affirmative" Bjørn responded as he shook Eirik's hand.
"Second," Eirik continued, "I never was informed of your name?"
"Bjørn, sir" Bjørn answered.
"Well, Bjørn. I give you overall command of the newly dubbed *night stalkers* commando group. Their success and failure will lay upon your shoulders. lead them to victory and you will never want for anything in this life again. Lead them to failure and you will pay the ultimate price."
"But... I will not accept that responsibility! It is not for me to have that role.!" Bjørn protested.
"It's not negotiable!" Eirik retorted. "I saw them fall in line when you started shouting. Until they learn the value of being disciplined, I need your presence to keep them in line. They have potential if what you say about them is true. And I wish to utilize it. You can take the job or leave my mercenary group. But I can promise you, that if you stay, your pockets will never be empty again. Contracts through my company have a 70% payout rate and I will occasionally have special assignments with larger bounties and a 100% payout rate. Choose now!"
"As long as everything is legal. I have a family I take care of and I do not wish them trouble because there are legality issues with my pay or employment!" Bjørn demanded. He wanted to the high paying jobs, but he needed the assurance that nothing he did was illegal.
"A family man? I can respect that." Eirik said, "You got a deal. Once I get my hands on it, you will take control of a smaller ship as the acting captain. Assignments will be given from this station where you will also come to refuel and resupply. We will take care of everything, you just do whatever assignment you get. Deal?"
"Deal" Answered Bjørn.
"Good. Gather your troops near my ship, the *Void Wolf*. We will get you kitted out as soon as possible. I have a feeling you will find your first assignment being handed over sooner than expected..." Eirik trusted his gut feeling and something told him he needed this 100-man group soon.
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Trasti had been informed about the changes in communications procedure and was monitoring the station when a message ticked in. Reading through it, he became more and more concerned as the problems detailed within was much larger than the ship was able to stand against on its own. He needed to get a hold of the Captain as soon as possible!!