Tina had to hurry to keep up with Eirik. He was almost a head taller than her and he was taking long strides. He was barking out orders left and right as he walked through the industrial complex. Tina would have been busy picking up her jaw from the ground if she was not in such a hurry to keep up. How on Terra did he command such an aura of respect?? Soldiers jumped to do his bidding, ever the TA soldiers, despite him not having any power over them.
"Corporal. Do you have any wounded and if so, where do you keep them?" Eirik asked, ripping her out of her thoughts and back to the present.
"Several hundred wounded. Our medics were some of the first people to get killed during the initial attacks. Without much to do for them, we keep them in that building," She pointed to a reinforced structure at the back of the complex. Most likely a former storage unit for hazardous materials, if the reinforcement was any form of indicator. It would suffice.
"Knud, I take it you and your teams are standing ready?" Eirik turned his head towards the old man who had already turned towards the building and was tapping at his datapad
"Already on the way, Captain." He called over his shoulder as a call went through and Eirik heard him start speaking in technical terms with the trauma surgeon on the ship. While Knud was also licensed to perform every surgery the trauma surgeon was licensed to do, he held the position of Medical officer. Keeping with Eirik's way of running things he had the other medical personnel report to him and he would then take any concerns that needed immediate solving, to the Captain.
"Good man" Eirik called back. "Las'Tai, I want you to gather the former InSec crew and get to work on making a last stand position where ever it is the good Corporal has chosen as the base of operations. She will need a guide, Corporal." He directed the last part towards TIna who immediately called a soldier over. The young man looked at Las'Tai with open hostility as Tina explained what he needed to do.
"And I don't care that she is a Kloxna. She is part of the crew of the mercenary Captain's ship and anyone starting hostilities with his crew will answer to a military court!" She said as a final warning. When the soldier saluted and turned around, Eirik saw the eye-roll of the young man.
Deciding to cement a reputation for getting involved on his crew's behalf as early as possible, he casually reached out and grabbed the collar of the young soldier's uniform, pulling him close.
"Let me tell you something." Eirik's voice was a low, menacing growl, "I am a very religious, very superstitious individual. While I have no doubt you will obey your commanding officer and not try to actively harm a member of my crew, know this. Should any accident happen to her. Should she be shot in the head by a sniper or wander under malfunctioning equipment, or get struck by lightning."
Eirik tightened his grip on the young soldier's shirt collar, pressing his knuckles against his windpipe. The sharp intake of air from the soldier told Eirik that he had his full attention. "Then, I am going to hold you and whatever miserable dregs remains of your unit, personally responsible. And you do not wish to be on the receiving end of my anger!"
Feeling that his message had been properly passed, Eirik let go of the young soldier who rubbed his throat in the spots where Eirik's knuckles had pressed against it. "You can't treat a lower-ranking soldier that way!! Army regulations prevent it!" he raged at Eirik.
"Did you forget?" Eirik laughed at the young soldier, "I am not Terran Military. I am an independent contractor. And my warning stands. Should anything happen to my crew outside of combat with the enemy, you will suffer for it!"
"Captain Eirik, I must protest your treatment of my soldiers!" Tina exclaimed in a loud voice, but Eirik simply lifted a hand and pulled out his datapad. A few taps had him connected to the ship's computer and he found the contact he was looking for.
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Colonel Benny grumbled as his private connection rang with a call. His family knew better than to disturb him during working hours when there was a war going on!
He pressed the button to accept without looking at the screen. "Make it quick!" He snapped without taking his eyes off of the report in his hands. 2 words into the reply from the other end his head had snapped towards the datapad. Eirik!!
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Eirik heard his grandfather's tone of voice and knew he had to be neck-deep in work. so he obliged the old man.
"Sir, mercenary reinforcements reporting arrival at the besieged 113th Terran Infantry Divison. Casualties amongst the division have been devastating, with less than 300 combat effective soldiers remaining. The enemy force is overwhelming, estimated at no less than 3 full divisions. Requesting immediate reinforcements and/or extraction ASAP. I have 500 of my own troops, trained and equipped to shore up defenses, but I doubt we will be able to hold out effectively for more than a couple of days, a week at most.
Field reports confirm that the Kloxna commander has improvised mortar fire by jury-rigging grenades and anti-gravity tech from hovercars. Our enemy is adapting. Sir, I need you to grant me command of the remaining soldiers. The highest-ranking soldier is a Corporal with no battlefield experience.
"Granted. Effective immediately, you have full control of the 113th Terran Infantry Division." Colonel Benny knew that Eirik would not ask this if it was not needed to do what needed to be done.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Thank you, colonel. Captain Eirik out." After delivering his report Eirik moved his fingers to end the call and managed to hear "Eirik, wait!!" before his finger reached its target.
"As you just heard, Corporal. I have been given full command over you and your troops. As for your complaint about my disciplinary actions, consider it under review." Turning his head back to the soldier who was staring at him like he was a member of a new alien species he snapped "Don't you have something to do, soldier?!?"
The young man snapped a frightened salute and almost sprinted away with Las'Tai in tow.
"Take me to the defensive perimeter. I need to reorganize your defenses as best I can with the allotted time." He said to Tina.
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Tai'Tanu had been scanning the industrial complex with binoculars ever since Eirik's ships had touched down and started unloading soldiers after effectively wiping out her new artillery battalion, despite the protests of her subordinate officers. She was within range of their snipers, but she did not care. she needed confirmation that it was indeed Eirik that had come.
She had already reported the reinforcements of the Terrans to the other high caste members in range to support her, but they were days away. She knew the survivors were mostly raw recruits amongst the Terrans, so to have them reinforced by experienced and well-trained soldiers, and then give them days to fortify their position was not on her agenda.
The attack had to happen as soon as her troops were ready. Whether or not it was Eirik that landed those ships, would dictate if she would be joining the soldiers in the fight. She was not disappointed as he walked into her field of view within an hour of landing. The moment he did, she could feel her claws extend fully, out of her control.
From what she could see, he was inspecting the defensive positions and reorganizing them. "Damn you Eirik! I WILL kill you before this day is over!!" She swore to herself as she studied him in the binoculars. Something was different about him. he seemed more... Whole... in lack of better words. Something was changed with him. Something that made him more dangerous.
The answer presented itself a moment later when a Terran female walked up next to him, standing so close that she could only be his mate. Tai'Tanu saw her bow her head towards his ear and moments later he reached for a pair of binoculars and snapped his head in her general direction. No way his mate had spotted her and her group of subordinates.
Still observing Eirik through the binoculars, she saw him lock unto her, and slowly, ever so slowly and mocking, a smile grew on his ugly face. He called out to one of the soldiers and the man ran off for a moment before returning with a strange object. Moments later, Eirik's voice rang out from the megaphone.
"I SEE YOU HIDING IN THE HILLS, TAI'TANU!! WHY DON'T YOU COME AND FACE ME INSTEAD, YOU COWARDLY CUNT OF A LIZARD!"
Tai'Tanu's vision flashed with red at the words, but she managed to suppress the anger and looked to her subordinates instead. All of them looked properly horrified, but several of them were not snarling at the insult to their magnanimous and glorious leader. She would have to punish them later though, she needed the idiots to lead her troops when they were ready.
That's when Eirik's voice rang out again, louder and clearer than before. "I'M NOT SURPRISED TOU STAY IN HIDING. YOU FLED OUR HONOR DUEL, REMEMBER?? YOU TRIGGERED THAT AMBUSH THAT FAILED TO KILL ME WHEN YOU WERE ABOUT TO LOSE THE FIGHT!!"
Her vision flashed red again and the anger overtook her thoughts. Whirling around to the officers, who stood frozen to the ground in fear at her rage, she screeched, "ORDER THE ATTACK NOW!! OBEY OR DIE!" and ran off in a most undignified manner to find her armor and weapons.
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Tina ripped the megaphone from Eirik's hands and screamed in anger, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!!! HOW DO YOU KNOW THEIR COMMANDER?!?"
Eirik looked unfazed as he stared her down. After a long staring contest, Tina was the first to lower her gaze.
"I did this, Corporal, because I wanted the enemy commander to be filled with rage. I wanted this, because rage drives you to make mistakes. Mistakes made in the game of war tend to be fatal. And Tai'Tanu and I have a duel that was interrupted by her cowardice. So I abused that knowledge to bait her into a head-on attack. Admitted, I should have waited as long as possible, but she was near enough to hear the words herself. I could not ask for better conditions."
Turning his head, Eirik barked," Jesper! get the wolf packs into their siege armor and get all our men to prepare a defense on the east side. Let the TA defend the southern approach. The enemy only has a few units there to tie us up long enough for the main force to reach us, should we try to escape."
Jesper walked off to make the orders come true and Eirik turned back to Tina. "Now, if you please, Corporal. I need you and your men at the southern defenses. We will man the eastern approach. The enemy attacks within the hour."
Tina's training took over and she started gathering up the men. She was thankful to Eirik for putting them on the easy part of the defense, but she wondered what his 500 men could do against the attack that was coming their way.
Eirik looked at Jeanette when Tina had left. "I need you to go fetch a barrel of mead from the locked storage. One of the big ones. Take some of the troops with you to do the lifting. Our troops will need some liquid courage before this fight. But only 1. It's enough to make people relaxed, but not enough to give any sort of buzz." Eirik knew that most modern commanders would crucify him for distributing alcohol before a fight, but 200 liters, equally distributed amongst almost 550 men (counting Eirik's fighting crew as well, of course) was not enough to get anyone drunk.
Besides, it was a suspected common tactic in ancient times. Fighting purely in melee combat, with armies numbering in the hundreds or thousands, required a good deal of courage or idiocy to run towards. Drunk men were also more brutal, a side effect you could abuse with great results if employed correctly. It also helped steel the courage of the men.
That last effect was what he needed desperately. While well trained, most of his men had never seen fighting on this scale. They had all fought in minor skirmishes and ship battles, everyone a seasoned fighter in their own right. The training they had received had only amplified their talent for survival and killing. Eirik was confident in their abilities, but he was nervous about their reaction to large-scale warfare.
There were a few handfuls of war veterans amongst the soldiers, but they were few and spread out. Eirik could do no more before the attack with the little time that remained, now that he had poked the bear. He started walking towards the ship, intent on getting his armor and choosing his spot on the defensive line.
"Time to create new tales of triumph. I shall bask in the glory of the Einherjer when my time comes to enter the great hall of Valhalla." Eirik thought to himself as he was equipping his armor and loading up boxes of extra ammunition on a cart.