Chapter 37
Captain Matt Williams was the first to leave the meeting with base command. Hearing the names of the soldiers who’d died due to his failure to plan appropriately was an experience he knew he would never forget. And likely the list of dead was only starting. He knew he wasn’t directly responsible since they had known that some men would die, and ultimately the elf prisoner was the one who’d give the order that’d cost so many their lives.
Matt decided not to think about the dead anymore for the night. Things had already happened, and certainly, if he could, he would do anything he could to bring them back, but there was nothing he could do, at least that he knew of, to bring the soldiers back.
Matt decided to take some time that evening to enjoy the night air and decided he would walk from base HQ to his office. He’d need to be present to receive the files anyway, so he might as well take time now to process a few things.
The cool night air was the perfect temperature and the sound of crickets filled the quiet just enough to remind Matt that life would continue. He might have to spend most of the next two days writing letters, and that would be emotionally taxing, but after that, he would have a chance to strike at a key elf objective if what Jaws Company had to say was true. They might even be able to rescue a few more civilians in the process, or at least find out what had happened to them.
Matt wondered briefly how Vivian, the swarm summoner returnee, had been waiting for him on base when he got back. Somehow she’d been able to leave Washington DC, come out to the base and sneak into his room, fuck his absolute brains out, and leave again fast enough that nobody else seemed to have noticed. And she’d done all that without flying in any kind of aircraft. He concluded she must have some kind of ability or spell that let her cross a huge amount of distance very quickly. After all, who knew what the system could enable a person to do? Let alone wondering how she’d known he had reached level 10.
When he’d asked her why she’d been willing to help with the level 10 quest, she’d given him an odd look and replied with a simple “For power. Levels are hard to come by for us.” which Matt supposed he understood, but it wouldn’t have been enough to get him to cross close to a thousand miles just to have sex with someone who’d possibly injured a teammate.
Congrats!
You have been directly involved in resisting the first phase of the invasion!
Due in part to your contribution, you have been awarded $500 USC, +1 Gear Token, +1 Skill Token, +1 Upgrade Token.
A system store node has been placed at [Fort Moore - CIF] and the area has been designated a sanctuary.
No spells or abilities may be activated within a 5-mile radius, and no exp will be awarded for combat operations taking place in the same radius.
Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Enjoy your well-earned respite, but do not allow yourself to become too complacent.
The system message that suddenly popped up provided him with a clue. He remembered Staci saying something about needing access to a system store node in order to repair the damage done to Kyle, the other member of their team. If Fort Moore was the first location on Earth, or even in the US to get a system store node, it made sense that the team would have sent someone. And if Vivian was coming to the base anyway, it made much more sense to gain a free level on the trip by looking him up and sneaking into his room.
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Though, considering everything that’d happened, Matt decided he needed to actively look for a more stable and healthy relationship. One-night stands, and random flings were all fine and good, but he couldn’t expect opportunities to fall into his lap at just the right moment to prevent his death.
Matt had always been a little too committed to his career to be interested in a real relationship. The last one he’d had that’d lasted more than a handful of weeks had been in high school. He briefly wondered how Hannah was handling things. She’d been almost a perfect match for the version of himself that had attended one of the best high schools in North Carolina. She’d also been interested in the military at the time and had even followed him to Duke for his undergrad. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been aware enough to recognize the signs until he came back from class early one day to find her in the middle of things with another cadet.
The fact that it was another woman hadn’t helped him feel any better about the situation, and it had been all too easy to imagine how much his friends would have laughed at him if he’d explained the situation. Instead, they had simply agreed to break up, and he’d never said another word about her again.
As Matt got within visual range of the hanger, which led to the company offices, he started trying to get into the right mindset to review the paperwork he’d soon be going through. Unfortunately, it seemed he’d let his mind wander a little too far. He hadn’t thought about a lot of these memories in a very long time. When he got to his office, he still hadn’t quite processed things as he’d hoped. The group of privates carrying boxes of paperwork outside his office didn’t help. He quickly signed the necessary receipt of delivery and sent the soldiers on their way.
Matt stood in his office for a moment, taking deep breaths. It seemed he’d managed to pry open the floodgates, and now he couldn’t seem to stop the flood of highly emotional memories from running its course. Matt sat in his chair, glancing around to ensure he was alone before he carefully opened the bottom desk drawer, lifted out a couple of thick books that were ultimately just a misdirection and grabbed the bottle of rum he kept in that drawer for emergencies.
Matt had been very careful to hide his addiction from everyone. Not any of his previous commanders had known. Only one or two of the other cadets at Duke had suspected anything, and he’d been careful to hide the indicators they noticed. Right now though, the need for a stiff drink was almost overwhelming. The smooth burning sensation felt utterly amazing and disgusting at the same time.
Several long pulls later, Matt glanced down to realize he’d consumed most of the bottle, like some kind of sailor from the age of sail. He sighed, going to the locker he kept for spare uniforms, then pulled out the full bottle of rum he kept there for situations like this. If the office were ever subjected to a random inspection, it was doubtful that anyone would fault him for a full bottle of rum, or even one with a few shots worth of liquor missing. But having a bottle with only a few mouthfuls left would represent a significantly different problem.
As the alcohol hit his system, he placed the mostly empty bottle on his desk, justifying the drinking to himself as his method of relaxing. After all, the rest of the company would get two days of R&R while he processed paperwork. Fortunately, the alcohol soon had him feeling somewhat indifferent. He dragged the first box of paperwork into his office, giggling slightly along the way. He decided to finish off the bottle while he worked since it’d be much simpler to throw the bottle in one of the trash bins around than it would be to find somewhere to hide it.
The morning found Matt waking up at his desk. The empty bottle had disappeared somehow, and he was just aware enough to realize his First Sergeant was in the other room, doing the work he should have taken care of himself. The realization was humiliating, to say the least. The memory would be one more to add to the collection Matt kept locked tightly away. Just as he began working on the second box of paperwork, his XO came in from some meeting she’d been ordered to at the base MP HQ. She brought some lunch food Dirk had scrounged up, which Matt barely managed to keep down. Fortunately, he had a lot of experience dealing with hangovers, and neither Lyndis nor Dirk seemed to notice anything out of place.
After eating, Matt had the two other members of the command team start calling the men and women of the company to check in and make sure everyone was on the same page. He felt quite a bit of shame for letting his memories flood him last night, and he decided to double down and re-do all the paperwork he’d looked over while drunk or hung over. The next two days would be long indeed.