Slava Ukraini, Heroyam Slava.
Well, my mother always said that having pets was a handful. I figured you just house them, feed them, and give them a toilet, so I never understood fully what she meant. Oh, but I was about to find out. What awaited me, not even the Norns could have foretold. But before I continue the lamentations of my current predicament, allow me the time to relay to you the events that led to my fateful encounter and the subsequent results of it.
So there I was, middle of an active battlefield. Everything was basically the same as it always had been, in training they prepared us for this and my previous experience was also much the same.
But this, this was anything but a normal situation. First the drones hammered our position. Then as we begin our exfil, the artillery follows us as we tried to walk to the designated exfil point. This, though, was all fairly normal. The abnormality of the situation was actually me. Well, not me exactly, rather the package I carried with me. For you see, I had found a cat. A cat on the front, imagine that. I had hoped to take her home with me and she'd actually come with me willingly, too. Without any "mews" or "pbrehs" in protest even. Along with my squad, we made our way along. Although these guys were still pretty new, they were good and we did good work together.
Eventually, we approached the "safe" position and I gave the order to take cover as I waited to flag down the armored car meant to carry us to actual "safety". Ironically enough, the concentration of indirect fire only intensified at the "safe" position. As if it were drawn to us, we were hit with pretty much everything they had. There was mortars, artillery, FPVs, droplet drones, even long range tank fire; basically everything that keeps an infantryman up at night was being thrown at us.
When the fire finally let up, I heard the vehicle in the distance. I ran out with my flashlight in an attempt to flag it down in case they weren't sure where the position that we'd been using for the past couple of weeks was. The vehicle came up and simply rolled right past.
Everyone, including me, was heartbroken. I radio up Commander Lassie to ask what in the fuck happened. His response? They didn't fucking see us. Simple as that. Didn't see the lights. Didn't get the memo about the location. Jack fucking shit.
So we sat and waited in freezing cold, tired, huddled in fear because the enemy noticed the vehicle and continued to hammer us. We waited for what felt like hours, because is had been hours, four to be exact before the vehicle finally came back. When it arrived, we hauled ass inside and breathed a sigh of relief while we sat getting tossed around in the big metal coffin for another hour. Eventually we arrived at the Command Post and dismounted.
I took my gear and my prize to the next vehicle and we rode back to the safehouse. Immediately after arriving, I opened my bag to let my prisoner out and see if she hadn't suffocated as she had been silent the entire time. She was alive and happy. The little lady was dressed in a fine three-piece looking suit, one fit for a goddess or at least an opera-tor. In contrast, I was dank and dirty, easily blending in with the dirt and smelling of dung that goes into it.
I took the tuxedo wearing critter into her new, albeit humble, abode. It wasn't much more than a shack in a nameless village but it was mine and now hers, as well.
With safe haven from the constant death and ever present chance of famine, she instantly took to her new home and owner. She seemed very pleased with the new situation as was I. But I wouldn't have begun this tale if things remained as such. And so I digress. The time soon came that I had to satisfy my desires of the flesh. I traveled into the nearby town, found a barbershop, and took a seat.
Now I don't necessarily consider myself a lucky guy but I think I definitely lucked out on this. My barber had to have been birthed from Freya herself because the unnatural level of beauty she possessed seemed not to be from Midgard, or any mortal plane for that matter. She had hair as dark as a moonless night and it went down just passed her shoulders. Her eyes were like the coat of a newborn foal, a deeply rich and shining brown. Her skin, as if she had been soaked in condensed milk and neglected to towel off.
That all aside, after a minute or two of gawking, almost definitely making her uncomfortable, I finally sat in the chair and she began to caress my scalp. She wrought and wrangled my mane until it was tame. I said my thanks and left when it was over.
I finished some other chores in the town and headed home.
The next few days passed by fairly quietly, my new cat enjoyed her time and we mostly just spent our days resting. I had started calling her Smeagol because even though she had a beautiful coat, the markings on her face gave her a feral look. I would drink a few beers most nights, some nights I would get pretty drunk but the sixth night after my return, I knew I was fairly sober going to bed. But a few hours after falling asleep, probably around midnight, I was, gently enough, woken up by two people in full kit.
"Come." said one as they moved outside.
Fucking officers.
I didn't recognize the silhouettes but I knew the job and was quickly up and throwing my gear on. When I was ready, I walked out and even though it was a dark, moonless night, it was slightly brighter than inside and I could see the soldiers a bit better. Their gear looked fancy and well thought out, a stark contrast to my standard issue kit. The vehicle this time were motorcycles, I don't ride so I hopped on behind one of the officer ladies but leaned back so as not to be inappropriate.
In a flash, though, Smeagol had managed to jump into my lap a split second before we took off. I tried calling out to the officer but it was too quiet and I figured I could leave her with my commander at the Command Post. With this in mind, I just held her tight in my lap and prayed she didn't fall off. To my chagrin, being so scrunched up actually made my pretty comfortable and I somehow feel asleep. I only woke up when the bike started to slow over a bridge. I stared out into the darkness of what I imagined would be a lake if it wasn't so dark. The bridge led to a village with walls around it.
Strange.
We passed through the gate and came to a stop near the entrance of the village. It looked to be a large and exquisite building, although it's hard to say definitively in the dark. After getting off the bikes, I tried to tell them about Smeagol but they didn't seem to care. Cats are fairly common at command so I assume she'll be taken care of and they just didn't think much of it but I'd have preferred something a bit more concrete.
I didn't think too long about it and ran into the building because the drone threat is ever present even if you can't hear one. After getting inside, I looked around for my commander, I entered a large hall and after a quick look around didn't see him. The hall was filled with people, beautiful people, all geared in some serious top of the line shit. Also, weirdly enough, most of them have shit for hand to hand combat, shit like swords, shields, axes, and even a fucking warhammer.
Fucking officers.
"Uh, hey, I'm with 11th battalion, easy company, does anyone know what I'm supposed to be doing?" I just sort of asked to noone in particular.
Most of them were seated at a large table, eating and talking amongst themselves. They barely acknowledged me but a big guy with an eye patch sitting at the opposite end of the table looks over and motions for me to come over. I gave a slight nod, head over, and stand at a half-assed parade rest while waiting for my orders.
"Relax, little soldier, sit, eat, drink to your fill, in the future there is much work to be done but tonight you may be at ease." He said and I immediately followed.
"I brought you here so we could discuss preparations for the future." He continued.
"Then why'd you call me? Why not Oxide?" I asked trying not to let my annoyance be too apparent.
"I tried but he is difficult to get a hold of, it seems. That seat there," he pointed to an empty seat at the head of the table, "was for him."
"Just go through the official channels, he's good and will follow orders."
"Of this, I'm well aware." He paused somewhat wistfully as I began to tear into the feast.
The food was pretty appetizing but the beer was what really drew my attention. Fuck it, not a workday. I thought as I started downing them from their fancy cups, cups that looked like horns. The commander introduced himself as Grim and he'd been watching us and said he was fairly impressed, especially with Oxide.
"So, uh, where's the pisser?" My thoughtful interrogation continues.
"You may relieve yourself outside."
"Shouldn't I be worried about drones?"
"You needn't."
Good enough for me. I was too drunk to give a fuck anyway.
Up to this point, Smeagol had been sleeping in my lap as I got plastered but she jumped up and away when I got up. I walked out and found a nice bush then let loose. It was so dark and I so hammered that I didn't notice the giant wolf sleeping right nearby. And unfortunately for me, it woke up because of the sound of a torrent of piss streaming next to it. When it slowly got up, I noticed it and yelped in surprise. I probably would have pissed myself if I hadn't been in the process of pissing not myself.
I hadn't realized it but Smeagol had followed me out and quickly jumped between me and the wolf. The wolf's mouth alone looked like it could fit my entire arm down to my bicep. So the odds of this tiny cat doing fuck all were slim to none. I weighed my options and decided that I would run up, grab the cat, and make like hell for safety.
Unfortunately, just before I could act, Smeagol surprised the wolf and I both. She swiped at him and took a defensive posture. Then continuing on the offensive, she pounced on his giant paw and took a bite. The wolf could have easily just crushed her under the weight of his paw alone. But for whatever reason it seemed to yield. It flopped to the ground and ceased any hostile actions.
Smeagol, the gloatful little bastard, took a victory lap by climbing onto the wolf's belly and kneading into it before I carefully inched forward and grabbed her. She gave a little cry in protest but I was already running the fuck out of there. This little ordeal managed to sober me up a bit and so I was in dire need of more booze.
I sat back down and told Commander Grim what happened and he only responded with, "Interesting." Yeah, no fucking shit.
The rest of the night was fairly normal, whatever you consider normal for being woken up in the middle of the night just to get drunk with some hoity-toity officer types. And eventually the beautiful bikers, did I mention they were beautiful, because once I got a look at them in the light, I realized they were drop dead gorgeous, not that any of these officers were even close to being non-runway model pretty. But yeah, eventually they came and led me to the bikes and drove me home, a ride during which I once again managed to fall asleep during.
Once back in my bed I only woke up early in the morning with Oxide yelling for me from outside.
"Chazz, you drunk motherfucker, wake up we have training, remember?"
No, what the fuck.
"Yeah, my bad, let me get my armor on and I'll be right out."
I got kitted up and stepped in the vehicle, this time making sure Smeagol was not coming for any joyrides.
"Are you fucking hungover? You smell like straight beer."
"Hey, good morning to you too."
"What the fuck are you doing getting wasted before training?"
"To be fair, some officers brought me to CP and told me to get drunk, technically it was an order."
"What are you even talking about?"
"Dude, I have no idea, they said they invited you but you didn't show up."
"Whatever, just don't fuck up during training."
"Can do, baby boo."
He rolled his eyes, blasted the stereo, and we were off.
We soon arrived at Black Fishes safehouse and after a brief wait, he showed up and loaded up the car.
"Hey Fish." I said as he sat down.
"Hey, Oxide, hey Chazz, are you drunk? You reek of alcohol."
"Hey." Oxide replied before starting off.
"Na, just a bit hungover. Figured you could use the training after I accidentally shoot myself today." I explained.
"Funny, try not to get hurt though."
"No promises."
After about an hour of driving around, and a quick stop for breakfast we made it to the training field. We got out, did some movements ourselves before the newer guys arrived. Once they arrived we helped and trained with them and that was the day. The night was fairly uneventful, had a beer or two, cuddled with Smeagol while watching some Netflix, and soon sleep took hold of me.
Once again, the pretty, biker officer ladies woke me up in the dead of night in much the same manner.
"Come." She said as I started to stir.
"Wait, if it's the same drinking thing as yesterday, do I need my armor?"
"Yes."
Fucking officers.
I kitted up, grabbed Smeagol and my rifle, and hopped on her bike. Strangely, I once again fell asleep on the journey but we arrived at the same place. I confidently walked in and took my seat next to Commander Grim.
"Good evening, sir." I greeted him.
"Good evening."
"Oxide said he didn't know about the meeting, are you sure this is authorized?"
"Worry not, we have other matters to discuss."
"Can I still drink?"
"Of course." He said with a slight smile.
I put Smeagol down and she started investigating the area and the other officers. None of them seemed to mind her much so I pulled some of the grilled mystery meat and filled my fancy drinking cup. After I downed about one and a half cups, Grim looked to me rather grimly.
"About your mission in a few days, there is Intel about Gornich being present on the battlefield, it would be beneficial for us if your team could eliminate him."
Gornich was a high tier enemy combatant. Everyone had heard the stories, he snuck into a position, undetected, killed everyone inside, moved to another and captured everyone. Then he returned back to the front, fucked up some more shit and easily slipped past heavy drone presence, walked through our mine field and went home. We know where he was because we could track his radio communications but only his prisoners ever saw him. I don't know who these officers think we are but I doubt we're equipped to handle a dude like that.
"Uh… sure, I'll let the guys know and uh… we'll see what we can do."
"Good, I have something that can help." Commander Grim motioned to another officer with one arm to come over. He brought over a leather bag and opened it to show it had a couple hundred rounds inside.
"These will help with anything that causes you problems on your mission."
"Uh… thanks, but we have plenty of ammo."
"Just carry these and if you find use for them, then go to task with them."
"Ok." As I take the bag and put it next to me, the one-armed officer stared at me questioningly.
"Is it true your animal bested the wolf?" The one-armed officer finally asked.
"I wouldn't say that, I think she just scared him a bit."
Both men chuckled lightly at that and they motioned for me to continue drinking. I, of course, obliged. Eventually, Smeagol returned to my side and I put her in my lap as they two men eyed her proudly.
"If you want, you can pet her, she's very friendly." I offered.
"A-are you sure?" The one-armed officer said, eyeing her carefully now.
"Yeah, give it a go." I smiled as I picked her up.
He gave her a light pet. Eventually, he took to her and pet her more vigorously. We finished our drinks and meal and then I got a ride home and knocked out for the rest of the night, Smeagol also being content with the days developments. When I woke in the morning, early afternoon really, Oxide was at my door again. He was impatiently staring at me when I walked out to relieve myself.
"We have a mission, day after tomorrow, mission briefing soon. Sounds like you, me, and Fish." Oxide coolly told me.
"Kay-kay." I replied even more coolly.
"Hey guys, did I miss the briefing?" Black Fish said as he walked up.
"Na, Lassie hasn't shown up yet." Oxide replied.
We waited around, drinking some energy drinks and talking some possible tactics. Eventually, we hear Commander Lassie's vehicle and get the table ready for him. He walks in, greets us and gets straight into it.
"The mission is an assault, there's an enemy position built into the side of a hill, it's well fortified and well defended. They've got constant jamming so we can't get any drones close by, so we need you guys to shturm. Comprende el comraderen?" Commander Lassie pauses his brief and looks about.
"If it's such an obvious position, why haven't they arty-ed it to shit?" I ask.
"The artillery keeps getting taken out before they can set them up, it seems they're watching the area constantly." He answers.
"What's the infil plan?" Oxide asks.
"4-kay total, we drop you off, you walk 3-kay to the staging area where friendlies will be waiting to take you the rest of the way." He notices our obvious dismay at having to run 3km through drones and artillery before doing an assault "But don't worry, it will be easy, you guys are supporting the friendlies who will be taking point."
"Ok, how long do we have to hold it?" Black Fish chimes in.
"In and out. You capture positsiya, you get on vehicle and come home. Is no problem." Lassie tells us as if we haven't heard those words before.
"Any more questions?" He continues.
"What's the QRF plan if we take casualties?" Oxide asks.
"No more questions of this line." Lassie parrots his signature catchphrase.
Great, no support and no hope. Easy day.
"And with that, the briefing is over, pack your shit and be ready for pick up the day after tomorrow." Lassie orders.
"Yes, sir."
"Okaaay."
"Huuuaaah."
Fish, Oxide, and I say our affirmation in near unison.
"Oh and Chazz, no drinking until you get back." He says before starting to pack up the map.
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir." I reply coyly.
After he leaves we discuss specifics, with a bit more apprehension than we had let on to the commander.
"So I'll be in front with my 40 mike, then Chazz, then Fish. We'll bound up and take the bunker just like in training." Oxide says, all business.
"Sounds good but you guys should come to my place, Commander Grim gave us a present." I replied.
"Seriously, no alcohol, not even if it's from your new drinking buddies, Chazz." Oxide chides.
"No, not that, just come and look."
We walked over to my house, they greet the lady of the house and I pull out the leather bag. I open the bag to show them the ammo.
"So it's just more ammo? We have plenty already." Black Fish remarked.
"Na, I said the same thing to Grim and he said it's super special ammo. And look," I pick one up to show the them the tips, "it's got some special gold tip on it."
"I don't know how much it's actually going to help us." Oxide said.
"Just load a single mag with it, he said when the time is right, we should use it."
"I think we need to watch who you're drinking with, they're putting hocus pocus bullshit in your head." Oxide said incredulously.
"Trust, ninjas."
They reluctantly loaded one mag each with the new ammo and after we went to a local restaurant, we separated. The rest of the day and the next went fairly normally. I spent my time checking and rechecking my equipment and getting mentally prepared to die to man-made horrors within my comprehension, as Black Fish likes to put it.
Mission day came and as usual, we were picked up in the dead of night. We drove quietly to the Command Post, did some final checks on gear, radios, etc and were in the armored car by dawn. It drove us down the desolate road, I said my prayers, gave Oxide and Fish a reassuring smile and soon the vehicle came to a stop.
We jump out the vehicle and run to the nearest cover as mortars start hitting the spot the vehicle had stopped at just moments ago. We get deeper into cover, lie down and wait it out. So far, business as usual.
"Alright, let's move fast and get this shit done." Oxide orders. Probably more of a reminder since none of us wanted to be out in the open for very long.
We step off and make a brisk jog for the 3km to the meeting point. Which in full kit was not an easy task but we do what we must. A couple drones fly over, some shelling here and there but nothing critical and eventually we arrive at the friendly blendage. After resting, drinking water, eating some snacks, and pounding our Non-stop energy drinks we had over to the friendlies to figure out what's happening, when.
"So you guys from easy company will go in first and we'll support your movements." Says what I imagine is the friendly field commander.
"No, our orders are to support you." Oxide says, his annoyance palpable.
"No, no, no, orders changed, you first now, ask your commander." The field commander says, standing his ground.
"God fucking dammnit." Oxide says before keying his radio "Command Post, this is Oxide, come in."
"This is Lassie, send your message."
"The friendlies say the mission is changed, that we're supposed to take point, that's not what we were briefed."
"They are correct. Now shturm."
"This is fucking bullshit."
"Aha, your frustrations are duly noted."
"Well you guys heard it, ready when you are." Oxide says addressing us.
"I'm green, Fish how ya feeling?"
"This is fucked man." Black Fish says dropping his medical bag.
"That it is, little buddy, but we got a job and I got a kitty waiting for some treats so let's get this shit done." I said, trying to fake confidence.
"Just calm down, Fish, leave the medical bag here and stay behind us." Oxide reassures him with a pat on the back.
The path from the friendly blendage to the enemy bunker is fairly straightforward, it's a shallow zigzagging trenchline that snakes it's way up hill and enters into a fork, one path of which leads to the bunker. We take a moment to catch out breaths and line up.
We exit out the entrance and move slowly, very low towards the trenchline. Once we enter the friendlies open fire on the bunker to suppress them and we offer a few shots as well before starting a mad dash. We get about two hundred meters down before…
Shhhuuueeeee…
"INCOMI-"
…BOOM
"ARTILLERY STAY LOW AND KEEP MOVING!"
SHUU…BOOM
One lands very close and I duck for cover.
"YOU GUYS GOOD?"
"GREEN"
"OXIDE GOOD KEEP MOVING"
zip. zip. zip.
"FUCKING FRIENDLIES AREN'T SUPPRESSING FOR SHIT"
"JUST KEEP MOVING, POP OUT TO SHOOT IF YOU NEED TO"
zip. zip. SHUU…BOOM
"ALL GOOD?"
"YEAH"
"I'M HIT OH FUCK OH SHIT"
"CHAZZ, WHERE ARE YOU HIT?"
"MY SHOULDER, IT'S FUCKING BURNING"
Black Fish runs up and checks my arm.
"Your arm, like on your armor?"
"Yeah."
"Looks like you're good, it didn't go through your kevlar."
"El oh El."
"OXIDE HE'S GOOD, CONTINUE THE MOVEMENT"
"I'M GONNA STOI" Oxide likes to call his 40mm grenade launcher the stoi launcher because that's the sound they make leaving his barrel.
"SUPPRESSING"
stoi…BLAM
"GO. GO. GO."
We get another six hundred meters down doing this and I see Oxide taking cover near a slight berm so I drop down a little ways away and do the same. I signal to Fish to also take cover. We fire rounds out as much as practicable. Oxide eventually looks over to me.
"THERE'S AN OPEN AREA, 100 METERS, I'LL GO FIRST. YOU GUYS SUPPRESS"
"YO FISH, OPEN AREA AHEAD, OXIDE FIRST, THEN ME, THEN YOU, WE GOTTA SUPPRESS FOR HIM"
"PLUS PLUS"
"OXIDE MOVING"
"COVERING" x2
Oxide starts running.
SHUU…BOOM
I look over as I take cover from the shell and see it explode next to oxide. Oxide gets launched like a foot or two in the air and maybe ten feet to his left.
"FUCK OXIDE"
"WAS HE HIT"
"NOT SURE HE'S NOT MOVING"
I fire another round of suppression.
"OXIDE"
I look over and see him get up to his hands and knees. He starts shaking his head a bit.
"OXIDE YOU GOOD"
"YEAH"
"THEN YOU GOTTA MOVE BUDDY"
"FUCK YOU"
He gets up and sprints the rest of the way. He sets up maybe twenty or thirty feet from the opening.
"OXIDE SET"
"FISH I'M GOING, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE"
stoi…BLAM
That's my cue
I'm up and running, fuck this is hard. I run for what feels like hours then hit the dirt near the opening. I post up my rifle on top of the berm and start my own suppression.
""CHAZZ SET"
"FISH MOVING"
stoi…BLAM
As Black Fish passes the open area I grab him and pull him to me.
"TAKE MY SPOT I'M MOVING UP"
I make my way to Oxide.
"JUST A HUNDRED METERS TO TARGET, I'LL TAKE POINT"
I get up and run past Oxide. I get to fork intersection and post up on the corner. An enemy soldier comes into view and I open fire on him. I continue putting rounds into the bunker as Oxide runs past. I feel Black Fish tap me and I stack up with Oxide. We clear the open area to the bunker entrance as Black Fish joins us. Fish is covering our rear.
"PREPPING FRAG"
"FRAG OUT"
snap…BOOM
As soon as my grenade goes off, Oxide peaks in and blasts everything on full auto.
"CHANGING MAG"
I push Oxide behind me as he reloads.
"BACK IN FIRE"
"MOVING"
I move inside and start clearing. I see an enemy. I shoot him. Then switch to auto and lay into him. He's still standing. What the fuck. He runs over to me. As he closes in, I release my rifle, letting the sling take it. I pull my knife. He reaches over and I twist around. He manages to grab my left arm. I have enough room to contort my body to get my right arm under his left. Fucking got ya, bitch. I thrust my knife as hard as I can into his armpit.
Then it shatters. What the hell is this g- he grabs me with both arms and chucks me against a wall. The air is knocked out of my lungs. I try to raise my hands in defense. He bats them away. He grabs my neck armor and lifts me up and tosses me to the ground. At some point I realized Oxide and Fish had been shooting him during my struggle. I grab my rifle and use it like a pole to keep him off of me.
"Th...e spe…cial am…mo ple…ase…"
I vaguely hear a reload and shooting before he crumples on me.
I close my eyes and catch my breath as Oxide and Fish move to clear the rest of the bunker. I grab my rifle and join them. There's only 3 rooms and they were all empty so basically just another training scenario. We all sit down and light up cigarettes after gulping water from our CamelBaks.
"So what the fuck was that guy?" Black Fish is the first to voice our collective thought.
"I'm guessing Gornich, Grim said I might need the special ammo for him." I responded.
"Maybe we were wrong about your little butt buddy." Black Fish chided.
"Yeah, you guys should meet him, he likes Smeagol, too."
"Friendlies coming in!" We hear from the outside.
"Well, whatever that was, good work lads." Oxide finally says.
"Command post, this is Oxide, come in." Back on the radio.
"This is Lassie, send your message."
"Assault successful."
"Ho-oly shit. You guys actually did it, haha."
We had to sit and hold the position for another couple of hours. We accepted many congratulations, ate some snacks, and smoked plenty of cigarettes offered by the friendlies while we waited. I went over to the body of Gornich and found what looked like dogtags. I took them off and the other guys took some of his gear as trophies. The dogtags said Heracles on them which I assume was his real name and 'Gornich' must have been his call sign.
The walk back to pickup site was fairly uneventful. We waited about an hour for the vehicle to arrive, jumped on and were enroute. Got back to command post, took our congratulations in stride, Oxide let command know that he wasn't happy about being tricked, and we headed home. Commander Lassie let me stop for some beers and after another round of congratulations I was drinking alone with Smeagol. I was expecting another visit tonight so I didn't get too drunk.
After a bit of unwinding, I fell asleep. And wouldn't you know it, I was woken up in the dead of night. The familiar word and silhouettes, the same routine, grab Smeagol, and climb on the bike. We arrived at the drinking hall and it was more festive than usual. A couple of officers pat me on the back as I made my way to Commander Grim.
"Hello, sir." I said, shit eating grin covering my whole face.
"I take it you were successful?" He said not hiding his incredulousness.
"Indeed." I handed over the dogtags.
He inspected the little metal coins with vested intrigue.
"Is it ok for me to start drinking, sir?"
"Of course." He said jovially.
I started at the meal and, of course, the drinks. They were a bit sweeter today. Smeagol began her inspection of the area and was given love by each person she passed. Not a 'fucking officers' kind of day, how nice.
"Those bullets you gave saved my life, sir. I don't know what drugs Gornich was on but regular bullets and even my knife didn't so much as scratch him." I reported.
"Good, this was a good start but the battles to come will be more fierce, steady your mind and heart." he said returning to his usual stoic self.
"Plus plus, sir. But what about Oxide and Black Fish, how come they never get invited here?" I asked.
"Hmm, indeed they should dine and drink with us. We hadn't reached out to them after the first night. Possibly we'll have to make another effort." He said while stroking his beard.
"I could tell them to stay with me next time you invite us and make it easier for you." I offered.
"That will do. Be ready with them tomorrow, your next mission is soon and I should like to meet these fine warriors."
"Roger that, sir."
As I continued to get wasted, a younger, long-haired officer with a face like a German 'Chris Hemsworth' walked over, beaming. He gave me a heavy slap on the back and congratulated me and sat down to drink.
"I can't believe you pulled that off." He started
"Well it wasn't only me, I really just mooched off my team, if anything you should be congratulating Sergeant Oxide for his leadership and Black Fish for his bravery." I replied.
"As I would very much like to do." He said, after downing the entire cup of beer in a single gulp.
After some time, the call of nature rang and I was obliged to answer. I head outside taking special care to avoid the wolf's area. It seemed to be in the same place as last time. As I was intently watching it, a little shadow ran past me and towards the wolf. Fuck, not again.
"Smeagol! No! You fucking asshole!" I called out but it was too late.
She was with striking range of the wolf before I could grab her and I had to keep my distance. I was watching, waiting for an opportunity like last time to grab her again. But it didn't seem the necessary, the wolf stirred when she approached but didn't take a threatening posture. If anything, the looked like the wolf was 'bending the knee', so to speak, to the little cat.
I cautiously inched over and the wolf started growling at me. Smeagol, in response, chirped at the wolf and it immediately backed up. Well, I guess a cat that knows war knows a thing or two about survival. I watched as she sniffed the wolf and inspected it thoroughly. After she was done, she walked back to me. I picked her up and she started purring instantly.
I turned back to go back inside and realized we had an audience. It looked to be about four people, the one-armed officer and one of the biker girls were the only ones I recognized.
"Sorry, is that someone's pet? I think Smeagol here domesticated it for you." I said sheepishly.
One of the men chuckled at that and we all started back inside.