Chapter Text
1315 Hours, December 17 2471,
District 1, Liberté et Égalité.
Republic of San Magnolia.
Second Lieutenant Nataša Sedláčková.
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Yet another chilly December day in District 1, even around noon the temperature was often too cold for anyone to really want to do anything outside. Yet the Legion never rested, because of that neither would the people working to protect the citizens who depended on them. That and the people who fought below them on the front lines, who depended on their support. It was their duty and what they were tasked with doing.
Down the long and elegant halls of the former seat of power for the Republic of San Magnolia, the Palace Blancneige had long since been converted into the headquarters for the armed forces of the Republic Military in their war against the legion. Yet a collection of individuals would walk down the hallways at a brisk pace. Each of them wearing the Prussian blue uniform of a Republic Military officer and handler. The person who headed the small gaggle however..
She, unlike those beside her, wore a black uniform rather than the traditional ornate designs. One which almost conveyed a sense of mourning.
While walking down a man would speak up to her, his rank denoting him likely a second Lieutenant and his question was really more of a statement. His silver hair slightly slicked back in a military cut.
"Captain Milizé. We've run through the data gained from the last three recon missions led by Cyclops. It seems as if your estimates were correct on the Legion's next position."
His voice, while a bit anxious, likely hinting at something being off, the tone was enough for anyone beside him to at least feel that their Captain had it under control. She was the best handler in the entire republic armed forces after all. Just a few extra Legion would be of little trouble to someone as experienced and skilled as she was.
Captain Milizé for her part seemed almost as if she was expecting it, her expression only slightly furrowing, turning to the about 3 other officers beside her. Her response was plain but covered the point.
"Just as I suspected. This makes things more serious than I first thought. At 0600 I'll mobilize the Brísingamen squadron to ambush their exact location, the operation will be carried out as originally planned, however the problem now is that the Legion is only getting closer to other 86 FOBS. I'll be counting on you all to alert the handler of the Headhunter squadron of this development. We'll run through the current supplies Brísingame has, but after the recent resupply we shouldn't have to worry about a limited supply scenario. They did send everything I listed, correct?"
Her logistics officer, a woman with a “bob” haircut would now chime in having remained silent for the most part, the woman stood around the same height as Lena around 160 centimeters. Holding a clipboard she had reviewed the supply manifest and of course what was needed. Getting everything her Captain needed was to say the least..
Hard.
The Chain of Command in the logistics department almost seemed to work in complete opposition to her efforts. When Lena requested support it was almost always denied and she had to “pull teeth” to get something as basic as an ammunition dump or parts delivery to the Squadrons which worked both under Captain Milizé and the few other Handlers alongside them.
"Yes Captain. The usual assortment of rounds were given along with the special incendiary rounds you requested."
The Bob Haired woman then responded, she absolutely could have gotten farther into detail about what assortment of equipment that Lena could have expected from the supply drop. It was never anything special, always the APFSDS ammunition the Juggernauts used to even hope to penetrate the armor of the Legion. Her Captain however was quite resourceful and creative, while the Lieutenant had some reservations about using incendiaries against armored targets like the Legion. She trusted her Captain's judgment.
Nobody in that group was dumb, the Legion certainly appeared to be trying to push through an abandoned town in the 86th sector, which would make it easy for them to set up another forward operating base. With it so close to an 86 squadron, it would send a full group and turn them into dwindling numbers in a matter of hours if it wasn't tackled accordingly. The Legion could spring up factories to produce more machines in a flash, so the reality of a full squadron being wiped off the map was real. Then It would just open up the gateway for them to prepare a proper attack on the Republic.
“Lena” carried forward almost stepping by another girl, one the group had basically never seen before. Their “Blood stained queen” as some of the 86 and even a few other handlers had taken to calling her uncaring of what was going around her.
"Good work. The Brísingame squadron will be sent out on one last recon before the operation. If there are any new findings, the data will be sent to you all after being processed by m-...me."
Then she froze. Lena for her part had not at all expected to see the “New Girl” here. If anything nobody in this entire group of officers expected to see her again, she was some nobody from the logistics department and many of them had tried to become handlers but for reasons known only to those higher up on the chain had been declined. Such rejection was what often led many of them to become frustrated with the Republic and take out their anger on the 86 while delivering supplies.
They all noticed the new girl actually.
The Lieutenant with the bob haircut was the one who spoke up first, not directly to her captain but to the man beside her. She had heard some rumors that the Colonel was aiming to see if she was cut out to be a handler. Something like that was rare even by their admittedly lackluster standards.
"Isn't she the girl from the logistics department the colonel is testing? I wonder what she's done to get his attention."
Her question was not one which was completely without any sense of merit. With the rarity of anyone getting the Colonels attention and how this girl seemed so just… boring? Her Captain had plenty of lackluster social skills and seemed to only care about her job but she was expressive and well, human. This new girl seemed to just stare right through anyone who looked at her face. She looked like an Alba for sure, the Lieutenant was sure of that. Not only was she an Alba but she was a Celena, one of the rarer subgroups of Alba. One thing the Lieutenant could also pick out.
The Scars.
This girl had a few she could see even past the shades which covered around her eyes, some looked like battle scarring which she had seen before on the older veterans of the Original Republic military that survived the conflict before they reorganized their military against the Legion. Some of them looked too precise to be caused by battle wounds though. She did not get much time to ponder these thoughts.
"Whatever it was, it had to have been impressive to get his attention. Good for her."
Her colleague then replied to her, the man from before. Lieutenant Banhart was his name, he seemed equally as curious as she was with everything relating to this strange new girl who seemed almost as if you gave a Legion a “human form” for lack of a better term.
He however was impressed that even though she managed to not only get the attention of the Colonel but Lena herself, their Captain was very difficult to “get too” . She was closed off and even with them she really only engaged with them in terms of work and the war. Lieutenant Banhart had never really seen her outside of work on a more informal basis, it made someone that even though they trusted as deeply as their Captain. Still almost a complete stranger to them.
Lena would not give the pair much time to rest or even ponder the thoughts about the new girl, Even the time to just “look at her” was very limited with what came next. Lena had made a promise to Carolin after all and it was to ensure that her secret stayed with her and her alone.
"You all are dismissed. You're free to return to your assigned duties."
Lena then broke the silence, her voice staying cool and collected. She had grown quite a bit, her demeanor even now seemed to be one which exhumed confidence and experience. It was in stark contrast to the stranger she had agreed to help who while they carried themselves like a soldier to any of the support staff looked just like she was wishing to remain out of the ire of anyone in the entire building.
Yet just like that, everyone alongside Lena responded with a salute, the group breaking apart and scattering, probably to their own stations. Lena had someone else she had to focus on for now, and that was Carolin. Lena would jump a bit though, since seeing Carolin reminded her that her cover had to be off. She'd just tuck it under her arm and give Carolin a salute. Carolin outranked her still... In a setting like this, she couldn't drop the act.
Second Lieutenant Nataša Sedláčková parted from Lena taking her leave, Major combat operations for the time had ended. She had elected to grab lunch in the cafeteria with some other officers. Specifically Second Lieutenant Banhart who had asked her if she was busy, Sedláčková was many things but oblivious was not one of them. She could not lie to herself, she was very curious about who this new girl was and more importantly how she got both the Colonel and Lena’s attention. No upstart could do that so easily.
Yet that would just have to wait.
Nataša returned to her office with a bit of tea she had picked up, she had more forms and paperwork to fill out. Each of it being not only for what likely will be Lena’s supply requisitions but also to deal with the ever increasing workload being placed upon her by those above her. Nataša knows they are just attempting to prevent Lena from her objective. Even then it resulted in many sleepless nights for the poor girl.
After about an hour or so of work Nataša checked the time, and realizing it was already time to meet Nathan Banhart for Lunch, scooping up a few things she needed, she hurried out of the door to her office and down the hallway. She was already going to be late at this rate, even the thought of missing an event almost made Nataša anxious. Yet she made it, with some time to spare as well. The Alba with a bob haircut entered the cafeteria and quickly spotted the guy she was looking for. With a hurry over she quickly started apologizing for her tardiness.
“Sorry! I was not trying to be late, I just got caught up on some work!”
While she was not that panicked, her voice was a bit concerned and apologetic, Nataša had promised Nathan she would make it to lunch at the agreed upon time. Yet here they stood and she was…
…5 minutes late.
To most people that would not be a big deal, even Nathan Banhart sort of did not really care too much, his expression remained quite cheerful and without much in the way of a care befalling him This was even reflected in his response.
“You know you are not really that late, Nataša. It's fine. Sit down.”
He in response motioned for her to take a seat across from him, the two colleagues after all both took a particular interest in this strange new person. Yet on top of her they also had become pretty good friends and even simple things like what they had planned for the weekend crossed their minds. Nathan usually avoided the topics which he struggled with like romance. Even then though it was nice to just sit down and talk to someone.
“So? How was work today? Any thoughts on that New Girl, the Major?”
The man wasted no time in asking questions, he had plenty of ideas and thoughts which could possibly be what his colleague thought about all of these new and unique developments. Even then nothing beats directly asking the person in question about all of it. He had plenty and depending on how Nataša responds it's possible he may just end up with even more.
Nataša paused and brought her finger to her chin thinking about it, she had a lot of questions. Part of her was just thinking how best to address them to her friend, she could just rapid fire. Or be very tactical about it… She was just going to rapid fire all of them.
“Honestly? Work was the same as always, It's just like dealing with the incompetent morons in the higher positions of the government. Sometimes I wonder if those idiots ever pull their heads out of their asses and realize we are going to lose this war if nobody does anything.”
While Nataša agreed with how Lena treated and viewed the 86, she also understood how wasteful the Republic was with the people who are giving everything to defend a country which could care less about them. Part of it made her blood boil and even Nathan could tell dealing with the people in leadership who could care less drove Nataša crazy more than anything else.
“So.. Same old same old.”
With a heavy sigh, Nataša set a drink she had picked up earlier. It was only a bottle of water, Nathan had already started working on his food and Nataša at the moment could not be bothered to get up and go get anything to eat… Even the thought of theorizing about this new girl was enough to get her mind going.
“But… That new girl? Honestly I have so many questions. Did you notice her scars? She looks like she has actually been on the battlefield, not like me when I go to give a Squadron some extra rounds… Like uhh..”
Nataša paused trying to come up with something to at least sort of explain what she was getting at. This Major looked like at one point she fought with or maybe even was an 86, but Alba could not be made to be 86 could they? Well maybe someone who was deemed a traitor could. How could a traitor become a Major though?
“And 86! That's right, she reminds me of what some of the 86 looked like when I was supplying them with munitions for an operation. She even acts like some of the veteran ones which had seen a lot of combat.”
Finally Nataša settled down a bit, her attention returning to Nathan. She proceeded to ask him another question.
“What do you think? Am I overthinking things?”
While listening to everything Nathan just quietly let her ramble on about all of her questions, every single one of them happening to pertain to this strange girl who may have captured the attention not only of their Captain but also them as well. He had to admit he was not alone in wondering about her, for someone who seemed to have been dragged through hell and back she was admittedly…
Attractive?
Nathan did not know how to phrase it but he never really thought of someone who was a veteran of war to just look good. Part of him thinks she just took care of herself, that Major was after all almost impeccable in her uniform and how she walked. He thought Lena was the one who carried herself that way above them all and somehow they found someone who took their work even more seriously then her.
“Honestly, Nah… All things considered, Nataša that New Girl is all sorts of interesting. I didn't really see the scars you said she had, but I did notice how she carried her uniform. You saw she looked even more put together than our Captain? I didn't even know someone could do that, at least not here.”
He had a point, the new Major seemed to take everything extremely seriously and to an extent it made him wonder really who she fought with beforehand? Maybe she was part of the old military… No not possible she is far too young looking to have fought with the likes of Colonel Karlstahl.. So who exactly could she even be?
“.. I thought maybe she was part of the old guard.. Maybe, but she is too young. She looks maybe a year or so older than us.. Maybe you are right.. She could have been an 86 at one point.”
Nataša took in everything she was being told, all of it from someone she did trust. He made a point and to an extent. She agreed, there was more to this person than meets the eye, yet she did not have much time left. Just as Nataša checked her watch her eyes widened.
“Oh crap! Sorry Nathan.. I have to get back to work! I'll see you tomorrow!”
With that Nataša stood up taking her cover under her arm and with a little wave she brisky left the area. Leaving Nathan alone to his thoughts. She returned to her office and noticed a notification from her Captain.
“.. What could this be?”
Opening the file she looked at what it read.
[Good Evening Second Lieutenant Sedláčková,
I apologize for sending this out so late, but I am assigning you to also be the Logistics officer for Major Neustald. Please extend the same courtesy you have for me. Thank you.
Very Respectfully,
Captain Vladilena Milizé.]
Staring at this Nataša knew it could only mean one thing, she was getting another handler to work with. Checking the attached After Action File she felt her eyes expand slightly just as she started to scan the battle reports.
“She managed to do all that with such an understrength unit?”
The thought crossed Nataša’s mind, how could someone be this capable in strategy too? Lena was good at it, yes, in fact Lena was the best at strategy at least as far as Nataša knew. This would make the entire operation just.. More complicated, putting her head in her hands Nataša sighed a bit. Her workload is just going to get heavier.
“Great…. Guess I get what I wished for…. And more work..”