Chapter II
Everyone gathers at the firing range after the obligatory morning jog. The squad looks tired, but nobody says a word, they know better than to complain. They pick up their assault rifles, imported Brazilian ones unfortunately just like yours, and some of them prepare to start shooting.
“Who wants to remind me what should we do when we encounter the enemy?” You ask them just as two of them were about to pull the trigger. They turn around and listen.
“Fire at them until they drop dead Frau Feldwebel!” Gefreiter Oskaras Laukaitis answers.
“Are you sure Gefreiter Laukaitis?”
“Yes Frau Feldwebel!” He replies with confidence.
“Shoot me.”
“Frau Feldwebel?” He asks confused.
“Aim that damn rifle at me and pull the fucking trigger!” You yell, the rest of the squad is starting to get nervous, only the Unteroffizier remains calm as he appears to know what is going on.
“Frau Feldwebel, I can’t…”
“Do it or I’ll shoot you myself!” You interrupt him.
Hesitantly he aims at your body armor's chest plating, hoping it will stop the projectile. He pulls the trigger, nothing happens.
“Is that how you want to fire at the enemy Gefreiter? With the safety on?”
“No Frau Feldwebel!” The Lithuanian answers embarrassed.
“All of you remember this, you don’t just pick up your rifle and shoot until the enemy is dead. For one as you all just noticed there is this thing called a safety.”
They stand silent, while Paul smirks at the whole situation.
“Unteroffizier Muller,” you turn your head towards him and ask irritated, “did you just get some kind of new joke via your netlink implant or did you simply find the serious issues I am discussing here hilarious?!”
“Frau Feldwebel,” he responds with all seriousness expected from answering a question from his superiors, “I merely found the common rookie’s mistake amusing. I also want to report that I do not possess a netlink or any other implant.”
Odd, he could have gotten one if he wanted to. He is an NCO after all, this is most likely a personal preference. While the army doesn’t force anyone to get implanted due to political reasons most officers choose to get augmented in one way or another at least with a netlink. It is far more practical on the field than a wrist-mounted comm-terminal.
“In that case Herr Muller, if you are so well-versed in common rookie mistakes, list them and explain why every soldier should avoid them.”
“When in a tactical engagement we do not run up and shoot at the first chance we get until they drop dead.” He begins explaining. “You must first find a suitable firing position, preferably one limiting the enemy’s view of you. Higher ground, vegetation, buildings or walls are all good examples of such a position.”
The squad listens carefully, they concentrate on his words as you expect them to.
“Anything else Unteroffizier?”
“Obviously you also have to conserve ammunition, fire in short accurate bursts by switching the mode of fire on the rifle. Every time you reload you open yourself to a counter-attack.”
“Good, all of you remember that! The enemy wants nothing more than to see you lot standing like idiots out in the open and changing a magazine! Is that clear?”
“Yes Frau Feldwebel!” They answer like a choir.
You carefully observe as each and every one of them takes his turn to fire in three-shot bursts. The Unteroffizier makes the best shots, he could even be better at this than you. However you focus your attention on the rookies. As Gefreiter Beauvais fires you notice his firing position is a bit off. Quickly you correct him and his aim improves as the recoil’s impact on his accuracy is reduced.
Then you look at Gefreiter Anna Mazowiecka, she’s quite good, better than most of the rest at least, but she’s not using the sights the way she should.
“Gefreiter Mazowiecka, who taught you to shoot like that?”
“My instructor in basic training Frau Feldwebel!” She answers just like you expected she would.
“Every instructor in the Europareich Bundeswehr teaches every recruit to fire in the same damn way Gefreiter! Why are you not setting the sights according to the distance to your target?”
“It is a bad habit Frau Feldwebel!”
“A bad habit? Bad habits get you killed! You’re no good to the army when you’re dead! Here, this is how aim with the IA-7.”
You carefully instruct her how to aim. She seems to have remembered it as even a few hours later she’s aiming just like she should. Only Gefreiter Sven Borg is a better shooter than her, out of the rookies at least. The rest is average at best, but they are not making any technical mistakes, it is merely a matter of practice.
Well apart from Gefreiter Otto Richter, he is terrible, too terrible in fact. He shouldn’t have gotten out of basic, hell you guess he shouldn’t have passed the eye-sight test before he even got to basic. Something is very odd about this.
*
You are working on your computer terminal, checking the usual news and reports, writing notes on your squad. It is dark outside, the horizon shines with hundreds of lights, the refinery ones being the brightest as the window in your quarters faces the north-east.
The orange glow of the Optical Implant’s HUD informs you it is 20:14 GMT+1. Suddenly a red priority message indicator appears in the upper-left corner of your field of vision. The combat alert status indicator changes color from blue to orange, blinking mercilessly so that you notice it no matter how hard you would try not to. The base’s klaxons wail.
You concentrate focusing your mind on the concept of a priority message, the netlink’s neural interface picks up your thought pattern and displays the message blocking your view of the real world.
POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACK IN OLIVA, EXPLOSION AT THE FUCHS IMPLANT SALOON AND CLINIC, ELEVATED THREAT LEVEL, BASE IS ON ALERT, ALL OFFICERS REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM.
*
In the morning you went to yet another briefing regarding yesterday’s attack. It was a major fuck up, nobody got caught despite Gotenhafen’s squad being on patrol there. They are now all under arrest, apparently they decided to get drunk and hit on university students at one of the local bars because Gotenhafen was celebrating a birthday or something, no wonder he was so eager to have you do the patrol work for him. Or could he be involved in the attack somehow? You do not know, but it is a possibility.
Skorzeny dragged some sorry ass human piece of shit to base, apparently he tried to rape some refugee. The bastard stabbed and killed the Russian girl when the squad discovered him in some dark alley in Heibuden. A local and still no better than a mujahedin, this doesn’t bode well for the future.
Oberfeldwebel Thomerson reported nothing out of the ordinary, just some drunks making a lot of noise. Her squad helped secure the clinic after the attack.
With the situation escalating Major Edmund Schobel, the commander of the 32nd mechanized infantry company, wants every squad including yours ready for more attacks. Your orders for the moment are to ensure the situation does not escalate, under the current military doctrine you are free to do this in any way you wish within the resources at your disposal. Obviously you have some ideas and may need permission to do a few things, but you believe you can convince your superiors to let you do them.
Order needs to be maintained, you will…
A)…investigate the bombing site, question the employees and eyewitnesses.
B)…deal with the rape and murder case in Heibuden, news of it could cause an uproar in the refugee camp.
C)…interrogate Gotenhafen, find out if he is hiding something.
D)…drill your squad until they march like clockwork.
E)…convince the Major to let you take a Neinmask Sieben Transportpanzer out for a spin, see how the squad handles off-road driving and shooting from a vehicle.
Regarding your squad, maybe one of them needs to be talk to in private.
1) Inquire into Gefreiter Richter’s accuracy and how he got out of basic training despite it.
2) Don’t talk to Gefreiter Richter, try to dig up something regarding his training in his files.
3) Ignore Gefreiter Richter, scold Unteroffizier Muller for his smug attitude which potentially disrespectful to your authority as the leader of this squad.
4) None of the above is worth your time.
Choices A-C allow you to take half of the squad with you, so that they may support you and learn. Apart from the Unteroffizier who will have the rest jog or exercise in another way. Pick 4 people out of the following:
Beauvis, Mazowiecka, Osterhagen, Smith, Borg, Laukaitis, Bosch, Richter.