"I don't like young Colonels," the old man said.

Anders Stig did not change his expression. The general continued to regard him much as one regards a particularly untrustworthy sled dog; it could pull your team one minute, and lead you off of a cliff the next. It was best to put down such dogs, but depending on where you were, you might need to take the risk and keep it. Stig was such a dog. He was unorthodox by Drachman standards, and the Grand Army was uncomfortable with his rising career. He had sponsors, however. He was good, no doubt. And he was utterly amoral. That was useful, but intimidating. Even in the cold North, where men lived by a reality unknown to those of warmer climes, a man of Stig's compunction, or lack of it, was seen as…atypical.

"Young Colonels," Gen. Juda Larrson continued, "Have many ideas, untested ideas, and the dangerous power to implement them. They can cause a lot of trouble for the men above and below them. Financial trouble. Organizational trouble. Unwarranted trouble, to be frank."

"It is good, then, that I test my ideas before putting them into practice, sir," Stig countered.

"I did not give you leave to speak," Larrson replied, gently.

"I did not ask for leave, sir," Stig replied back, his tone diffident.

Larrson narrowed his eyes. "You are Gustav's dog. You are his 1st Commando's senior commander. Why does he send you to me?" Stig stood, opening his attache case, and removed several documents. He leaned over to place them on the desk in front of Larrson.

"The defeat at Briggs was costly," Stig noted, "And lost a valuable opportunity to try and make up for it with the swift transition of Fuehrer from Bradley to Grumman. The peace between us and Amestris will not last, but we are not in a good position to influence the direction of the war when it will occur."

"That is academic," Larrson grumbled. No arguments with that statement: the loss of the Expeditionary Force was a disaster, the failure to take any sort of initiative on the infighting in Central was worse, and it was clear that there would be a war between Drachma and Amestris. Not if, but when. The counterattack from Amestris had never come, and a shaky non-aggression status had been renewed, but…

The General muttered. It wouldn't hold, and that was that. Amestris and Drachma were simply too committed to the fight, and neither had won what could be called a truly decisive victory. Until then, hostilities would come and go. They were coming again. The General continued, "But we can't do much without Briggs in our possession. The mountain passes are too narrow, and that route is the one clear throat into the rest of Amestris. The Drachman way of war demands a highway like that for our tanks and artillery."

"Of course it does," Stig agreed, "It is fortunate, then, that I can deliver Briggs into your hands."

"What?" The audacity of the statement made the elder officer sit upright. He scanned over the documents in front of him. "These are," Stig explained, "The current personnel and equipment numbers for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Commando. 3rd is our training cadre, so they have not been included, and 5th is currently too understrength to be considered. As you can see, we can muster somewhere between 2500 to 3000 men. These are three independently mobile forces of hard men with intent."

"The special troops experiment, yes, I know," Larrson grumbled, this tired argument coming to bear again, "Gustav has been pushing that card ever since the defeat five years ago. What of it?"

"The Drachman way of war has been the same since the beginning of the Great Campaign," Stig continued, "Heavy cavalry supported by concentrated artillery and massed infantry. That requires maneuvering room, which Briggs does not give us. The wall is too big, too entrenched, and there are too many firing positions pointed north. Any mass formation we provide is simply an easy target."

"Again, what of it?"

"All the guns are pointed north."

Contrary to popular opinion among the average ranks, the Drachman military leadership was not only composed of a hereditary upper class of idiot officers. There were generals who were quick, who could think. Larrson grasped the significance of that statement. "It would be a real coup to bring an army against the rear of Briggs. It is too bad that we cannot do so." His eyes bore into Stig, curious to see what his response was.

Stig pointed to one sheet, a map of the area surrounding Briggs. "To our knowledge, the Briggs troopers have many of these mountain passes tied up with small garrisons and patrol posts. The Northern Army of Amestris tends to recruit from their frontier more than their central regions, so many of these men know the passes intimately. A few such soldiers can hold up a larger army very well. It doesn't help that, even in the summer months, the passes are largely frozen over. It would limit any movement of ground forces into these areas.

"However," he produced a wax pencil and began drawing arrows on the map, "There is a pass, here, that is wide enough for a larger contingent of troops. We've dubbed it the Throat. There is, in accordance, a larger garrison here, but a well-trained and superior force could defeat, or even bypass, that garrison and be down in the northern hinterlands where they can begin to maneuver."

"And come at Briggs from the rear. That is something we have considered, but we lack the ability to do it."

"Lacked."

Larrson blinked. "Lacked? What has Gustav cooked up?"

"The rest of the plan, sir, if you please," Stig continued, determined to hold that little piece of information until the end. "If you look at the fortress of Briggs, it is flanked on the east and west by two large rock formations. They count on those being insurmountable, but here, here, and here…those are points where mortar positions could easily be placed. The Briggs troops have seen it, as well, and posted troops in accordance. Again, a well-trained force can seize those positions, and what's more, use them as rally points to stage more troops."

"How…how could they bypass the rock formations and assault Briggs?" Larrson said, sensing the layout of the plan.

"One step at a time, sir," Stig reasoned. "First, our assault force at the Throat cuts through and begins rapid maneuvering here, to the plains on the south end of Briggs. The trails prevent the movement of large pieces of ordinance, but not infantry, and a large force of line troops can begin movement from here to the plains. We cannot hope to assault the fort with such a force, but we can isolate it. The assault on Briggs would be left up to these two forces…let's call them Commando East and Commando West. It is possible for them to infiltrate through smaller trails located," Stig made small marks near the two formations, "At these points, while attention is focused on the breakout at the Throat. We can't move the same number of troops on those trails as we can at the Throat, but we can place rally sizable forces at these spots.

"Using mortars to clear the topside of the fortress and smoke to mask our movements, we can deploy troops via ropes down the cliff face to seize the roof. From there, we can begin to assault downward through the fortress. This is ideal, sir. Any building can be taken from the ground up, but taking it from the roof down is twice as effective, and preferable."

Larrson leaned back. "Gustav has been keeping secrets," he said with a smile.

"The Commando that he set out to create can deliver Briggs to you. We can move through those passes with ease, push down into the hinterlands, and raise havoc in Amestris. We can open up opportunities for more traditional infantry forces to seal in Briggs, and make any counterattack hesitate until the fortress is seized. We can move, dig in, kill, and move again. It is not the Drachman way of standing and fighting, but this will win us the Southern frontier," Stig said.

The general nodded. He looked over the manifests again; there were odd pieces of equipment here and there. Skies, uniform requirements he did not recognize…there was a serial designation on the rifles that marked them as prototypes. "Why are you presenting this, and not Gustav?"

"This was my plan, as drafted by me and my staff," Stig explained, "Gen. Gustav therefore directed me to present my plan to you."

"Because the High Command would otherwise not hear it," Larrson added. "I will need an inspection of the Commando, before you receive my endorsement. I know that you have been secretive about it, but I need to see what it is you and your…wolf pups have been cooking up." The General leaned back, his eyes closed. "Can you truly do this? Take the rear of the fortress with so few men and hold off the might of the Amestris army in that time?"

"Is the General's schedule free in three days time?"

"Of course it is," Larrson said, a cold gleam in his eye. It was a question, but Larrson knew that Stig had just made a statement. The young Colonel had known the General's schedule to be free. Gustav's intelligence network was very good…or was it Stig's? He felt a sudden thrill of satisfaction at that. He hated to be shown up, but there was an undeniable art to the subtlety of Gustav and his subordinates. Larrson fully accepted he could not begin to fathom it or replicate it; he was too much the Old Guard. But he could certainly respect it.

"We have, in our plans, an inspection and demonstration for the General, to convince him of our capability in carrying out his designs," Stig said. Larrson nodded.

"Very well. Inform your commander that, in three days time, I shall meet you at your facility in Osk."