Clarence couldn't say she was impressed with the headquarters, albeit in the time between she disembarked from the Chimera and she signed the few last stacks of frail, easy to misplace and lose paper that the Administratum insisted on keeping the Imperium swamped in, plenty of new realizations dawned on her.
Firstly, for being a planet where a senior officer would want to retire in while still pretending to be part of the military it had at least one personality in the government that was well-connected and busy enough to summon an officer from another sector; specifically, someone who needed a nice trip somewhere she couldn't step on her more politically inclined superiors' toes. She suspected her predecessor was brought to his station in similar circumstances, although she had the impression the whole experience worked out much better for him, his sudden death notwithstanding.
Secondly, the 76th part of the army name was not a progressive number: every foundation of the Imperial Guard was the 76th Gradius, a bit like the Tallarn first and only, and took different names only when regiments were sent to reinforce other armies, almost inevitably becoming merged to their destination. In fact, the officers that accompanied her, and with whom she had the chance to exchange a few words before being drowned in more paperwork, told her that those who left Gradius never came back. Which was perfectly understandable, as Gradius wouldn't be en-route to anywhere an Imperial Navy vessel would want to be, and very few guardsmen ever returned home in the first place.
Thirdly, the "headquarters" were not the actual Imperial Guard's general headquarters but rather those of her own company, isolated from the rest, which were scattered around for no particular reason except for a planetary reticence to have important settlements and facilities either next to each other or well-connected enough for distance to not be a problem. Clarence wasn't sure whether it was because of feral world superstitions or actual incompetence, but she intended to find out.
And, last but not least, she was officially the shortest person in the base.
Even after emerging from the inky hell of Administratum paperwork, Clarence had much to do before she could consider herself settled in any satisfying fashion: she had to inform the commanders of the other companies that she arrived safe and sound and already started with her duties, she had to inform her superiors, whose names and ranks were barely present in the dataslates, hidden amongst personnel lists bearing little importance to her interests, and she had to personally meet as many of those people as possible, including auxiliaries and out-of-the-ranks figures, most importantly the regimental commissar, who might as well not have existed for all she knew.
She took a moment to collect herself after the paper-pushers left; her new office was small, almost cramped, and like the rest of the base was made of plasteel, with the floor painted with a natural wood colour and steel grey ceilings, whereas the walls changed depending on the section since apparently the locals were primitive enough to actually get lost in a complex that small.
Her luggage was stashed in a corner behind her, she didn't have time to undo it and she didn't even open the door to her private quarters, which were right next to her office as if they feared even the commanders could somehow get lost inside their own base. There were plenty of windows, which paired with the clear weather and bright sunshine made the interiors pleasantly lighted; her simple wooden desk had little in the way of decor but felt solid and relatively smooth to the touch, while the two rows of two cabinets on each side of the room held more papers and some trophies that she wasn't particularly eager to admire.
When Clarence decided she rested her eyes long enough and felt like her ideas were properly collected, she knocked loudly on her own desk as she stood up, circling to get in front of it, "Come in, all of you", she called.
Before being forced to deal with the Adepto Administratum for thankfully the last time in a long while, she had asked to immediately call all of the commissioned officers on base so she could meet them and at least get an idea who she was dealing with. When four women stepped inside the room, her expression turned stern enough to make them stand at attention even without orders.
She doubted the people of Gradius had access to anti-aging treatments, which meant that the four officers were all as young as they looked, which was to say none of them looked older than forty at the very best. The worst part, however, was that there were just four of them.
"Am I in front of all the commissioned officers in the 4th company?", she asked in a flowery tone dripping with sarcasm acid enough to melt through the fake wood floor.
"Sir!", one immediately answered, a well-built brown-haired woman with a square jaw, "Lieutenant Freyalise is conducting field training and captain Anna is still recovering from injuries. Everyone else is present".
"And you are...?", Clarence raised an eyebrow as the implications of that report started seeping in.
"Second lieutenant Tiana Sharprock", she dutifully answered.
"Does that mean the 4th company has a grand total of six commissioned officers?".
"Yes sir".
Clarence had little to say after receiving confirmation of what she feared to be the case: the data she received only had an estimate of the amount of guardsmen that would be under her command, and considering the figures she just received claiming their command was understaffed was a grandiose understatement. "How did captain... Anna become injured? And why are you defaulting to first name when talking to a stranger?".
Where Tiana showed confidence just a moment ago, the latest remark from her new commander visibly confused her, at which point another of the four intervened, "Sir, captain Anna was severely injured in battle while on patrol in the Tyrian system, after a land battle against hostile xeno in Tyrian III. She returned two weeks ago. She can walk and talk but the sisters at the sanatorium said it's too early to exert herself".
The blonde woman wearing her hair bound in a fanning chignon looked less imposing and intimidating than her colleague. More feminine, too, especially thanks to the bulge on her chest being so marked that her buttons looked like they were going to pop any moment, "As for the first name, I apologize on behalf of everyone, commander. We are raised giving more importance to the given name than the clan name".
Clan, what a primitive-sounding word. Clarence decided to not let her thoughts linger on the amount of strange habits the locals were assured to have, the naming conventions likely being the tamest; she however decided she could overlook such glaring lack of civilization in favour of her curiosity and choice of interrogating her subordinates personally, for her investigation was bearing plenty of fruit, "I thought nobody that travelled away from this planet ever came back?".
"Ah, er, yes sir", as she expected, the woman with the black hair and a somewhat puffy bob cut felt addressed even though Clarence didn't look at anyone in particular. She was one of the pair of officers the chancellor introduced her to and in whose care he left her after departing for the capitol. She was the only one who talked and gave most curious tidbits of information, "What I meant to say was that nobody that leaves on an assignment or a crusade ever returns, but tours and patrols and expeditions are another matter".
"Please do elaborate if you don't mind".
Clarence wasn't sure whether staring at her eyes was going to make her talk less or more or to behave better in general, mostly because that woman's eyes had the lids so close to each other they appeared to be closed all the time. She was reminded of her imperial ethics teacher back in the Schola Progenium, a nearly obese man with a bushy beard and who had a thing for wearing the most outlandish wigs and still expecting to look dignified.
"Well, whenever we receive a request to tithe guards to the cause of the Emperor, we contribute our veteran troops, but most of our operations are about sending regular troops out to patrol our systems and the nearby ones. There's hardly major conflicts, but when trouble spawns it's best to deal with it before it gets under your nose. For example we-".
"That is quite enough", judging from how the woman stiffened, Clarence gladly observed she had used the right amount of anger in her voice to convey how she had little interest for anything not directly pertaining to her question, "Do we have vessels from the Imperial Navy available for transportation?".
"No", the woman continued, "Well- not for transportation, no. They're destroyers, they do escort and patrol duties. We board a mercantile vessel".
"A mercantile vessel", Clarence's voice could hardly be more deadpan.
"An independent mercantile vessel. Oh, loyal to the Emperor, of course. They have papers that say so".
A shiver ran down Clarence's spine, she knew more than a dozen stories so full of horror that they could freeze a Karskin's blood that included some variation of the sentence "they have papers that say so". On the other hand, it meant that Gradius was less of a passive, isolated community full of primitive cavemen than she first thought, and especially that she could count on some people having real combat experience.
"Very well officers", she concluded she had done enough interrogation for one sitting, mostly because she had other reasons to call them to her office, "As you are all aware by now, I am the new commander of the 4th company, I come from a distant place and am quite unfamiliar with your habits and procedures. I intend to change that as soon as I can and I expect your help: you are to be available at the base at all times until further notice, with the exception of the injured captain. Do inform the other, Freyalise, as soon as possible".
"Yes sir!", the four women all answered in unison. They all appeared less nervous than the Chimera crew that brought her to the base, though she could still feel the typical tension that belonged in social situations where one party wasn't quite sure what to expect out of the other except that they'll have to deal with it regardless of whether they like it or not.
"The preliminary data I have received and studied regarding the 76th Gradius is insufficient for me to assume my position at full efficiency", she then continued, "I therefore intend to witness this company's workings firsthand and will spend most of my ensuing time scrutinizing your training regimen, your tactics, your equipment, and most importantly your discipline".
She also figured that showing her face around was vital as she was a complete stranger hailing from a very distant world, filling the sudden void left by a respected character and knowing little to nothing about her own company. Granted, the guards of Gradius weren't Catachans and looked rather welcoming instead, but appearances could always be deceiving and she preferred to play it safe.
"I would also like to be addressed as commander, commander Clarence Mora or commander Mora. I will not accept to be addressed by first name alone, and would rather avoid it entirely. I have to point out that Mora is my family name, it is not a clan name, the difference might be subtle and alien to you but it is very important to me", after the yes sir rite, she pointed at the unnecessarily endowed woman, "I didn't quite catch your name and rank, officer".
"Second lieutenant Dulna Tuskbearer, I apologize for my forgetfulness".
Clarence nodded in silent acceptance of her apologies. All considered they were better behaved than she first thought, although she had to remind herself she was talking to commissioned officers, which meant people who attended whatever passed for a military academy on Gradius. She intended to meet the rank and file as soon as possible, and feared that the two worlds were going to be very, very different.
"Very well. Second lieutenants Tiana and Dulna, you are dismissed, but do keep in mind your orders are to remain available on the base at all times", she waited for the two women to salute and leave the room before addressing the other two, the same pair that accompanied her from her arrival with the chancellor to the paperwork signing marathon in her new office, "As for you two, apologies but I have forgotten your names and ranks".
"It's okay sir. Er", the black-haired woman coughed to cover up what Clarence clearly interpreted as excessive familiarity as testified by her stare as sharp as mono-treated bayonets, "Lieutenant Mareilon Hawkeyed, sir, looking forward to serve you".
"Lieutenant Eu Woodstock", the other said as her turn came: a rather plain-looking woman with pale brown hair and no distinguishing features of any sort. Clarence realized only then that it was the first time she heard her talk, as she likely did not introduce herself when she first arrived, or maybe she did? Well, it wasn't important at that moment.
Satisfied with having the two of them being her personal escorts, she picked her hat back from her desk and put it on, "Show me around the base. Keep the tour brief, for I want to inspect the troops before dusk".
The base was relatively unremarkable from the outside: the standard plasteel fortifications, both freestanding and structured, only had the bizarrely bright camo typical of Gradius to distinguish itself from just about every other base of the Imperial Guard from an architectural standpoint. Of course, the headquarters were rather small for the standards Clarence became accustomed to, except for the freestanding walls which covered a much larger area than she first imagined.
All of the structures with the exception of the armoury, the command centre and a freestanding bastion were, in fact, built with indigenous materials which mostly amounted to wood, cut from the jungles that used to cover all of the base before it was built. Clarence couldn't tell whether the craftsmanship was good or bad, it was simply too primitive for her to even try and appreciate, but she assumed that it was good enough for housing the many guardsmen serving in her company.
Or, well, guardswomen as she sometimes heard them addressed as; the all-female composition of the regiment couldn't escape her even if she tried to, but worst of all she finally witnessed firsthand what the reports meant when they talked about abhuman presence. Furry tails and ears occasionally popped out of the backs and heads of some of the guards, while others were actually covered in coloured fur and sported animal snouts; she was used to the noticeable and ubiquitous differences in what passed for ordinary from a planet to another: everything from hair and eye colour to average height and girth to the colour of the skin was prone to change, variety was never a feature the guard lacked.
However, witnessing abhumans not confined to separate spaces in the camp was appalling to Clarence; she admittedly never even saw an abhuman before, let alone one that served in the guard, but the regulations assumed they were supposed to be kept somewhere that was not in the middle of camp, and certainly not sharing everyone else's living space. Granted, the regulations only talked about ogryns and ratlings and left each to its own device about the plethora of other abhumans that were registered as capable of breeding true and whose existence was tolerated by the Imperium as a whole, making Clarence grumble audibly during her visit, not even trying to appear less abrasive in front of her new soldiers.
She was actually satisfied with the result of her grumpy look: she wanted to avoid to be treated like an exotic animal parents would point at to make their children witness something from a sector they will never travel to. And it worked, she had enough of a stern and dignified air about her that the soldiers' curiosity about their new commander was also fringed with a healthy amount of dread and reverence despite everyone being about a head taller than she was.
The various non-commissioned officers saluted lieutenant Marelion first with a hard to miss familiarity before straightening up more; apparently nobody was informed about the exact moment their new commander would come and start visiting the camp. Even though word about her arrival had spread the rumour mill wasn't fast enough, probably because the barracks actually looked more like a large camp, with simple wooden structures, tents and little in the way of additional fortification other than what the imported plasteel provided for the outer perimeter, making the place rather difficult to navigate properly.
The scent of nature was partly obscured by that of sweat and roasted meat: several fire pits were placed at irregular intervals, some of them lit as the meat of native animals was being cooked, smoked or grilled with indigenous vegetables. Probably thanks to the perimeter walls, there was little to no wind and the hot and humid air did nothing to render the trip more pleasant to her nose; her eyes weren't in a better position either, for most of the women reacted to the warm climate by stripping, and Clarence was surrounded by the sight of human and abhuman females in tank tops and shorts.
As Marelion continued to chatter incessantly about the various platoons and the camp's awkward layout that somehow managed to make perfect sense to her, Clarence picked up commotion and a ring of excited guards around a scene that she instinctively knew was not supposed to happen. Due to her noticeable height difference with anyone, she couldn't really see anything without embarrassing herself, which drove her to address her guide instead, "Lieutenant, what is the excitement over there about?".
"Oh, probably a fight", she cheerfully answered, "Different platoons do that sometimes, to keep the edge".
"I cannot help but notice nobody amongst the officers is trying to stop it".
"It's okay, commander, they use blunted swords, the armour is usually enough to-", Marelion stopped, noticing that Clarence's stare was searing, directed straight to the inside of her skull and her hand was resting with meaningful intent on the grip of her sidearm. "Yes, sir", she then answered as she moved to break the circle of excited spectators and raise her voice to get everyone's attention, effectively stopping the fight.
Thanks to her intervention, Clarence could get a better glimpse of the situation: fights, especially of the organized sort, were not new to her, and she was well aware they were a real and somewhat recurrent part of life in the barracks, albeit the actual frequency of such events wildly depended on the regiment itself. What she found most infuriating, however, were the confused stares, as if nobody was expecting the lieutenant to actually stop the fun they were having and couldn't understand why the commander demanded them to. The two women directly involved in the duel with supposedly blunted swords had at least enough sense to wear their standard issue armour, and even though they both stopped without protest, the way they posed in front of their new commander clearly conveyed how they thought they were supposed to feel proud of being seen like that. Civilized regiments knew they were going against regulations and at least tried to keep such things under wraps, but this one didn't seem to understand the problem at all.
Once certain that everyone was looking at her expecting an explanation, including lieutenant Marelion, she spoke trying to control the irritation in her voice enough to not sound angrier than she wanted to, "Everyone in the camp is to report in the parade grounds, immediately, in combat gear. Anyone failing to be present and in order within ten minutes will suffer punishment as I see fit, in addition to all the repercussions there will be for the inconceivable lack of discipline I have just witnessed. Lieutenant Marelion, make sure to spread word throughout the camp, I will consider you personally responsible for every guard missing the deadline".
She then snapped her fingers to get her other guide's attention, lieutenant Whatsherface, so that she would blindly follow her like a loyal dog as she turned and marched towards the parade grounds. The confused and dumbfounded looks she witnessed were very, very far from what she was willing to put up with, and it was clear that military discipline was an alien concept in the company she was assigned to.
Truly her task of civilizing and giving dignity to Gradius' savage natives was one she would have never accepted was she given a choice; however, the planetary governor at least showed awareness of the problem, and she did not intend to disappoint him, even if she had to reach and pull every single soldier's ear personally and shout their brains out of their ears until they started complying.
Clarence managed to find the way back to her office on her own; she even forgot about lieutenant Whatsherface's presence until she timidly asked if she was still needed when she returned to the command centre. As the sun set and night fell, nearly nobody was inside the main, actually fortified plasteel structure anymore; there were little guards doing actual paperwork and those who did weren't fond of working until late.
She was tired. Tired from the trip, tired from shouting like a drill sergeant and most of all tired for the stress of dealing with her new company; she almost regretted being promoted to the rank of commander, it was certainly a good step up for her military career, but she found herself wishing she could go back to being a junior officer and having nothing to worry about except for leading a platoon of already trained and disciplined men into battle.
Devising a proper punishment for lieutenant Marelion was also going to take concentration and creativity: she had plenty of late people to take responsibility for and she had to make sure to give her something constructive to do that she would absolutely hate, but couldn't quite think of anything. She was sure that forcing her as a volunteer in the nursery wasn't going to work, for one because she expected her to occasionally do it of her own volition already, for another because she felt like having a place in the camp dedicated to keeping its inhabitants' small children was plenty already without needing to waste effort from fighting corps. Having never served in an all-female regiment she had no idea whether this kind of thing was common or not; she was well aware that certain kinds of interactions in mixed regiments would inevitably bring to certain kinds of events and wondered just how scaled up the phenomenon could be when every single guard in the regiment featured a supposedly fertile and functional womb.
At least she could confirm the presence of the Ecclesiarchy, who arrived on Gradius before the rest of the Imperium did so the local population would already be faithful to the Emperor. The thought only reminded her that she still had a long list of people to meet, from the other commanders to all of the support staff, including the company chaplain, the commissar, the overseers from the Scholastica Psykana and much more. She still had to meet lieutenant Freyalise too, for she was expected to come back late but Clarence couldn't muster the energy, nor the patience, for more interaction with savages.
She needed an aide, but at the same time she was afraid of what kind of wild, undisciplined primitive would be trying to help her organize her equals and figured that it would probably become worse. The majority of soldiers were likely illiterate, too.
As she prepared to actually undo her luggage, she noticed that the door to her private room was open. Used to different regiments, she was well aware that military encampments were not a safe place to be at night for a lone woman; she wasn't sure whether the absence of men made the prospects better in any meaningful way but her money was on no. For that reason, she was used to carry a shock rod around just in case things were to take a turn for the worse; hilariously enough, she never actually needed one until that moment.
Moving carefully and silently in the dark room as soon as her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she quickly and without doubt prodded the figure on the bed, which yelped loudly and jumped off, falling over on the opposite side and carrying something along. Clarence struck the lights without hesitation and found a scene she didn't quite expect to have to deal with: two scantily clad women, one of them with her buttocks trembling with tension after the shocking bite, and judging from their confused reaction they were actually sleeping.
"Gentlemen- ladies", despite the mistake, Clarence was more than confident in her aim as her plasma pistol heated up, ready to fire with enough power to reduce whichever of the two she intended to hit into a steaming, gooey pile, "You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't shoot you".
"W-we're sorry!", their feline tails where towed between their legs, and considering the heat and humidity even at night the fact they wore nothing but panties and a tank top looked less and less suspicious, "The previous commander-".
"The previous commander is dead, and whatever he required you to do here, I do not", she frowned, but did not lower her pistol; somehow she felt like she should have expected this kind of disgraceful behaviour, she felt a little stupid for hoping her predecessor would have been a little more mature, for if he did these primitive savages' discipline wouldn't have been that terrible. She nearly squeezed the trigger on accident as she realized these two were most likely hoping to perform the same kind of nightly services even though they were aware of her gender, "Now what am I to do with the two of you? This is a serious infraction you have committed".
"I shall see to it that these guards are punishment, commander".
Clarence nearly jumped as her trained reflexes aimed her weapon at the new figure, only to hastily lower it and snap the safety back on as soon as she recognized the black and red outfit of a commissar. For the first time in the entirety of that long day, Clarence was happy to see a woman: commissars were tasked with the ungrateful job of making sure everyone in the Imperial Guard would remain loyal to the Emperor and to remove sedition and treachery before it rooted itself in, usually thanks to a well placed bolt pistol shot. When not busy dispensing such extreme measures, commissars would deal with ordinary punishment for various crimes and infractions: a much more time consuming and less grievous task, but nonetheless vital in order to keep an army running and both morale and discipline high enough to retain maximum efficiency at any given time.
The commissar clearly wasn't a Gradius native: her complexion was fair like Clarence's contrarily to the tan and chocolate skin tones that were so common amongst the soldiers that didn't sport oddly coloured fur instead, and she was just a little taller than her, but still around average for what the commander considered an ordinary woman to be like. Her gray hair flowed long and smooth behind her back and a single monocle gave her a stern yet intellectual aura.
But most importantly, Clarence couldn't even hear her coming, and she somehow managed to get very close while completely unnoticed despite the heavy boots and the equally heavy chainsword still at her side.
"A most impeccable timing, commissar", she nodded in agreement, "You will forgive me for not meeting you earlier today, it seems this regiment is in dire need of discipline".
"I am certain you will be capable of fulfilling the role of authority you are expected to, commander, but I urge you to rest, for there is much to do and this is not the appropriate time to", the commissar's tone was clear and to the point, with little waste for pauses and punctuation and yet with a determined calm that gave her soft-spoken words the weight of a mountain.
"I look forward to meeting you tomorrow at noon, then", Clarence still hadn't made a schedule for the following day and, like the current, was most likely going to improvise, but she was certain she wanted to find the time for an actual meal instead of a quick bite of rations.
"Indeed, we have to discuss punishment for these two. Amongst other things", she then shot but a glance to the two women, their cat ears crouching submissively, "I trust you know the way. Move".
The two meekly left and the commissar gave but a nod before closing the door behind herself, leaving Clarence somewhat dumbfound and confused, but alone and able to finally undress and undo her luggage, or at least the bare minimum she needed to take a shower, for her uniform was not meant to be worn in a jungle and she had been drenched in sweat for hours.
But despite returning to her bed with clean body and clothes, as soon as she slipped under the thin blankets the smell of the two women filled her nostrils, and she shivered with disgust as her mind disobeyed her and raced to imagine the kind of activities that occurred in that bed before she arrived. Surely, the sheets she was resting on were clean, but the thought couldn't comfort her.
"I'm surrounded by the stench of bitches", she grumbled before falling asleep.
