(A/N: I must apologize. My access to the names of the vehicles and weapons, so if they do not match up, I'm sorry, I can't help it. The other two files on my Battalion Wars game belong to my siblings, and I'm heavily reluctant to restart my own file. Anyway, consider yourselves lucky. I just got bored. I need reviews people! Criticize me if you must, but I need feedback people, please! Also, the dialogue and action will be very different. If any of you have seen her, this Brigadier Betty behaves less like the cheerleader in the first BW and more like, but not exactly like, the one in BW2.)

Battalion Wars

The Tundran Campaign

Combat Patrol

1024 hours

Fort Gridiron Communications Room

Betty grinned as she watched Neils through not only the video cameras mounted up in the training area, but also as she looked at his face from the camera in his helmet. Having gotten the right radio frequency, she'd turned it on, and confused sea-green eyes stared out at her. In this way, she could watch his face and monitor his emotional status, asserting whenever the morale and courage of the soldier was dropping. The view could be changed at any time to look out and see whatever Neils was also seeing through the second camera on the rim of his helmet. In this way, it cut down on errors between COs and commanders. Betty smiled even wider at the settling confusion in the sergeant's eyes, then continued with the briefing.

"Sergeant Neils, Frontier Command has chosen you to lead a reconnaissance patrol on our border with the Tundran Territories. It's been a while since you saw combat, so I'm going to take you back through your paces before you head out on patrol, make sure your arm won't fall of or anything. You tested it yet?"

She watched the eyes close halfway and the camera tilted as Neils shrugged.

"A little. Mostly on a firing range, though."

Betty's smile slid off her face as she switched the view away from those beautiful eyes, towards the obstacle course in front of him.

"Alright, well, let's get you through your paces Cowboy, and see if you still got what it takes to be part of this patrol."

Fort Gridiron Training area

Neils' jaw dropped. Well, considering it didn't have very much room in the facemask, it didn't go very far.

Oh no she didn't, he thought.

"Well, getta move on, Cowboy!" the radio crackled.

Oh yeah, she did.

Neils grinned under his mask and, gripping his M19, surged forward, towards the first obstacle, a short wall of barbed wire. Even with all his equipment on, he leapt over it easily, landing on the other side without touching it at all. Next up were two walls, one a little higher than the other, and both higher than the barbed wire. Neils grinned again and leapt over the first with ease. The second one was trickier, and he had to switch the gun from his right hand to his left in order to grab the wall with his robotic. It held beautifully, not even any strain on it at all.

"Cool," Neils whispered to himself before he effortlessly launched himself over. That's when he realized he may have launched a little too hard. It was easy to see by the fact that he not only soared over the wall, but also over the barbed wire on the other side and also over the chain link fencing separating the obstacle course from the firing range. And of course, he landed, right on his stomach, with an embarrassing grunt of pain as he had the air knocked out of his lungs.

Unfortunately, Betty heard over the radio. Currently, she was rewinding the footage again just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. There was no way a normal robotic could've done that. What the hell was in that arm of his? She smiled, realizing the perfect opening for a wisecrack straight to the ego.

"Whatsa matter, Cowboy? Are you that outta shape?"

"No, no, I just landed a little further than I wanted to." came the reply.

Neils slowly struggled up, freeing himself from the snow and brushing the frost from his helmet, clothes and gun. The first thing that he saw other than white were six target dummies. Sure, they had several bullet holes in them, but Neils figured that if he shot them up enough, they would fly apart. In fact, it seemed that he'd read Betty's mind.

"Alright, Cowboy, blast apart those old target dummies. We were going to trash them later anyways, and I figured, why not save our boys some time? Now, start firing and show me you've got what it takes for this patrol!"

Neils didn't need any further incentive, and his M19 switched hands once more a split second before the staccato rat-a-tat of gunfire ripped into one of the dummies, tearing chunks out of it before the whole thing was blasted apart. Without lifting his finger from the trigger, Neils swung the gun around to the next one, managing to blast half of it to bits before he had to reload, and by that time, the rest of it simply fell to the snow. Holding the barrel of the gun with his left hand, Neils snapped a fresh magazine in, mentally clocking his time. Thanks to his robotic, he could pull an empty magazine out, get a new one in and rack the first round in roughly half the time it took for a normal rifleman to accomplish the same task. What the hell did the docs not put in? The other dummies were quickly reduced to chunks of foam and tatters of cloth, leaving Neils clear to rush through the next two gates, out of the training area and into the open space of the Tundran wilderness.

As soon as he passed the guardhouse, Neils paused, pulled down his facemask to expose his nose to the biting cold, taking a deep whiff before letting his breath out in a cloud of fog that dissipated rapidly. God, how he'd missed this. The openness, the fresh air, the cold even. Staying cooped up in that clean room, and then restricted to the Post-Op ward of the MASH had driven him to the point of insanity. Now, however, he was back out where was supposed to be. Man couldn't survive very long inside a building without going outside, and for a soldier who spent all his time in the field, that had been plain torture. He opened his eyes again and looked around, stepping forward off the snow and into the grassy pass. Pine trees, flowers and little clumps of frost threw the colors and light around into a single glowing visage. It was such a beautiful picture that he almost forgot why he was here.

Suddenly, movement caught his eye, and he crouched down just in time to hear a single bullet whine past his head. A silencer, extreme range; that meant a sniper rifle. He followed the movement of the soldier as he pressed a hand up to the side of his cheek, pressing the 'Talk' button underneath the rim of his helmet as he whispered "Contact. One soldier, on foot, equipped with a sniper rifle and camaflouge."

He could hear Betty typing away, then his radio crackled and her voice said "What's this joker doing in Frontier territory? He must be a Tundran spy! After him!"

Neils set off at a crouching run, careful to keep down in the grass, which turned out to be a wise decision, as another bullet zipped past him, ripping through the tall blades around him. He spotted a small flash of what must've been sunlight off of gunmetal and brought his rifle up, loosing a brief burst of lead that was cut short by the clack that meant empty. He cursed to himself again, reloading quickly before he rolled down an embankment, springing up, expecting to find the spy drawing a bead on his chest with that rifle. Instead, all he found was a small ditch that curved off around a crumbling Tundran wall. He pressed the radio button again, frowning as he whispered "I lost him. Looks like he took off down a canyon."

"You sure? Any trace of him?"

Neils looked around, but all he could see were a few smudged boot prints and two shell casings.

"Yeah, I can't find any good tracks. I think he might be avoiding the mud, walking only on the grass."

"Dammit, this one's a slippery customer. Keep looking, Cowboy, he can't have gone far."

Neils brought his hand back down to his rifle, keeping it steady as he approached the corner, then rolled around it, brining his gun up. What he found made him frown instead of fire, however. Several fuel barrels were strapped together, holding up a makeshift stand, on top of which a large cone sat, wired to a monitor that was sitting on top of the barrels, powered by a Tundran Light Recon battery. He pressed the Talk button again, saying "Betty, found something. Looks like a makeshift listening post. I don't see any vehicle treads, so this things was brought in by the spy himself. That or he's got some backup. Which makes you wonder just how long this bastard's been here." He heard a squishy sort of crunching from the radio, which meant Betty was chewing the end of her pencil again. She always did that when she was thinking hard.

"Hmm. Good point. Destroy any listening posts you may find, but keep moving. That spy's still on the run."

Neils sent back an affirmative before raising his M19 and loosing a burst that blew out the monitor and battery. Engineers would have to come down later and dismantle it properly, but it would do for now. Quickly, Neils set off once more at a run, not caring about sound any more. As he approached a small pond, he spotted two red forms tethered to some trees up on the hillside. As he got closer, he finally saw the Tundran Fist emblazoned on the two spy balloons, and, not bothering to stop, he brought up his rifle and emptied the cliff into the hillside, popping the unmanned aircraft and sending them straight into the pond, making large splashes as they landed. Neils continued, sprinting around another corner only to find…nothing. There was a wide canyon stretching past a frozen lake, with several trees and ruins scattered here and there. A closer look, however, showed more. Two other listening posts, most complex and obviously meant for longer range, sat badly hidden in some ruins, and two larger spy balloons were tethered at a higher altitude than the previous ones over the lake.

Neils groaned and finally stopped, pressing the Talk button and saying "Betty, you're not gonna believe this." He told her about each of the devices, pointing the camera on his helmet towards each one. He heard it whirring and clicking, meaning she was taking pictures for future reference. These were obviously new technology, and the more they learned about Tundran tech, the easier it would be to eliminate it. Neils destroyed everything, blasting apart the listening posts with grenades and sending the spy balloons plummeting towards the ice, where the equipment in them smashed on the hard frost. As he hurried along, Neils could vaguely see tire tracks in the mud, which meant that there had indeed been vehicles up to this point, which meant that there most definitely was a larger Tundran presence here than he'd previously supposed. Things kept getting worse…

Finally, Neils topped the hill, only to spot a flash of a figure dressed in forest camaflouge dashing around the corner down at the bottom of another, which turned into a narrow canyon. He was lightly equipped, which explained how he could move so fast. Swiftly, Neils leapt down the hills, sliding here and there but no worse for the wear. However, as he rounded the corner, he spotted something, or someone, laying in the grass ahead. Quickly, he dashed forward, pressing the radio as he did so, saying breathlessly "Betty, we gotta man down!"

As he slid up next to the downed soldier, however, Neils knew it was hopeless. The man had been shot through the back of the head by a large caliber round, blowing off his helmet and dropping him before he even knew he was under fire. Neils pressed the radio button again and said "Betty, I have one Frontier fatality. He got shot in the back of the head. Are there any companies in the area?"

He heard Betty frantic typing and as she looked up the information, he thought to himself, That son of a bitch is going to pay for this.

The radio crackled again, and he heard "Yeah, got it. Alpha Company should be straight ahead. There're five, sorry, four riflemen. They should help you catch your man. Problem is, I don't think they're up and moving."

Neils smiled and responded "Don't worry, Betty, I'll get 'em up."

5 minutes later

"C'mon, move it!" Neils snarled as the last one finally stood up. Typical of Frontier soldiers, they'd ignored him when he'd come calling, not caring what rank he was. Unfortunately for them, that meant that Neils had the jurisdiction to drag them out of their tents and sock them in the gut until they cooperated. Needless to say, they quickly changed their minds.

Swiftly, they all started up the hill towards an old archway. Every soldier in Alpha Company was surprised to find, however, that they were blocked by a recently built wooden gate. Neils simply nodded, as this confirmed his suspicions. One of the soldier had a few old Tundran explosives they'd found, and Neils had him wiring them up when his radio crackled and Betty's voice filtered in.

"Hey, Cowboy, now that I look at these scans again, I think I see a Tundran camp just ahead of you. Be careful."

Neils grinned and pressed the radio, saying "Betty, aren't I always?"

It was, at that exact second, that the explosives went off. Luckily, the soldier had realized that he'd accidentally armed them and gotten clear in time. The gate, however, was finished. Fortunately, the archway still held, even though the barricade itself was now in splinters.

"What the hell was that?!"

Neils chuckled and replied "Betty, relax. That's just our way in. Neils out."

The squad hustled through the archway, then up the hill after that, finding the faint patterns of a dirt road. However, it seemed the Tundrans knew that they were there, for when the first soldier poked his head over the ridge, a bullet smashed into the rock next to him, and he ducked back down, yelling "Shit! Sarge, they-"

"I heard. Step aside, Private, and follow me."

Neils waited for a second before launching himself over the edge. After that, he didn't waste a moment sprinting down the hill, firing his M19 at the red blurs he caught every now and then. His gun clicked empty, but he heard more gunfire from behind him, which showed that the other soldiers had indeed followed his example and slid down the steep hill. Neils tripped, rolling in a cloud of dust to the bottom of the hill. However, his years worth of experience of being tossed around propelled him back to his feet in an instant, and his robotic arm was quickly reloading the rifle once more before he was firing again.

And then, suddenly, it was quiet. Not even the birds were chirping now.

Neils looked around. The four other riflemen with him were still standing, and it looked like Tundran marksmanship was as bad as it ever was, for no one had been hit. He looked back towards the makeshift camp, built from even more ruins. Aside from the two Tundran bodies, one tent, packed with ammo, was the only thing he spotted. It was sitting right next to a barbed wire fence, and Neils frowned, starting forward before beckoning to the other soldiers.

It seemed his hunch was right. The Tundrans always placed explosives around their Prisoners Of War, so that in case the base was stormed they could simply blow their prisoners sky high. Ruthless, yes, but the Frontier also practiced something similar, gunning down their Tundran prisoners at point blank if things took a turn for the worse.

As the squad came round the ruins, a voice cried out "Oh, thank God!"

There were two Frontier men inside the barbed wire. One of them wasn't moving, and judging by the frost covering his green form, there was nothing could be done for him. But the other soldier was still alive, and it was he who had yelled. Currently, he was standing and yelling "Help! Please, let me out!"

"Easy, soldier, we'll get you out of there. Just get away from that ammo dump. Get over by your friend there."

The Frontier soldier did as he was told, ducking down beside the frozen corpse. With a signal, five M19s fired, tearing through wood and canvas until the ammo dump detonated, clearing the barbed wire. While the group's medic checked on the newly liberated prisoner, Neils radioed Betty as he inspected the camp. Over in the corner, covered in frost from a period of no use, was a green Light Recon. It looked like little more than a buggy with a machine-gun on it, but he still recognized it as one of the Frontier's.

"Betty, I got a scout here, says he and his buddy were captured while looking the area over. One of them's dead to frostbite, but the other might have a chance. Any MIAs?"

More typing, followed by "Yeah, I got 'im. Looks like he's been missing for a month. Aerial flyovers never found them. It was only a matter of time before Command dispatched a squad to look into it. Can you see if he can still drive, maybe get you over that hill? I'm getting some strange readings on the scans. It may just be the weather, but I don't want to take any chances here. Too much weird stuff's going on."

Neils asked the scout, who, luckily enough, was the driver, and the soldier confirmed that, yes he could drive him over the hill. So, without further delay, Neils and the scout saddled up, Neils in the gunner spot, and started to rev off. Alpha company had orders to head back to Fort Gridiron and give a full report on what they had seen. The Recon, slightly faster than what Neils was used to, chugged up the hill, and the scout yelled "Hang on!" right before the vehicle crashed through a barbed wire fence. Neils cursed as a length of wire got tangled around his robotic wrist, and he shook it off, yelling "Dammit, watch it next time!"

But, as a response, the Recon suddenly stopped hard, knocking the breath out of Neils as he was thrown against the back of the vehicle. As soon as he could get oxygen back into his lungs again, Neils stood up, yelling "What the hell was that? You could've killed m-"

But as he looked up, his jaw dropped, and his sentence went unfinished. His fist, which he had raised above his head in order to rant and rave, slowly dropped back to his side at the sight before him.

The spy they'd been hunting for was rushing away into a forest clearing that sat next to a dirt road, looking over his shoulder every now and then. However, the stupid son of a bitch was laughing! And he had good reason to, as well. Assembled before the two Frontier soldiers was an entire Tundran armored division, made up of no less than forty Tundran riflemen, as well as more than enough Tiger light tanks to take down Fort Gridiron being unloaded from the last few T-copters, which were just taking off. Coming straight at them down the dirt road were at least ten Grizzly heavy tanks, with more infantry reinforcements following.

"Oh shit…" Neils murmured, pressing the radio as he whispered "Betty, are you getting this?"

The radio crackled, and Betty replied, almost as quietly, as if she thought they could hear her, "Oh yeah. That's…a lot of soldiers. It looks like we've stumbled onto something big here."

As Tundran gunships began to come into his view from over the mountains, Neils' headset crackled once more as an accent tinted voice declared "Prepare yourselves for defeat, decadent Frontier Cowboys!"

Betty recovered faster than Neils, however, and she quickly replied "Tsar Gorgi, your presence here is a clear, full-blown violation of the cease-fire. What the hell are you doing? And how did you get this frequency?"

"Making war, Brigadier Betty. Isn't this what Frontier Command has been waiting for? Besides, Frontier Command has used this frequency for years. It was too easy to hack into your computers and alter the data being fed to you."

Neils listened to the exchange with his mouth open and his eyes fixed on the tanks as they got closer and closer. What the hell was going on here? Betty seemed to read his thoughts.

"But…I thought Marshal Nova wanted peace!"

That's exactly what Neils thought as well, although the mass of guns in front of him told him otherwise. Tsar Gorgi certainly seemed to agree with him.

"I think the assembled might of my personal army speaks for the Marshal's intentions, Brigadier! We will wipe this land free of your capitalist filth, starting with that Sergeant-Commander!"

Suddenly, one of the Grizzlies fired, and the round landed right next to the Recon, knocking it over. Neils, having been standing, was thrown free, but the scout was trapped in the roll cage-like cab. Neils grabbed his assault rifle and made for the buggy, but the scout was suddenly yelling, "No! No! Get outta here, Sarge!"

That made Neils pause long enough for the tank to fire again, blasting the ruins right next to him, and he decided it was time to make a run for it into the trees. He radioed Alpha company as he went, explaining the situation in four words;

"Tundran armor! Fall back!"

Fort Gridiron Communications Room

Betty watched as Rex Neils made a frantic beeline for the trees, the only place he had a chance of living through the attack. The camera in the Recon, having been quickly repaired, was still playing an upside down view of the entire column moving forward. Suddenly, the camera cut, and all she had was static. She switched to Neils' camera, but the picture was gone. The lens must've been broken. She still had the radio, however, and she could hear his frantic breathing as he ran along, hear the crash and crack of the foliage as he rushed through. She bit her lip, praying to whatever got that was up there that he got to safety.

In the meantime, however, something had to be done. She quickly switched from radio over to telephone, punching in a number only two other people knew. After two rings, the person on the other end picked up with "What the hell, Betty? Y'know I hate this cell-phone thingamajig."

"Herman," she began. "We have a situation. A bad one."

(Once more, please give me reviews!)