The Hounds of Helghan (12)
It was that time of the year when academy graduation loomed just over the horizon. Radec was engrossed in reviewing cadet performances, spending hours tucked away in his office, when security alerted him of an unexpected visitor standing outside his door.
He straightened in his chair, flexing the stiff, sore muscles of his back. Skeptical, nevertheless he opened the door for his visitor: an elite shock trooper in his division, First Lieutenant Iveta Hahn. The colonel slid the data before him away with a swipe of his stylus and turned his attention to her. "Lieutenant, what brings you here? I never called you in for an assignment, and have nothing for you at the moment."
"I understand, sir." Standing to attention before his desk, the lieutenant removed her helmet to reveal lines of worry etched on her face. "I came for an entirely different reason. I...there's...there's been an incident."
Radec raised an eyebrow—which she couldn't see on account of a visor over his eyes, of course. "An incident? What do you mean?"
The grip on her helmet tightened, and there was audible effort to restrain the tremor in her voice. "Last night, after completing my latest assignment, I went to the bar with some friends. A few men from Colonel Cobar's division showed up at that bar about half an hour later."
"Cobar's division..." Radec narrowed his eyes. He didn't like where this was heading. Cobar's men garnered something of a reputation for lacking in restraint and discipline. Not that Cobar cared much about those things, only that his men could destroy as much of the enemy as possible.
"One of them made unwanted advances on me," Iveta went on. "I brushed him off every time, turned down offers to buy me a drink, rejected his attempt to take me home. He even tried to pull rank on me, since he's higher-ranked than I am, but I wouldn't have it. He left me alone eventually, but by then I didn't want to stay in the bar any longer. I left early while my friends stayed behind to drink some more."
The colonel thought that the story would end there, but as her face grew even paler, that told him that there was more to this, that it took a turn for the worse.
"That man grabbed me on the way out and pulled me into an alleyway nearby. It was dark and narrow, where no one else could see or hear me if I called for help." She averted her gaze from Radec to fix it on the desktop instead. "Sir, I...I didn't think to call for help first. I thought that I could handle fighting him off by myself. But I've had a few drinks...not enough to pass out, but enough to hamper my skills in a fight. It didn't take him long to overpower me. He pinned me to the wall, pulled down his uniform, pulled down mine, and—"
She didn't finish, as a small choking noise cut off the thickening of her voice, but Radec was smart enough to not need it spelled out for him. He drew in a deep breath and shut his eyes. If he had his helmet off, he'd be pinching his brow between his fingers.
A soldier from Cobar's division violating a soldier from his division...when the consequences of what this meant sank in, Radec simply let out a hushed "shit" in reply.
Iveta said nothing and remained perfectly still, but the look on her face said that she'd much rather be anywhere else than having to report such unpleasant news to her superior.
Radec motioned for Iveta to take the seat nearby, which she settled into with undisguised gratitude.
"An incident, indeed," he finally said, once he could come up with something coherent to say. "What did you do afterwards? Did you take yourself to the hospital as soon as you could?"
"Yes, sir, right away. I checked in to be evaluated, and I was discharged earlier this morning. Here's the medical report." She produced the papers for him, and both were silent for several moments as he grimly took in the report confirming evidence of sexual assault.
"I see on your medical history that you're still on birth control," he noted.
"Of course, sir," she said with relief. "We don't have to worry about...well..."
He nodded with satisfaction. All female troops in the army were required to have birth control implants. In their line of work, unwanted pregnancy was a significant liability. They could choose to have birth control removed if they wish to have a child, but by default the implants were meant to stay in.
"Do you by any chance know the man who attacked you?" Radec asked.
Iveta made a face as if she spotted a bug crawling along the floor. "Unfortunately, sir...it's Captain Andrej Novak. I'm sure of it. Last night wasn't the first time he tried to make a move on me. It has happened several times before, but back then I dismissed him as just a nuisance. I didn't think that worth reporting to you, Colonel. I didn't want to stir up more trouble than it was worth. I've only kept it among my fellow female troopers. Lieutenant Metrac would know, for instance. She can attest to his inappropriate behavior."
"Is that so?"
She nodded. "Even when he was in full uniform last night, with his helmet on, I knew it was him. When he cornered me in that alleyway and pulled down his pants, I saw a barbed wire tattoo along his hip. He had shown it to me before—against my will, of course. He'd been a convict before Colonel Cobar recruited him into his division, and he likes to brag about the tattoos he earned from fights in prison. I know more about the man than I'd care to, sir."
Radec shared her disgust. He had no control of how other commanders chose their subordinates, but he adhered to high standards in choosing his own men. A man like Andrej Novak would never earn a place in the 9th Division. Not in a million years. Iveta, meanwhile, had been an easy choice. She had been nothing but hard-working and loyal since her time serving under Radec. She was never the type to complain or slack off, so to have her come in and relate this incident was a legitimate grievance in his eyes.
"Well, Lieutenant...minus a few drinks you've had last night, you had taken the right course of action by rejecting Novak and gathering evidence." Radec shook his head. "Unfortunately, we can't take this matter to court. That would not end well."
He figured that he didn't need to remind her that the military has had a poor track record of providing equal opportunity and treatment for women. Most sexual assaults weren't even reported, and the few that were would be dismissed on grounds of some blame leveled at the female victim in some way or another. Just the fact that Iveta had a few drinks the night before would be used against her. She wasn't stupid; she knew this as well as he did, maybe even better. She didn't come to him with the naive hope that the law would be on her side.
His judgment of her proved correct as she said "I'm aware, sir" in a tight voice.
"You came here to report because honesty and transparency is expected of anyone serving under me; nevertheless, it's not easy to report against a higher-ranked member of the military, especially a report with this kind of allegation." Radec paused for a few moments.
Iveta settled into a weary kind of resignation, which was masked by a stiff upper lip. Acknowledging her courage wasn't enough. She asked and demanded nothing of the colonel, and still he felt compelled to do more than just say that there was nothing he could do for her. He knew it was like to be attacked and rendered powerless. Power that was stolen away would have to be seized back.
He rose from his desk. "I cannot tolerate any slight against a soldier in my division, especially when there's no fault to be found in said soldier. I owe you that much as your commander. I will bring this to attention with Colonel Cobar." And he added with a note of warning, "I will also have him escort his captain here. You have no choice but to face him again if we want to report this case to the colonel."
Iveta made a tight-lipped nod and a muscle along her jaw twitched. "Understood, sir. I'm ready."
Within a few minutes, Colonel Cobar and Captain Novak answered to Radec's summons and joined the lieutenant in the office.
"Remove your helmets while you're in here," Radec told them. "We have something to discuss face-to-face."
Ire grated on Cobar's voice as he pulled his helmet off. "Radec, what's this all about? We were in the middle of a military exercise. My men hate being interrupted."
Radec kept his voice level and even from his seat behind the desk. "You know that I would not call you in to just waste your time, Cobar. And you know how much I hate wasting mine."
Cobar's eyes, though bright and blue, blazed with as much fire and menace as the red lenses that often obscured them. The White Death, despite all his infamy, failed to terrify Radec as he did with most soldiers. Both men were equal in rank, but Cobar was younger and less experienced than Radec. General Metrac, who took a shine to Cobar's viciousness, was responsible for the other colonel's quick rise through the ranks.
The captain, dressed in the pyro trooper's uniform, was silent in the presence of two higher-ranked officers. Without his helmet, he revealed a set frown and a pale face notched here and there with small scars—in other words, the typical face of a man in the army. When he met eye contact with the lieutenant, she didn't look away. Still, her body tensed in response.
She tensed even more as Cobar sank into a chair across from her.
"What are we here for? Why did I have to bring in Captain Novak, and what business do you have with him?"
"First Lieutenant Hahn is here to tell you."
Radec motioned for her to take it over from there. By this time she held even more composure and strength than the first time she had to relay her story to Radec. The whole time she recounted the trauma, her gaze never wavered from Novak's, as if burning a hole into his face with the fire of her conviction. Radec showed no signs of his approval for her conduct, but he felt it nonetheless.
All the while, not a trace of surprise or remorse flickered across Cobar's face. When Iveta finished, Cobar snorted. "That's the fuss that brought us here? What do you all want me to do, dismiss Captain Novak from my division? He is one of my finest soldiers, with the highest killcount of all my men. I'd be a damn fool to cut him out of my ranks."
"I'm afraid those are the measures that must be taken," Radec replied. "We have sufficient evidence of his crime. Captain Novak, what do you have to say about Lieutenant Hahn's account?"
Novak's reply was curt. "It's true, sir."
Cobar waved a hand. "And so what? It's no fault of Novak's that the woman had put herself in a poor position." He raised an eyebrow at his fellow colonel. "Perhaps you ought to select soldiers with more training and discipline, Radec. Yours didn't fight hard enough against mine. It was a fight that the captain won and the woman lost. That's all I see." His gaze slid over from Radec to Iveta. "You should give her time off to recover. That's what really needs to be done."
He didn't refer to her out of concern, but with a patronizing, condescending tone that dripped out of him like venom. Iveta said nothing, but her lips pressed to a hard, thin line that drained what little color surrounded them. Radec couldn't help curling one of his hands into a fist on his desktop.
Cobar donned his helmet and pressed gloved hands on the armrests, beginning the motion to get up. "Well, are we finished here? I think we are."
"No. No, we are not." Radec's voice was a notch below conversational level, but at his reply, Cobar froze. Anyone well acquainted with Radec knew that he was a man of tranquil fury, that at his angriest he didn't shout and yell, but rather speak just above a mutter.
Cobar was one of the few who didn't tremble before him at that state, though he did utter a small quick "huh" before he said, "My, my, Radec, quite the temper you have today."
"I believe I am quite justified with it." If Cobar felt he was in his right to defend his subordinate, then so would Radec. Novak made no attempts to deny the evidence against him for that very reason.
"Why do you go to such lengths to protect this woman?" Then Cobar answered his own question with a sly remark: "Ah, I think I know why."
Radec bristled and bit back a curse. The absurd implication that he'd sleep around with his subordinates stoked the fire of his rage. His voice dipped low again. "That's crossing the line, Cobar."
The other colonel went up against this with resumed irritation. "You may not think this drivel is a waste of time, but I beg to differ. Novak's facing no penalties for what he did last night, and every minute here is a minute away from the exercise we have to complete."
Radec rose from his desk. "You insist on continuing that exercise? Very well. Then count me and my men in."
A silent pause reigned for a full five seconds as everyone in the room regarded him with surprise.
Finally Cobar barked out a short laugh. "I beg your pardon? Is that a challenge, Radec?"
"Indeed. Factoring in my forces will liven up the mock battlefield." He leaned forward to bend a bit over his desk. "Let's make this more than a challenge. Let's make this a bet."
The other colonel sat back down. "Go on."
Radec smirked underneath his helmet. Appealing to Cobar's weakness in gambling was a smart move, after all. He had the higher ground, and the terms were his to name.
The Maelstra Barrens were more than a place that gave Radec his first name. Its distance from major cities, and wide uninhabited expanses, provided ideal grounds for military exercises conducted by all armed forces on Helghan.
Ever since the invasion campaign was launched, the army had turned a significant portion of the barrens into a replica of Vekta City: the capital and stronghold of the enemy.
"Replica" ought to be used in the loosest sense of the term, Radec thought when he arrived at the site with his men. He had never visited Vekta himself, though he had seen many photos and schematics of it. Tall order for the inhabitants of Helghan, a desolate and barren planet, to have and use materials to pull off a lookalike of Vekta's shimmering urbanscape and green, flourishing environment. Crude steel beam towers, and dysfunctional cars discarded by civilians of Pyrrhus, were stand-ins for props of a bustling metropolis. Then again, the Helghast were never about the bells and whistles. Functionalism was the aesthetic that served well enough here.
Perched on a rocky outcrop, Radec peered down with binoculars in hand. Cobar's forces were not easy to miss. Tanks were amassed on the other side of the mock city. The colonel turned around to face the 9th Division who had gathered below him.
"Listen up. This is a capture and hold. Seize as many vital areas as possible and defend them from the opposing side until the thirty minute mark has passed. The side with the most areas captured wins."
Radec pointed a finger at the direction of their opponent. "Cobar's forces like to rely on heavy firepower—tanks, drones, and the like. I'm sure some of you know this already, but it bears repeating." He turned his hand from a pointed finger into a raised fist. "As always, we will rely on finesse and mobility to seize victory. Though the heaviest weapons are only the guns we carry, I am confident that we will get the edge on Cobar."
His men, a motley crew of assault infantry, commandos, riflemen, and shock troopers, raised a rallying cry. The few women in his division, who comprised most of the elite shock troopers, remained silent. Despite this, and even with helmets covering their expressions, he could sense from them a seething determination to get justice for Iveta.
Iveta herself was among the soldiers today, and the exercise may prevent both sides from engaging in an all-out massacre, but no doubt she was bent on regaining some semblance of power through this fight.
Through challenging Cobar, Radec wanted her to have that chance, and more. He would not join the Vektan invasion, and by extension, neither would his division. This military exercise would stave off their restlessness from being on standby, and sate their need for a good fight.
"You have your orders," Radec barked. "Move out!"
The 9th Division made quick work of closing in on the mock city below them, scaling down rocky terrain on nimble feet. Leading the charge were the elite shock troopers, the most nimble of them all. Iveta and Runa were among them.
A pair of commandos accompanied Radec. He always had at least two soldiers flanking him as his personal guard. Already the other side fired off projectiles. Shells and mortars whistled overhead and struck the tops and sides of towers. Debris shorn off from steel beams rained to the ground.
Radec switched on his radio to carry on orders through the comms. "Don't bunch up. Scatter! And give those buildings wide berth."
Cobar may be trigger-happy, but he wasn't stupid. The projectiles avoided crashing into buildings marked as areas to capture and hold. If those buildings went down, neither side could claim them.
Runa's voice crackled through the comms. "Colonel, I have visual on the enemy. Heavies, pyro and support troopers headed our way. Contact is three minutes tops."
"Keep pushing forward," he replied, not just to her but to all his men. "Don't let their advance deter you. We gain more ground quicker than they can."
Radec's confidence in his men was not ill-placed. They were trained not to panic under pressure, and even though Cobar was permitted to use more firepower, Radec knew that firepower wasn't everything. Success would hinge on the superior maneuverability of his men.
One by one, the areas marked for capture and hold were seized by his men who stormed the bases. Unfortunately, the areas seized first by the quickest of Radec's forces faced the brunt of blows from the opposing side. The quickest of his forces were the least equipped to handle that amount of opposition.
"We're being overrun," Iveta called out. "I don't think we can hold down this area much longer."
"Stand your ground," Radec said. "Reinforcements are coming." He counted himself among those reinforcements. From the groups holding areas farthest from Cobar's side, he ordered a few men from those groups to peel away and regroup under him. The crack of rounds firing filled his ears as Radec stormed up the tower. They didn't last long. Since the opponent's aim was to steal any area already under hold, the real danger was in being thrown out of the area rather than being pinned down. Radec led the pincer movement to suppress and flank Cobar's men, who were trying to drive off the elite shock troopers. Radec's reinforcements swept in with a vengeance, firing a volley of rounds that pushed back Cobar's men.
In the chaos of it all, at one corner of the room, Radec noticed someone kicking and struggling on the floor. On closer scrutiny, he realized that loud, strangled swearing came from Iveta. He slipped out of sight by activating the cloak on his uniform. A pyro trooper, Captain Novak, knelt over Iveta to choke and throttle her in his grip.
"I'll kill you for this, bitch," he spat. "Should've killed you last night."
At that instant Radec ambushed Novak from behind, hooking his arms under the captain's to throw him off of Iveta. Novak uttered a startled yelp. Radec slammed Novak to the floor and brandished his knife. "You will never touch her again," he hissed. He held the knife's edge so close that he could feel the lump in the captain's throat bobbing. Fear came off of Novak in waves.
"Y-You wouldn't!" he sputtered. "We're not supposed to kill."
Radec barely managed to maintain civility with Cobar and Novak back at his office. Now in the heat of battle, unbridled rage at the hypocrisy thrown at his face made him sink the knife deeper into Novak's neck. The captain let out a high-pitched wail. Blood trickled rather than spurted onto Radec's knife.
"Oh, shut up, you idiot," Radec snarled. "I didn't cut you that deep." He pulled away his knife and dealt instead a swift slam of his fist to the head. Knocked unconscious, Novak slumped back to the floor.
Radec looked down at him with a lip curled up in distaste. Of course he had never intended to kill Novak. He only meant to draw a little blood, nothing more. All part of the test of a man, and Novak had failed that test. He turned his attention to Iveta, but Runa was already helping her fellow elite shock trooper to her feet.
"Are you all right?" Runa asked. "Can you keep fighting?"
Iveta coughed and caught her breath before nodding. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Thank you, Colonel."
"Don't mention it," he replied shortly.
"Sir, we secured this area," one of his troops declared in triumph.
Radec watched from the second floor window how Cobar's men retreated from the building. "Good work, but don't stop here. We will not stop until we have total victory."
His men raised cries of assent over the comms.
Radec yearned to face the White Death in close quarters combat, but while he savored fights that were up close and personal, Cobar preferred to carry on the fight from a safe distance. Giving Novak a scare and clocking him in the face was the next best thing in place of a showdown with the other colonel.
Thirty minutes passed, and Radec's forces won by holding twice as many areas as Cobar's. They converged at the center of the mock city, with Cobar finally emerging from the tank he'd been firing from to meet up with Radec.
"Congratulations, Radec. Victory is yours fair and square," Cobar said. "It looks like my men have more training to do before we head for Vekta."
Radec folded his arms over his chest. "You will agree to the terms we've outlined for this capture and hold, won't you? If you won, we would no longer bother with the case that Lieutenant Hahn made against Captain Novak, but if you lost, you would dismiss Novak from your division."
"Yes, yes, no need to remind me. I haven't forgotten." Cobar curled his fingers in and out in a beckoning gesture. "Captain Novak, step forward."
Novak obeyed without voicing complaint, but Radec could guess that the expression beneath the helmet, on top of being bruised from Radec's blow, was sullen and dejected.
Cobar regarded his subordinate for a moment. Then, in a fluid, almost casual motion, he drew his sidearm to shoot Novak point-blank: a bullet to the head and another to the chest. Novak's body crumpled facefirst to the rocky ground, sending up a small cloud of dust.
Silence descended on every witnessing soldier like a dead weight. Cobar tucked the pistol back into his leg holster. "I may not have led from the front like you, Radec, but drone footage showed me everything. I saw how Novak cowered at your feint. Whatever your lieutenant had against my captain means nothing to me. But cowardice and defeatism are grounds for execution. You know this."
Radec did, and newer troops in the army may have been shocked by Novak's death today, but he wasn't too surprised that Novak had gotten bullets in his brain and heart instead of a dismissal.
Cobar glanced down at Novak, at the pools of blood growing underneath the body, and made a shrug. "He has made the most kills, but quite a shame how underneath all that killing is a coward to the core. There's no room for cowards in my division. There will certainly be no room for cowards in the forces destined to conquer Vekta." He turned away from Radec to head back into his tank, and motioned for nearby troops to clean up the mess he had left.
Later that day, back at his office, Radec called in Iveta for an informal checkup. "Well, Lieutenant, today can't completely take away and atone for what had happened to you last night, but I hope you've at least gotten some taste of justice from this."
Iveta smiled for the first time today. "I did, sir. I feel assured in knowing that Novak will never hurt me or another woman again."
"But there are still men like him out there. Be careful and don't let your guard down."
Radec felt obligated to give her that warning, though his challenge to Cobar would result in the long-term effects he had intended. Word would spread like wildfire in the army: Radec was a commander who looked after his subordinates as much as he expected a lot from them. After today, no one would dare to make any wrong move on the female troops of his division. Any fool who dared would risk his wrath.
Iveta regarded the colonel with a slight tilt of her head. "Sir, if I may ask a question..."
Radec nodded for her to continue.
"What you did to Novak during the exercise...you didn't mean to kill him right there and then, but after..."
"Tactics aren't just performed on the battlefield, Lieutenant." He tapped a finger on the side of his helmet. "Your mind is your greatest weapon. If I couldn't find a way to have Novak pay for what he did, then I had to make a way. As Cobar had said, cowardice and defeatism are grounds for execution. I merely took advantage of the fact and settled the matter as a soldier. A man who violates a woman in the dark of an alley has no honor or courage. Such a man should have no place in the army. Cobar may not believe this, but the exercise let me give him another reason to take out Novak. A reason that even he cannot ignore."
Iveta stood even straighter to attention. "Knowing that makes me proud to serve under a brilliant commander like you, sir." Then she faltered. "And I...I don't know how to thank you enough..."
"Continue to do your duty well. That is enough of a thanks for me."
She saluted Radec, the glowing regard for him and resolution on her face only cut off by the helmet she slipped back on.
Here I try to show Radec's honorable, chivalrous side, but I also want to make clear that he is ruthless, manipulative, and calculating too. You can probably tell that the military exercise scene was inspired by KZ2 multiplayer. Cobar doesn't show much characterization in the only game he's been in (Liberation), so I was left up to my imagination to make him misogynistic and an asshole as he is psychotic and sadistic.