The trip had been somewhat long and Samusenko had expended two canisters of fuel to reach their intended target, only to have to move back again this time. After the entire odd unit had signed up as volunteers amidst Gallia's war, they were all redirected to Fort Amaranthine, with Audie as a representative right next to Captain Raginis, moving to meet the Third Regiment of Militia's Captain.
The two men saluted as soon as they were face-to-face with the black-haired woman. She pushed her glasses up and read their files after they'd completed some extra missing details, then murmured, "I honestly can't believe a word..." as she looked up at them. "Poland? America? Russia? We don't have these countries here, gentlemen. Just tell us you don't want your land to be known while serving as Volunteers."
"... It's a long story, ma'am," Audie sighed deeply, "Trust us, if we had the time and wouldn't sound crazy..."
She hummed, then nodded, "Fair enough, I suppose... Well, Gallian bureaucracy being what it is, I might as well accept it. Every one extra gun is one more to point at the Imperial invasion, much more almost 800..." and signed off on the battalion joining their Regiment. She said, "Welcome aboard, gentlemen. You're the First Volunteer Battalion, Third Militia Regiment now."
She stood up and saluted, to which they once more saluted back, then walked past her desk to lead them to their new barracks and inspect the troops. She spoke to the two of them, "I have to admit it's best not to really look a gift horse in the mouth, but I do have to ask... Do you folks actually have a bear with you?" with a raised brow at the Polish officer. That must've been a sight to behold.
Audie snorted and covered his mouth, while Raginis replied nonchalantly, "Yes."
A hint of excitement flickered in the woman's eyes, but she managed to maintain her composure like a Veteran. Which she supposedly was. As the three descended into the courtyard, they saw the rest of the unit having set up a temporary little camp. The Polish were sharing food with the rest of the unit, while Wojtek the bear was curled up and asleep... With a young Darcsen girl laying in its fur with a smile, eyes closed.
Welkin and Alicia were also there, with the rest of their newly-selected team, watching the oddity and listening to the two Soviet women singing, one of them utilizing an accordion. Their voices carried over to the three 'officers' as they arrived, with a particular britishman seemingly a little annoyed. He greeted Audie and the others and said, "Damn accordion's scratching my ears. You lads mind tellin'em to cut it off?"
"Better than bagpipes," Joked Joe as he looked over Isara, who was fast asleep in Wojtek's fur.
Churchill rolled his eyes and shot back, "You'll note I'm only playing them in battle after everyone complained about it on the way here," while sharpening his sword. Joe shrugged and gave a tip of his helmet to Captain Eleanor Varrot, captain Raginis and Audie as they joined the group. Varrot looked to Raginis and pointed at the bear, as if she was asking for permission. He nodded and she gently walked toward it.
It slowly stirred from its slumber with a light groan, then looked up as it clicked its tongue, its two brown eyes locking onto Captain Varrot. It clicked its tongue and let out a short, weird noise. Captain Varrot, to her credit, kept the fact she was scared to death of the big creature well-hidden. Wojtek, however, could smell the fear. He watched captain Varrot gently remove one of her gloves and did the most surprising thing for the Captain.
He leaned his head forward for a pat.
Eleanor Varrot, in all of her thirty-five years of life, had never felt both so relieved and so surprised as now. As she put her hand through the creature's soft brown fur, all the worry dissipated and a hint of bliss filled her heart. She smiled as she patted the creature, which leaned into it like a dog or cat would. She looked over to a tanned man who was hauling the team's anti-tank weaponry, then chuckled.
He scratched the back of his head, then snorted. Looking over to Welkin, who was now a Lieutenant, he said, "You guys brought these people in, eh, kid?"
"Yeah," Welkin replied, arms crossed, "More like they rescued us from Bruhl and then got us here safe," before he looked over to the T-34-85 as the two women on it sang another tune, smiles in their faces. The tank crewmen were playing the accordion or just dancing to the tune, calm. The man that had asked him about the group was Sergeant Largo Potter, one of the other XOs of the Seventh Platoon and a Vet from EW1.
Beside him was another older woman, her arms crossed to her chest as she pushed a strand of red hair out of her eye. She asked the pair, "It even safe to keep a bear around? Cuz the bastard might maul us to death in our sleep," as she shifted uneasily. Brigitte 'Rosie' Stark, a singer, a corporal and the de-facto leader of the Shock Troopers. She was apparently fairly brash.
A few Polish soldiers looked at her with a hint of annoyance, arms crossed. She seemed to decide backing off was a good idea, which eased them into it. Murphy and Joe exchanged a quick look, then both sighed and laughed. The American who wrote 'To Hell and Back' walked over and sat himself down next to Wojtek, who let out a surprisingly happy grunt and leaned his head against the younger man, who scratched the Bear under the chin.
Beyrle walked up to Lyudmilla and Samusenko and offered them Gallian rations. Both women hesitated in taking whatever kind of food the Gallians had, but still did, with both thanking him in Russian. He replied in kind, surprising Lyuda, but Samusenko smirked. Mad Jack looked at Joe and asked, "Pardon me, Yank, but did you, Raginis and Murphy ask Captain Varrot what we're dealing with?"
"Wasn't with them while chatting with the Captain, but from what I got? Big eastern empire. Not too different from Russia, but even worse off, it seems. Sounded almost like they took the worst of both the Union and the Tsardom," He replied as he sat himself down. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, murmuring something to himself. Joe, however, sighed and asked, "Look. I have to ask. Why a sword and a bow exactly?"
Jack looked at him almost as if he'd gone mad, ironically enough. He replied most Britishly, "Any officer who goes into battle without his sword is improperly dressed, lad. As for the bow?" and he flashed the Pathfinder a grin, "Well, I just found it mighty hilarious to see Jerry's reaction to getting hit by a god-damned arrow from a British longbow. You've got all these fancy guns and yet forget the most stealthy and useful tool as a Commando?"
Joe snorted and elbowed him in the shoulder, "Honestly, you're growing on me."
"He's like a tumor," Leo commented jokingly as he leaned against the T34. He looked up at the tank and murmured, "Swear to Christ, I never thought I would be side-by-side with a T34 in the same field of battle. Not after Korea... Hey, Samusenko!" He then called out. The tank commander looked down at him and raised a brow. He told her, "This thing kill many Nazis?"
She grinned, "Plenty."
"Good to know," He nodded, "Keep it pointed at them, aye?"
"Da, da, da, don't worry your head about it, goose," She chuckled, then dipped back into the tank and handed him a bottle of what seemed to be water. When he uncapped and sniffed it, he was actually surprised to see it was water. Much as he was confused about the 'goose' bit, he took a sip from the canteen, while she and Lyudmilla continued laughing about something while speaking in Russian.
Raginis remained at attention, chatting with Captain Varrot off in the distance. Welkin, Alicia, Rosie, Largo and Isara all stared at the strange mishmash of soldiers, with Isara, who'd finally woken up from her nap, commenting with a smile, "Wojtek is really comfortable." And that roused a few jovial chuckles out of the Platoon. Except for Rosie, rather obviously.
Welkin, who was smiling still, commented, "I honestly never thought I'd see a be this docile," while motioning at Wojtek simply nuzzling up to Audie. A pair of Polish soldiers and a pair of Gallians had gone and started rubbing its belly, with the two Gallians, Juno Coren and Susie, whom the gang had been rescued with, beaming and hugging the fluffy animal.
Simo walked up to them, meanwhile, telling them, "I don't suppose you folks have anything warm to eat, right?" while Lauri behind him loaded their SMG drums with fresh ammunition. Alicia pulled out a fresh loaf of bread from God-Knew-Where and handed it to Simo, who took it into his hands. He looked upon the Sergeant and said, "I didn't actually expect a whole loaf... Kiitos..."
"You're welcome," Alicia chuckled, "If you said thanks... Err..." then paused as she watched the man walk back. He started pulling semi-even chunks out of the bread and handing them out to his newfound comrades, even tossing one at the bear and handing what was left to Raginis. He'd saved himself a piece, obviously, which he started eating after sitting down next to Lauri.
"They're a real weird bunch," Rosie commented, rubbing her eyes.
Marina, who'd just now joined the group, shrugged. She told them, "They seem friendly," before turning and walking off. Seriously, what was with snipers and just saying one thing only to leave? That was pretty much the common thread of thought amidst the ranks of the Seventh Platoon. Isara, meanwhile, remained proud and happy she got to sleep in the fur of a living bear without it trying to eat her.
"Y'know..." Largo sighed, " I wonder if signing back up with the Militia was a good idea. If this is the kind of stuff we're gonna be dealing with on a daily basis, I might as well have just stuck to farming and shot any Imp that tried to trespass..." and that got a few laughs too. He shrugged, "I don't honestly know what else to say beside that. This is in the top ten weirdest things I've seen."
"It number two, at least?" Alicia asked jokingly.
Largo snorted, "Nah. Three. Two and one are stories I'll only tell you kids when we break the ice properly..." which did make everyone curious. Turning to Largo, the group raised brows at him, with Isara giggling at that. Rosie, meanwhile, sighed and rubbed her temples. She felt the headache that was coming on full force and swore to herself, thinking just what she was going to do. Headache aside, she did calmly eye up the people present, with the Sniper and tankist being the strangest pair to her, what with those khaki uniforms of theirs.
Then again, the two men who were loading drum magazine-fed SMGs were even weirder and the two 'Americans' were the weirdest. She didn't even know how to process anyone else and her thoughts were just on how she needed a painkiller for the headache that was slowly turning into a proper migraine. She sighed deeply and said, "Can we get our mission already, please?" to nobody but herself.
What in the everloving fuck was even going on anymore?