Soon enough a set of Minorours arrived with the Medics. After checking the wounded and stabilizing them for transport the COG forces moved as a group to the Air-Field.
The Onyx had missed the battle for all the difference their presence would have made. The Swarm DeeBees had attacked by approaching and striking from point blank. Most of their forward guards had been taken out in the opening moments.
During the attack the runway had been damaged preventing any launching or recovery of planes. Most of the other facilities were still working in working state. Emmerich was sent along with the other wounded so that his arm could be treated in a medical setting.
Emmerich spent a half hour waiting for an orderly to check him. Once his arm had been set, under a dose of painkillers. He was diagnosed with mental and physical exhaustion, advised to avoid stress and get some rest. Once he was cleared fit enough to move they were pointed to one of the other buildings on base.
He was directed to a room with little in the way of furniture but an attached wash room. Before he could use it however, he paused a familiar bag on the bed catching his attention.
Opening the bag Emmerich found his belongings as he had left them. A few articles of clothing, a set of books most were fresh copies with a few originals that he'd bartered with Outsiders for, his Toothbrush, other assorted effects and a small hard case container.
Emmerich's first course of action was to use the shower. Grabbing a set of clean clothes he got washed and changed. He was relieved to get out of his clothes for the day. The Onyx had taken his armor set back though he doubted they could return it to the inventory in the state he'd arrived in.
Having washed and changed clothes in the privacy of the wash room. He returned to the bag on the bed.
He pressed his hand against the sensor and the case confirmed his identity before opening the lid. Inside was a Snub with an all white frame and a few clips of gel-tipped shock rounds. A small inlay in the door held a certificate proudly declaring that on the 24th of Brume 6033. Alexander Emmerich had qualified with the Shock Snub pistol up to a range of 10 Meters.
The small badge with two crossed Snubs sat in its cut-out. Emmerich picked it up, turning it over to read the small inscription on the back. It was in old Tyran but the instructor had provided the translation.
Cruel as necessary. No more no less.
He heard the approach of footsteps in the small corridor at the sound of knocking on the door.
'Yes, who is it?' He called out, placing the badge back into the box and pressing it closed.
He turned to see some of the Onyx that had guided and protected him from the safety of the City to the Airfield. He had started to recognize three now after their journey across the ruins despite the lack of the helmet and its HUD.
'Permission to enter, sir?' The leader asked. Myers by Emmerich's guess.
'You hardly need to ask Lieutenant without you all I… I'm not sure if I would be here.'
Myers, Day and Figueroa moved into the room removing their helmets and two more Onyx took up positions flanking the outside of the doorway as it closed.
'I take it the flight is still delayed?' Emmerich asked.
'I'm afraid so but from the sounds of it the damaged sections will be repaired shortly and flights should be able to take-off in a few hours or so once the runway has been tested,' Myers reported.
'The seal of the First Minister does help jump the queue. Hopefully we're not delaying any flights that are needed,' Emmerich sighed as he lent against the edge of the bed.
'For the moment it's quiet. It seems the Swarm has had enough for now but they will be back and we'll need to be ready before then,' Myers said with a nod.
Emmerich nodded to the figure to Myers' right, Day by her stance, 'Corporal it seems you've repaid my earlier actions by a good margin.'
'Just doing my duty, sir,' Day replied curtly.
'I suppose you're here to announce you've been recalled to escort the next Governor?' Emmerich said.
The Onyx gave each other a look before Figueroa responded, 'Any reason you would think we're leaving, sir?'
'I'd imagined that after getting me here you would see to the safety of the next one to make the journey.'
'No sir, they'll have their own guards for the foreseeable future we're with you.'
Emmerich took a moment to think. Most people in the COG would never need a security detail let alone a force of the COG's own Onyx Guard protecting them.
'You all seem a bit more… committed then I would have thought for this assignment. I don't exactly see myself as that vital to the war effort,' Emmerich muttered.
'Before the events of today that may have been accurate. But considering the enemy has clearly shown that they intend to target you. We're more than confident that this assignment is utilizing us to the fullest extent,' Myers affirmed.
'I'm guessing that's not the only reason?'
Another shared look went between the three Onyx.
'With all due respect, Sir. We all thought this was not the best use of time. That we were going to walk some desk jockey over some rubble and keep his shoes clean,' Myers said with a shrug.
'Harsh,' Emmerich said, before nodding, 'But fair.'
'You've been targeted and that more than proves that you're a threat or at least the Swarm thinks you are. We have a duty to keep you safe. Every enemy we kill that's trying to get at you is one less that is doing something else somewhere else.'
'Good to know that being a target has its perks I suppose,' Emmerich said with a sigh.
'On that note sir. The Quartermaster wouldn't take the armor back given the damage. So we had your plates fixed up,' Figueroa said.
At her word one of the Onyx entered the room holding the set they had given him at the gate. It had been repaired and cleaned up, its shattered shoulder pauldron once blue was now black with the markings of the 13th upon it.
'Welcome to the effort, Sir,' Myers said.
A few hours later they received the notice their Condor was leaving. Emmerich with his bag in one hand and carrying his new armor met the Onyx and they set out to the runway.
As they passed between two buildings Emmerich saw them. Row upon row of body bags. He froze.
Casualties were something the COG had been tight lipped about. They had never disclosed any statistics. Part of him was hoping that those people being consoled were the unlucky few, but that was a lot of bags, far too many for a victory.
How close had he been today. The Ambush, that explosive bolt and the DeeBees. Those were when he knew he could have died.
'Sir,' Hickman snapped Emmerich out of his trance.
'Has… Is it always like this?' Emmerich asked.
'Has been as long as I've been fighting,' Hickman said with a shrug.
'I thought we won.'
'We did. But that doesn't mean we all get to go home. Like Myers said. Welcome to the effort, Sir.'
They paused in silence for a moment. Emmerich watched as one Gear, likely the unit's priest, walked along reciting the final rights to the fallen. He'd never been of faith himself. It felt strangely invasive to stand here whilst the fallen were given their rights.
Emmerich turned away making for the Condor. Once he was up the ramp he saw they were going with several pallets of cargo. Seemed site 13 needed the supplies as much as they needed a Governor. He picked out a seat stowing his bag and armor like the Onyx had before sitting down. He'd planned to get reviewing the briefing on his PDA for the flight. But once he had done up the buckles for takeoff he dropped right to sleep the exhaustion of the day taking him.
Looking at the Shelter doors as something struck them again and again. Were those screams he could hear? Why didn't he do something? What could he have done? He felt strange, like he was heavier than normal.
Was he holding something? He looked down in his hands and found he was wearing armor and in his hands was a Snub pistol, a lethal one from the look of it. But he didn't have a lethal one did he? His was a Shock version wasn't it? And it was in my bag. Wait? Was it the nightmare? Again?
With a crash doors were struck again, the frame beginning to buckle. As the doors gave way the things beyond roared in victory the sound was deafening. He raised the pistol, firing into the darkness beyond and the glowing eye's within.
Emmerich snapped awake. After a moment to calm himself he realized what had happened. He had fallen asleep. The drone of the engines that must have been the roar he'd heard. But why had the nightmare changed so much?
Looking around the Condor he found that most of the Onyx were awake. They had their helmets on again like they were preparing to leave. One had seen him wake and was walking over.
'Sorry for not waking you Sir. You looked like you needed the rest,' The voice told him it was Day again, 'Bad dream?'
'Yes to both I'm afraid. Sorry if I disturbed anyone,' Emmerich looked around sheepishly.
'We've all had bad times,' Day said, offering an understanding nod.
'My sleep schedule aside, I take it we're almost there?' Emmerich rubbed his eyes, willing himself to wake.
'Yes, sir. We're on approach but..,' Day paused.
'Is something the matter?' Emmerich looked over concerned, entering his voice.
'There are two control towers on the radio, both are arguing about our landing.'
In the cockpit of the Condor a heated argument was building despite only one person being inside.
'Site-13 Tower, CO-254, 8000 meters descending, request approach,' The pilot broadcast.
'CO-254, Site-13 Tower North, join right base, runway two,' A bored voice instructed.
Before the pilot could respond, another voice more authoritative cut in,'CO-254, Site-13 Tower South, join left base, runway one.'
The Condor pilot sighed in exasperation. Ever since she made contact these two idiots were doing this back and forth routine. Better try and get these two to agree on something the arguing couple game was getting annoying.
'Site-13 Tower, CO-254,requests confirmation as to authority of North and South towers.'
'CO-254, Site-13 Tower South, Are you Air Corps traffic or Civilian?' The one she'd pegged as military queried.
'CO-254, Site-13 Tower North, Are you DBi or Military?' The one she guessed as a civilian controller asked.
Again with the double routine. Time to settle this stupid fight.
'Site-13 Towers, CO-254, Operating as an Onyx Guard flight at this time.'
That shut them up for a few moments before the Military guy came back, 'CO-254, Site-13 Tower South, Onyx Guard do not have any fixed wing assets please advise last.'
So South was the one she was talking with. Hopefully North would keep off the net.
'Site-13 Tower South, CO-254, I have the Governor aboard with his security detail.'
'Thank god' Some one must have left their channel open, North by the pilot's guess.
'Last sender, CO-254, did not receive that last please repeat,' She asked, wanting to let off some steam.
''CO-254, Site-13 Tower South, disregard last and come in for base right left on runway one. You don't know how happy we are to see you.
After making their landing at the airfield that barely merited the name. The Onyx in honor guard formation disembarked, marching down the ramp and forming neat lines either side. Emmerich walked down with Myers on one side and Figueroa on the other.
From each side of the runway a group emerged to meet them. One group was Gears moving in formation. The other were technicians from the look of them with DBi work overalls.
Upon seeing each other they began to walk faster to a jog, and then sprinting. At that point the Onyx raised their rifles and both groups stopped.
The Gears started to raise their own Lancers in response before the leader signaled for them to wait, 'Hey drop the guns, we're just here to greet you.'
His opposite in the DBi team shook his head, 'We're greeting them you gun toting ape. Go shoot a bird or something.'
The gear turned to the technician, 'What did you say builder boy? Who said you could come on the runway?'
'I did. My team built it,' The DBi leader snapped.
'This is Official COG business, go look at rocks or something,' The Gear ordered with a wave of his hand.
'I'm a construction engineer not a geologist, you moron.'
Both sides were now lining up facing each other hurling insults. The shouting was rising fast with both sides edging towards each other. The tension was palpable.
Myers gave a signal and the Onyx all pulled the charging handles on their rifles. The sound of the platoon all charging their rifles caused both of the other parties to back away and look at them.
After a moment to get them settled Myers stepped forward.
'I'm Second Lieutenant Myers, Onyx Guard 13th Platoon. We're here as the security detail for Governor Emmerich,' He gestured to Emmerich who nodded curtly.
The two groups whispered for a moment unsure as to what they should be doing. Seeing the opening Emmerich stepped forward as well.
'I've been assigned as Governor of this settlement. I was hoping to meet with the heads of department, were they not able to make it here for our arrival?'
The Gear that had spoken responded first 'Colonel O'Connor is trying to maintain order due to the unrest caused by the civilians.'
The technician was fast to follow up, 'That's a load of rubbish. Chief Ramos is doing her best to keep these wannabe tyrants, from turning the whole site into some giant camp where they get to play guard.'
Both sides began shouting again. Myers was about to reach for his sidearm weighing up if a shot would set them off or settle them down. To his surprise Emmerich walked forward closer to both groups raising his hands to get their attention.
He shouted to be heard over them, 'Please settle down! Settle down, we're not fighting each other out here!'
As he called out the crowds began to settle, keeping the initiative he kept going, 'Please can we speak reasonably here? We all have jobs to do and one of mine is helping get this place organized,' Emmerich said, his voice firmer then normal.
To Myers' surprise it seemed to be working. Most of the crowd were stepping back somewhat easing the tension.
'I'm more than happy to listen to your reports about the situation. But before we get started could I ask who we should be speaking to regarding transport to the camp?' Emmerich asked.
'That would be my department,' One of the technicians said, raising a hand.
Myers signaled Durham over, 'Sergeant coordinate transport. I'll keep with the Governor.'
Emmerich nodded to Myers and pulled out his PDA, 'Now then is there somewhere we can talk? I don't believe a runway is a good place for conversation.'
Nearly an hour later they were rolling down a dirt road towards the base camp. As the area was low risk Emmerich was now riding with the command squad. The Governor had spent all his time on his PDA since they left the airfield.
The Gears and staff had spent a good deal of time yelling at each other to start with. Emmerich for his part had kept a degree of order whilst the parties voiced their anger and frustration at each other.
Finally taking his eyes off the screen Emmerich rubbed his temple.
As he did so the screen of his PDA tilted, giving Myers his first clear look at what he'd been working on. The screen was a mix of charts and smaller divided text fields. The information was even more complicated than reports he sometimes got from the Onyx command staff.
Noting Myers' interest, Emmerich held out the device so he could take a better look, 'I'm guessing you've not seen these sorts of programs before Lieutenant?'
Myers shook his head taking the offered device, 'Not really sir. Some of it seems familiar though.'
'Its a system for monitoring and correlating citizens' thoughts and needs,' Emmerich leaned his head back rubbing his eyes, 'I've input much of what we've heard from the personnel at the airfield and it seems we have problems.'
'What sort of problems? This looks like a lot of people complaining. It's a given most of the time,' Myers held the device out to Emmerich.
'Long version, it's the small things that can be a risk,' Emmerich said. Taking the PDA and navigating through a few options before turning the device back to show Myers, 'This is the number that shows we have a problem,' On the screen 37% flashed, 'That number is the average estimate for… well let's call it morale. I've had to ad-hoc the data since asking them to perform the surveys themselves seemed ill advised.'
'What's that number meant to be?' Myers asked, looking back to Emmerich's face.
'For a stable Settlement above 50%. If everything is going right, 66% and up,' Emmerich sighed, placing the device on the seat next to him, 'Last time a Settlement reached 33% and was at risk of falling further was was… Landa Square.'
'The Settlement 2 Compliance operation? Fuck. Sorry for my language, Sir.'
'No I agree with your assessment. The worst part is I think this might be the case that its all due to good intentions.'
Their ride to the temporary Camp was concerning. There seemed to be no order to things. Some checkpoints were manned fully. Others were only part way built. Some were empty aside from a DeeBee waving them through.
Reaching the Camp the convoy was cleared through the entrance. Parking at the motor pool. Right before being accosted by another pair of representatives and their bands. Both groups closed and seemed to be trying to encircle the Onyx and their charge.
'Governor, Chief Ramos is waiting to speak with you in the Engineering office. This way please,' Before the DBi technician and his party could try and drag Emmerich away one of the Gears spoke up.
'That will have to wait I'm afraid,' The Gear seemed anything but upset about his statement, if anything he seemed pleased, 'Governor, Colonel O'Connor needs to brief you urgently regarding the current situation. This way to the Command Center'
As the two spokespersons finished their respective sides began to argue. Once more the Onyx fell into a defensive ring. Whilst they doubted anyone would be stupid enough to try and get past them there was always a chance.
'Anyone else feels deja vu,' Hudson whispered onto the command net, 'It's like a replay of the airfield. Don't these people have jobs they should be doing?'
'I think that may be one of the problems here,' Emmerich muttered, 'Look around everyone here is just waiting. They should be out on assignments, the groundwork will be well behind schedule at this rate.'
'Sir?' Myers nodded to Emmerich.
'Trusting me already Lieutenant?' Emmerich responded looking around the camp.
'This situation does seem more of a civil matter.'
'Fair enough. We'll move to the Admin office that seems to be central and we can use it as neutral ground,' Emmerich gestured towards the middle of the camp.
'Neutral ground sir?' Myers responded with a tilt of his head.
'We're standing between two camps, not one. That means it is time to get diplomatic.'
'The COG's not been known for diplomacy for a long time, Sir,' Hudson chuckled.
'We have always been good at one form,' Emmerich sighed in resignation.