Chapter 1
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>I am being trained in by my recon team
>It’s been 15 years since the /K/onvergence 
>I joined a mercenary group on the other side about three weeks ago, going by the title of Kommando 3-0
>Gaul and Jotunn, the team leader and second respectively, are leading us in contact drills
>We had a chopper drop us off in a forest in friendly territory for the day, where we would set up targets and drill until I understand how we operate
>There’s a couple of new elves on the team so they’re here as well
>We work in small recon teams, usually with three humans and three elves
>Sometimes it’s more elves, sometimes less humans
>The reason for the human/elf split is the elves recruited are all locals
>Usually it’s some of the less developed tribes that live in the highlands or dense forests that make up our AO
>But we need to make sure they have a proper understanding of how we conduct operations
>So, again, we train, and today, we train contact drills
>What we all do, save for Jotunn, is keep an extended magazine in our rifles, and halfway through the mag a tracer round is loaded
>Jotunn is different because he is our LSW gunner
>He carries an RPK chambered in 5.45, and Kellum usually carries extra AKM mags to act as his assistant gunner
>The way we drill it is, upon first contact, we all fire until we hit the tracer rounds, Regis fires a white phosphorus grenade from the m203 on his AR, and we start Australian peeling
>Our goal isn’t to push through any contacts but to break away and try to work around them
>We’re just taking a few moments right now to reload our spent magazines and rest
>“Kellum, you gotta watch where you peel, bru! I almost capped you on that last run” I hear Jotunn’s gruff, Afrikaans-accented voice say to the elf
>“Sorry Herr Onzen, I just got tunnel vision, und forgot vere I vas in ze column”
>“Don’t sweat it too much Kel’, just watch it is all”
>Gaul stands up and slaps a 40-rounder in his AR
>“Alright, we’re gonna run one more break contact, then we’ll practice with the rocket launcher in some anti-vehicle actions” 
>I finish loading my jungle mags and putting tape over the bottom magazine
>Keeps the rounds from falling out, or dirt and shit from getting in
>TFW even in the Kommando, I still can’t find fucking 30-rounders for my rifle
>Check that, I have found ONE
>It was an inch-pattern mag
>I have a metric-pattern rifle
>We all get in a staggered column with Jotunn at the lead with his RPK
>Kellum is behind him and to the right
>I am behind Kellum and to the left
>Following this pattern, Gaul is behind me, Regis behind him, and Onaron behind him
>Gaul calls out “Contact right!” and we all dump rounds into the clump of trees to our right
>Once we hit our tracers, Regis fires his WP round and we reform our column with Jotunn staying out of line and laying suppressive fire
>He will pull back once Kellum and I start firing
>Kellum fires off a few rounds before peeling back, tapping my shoulder as he passes 
>I do the same with Gaul who does the same to Regis and so on down the line with Jotunn coming after Regis
>We repeat the process three times, but in the field, we would keep going until we have convinced the enemy to go sit down for a minute
>Our last run goes pretty well and we move back to where we landed and re-arm
>Regis swaps from his AR to an MP5 and grabs an RPG-7 and a bundle of rockets
>A lot of other teams train here so there’s an unofficial anti-armor range set up
>It’s just an old beat to shit tank the army gave us to train with and some ranger graves and other such fighting positions
>The only reason it’s still around is the rockets we train with
>Some of our in-house dwarven engineers have come up with modified RPG rockets
>Some that fire Willy Pete, some on a timed fuse for a sort of airburst effect, and the one that’s important to today, paint rounds
>Warheads that just release a bunch of paint after detonation
>I’d say the runts have watched too many Clint Eastwood movies
>The result of this strange homage to Donald Sutherland is a sort of Panzer 1 looking modern art piece
>So we set up targets once again in a way to mimic an enemy advance supported by armor since our first maneuver is going to be defending against a tank supported by infantry
>From what the others have said this won’t happen often, but we need to know what to do if it does
>So we get in our fighting positions and wait for Gaul to blow a whistle
>When he does, Jotunn rakes a line across the targets and Regis fires the RPG
>The first rocket is just meant to immobilize the tank
>Kellum and I are focused on trying to hit anything optics related
>Viewports, periscopes, peppering the commander’s hatch
>Anything that could give the tank eyes
>The rest of the team will pin down the infantry
>Regis will fire another rocket and we’ll start advancing
>We only drill firing two rockets, but Regis is supposed to keep hitting the armor if the first two don’t cook it
>Gaul’s exact words were “If one of these comes at us, I want the fucking turret popped off like the cork on a wine bottle”
>The team moves in and mops up any remaining infantry and breaks off from the point after that
>We drill this another five times before Gaul calls the FOB
>It’s dusk by the time we are done 
>“Schlagen Actual, this is Varangian 1-0, requesting pick up, over”
>Uh oh
>“What the fuck do you mean ‘No air assets available’? We scheduled a fucking Huey to be on standby until a half-hour from now!”
>Gaul’s face is so wrinkled with sheer buttfucking hatred, he looks ten years older
>He is an ordered man, flexible, but gets annoyed when things don’t go right
>Then the radio operator says something that makes his features soften and his eyes go wide
>“Understood Schlagen, we’ll wait for next available, over”
>He looks around at us with a new look on his face
>Total blankness
>“RT Passenger is in contact. Four KIA, only the 1-2 and 0-3 are still living, but 1-2’s unconscious. All the air is being sent their way so prep to RON” There’s no emotion in his voice
>I lean up against a tree and sink down
>Connor, one of the guys who came into the Kommando with me is in Passenger, as the 1-2
>We all just stand there in worried silence for a minute before getting our shelters set up
>Even though the elves and Jotunn don’t really know anyone on Passenger, it hits everyone just as hard
>These guys are family and to hear that a team is about to be wiped out is like finding out your brother just got shot in a drive-by
>It’s fucking brutal
>We set up in the anti-armor range and Regis and I take first watch
>It may be friendly territory, but there’s still a risk of bandits or small tribes of goblins and the like roaming about
>Regis grabbed his AR again and ditched the launcher
>After 2 hours, Jotunn and Kellum relieve us and we make our suppers before falling asleep
>I don’t dream, at least, anything I remember
>3 hours go by and Kellum wakes me up
>“Hey, Zwolf, Gaul just heard on ze radio, zey are going to send a chopper. It’ll be here in ten so start tearing your shit down” 
>I ask him what happened with Passenger
>“Only vone left is ze 0-3. Valkyrie team was sent out und got everyvone but the 1-1 back”
>I give him a thumbs up and crawl out of my sleeping bag and pack it and my tarp up into my rucksack
>After re-chambering the round in my rifle I meet with everyone else at the LZ
>The Huey shows up two minutes later and after a half-hour flight we are back at the FOB
>As we unload I notice all the lights in the various hooches are out except for the bar
>We dump our gear in our hooch and head to join the rest of the misfits in sending off the dearly departed
>Everyone else was waiting for us and as we walk in cocktails are shoved in our hands
>Captain May begins the ceremony by asking those who knew the team members best to say some words
>I don’t say anything, Connor and I only passed each other once or twice since we joined up with 3-0
>Fuck, this was his first propper mission
>After each eulogy, we all take a drink and wait for the next speaker to begin
>Once everyone who had something to say spoke we take another drink
>It’s our little ritual, one that I picked up on after the first to KIA’s since I joined up
>A few moments pass before Aiden Doherty, an Irishman like Captain May starts up a song
>It takes a couple seconds before I recognize it
>It’s “The Parting Glass”
>Typical Gael to know exactly what to sing
>The rest of us stand in silence while Aiden sings and I finish my drink at the same time as the others once the song is finished
>Godspeed fellas
>I can only pray my first doesn’t go as bad as yours
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