#SOE Glory Hounds

[zepybespectacled]

Glory Hounds 1 - “Night Shift”

“The night shifts are the worst…”

The man mumbled as he walked through the clean white hallways of the building. He wore a dark blue dress uniform, marked with a couple of silver medals on his left chest. His head was topped with dirty blonde hair and held thin hazel eyes. He had a light skin tone that contrasted with the blues of his clothing. He stopped at a blue metal door marked with the sign “COMMAND”. Pressing his hand up to the identifier, it scanned and beeped in confirmation as the door slid open. Speakers from somewhere within the room began to broadcast a feminine and robotic voice.

“Hello, Captain Walters! The time is currently: Twenty-one hundred hours in Gaia Standard Time. The scheduled report on logistics and the status of all active units have been uploaded into your computer. Awaiting further orders”

“Thank you, Nikola. Please connect my terminal to the operational network,” Walters said to their headquarters’ AI assistant as he walked inside.

The room looked like a standard office-space, though minimalist in nature given the scope of his work. A large computer terminal took up the space in front of the wall on the left side of the door, with a swivel chair in front of it. Several boxes containing spare parts and supplies were stacked on the opposite end of the room. To his right, were filing cabinets and drawers filled to the brim with both data-tablets and physical documents. The voice of Nikola echoed from the room speakers once more.

“Connection to operational network, established. Command interface, online” She announced as Walters sat down in his chair, put on a wired headset and looked at the computer screen.

A timer counting down showed that he had a little less than five minutes before the first stages of the evening’s operations were underway. To the side of his screen he saw the names and callsigns of all the active units within his platoon, all showing their status as “Green”

Captain Jin Walters was the leader of the “Glory Hounds”, a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) platoon assigned to the Gardis 22nd Regiment, which worked under the command of the Eden Expeditionary Force (EEF) 3rd Division. Originally his platoon was called the “Wardogs” but given their habit of arriving at the last part of the battle to finish it and claim victory (due to the nature of QRF’s) the other Republic soldiers had taken to mockingly calling Walters and his troops as “glory hounds” and the name had stuck.

Tonight, the EEF 3rd Division had assigned the Gardis 22nd with securing a dense forested area which Arachling scout drones had positively identified as Soul Energy hotspots. They were to do this in advance of the Federation-class ships which would be sent to siphon the energy later. The drones also identified a large number of local lifeforms, falling under the category of “Beasts” that inhabited the area. Early contact resulted in their teams getting attacked with arrows, so negotiation was off the table.

The leaders of the 22nd wanted to initiate an artillery barrage and level a whole chunk of the forest to drive out the locals and make the area easier to secure with ground forces. However, the higher ups in charge of the EEF 3rd Division told them such destruction was unacceptable. They didn’t explain how, but apparently the scientists in charge of gathering Soul Energy said something about how massive destruction could cause the energy to dissipate and hotspots to disperse. In any case, a wholesale bombardment was out of the question, which meant they had to take over the area the old-fashioned way.

The Gardis 22nd had prepared another platoon, the “Renovators” to take point for the operation. They would deploy Marine squads with Snipers ahead to scout and clear the area, while a 2nd force of Demolishers escorted by Marines and Sentinel Walkers would follow behind them, to tear down the trees and clear the route for a Pulse Tank column of the “Stone Crawlers” armored unit, who were to move in last, form a defensive line around the operational area, and lay down a suppressing bombardment from their energy cannons to force the local Beasts into fleeing the area. 

The operation was scheduled for the night, as it was assumed that most of the locals would be asleep in whatever village they had erected nearby and would be unable to respond immediately to the loud movements of the walkers and the tanks. Meanwhile, their own soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles and their vehicles had various cameras and sensor arrays to help them pick up on life signs even in the darkness of the forest. As far as the Gardis 22nd was concerned, the operation should progress smoothly and the area ready for energy harvest by sunrise.

Still, no one became an officer without expecting any plan to go horribly wrong. So, the “Glory Hounds” were activated as a QRF on standby for the operation. The task of Walters and his troops was to keep an eye on the mission as it progressed, listen for status updates over the operational network, and be prepared to mobilize at a moment’s notice should the other platoons call for reinforcements.

As Walters watched the countdown for the operation’s start, he knew that his soldiers would be lounging around their Vindicator jeeps, keeping themselves busy with coffee and card games while waiting for the call to jump into action.

As the countdown timer hit zero, a gruff male voice came through the speakers on Walters’ headset. A voice he recognized as Colonel Kimball, the leader of the Gardis 22nd.

“This is ‘Foreman’ to all active units. Sound off” he said.

“This is ‘Sniffer’, roger that” Said another male voice, which Walters recognized as Sergeant Riley of the Renovators platoon.

“This is ‘Dozer’, reading you loud and clear” Said a feminine voice, which he knew as Lieutenant Sandra of the Renovators’ walker unit.

“This is ‘Trucker’, standing by” Said a thick male voice, which he recalled as Lieutenant Darius of the Stone Crawlers Tank unit.

With all of the other units having reported in, Walters held down a button to activate his own microphone to transmit over the operation network. “This is ‘Supermart’, we are standing by” He said. The voice of Foreman came through the speakers once more.

“Good. All units, the operation is a go. Sniffer, Dozer, you are clear to move out”

Walters adjusted himself in his seat as he switched over to the local network used by his own platoon in particular. Once connected, he spoke loudly and clearly.

“Attention! This is your Captain speaking. The operation is underway so look alive, people! All squads, check your gear and make sure your vehicles are ready for action” he announced. Leaning back into his chair, he watched the updating information on the terminal as the units moved into the area of operations.

He hoped this would be a quiet night with a clean operation, but he knew the inhabitants of Eden too well. They would never make things easy.