Callie's Heroes

PART V - A VETERAN’S SIMPLE ADVICE

Kyra smirked as the little Gnome fidgeted, straining to listen to the ongoing conversation in the next room. Even with her Mana Enhanced Hearing, the walls had been warded for outgoing sound for exactly these kinds of moments. More than a few races had good hearing, and sometimes the officers needed a secure space.

Finally, Callie threw up her hands. “I give up, I can’t hear anything.” She looked over to the smirking Elf. “Thick walls or magically soundproofed?”

“A little of both,” Kyra mockingly replied. “I’m sure they will not be long.”

Next to Callie, Juniper likewise fidgeted. obviously nervous. Loki was doing his best to try to help, nuzzling her neck and actually purring, but Juniper was simply distracted by her own worries. Callie glanced at her, trying to think of a way to offer comfort. Inwardly, Callie laughed. It was only two weeks ago that she met Juniper for the first time and would have literally given anything just to be close to her. Now? She was still hot as hell, that hadn’t changed, but now that she knew the Dryad on a personal level, that lustful longing had faded. The fact that her obvious crush on Vanis was being reciprocated also sort of made the Nymph off-limits now.

Hesitantly, Callie reached out and put her hand on Juniper’s arm.

“What?” Juniper said sharply, jumping in her seat.

“Don’t worry,” Callie said, trying to sound reassuring. “If it’s what they think it is, we'll deal with it. Reynard is the best, and the Major is amazing. With them along, we’ll take care of it quickly.”

“Perhaps I should still investigate myself,” Juniper said, starting to stand.

Callie’s gentle touch on the Dryad’s arm gripped tightly, and she forcefully pulled Juniper back into her seat. “Absolutely not! It’s too dangerous for you. And for your Tree, for that matter. You will stay here in camp and let us take care of it. This isn’t a debate.”

“But …” Juniper began, but her body deflated.

“Today is everyone’s day off, so I’ll ask Vanis if he can sit with you while you wait.”

“Oh? You will?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Well, that would be quite lovely,” Juniper said with a smiling, perky chirp. “I was supposed to join him earlier to watch your strange group ritual. The one with the ball where you chase each other? But the Nothing waylaid me, and I’m worried he’ll be quite cross that I wasn't there.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand, Juniper,” Callie said, keeping the reassuring tone in her voice. “He’s quite fond of you.”

“He is?”

“Yes. We all are. You’re our friend.”

Juniper smiled, only slightly and for just a moment. “As you wish. I shall remain here, then. But do be careful. You are my … friend … too, and I shudder at the thought of anything happening to you or the others.”

“We’ll be careful. I know they put me in charge, and I don’t really know why, to be honest, but I’ll do my best. The second I’m in over my head, though, I’m turning this whole thing over to Reynard or the Major to lead. I know they say it’s a training moment, but saving your Tree comes first.”

The door opened quickly, and both Rowani and Reynard walked stiffly out. They didn’t seem angry. Callie had honestly expected Reynard to be furious once she had left the room for some reason, but he just seemed driven now. Rowani wore the same expression. The intensity of their looks made Callie instinctively leap to her feet.

“Everything ok?” Callie asked.

“Uh … yes Little One,” Rowani replied. “I am just mentally reviewing what I need to do before I go scouting.” Then she added with a scowl, “The Commandant insisted I wear my proper armor.”

“Good idea,” Callie agreed.

“It’s just a pain to put on, and I am almost positive it’s just a Bogwump.”

“It must be,” Reynard said. “Be careful, please, Rowani. The birds in the area are likely infected and may try to take you down. Just verify what it is and drop a beacon we can hike to. Put it somewhere we’ll be able to see the blight. We’ll take it from there.”

“I should still be going,” Rowani snarled, but then she looked at Callie, “But I see the usefulness as a training exercise. Little One, don’t risk anyone’s safety. If things prove too difficult, get back here and we’ll put together a bigger team.” She looked at Juniper, “We will take care of your problem, Miss Juniper.”

The Dryad nodded. “The Little One was telling me the same. I put my trust in your hands.”

“If for some reason we can’t handle it today,” Reynard reconfirmed, “we’ll take care of it first thing in the morning with a much larger group of experienced people. I don’t think we’ll need to do that, though.”

“Excuse me,” Rowani said. “I’ll be on my way. Reynard, I’ll meet you shortly at outfitting to get the beacon. Give me an hour to prepare, fly out and return. I am almost positive it is a Bogwump, though.”

“What’s next?” Callie asked Reynard as the Druid left through the door.

The Foxkin chuckled. “I really shouldn’t say. This is your mission, after all, acting Sergeant. But in the interests of time I’ll tell you my plans. I’m off to let logistics know what we’re doing and what we need, so they can get it in order. We can all stop by as we head out. Rowani is going to place a beacon down, so we will need to get the matching tracker as well. After that, I need to retrieve my armor and swords, as well as all of your swords too.”

“The real ones?” Callie gasped, then she reconsidered. “I suppose that would be the case. But we haven’t even worked with our metal practice swords yet.”

“We were all going to start with the dull blades this week, now that you’ve mostly mastered the wooden ones. For today, the Major and I can give everyone some basic instructions as we hike in. My hope is that none of the Rangers will need to even draw their blades.”

“What do I need to do?” Callie asked, unsure what to do next. “Probably go round up the rest of the people and then get dressed. I’ll admit I’m a little over my head here.”

“Galin will be out momentarily to assist. You’ll need Sergeant-Major Natala to call your team members to muster.”

Callie swallowed. The Sergeant-Major made her nervous. She didn’t dislike Natala, but she also didn’t know her well and was honestly a little intimidated by the always intense and obviously battle-experienced Dwarf. On the Bunkerball field, she’d also proven quite effective as a blocker for the Camp team, despite her small size and occasional difficulty walking.

“Should I have everyone come here?” Callie asked

Reynard nodded. “We can muster here. I’m sure the Commandant will have some words of encouragement before we leave.” He turned to Xera’s assistant. “Miss Kyra, a good day to you.”

“To you as well, Reynard,” she cooed in return. “Good hunting to you all.”

“Thank you.”

Reynard left the waiting area, leaving Callie once again with only a worried Juniper and Kyra. She looked into the conference room, seeing Xera and the rest of the officers laughing as if enjoying a good joke between them. Interestingly, even with the door open, only a minimal amount of sound leaked out, and what Callie could hear was muffled and unintelligible. Before she could do anything, the Legate stepped back and walked towards the entrance.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he left the sound-dampened room.

“Not at all,” Callie snarled in return, but the grin on Galin’s face never wavered.

“You’ll be fine. What do you think we should do next?”

“Get everyone moving, so they can get their armor on and such.”

“Good. Duwana, Miss Kyra,” Galin said. He gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”

“Duwanai, my dear,” Kyra responded, causing the Legate to stutter his step just slightly.

Taking Juniper in tow, Loki waddling along behind the Dryad, Callie and the Legate walked towards the hill leading up to the training field. In the distance, the sounds of cheering could be heard, but Callie could tell it wasn’t the recruit’s side of the bleachers that was excited. This didn’t bode well for how the game had fared while she’d been gone. Galin saw the look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s not the recruits cheering. We had a good lead when I came down here, but I’m worried what it might look like when I get back.”

“Well, with more team members needing to go out on this mission, I think we’ll postpone the remainder of the game until next week.”

“That would work.” Maybe this game could be salvaged?

Cresting the hill, Callie was pleasantly surprised to see the score. It hadn’t been a total rout, now standing at 30-21. The recruit team had the ball, and having just ducked into one of the side bunkers to reset the number of charges, the ball was placed midfield. As they lined up, the referee called out only one minute remaining in the third battle.

“Let’s let them run to the end of this quarter, er battle,” Callie suggested. “They’ll have a break and we can call them then.”

“Do you want to go join them?” the Legate asked.

Callie looked and saw Pixyl hovering on the sideline, gesturing wildly towards Koda and Jesca, but there was a smile on her face, as well as the faces of the rest of the team. “Nah,” Callie said. “Pixyl is having fun. It will only be a couple more plays.”

The final drive didn’t go very well. With three quick plays, the recruits only found themselves at their opponent’s quarter field. Technically, it was close enough that Xin might be able to throw the ball through, although still outside her comfort zone for complete accuracy. The camp’s Sentinel had grown wise to the Shaman’s deadly aim, though, and was on high guard for that possibility. Finally, the charge started just as the clock ran out. The play would continue to its end, and Xin dropped back, looking for anyone that might be open for a reception. Her receivers were all well-covered, though and as the rush came at her, Xin threw the ball long through the uprights for a single point, ending the third battle. Whistles shrilled and the players all walked towards their own sides to regroup and plan for the resumption of play.

“Sergeant-Major!” Galin called out, catching the attention of the intimidating Dwarf.

“Sir?” Natala said as she changed direction and approached.

“We have a situation. We’ll need your assistance.”

“Of course, what’s going on?”

“Combat mission,” Galin said, a smile on his face. “We’ll need you to muster several of the recruits that are here.”

“Really? Sure. Who do you need me to call?”

Galin gestured towards Callie, who was standing next to him trying to hold a weak smile. “Acting Sergeant Callie is in charge of this mission. She’ll brief you on who she needs and their instructions.” With that, the Legate took two steps backwards, yielding the conversation to Callie.

“Her? Really? At week two?” Natala asked, looking from Callie back to Galin. “Sir?”

“It’s real,” Galin assured with a nod.

“Understood,” Natala said as she stiffened. Turning her eyes to look at Callie, she said, “Sergeant, what do you need?”

“Um, yeah, I need…” Callie began to reply, her voice trailing off into almost a whisper before the gaze of the expectant Sergeant-Major. There was something about the Dwarf that just completely intimidated her. It wasn’t like with the officers. To an extent, they seemed … maybe aloof was a close word? The Sergeant-Major, though, felt like one of them. A very experienced soldier who wasn’t afraid to get into the fight with the rest of the people. She’d seen it all, done it all, and wore that experience proudly as a banner.

Natala looked at the Legate and then back to Callie before placing her hand on Callie’s shoulder. “Sergeant, I don’t know what the mission is, and I don’t need to know. But I do remember when I stood exactly where you're standing right now for the very first time. I’ll give you the same advice that I was given then.”

“Okay,” Callie said nervously.

“'Get your shit together'. Recruit Callie, I don't know why you were chosen, but you were, so speak up, take command, and get your shit together. Understood?”

Callie swallowed, or at least tried to. Her throat was so dry. Unable to make more than a squeak, she simply nodded rapidly in agreement.

“Good. Now, what do you need, Sergeant?”