It takes nearly half an hour to secure all the prisoners and check the rest of the farm for any surprises. Sergeant Shah has clearly done this sort of thing before and you're happy to let him organize the mop-up. You spend most of your time updating your troop commander and watching the progress of the other platoons on your forearm display. They seem to have met with similar success, although none of the other platoons encountered the sort of resistance that your Fifth Platoon did.
Trooper Amori sticks close to you, and knowing that he's got your back helps you to relax just a little bit. But you can feel the adrenaline coursing through you, and you have to fight to keep a silly grin from bursting out on your face. Those troopers who have need to speak to you are wearing expressions of mild respect, and that in itself is a triumph.
Finally, the prisoners loaded onto a specially-equipped drop ship and headed to orbit under guard, you gather your remaining platoon at the extraction point. Two drop ships have set down and you see Fourth Platoon mustering to board their own ride home.
You recognize the towering form of Lieutenant Karim, who greeted you briefly upon your arrival on board this morning. The Commander of Fourth Platoon, he spots you and wanders over, datapad in hand.
"Hey, Subbie. I see you found your platoon."
You nod, filled with quiet pride that Fifth Platoon is actually "your" platoon. There are a lot of people back at the Astral College who still don't think you have what it takes to command. But none of them understood your free-thinking style—your job is to accomplish the mission, and if those stiff necks couldn't see that, it's not your problem. Karim offers you a wry grin. He strikes you as a guy to whom orders are just a suggestion.
"I'm going to call you 'Nubes' until you prove yourself," he says, raising his datapad, "but I guess I better know your real name…for the inevitable casualty report."