General Cyril Shillington-Smythe sat at his desk looking over the latest Intel from the area. He was still furious at the Loyalist Commander that tore his personal Guardsmen apart, only one survivor from twenty of his finest troops. Major Hampton was still in the infirmary recovering from the concussion he received in the debacle at the butcher's shop. The constant stream of stretchers being unloaded at the morgue was something he had never experienced before, and if he was honest, never wanted to experience again. He had already received a rip from Headquarters over the losses and the lack of advancement in the area. He was stuck for answers, the enemy seemed to appear out of the ether and then disappear just as quickly. No one knew who they were or where they went, all anyone would say is that they are like ghosts that descend on any that where the uniform of the Royal Army.
A knock at the door made him start, he was so wrapped up in the report before him he had blocked out all else.
"Come!" He snapped. The door opened and Major Hampton walked in, looking a little grey around the gills, but at least he was still alive. "Hampton, so how can you explain the mess you made at the Butcher's?"
"Sir, all I can say is that we encountered a force that was far superior to us, both in skill and number. Some how they knew exactly where we would be, and they took us down faster then we could have imagined." The man was devastated at the loss of his men and the way he was left to suffer the knowledge he was the only survivor.
"Everything was going according to plan, there were constant updates, every point was covered. I had snipers covering all of the approaches and there were five inert operatives on the streets. There were four Guardsmen on the second level with the Butcher's family. I was in the office with the Butcher and the traitor. Suddenly there was a pistol against my neck and the men were all dead."
"So you saw some of them?" The General asked.
"I only saw one of them." He responded nervously. His countenance grabbing the General's attention.
"What was so shocking about the soldier, that you are suddenly nervous?" He asked.
"It was a woman." He stammered.
"So, we know they use women, it's what makes them so foolish." Shillington-Smythe scoffed.
"It wasn't the fact that it was a woman, Sir." He answered. "It was the woman's claimed identity that was unbelievable." He looked at his hands, he was wringing them quite vigourously.
"What makes you think it was so shocking?" He asked, he was getting a little annoyed with the Major.
"Sir, she, ah, said she was, um, your daughter." Shillington-Smythe's mouth hung open. The news was shocking and unbelievable.
"Are you trying to be funny Major, because I can assure you I am not in the mood for jokes. And nor should you be?"
"Sir, I can assure you that I am not trying to be funny in any way or form. She was a Lt. Col. And she claimed to be your daughter." The General looked at the Major for a long time, he was weighing up the man, it was clear the man was telling him the truth, the question was, how would he deal with this information. If the Secret Police found out that his daughter was an officer in the Loyalist army, he would be relieved of duty and probably never be seen again.
The head strong little bitch had run away after he refused to allow her to join the Royal Marines. He had thought it just a young girls attempt to rail against her parents, her mother had been inconsolable when the girl ran away. But there was little they could do, as the child had disappeared into the world, he assumed she had run afoul of a group of bandits or fallen and died in a ditch somewhere. Her mother mourned for over a year, but had eventually moved her attention to their son. Not that the change had led any where positive, the boy was coddled so badly that he was weak and tended to tears at the drop of a hat. The opportunity to take over the Household Regiment at Kenwood was too good a chance to pass up. He left his wife and son at their country estate and moved immediately to Kenwood house.
Now here he was, in command of one of the most elite regiments in the Royal Army, and his long forgotten daughter decides to rise from the dead, not only that, but she was an officer for the enemy forces.
"Roald, I understand the concerns you may have in regards to this officer, but I can assure you that she is not my daughter, my daughter died many years ago." He explained. The look on the Major's face was replaced with a relieved look.
"I am relieved that this evil bitch was lying, I was so very concerned that this would cause you and the regiment difficulties." Hampton explained.
"I can see your concerns, but they are unfounded. I have considered the reports from yourself and the Over-view Officer, and I think that I was remiss in not supplying you with an adequate forces. I have read your report and you have done yourself no harm."
"Thank you, Sir. I wish the mission had turned out very differently, we lost a lot of very good men." Hampton said sadly. "I would love the opportunity to return the favour at the earliest opportunity."
"You have my guarantee that will indeed be the case. Now leave me, I must review these reports. Thank you, Major." Hampton was dismissed and he rose and left. Shillington-Smythe sat back and considered the information Major Hampton had revealed to him. Now he was left with a number of concerns, not the least being the Major himself, if he slipped and mentioned that his daughter was one of the commandos that raided the Butchers, there would be an lot of very uncomfortable questions asked. In reality, he needed the Major to disappear, but how? Hampton was one of his more senior commanders, and a lot of people would be suspicious if the Major suddenly fell off the face of the Earth. The Secret Police had ears everywhere, and it only took a minor concern to turn the Regiment up side down. He returned to the Intel reports in front of him and pushed the Major to the back of his mind.
*****
Jemimah sat at her desk in the office that she was allocated in her new position as the Commander of the 55th Commando Regiment. She had a pile of paper to her left, containing orders, requests, and daily reports and other sundry requests and reports. She was over whelmed at the shear weight of paper work that she was being sent, it was a constant flow. After three hours, she looked at the pile that seemed to be the same size as it was when she started, she made a decision. It was time to forget the details for the moment and get the framework of her regiment in place. She picked up the phone and dialed the Sgt's Mess.
"Sergeant Major Asuoko please." She asked the receptionist, and after a few moments wait a familiar voice came on the end of the line.
"Atsuoko, Sir, how can I assist you?"
"Hideo, Jemimah, I need you to come to my office as soon as you can, there is a few details I need your input on." She asked her friend and trusted advisor.
"Certainly Colonel. I will be there in ten minutes." He responded.
"Excellent, see you then." She said and rang off.
True to his word, Atsuoko knocked on the door.
"Come." The door opened and her Sergeant Major walked in, and as always, looked like he had just stepped out of a recruiting poster.
"Afternoon Ma'am." He said, never in her time with the man had he ever allowed himself to relax his discipline.
"Hideo, thank God you're here. I need you to help me get this Regiment in order." She said with more than a hint of exasperation. "I am a bit lost on how to order a whole regiment, and then prepare for a very complex battle plan."
"Well, it looks like you have a lot of work ahead, and luckily I have the experience to match your enthusiasm and rank." He said with a cheeky smile.
"Oh, and before I forget, congratulations Warrant Officer First Class Hideo Atsuoko." She told him with her own cheeky smile. The Sgt. simply looked at her with his mouth open and his eyes wide. "Oh and you are now the RSM of the 55th Commando Regiment."
So for the next five minutes, there was the obligatory back slapping and chatting, but it was time to grease the wheels and sort everything out.
Over the next two days, a number of officers were tapped to lead Platoons and Squads, which in itself was harder than either of them believed. Of the available officers, most were far too junior for serious leadership roles, and the senior leaders of the Regiment were ok, but no one really stood out from the crowd. The Colonel in-charge of the Regiment had been killed in an ambush, and the Major who was holding the role in the interim was not a specialist Commando. He was simply doing a rotation in an administrative role, and made it very clear he was not ready for a combat role. Jemimah understood his concern and allowed him to transfer out. She didn't need or want a paper pusher leading her troops, he would never have the support of the rank and file, and he didn't have the tactical knowledge to take a place in the Command team.
Of the thirty officers she and Atsuoko interviewed, a full twenty were too obsessed with the image they projected, five had no idea about leading a covert team and the remaining five were good enough, but needed a lot of training to make the grade. Atsuoko was clearly starting to question the quality of the soldiers that were on offer to the regiment. He looked at one officer, completely unable to understand how the man had gained promotion to Captain. He was so intent on bragging about his skills and, at times, his conquests as though that would guarantee him a job. When he was dismissed, he even had the temerity to wink at the Colonel as he closed the door. Unfortunately, for him, he was transferred to a supply bunker in the west of Scotland for the duration.
Eventually as they were about to give up, a Captain walked through the door and stood stiffly in front of Jemimah and Atsuoko. She was polished and confident, her ribbons indicated serious combat experience and her file was full to over-flowing with commendations and glowing recommendations. Jemimah sat reading the file as Atsuoko looked up and down taking in the officer as she stood before him.
"Take a seat Captain." He said to her. She looked at him in shock.
"I'm sorry, Warrant Officer Atsuoko." She answered.
"Thank you for coming, that will be all, Captain." He replied angrily.
"I don't answer to you." She snapped. "I am a decorated officer and no NCO is going to order me around." She growled.
"She's got gumption." He said to Jemimah.
"Hmmm?" Jemimah looked up at the Captain. "oh yes, she is very good, but she does seem to be hard of hearing RSM Atsuoko."
"Yes, that does concern me, I would have thought someone of her experience and capability would have a perfect health report." He sniped.
"I don't care for people talking about me like I am not here." The Captain Snapped.
"Until I recognise you, you don't Captain, is that clear?" Jemimah pushed back.
"Sorry Ma'am, yes Ma'am." She answered through tightly gritted teeth.
"I think you have an attitude problem, Captain." She snapped back. "In case you hadn't noticed, Captain, you are an officer without a command, why is that?"
"You have my file, I am sure it is in there."
"And there it is, Colonel." Hideo answered. "That's why she's here."
"Yes, I agree." She looked at the Captain and said nothing for a moment, she was weighing up the pro's and cons.
"Since when is it acceptable for a Warrant Officer to speak to and about an officer in such a manner?" She growled again.
"Since he is the second most experienced NCO in the entire army, Captain, and he has forgotten more about leadership than you have ever learned, or will learn. The question is, when did it become acceptable for a Captain to act in such a childish, foolish and unprofessional manner?" Jemimah took the Captain to task. "Did you join the army to be a sooky little girl, or did you join to be a soldier? If it is the former, then I suggest you turn your tight little arse around and get the fuck out of my office, if it is the latter, then you need to suck up the fact that you aren't the best in the business here. You are one of many who together make the most formidable fighting force in the theatre." She looked the Captain in the eye. "So Captain Penelope Cross, which is it?"
Cross stood there stunned at the way that she was being treated, she had always been the best, the best in training, the best in Officer Training School, the best in the Battalion. Now she was faced with the fact that she was just another highly trained soldier, amongst a lot of other highly trained soldiers. Cross looked at the Colonel and the RSM looking back at her expectantly, she had a major decision to make. After she was moved sideways out of the Infantry Division, she was caught with no where to go. She had allowed her temper to get the better of her in a very dangerous situation and had put an entire platoon at risk. Fortunately for her the situation was resolved due to the skill and determination of the platoon, and eventually her own skills.
The debrief had made it clear that she had over stepped and lost her temper at the worst possible time, and the fact that the situation was resolved made no difference to her fate. She had behaved in a manner that was unbecoming, and she would have to face the consequences of her actions. Now she was being given a chance to be the soldier she knew she could be, if she could just rein in her emotional responses, she could find redemption.
Jemimah could see the war raging behind the eyes of Captain Cross, this was an officer that could be the difference in the tight spots, she just needed to get control and use her skills in the best way. The young woman was certainly worth the trouble, but she needed to want to make the effort and put in the work. It was at that moment, Jemimah could see the switch click, and the light in her eyes started blazing.
"Ma'am, Mr. Atsuoko, please accept my apologies, I have struggled for a long time with my personal discipline. I am worthy of a position in the 55th and I want to show you that I am worth the effort and the chance." She explained with steel in her spine and a knife edge crease in her bearing.
"I told you she was worth it, Ma'am." Hideo said to his Colonel.
"Yes you did, Hideo." Jemimah replied. "Alright Captain, tell me why I should take the chance when you have gone out of your way to make yourself look stupid?" The last word was like a cane across the shoulders to the young officer.
"Ma'am, I have been driven by the need to be the best at everything I turn my mind to." She was teetering on the edge of emotion. "I have always considered the lot I was handed in life a mistake of fate, and to that end I have focused every ounce of my being into being better." She explained.
"I do understand, Captain, better than you could ever know, but you have made a very big mistake."
"Ma'am?" She asked.
"You have tried to out run yourself, and you have ended up on the scrap heap because you to be the one in the front." Jemimah looked deep into the dark blue eyes of the young woman. "You have spent your life trying to beat yourself, and all you have done is hold yourself back." She paused for a moment and considered her next words very carefully. "I was not convinced that you had what we need, but my colleague here seems to think you are an officer worthy of our time and trouble. If you are to be a part of this Regiment, you need to be focused on defeating the enemy, not yourself." It was like a bomb going off in her head, but, suddenly realised that she had not shot herself in the head as badly as she thought.
"I will do all that I can to make sure that I live up to the example that you set, and promise to think before I act." She assured her interviewers.
"Captain Cross, you need to understand that there are different rules that apply when you join a regiment like the 55th. Mr. Atsuoko, here, answers to no one except me. It doesn't matter if you are a private, a captain, or a Lt. Col. Mr. Atsuoko is the final word before it gets to me." She stared at the young captain. "Can you accept that?"
"Yes Ma'am, and again I appologise for my behaviour, it was more pride and arrogance than a true indicator of my abilities."
"Accepted. Now, as to your billet, you are my new Administrative Liaison Officer." There was a slight stiffening in her posture, but she took the news better than Jemimah expected. "Dismissed." Penelope Cross threw her best parade salute and spun in place before marching to the door. "Oh and Captain," Jemimah called after her. "Don't let me down, this is your last chance." Cross nodded and disappeared out the door.
"You know that is an enormous waste of talent, Boss." Atsuoko commented.
"It is a chance for her to prove she has the ability and the skills to be a command officer, Hideo. If she holds herself together and proves she is the officer you say she is, and her jacket says she is, then she will progress quickly."