Merlin looked into Aleksandra, that much could be said, not at her, noticing her raising eyebrows.
"The paperwork came through, from about a month or so ago, just earlier today. You're now a Junior Lieutenant, or over here, a Second. I've been expecting it for a while too, it seems like Officer Training went well for you, then?" He said to her, looking over a small desk that he he had by the area he was presenting in. Opening a drawer, he found a small satin box, pulling it out and approached Aleksandra, . He opened it up, and gently passed it to Aleksandra, nodding.
"I know Echo's been without a formal 2IC for a while, so if you're willing to accept it, you are now in that role. It's been in the making for a while, knowing your interest. Huscarl said you operated well in that role in Somalia, so I'd imagine you'd serve this unit well." The Captain added, as he passed the box to her, knowing that while there had been no pomp and ceremony yet, the forms had been filled, and the need for this promotion had been fulfilled, in time for what was coming ahead for the team.
"Now, don't start acting high on responsibility either, but keep what you've got in mind. Shame there isn't any time for celebration either.....or else you'd be buying us drinks. We have kit to get ready." Merlin added, chuckling, as he shook his head, looking over at the board.
"Dismissed, мла́дший лейтена́нт." The Devonian commanded slyly, as he headed towards the door, the bearded Captain knowing his Russian just well enough to know she'd understand.

--------

Meanwhile, Nikolaj had headed out, and also made his way to the armoury. For himself and Oakley, it looked like they were taking on a different approach to this operation, and for what they were doing, he would need to take a significantly lighter loadout than he was used to taking. As a grenadier, he liked to be able to use an MGL or a UGL on his rifle to amp up the firepower, but this wet work was going to need something slightly different. He knew that Dominique was as good as gold with her SR25, the semi-automatic rifle being as straight and accurate as a designated marksman would want it to be, and he'd be supporting her in providing that fire, no doubt. That said, he knew that Merlin was going to hate him for this, but he was going to use his CO's secondary rifle, on the fact that it would suit this operation better. The fourth-generation FN Herstal SCAR-H, or Mk17 MOD 0 as Dominique would have known it better, was a rifle for many different engagements and abilities. For Naval Wetwork, it was the rifle of choice, and where the F2000 wouldn't have suited for longer-ranged engagements that they were expected to get into, this thing would. He didn't really like taking this rifle off Merlin, but he knew that he wouldn't mind, so long as his precious came back to him in one piece.

On the workbench, Nikolaj started by screwing the 16" barrel out for a full battle-rifle length 20", that would be more than good enough to turn this into a marksman rifle in a pinch. The rifle was sprayed in a dark grey hexagon pattern....the Dane could only think that while Merlin would never admit it, he was a fucking artist with camouflage. The old man knew his way around it, no doubt, he chuckled to himself. He adjusted the RIS on the rifle appropriately, and added a AN/PEQ-15 to the top rail, as well as a Trijicon 6X Optic, that offered plenty of magnification for the ranges that they . A sidebody-mounted Aimpoint Micro T-1 was mounted 45-degrees from the rifle's main sight, on the right hand side of the RIS, as Nikolaj managed to strip the underbarrel M320 off, before sliding a Magpul VFG grip onto the weapon's lower RIS, locking it in place before sliding a tried-and-tested Surefire silencer onto the end of the rifle's barrel. It was a long rifle, that much could be said, but it was adaptable, and would serve Nikolaj well in supporting the person who he would leave it to on this infiltration work, offering a mixture of range and short-range heavy hitting fire. Placing the rifle onto the bench, he set up a set of eight 20-round 7.62mm magazines, filling each and every one to the brim, before getting the rest of his gear set up. His Mk.23, fitted with an Osprey .45 silencer, and a set of green-illuminated Tritium night sights was set to go, as well as the rest of his regular equipment set. Most notably, he had added a pair of the Nanos that Merlin had mentioned, the drones tiny, but wired up to both his TOS system that he'd put in as a contact lens, and a haptic controller, that looked pretty much like a miniaturized remote control of sorts.

In terms of his BDU, he lay it out in the armoury by the rest of his stuff, ready for deployment regardless. A M/01 desert camouflage smock that went over his Frogman's wetsuit, one that would get soaked but dry quickly once they were on terra firma joined a combined combat rebreather and plate carrier set, a full-face diving mask, and the iconic Frømandskorpset camouflage net that would go over that, which did remind him a little of his previous unit. The Kraken would wear something like this, if he wanted to take human form, he was told by his old CO, and the net was an old-school, yet effective way of a frogman wanting to keep their camouflage pattern up. A climbing harness, a metal four-pronged grapple, as well as a couple of Composition 4 charges joined that set, in addition to his usual load. It never stopped paying to be prepared.

Taking the SCAR, he headed over to the shooting range, and putting a pair of ballistic goggles on, as well as ear-defenders, he took a kneeling position and tried his rifle. The SCAR cut into it's target, as he adjusted his position, able to quickly get his shot on point, first at 20m with the backup sight, then further out with the magnified ACOG, the kick of the rifle sitting nicely against his shoulder, as he put it down. He could tell that Dominique and Tyler were getting on well, as he sat quietly, pinging off a couple of rounds, Jaroslav also joining them. How he hated the BREN so much, he didn't know, but the 416 that he was using seemed to serve well, as Nikolaj looked at Tyler.
"Looks like you just got burned, Crowstep." Nikolaj laughed, as he looked back at Dominique, before looking down the range again, adjusting the ACOG a little again, before taking a couple of semi-automatic shots. He stood up, and put it into full auto, turning the rifle as he used the Backup-RDS to put a small grouping of shots into a metal target closer on the range, before finishing the magazine. Dropping it out, he slid the SCAR's mag out, before flipping in a new one, a nice cock of the rifle's bolt chambering a new round, as he looked back at Dominique.
"This thing is as good as it is to go. I'll handle the dive stuff if you handle the longer range." Nikolaj added, as he watched her shoot, the Parajumper's SR-25 optimised for longer than what Nikolaj's SCAR could do, that much he could see.