[h3]Sergeant Harald, Gallian Militia[/h3]

The Sergeant couldn't help but lean back slightly as MacDonald gave his spiel, caught off guard by the speech. It wasn't as though he disagreed with tub-thumping patriotism per se, but... Harald's main goal was survival for himself and the troops under his command; if he managed to help win the war in the process, then great, but if not... well, there were always openings for skilled hands in the Europan far north, where Darscens were more tolerated. He kept his peace though, not wanting to appear [i]unpatriotic.[/i] A few of the others spoke their mind too, perhaps a sign that the training had broken some of the ice in Squad 4. Harald nodded confidently and was about to answer when a shot rang out in the nearby woods; Bons, now driving the APC at a decent clip, threw the brakes on in panic. There was a complicated moment involving the back door swinging open, the Sergeant loosing his footing to spill out onto the dirt road and the butt of a rifle landing in a sensitive spot between his legs. Harald's vision whitened for an instant and by the time he dragged himself upright, Hunt and Sykora had vanished. [b][i]'Fuck, shit, cunt...'[/i][/b] He swore vehemently under his breathe but pulled himself together in time to get some orders yelled. [b]'Everybody out! Secure the perimetre, move it!'[/b] As the squad milled about in confusion, the two errant soldiers returned... with a prisoner?

Maybe it was the sudden stop or maybe the aching pain in his two veg, but Harald was mightily pissed off when Hunt reported in. [b]'Very fucking well Private, but the next time you run off on your own, I'll [i]fucking 'ave y-'[/i][/b]. He caught himself, a little late. [b]'... There will be consequences. It could have been a trap for Valk's sake, you could have run into a firing squad. Or worse, gotten captured and then the squad, the Regiment, the whole damn operation would be compromised!'[/b] Harald again caught himself, realising how pointlessly angry he was getting. [b]'Just... just don't do it again. Wait for backup and orders next time, both of you.'[/b] He gave Sykora a meaningful glare to reinforce the point. [b]'Now then... Squad 11, right?'[/b] He looked the girl up and down, eyes lingering on the sword at her hip. Why did everyone seem seem to have a damn sword nowadays? He had worked hard to ignore the elephant in the room, but Kyo's sword (if it could even be called that; the damn thing was a piece of sharpened sheet metal) had already been an unneeded complication in the squad's line up. He felt a glimmer of pity for Squad 11's former commander, wondering if they too had felt his pain. Regardless, there were more important issues at hand. [b]'In summary, we lost a squad to ambush in these woods?'[/b] He nodded back to where they had came, his brow furrowing. [b]'Private Durandal, yes? Did you have a chance to collect dogtags? Any details on the forces that attacked you? Can you remember where?'[/b] His blood was still up from the anger, but a certain coldly professional part of him reminded Harald of his obligations. Their mission was to secure a route to Vasel and a route with Imperial patrols setting up ambushes was by no means secure. He turned to the others as Durandal got her story straight and growled, [b]'Get kitted up, weapons and ammunition only. Lancers and drivers will secure the APC; the rest of us have a patrol to kill.'[/b]