Objective 2
"As Daro mentioned. There are members of the Novis Sacra looking to be led by well-qualified leaders with a reputation that precedes them. These ex-marines are battle-hardened and at the command, ready to follow someone like yourself. Now if they lack a certain skill set, perhaps you would be willing to course-correct. I am also working with the assembly of a team and working with the Novis to form a subsidiary group dubbed the "holy Knights" that will protect the religion, it's morality, and its citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. If we align ourselves the correct way in this endeavor, Mr.Valhoun will see the error of his ways rather quickly and I'm sure he will back down. If not..Well....War is a necessity for peace to ensue.
"I train in special forces techniques. There will be no religion interference in that. Save the hocus pocus for their free time. I'll not be conducting prayer sessions before every exercise. I'll need a file on every man that has signed up before the first training session for review. All soldiers will be prompt and dressed in their full kit or uniform for every session, or they will be removed from the program. My training has been known to break most men, only the toughest will survive. The enemy won't let up and neither will I. A full medical team must be close by and on call for every session. Oh, and I need a bell, a large one on a stand of it's own at the training grounds. I expect everything to be ready in two day's time. First session begins at 0430 hours. Are we in agreement?"
Daro cringed inwardly as he listened to the conversation behind him unfold. Andrew was not wrong about going to war if they had to, but Daro was simply not gung-ho about it. He wasn't like all the ham-handed pacifists in the galaxy that peace-mongered about how "wrong" war was, but as a man who had served as a navy-man/marine his whole 170 year life, it just sounded like more work.
Bitter work. Fighting people that didn't necessarily deserve killing. Headaches, sacrifices, risks, and more memories to add to his long list of things that created nightmares. He was a soldier, through-and-through, so he would always fight when required, but over 150 years of service, he knew the good wars from the ugly ones. There was a difference there that he'd rather not think about right now, but a war with the Imperium would be ugly.
And, of course, there were
Omar Dobson 's comments about training the new recruits. Daro, himself, had been on both ends of boot camp training multiple times in his long life. He suspected that Omar wanted to enlist Daro's support in training the new recruits, which Daro honestly hated. He actually preferred
being the one in training. Over the course of 150 years, he had refreshed his military basic training at least four times. Bonding with one's fellow soldiers like brothers, while humbling one's self to learn new tricks, or relearn old tricks long forgotten was always refreshing and challenging. And the stories that he had collected from newbies trying to prove themselves were always a side-splitting hoot. On the other hand,
being the trainer, yelling at trainees, and ensuring that they learned all the skills to survive had its rewarding moments. But it was a lonely process, and seeing bodies come back from war, or no bodies at all, tended to weigh on his conscience as an instructor. He hoped that Omar was wanting the latter from Daro, but it was more than likely that Omar wanted his assistance…
Daro collected his tray of fast food from the counter, gathered condiments, napkins and straws, and carried their food back to the table. He autonomously set the tray on the table and began distributing food as he began to weigh in on the conversation,
"well, General, Andrew is right. Some of the new recruits are 'walk-ins' but a large percentage of them are hardened marines. No doubt, the training you will offer them is going to test the limits of even the hardest of veterans, but you'll find that this batch isn't gonna be a bunch of pushovers. And the ones that aren't are refugees in their own right, given our nomadic roots. A lot of them have seen some nasty stuff and those that haven't have grown up around those that have. If your goal is to push them to the edge, you'll have to push harder than most.
"As for your equipment requests, I'll get
Dorthea Dobson
on the horn and she'll see to the medical teams and your bell. You know your niece well enough. She's good at that. And we can begin whenever you like — early mornings aren't a new thing for me" he shot a brotherly nod at
Andrew Lonek
before continuing,
"but my question is; what end of the ol' boot am I on here? I noticed you left that part out." He couldn't help but grin. These old-school drill instructors had a way of making him feel…
right at home.