>>5986850Pushing through the doors into the school, you make a steady line down the unlit hallway towards where you remember the principal's office is located. Around halfway down the hallway, however, you are met by Senior Lieutenant Shcherbin, who is approaching from the opposite direction. Seeing you, he stops and salutes. The Senior Lieutenant breaks into conversation as soon as you are within distance: "Lieutenant Colonel, we were informed of your return. Captain Hasanaliev has not come back yet, but I will assist you in whatever way I can, sir." He looks at you, expectantly; he is breathing heavily, as if he just exerted himself.
No need to keep him waiting on his orders: "We are conducting a clearing operation at a former site of the occupation regime, Lieutenant. Prepare the company's machine gun platoon to conduct an urban clearing operation and have the platoon's commander report to me to receive a briefing on the operation."
Shcherbin lightly taps a waiting private on the chest and audibly whispers: "Alert V Company and bring Lieutenant Rashidov here for the colonel."
You wait for the private to go scurrying along the hallway and then continue: "In additional, prepare one of the rifle platoons. I would like them to drive south and attempt to find the source of the power outage affecting the city."
"A whole platoon, sir? Isn't that the sort of thing that can be done by one or two bitches in a jeep?" Your face freezes in the middle of starting the next sentence.
"No", drifts into the front of your mind, "this cannot be done by 'one or two bitches in a jeep'". It could, if the Internal troops were assisting with a forest fire outside of St. Marmero, but not in unknown and, therefore, potentially hostile territory. Sending one or two men is asking to have them returned home in body bags. There is a reason here to send men out in force, a reason clearly escaping the company's lieutenant.
The short and wide man in front of you instantly senses his mistake - or what he perceives to be a mistake - "So sorry, sir. You know best. I am deeply sorry for speaking out of turn.