“Only when I know who I am will I know what is possible.”

-Ram Dass.

Chapter Eleven.

Síkság Province, Grid reference X445Y006

Falu Lapos Hegyi/Yeti Village.

Headquarters “B” Company 221st Combat Engineers.

Logistics Station-“Table Top”

03:30 AM second day ORM Offensive:

Shortly after their arrival, 3rd Platoon had pulled their vehicles into a hasty perimeter in the Logistics Transition Facility disgorged their Yeti villagers who hurried up the hill to their distant cousins. (As it were, most of the Yeti in Síkság Province were related to each other.) And Tamari's troops began seeing their hurts physically, emotionally and mechanically. Gunnery Sergeant Chavram the Company Senior NCO had taken over in the administrative details, and began coordinating all the mundane, tedious and absolutely necessary duties which a Company has to do when in the field or in combat.

Tamari, after seeing her troops were secure, villagers safe, and all who needed it had been seen by the medics and most importantly fed, took a couple of hours and fell into a fatigue induced coma. It was Sergeant Sita Chambial's gut wrenching Chaa which brought her out of her stupor and made her think of the coming day.

“Time. All I ask is more time.” I wonder who said that first? Tamari silently mused as she took a few precious minutes to gather her thoughts. Quietly she donned her uniform, and her equipment. She edged out the back combat ramp of her vehicle and silently in the shadows watched her troops work. She stood there smoking her clove oil flavored cigarette while flexing her left leg. “Amazing what the doc can do with a medical nanite repair injection and a few staples.”

3rd Platoon, and the newly adopted Yeti villagers had successfully made their movement across what was rapidly becoming territory, which the enemy could freely move through, and despite a rolling ambush and having to make a transition through an active minefield, had made it home safe to 'Table Top' Logistics Transition Facility. The LTF had only been erected less than a month earlier. When the need for more troops became apparent, 'Table Top' had been selected as a rest point for troops and material traveling overland to the far Eastern Command under General Kron as it was almost perfectly in the center of the country in any direction you wanted to travel from.

The box wallah logistics trolls called the condition of the LTF as one which was “gearing up.” Meaning it was lucky to have a few buried bunker/shipping containers and a hastily erected concertina style fence along with a couple of guard towers. Until the day before, the MP/Infantry types had been sleeping in tents. Now as the night wound around the relentless movement of the clock, the area was being transformed by shovels and engineering equipment. Berms were being built, and fighting positions erected.

The Combat Engineer of Captain Tamari Kapoor's brain kicked in as she watched the activity going on in the LTF, “I don't think what we are doing in the LTF will be enough. The eastern edge of the village is a flat region open to the plains. It will be too easy for a determined force to roll over us with our limited troop levels. We are going to have to make a fall back position or multiple fall back positions, based on what our enemy decides to try, and I know there is enough material here to keep the ORM in guns and ammo in the field for a month. They would be a fool not to want to take a bite out of this tempting and juicy supply base.”

Grunting, she decided it was time to call all of her officers and senior NCOs in for a meeting. “I am going to need the Yeti in this meeting as well.”

Ducking her head into her vehicle, Tamari spoke to her gunner and radio operator, “Sergeant Chambial. Get on the horn, and round up all the senior NCOs and Officers. Sita I want them to meet me at the Hetman's house at the top of the hill in 45 minutes I ‘m going to head up there now, and talk to the leadership of this village. I also want to check on my Yeti-Kapoor members.”

“Affirmative ma'am. If you will hold on, I have a driver laid on for your needs. Give me a moment to round her up.”

Tamari nodded her head, and lit up another clove oil cigarette. Durga I am beginning to love these damnable things.”

Her driver arrived in a General Carry All armed to the teeth with a service pistol strapped across her chest, fragmentation grenades about her waist and a combat shotgun in the driver side rifle rack. They wound their way through the concrete and wire barriers out the back gate of the LTF and drove up the hill, with the GCA's gearbox sending out a whine of second gear under strain. Tamari soon found herself outside the Hetman's house of the village of Falu Lapos Hegyi.

Her driver pulled up short of the Hetman's large double doors, while Tamari got out of the vehicle. “Stay here Corporal Desi.”

Corporal Desi, silently shook her head in the negative. “Sorry ma'am. Can't do that. I have orders from Gunnery Chavram. From now on, regardless of where you go, you will be accompanied by at least one soldier of the 221st .”

“What?”

“Yes ma'am. That's my order ma'am. And I know you are my commander... but that comes straight from the Gunny, and I quote. “Captain Kapoor is not to go unaccompanied or by herself during this time of emergency. She shall have an aid or a body guard with her at all times. Her aid or guard shall be armed at all times while she is on duty with Captain Kapoor.””

The Corporal Desi, with her face set in a humorless grim face stood there with her body braced for a coming reprimand.

“You drew the short straw to tell me didn't you?”

A pair of eyes began studying the inside of an Army issue helmet.

“Alright try not to shoot anyone who doesn't need to be.” Tamari replied with a slight grin on her face to show she wasn't mad at the Corporal. “I am going to have to have words with my Gunny it seems.”

With her left hand behind her back rocking on her heels, Tamari Kapoor gestured with her right, “Please Corporal Desi, be so good as to knock on the Hetman's door. I need to speak to him and those inside.”

“Yes ma'am.”

*****

Captain Tamari Kapoor was surprised although she tried not to show it when the doors to the Hetman's home opened wide and she saw the entire population of the village inside. Following the design mandated to the Yeti from their one time Ourtai overlords, the hall was a simple square room with several rows of wooden columns painted and decorated in local floral motifs. Over a hundred Yeti sat on rungs and colorful cushions on the floor. All conversation stopped and heads turned when she stepped inside.

Bloody hell. I hoped I could have had a private conversation.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I hate to intrude upon your meeting, but I have come on urgent business.” Tamari said in an evenly modulated voice as she took off her combat helmet and shook out her braided hair.

Remembering the phrase CWO Hebbar had written out for her, Tamari made a slight bow and said, “Kaphatnék a kényelmet és menedéket otthonában? May I have the comfort and security of your home?”

The Hetman and his wife, who were sitting at the elevated dais, along with Hetman Balazs' widow stood and bowed. The Hetman replied, “ Kérjük nyugodjatok. Üdvözlendő a házamba. Please Captain come in and take your rest amongst us. I am Hetman Sithar and this is my wife Unar; she is the sister of Maja, now known as Maja-Kapoor.

“Well I thank you for your hospitality. I had hoped to have a private audience with yourself and your wife. I have important matters to discuss with you and I had...”

Holding up his hands, the diminutive Yeti Hetman cut Tamari off in mid sentence. “Please Captain, if you will wait a moment. We have been talking since your arrival last night. We would like to have the same ritual as our sister Maja and Balazs did. And yes before you say anything, we know what it means. We voluntarily want you as our chief. More importantly if we are to survive, we will need you as our chief.”

At this time an ancient Yeti, struggled to her feet. She was obviously loved and cared for as gentle hands pulled her to her feet. Pointing a thick age gnarled finger towards Tamari she uttered in a voice which sounded as if it emanated from the bowels of the earth, “ Mégis lesz kis maradék túlélni, hogy néhány megszabadul a kard csak akkor a nép között, kivéve, ha ígéretet neki küzdelem nem leszünk.”

A collective gasp issued from the Yeti elders present in the room. Tamari cocked her head sideways and then turned to Hetman Sitar, and shrugged her shoulders.

Scratching his head he replied, “Roughly our Duma or Holy Woman said, “Yet will small remnants survive, that some shall escape the sword only to be scattered among the nations, unless we pledge to her fight we do not become.”

A chill ran up and down Tamari's spine as her exposed skin on her arms rippled with the sensation of cold air blowing across her. Images of the familial ghosts of her ancestors like the day of her sister's funeral filled Tamari's vision as electrical currents crawled with icy fingers up her spine, and for the briefest of moments, she thought she could see her ancient ancestress in antique armour standing behind the Hetman Sithar nodding her head. Shuddering, she struggled to master herself. Looking up at Hetman Sitar she smiled, “I am going to need some salt, and a loaf of bread.”

*****

The Hetman Sithar-Kapoor's home and hall had in the hour since dawn become the de facto headquarters for B Company 221st Combat Engineers and all Hegemonic forces in the LTS. After swearing the local Yeti into her service and to her clan, Captain Tamari Kapoor had paid a courtesy call to the Logistics Technician-in-Charge of the LTF, one Senior Technician Urday Prakashi specifically.

To say that he was pissed royally about having to accept the command authority of an Engineering Officer would be an understatement. However a quiet word from Gunnery Sergeant Chavram stopped any silly “Not in my Chain of Command'' bullshit in its tracks. Initially the Shikari Infantry Jemadar Praeg Twearii wasn't too enthusiastic about having a ranking officer place herself in charge of his men. Although to his credit, he never let it show in his face. He was a professional and realized rank is rank, regardless who holds it. The odds and sods of the soldiers and Kapoor Scouts followed in Captain Tamari's wake like foam from a ship's wake as she walked what was now the perimeter of both the LTF and Table Top village. She had been issuing orders and directions for the past four divisions. Needing to summarize her intentions, Captain Kapoor guided her new “Command Group'' back towards Hetman's house.

“Looks like a damn gaggle of geese waddling around.” Master Gunnery Sergeant Chavram whispered in Tamari's ear as her new 'Command.' reassembled at the Hetman's home.

Feeling a bit insecure and half angry, Tamari ducked her head and felt her cheeks heat up. Looking up at her new troops, she cleared her throat and began speaking. “Normally there is a military protocol for conducting a meeting. We have gone over as many defensive options as possible. Let's set to work and finalize our plans and the best use of our troops and the willing hands available to us. As of right now the clock is ticking. I don't have time for chesticle punching or bravado from anyone. I would hazard that there is a sizable force of Ourtai and possible Atlantean forces in the field heading our way right now. And with the satellites down, we are blind and we can't talk to higher headquarters. So we are on our own for the near future.”

Gunnery Sergeant Chavram walked over to the back wall of the hall where an Ordinance Map had been placed. “As you can see, we are smack in the middle of Kazan. It is also where Highway One and the North-South road networks intersect. Our commanders in their infinite wisdom have placed an LTF at this location and to their possible sins, did so without enough manpower or staffing to adequately protect it. Which to an enemy commander means not only are we on the only easy navigable roads in the country, we have the juiciest of juicy targets for any force wanting to take a bite.”

Captain Tamari Kapoor said to her assembled Officers NCOs and Yeti Militia, “The Atlanteans I suspect are the drivers behind this offensive. And it is my intention to help as many of those folks to a timely grave as possible. What I want to hear from you is your best ideas on how to facilitate that journey.”

It took a while but after two hours of plans and proposals the entire command and Tamari Kapoor had a shared vision of what they needed to do. Now it was just a matter of having enough time to set things up. “All I ask is for time… Poor bastards, how many times has that hasty prayer been uttered?” Tamari said to herself, as she ran a quick prayer to Durga up her mental prayer ladder.

An hour later the sun had finally peaked over the rose red mountains of the Eastern half of the country. Shining down with the brilliance of a day full of surprises. Tamari sat in her new tower location overseeing the work of her villagers and engineers. “If I have to make a stand, this then literally will be the hill we die on. I’m tired of reacting to their directions. Time for them to react to me!”

*****

Emergence Portal, Eastern Kazan.

Nautical Dawn second day of Ourtai Offensive

Eragiketak Komando Atlantean Command.

“First Spear! Attend me!” General Abantza shouted out before the assembled three Lances of Imperial Infantry which had managed to squeeze through the tunnels, which were finally in position to march, “By the blood of the Dragon itself! One more hour, and I would have started shooting people' Frustration wrote a scowl across his tattooed face. Proudly he stared at the Blood Vipers, Skull Crushers, and Werewolves assembled before him,“Time to start acting like the men we are!”

A man wearing full Atlantean body armour came marching out of the back of the center formation. Sunlight highlighted the snake scale pattern of his camouflage. His helmet with its transverse crest of Arkan Eagle feathers bobbed slightly with each step he took, while his light adaptive cloak was turned to a deep blood red of the senior most NCO of the Eragiketak Komando Or 'Operational Command Group' streamed behind him. Two thousand Atlantean soldiers began chanting “Hoosa! Hoosa! Hoosa! Ahhhoo!” A guttural war chant which touched the animalistic hind brain of the soldiers. They repeated the chant as he marched between the long serried rank upon rank of soldiers; it was their way of both psyching themselves up, and showing respect for their senior NCO.

“First Spear Hetaxes Reporting As Ordered Sir!” He shouted as he rendered a salute, with his right arm ending in a fist that was brought sharply to his chest and then rapidly held out level in front of him.

“First Spear Hetaxes! I have a question for you. Are we not men? Or are we mewling milk sucking slaves?”

“We are men sir! Atlantean men! We march upon the face of the world!”

“Then why are our banners cased?”

“For political reasons sir!”

“Screw Politics! If we are to die, then we shall do so under our own banners as men should!”

“Aye sir!”

The men began chanting again, “Hoosa! Hoosa! Hoosa! Ahhhoo!”

“Unfurl Banners!”

In front of each Lance, blood red banners of tanned human skin went up with a writhing Viper, Broken Skull or a Snarling Wolf Head worked in gold ink. Each Fist or company had a blood red painted skull with their Fist number graven in gold upon the skull itself atop their banners. They shook their banners until the mandible bones began to rattle.

“Hoosa! Hoosa! Hoosa! Ahhhoo!”

“First Spear Hetaxes! Take Charge of the Eragiketak Komando and move them out!” General Abantza ordered.

1st Spear Hetaxes saluted, did an about face, and shouted in a voice, loud enough to be heard over a vector thrust assault shuttle, “By Imperial Lance! The order is given! March!”

All through the serried ranks the appropriate senior spear NCOs began shouting, repeating the order to Lance and then to Fist, and finally to Komando the smallest operational unit; as the First Lance 'Blood Vipers' began stepping off, the sound of bagpipes began screaming out their martial tune, followed by the sound of Toomba drums pounding out the standard Atlantean army marching beat.