Sian's Story part 68 - Orders are Orders
Entry posted by jfraser in Sian's Story
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When I was a child, my siblings and I did the household chores while my parents watched tv or read. Their reasoning was that they worked all day and we were the ones who made the messes. With seven of us in the family, the house was always a mess, so the chores never ended. (Also, after the last of us moved out, their house remained a mess, so, so much for their claims it was all our fault!) This led to a few things, chief among them a bitterness toward them that I still hold to this day AND a deep-seated loathing for cleaning.
This is relevant because of the duty roster that met me when I dragged myself to the garrison the next day.
Kitchen scrubbing duty. Armory cleaning. Waste detail. Every lowest-on-the-totem-pole job.
I laughed, sharp and humorless; Lazhah’s hand was all over this. Not literally--gods, no--but in the way the assignments were stacked, in how my name appeared again and again at the bottom of lists no one else wanted to be on. Death by grease and tedium. Also, a couple of "accidental" double handjob shifts. Of course.
The first day, I endured it.
The second day, I scrubbed until my knuckles bled.
By the third, I was so angry, I could barely see straight.
I worked until my back screamed and my patience evaporated. I worked until Kangme started taking weapons out of my hands and Lane wordlessly put drinks into them. I worked and cursed myself for choosing to join the fucking miliary instead of just taking care of shit on my own.
It took six days of meaningless labor for my next real assignment to come in; six days on regret and self-recrimination, of bitching endlessly to poor Kellan, Lane, and Kangme, sainted souls all.
Near midday of the seventh day, a runner appeared at the end of the aisle while I was elbow-deep in muck as I tried to unplug a clogged pipe that was supposed to drain the massive kitchen sinks, but which were also commonly used to drain the excess cooking grease.
“Commander,” he said, voice cracking slightly. “You’re requested.”
I didn't bother cleaning off, just nodded and followed, dripping greasy droplets in my wake like splattered blood from an injured man.
The command office felt colder than the rest of Solitude, the stone holding damp like it remembered winter better than sunlight. The officer behind the desk didn’t bother with pleasantries.
“You’re being tasked with a clearance operation,” he said, sliding a folded document forward. “Fort Hraggstad.”
I broke the seal and read it once. Then again, slower.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMPERIAL LEGION – NORTH PROVINCE COMMAND
Office of Special Operations Liaison
Solitude
OPERATIONAL ASSIGNMENT ORDER
Document Code: NPC‑SO‑H/77‑A
Clearance Level: Red‑Black (Keṣ Tshaâki)
Date Issued: 7th of Evening Star, 4E 201
TO:
Sian Fraser Elizabeth
Keṣ Tshaâki Operative, Special Forces
Imperial Legion, North Province
SUBJECT:
Independent Clearance Operation – Fort Hraggstad
Pursuant to Imperial Military Code §IV‑19 (Special Forces Deployment Authority) and under discretionary command authority vested in the Office of Special Operations Liaison, you are hereby issued the following assignment:
1. OBJECTIVE
You are ordered to proceed to Fort Hraggstad, located north‑northwest of Solitude along the old border road, and conduct a full clearance operation.
The objective includes, but is not limited to:
- Elimination or neutralization of hostile entities occupying the fort
- Assessment of structural integrity and continued strategic viability
- Confirmation or denial of reported activity inconsistent with abandonment status
- Denial of the location to enemy forces
2. OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS
- Deployment Type: Independent Operation
- Primary Operative: Sian Fraser Elizabeth (Keṣ Tshaâki)
- Attached Personnel: Authorized but not required
- Command Oversight: Remote
- Timeframe: Immediate execution upon receipt of orders
Due to the nature of the assignment and your classification, no additional forces will be assigned by default. You are authorized to exercise discretion in the utilization of any personnel already under your standing attachment.
3. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Standard Keṣ Tshaâki engagement protocols apply.
You are authorized to act with full operational latitude consistent with Imperial interests. Collateral damage within the fort perimeter is acceptable. Engagement beyond the perimeter requires justification in post‑operation reporting.
4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Upon completion of the operation, you are to submit:
- A written after‑action report
- Casualty and material assessment
- Determination of continued threat level
Failure to report within a reasonable operational window will result in the fort being classified as hostile‑unknown, with subsequent response escalated accordingly.
ISSUED BY:
Stoloric Biehls
Operations Coordinator
Office of Special Operations Liaison
Imperial Legion, Solitude
By order of North Province Command.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT:
☐ Confirmed
☐ Pending
☐ Refused (Note: Refusal subject to disciplinary review)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
So...I was supposed to clear a fort. All by myself, apparently, since I had no one under my "standing attachment." Well, except my watchdog. Er...watchlizard. Also, they got my middle and last names backward. I should have just given them a fake name in the first place -- it's not like anyone here carries ID.
Anyway, I hadn't been wasting ALL my time in this new Skyrim -- I had done some map studying so I could finally figure out just where the hell everything was (it was fun trying to retrace my steps from the first fucking go-around). So I actually knew where Fort Hraggstad was and frowned at the officer as I held out the paper.
“I assume this is a mistake.” I said the words calmly, because shouting would only make it worse. "Hraggstad isn't on the road to anywhere. It's entirely the opposite direction from the war. What threat could there be?"
He shrugged. "That's what you're going to find out."
"That is asinine. And I'm supposed to do it alone? What if there are, like, a hundred bandits or something?"
The officer didn’t even flinch. “Then you deal with them. You’re Keṣ Tshaâki.”
There it was. Clean. Bloodless. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”
He snorted. ”You’re Keṣ Tshaâki. This is exactly what you signed up for.”
I held the gaze a moment longer, searching for something -- hesitation, doubt, an opening. There was nothing. Orders had already crystallized into fact.
“Fair enough.”
I left the command office with the order crumpled in my hand and my jaw locked so tight it hurt. The corridor outside felt narrower than before, stone pressing in from both sides. I took three steps before I heard boots behind me, unhurried and familiar.
“Well,” Kangme said, falling into step beside me. “That's the kind of face that usually means someone just volunteered you for something unpleasant.”
I didn’t slow. “You know me so well already. I’ve been assigned to clear Fort Hraggstad.”
Kangme whistled softly. “Ah.”
“Solo,” I added.
That made Kangme stop walking. I took another step, then stopped too when I realized they weren’t beside me anymore.
“Solo?” Kangme repeated, incredulous. “As in you and you?”
“Well, technically me and you, since you still have to accompany me, right?”
They laughed as they caught up, eyes sharp now. “True. This is not standard.”
“Well, I am a Kesh…Takki. Or whatever it’s called. Which is how they’re justifying it.”
“And how are you justifying it?”
I snorted. “I’m not.”
We reached the outer doors of the garrison, the light shifting as the world opened back up. I paused there, one hand on the door, feeling the weight of the order like a stone in my pocket.
“This isn’t about the fort,” Kangme said quietly.
“No. It’s about reminding me what happens when I say no.”
Kangme’s mouth twisted. “Small man.”
“Petty. Which makes him dangerous in a very specific way.”
We stepped out into the street together.
“Where to?” Kangme asked.
“The inn. Kellan needs to hear this before I start breaking things.”
Kellan was in his room, boots off, sharpening a knife when we entered. He glanced up, took one look at my face, and stood. Then sat and rubbed his face after I told him the fun I had just been assigned. I wanted to assure him, since he quite explicitly had NOT signed up for this, but, “You don’t have to…” was as far as I got before he gave me a withering stare.
“Don’t even finish that sentence.” His voice as he said it was as cold as the proverbial grave and I clicked my mouth shut on the teasing joke that had half-formed.
Lane arrived a little later, quiet as ever, slipping into the room with a basket over her arm. She took one look at the three of us and set it down without comment.
“We’re leaving,” she said.
“Tonight,” I confirmed. “But you don’t have to…”
“Don’t be silly, of course I’m coming.”
I hadn’t said it out loud, but relief had been creeping in since the moment I’d read the order. No more pots and pans. No more being handed a rag and reminded of my place. Best of all, no handjobs, tonight or any night soon. Well, maybe for Kellan, but that was very different. I thought back to my first assignment, when Lazhah had insisted I do all my duties, including the handies, before we left, and silently thanked Kangme for having no such insistence.
Which, I realized later as we headed out the gates of the city, was odd considering what a stickler for the rules Kangme was. Really makes one wonder just how early Lazhah’s attempts to control me had really started.
Don’t feed the bastards. Feed yourself instead.
Edited by jfraser
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