Scouting For Romance

Entry 11 Part 2

When we got dressed in our blue fatigues, Tytus and I got back in line so we could hand off our personal belongings to the clerk. At some point over the next decade, they'll be sent back to our apartment.

But from there, we went through one of the doors into a hallway that eventually led to a conference hall. A large room with a board in the front for displays, and with raised seating like an auditorium. Tytus and I went towards the back so we could look down on everyone else.

To pass the time as we waited for everyone to finish, I counted those already in the room, and each person as they entered. 86 in this class, counting me, Tytus, and Jovaisa, who stayed up front and got his charts and documents ready. That's a pretty big number as far as the peldak military is concerned, almost all the seats are full.

When the last man entered, he shut the door and found his spot. That man, I think, will end up becoming relevant in the future. He had very long, thick hair, and had an odd look about him. His gait was more like an embarrassed shuffle, not a proud stride.

"Listen up!" Jovaisa projected his voice across the room, and I took out this journal to write down notes. "The scout corp. is a new unit created due to the hardships we experienced recently in the 'Dismantling of the Léonid Empire'." He paced back and forth as he spoke, "typically, the Protectorate makes allies on the planets we wish to conquer, and we use our military might to help them expand and grow in our place. We slowly increase trade, diplomatic relations, and export our laws and culture until, before the locals know it, they're already an intricate part of our civilization and defacto members of the Protectorate. These locals know the lay of the land and will direct the great hammer of the legions to bash through any enemy that stands in their way, eventually conquering the planet in our stead. This was not the case during the war, however. The Léonid Empire was already in the grips of rebellion and hardships, and none of the locals on any of their worlds trusted another outsider. They thought they'd just trade one overlord for another."

Anatol called out "which is true!"

That got a laugh from us all, and even Jovaisa cracked a smile. "Yes, but you can't just say that! I want you all to remember that, officially, aliens are our respected allies and countrymen." He quickly regained his composure, "so the war was a ten year slog through brutal terrain where we had to contend with the 'professional' armies of the Léonid, as well as every hodunk little tribe armed with what spears and bows they could muster. Ambushes, armies getting lost, endless supply problems, it's good the Léonid collapsed when they did as the senate almost considered a white peace to end the whole embarrassing affair. But we're peldaks. God is on our side, we eked out a victory, their empire is crushed and scattered, and we've learned from our mistakes.

Jovaisa took a large map and slotted it on the board with a click. I could see a bit of the detail, but Tytus and I were so far back that much of it was lost.

"This is Basugio, the world you're being sent to. You'll reinforce the 33rd legion and Hetman Bronisław Otreba as an auxiliary unit of the Intelligence branch of the military. His legion has pacified this archipelago in the south east, but the rest of the planet is wild and unmapped. You're mission, as proud members of the newly minted scout corp., will be to head out into the wilderness and map out the territory. Not just rivers and mountains, but anywhere the 33rd legion could find food, what tribes live in the area, the political situation, potential friends, cultures, disputes, rivalries, resources, anything that might be useful to the Protectorate."

Jovaisa went through another chart to put up, and Tytus looked over at me. He saw me writing his full speech, then raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You sure can write fast."

"Yes."

"To accomplish this," Jovaisa continued, "you'll need a few key pillars. 1. We'll teach you to understand the language of the locals. 2. As you'll be the only symbol of Protectorate authority that far out in the wild, you'll need to learn to carry yourself with the distinction of a diplomat of Peldor. 3. Best case scenario, you'll be months away from civilization. We'll teach you to survive and thrive, living off the land and being fully dependent on just yourself and your battle buddy. 4. Most importantly, we don't know how hostile these locals are. Think about it from their perspective, anytime some alien has shown up to Peldor uninvited, we kick them out in due time. Same for the tribes of Basugio, there's no reason to think they'll tolerate you. If they're friendly, great. If not, we'll teach you how to stay alive. Avoid detection, ambush, how to fight, we'll turn you into war machines before you're done here. Any questions before we begin in earnest?"

I and a few others raised our hands.

I didn't care about everyone else's questions and I promptly forgot them. When I was called on, I stood from my chair and snapped to attention. "Sir. Will we be assigned certain regions of Basugio to scout or are we free to explore as we see fit?"

"It's early in the program, we don't know what works best, so for now you go off on your own. As I said to-" some other recruit who asked a question before me, "-you're to report back to the legion by winter. For year two, you'll probably be assigned specific tasks."

"Sir." I stiffly nodded before returning to my seat.

"Excellent. I'll take Tytus far into the wild, far away from all these losers, and spend so much time with him alone! No way he'll be able to resist my charms when I'm the only woman he'll see in months."

"Mr. Badura." Jovaisa called out, prompting Tytus to stand.

"Sir! Will there be some sort of reward for those who scout the most territory?"

The room went silent, that grabbed a lot of people's attention. Myself, Tytus, Ludwik, Anatol, one of those leftover women, the man who was last to enter the conference hall, and a woman near the back by us. I could tell we were the most interested out of the whole lot.

"We'll talk about that later," Jovaisa said before pivoting to the next question.

"Oooh? I see. This is going to be fun! My top priority may be to snag Tytus's heart once and for all, but I'm still a peldak. Victory over all these jokers will make a fine wedding gift!"

Tytus sat back down with a glint in his eyes, "ooooh," he whispered to me and jostled my shoulder, "Mal, this is gonna be fun! I know our top priority needs to be helping the Protectorate... but I just can't help it! I'm a peldak at heart."

"Yes."

He looked to me and flashed that brilliant, radiant smile of his. "I knew you'd get it."