( The next day )
Max landed on planet Maralago with his crew at very early morning and was pumped to assume duty.
Apparently the previous day all the other lieutenants and Garrison Commanders had been given the notice to be present in today's meeting to introduce themselves to the new captain, and Max was very enthusiastic about meeting them all as well.
Although Max wanted to, he as a captain could not promote individuals to Garrison Commander post as only Majors and above could do that.
The best Max could do was promote someone to lieutenant rank and his friends were already at that post.
This meant that while Max was the captain, his crew was not under his direct command but rather under the direct command of one of the Garrison Commander's.
This fact did bother Max a little but he decided to take the see and decide approach as he wanted to test out the waters first before making any actions to bring them under his direct supervision.
Upon his arrival, he was greeted by a rather bulky vampire who gave him the traditional salute and introduced himself as the Lieutenant of 12th division.
He was the man responsible for transporting Max from the teleportation centre to fort ' Sven ' which was Max's territory to hold and defend, about 50 kilometres from the clashing border.
" The situation is bad sir, there's no other way to say it nicely. The barbarians are too strong, and while we are technologically superior to them, with better weapons, better equipment and better constructed forts, they have this raw passion that is impossible to deal with.
Once I saw a barbarian charging towards me like a madman, even though he was shot in the chest by 3 arrows!
Their vitality is beyond impressive and their leader Erasmus is very smart.
He does not fall into needless baits, he knows how to hold his lines properly and at this point of time, taking back a single inch of land from under his iron grip feels like a very difficult task" the lieutenant said honestly
" So the morale is low, I assume? " Max asked although he half knew the answer.
" Low? It's non-existent captain, some lieutenants don't even complete their daily patrol duties anymore because they fear being ambushed by the enemy.
It's like we have already lost the war before any big fight breaks out and that is precisely the reason behind why me and many passionate troops like me are very frustrated in this deployment.
As soldiers we don't fear death sir, but we fear humiliation and cowardice.
I'll be damned if my 12th division goes into the history books as cowards " the lieutenant said passionately as Max approved of his passion.
Now that Max was incharge it seemed like there were a lot of things that he needed to fix, with the first being the morale of the troops.
The belief of victory was a very powerful force, the troops needed to believe that they could succeed to actually succeed, and it was Max's job as the captain to instil this belief into them.
" Don't worry, now that I'm here I'll make sure things change for the better " Max said in a reassuring tone as he tried to soothe the man's raging passion.
Although the Lieutenant was sceptical about Max's ability to do anything, he nodded with courtesy giving him the benefit of the doubt.
*********
( Meanwhile Marcus )
Marcus was annoyed to wake up even earlier than usual.
His sleep which used to be 10-12 hours a day was already cut down to an agonising 7 hours, however, he now had to wake up in 6, because some stupid new captain was taking command today and wanted all lieutenants and Garrison Commanders to be present.
' Goddamn it, ruin someone else's sleep you bastard, why are you after me? ' Marcus cursed internally as he tidied his uniform and proceeded towards the designated assembly point.
It was night-time with barely any visibility at all, yet hundreds of lieutenants and Garrison commanders had assembled to greet the new captain.
Since the captain had not yet arrived, everyone was at ease and casually greeting each other as looking at their energy so early in the morning made Marcus sick in his stomach.
The average military man was too cheerful for his own good in Marcus's opinion. Laughing and cracking jokes at the most dumb things.
But he understood that it was the stress of the job that made them like this, because it was a coping mechanism against that stress.
Marcus was yawning as he scanned the crowd to judge the looks of every lieutenant assembled, when his eyes landed on a figure he was all too familiar with that made his heart flutter.
' Asiva ' Marcus thought internally as he suddenly felt like he had a shortness of breath looking at her fresh visage so early in the morning.
For a good two minutes Marcus stared at Asiva, until he was annoyed by a hand that was placed over her shoulder which he recognised to be that of Severus the criminal, the one that was imprisoned in Dombivli City alongside Asiva.
As Marcus scanned the remaining members around Asiva he identified the dwarf that was one of the members causing him misery at the auction and the elf Archer who was responsible for killing his good friend Sigfried.
Marcus felt rage, hatred, anxiety all at once as he looked at the crew as murderous thoughts arose in his mind.
He looked around fervently, trying to see if the masked man was present as well, but to his disappointment he could not find him.
" Captain Ravan reporting for duty, all officers salute "
Marcus's thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout, as everyone suddenly formed neat lines and saluted the upcoming captain.
While glancing at Asiva and crew, Marcus did a lousy salute until a bad feeling began rising in his stomach.
' No way, no fucking way ' thought Marcus as he glanced at the new captain and found him to be the dreaded mask man, his sworn enemy.
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/// A/N - This bonus sponsored by patron Cervantez91, please thank him in the comments for this one ///