Just past midnight, the three demons were watching their favorite form of entertainment. Deezle the Defiler had brought a few choice cuts of meat for the others; he had politely eaten well before coming so he wouldn't be eating as much. Lellend sat back, sipping from a tabasco michelada. Sharness was picking at the cuts, acting like she couldn't decide on a cut. The guys looked at each other, smiling knowingly at her little pre-announcement drama.

"I had a non-encounter with our tattooed warrior.”

And there was the announcement. The horned demon raised an eyebrow. “A 'non-encounter'? If you didn't encounter someone did it actually happen?” Lellend smiled; he knew that she knew that he knew what she was talking about.

"Yes, it just means that I brushed by him without doing anything.” She dramatically sighed. “He's not as powerful as others of his ilk. He felt a little drained.”

Lellend scoffed. “That doesn't mean as much as you think it does. We still have no precise idea how the magic that summons him works, nor do we know if he's as active in his home dimension as he is here. We also don't know how the limited mana of this dimension affects him.”

Deezle the Defiler had to pipe in. “For that matter, he may be purposely draining his power away to give us a false sense of his strength. They may die young, but they can be clever, those humans.”

Sharness acted offended. “Aw, why do you always cut me to the quick? I'm only trying to help....” The other two laughed at her act. “Besides, any information about him can only help, right?” They tipped their drinks to that idea. “I think this one is a young one.”

Lellend sipped his michelada. “He killed a dretch in one punch. The kid may look weak, but I'd prefer to wait a little longer. Besides, I think we need to have some fun with him. The squad is out scavenging tomorrow. It would be just awful if they were to encounter a tougher demon. It may not make their day.”

They all laughed.

Deezle the defiler offered the other two some of his sliced meat. “Well, if he dies then we can always dissect him. Even if he survives, he would be easy to pick off. Should I have some reinforcements on hand should they survive?”

"No.” Lellend grinned with just a few too many teeth. “We want to get an accurate assessment of some sort of the tattooed warrior. If he dies then he dies and we can conquer the fort at our leisure. If he survives then I want to know why. Besides, if he survives and then gets hit by reinforcements then he may begin to see our talons in events. And I would prefer he not see our talons until they are tearing him apart.” He made a little tearing motion with his hands.

"Fine. No reinforcements. No one ever lets me have fun.” He sat down and crossed his arms in mock annoyance. He quickly uncrossed them. “Ah, you know I could never stay mad at you. Good luck with your plan tomorrow!”

The demons clicked glasses and then sat back to enjoy the humans going through the motions of living below.

* * * * *

Douglas woke to the sound of the lock of the office clicking open. He tried to summon a blast but nothing happened; he didn't even feel the mana flow. He panicked then realized where he was and who most likely had just come in. “Good morning, Lieutenant.” He rose to a sitting position.

Lieutenant Sawyer couldn't help but smile. She handed him a cup of coffee. “You're going to need this.”

He grabbed the cup. “Thanks.”

Her touch brought her laptop to life. She checked through the morning's messages as he sipped the coffee. She smiled as she opened up an email. “Even after the apocalypse, there are people that spread cat videos.” She looked over at the barely awake kid, assessing whether or not to spring the bad news on him. She decided that there was no good time. “I have some bad news for you, Douglas. I've been told to assess you for possible recruitment.”

"You guys must really need warm bodies if you're coming after mine.”

"No disagreement here.” She smiled as he glared at her. “But you've got to admit that you have some special talents that could use some training.”

"And that's what she said.” He let a smile fly at the lieutenant as she glared at him. “I'm just not sure I look good in uniform.”

"Everyone looks good in a uniform. But that uniform comes with some bonus support.” She messed with some messages. “So for the next few days, the guys have been told to give you an informal version of basic. I'd sort of suggest paying attention even if you have no intention of signing on; most of it can only help you, even as an adjutant.”

He thought about that for a moment. “Sounds good. So I have what, three, four days to come to a decision I'll probably regret every morning at 5 AM?”

"Yep. Something like that.” She turned off the laptop. “But enjoy the benefits. You will have a billet and your own meal card for a change.”

"Not a bad way to kick the tires.” He put on his boots. “So the next stop is breakfast.”

"Looks like it.” She handed him a plastic card. “Don't lose it. And be nice to the guys.”

He grabbed the card and smiled. “I'll try.” He stood up. “Wait, didn't you say the guys are going to be jerks?”

She smiled as she opened the door. “And to have fun doing it.”

He walked out the door. “Fun.”

* * * * *

After grabbing some breakfast and a cooler of lunches, Rodriguez and Douglas joined everyone at the vehicles. Lieutenants Sawyer and Prowse were discussing their scavenging plans. Samuels and Walker were loading the weapons and ammunition; they had already locked down the machine guns on top of the vehicles. Rodrigue had requisitioned two beagles and the two dogs had already been placed in the seats, allowing them to conserve energy as they drew off the flivver's engine. As the cooler was loaded, she gave out instructions for the day.

"Today is primarily a scavenging operation. This is why this squad is so small: It makes us fast, sneaky, and able to go places a larger group couldn't. We have a place to check out, but feel free to suggest other locations. Alpha is in the back, Beta in front. Alpha has me, the beagles, Walker, and Samuels as the driver. Beta has Lieutenant Prowse, Douglas, and Rodriguez as the driver. I would advise you to listen to him, Douglas, as the sitting arrangements were made with you in mind.” Douglas' eyes rolled. “I saw that, young man.” Everyone smiled. “ROE is simple: Run if we can, fight if we have to, and negotiate as needed. If we find something we grab as much as we can, grab the coordinates if it's too much, and give out a buoy if we like the group. We're out for the day, I have the food, and if we're lucky we're back by dinner. Everyone got that?”

Everyone shouted, “Yes, sir!” Everyone got on their feet and went to their vehicles. She tossed a comm to Rodriguez. “The coordinates are noted on your vehicle's map. We'll try to keep up, but don't get too far ahead. Not like our last field trip. Got that, sergeant?”

He smiled. “Yes, sir.”

"I hate a smart alec.”

They quickly mounted and headed out. Rodriguez headed out, sure of where he was going; today, they were returning to a deserted farm just inside the zone that they had scouted out just last month. While it would have normally been scavenged by others already, the farm was so far off the beaten path it hadn't been touched. Even better, it was the bug-out destination of a doom prepper, so there were bound to be plenty of supplies and parts. That also meant plenty of potential traps. The dogs earning their pay today; the beagles' sensors made them the important dogs on this mission.

Lieutenant Prowse had the fun of instructing a recruit on how military etiquette worked. While Fort Solace tended to be more informal than most, it was still important to make sure that all of the ins and outs were covered. While technically they were still part of the United States Army, said Army was still trying to deal with most of the United States having been flooded, torched, or otherwise decimated; the individual bases still communicated with each other, but it was mostly just to confirm that they still existed. Each base was on its own. Nonetheless, enlisted and officer ranks and how they interacted needed to be covered; traditions still kept a group together, after all.

The history of Fort Solace was up first. While Rodriguez had provided most of the education, Lieutenant Prowse helped with some of the finer points. Fort Solace was a relatively new base made from joining two established Air Force bases. This had been done to provide the military with another intelligence hub and a home for its cybernetics research. General Dominica Martins, therefore, ended up commanding the 175th Division (Medical), the Neon Caduceus, but with elements from the former Air Force that had been folded into the command. The aircraft, such as there were, had been shifted to the fort, along with as much fuel, parts, and supplies as possible. This made for a base that could handle a wide variety of problems but on a very limited basis.

Its location had allowed it to survive the utter destruction wrought by the eruption of the Yosemite Caldera, albeit barely. Combining the bases ended up being the right decision as North Dakota had found itself the center of several zones and therefore demon attacks. Fortunately, there was a limited civilian population that had survived; the base had had to bring a number of civilians as well as continue protecting the surrounding area. The base had expanded its purview as it had been forced to become more self-sufficient; the base now had to deal with animal husbandry and farming.

While the pests had gotten bigger, most did not survive an encounter with the powered armor suits used for farming.

[Properly, the squad was identified as part of the Procurement Division, 5th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Company B (Shadow Weasels). Their brigade was responsible for scavenging the local area as well as scouting out new areas. Companies A (Red Ferrets) and C (Swamp Rabbits) also scavenged, while Companies D (Iron Mules) and E (Steel Elephants) were the ones that were responsible for dealing with any large hauls. In terms of equipment, this meant the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie had lighter vehicles while Dela and Echo had a hauler. All five could call in support as necessary. The Shadow Weasels usually worked with the Steel Elephants.]

By the time they arrived at the farm, Douglas had most of it mastered, along with the basics of the UCMJ. He was also ready for demons to attack just to provide an escape from his education.

When they arrived everyone turned on their individual comm units and separated into teams. Rodriguez had parked just north of the farm while Walker parked just south. Rodriguez departed his vehicle to operate the dogs while Samuels and Walker took over the weapons seat of their respective vehicles. The other three did a quick patrol of the area while Rodriguez broke into the buildings one by one. The going was slow, but that's because Rodriguez had to deal with several traps, some of which were tied to explosive devices.

As for his part, Douglas set up a couple of wards and kept them maintained; if anything came in he would know. As they were passive, he was able to join in the patrol. By lunch, the area had been sufficiently scouted and firing zones established. Douglas ended up helping Rodriguez by providing him with additional protection and the occasional assist; there is a lot to say about having someone on hand who can manipulate objects without touching them.

It took them almost three hours to break into the main building and another two for the barn. However, the doom prepper had prepared for quite a bit, so the farm was a major find. The barn provided a variety of parts and tools, including a complete smithy while the house itself was a treasure trove of medical supplies and food. The farm would be tagged via GPS for the Steel Elephants; they just had to make sure that all of the defenses were taken down before the trucks came. Lieutenant Sawyer called it in.

Sometime that afternoon, something big broke through one of Douglas' wards, causing Douglas to wince in pain. He almost screamed into his comm unit, “Lieutenant Sawyer, we have incoming! Now would be a good time to bring in Kev.”

She grabbed the ring just as a large blue circle formed a hundred meters from the farm. “Huc!”

A gargoyle touched down just within visual range of the farm and set up a camera with a tripod. The slaughter would be filmed.