Lieutenants Sawyer and Prowse were busy preparing for the morning's mission. They knew where the demon was but had no idea what of its exact capabilities. At least they had some heavy firepower: They had a trio of Phoebus powered armors, as well as a relatively fresh Kronus suit for Lieutenant Prowse; unlike the dilapidated suit used for testing Kev and Douglas, these suits would be fully armed and ready to go. While the Kronus suit could destroy an office building by itself, each Phoebus suit was the equivalent of a human platoon, and their missile systems were the epitome of fire-and-forget: Once a target was sighted, the missile's AI would go after it until it hit that target, making them rocket-powered drones.

Douglas and Kev would be held back until needed; they would be mostly used if it attempted to escape. While they were both pretty powerful assets, and she had no doubt they had yet to truly tap what either could do, Lieutenant Sawyer didn't want to fully explore those assets just yet, and especially not during a fight. She needed to keep the variables down as much as she could, and they represented a number of them.

Rodriguez was also getting ready for the mission. He had replaced the beagle with another rottweiler and was busy synchronizing the canine robot to his own gear. The rottweilers would provide a mobile platform for heavy firepower, easily capable of quickly positioning themselves for maximum effect, and he was busy installing drums that would allow the rottweilers to sustain fire for a few solid minutes. Operating in tandem, they could quickly convert most targets to a fine mist. While their sensory packages were not at the same level as the beagles, that was fine for his purposes; he needed firepower tomorrow rather than sensors.

He had debated bringing in the other three, but their cleaning of weapons and vehicles was exactly what was needed. Even equipping Douglas would prove useful to the team as a whole, and giving the boys time to bond was hardly a bad idea; those bonds would make sure that they had each other's back and that would help protect them as much as thick armor and a good rifle. While he was unsure of Walker, Samuels had the makings of a fine sergeant down the road; he would need allies and this is where he started finding them. Walker's brain would be as good an asset as Douglas' power and combined with Samuels' ability to quickly strategize, the three could potentially be downright scary on the battlefield.

He spared himself a moment to smile. Ah, to be that young and stupid again. He charged back into the innards of the rottweiler; he didn't like the slow response from the canine's cybernetics and needed to figure out the issue. He wished he could use percussive maintenance on the canine; too bad hitting it with a wrench was more likely to damage its delicate machinery. He had until morning to figure it out, so that was something working in his favor.

The three of them had a working plan: They would track it down, send in the rottweilers to confirm, and then hit it with the suits. The squad would then confirm the death. Sounded simple; they only hoped that it worked; plans had a nasty habit of going sideways in their actual application.

Hopefully, it wouldn't go that sideways. Too much. And if it did, hopefully, Kev and Douglas were an effective backup.

* * * * *

The boys were doing their level best to destroy the inventory of The Falafel House. Between bites, Walker was looking at the blades. Samuels looked at how he was looking at the blades with a weird smile and had made it a point that he was sitting as far away as possible while still sitting at the same table.

Douglas was devouring his shwarma pita. “Neat blades.”

Walker barely registered that he was being talked to. “Yeah.”

Douglas smiled. “So, what's so special about those? Those aren't the usual K-Bars.”

Walker looked down at the cutting edge of one. “On my first mission, we found some raw iron. It hadn't been alloyed with anything. So I grabbed it, with Lieutenant Sawyer's permission, of course, telling her I had an idea I wanted to try. On another mission, we found a box of silver ingots. I made the same suggestion. I knew it would be hard to forge raw iron given it's some brittle stuff. So I found a sergeant who likes forging things, especially difficult things, and commissioned him to forge a pair of knives from each material. It took him a while to forge the blades due to the brittleness of the iron and softness of the silver, but he finally did it.”

Douglas' eyebrow went up. “Wait...raw iron. So those are cold iron knives?” He suddenly grew a lopsided grin and the pita was forgotten. “Sweet.”

Samuels forgot his own pita. “Could someone clue me in? You know how I hate to be out of the loop.”

Walker smiled. “According to old stories some demons have issues against cold iron, while others have a weakness to silver.” Walker looked straight at Samuels. “Betcha you know why I was working on my knife-fighting skills now, Corporal.”

A shiver went down Samuels' spine. “Nice. And the sword?”

Walker put down the knife and grabbed the sword, unsheathing it a few inches. “See the black strip down the edge?” Samuels nodded. “The sword is based on the idea of a katana sandwich. See, a katana is actually seven different pieces of metal: The first is folded as many times as possible to create a sharp edge, but it's pretty brittle. So it's sandwiched between three other pieces for support. The other three pieces form the basis of the hilt.”

Samuels took a swig of beer. “So Wicken overcame the brittleness of the iron by surrounding it with a steel sheath.”

Walker smiled as he sheathed the sword. “Yep.”

Douglas returned to his pita. “So when do you test them?”

Walker looked at him. “As soon as we go back to the field. With Lieutenant Sawyer's permission, of course.”

* * * * *

Lieutenant Sawyer had just seen the arrival of an APC carrying the four powered armor suits. Lieutenant Prowse was inspecting the one she was to pilot, making sure that all of the systems were good and that the ammunition was as promised. She ran it through some basic drills before signing off on it; she was responsible for the expensive piece of equipment so wanted to make sure it was as advertised. Her grin while signing off on the suit was so wolfish that the armorer delivering the suits got a chill.

Lieutenant Sawyer smiled as she saw her friend sign off with a little extra flourish. The pilots would be here in the morning; they had already done all of the preliminary inspections on the Phoebus suits and would complete the rest of the pre-flight checks in the morning. Rodriguez had already packed the vehicles with as many rounds as they could carry, allowing for the rottweilers, of course. He debated leaving one of the boys behind for more ammunition, but had lost the debate; Lieutenant Prowse had mentioned something ridiculous about ”needing all hands on deck”. He tried to argue that they were Army, not Navy, but a glare from Lieutenant Sawyer cut off further debate. He took out a few ammunition boxes.

She walked off shaking her head and smiling. As she inspected the gathered materiel she checked off boxes from her lists, both on the paperwork in front of her and her mental checklist. She was satisfied with where things were going and then decided to send Rodriguez to gather the boys. They should be back from their missions already. It was just a matter of making sure everyone knew where they were supposed to be.

The pre-battle briefing should be all sorts of fun. They just needed to create the simulation, and that should be easy enough. All of a sudden she wished Walker has here; this was so much his area. Oh, well; she would just persevere without him.

* * * * *

The boys had just entered the barracks when Rodriguez walked through the door and started barking orders. In mere minutes there were ready for the morning's activities, with even Douglas reacting with fear-powered speed. They had all of the gear acquired during the day stowed and the gear they needed for the morning ready. Their rucks were ready with the basics they would need for the mission. The boys carried their rucks to the vehicle followed by a quick march to the squad's office.

Lieutenant Sawyer directed them in while holding up Douglas. “They are required to be here. You are not. Now is your only chance to run.”

Douglas smiled. “I've never seen this part before. You guys usually just tell me where to meet you and where you need to go. I never get to see the planning part. This could be fun. Sir!” She wasn't sure how to take that sign of respect from the young wizard. He joined the other two, who had saved him a seat.

After sitting down. Lieutenant Sawyer ran the simulation. “Alright, Shadow Weasels, the plan is pretty simple: The target is a bird-shaped demon.” Walker pulled out his pad and started drawing the demon as pictured. “Tomorrow morning, we're going to go out and kill it. We're going to use three teams.” She fired up the simulation. It showed a single grain silo cracked in half but still standing. Three vehicles approached it; two stopped a short way away while the third moved a little closer.

"We're going to approach it in three vehicles. The first is carrying three Phoebus suits and a Kronus, aka Bravo Team.” The boys smiled. “Lieutenant Prowse is going to be in the Kronus.” The boys gave her a thumbs up; she rolled her eyes. “Alpha Team will be myself and Kev, to be joined by Lieutenant Prowse. We will provide cover fire for the Phoebus squad, or Bravo Team, as well as providing observation.”

"Charlie Team will include Sergeant Rodriguez, Corporal Samuels, Private Walker, and Douglas.” The boys each gave a thumbs up. She was seriously debating Douglas' inclusion, unsure of his effect on the other two. The simulation continued: The occupants of the vehicles and the Kronus shot at the target while one occupant aimed a device at the target. “While Sergeant Rodriguez paints the building for the suits, you three will be shooting the target.” The Phoebus suits attacked the target. “Then the Pheobus team will destroy the target.” The Phoebus team disengaged, remounted their vehicle, and the other two vehicles drove away as the Kronus hovered about the Alpha vehicle as it drove off. “Then we retreat to a safe distance to ensure that the target is destroyed. Understood?”

Walker looked up from his pad and they looked at each other. Walker pointed at her with his pen. “You watch the oven.” Samuels nodded: “We shake it while Sergeant Rodriguez bakes it.” Douglas looked at her: “And then it gets fried.” They gave each other a group high-five.

Lieutenant Sawyer seriously debated her goal of enlisting Douglas if this is what she could look forward to in the future. Lieutenant Prowse smiled at her. “Guess they can pay attention.”

They debated alternate routes there as well as routes away, as well as options in case the target was tougher than expected. After she was sure everyone was clear on the plan and the backup, she dismissed them and they went to their separate cafeterias. Lieutenant Sawyer wasn't sure about the change in the group dynamic but was pretty sure Douglas was responsible. She sort of actually liked it. For now.