Blood Lily Company - Afghanistan - Year 2

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I am starting a new notebook as the Icelanders are starting a new year on our promontory. And I think that starting with new recruits is not so bad.

So here we are with six new ones. Three Russians, a Swiss, a Swede and a Frenchman.

Alex immediately showed Doc that in addition to a physio-ostheo training, he had solid basic medical training, between Nanny's nursing and her own. I saw a look of relief on her face. I understood her. Having someone able to treat minor injuries so she can focus on the more serious ones, having someone able to assist her in the OR, too, would have been a real relief during the night attack. Because even if Erk's Gift is precious to save our lives, it depends on the giant's energy and when there it's gone...

With the arrival of the Russian, he and Doc therefore decided that Erk's Gift would not be used for trinkets, as Alex called them. I think he meant trifles. But OK...

Kolia asked to stay close to his husband and that was good, because Shorn had let it be known that the more men he had on his patrol, the more alert the sentries would be because they would be rested. The Admiral was also placed there, his mega-sight giving him some advantage, especially in daylight. He found himself assigned to lookout Alpha, the one that gave the best view of the valley.

Tall Wilha joined the motorbike patrol because, guess what, she was doing trial bike competition before getting bored and looking for meaning in her life.

Mischa didn't care. As Curly's squad was the only one with a single "officer", even if it was a NCO, Fatso put him there.

That left Bear, and Kris and I didn't have a lot to do to get him, Lin having listened to me when I whispered a few words in her ear.

We explained the few rules to the rookies, like the one on the use of the smaller bedroom, the one on mobile phones, showers, KP and all that.

What was funny was that, this time, we had no reaction of rejection, contrary to what had happened before. It was nice, for a change.

The Admiral and the Russians knew Lin. Well, the Admiral knew her from her reputation more than from experience, contrary to the Russians. The Swiss lady was happy to be working under a woman, as for the Swede... I've rarely seen someone so accommodating.

Well, before we went back on patrol, we had to integrate the newbies, test their physical and other abilities, and one, very important to us. It's hard to describe, because it's a sense of... Hmm. The Company, for some, is a kind of family and even if, like in all families, there are siblings who are more difficult to stand than others, we are still a family.

So, the idea, and it's especially important for the new ones because we choose them, whereas us, the old white-and-blue flag mercs, we tolerated each other, as the Icelanders did... Hmm, well, so the idea is to test the ability to find a place in this big family. And, for the newbies, the Icelanders don't have the same means of pressure as for us.

All of us old mercs still have that sentence hanging over us, though I think that for some of us, Lin had already decided to lift it. Rafa and the Koreans, arrived after us, have no other refuge than the Company. But the newbies are all volunteers, without a criminal record, supposedly. Although, thinking about it, I would tend to put the Russians in the same basket as the Koreans: they have no other refuge, or else they would have to return to civilian life. If I remember correctly, they resigned from the Russian Imperial Army, but aren't deserters, unlike Kim and Song. As for Rafa, he is Afghan, of course, but with the fucked-up mess the non-government is, he can't leave the country officially, for lack of ID papers.

So, we decided to test the newbies capacity to blend in the rest of the Company, to accept our somewhat special way of life.

I told you earlier the Swede was hyper accommodating. And with the brothers doing their damnedest to drive him crazy, he needed that capacity. He always kept super calm.