“And you just... laid into them with all of your remaining mini-missiles?” Captain Reynolds asked incredulously a day later. The two of them were in the officer’s mess in comfortable chairs, nursing some liquor.
“Not like I was going to use them on the ride back,” Kaz shot back. Reynolds just shook his head and laughed a bit to himself.
“You’re a piece of work, Kaz. A dozen missiles for a dozen guys?” he said but raised a hand to stop her temper. “I would have used a dozen more just to remove their stink from the land but I get you. Just... in your report, maybe describe it as an ‘appropriate use of force due to the potential presence of enemy CIWS’ or something, so I don’t have to do paperwork for excessive use of force.”
Kaz smiled at him and folded her arms. “Yeah, never know what they had...” she added dryly. “We get anything in yet?”
“You sound like you’re waiting on a delivery from Amazon or something,” Reynolds replied.
“I mean, I’d kill for an air fryer out here, but I’ll settle for a Perth-class heavy mech.”
“They’re still not in.” The Captain’s tone was more sober and he took a sip after.
“But Captain! That damn Mackay is a pain in my ass, literally. The thing rocks so much I feel like I just rode a horse for 12 hours.”
“We both know you’ve never ridden a horse in your life, city-girl,” Reynolds shot back with a smirk.
“This is nice,” Yevhen cut in from his place in a lounge chair in the makeshift officer’s lounge. Reynolds’ face soured as the vampire spoke though.
“Shut it, fang. You’re not invited to this conversation.”
“I’d say you should be nicer to him, but you really shouldn’t,” Kaz replied, wavingly dismissively at Yevhen who seemed to have closed his eyes. She didn’t actually know if vampires “napped”, but he sure seemed like he did sometimes.
“But, yeah. Still going to be a few weeks for the Perths. Something about ‘transport priorities’ or something. The Steel Caps are going to be in by nightfall, I hear, though.”
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“Wait, we’ve got Steel Caps?” Kaz said, sitting up and the old beat-up lazyboy chair she was crashing in.
“Yeah...” Reynolds said with a long sigh, “Command informed me this morning. Apparently the politicians wanted to have eyes on your little pet fang.”
The Steel Caps concerned Kaz because she didn’t really know where their loyalty lay. On paper, they were a kind of defensive unit assigned to government facilities and VIPs, but in practice, they were diehard Arcadian nationalists. They were a sort of “Praetorian Guard” to the current government to keep them in power. They were known for their fanatic nationalism over their skills, though they didn’t lack in those either. They were probably here on the orders of someone high up in the government and were assigned to kill Kaz and/or Yevhen if things went tits up. Kaz didn’t blame the government for assigning them, though. Hell, she almost felt like thanking them, given how dangerous Yevhen was...except for the fact that she really didn’t relish the idea of a bullet between the eyes.
“I mean, it makes sense but... do we have to listen to their damn parade music or whatever it is they play every morning?” she asked, rubbing the side of her temple.
“I’ll make sure to ban all forms of fun and tradition around you. Promise,” the bald Captain replied with a faux-serious expression on his face.
“Shut up! But seriously, how can they like that ‘Traditional Folk Music’ crap? It sounds like polka.”
“I mean, it basically is, but they have apparently played it so much during their training courses that it has become kind of a ‘thing’ for them.”
“So they can’t get it up unless someone’s playing polka? That’s not a fetish I want to indulge...” Kaz said.
“Well, I hear there is some loophole where they are technically allowed to fraternize with us common soldiers ‘for the good of the country’,” Reynolds laughed and held his palms up. “You sure don’t want to warm your bed with a polka boy?”
Kaz made an involuntary retching sound and coughed, “I’ll pass, thanks. Command still on patrol, though?”
Reynolds scratched his clean-shaven dome, “Yeah... though I hear we’re getting a target to raid on the next one. Supposedly it is a staging ground for some Mithrian partisans.”
“So, perfect for the Steel Caps? We running this op, or are they?”
“I’m in charge, though the polka boys will be the ones breaching the building. As much as I think they’re over-militarized cops, this is their bread and butter. You and I will be on overwatch in Mackays and Lieutenant Kory’s folks will be on the ground to provide operational security. We’ll have Zora on electronics so we shouldn’t have any surprises.”
Kaz shrugged and took a sip of her drink. It burned going down but it was a good burn. She had a bad feeling about the operation, but that was mostly just about the Steel Caps being present.
In the wake of the Aktaugrad Accords at the end of WWIII the borders of Arcadia territory were established by international treaty. Ever since then, there has been a strong Arcadian nationalist movement that holds that much of the land to the east that had been ceded to Mithris had been given away illegally (or at least immorally). A fierce anti-Mithrian identity took hold in Arcadia after that and it has only grown stronger over time. Politicians catered to the growing anti-Mithrian sentiment and rattled sabers by claiming to “reclaim the lost lands” though no actions ever really manifested.
A hard line, right-wing, militant, political group eventually formed and conducted what they called, “Сталев? марш?” (Stalevi marshi) or “Steel Marches” in the streets. These armed marches in eastern cities were designed to show the Arcadian government that they were ready to fight for their lost territory. The famous politician Lev Melnyk organized them and rode their support into the presidency. He turned these steel marches into a new paramilitary organization called the “Steel Caps” or formally, “The Steel Marches Capital Brigade”.
While ostensibly they were created to be a national defense force and help with internal stability, a sort of small militarized paramilitary unit to put down riots and seek out foreign spies and saboteurs, they were wielded as sort of political weapon against Melnyk’s enemies until his death. After that time, presidential candidates always made sure to appeal to right-wing nationalist voters by seeking the endorsement of the Steel Caps and ensuring they were on their side. Their existence harkens back to organizations like the Iraqi Republican Guard, Janissaries, and the Varangian Guard.
They still exist to this day, though they have fallen out of favor significantly due to the rise of more centrist presidents. The current president, Nikita Shevchuk, is an example of one of these less ideologically extreme presidents and his efforts to reduce the Steel Caps’ influence have been met with praise by the public but resentment by the traditionalist faction in the government.
