Once the threat of battle had subsided, a collective sigh of relief seemed to wash over the soldiers. Clean up began as rounds were counted. Overwatch was maintained as the battalion got accountability. In the center of the perimeter, The first sergeants began to brief the commander and sergeant major. There were no KIA, however, a few soldiers had been hit by what the soldiers had described as "concussive arrows of wind". There was also one tank that had been partially damaged on the tracks by a "ball of fire". Overall, the losses had been minimal considering the battalion had gone against a brigade that had used magic.
"Alright, clean this area!" Eric yells out as he looks around at his platoon. "Collect all brass and inform your squad leaders about how much ammo you expended. We will maintain a 24-hour watch of this sector between these two ridges. When you are not on shift, you will be assisting with either cleanup, set up, or sleeping." Eric had been a part of positional set ups like this before, and the first weeks were never fun. First came claiming ownership of an area, then came the set up, and finally came the over watch shifts. Essentially: The initial week of claiming ground was never fun.
Tents were the next thing to be set up. The commander had wanted a more stable environment where they could hold staff meetings. Large, tan tents were positioned near the middle of where the two hills the battalion had been summoned to stood. Soldiers ran back and forth as they struggled to get systems up and going. Wires were run through the tents as power went through generators. Finally, some semblance of a TOC was set up. Staff sections set up their systems in their parts of the tents, a Bradley sat outside the tent on over watch while the drone operators got their drones into the air.
The Geospatial intelligence squad leader and lieutenant enter the truck where drone footage was pulled up. The squad leader looks at his soldiers staring in awe at the screens and claps his hands for their attention. "Don't tell me you guys have already found cat girls." He grumbles. "The battalion commander needs a terrain update asap, so tell me what you-" A brief pause follows as he looks the screen. "Okay, what in the actual fuck." During the battle, no one had noticed or commented on it, but now that things were mostly settled, the observation had to be made: This new world had two suns. The drone kept panning around, and one scan after the other raised more questions. Blue trees and purple plants. Even the grass of all things was more of a teal color than green. The Squad leader unbuckles the chinstrap on his ACH and rubs his forehead, his face seemed to grow ten years in seconds as a bird flew near the tree line. The only problem? The bird had four wings. "Okay, do we have printing capability yet?" The squad leader asks. "Negative, Sarn't." The soldier responds, slowly coming back from his stupor. "Alright." The squad leader sighs and pulls out his phone, taking a video of the screen, and some pictures. "If we were on Earth, I'd be court martialed for this." He grumbles as he walks out of the truck. He began walking towards the Command tent before realizing his LT wasn't following. "Fucking cherries"… He growls. "LT!" He calls out, "Come on, we have a brief to attend."
At the command tent, all the leaders stood around tables that had been hastily set up. Pages flipped as the officers and NCO's flipped through their notebooks. Nervousness and a sense of helplessness hung in the air. Sure, they had won a major battle, but the questions loomed unanswered in the air: "what next." Tools that everyone had access to their entire military careers had been rendered useless, or worse, they had no access to. "ROOM, ATTEN… TION." A voice calls as the commander walked in. Everyone stood at attention as the commander walked in. He looked at the sergeant major with a bemused face and shook his head. "From here on out, we won't do that. Drill and ceremonies are useless now." He then waved his hand. "Everyone relax. We have a lot to cover. First off, this will not be the usual brief style. We do not have the luxury of time, so I will ask questions with what I view as important. If you have the answer, feel free to speak. If you do not, refrain from speaking." The commander than sighs as he sat down in a field chair.
Eric stood near his company commander and 1SG Hammond. He already knew this was coming, but he stood there while listening to the brief drone on. Even though this brief was atypical, it still followed the same boring list. He still paid attention and took notes. "Sir." A voice called to Eric's left. "I have pictures and video of the surrounding terrain. You may want to see this." The Geoint platoon squad leader then slid his phone across the desk to the battalion commander.
The phone went around the room as the commander had ordered every officer and NCO to review the information embedded in the phone. Once the phone was back in the hands of its owner, the room was silent. "Alright, going forward, Intel is our priority. We do not know who is out there, or what is out there. With that being said, HUMINT, GEOINT, and Analysis will be the main focus." The commander then looked at Eric. "SFC Dryer: From here on out, You will be responsible for going out into the world and finding out what you can about it. Anything you need is in your hands. All assets you need, you will have. You will be responsible for taking a team out and finding any intel possible. As you know, those prisoners we caught have given us nothing so far."