The Haigolong Legion

July 18th. Heavy snow fell from the early hours until dusk.

The road leading to the landing pad inside Fort Howe was piled with eight inches of snow. Augustus wore a thick cold-weather suit, operating a snowplow to clear the path. Amidst the glow of the headlights, the swirling snowflakes cast hazy, flickering shadows.

By now, the snowfall had eased. The only vehicles on the road were a few other snowplows driven by soldiers from Augustus's squad. The streetlights on both sides had flickered to life, casting a dazzling, piercing glare across the pure white world.

Augustus's snowplow moved slowly along the road. Inside the cockpit, a high-precision wooden vintage phonograph—shipped just last week from Sterling on Korhal IV—played blues music, while a steaming cup of coffee sat beside the dashboard.

It was just another mundane day: working hard at the fort, slacking off when appropriate, but with no smoke-filled wars, no need to kill, and no comrades dying by his side. Peace is a blessing, Augustus thought.

"Praise peace!"

With that thought, Augustus picked up his coffee and took a small sip. His body warmed instantly, and the caffeine sharpened his senses.

Suddenly, something caught Augustus's eye. To his front-left were two plow-type snow removers speeding along. In the lead vehicle, two kids—one with red hair and one with blonde—were bobbing their heads in the driver and passenger seats. Even though it was still snowing, their windows were rolled down, and blaring rock music hammered against Augustus's eardrums.

"Harnack and Josephine are two bad boys, they're noisy and rowdy, but the girls love them!" they sang at the top of their lungs, laughing as they did.

Just as Augustus prepared to flip on his radio speaker to give them a piece of his mind, Harnack roared past him in his snowplow, a snow-thrower chute angled to the left, dumping a spray of crushed ice right onto Augustus's windshield.

Augustus's good mood dipped just a little.

"Speed it up! Woo-hoo!" That was Raynor's voice. "I'm a man chasing the wind!"

A few seconds later, another larger snowplow passed him, dumping even more snow onto Augustus's windshield, forcing him to turn on his wipers.

The coffee in his hand splashed onto his white windbreaker, and Augustus's anger began to spike.

"Hey! Little wolf cub of the Mengsk family, mind if I catch a ride?" Augustus rolled down his window and followed the voice. A hundred yards ahead, a figure in a silver-gray windbreaker with a long-brimmed hood was waving at him.

Augustus drove slowly toward the figure, came to a steady stop, and opened the right-side door. "Captain, I heard you're about to get a promotion?"

Warfield, the commander of the 1st Company, gripped the ladder and climbed into the cab step by step, settling comfortably into the passenger seat. "Soon, soon. Got any coffee, kid?"

"Got instant, but you'll have to brew it yourself." Augustus turned the steering wheel to maneuver. "Where to? I'm heading back that way anyway."

"Fort Howe's command center. You know how it is—I just flew to Oak Forest to file a report, and before I could even catch my breath, that chameleon Vandersp was itching to see me." Warfield rummaged through a storage box behind the seat for a cup and a thermos.

"We don't report to him." Augustus's vehicle made a turn, heading back the way they came.

Lieutenant Colonel Javier Vandersp was the acting commander of Fort Howe. Originally, all fort personnel, including the 4th Battalion, 2nd Marines, were under his jurisdiction, but as Augustus had said, Warfield's company certainly shouldn't be under his command.

"I agree with you twelve-tenths." Warfield chuckled, focusing his attention on how to brew coffee inside a moving snowplow. "But like I told you before, Vandersp always wants to crap all over us. I don't like that hypocritical guy. He spends all year in a secure, impenetrable fort, hasn't fought many hard battles, yet he's always putting on airs and throwing his rank around."

"Yesterday, he specifically went to the 4th Brigade's headquarters at Hobo Pass, claiming that Fort Howe's internal defenses were weak, and therefore, while the 1st Company is stationed here, the unit must be temporarily placed under his command." Warfield said. "He called me over; he's definitely going to show off about it."

"I don't even need to guess the outcome." Augustus chuckled softly.

"In short, we're in for a world of trouble." Warfield snorted. "Just wait and see. When I stand before Vandersp, that monkey is going to be jumping all over our faces."

"You just called him a chameleon," Augustus noted.

"That's a color-changing monkey." Warfield took a sip of the scalding coffee. "I don't usually give people nicknames, but Vandersp is the exception."

"We both know that even within the Confederate Marines, many soldiers have been corrupted by money and power. There are countless scoundrels who line their pockets and play politics." He continued. "These people hide in the rear, where promotion is much harder than on the front lines, so they quickly turn their eyes elsewhere—for instance, how to use the power at hand to live better and more comfortably."

"Vandersp has always hidden it well, but I can guarantee his assets are far greater than his salary deserves. Acting Lieutenant Colonel of Fort Howe—that's a lucrative position."

"Let's just treat him like a clown in a circus," Augustus said with a smile.

"Thinking of it that way, I feel much better." Warfield nodded, then checked his watch. "Haha, we need to hurry. Clown Van demanded I arrive at the command center within ten minutes."

Augustus's snowplow gradually accelerated, soon catching up to Harnack, Raynor, and the others, throwing snow onto their faces at an even higher speed. Harnack and Josephine, driving with their windows down, were drenched in a cold spray, and their happy singing came to an abrupt halt.

The snowplow sped along, finally coming to a steady stop at the entrance of the only command center in Fort Howe. Warfield and Augustus stepped out together. Two Resocialized Soldiers stood at the entrance, immediately snapping to attention and saluting when they saw the two men.

"Vandersp's subordinates are all Resocialized Soldiers. I don't think he likes soldiers with minds of their own; mindless robots are all he wants." Warfield said to Augustus as they walked into the command center. "Don't just stand there, come inside with me."

The command center from the Guild Wars era was a large, multi-story building. Augustus and Warfield had to take an elevator to the upper levels of the command center, reaching an observation deck with massive glass windows on all four sides, then walking through a corridor hung with oil paintings toward Lieutenant Colonel Vandersp's office.

The office door was tightly shut, which meant that even though Warfield was reluctant, he still had to knock and wait for the owner's permission to enter.

This was Augustus's first time seeing Vandersp. Based on Warfield's description, he had expected a middle-aged man, listless from years of sitting in an office. But Vandersp's first impression was that of a handsome man. He wore a clean, crisp uniform and a brand-new, gleaming long-brimmed military cap. The passage of time had only added to his mature, masculine charm.

"Forgive me. As the commander of this post, I have to travel between Hobo Pass and Fort Howe almost every day, directing front-line troops to chase the Kel-Morians around like rabbits." As he spoke, Vandersp's expression suddenly shifted. "What are you two laughing at?"

"Nothing, Colonel. We just remembered something funny," Augustus said, his face expressionless.

"..." Vandersp glanced at Augustus. "Captain Warfield, I need you to dispatch a unit to Fort Wait to scout for enemy activity. Scouts from Zulu Outpost and fort reconnaissance aircraft have both spotted a detachment of the Haigolong Legion in that area."

"Now? How many of them are there? I can dispatch at most one platoon." Warfield immediately turned serious. "If the enemy attacks the fort at this time, you can't expect a bunch of engineers and mechanics to fight with rifles."

"Right now. One platoon is enough. The Haigolong Legion is nothing but a rabble of beggars and bandits. But please send your most elite unit, as the area is not currently under our control. Fort Wait is a mixed bag; your men must be cautious." A confident smile filled Vandersp's face.

"No one understands the Kel-Morian bastards better than I do. They are nothing but a bunch of cowardly rats. Even if Fort Howe were left with only women and children, the Kel-Morians would turn tail and run the moment they saw the autocannons on the fort's ramparts."