District 13, Precinct Office
Soon, a patrol arrived. This Precinct Office now served as the security hub for the area. At the entrance of the Precinct Office, Sister Fides ordered the new recruits to form five-person teams and begin assisting the security forces in the vast District 13, using the office as their base.
Today, Commissar Cain's first task was to welcome the Battle Sisters to "guide the work" as a representative of the nearby Astra Militarum. His second task was to come to the Precinct Office to retrieve a few "troublemakers" from his unit who had gotten drunk and caused a disturbance.
Everyone followed Venita, passing through a portico with Roman stone columns, and then walked towards the tall wooden counter that blocked public access to the office area.
Arriving at the elevator door, Venita pressed a runic button inside the elevator that retracted into the control panel, allowing it to identify her fingerprint. As everyone entered the opened elevator car, the door closed, and the traction mechanism made a faint, sticky squeak, as if it lacked lubricant.
After the elevator descended for an unknown period, the doors opened. Everyone followed Sir Fu into the dimly lit underground cells, where a Police Officer was slacking off at the entrance to the reception area.
When he saw Venita, who was leading the group, he immediately stood up and saluted. Venita simply said to him:
"Larabi. Go get all those Soldiers under the Political Commissar and then organize the case records."
"Yes, ma'am."
He clearly received the order with a lack of enthusiasm, an action that would have earned him a severe reprimand in the Defence Force. The Police Officer listlessly headed towards the cells.
"You'd best go with him and make sure those fellows behave themselves," Cain said to Yugen.
"Yes, sir." Yugen jogged after the Police Officer, and when the Police Officer realized a new companion was approaching, he seemed to slightly quicken his pace, leaving the remaining few behind.
Cain had always hoped to have a somewhat friendly conversation with Venita, even fantasizing about a gentle flirtation or two.
But today, the presence of Li Feng and Sister Fides, two big third wheels, forced Cain to maintain his composure. Cain had no choice but to substitute his flirting plans with smiles and an offer for coffee.
As Cain picked up the data-slate to scan and read fingerprints, ensuring he could handle these repeat offenders in the name of the Commissariat, Cain said:
"Let me guess: drunk and disorderly, lewd conduct, repeatedly getting into fights."
Venita pursed her lips with interest:
"You clearly know your men well,"
she said coldly, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I know these guys too well..."
Cain said, glancing at the five names. Dealing with them accounted for at least ten percent of Commissar Cain's workload.
For a regiment, that might not sound like much, but for an artillery unit with over three hundred Defence Force Soldiers, it was a rather remarkable achievement.
"Hochen, Nordstrom, Milsen, Javik..."
As the small group of Soldiers emerged from the cells, looking sheepish, Li Feng turned his head and realized these were the "regular guests" whom the Political Commissar often assigned to Li Feng's cleaning crew as toilet attendants.
Li Feng knew that these Valhalla Warhammer-loving Russians were incredibly brave in battle and had very free-spirited personalities. However, their only flaw was their fondness for drinking, and when they got drunk, they would often do something wild.
Li Feng remembered one Valhalla Soldier who, after getting drunk, blacked out and slept in a pile of dead bugs. The next morning, if Li Feng, who was responsible for burning the bug corpses, hadn't checked, that Soldier would have experienced the temperature of a promethium flamer.
The key thing was that when Li Feng found him, he was still using a Tyranids / Tyranid Warrior as a pillow amidst a pile of bug corpses.
"...And of course, Gunner Elson, who inevitably shows up at these sorts of occasions."
Upon hearing Li Feng's voice, the Soldiers immediately looked surprised and shouted at the familiar figure:
"Lieutenant! You're back! That's great, I thought those crazy..."
Before they could finish, the men saw the tall female Sister in power armour behind Li Feng and immediately fell silent. Sister Fides, however, seemed unfazed, her mind entirely occupied with wondering if the faint sweetness she tasted when "indirectly kissing" Li Feng was milk tea, or... Li Feng's saliva... The men awkwardly grinned at Li Feng and Cain, an expression Cain was all too familiar with. Cain, with his hands behind his back, looked at the five troublemakers before him:
"Tell me, Elson, are you planning on making cleaning public toilets a full-time job?"
He shrugged: "We must serve the Emperor as our talents guide us! I am a brick for the Emperor, to be moved wherever needed!"
He quoted a famous saying, eliciting snickers from his companions.
"The Emperor, in His infinite wisdom, has entrusted your problems to me."
Cain retorted, and the Police Officers were somewhat surprised by this informal interaction between Commissar Cain and a Soldier, as Imperial Commissars, in their impression, were supposed to be fearsome figures, with more Soldiers dying by a Political Commissar's gun than by an enemy's.
Cain, of course, wouldn't explain to others that this was merely a "stereotype" of Political Commissars. Cain wouldn't deny that such individuals existed within the Commissariat, but those people usually died with wounds not on the front, but on their backs.
Elson had once saved Cain's life during a patrol from a Tyranids / Tyranid gargoyle, which had launched a diving attack on Cain from behind. Afterwards, the Soldier fantasized that Cain would be somewhat lenient with his actions in return for saving his life.
In fact, the Soldier had completely miscalculated, but Cain did nothing to dispel anyone's misunderstanding.
This was because Cain keenly realized that if the other Soldiers believed that looking out for the Political Commissar's safety would benefit their own interests, then Cain would have a better chance of having a long and successful military career.
Cain surveyed the small group of Soldiers before him, then asked first: "Nordstrom, who started it?"
Nordstrom's injuries were the most severe among them.
The others might not have fully recovered from their hangovers, but at least they could still move. Supported by Javik and Hochen, he seemed to be making a visible effort to stay awake and listen to my question.
After a moment, he said in a slurred voice: "I don't understand, sir. Started what?"
Milsen and Elson exchanged glances, snickering nearby.
Li Feng had never encountered anyone who looked more like they'd been in a fight. Nordstrom's knuckles were swollen and stained with blood, his face bore obvious bruises, and through his torn-open shirt...
Li Feng, as if realizing something, immediately said:
"The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. Trust me, I get it."
However, Cain noticed that Nordstrom also had a medical plaster bandage on the bottom of his ribcage.
"Is that a knife wound?"
Cain couldn't stop the sudden concern in his voice. If his guess was correct, the ensuing paperwork would consume the rest of his day.
But Venita shook her head: "No, it's just a superficial wound. When we found him, the wound wasn't even bleeding."
"Then where did you find him?" Li Feng asked.
Venita shrugged and explained:
"In an alley next to Harvest Street."
This didn't surprise Cain. That area was right in the center of this district, where most new residents did business. Two square blocks were filled with pubs, casinos, and brothels, sprouting like mushrooms in the shadows of the agricultural archives office, causing great trouble for the Administratum staff working there.
At least, that's what they said... "It must have been those 'New Moon' girls who specialize in luring in roughnecks, I'd bet you anything," Javik said.
The others nodded too, whispering nervously: "They put something in your drink, then extort you when you pass out."
To Cain and Li Feng, this was just barracks gossip, but Milsen eagerly nodded in agreement.
"It's true, they did the same thing to me two weeks ago!"
Cain glanced at Venita, who shrugged; she genuinely didn't care about these Soldiers' affairs:
"Even if he was robbed, I wouldn't be surprised. We always find drunken Defence Force Soldiers passed out on the streets there, and when we find them, they've usually been completely stripped clean."
"I wasn't drinking!" Milsen vehemently declared, but then felt a bit guilty and added: "Well, at least not that much. Anyway, I wasn't drunk. I know how to control my drinking."
However, Cain knew at least this was true, as his file mostly contained minor disciplinary records involving civilian property or small items he claimed to have "found somewhere," with no mention of heavy drinking.
Cain turned his attention back to Nordstrom, speaking slowly, trying to get him to focus,
"Nordstrom, what's the last thing you remember?"
He frowned, saying drowsily: "Another fight."
This was obvious. Given this guy's current state, Li Feng would be surprised if he remembered any details.
But Police Officer Venita suddenly seized the opportunity to interrogate him: "With whom?"
Nordstrom struggled to recall the situation, his face twisting again: "I don't know."
But finally added: "Did I win?"
"What about before that?"
All of this seemed like a waste of time to Cain, but Cain guessed that Venita at least needed to investigate a spot a few hundred meters from her Precinct Office. And the longer Cain stayed here, the more time he could spend with Venita, creating romantic opportunities.
And no matter what little "surprises" the regimental command had arranged for Cain, or the presence of Li Feng and Sister Fides, those two big third wheels, they couldn't stop Cain from flirting with Venita anymore.
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