Operaatio Pohjantähti
Sitting down, Stewart let out a soft sigh, adjusting his uniform a little as he glanced around, feeling awkward sitting out in the waiting room all by himself, getting bad flashbacks to meekly waiting in front of the principal’s office back at school. The reptilian man wasn't just feeling out of place because of the near dead silence either, his eyes slowly running over the bright, simplistic, overly sterile office. Everywhere in the new world, whether it be the furthest reaches of the Pacific shipyards, the Asian jungles, or the main headquarters of the United Kingdom Remnants back at his home isles, everything had some character and grit to it, everywhere besides the buildings of the Finns, that is. Stewart thought that the decour, or more like the lack thereof, was a perfect reflection of the personalities of the Finns: utterly devoted to functionality and efficiency, stark and simple, yet it always made you feel like an outsider. Trying to just relax, the officer leaned back slightly, clearing his throat as he leaned against his knee, glancing at his clock, surprised that for once a meeting with his counterpart in the Finnish Defence Forces wasn't going to be exactly on the dot, having learned from experience that they were a punctual bunch, something that even he could appreciate.
Just as the lizard was starting to wonder how long he'd have to camp out in the waiting room, an avian secretary gave the man a nod,
“Juhani will see you now, and he'd like to apologise to you about the wait.”
Smirking to himself about the apology for the terrible, horrible, unbearable two minute wait, Stewart stood up and walked past the desk, heading down the corridor towards the familiar room, having had to meet up with the FDF officer several times in the past. Juhani was the liaison between the Remnant and the Finns, working to effectively coordinate the two groups together, something that the Finns did with scary efficiency. As Stewart was walking towards the meeting room, the reptile was a little taken back to round the corner and find a pair of Tamma-class autonomous units standing guard in the hallway. As tall as a bear and about as broad as one, a stocky main body with integrated weaponry at the ready, the robotic units had always creeped Stewart out, feeling like he was being stared as he hurried past the pair. The two units stayed as still as a statue even though the reptile knew they could suddenly spring into action in the blink of an eye, featuring enough firepower to gun down a whole squad of foes, always fearing that something would glitch out within the programming of the damn things. The Finns were the absolute leaders of autonomous units in the battlefield, as they were with most of the other highly experimental, cutting edge technology, needing the additional help of tech such as personal shields, mechs, experimental airships, and AI to supplement their lack of manpower. Though the Finnish Defence Force was a true powerhouse thanks to their incredible technology, the scaled man couldn't help but to feel glad that his side wasn't replacing their soldiers with tin cans, not yet at least. Besides just his personal distaste for the unfeeling killing machines, Stewart was surprised to see such heavy security measures suddenly brought out to what was just a run-of-the-mill FDF headquarters in a tiny little town on the outskirts of Georgia, quite certain that the place wasn't this heavily fortified the last time he'd visited.
Heading past the robots at a brisk pace, the UK officer rounded another corner, spotting the man he was called by sitting at a table in the meeting room. Nearing his 60s, Juhani’s hair was thinning and growing grey, a dignified mustache nestled atop his top lip, the usual stern look plastered on his face as he adjusted his glasses, his sunken eyes staring at a pad in his hands. Juhani wasn't in the room alone however, another man standing by the officer, about half of the old man's age, another human. Stewart could tell that the stranger wasn't just some random private sent there to fetch them their coffee, or some lackey of the brass swapping stories, as he was suited up in the dress uniform of the Finnish Jaeger, his beret featuring a shiny golden badge of the Finnish lion. Whether it be on foot, in mechs, or in armour, the Finnish Jääkäri were amongst the most feared opponents most anyone could think of, their numbers small yet the tales of their victories being numerous, and that was just the missions that weren't classified. Knowing that something had to be up, Stewart kept his ears perked as he drew closer to the conference room, catching the tail end of some conversation as he stepped in, Juhani’s gaze still on the other man,
“... ja se tapahtuu tiistaina, luultavasti käskynjako tästä tulee viikonlopun aikana.”
The jaeger nodded, his arms crossed, not even glancing in the direction of the approaching UK officer,
“Oletan että tämä liittyy meidän operaation?”
Stewart resisted the urge to roll his eyes, always hating the way the Finns barely even acknowledged the existence of anyone around, quite deservedly getting the reputation of being far too high and mighty amongst most of the other groups. Though they were supposed to be equal allies in the Northern Coalition, the alliance between Finland and the United Kingdom Remnant Government, the Finns had always taken it upon themselves to be the one leading the way, often treating everyone else like second class servants.
Though his job meant a fairly close relationship with the Finns in the area, Stewart had yet to get a grasp on the rather difficult language, only able to understand a few basic words even after a year at his posting, patiently standing by and letting the pair talk while he listened, hoping he might be able to catch at least something,
“Kyllä, ainakin itse tässä vaiheessa luulen että tässä on kyse Pohjantähdestä. Tiedät kyllä miten vitun juonikas tämä kettu on, en ainakaan löisi vetoa että tämä olisi vain sattumaa.”
A look of surprise flashed across Stewart’s eyes, recognising one of the words that Juhani had used: Pohjantähti. He'd come across the word a few times while listening in on some captured intel from ERF operatives in the area, though he had no idea what exactly it meant, guessing that it was a codeword of some kind, now rather certain that the Finns had something to do with it as well. Unsure of why exactly the Emperor would be getting involved in the business of the Finns, the lizard just stood at attention until Juhani finally turned to him, the flowing and rapid speech of the old man suddenly turning into heavily accented and slow English, occasionally broken up by a longer pause as the man tried to find the right word,
“Apologies for the interruption, lieutenant, just some urgent business with my people.”
The jaeger turned to look at Stewart as well, a cold stare on the young man's face as the reptile cleared his throat, his tail whipping in the air behind him,
“Oh, not a problem sir. I was told you had some questions for me, regarding the intel we've gathered during a recent mission?”
The moustachioed man nodded, crossing his hands as he sat back straight,
“Yes. We have heard that the ERF have moved into the area, near the eastern end of the Black Sea, is this correct?”
“Yes sir. Not in force, more just expeditionary teams it looks like, haven't engaged us at all, just pull back and give us space whenever we head after them. Seems like they're searching for something there, captured some chatter about… how do you pronounce it… ‘Pohjantähti’. I believe that's something related to your lot, isn't it?”
Stewart almost wished he could smirk at the sight of the two Finns glancing at one another, almost looking a little nervous, proud to have finally given their cold exterior a little crack with some surprising news, even if he didn't really know what exactly it all meant. Without saying a word, Juhani stood up, his hands behind his back as he just stared at the UK officer in front of him for a few seconds,
“Do you have any intelligence regarding operation Pohjantähti?”
“I do not, sir.”
The old man shared another look with the jaeger, muttering a few words under his breath,
“Meidän nyt kyllä täytyy olla tästä aivan varmoja, en helvetissä anna tiedon Pohjantähdestä levitä.”
The younger officer spoke in a gruff tone,
“Jos me otetaan tämä hyypiö kyytiin, ja varmistetaan että sen tiimillä ei ole mitään meidän dokumentteja tallessa, voitko sä pitää engelsmannit pois meidän tieltä?”
Seemingly in some sort of an agreement, the two Finns nodded as the jaeger hurried out of the conference room, scurrying down the hall, disappearing into a side room while Juhani sighed,
“Thank you for the report, lieutenant.”
“Oh, well… I… I actually still had quite a lot more to share regarding the movements of some other groups in the region, there's been rep-”
“I will not be handling your debriefing.”
A door opened up in the hallway, the jaeger stepping out with a pair of military police in tow, flanking Stewart as the reptile looked back at Juhani, confused as the old man coldly declared,
“You will be held in detention for the time being, we will have to make sure no classified information has been left unsecured.”
“Wait, you… you can't do this! I demand that y-”
The reptile grunted as the military police grabbed his arms, bringing them behind his back as his wrists were cuffed, his pleading and demands falling onto deaf ears as he was walked off, leaving just Juhani alone in the conference room.
