//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven: Holding Position 
// Story: Rising Storm 
// by Arrenius 
//------------------------------//

	“Knight Commander, we’re receiving a telegram from Canterlot.”
Kami Sai, a dark grey coated Pegasus, turned around to face the Sapper on the telegraph machine. “To whom is it directed?”
“It is specifically instructing Major General Bristle to send a relief column to Drift Station.”
Kami stood puzzled a moment. “I was not aware that Drift Station was under threat.”
“Apparently they’re under attack sir. The situation appears to be urgent.”
“How urgent?”
The Sapper relayed the situation at the outpost, eliciting a deep breath and grimace from the veteran officer.
“Why would they not contact us immediately if they were under attack?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know sir.”
“Very well. I shall inform the General at once. Inform the Commanders of Able and Baker companies that they should be ready to move on my order. Keep Charlie on standby.”
“Yes sir.”
Kami left the room, not quite at a canter, but at a purposeful gait. The very fact that he was in Winberg through the course of this battle was a great dishonor. Drift station was his post, and by rights he should be there with his whole battalion. The stallion in charge, Gale Storm, was not even a senior officer, nor was he technically a combat officer. He had always been more of an ‘extra’, standing in for other officers when needed and aiding in the battalions administrative duties. To take such an untested young stallion and put him up against such impossible odds as had been relayed to him was neither fair nor honorable.
The Knight Commander arrived at the Major General’s office, to find Bristle’s Adjutant, a faded yellow earth pony by the name of Fall Harvest sitting at his desk.
Upon seeing Kami, the Adjutant came to attention and saluted, which he quickly returned.
“Knight Commander, I wasn’t-”
Kami cut him off. “No time. Where is Major General Bristle?”
The Adjutant looked nervous. “Uhm, sir, Major General Bristle is in his quarters, and has asked not to be disturbed...”
Kami was furious. “Chikushō-me, has he got some native whore in there again?!”
Fall Harvest was silent. His job, ever since his deployment had begun, had basically been to aid the General in concealing his ‘antics’ as best as possible. While he hadn’t enjoyed it, he had been party to enough of it to implicate him should disciplinary action be taken against the officer.
           While he said nothing, the look on his face was enough to communicate his fears to the Knight Commander. It was all Sai needed.
“Wait here.” He said simply.
Kami stormed off. The Major General had been a useless commander, more interested in spectacles and news stories than actually directing the peacekeeping effort. He had abused the power of his station in numerous ways before, and ultimately made an utter nuisance of himself. Fooling around with native women while he was supposed to be on duty was the least he was capable of.
Months of this had been simply too much. The motley collection of forces that made up Equestria’s contribution to the peacekeeping force was under strength and poorly organized. Though a Knight Commander, and fit, at most; to lead a battalion, Sai had been doing the work of a Colonel. Directing the operation of a force roughly the size of a small regiment. The Major General’s insistence on being useless had certainly not helped matters.
As dishonorable as the General’s conduct was, it would have been even more so to disobey or in any way subvert the will of one who was above Kami’s station. Regardless of the burden it heaped upon him, Kami Sai, and all of the Equestrian military, was bound by the chain of command.
Kami came to the General’s quarters, and to his disgust he could hear the audible (and unmistakable) sounds of a ‘liaison’ taking place within. He rolled his eyes, and then knocked on the door.
Without any response from inside, (aside of course, from the ongoing grunting.) Kami knocked again.
A gruff, winded voice responded this time. “What is it?”
“Major General, there is an urgent situation requiring your attention.”
“Kami, is that you? Deal with it yourself; I was not to be disturbed.”
“Sir, we have received a telegram from Canterlot. They’re specifically instructing you to come to the aid of one of our outposts.”
There was a rustling as the General emerged from his bed and came to the door. He opened it enough so that Kami could only see his head. The action had the effect of making him look like a foalish teenager to Kami.
“Is this the Drift Station issue?”
Kami was taken aback. “You knew?”
“Of course I bloody did. The telegraph operator on shift told me four hours ago.”
That explained why the night operator knew nothing of the incident. His day counterpart had relayed the information and assumed it had been acted on. This whole mess was a travesty of organization.
“Then you’ve already dispatched a relief column sir?” Kami asked skeptically, unaware of any departures from the base.
“Of course not!” The general said in a huff. “That’s exactly what they want us to do! This isn’t a real invasion, it can’t be. This is an attempt to draw us into the open so they can surround us like they did to that Boerperd force two years ago. Mister Storm is buying us vital time to fortify our position here. If we make Winberg a fortress, then the enemy may well not engage us at all. We need only outlast them, they’ll raid, of course, such is their way, but they’ll have no hope of defeating us.”
“And where do the Boerperd civilians fit into your strategy sir?” Kami asked with poorly masked disdain.
“Filthy earth ponies. They’re the foals that decided to live here. Our job is to preserve the peace, not run around defending helpless villagers that exacerbate the conflict purely through their existence.”
Kami was absolutely appalled. This was a new low for the General. He clearly just couldn’t stand the thought of being afield for more than a day. His foolishness had been a nuisance before, but this was the first time he had ever thrown lives away on a whim (at least, openly). The racism was nothing new, however; though he had convinced the Council of his loyalty, Bristle was one of the most ethnocentric pegasi Kami had ever met.
Kami gritted his teeth and continued.
“Canterlot seems to disagree sir; they’ve given us instructions to relieve Storm.” He seethed.
The General became indignant. “Unicorn pansies place me in charge of the operation and then tell me how to do me job. Who gave the order? Was it Alabaster Cuirass? He always had it in for me... No, this came from the Council themselves I’d wager, Chairpony Pact, probably, or that little shite who got us into this mess, Courser.”
“Sir, the order comes from Captain Shining Armour of the Royal Guard, he insists that-”
“Wait, Shining Armour?” The General burst into laughter suddenly. “That limp-horned beckin’ youngster? What the hay does he think he’s doing, ordering me around? He has one job, to protect the Capital, and he clearly can’t even do that properly, they should have hung him from the castle tower after the Changeling attack.”
“Nevertheless sir, he has given us instructions.” Kami tried to press the matter, but the General dismissed him.
“He doesn’t have rank on me by any means. Inform him of this, and threaten him with a court martial on the charge of insubordination if he presses the issue.”
“Sir, I hardly think that-”
“Enough, I’m tired of this beckin’ bickering. You are dismissed. Carry out my orders or you will be next to face charge of insubordination.”
Kami scowled, but he knew his place. He saluted the General, who proceeded to slam the door in his face.
The officer felt ashamed. Further service to this idiot dishonored every member of the peacekeeping task force. All of whom were able soldiers who deserved an equally able leader. The very idea of leaving an ally, and a subordinate who you had sworn to protect, no less, to die at the hands of a savage enemy was utterly disgusting. In the days of the ancient Pegasus Empire, he would fall upon his sword for an act this shameful.
But this was not the Empire. This was the Principality of Equestria. Generals were not selected for their honor or skill; their appointment came due to political reliability, willingness to follow the most idiotic and senseless of orders. And of course, malleability. If they could not be controlled, it was wise not to give them power, so went the logic of the nobility.
This was not the first time politicians had gotten soldiers killed in the name of expediency, nor, Kami noted with displeasure, would it be the last.
As he returned to the war room, the other officers present could sense the outcome of the meeting based only on the anger in Kami’s voice.
“Sapper, send our reply to Canterlot. The General wants a message relayed to Captain Armour.”