K1: CenCom! Patrol delta complete, hostiles engaged and neutralized.

CenCom: Acknowledged Knight 1, report status

K1: Status nominal, two units light damage, ordinance light.

CenCom: Request transport for damaged units?

K1: Not needed, confirm Knights 3 and 4?

K3: Confirmed, able to maintain cruise speed.

K4: Confirmed, same here.

CenCom: Knights cleaned to return.

K1: Thank you CenCom.

K2: Riktor's Knights are coming home with 68 kills including 6 Madcats, this patrol!

K3,K4,K5,K6,K7,K8: HOORAH! NOBODY CAN STOP THE KNIGHTS OF MAJOR RIKTOR! HOORAH!

CenCom: Negative, Major Riktor we have detected a new signal vectoring on your position.

K1: Knights link scan reports to my console.

K1: CenCom, Confirm bandit location and vector, I read no signals.

CenCom: Not electromagnetic, go to chemical scanning.

K1: Chemical scanning CenCom? Stealth unit?

CenCom: Chemical scanning confirmed. Negative on stealth, Bogey is biologic.

CenCom: Vector to bogey, 194 and 10 klicks.

K1: Confirmed CenCom. Knights come to heading 194, form on me. Knight 6 take point.

K1: CenCom, I don't recognize signal. Confirm number and species of hostiles.

CenCom: Hostiles, one unit species trolilidae.

K3: Hostile is a TROLL! Forget it, send a heavy strike team we are no match.

K2: Cut the chatter Knight 3. We are Riktor's Knights, we fight whatever, whenever with or without whatever. Got THAT!

K3: Got that.

CenCom: Update, hostile is Trollus Maxiumus Rex.

K5: A KING TROLL!

K6: Hey I heard of them, didn't think they were real I thought they were myths, like Earth is.

K8: Yea, nothing can stop a king troll! They can take out whole legions at once!

K2: Cut the chatter everyone! We are KNIGHTS and we are going to kill us a king today.

K3: And they will sing stories about this victory and our bravery until the end of the universe!

K7: ...I can hear it now into the valley of death drove the foolish eight.

K1: CAN IT NOW! EVERYONE!

K2: You heard he Maj...

K1: That means you too Captain Vorah.

K2: Yes, sir.

K1: Flank bow formation. Knights 2 and 3 on my six, we are the arrow.

K1: Knights, this bogey is a biologic, no need to go EMCON0, he cant read our EM signals.

K1: Knights 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 I don't read your telemetry go active now.

K2: Sam and I are with you boss. Forget the rest, they are running and silent.

K1: Knights stop silent running now.

K3: Mathias, what Marcus meant is that they are running away.

K2: Yes, Matt, the facing a king troll has broken the Knights.

K2: But hey boss, we are two are with you up to the end.

K3: Matthias Riktor, I will be with you even after the end.

K1: Marcus, Samantha, LOS communications only now.

K2,K3: Roger, switching now.

K2: Alright, what is up Matt?

K1: SatNet has located the rest of the former knights. CenCom has ordered them to surrender.

K1: They are still running in multiple vectors.

K1: C&C has classified them as rouge hostiles.

K1: CenCom had dispatched a strike force to capture or... or...

K1: There has been and emergency unit reformation, the knight have been disbanded.

K2: Matt, what about us what, is our classification?

K1: I asked, they ordered us to stay on mission, codename light brigade.

K2: And then?

CenCom: Light Brigade, good hunting and we salute you, you will be remembered with honor

K1: There is your answer, they don't expect us to survive. One more klick to target.

K1: Start intensive scans.

CenCom: Bogey is on your position.

K1: Where? I see nothing.

CenCom: Light Brigade! We read a large thermal and chemical bloom. Did bogey use he flatulence on you? Are you there?

K1: Scanners show bloom. But can not locate hostile. Either of you two see anything.

K3: no.

K2: nothing here.

K1: keep scanning for he...

K3: I have located the hostile!

K1: Where? Feed data to my console. And what is so funny Samantha?

K1: OH sheeez!

K2: Hey look boss, you terminated the bogey, you stepped on him! Good mech driving!

K1: Good nothing! I didn't even know he was there. His blood is already corroding my control lines on that foot.

K3: Yea, I can see the Troll blood colored smoke coming from it.

K1: Maintenance section will be furious

K3: Major Matthias Riktor the King Troll killer!

K3: I won't be surprised if they make you clean and fix it yourself!

K2: [Sam, be quiet]

K3: Long will his story be told how he bravely squashed it and...and...

K3: DIDN'T even know it.

K1: CenCom, Scratch one Bogey.

K1: Status, light damage to one mech.

CenCom: YOU ARE VICTORIOUS?! Cause of damage?

K1: Yes, we live. Damage from when his flatulence and hot air was smashed out of him.


The teasing from Samantha continued all the way back to home. At first Marcus was the level headed one but in time he caught the giggles from Samantha. I could not take any pleasure from our victory as easy and silly as it was. I learned latter that the both of them were assuming that our missing friends would be captured given a discommendation for fleeing then returned to our unit. They were both imagining how they would tease and torment them for fleeing. I didn't tell them what I had learned until after we were home and cleaned up.

On the way back, I was monitoring the secure channel from HQ about our missing friends. In their panic to run from the king troll, half of then ran off of a cliff and were killed. The remainder found other similar fates, all because they feared a troll. The troll was disgusting, but in spite of its reputation it was weak and powerless against us. If they had kept their heads, they would still be alive, and the knights would still have the spotless record as the most elite battle ready unit on this world.

Why did we have to attack that powerless creature? Because even though he was powerless against the three of us, he was very powerful against anyone who feared him and so through their fear they made him powerful. If he had gotten near out young people, the results would have been horrific. That is why we who knew better, had to put ourselves in the line of fire, or the line of flatulence. To protect those who can not yet protect themselves from him.

Our unit moral was gone. To fix that situation I fained irritation at the teasing and ordered disciplinary tasks for both of my friends, and then did some of them too, pretending that I had been ordered to perform disciplinary tasks too. That brought us back together as a unit, a unit of three.


Models:
Firebat by John Hoagland
Rest by me

Textures:
Firebat by John Hoagland with modifications by me
Troll image by Diana Todd
Rest by me

Software:
Rendered with Bryce.
Texture preparation and postwork with GIMP.