<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/df/Walter_Veijer.jpg)</div>Walter barely even gave note as Ranna arrived next to him. He had produced a slip of paper listing all the new recruits and a pair of reading glasses while jack poured him a beer that wasn't volatile in any of the usual ways. Damned eye sight was going too. Not long ago he could fire a critical shot with a Gauss from ten miles away. Now he could barely distinguish a three from an eight without spectacles on. He often asked himself were Al and Erich got their genes from, seeing as they showed no sign of stopping yet. He scoffed as Ranna gave her report though and shot her a sideway glance. "If you gave it to Curtis we'll be here for years before it is done. Should have pushed it by Jenkins instead, his aide. That boy damned well knows how to delegate work to the appropriate people..." He was even starting to talk like an old man. Half the company would be like a geriatrics ward soon enough.<br/><br/>He gave the young Clanner a look as he arrived as well. So this was the runt the Judge had sent his way? Looked a little scrawny when compared to the other Clanners he had stood eye to eye with, and he had seen a few. The company itself housed a full lance equivalent of bonded Clanners and he had stared down a few dozen more over the years. While the Inner Sphere found it hard to integrate the few exiles and adventurers from the different Clans, the Ol' Bones had been among the first to do so, starting with Vanya Sterber and her kin back on the ice hellhole that was Werden. "You are up to a rocky start, Ivan. Better shine on that discipline. Gods know what Stanislav will do to you if you slip up around him..." Of course the commando group that Sterber had lead was an amalgamation of the different Clans and it took just a few years before things shifted. Among her MechWarriors were a Trueborn named Stanislav Chzorda. From Clan Smoke Jaguar of all things. A damned cruel man who often launched into battle howling through the Lance-comms to stir his comrades into a frenzy. He didn't sit well with Sterber's 'laxed Wolf ways' and after a mission were things had gone south Chzorda challenge her to a Trial of Position. He won rather easily, playing with Sterber before everyone in the company before defeating her. Following that the Clanners became Walter's main choice for breaking through particularly tough defensive points. That in turn meant that only Chzorda, Sterber and a young Clan Coyote exile remained of the Star at the moment. "We'll see if he takes you on."<br/><br/>Things just escalated from there. Walter had a hard time keeping up with everything. Unprofessional conduct from Robert, as usual, in front of the new kids even. Ranna being flirty with everything with two legs attached. Erich turning up to be the great big lump of grump that everyone had a rather complex love/hate relationship to. Newcomers coming in drunk or without any sort of respect for their new commander. Why had he left the Kungsarmé again? "ALRIGHT! Enough! Calm the heck down, like children in need of being logged!" He stood up, a rather impressive frown pulling most of his facial features towards the center in deep furrows and wrinkles. "I'll be seeing you two..." he pointed to Robert and the boozed up newcomer "...in my office tomorrow." He just about hissed the last words out through his clenched teeth before he took his stein of beer in one hand and pointed an accusing finger at the others gathered around. Silence fell over the hall. Some engineers came in through the door with a loud cheer from finally being done with their work, but became quiet in a hurry. "We are here to greet the newcomers, yeah?" He looked around at the new faces, before shifting to the veterans of the company. "But we are here for another reason as well, perhaps you all forgot? Ain't no damned party until we are done with that!" He pointed at the still untouched glass of brandy and the slowly burning cigar. "Today we remember those who have fallen. Warriors like little Mina from Astrokazy, who ran faster and were more agile than anyone has any right to in a Locust! Reckless Hiro from Shionoha, who could jump up and balance on a tight beam with his Spider and still have gall to crack a joke! People like Perkins, who did us nothing but good even though we gave him shit for it all the time. Even in death he gave us everything that we own now, the whole damned Company!" He picked up the brandy with his free hand and held it high. "People like Kilroy, Ol' Guts'n'Bones himself who founded us, who believed in us, the broken and discarded yet the strongest and meanest of them all! To the dead!" He threw the brandy glass in the floor and emptied his stein in one long gulp before he wiped the foam of his beard and gave a thunderous belch. "HAH! Now drink and love, for tomorrow we go to Valhall!" The hall erupted in cheers and everyone got busy with living their lives to its fullest. From now until dawn was the only night of the year when Walter closed his eyes and let everyone do as they damned well pleased!