All Adventure Begins with Tragedy

Chapter XXI: Council

It had been three days since the fight. I was well enough to walk around the fort slowly, enough to check on supplies, and troops. It wasn't much, but it was the least I could do. I was just on my way over to the keep. Adalayde had said there was some kind of meeting.  Something about a final strike.

Since we had captured the fort, We had had a steady income of young men and women wanting to join. We did our best to train them and outfit them properly. Then we would send them into action. The original group stayed at the fort guarding it and training new recruits, that was the best use for us.

All of our troops were trained to operate with a squad. In our case, a squad consisted of six men or women. Each carried specialized gear, and each excelled at certain tasks. One carried a bow and primarily did scouting tasks, as such he carried less gear. We also found that for the scout, he usually turned out better if "he" was" she". Another person carried medical supplies and acted as a combat medic. Another was supposed to have light armor and be able to maneuver fast, excelling at flanking and quick strikes, he usually carried a long bow.  Another would wear heavier armor, usually carrying a long pike. A fifth was meant to build traps and such so as to hinder enemy convoys. The last person had the heaviest armor of all, And was a short range soldier to act like a tank. These six soldiers worked in unison to create lighting stricken in convoys, bases, patrols, and caravans. We left the tactics for taking down different targets up to the squad leader. The squad leader could be any of the types, but I found that most of the time they were the light armored ones. They were voted in by the other squad mates to be the leader, and were then taught strategies and tactics for them to use on the battle field. We easily controlled the country side this way, with roaming bands of well trained units. Sometimes squads would team up temporarily to take down a bigger threat, but for the most part they acted as individual militias.

With no major over seeing control, there were of course controversies. Many a time, squads would accidentally or purposely attack civilians for supplies and such. Sometimes farms were raided, or food stolen. Occasionally civilians would get caught in the cross fire during a skirmish. One time and entire settlement was burned to the ground during a fight. No one is really sure how that one happened. Also, rivalries would form between squads, and they became very proud of their victories, and attempted to bury their losses. They personally designed flags and colors to decorate their armor. Instead of leading an organized army, we had essentially formed a coalition of vassels. Notable squads rose in popularity, while less known ones struggled for a spot in people's minds. A few squads went rogue and turned into, as we call them, bandit squads. And, of course, though we had know real proof, we were sure that some of the larger squads indulged in skirmishes with other notable squads, attempting to take the more popular squads place. When the third most heard of squad, Part of the Problem, disappeared mysteriously, we were sure it was other squads sabotaging them. With more popularity, came a better receiving from villages, and better pay. Often when a town was liberated or helped in anyway, the squad that helped then would receive a reward. Often more popular squads would receive a better reward, simply because the villagers thought of then as celebrities. Celebrities that could kill then easily if they didn't get what they wanted.

Despite the flaws in how we fought, it seemed to work well, and soon the Hammerites were constantly on the lookout for the roaming squads.

I walked into the keep, where we did most of our planning.

"Hello Silver! You feeling better?"
"A bit, thanks Luke. How have you been keeping?"

"Oh just fine! But in all seriousness, are we going to organize a final strike on the Hammerites?"

"What?" I asked completely taken aback.

"Well you known, lead a final epic battle, win the day, defeat those sons of-"