Charter 2: War

23 Des 1232,

I sharpen my sword, war is brewing. The cold winter wind was harsh and unforgiving. It was worse back in Bogor, where we had to subjugate a riot gone out of control. It was a massacre, we were told to spare no one. Of course, that didn't stop most of us from letting some of them go. I've never thought I would be raising my sword against civilians when I joined the army, it made me sick. Just the thought of harming an unarmed civilian was incomprehensible to me.

I was very anxious, I guess Carper noticed, he came up to me, slap me on the back and said, "Eric, Stop sulking, I need you to go meet general Harper".

"Why?" I answered.

"He has a job for you, you should go meet him right away".

After I finished equipment maintenance, I immediately went to general Harper's tent. The barracks was bustling with soldiers, some were sparring, others were leisurely chatting with other soldiers enjoying their warm drinks. I waited outside of General Harper's tent for a few minutes before actually stepping in, just a few minutes outside and I was already completely covered in snow. The general's tent was larger than the common tents us soldiers use, across the room sitting in his desk was general Harper. "Excuse me, general Harper".

"what can I do for you, lieutenant Eric?",

"I believe Carper said that you had a job for me, sir".

"yes, I would like you to lead a company and intercept smugglers heading towards kuta".

"Leading a company? I thought that was the role of a captain", I asked confused.

"You are a captain now", he answered.

I'm being promoted? Why now? I don't think I've done anything notable enough to receive a promotion. I'm sure the general has his reasons.

Later that day I received the following details for my mission, I was to intercept a group of smugglers transporting illegal goods from Srijaya to Kuta. By the time we intercept the smugglers, we would be deep in Kuta territory. Because of that, we were going to be aided by a mercenary group known as the religt. We had to finish our mission without alerting Kuta's border patrols and retreat out of Kuta territory as fast as possible.

This wasn't an easy task, after all it's not easy to hide a company of 100 men. But orders are orders. I just hope we make it out of this alive, considering Kuta and Srijaya is on the brink of war.

1 Mic 1232,

"Captain! The scum have us surrounded!" Shouted lieutenant Carper.

"Well aware, Carper. Do me a favour and cut out the formalities, will you? Pulling rank here won't keep us alive." I answered.

"Sir, yes sir!" , he answered. We must make it to the bridge in front or it'll be the end of us.

"What are we going to do, Eric?"

"If we can hold the bridge, we might buy time for the others scattered in this woods..." I explained. I commanded the men,"Men, to me! We're taking that bridge!".

I scouted ahead, galloping forward as Carper's armored infantry followed behind. Almost immediately we were blocked from either flank by stragglers of the enemy army.

"Looks like some of their own men have gotten separated from their formations...conveniently in our way", said Carper as he gauge the situation.

"No matter, cut them down!", I charged the bowmen on the right flank, leaving a unit of enemy sword men on the left flank for Carper to handle.

My cavalry unit crash through the bowmen, the enemy rout was almost immediate.

Carper was bogging down the enemy unit on the left flank, My unit came to support Carper and charged the enemy from the sides. The hammer and anvil worked. We drove off the enemy.

"Eric! Are you there? Damn.... I can't see a thing in this fog." A familiar voice shouted.

"Rebus! Thank goodness.... we need to get to that bridge." I said, relieved to find my older brother .

"I know, I've been making a bee-line for it myself. Is it just me, or is there something about our journey and bridges?" Rebus said sarcastically.

"Not the time, brother.... Have you seen Lucia or the religt?" I asked anxiously.

"No, but I'm sure they can take care of themselves". He answered in a carefree manner.

"Alright. Let's keep pushing forward, Carper, watch the rear." I commanded the men once again.

"Will do", answered Carper.

As soon as we reached the bridge, I told my men to form up and lock down the bridge."I'll go look for the rest of the troops and the religt, you guys stay here and hold the bridge"

With a nod from both Rebus and Carper, I began my search.

24 Des 1232,

"General Harper, explain yourself", his voice firm and steady. He crosses his arms and gave a questioning look.

" forget the formalities Teren, we're both of the same rank. I did it because it's the best way to make it look like the Kuta scum attacked us, this will help us a lot in the long run during peace negotiations." Said general Harper as he takes a sip of wine.

Teren slammed the table with his hand and stood up. Harper surprised by this, froze on the spot. " I swear, Harper, if any one of our men die because you sent them on this suicide mission. I will end you".

Harper was utterly frightened, but he had dealt with enough threats in the past to keep his calm demeanor. Harper had heard stories of Teren, his threats weren't to be taken lightly. If Teren threatens to kill you, he will. At least that's what the stories and rumors surrounding Teren would tell you.

"Are you threatening me? I have the protection of the King! Just one word from me and I can have ~"

Teren grabbed Harper's neck before he can finish his sentence. "The King's protection can't protect you from being choked to death", threatened Teren as he tightens his grip on Harper's neck.

Abruptly, Teren let Harper go and left Harper in his tent. Harper refused to meet anyone that day, he confined himself in his own tent.

25 Des 1232,

Teren's visit to the Sura southern base changed the atmosphere of the entire compound. Everyone was wary and on their guard, stories of Teren's cruelty spread like wildfire. Some say, he enjoys killing people, others say that his sword is red in color from all the blood he has spilled. But two thing are for certain, Teren's blade is indeed a dark crimson red in color and he is the top executioner of the nation. No one in all of history has executed more people than Teren, earning him the nickname, the executioner.

A popular story circulating around the base was when Teren became the Captain of his first platoon, he was 15 at the time and was tasked with putting down a rebellion that had started in a village near the Maja border. By the time he was done, he executed so many people that the village didn't have enough men to sustain itself.  That village no longer exists.

23 Des 1232

We marched east, at the pace we are going, we should intercept them at the Lyri forest by tomorrow. 100 men is not a lot to work with, So we were also given some money to pay the mercenaries hired to support us.

" I don't think we should be hiring mercenaries, we're backed by imperial steel. We can hold our own." Said Carper complaining.

"Hey, it's not our call. General Harper hired them for us, why should we even bother complaining". Said Rebus in a care-free manner.

"Whoever they are they better not get in our way", said Lucia as she crosses her arms.

"No need to worry, General Harper hired us the religt, they are a pretty well-known mercenary group." I said, reassuring my lieutenants.

I looked back at my men, our black uniforms contrasted the sober sky. I was their leader, never before have I felt this much responsibility on my shoulder. It weighed me heavily. I don't envy General Harper's position, he has the weight of the entire third army on his shoulders.

We finally arrived to rendezvous point where we were supposed to meet the religt. Apparently they had arrived beforehand since they were waiting for us when we got there.

I dropped down from my horse and approached a figure standing in front of what is probably the leader of the religt mercenary group. To my surprise, the leader of the religt was a she. Female soldiers like Lucia is rare to come by, especially so for mercenary groups.

"You sure took your time, I heard you were slow but I didn't think you guys were this slow." She said in sarcastic voice.

"So... are you guys the religt?", ignoring her previous statement about me and my men.

"Well you sure don't mess around, straight to business, I like that. Yes, we're the religt", she said as a smile formed on her face.

"Alright, we're going to ambush some smugglers traveling through the Lyri forest. You know these lands better than we do, you lead the way". I said as I returned to my men.

" I guess you guys are not only slow but uptight too". She was starting to irritate me, looks like I'll just have to put up to her.

We marched across Kuta's land, it all went pretty smoothly but I still rode up to the front to check our progress.

"When do you think we will intercept the smugglers", I asked.

"By tomorrow, probably by nightfall", she answered.

Despite her rather sarcastic nature, I decided to at least be nice to her.

"Sorry for the late introduction, I'm Eric. Nice to meet you".

She looked at me surprised,"I'm Tris, just so you know, you shouldn't get too close to any of us, we're just here for the money, one day we might even turn on you".

I smiled,"well, hopefully that day never comes". She mumbled something under her breath, but I managed to over hear what she was mumbling about.

" You have no idea what you're getting yourself into", was what she mumbled. I found this odd, what were we getting ourselves into?

"So what brought you to mercenary work, if you don't mind me asking", I decided to pry further, maybe I can find out what she meant.

"Yes, I do mind", she answered. If she keeps up this uncooperative attitude, I won't be getting anything out of her anytime soon. Guess I'll have to try my luck elsewhere.

I slowed down a bit and was soon beside probably one of the religt lieutenants.
"Hey, is your boss always that cold?" I asked the guy.

"Yea, sounds about right. Trust me many have tried to break her shell, she can be pretty harsh. I'm Richard". He answered

"What brought you to mercenary work? If you don't mind me asking"

"I was a drinker, got into a lot of street fights. One day, I was caught and thrown to prison. The religt broke me out and I've been with them ever since. How about you? Why did you join the military?", so he's a drinker. I might try treating him to some ale to loosen his tongue.

"It was more like a family tradition, my father, grandfather, even my great grandfather joined the Srijaya military and I was expected to do the same".

"Sounds like you didn't want to join the military in the first place".

"I wanted to be a doctor, now I'm a certified field medic. It's the next best thing, I guess".

Richard and I talked for a long time, I managed to find out that both Richard and Tris was Braxxian. Braxxan is one of many minor nations here in Riviera, they're known for their wits and their close ties with Maja.

24 Des 1232

The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful. We finally arrived at our destination and prepared our ambush, reviewed our plans and then took a break.

We brought some ale with us and I ordered them to also be shared among the religt. I sat beside Richard and we had a little chat while we drink from our ale.

After I was sure he was drunk, I made him drink a couple more ale for good measure. "You know, your boss said something about me and my men not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, any idea what she was talking about?".

"I do, but T-Tris.. ordered is k-keep our mouth shut", Richard was really tipsy from all the ale. He was struggling just to stay awake.

"If you do know you've got to tell me, I mean we're bros aren't we?".

"Alright but I'm t-telling you dis, because I don't want ... my bro to die". Die!? This was a lot more serious than I thought. But then I remembered how Tris warned how she might turn on us.

"We're going to lead you to an ambush tomorrow, the Kuta already know your here. They're coming for you", He said.