Chapter 2
“Sir!”
shouted the young man as he gave a crisp salute. He was around 5'10'', with a medium build. His hair was blonde and medium length, obviously taken care of well but not pulled back or styled into anything in particular. His face was masculine and attractive, and his bright blue eyes tied it all together. He was in full armor, platemail with a beautiful embossing of the sun on the cuirass. He had no helmet on his person, but a well made longsword was hung from his waist.
The Baron didn’t quite remember who the young man was, but despite his age he looked to be a higher rank than a common foot soldier, at least judging by his high quality armor.
“It is good to see you up and about sir! You really had us worried there!”
The Baron frowned slightly.
“Sorry young man, but that bullet did a real number on me. Please, remind me who you are.”
The young man looked taken aback, but quickly recovered, lowering his salute and falling into parade rest.
“Sir! I am Lieutenant Ludwin Albrecht, one of your five current Lieutenants. I volunteered to check up on you while the others decide who will lead the men during the next engagement.”
The Baron nodded his head appreciatively.
“Well, I thank you for volunteering to check on me. In fact, because of that I shall give you command of our troops for this battle!”
Ludwin, again, looked taken aback.
“Wait...really sir? We assumed when you woke up you would take command again.”
The Baron waved his hand dismissively and glanced around behind Ludwin, taking in the camp properly now that he didn’t have a pounding headache.
“I wouldn’t trust someone who has recently sustained a traumatic brain injury with my life, and I assume the men would feel the same way.”
In reality I just have no idea how battles are fought in this world, so I just want to see what he does. I have the memories of what to do, kind of, but I have no idea how exactly to pull it off. No guarantee muscle memory will carry me to victory.
“Ok sir, I suppose I won’t complain about a chance to prove myself!”
The two men walked down to the War tent, and on the way there, Ludwin explained to the Baron the state of the rebellion.
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“...and after that, the Empress sent us here to hold down the rebels in the area around Holensburg. Despite the delay caused by your skull’s sundering, we are on track to mop up the remnants ahead of schedule, meaning the Empress will most likely give us an even larger bonus!”
“Wonderful, then we should hurry on to the War tent and inform everyone else of my decision so we can wrap up the Holenstadt chapter of...um, does this rebellious faction have a name?”
“I believe they call themselves ‘Aktion Fur Die Freiheit’, or ‘Abschaffung Aktion’ depending on who you ask, they are rebelling against the Empress to end the Empire’s policies of cultural assimilation, and make slavery in all its forms illegal.”
The Baron frowned.
“Sounds like a far more worthy cause than ours…”
Ludwin shrugged his shoulders.
“At the beginning we asked you what our plan was, and your response was that this was bad for internal stability and would needlessly kill fellow Imperials, so we responded to the Empress’s call of duty.”
“I see...fair enough. That sounds very reasonable of me.”
He said while opening the curtain to the war tent. He was greeted by four men sitting around a table, they each looked pretty distinct. One of them stood up and greeted the Baron.
He was tall, almost as tall as the Baron was, most likely around 6’2’’. He had a very strong build, long blonde hair, and a very attractive, clean shaven face. His jawline looked like it could cut glass and his piercing, bright blue eyes projected a radiance that made him just a pleasure to look at. He was wearing a simple, brown, linen tunic tucked into poofy, multicolored pants like the Baron's.
“Baron! It’s good to see you’re alright! We thought you were a goner, man!”
His voice was deep, and his tone belied a sense that he doesn’t take anything serious. The rest of them stood up shortly after the first man.
Another of the men stepped forward and saluted. He was somewhat shorter than the Baron, most likely about 5’10’’, and had short slicked back black hair. He was also fairly attractive, but in a different way than the blond one. His clean shaven face had a more severe quality, and his dark blue eyes had a sharp angularity to them that made him look very serious and intimidating. He wore a long, blue gambeson coat with jackchains running down the sleeves and small plates covering his vitals.
“Baron, just as Udo said, we were very worried about you. It makes us very glad to see you are ok.”
His voice was even deeper than the blond man and smooth like high quality chocolate.
So the blond guy is Udo? That’s good to know.
It looked like he was going to continue speaking when someone jumped from their spot and gave the Baron a giant bear hug. He was about a head shorter than the Baron, about 5’7’’, but twice as wide and looked like he had never seen a carb in his life. Never before had the Baron seen someone so muscular. His hair was dark auburn, the right side of his head was shaved and the left was braided, as was his decently sized beard, giving him a very viking-esque look. His eyes were a beautiful emerald green, which complimented his hair color quite nicely.
“BARON! AYE THOUGHT WEH LOST YA!”
Fergus, The name entered his mind. Fergus Ulpagahn.
I guess if I would remember any name it would be his, he does seem quite hard to forget.
“It’s ok Fergus, It would take a lot more than that to put me down.”
A somewhat unenthusiastic voice came from the back of the tent.
“True, you do seem pretty healthy.”
The man who spoke was slinking around in the background and kind of felt hard to notice, if that made sense.
He was as tall as Udo, though thinner and more spindly looking. His face was boring but attractive, though boring is not quite the right way of putting it. After staring at him for a bit longer the Baron realized he was actually ethereally attractive, almost doll-like in his perfection. His eyes were a dazzling blue, and his hair was slivery in color. His shirt was a white, ruffled poet's shirt. The sleeves were ballooned and came to an end at his wrist. He was wearing a light gray pair of breeches which were tucked into a pair of black riding boots.
It almost felt as though some force was trying to stop the Baron from coming to that conclusion. It took a good amount of thinking and soul searching for him to be able to come to that conclusion. Though he could tell the man was attractive, he couldn’t quite feel it.
After struggling out of Fergus’s bear hug, everyone sat back down and the Baron sat at the head of the table.
“Gentlemen, I hate to say this, but I have lost most of my memories, including who you men are, so I would need you to reintroduce yourselves to me. I would appreciate it if you told me your name, where you are from, where I met you, and why I decided to hire you if I shared such information with you.”
They all stood up from their chairs and moved into a line. The first to step forward was the tallest one with blond hair.
“Hey Baron! I am Udo Fudopfiegler! You scouted me at a bar in Bickenstadt, though I’m from Grossenburg. I got into a bar fight and I won handily, you told me that you liked the way I fought and invited me to be one of your lieutenants.”
Suddenly, the Baron was flooded with the memory of Udo’s bar fight. From what he could remember, he recruited Udo because he saw great potential in his fighting style, and with some nurturing he thought he could be turned into an absolute powerhouse, so he decided to pay for his martial arts education on the condition that after he finished he would serve in the Baron’s mercenary company for 5 years, after which he could either stay or leave. He had finished his training and had been working with the Baron for a two years now.
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“Thank you Udo, you may sit.”
The next to step forward was the man with the slicked back black hair. He stood at attention and quickly saluted the Baron and snapped into a parade rest.
“I am Hans Volkner. Like Udo I also hail from the Imperial capital, though we did not meet each other in all our years there. You scouted me in the Imperial Officer’s School, I was dropping out because my family could not continue to afford the tuition and you offered to pay for my education on the condition I enlisted as a lieutenant in your mercenary company.”
Again, the Baron was assaulted by another memory, this time of Hans.
He was one of the top students in the military academy he attended. His family were farmers, but he showed an aptitude for military strategy so he was given a scholarship to the Imperial Officer’s School. Though because the military engagement the Empire was involved in at the time turned against them, they had to cut funding to scholarships to commoners. The Baron saw a chance to gain a fantastic strategist and a loyal ally in one fell swoop if he helped Hans finish his education, so he gave Hans the same deal as Udo, and just like Udo, he had been serving with the Baron for a few years.
“Thank you Hans, you may also sit down.”
Next up was Ludwin. He gave a quick salute and then assumed a more natural stance.
“I am Ludwin Albrecht, my family is rather well known from the Albrecht Trading Company operating out of the Bvarian Region of which we hail. You scouted me when I helped you fend off a large-scale bandit attack. We commissioned your mercenary company for caravan protection and you personally ran with me because we were moving through The Land of Everlasting Snow. You said you were impressed with my leadership skills despite being the sheltered son of a Great Merchant Family.”
More memories flooded into the Baron.
It was exactly as Ludwin described it, he was riding in a carriage, it was snowing lightly and he was freezing. Bandits attacked and Ludwin dispatched 12 Bandits by himself. There were possibly 50 bandits attacking that caravan at once so that was a pretty decent chunk of the attackers for one pampered kid to take down. He was impressed and offered Ludwin tutelage and a place as a lieutenant. Ludwin wanted adventure so he accepted. He had been with the Baron for two years now.
I feel like a merchant family wouldn’t take too kindly to that, but that’s neither here nor there. And what the hell is The Land of Everlasting Snow?
“Thank you, Now take your seat again, Ludwin.”
Next up was Fergus.
“Ya found meh when aye wa’ takin’ part in tha Timburkastahátíð, ya said somethin’ like ‘I cannot believe a man could lift so much weight ‘an offered meh a mercenary job. A’ course aye said yes! Bein’ tha leader a’ tha Berzerkeri donnae pay as much as ya do! Which aye mean feels a wee bit off but I donnae mind!”
The Baron did remember that, he still doesn’t have any of the background knowledge to understand the Log Throwing Festival was or what a High Berzerkeri is, but what he did remember matched up perfectly.
Fergus had been serving with the Baron for the shortest amount of time, for only about six months now, but he had proven himself to be quite the competent warrior and loyal friend.
Wait, thought the Baron, slightly confused, Why do I understand what Timburkastahátíð and Berserkeri means and how to break down the words and its suffixes and prefixes?
“Ok Fergus, I actually remembered all of that when I woke up, I just had no idea what it meant, now it makes sense, thank you. You may sit down.”
The Baron went to sit down when someone else stepped forward.
He almost completely missed him, he seemed to kind of blend in with his surroundings, not in the way camouflage does, but just in the way a normal looking person melts into a crowd unnoticed. He looked completely unassuming, he was medium height and build, and his hair looked normal.
Wait, the Baron stopped his thought in its tracks, something is wrong here, now that I look at him closer, that isn’t true at all!
He looked very different from his first impression. His hair was short and looked nice, but it was also completely white. He was tall, taller than the Baron but only slightly. He was very attractive in an ethereal kind of way. It felt almost like there was some sort of force compelling the Baron to ignore what made him special and see him as normal and unassuming.
Wait, didn’t I have this exact thought earlier?
Helmut stood there lazily, his eyes looked sleepy and his pupils unfocused.
“My name is Helmut Freier, son of Waffenstadt. You found me wandering in the wilderness. You allowed me to travel with your company to Bickenstadt, and on the way there after talking to me and fighting off bandits you hired me as a lieutenant.”
Again, the Baron was flooded with memories.
Helmut was very strange, he wasn’t very interesting to talk to in the moment, but after he left the Baron suddenly felt very enriched by their conversation. And, when bandits attacked he showed an almost precognition level of being able to predict how the bandits would attack and strike, parrying their strikes almost more out of prediction than reflexes. He was a very strange man, it was almost like there was an aura around him that made him seem less impressive and interesting than he actually is. He had been working with the Baron for about 10 months now.
Wait, why are there so many bandit attacks? Is this place unstable?
“Thank you Helmut, as I recall our conversations on the way to Bickenstadt were good enough to make my consider patronizing you as some sort of philosopher for my libraries, you may sit down.”
The Baron stood and addressed his lieutenants.
“Now that introductions are somewhat over, we have to decide who will be leading the men during the next battle, so I would like to know what our enemies are most likely to possess and bring against us.”
After a small wait Ludwin brought in a stack of papers and maps, unrolling them on the table and pinning important documents to the wall. In this world the printing press and paper making technologies were already in use and in the process of becoming widely circulated, so the printed word was somewhat widespread and literacy was on the rise.
“They have roughly three or four battalions, mostly made up of sword and spearmen. our intelligence network delivered an estimate of around five hundred swordsmen and four hundred spearmen, as well as something like one hundred and fifty archers, all of varying quality. As far as we could tell they have no muskets, cannons, or cavalry to work with. Additionally, we have been told that a small portion of their forces are veteran soldiers, though not enough to sway the results.”
The Baron thought for a moment before speaking.
“Please, remind me of our forces and our allies. And though I have already decided that Ludwin will be leading the men in the upcoming battle, if there is any information that would change my mind I would very much like to know.”
“Of course Baron, the Klarwasser Mercenary Company is a battalion strong, one hundred fifteen men with swords and shields, one hundred sixty four spearmen, seventy five archers and thirty musketeers. We have a cannon but it is running low on ammunition, we currently have just six canisters of grapeshot and eight iron balls.”
Ludwin handed the Baron a piece of paper.
“We are working with two other mercenary companies, both also about a battalion strong. Der Bande Des Wolfe has roughly the same makeup, though they have no musketeers and they have about 50 greatswordsmen, the other mercenary company, the Schneebeeckt Berg Mercenary company has about two hundred swordsmen, sixty archers, and twenty musketeers. None of our companies field any cavalry and the other mercenaries have no cannons. All together, our forces are roughly even.”
“Which of you has the most experience already leading, and which of you are better fighters than leaders?”
Hans shot up and stood at attention.
“Sir! So far the only men here who have lead armies are myself, Ludwin, and Fergus. Fergus, Udo, and Helmut seem to be more at home on the front lines than giving orders from the back, but I imagine they would still make effective leaders. Fergus has the most experience leading troops in the Orkney Isles, I have led the men for the past 3 battles. As far as I know Ludwin has only conducted skirmishes. In my opinion Ludwin should lead the men for this battle, it seems to be roughly even and he needs the experience.”
The Baron nodded his head. And after Ludwin nodded his head to indicate Hans was correct, the Baron spoke.
“Does anyone have any objections to Han’s appraisal of your abilities?”
They all shook their heads. Udo spoke up when it seemed that no one else wished to speak.
“For the most part what he said makes sense, yeah. I don’t really like leading armies and Ludwin needs the experience or whatever. So yeah, why not?”
Ludwin touched a hand to his chestplate and bowed slightly.
“Thank you, Udo. I relish the opportunity to improve my skills. I promise I will not disappoint!”
The Baron walked over and patted Ludwin on the shoulder.
“Well, that’s that then! Ludwin shall lead the men for the upcoming battle. I want Helmut, Hans, and Fergus to sit this one out. I would like to avoid having too many cooks, so to speak. You men need to set up and prepare logistics for the town of Baktenburg.”
The Baron brushed his fingers against the town on a map.
“I plan to take it before the other mercenary companies, so focus on finding medical supplies and food. I know that may be unsatisfying, but I want to be absolutely sure we have enough for everyone, our men and for the town. If we bring in a surplus of food and feed everyone well, we will encounter less resistance in the time it takes for a new governor to be appointed and take over for us. Understood?”
Fergus and Helmut looked disappointed, Hans looked vaguely pleased. Fergus looked like he was about to speak when Helmut stepped forward.
“We understand, Baron. We will carry out your will to the best of our abilities. We just request that at the next opportunity you have to allow us to lead and fight.”
They all looked at the Baron.
“Yes, of course. I will remember this, no worries! Next time one of you may lead and I will allow more of you to fight personally.”
They looked happier with their assignment, but not actually happy about it, except for Hans, who looked almost excited. Udo looked confused and raised his hand.
“Yes Udo? You look confused.”
“Uh, does this mean I get to fight?”
The Baron threw an arm around Udo and began to head for the tent flap.
“Yes, if you so choose. I will allow you the choice of where in our formation you wish to place yourself.”
Udo smiled brightly and threw his arm around the Baron’s shoulder, arm crossed over the Baron’s and hand grasping his shoulder.
“Thanks Baron! I appreciate it brother! I’ll be with the boys on the front lines!”
The Baron looked back at his other lieutenants, seeing them either gathering up the loose papers strewn about or following after Udo and the Baron.
“Sounds good. Alright then, let us move out!”