"Your Highness, Your Highness! You may rise! The Emperor has sent us backups," whispered the imperial warrior who precipitously went to the tent of Babida the lumberjack to tell him about what was going on outside.

The Governor of Okunde opened his eyes but he remained half-asleep. The informant then repeated with a low voice what he had just said previously: "Your Highness, you may come outside. His Majesty Batang V has sent us a one thousand men battalion."

However, the newsman was walking on the palm leaves that covered the ground, and his steps made a crispy noise. So the henchmen Polo and Baba also woke up.

"What's happening, comrade?" asked the woodsman Babida to the informant.

"Your Highness, there is a thousand men battalion sent by the Emperor and that is at the moment about five hundred feet away from us," revealed the newsman.

"Oh really?" replied Babida the lumberjack who instantly stood up so pleased by the news that he just received.

The aides-de-camp Polo and Baba, like their Commander in chief rose. The big news ended their desire to sleep.

In the meantime, the young maiden Suzie was back from the river where she went to purify herself before her marriage with the Governor of Okunde later in the day.

"Good morning, my love! We have an impressive number of new men in uniform coming to reinforce your depleted troop." The young bride excitedly shared the news with her groom.

"Good morning, young Miss. Well, that's what we are about to go to witness." The woodsman answered her.

He immediately left the tent with the henchmen Polo and Baba and the informant. The bride Suzie stayed alone in the shelter.

"Wow!" Governor Babida exclaimed when he perceived the one thousand men battalion who kept advancing to Okunde's garden at a regular and artistic pace.

The parade of the backup troop was so agreeable to watch and marveled not only the lumberjack and the men in uniform next to him but also the inhabitants of the village who began to come outside in big numbers and acclaimed the new battalion.

The one thousand men backup troop was led by a charismatic warrior that looked from a distance almost as enormous and tall as the logger Babida.

They kept on the march ahead proudly and when they were around three hundred feet away from Okunde's garden, Governor Babida decided to advance toward them to give them a warm welcome.

He instructed his henchmen Polo and Baba to accompany him and meet halfway the new men of honor.

"Come with me, comrades!" The Superior Commander Babida told them and they commenced moving forward.

After a few feet, they were now in front of the one thousand men battalion that stopped at the command of the army general that was leading them.

"Be welcome to Okunde, General!" said Governor Babida to the Commander of the backup troop.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" He replied as he gave the woodsman a military salute.

The General then invited the Governor of Okunde to inspect the troop.

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"You may review the troop, your Highness." The General told him.

Babida the lumberjack stepped forward, leaving the henchmen Polo and Baba behind.

Rank after rank, the one thousand men backup battalion greeted the Superior Commander Babida as he walked past them.

Once the inspection of the new men in uniform was done, the logger Babida told the General to command his men to resume their walk ahead, which the superior officer executed instantly.

"Forward, march!" The General shouted with a big voice and the new men in uniform moved once more at the same impressive and organized pace that caught the attention of the crowd before.

They arrived in Okunde's garden where their counterparts had lined up to welcome them.

The old and depleted troop was barely two hundred men after the walking tornado aggression.

The survivors were emotional and began to silently weep at the sight of their new comrades.

Governor Babida then ordered the senior henchman Polo to introduce the old troop to the General.

The officer reviewed the tired and decimated troop that greeted him as he moved around them guided by Governor Babida's senior aide-de-camp Polo.

Done, the lumberjack invited the old men to embrace then assist the new men with the bagage and show them around.

"Comrades, you may welcome and thereafter help the new men unload the vehicles and animals before strolling with them around so they can quickly measure the extent of the damages and the work that awaits them." Governor Babida instructed the old men.

"You are under the orders of my henchman Baba. You shall report to him your needs or troubles." He added.

"General, you may come with me, please!" Babida the lumberjack then told the leader of the backup troop.

"Comrade, your company is needed. Come with us!" The woodsman addressed the senior henchman Polo.

And they walked in the direction of the wreckage of the administrative headquarters.

Governor Babida arrived with the Commander of the backup troop at the ruins of the administrative headquarters. The henchman Polo walked silently behind the two powerful men and listened over their conversation.

"General….?" Babida the lumberjack tried to call the superior officer by his name but the latter had not yet introduced himself.

"General Dipi, Your Highness!" replied the high-ranking officer.

"Well General Dipi, here is the wreckage of our offices and lodgings. We need to rebuild the building as fast as possible," said Babida the lumberjack to the leader of the new men in uniform.

"Well noted, Your Highness, today my men will take some rest after their long journey from the imperial city Ekule for some of them and from the northern village Okala for the others, '' answered the imperial General.

"But tomorrow after sunrise, once the men will be done with the breakfast, I will assign fifty of them for the construction of the administrative edifice." General Dipi added.

"Thank you, General!" Governor Babida uttered, very pleased by the announcement of the Chief of the backup force.

"Now General, we may go back to the garden, today is my marriage date with my bride. The ceremony will be by the riverside in the afternoon. We will be happy that you play the role of the priest and celebrate our union." The woodsman invited General Dipi to the big event of his life.

"That's wonderful news, Your Highness. It's a great honor that you offer me to be the priest, which I hereby accept," declared the Commander of the backup troop to Governor Babida.

They then turned and took the way back to Okunde's garden, always trailed by the henchman Polo who kept quiet.

The men of the old troop were almost done helping the men of the new force discharge the vehicles and animals.

"Ah, that's excellent. Our men are working fast. Soon all the material and provisions will be safeguarded." Babida the lumberjack spat out delightedly.

"Yes, your Highness! Our men are getting along pretty fast and it's promising for the reconstruction of the village," underscored General Dipi.

While the two Commanders were speaking, the young maiden Suzie came from behind and was looking extremely beautiful with the white roses around her curly hair.

She was already ready for the wedding ceremony.

The logger Babida felt a human presence on his back and turned to have a glimpse. His heart nearly got out of his chest at the sight of his bride Suzie.

"Oh my goodness! You're stunning, young Miss," exclaimed the groom Babida.

General Dipi who had his focus on the troop was thus distracted and he turned to look at whom the Governor of Okunde was telling a compliment and was baffled by the mesmerizing beauty in front of him.

"General Dipi, here is my gorgeous bride, Suzie." The lumberjack proudly introduced the young miss to the leader of the backup troop.

"Without a doubt, Your Highness! She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." The General confessed.

"Young Miss, this is General Dipi, the Commander of the new imperial forces. I have requested that he be the priest for our marriage today and he agreed." The groom Babida told a blushing Suzie after all the flattering remarks that she had just heard.

"Oh really? That's very kind of him. Greetings, My General." The young maiden Suzie answered, then slightly bent to salute the high-ranking officer.

"Well, I think it's my turn to prepare myself. I have to go and take a purification bath too. Comrade Polo, you may take General Dipi around the garden." Governor Babida declared.

"General, young Miss, Comrade, excuse me please!" The lumberjack then said before leaving Okunde's garden for the nearby river.

Upon the logger's arrival at the stream, the water was calm and clear and one could see one's reflection.

Governor Babida got closer to the water, looked at his projection, and screamed: "Oh my goodness! That's not me."

Babida the lumberjack was frightened by his image. His beard was so voluminous and covered a quarter of his face.

"How long have I been walking around while looking this awful?" The muscular woodsman questioned himself.

"I used to jokingly say that I'm lucky the young miss wants to marry a massive bearded man like me but now I must say it seriously. I'm really lucky." He spoke to himself.

"Let me shave now!" The logger then added.

He took his axe and used the sharp blade to trim the beard while mirroring himself with the clear water of the river.

Done, he looked at his reflection and amusedly declared: "Now it's the young miss who is lucky to wed a handsome man like me."

Governor Babida thereupon removed his silk trousers and all his military ornaments. He then dove into the water and began to bathe.