On the morning after our return from our contract guarding the summit of the various lords, I had another meeting with Captain Walker where he informed me that the individual he had hoped to entice to permanently fill the lieutenantship of second platoon that I had merely been holding temporarily had agreed to do so.
“So when will he be arriving to take up the post, he isn’t here already is he?”
“No, he will be joining up with us in five days as we are heading to our next contract. Now Jake Doherty even after I give him another chance isn’t working out as a Sergeant and as I stated previously his former position is yours if you want it. I’d understand if you want to look elsewhere for a new position either as a sergeant or even a lieutenant but I think this is the best option for you. However in the end it’s ultimately up to you, so what will it be?”
“Before I give you an answer what’s going to happen to Doherty, will he be leaving us?”
“No, he’s agreed to stay on, I’ve demoted him to private and I’ll be swapping him for one in first platoon.”
While it might seem harsh for the captain to not simply let him resume his former rank of Corporal Jake had accepted his previous promotion when he should have realised he wasn’t up to the task and anyway there currently weren't any openings for corporal in the company.
I’d given a lot of thought to how to proceed since Walker had raised the possibility in our previous meeting and had come to the conclusion that while I might be able to find a position as a lieutenant in another company my future career would better be served by staying on in the Ebony Hyenas and gaining experience as a sergeant in a regular squad commanded by a lieutenant to add to my limited time as one in the scouts.
“Well in that case I suppose I might as well do the same. Now do you wish for me to maintain command of second platoon until this new fellow, George Russell arrives or shall I have Sergeant Tucker temporarily take the reigns?”
“No you’ll stay in charge for the next five days and we’ll transfer command of second platoon on his arrival and have you take up your new post at the same time.”
We headed out on our next contract the following morning and I had taken advantage of the time in between to inform my Platoon of the upcoming change in command. I had only been in command of them for a relatively short period but I had enjoyed every minute of it.
On the evening of our fourth day of a hopefully thirteen-day-long journey to our next contract as we were just starting to make camp for the night my replacement as lieutenant of second platoon arrived. Lieutenant George Russell was a mountain of a man in his mid-twenties who had previously served as a lieutenant in the Acclaim Mercenary Company, since the middle of the last campaign season. Their Captain had retired at the end of the last campaign season and his replacement had at the beginning of this season taken a contract that proved to be much of a challenge for him and his men. The company that had begun it with a hundred and twenty-one men had at the end of it less than eighty and of the survivors, none had escaped unscathed.
They had actually somehow managed to complete the contract but paid a heavy price to do so. It had left the company without a captain and not much of a future either. Another small company, The Agile Sages looking to expand had taken on the survivors but had only required one of the remaining two lieutenants. As the junior of the two George was surplus to requirements and had eventually found his way to the Ebony Hyenas.
Before transferring command of the Platoon over to him Captain Walker arranged a meeting between George, myself and Sergeant Tucker.
“Lieutenant Russell this is Sergeant Tucker your Platoon Sergeant and Sergeant Ryder whom you will be replacing as the commander of second platoon, he is being transferred to third platoon's fourth squad. I have other matters to attend to so I’ll now take my leave of you. I should be back in an hour or two, in the meantime sergeants please feel free to pass on to George your impressions of those soon to be under his command and the workings of the Company.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The three of us had an engaging discussion about second platoon, its rank and file, especially its troublemakers and more outstanding members. By the time it was concluded, I felt that Lieutenant Russell had been provided with a good basic introduction to his new command. He seemed to know what he was doing and I felt I was leaving second platoon in good hands.
Once Walker returned from whatever he had been up to I issued my last command as second platoon's lieutenant and had Sergent Tucker assemble the men for the change in command ceremony.
“Men of the Second Platoon of the Ebony Hyenas Mercenary Company it has been my pleasure, honour and privilege to have served as your commander for these past few months but as with all good things it must now come to an end. You have all done me proud and I am sure that you will provide the same level of dedication to your incoming commander and with that, I bid you adieu.
“Niel Ryder on behalf of the men of second platoon I thank you for your service, Sergeant Ryder you are dismissed.”
While Captain Walker introduced their new commander to second platoon I quietly made my way to the tent I had used as their commander and then I gathered up the remaining personal belongings that I hadn’t already packed and then headed off to report to Lieutenant Bracton.
“Sergeant Niel Ryder reporting as ordered lieutenant.”
“At ease Sergeant Ryder, as I understand it while you served as a sergeant in the scouts before taking temporary command of second platoon and you were technically in command of your previous company in its final days your highest rank as a mounted infantry mercenary was that of corporal, is that the case?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“While I appreciate how hard it may prove to adjust to your reduction in rank, I expect you to try your best to put that behind you and concentrate on the task in hand, the command of your squad. Now your predecessor as the sergeant of fourth squad proved a disappointment and while he set the bar low I expect you to give it your all.
From what I have heard and experienced myself your new corporal and all the other members of fourth squad are excellent mercenary soldiers and if lead effectively they are unlikely to let you down. It will be up to you to get the best out of them and I think you are up for the job, don’t let me or yourself down.”
My meeting with Lieutenant Bracton went on for another few minutes after which he had arranged a meeting between myself, the man I was replacing, Corporal Johnathan Wilcox and our platoon sergeant Daniel May. You would think that my predecessor as sergeant of fourth squad Jake Doherty might be upset about his demotion but if anything he seemed relieved.
“They're a bunch of good lads, for the most part, so they are. Private Austin Warren can be a bit of a handful when he has the drink in him but he doesn’t actually drink all that often for some reason which in of itself can be a problem as you never know when he might partake of the evil brew but he’s a good steady fighter.
Private Jamie Dolt on the other hand well let’s just say he’s a bit of a know it all, he’s by far the oldest man in the squad and has been a mercenary for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. In all that time he’s never even made corporal but he thinks he’s the bee's knees and could even do the captain's job better than the man himself.
Thankfully he’s all talk and he occasionally has a good suggestion amongst all the drivel and while I personally think he should retire he’s still capable of keeping up with the younger ones in the squad. The others well when ably led and taken care of they won’t let you down.”
“Have you anything to add Corporal Bennet?”
“Not really sergeant, just that they all know what they are doing and are capable of doing it well, permission to speak freely serge?”
“Anyone have a problem with that, Jake do you want to leave the room?”
“No need sarge I know where I went wrong.”
“In that case proceed Corporal.”
“Well, the problem with your predecessor was, that he was too much of a taskmaster who tried to control too much of the squad. Rather than giving an order and simply just letting the men carry it out, he told them exactly what to do and when to do it.
Then when a problem arose that he hadn’t taken account of in his exacting orders he blamed those carrying out his orders no matter how they responded to the unanticipated situation even if it were the proper response given the circumstances.
To add insult to injury he would then give detailed orders on what to do if a similar situation was to occur in the future even though it was unlikely to ever occur again or if it did might require a different response.”
Once that meeting was over the others besides Corporal Bennet left and I had a private word with him before he introduced me to my new Squad.