The Long March - Chaos

(Source)

The War Minister was the first to arrive, as he was ushered in, he noted the hooded figure sitting at the back of the chamber. A chill ran up his spine, he hadn't been told that His Eminence was in the city.

He nodded to the Ruler who appeared to be deep in thought, staring at the door. The man gave no sign that he had seen the War Minister. That worthy wondered if the Ruler was even aware of his surroundings. Unusually, the Ruler's wife was not present.

As he stood behind his chair awaiting the others, he also noticed that there were more guardsmen in the chamber than usual. He had a very bad feeling about all of this. That and the sound of distant gunfire, rifle and cannon, made him wish that he had found an excuse to visit his estate rather than remain in the capital.

He turned as the Economics Minister and the Foreign Minister entered together, the money man was flushed, he looked as if he had just been reprimanded and threatened. By whom? The War Minister wondered.

Finally the last two men on the council came into the chamber, the commander of the armies, and the commander of the Imperials. The first was formally addressed as Marshal, the second was addressed as Legate. Though the Marshal, in theory commanded more men, the Legate had more personal power.

The Marshal's troops were typically distributed throughout the country, more so now that the rebellion had drawn the regulars farther afield, far from the capital. The Legate's troops, the Imperials, tended to be concentrated in the capital city itself. Though three cohorts were in the field with the regulars, the other seven were in the capital itself. They were the true source of the Ruler's power.

The men all sat quietly, though there was one woman on the council, the Home Minister, she was traveling in the northern regions of the country. She was busy trying to keep the northern provinces loyal to the central government. No one spoke. Then His Eminence cleared his throat.

The Ruler seemed to awaken from whatever daydream he had been having and looked around the room. He seemed surprised at the Council's presence.

"Uh, so, what's the agenda for today?" The Ruler sounded confused.

The Council chamber remained quiet. His Eminence again cleared his throat.

"Perhaps Your Eminence would like to start us off." The Ruler turned towards the hooded man with deference and not a little fear.

The hooded man stood up, casting off the hood he typically wore over his head when near a window or out in public. He had once held great power in the country, but the law had prevented him from continuing in office, so he had stepped down. His chosen successor had failed in the last freely held elections so he had remained on his island for four years, plotting, conspiring, and planning for the day when his new chosen one could ascend to the highest office in the land.

"Gentlemen."

His voice was measured, reasonable, he spoke as if to a gathering of children, simple children at that. The man had absolutely no shame and always considered himself to be the smartest man in the room. He had been raised to believe that from the day he had first come to the public's notice. He was an obscure man at the time, unknown outside of his home province. But he had powerful and wealthy backers.

They had provided the money and the support he needed to run for high office. Somehow, this unknown, untalented, and untried individual had won. Powerful forces behind the scenes worked to ensure that he kept that power. While he couldn't hold the office any longer, he was the man who seemingly pulled the strings. But in truth, he was as much a puppet as the man he addressed now.

"Your Highness, I think it's time we revealed your plan to the Council." His Eminence acted as if he had not developed the plan himself. In reality he hadn't, those who manipulated him had and then convinced him that it was all his idea.

"Uh, yes, my, uh, plan. Why don't you brief the Council, you know the plan so well."

"Very well, Your Highness, I shall."

The Imperial cohort came up the boulevard slowly, skirmishers to the front, the main body in a loose column formation. It was obvious that these men were nervous. Their mounted auxiliaries were nowhere to be seen. Magnus watched their advance with interest. They were almost where he wanted them.

The Imperial skirmishers were now in range of the archers. With their ability to loose their arrows over obstacles, Magnus liked to use them as an area effect weapon. The archers didn't need individual targets so they could remain protected behind the barricades.

Along the boulevard there were markers, not obvious but there for one who knew what to look for. As the trailing skirmishers passed a set of those markers, Magnus nodded to his head archer, the Imperial skirmishers were in the kill zone.

"LOOSE!"

The battalion was "taking a break," rather than advancing at the double time, they were marching at the standard pace. They were making good time but the Major was worried about wearing the troops out just before going into battle, which was a distinct possibility.

"Major."

"What is it, Top?"

"We need to stop for at least an hour, let the people adjust their gear, get off their feet, prepare a hot meal, otherwise ..."

The Major turned towards the front rank, he was on foot, his horse being led by his batman. The troops looked determined, but he could see that gear was coming loose, no doubt various parts of their bodies were chafing. He was especially worried about their feet. They were the infantry's best friends, abuse them and you no longer had infantry, you had immobile targets.

"BATTALION!"

The company commanders echoed that with "COMPANY!"

"HALT!"

The troops came to a halt, each trooper at attention, not a man or a woman swayed. The Major felt that he could do anything with such people, they were rock solid in his eyes.

"Company commanders, we're going to take an hour to eat, rest, and square our gear away. I want the medics to check everyone's feet. In one hour we're back on the road."

"FALL OUT!"

The troops began filing off the road, half of each squad removed their boots while the others began prepping a quick meal. The medics began circulating, from the chatter, the Major could tell that morale was still very good.

There was a bit of bitching, natural in a soldier, which made them feel better. If they weren't bitching, something was seriously wrong.

He went around to each company in turn, having brief chats with the commanders and their senior noncoms. He spoke to a number of the troops, sometimes just a "hello" and a nod, the people greeted him with smiles, one or two, old hands, razzed him about the prolonged stop with comments like, "Sir, this younger generation sure isn't as tough as back in the day. Not like us, hey?"

That kind of talk invariably invoked indignant protests from the younger troops, the Major had to chuckle when one of the women referred to her corporal as an "old fart." That man was in his early thirties, he shuddered to think what they'd say if they knew how old he himself was.

Daniel was watching the regulars moving south, a detached battalion he could see, no baggage, just personal gear. They had been moving fast. He wondered why they had been detached from the main body, it was almost as if they were responding to an emergency situation.

He couldn't guess what that might be. The frontier garrison was too strong for his people to attack, they'd need cannon for that, which they did not have. Were the Meridionals making trouble? They did send occasional raids across the border, was that what this meant? Perhaps a major raid was under way? He turned as he heard someone behind him. It was Asher and another man he didn't recognize.

"This fellow says he's come up from the frontier."

Daniel extended a hand, the man took it.

"Name's Solomon, Sir. I have a message from my commander, verbal." He looked at Asher, wanting to give his message only to the commander of this unit.

"Whatever you need to tell me, you can tell Asher."

"Sir, the Meridionals are across the border, this is no raid. They have cannon, they have cavalry. The border garrison is besieged."

Daniel shook his head, "No doubt they mean to take advantage of our troubles. Bastards." The last word came out as a hiss.

"What do we do about them?" Asher nodded at the regulars, who were starting to form up on the road.

"Well, now we know why they're marching at such speed." He spent a long minute in thought.

"Commander?" Asher prompted Daniel.

"We leave them be. They are, after all, fellow Centralians, in other times we would be marching to help them. Damn it, what are those bastards in the capital thinking?"

Asher chuckled, "Thinking? When do politicians ever really think? What do we do, boss. You make the call, we'll follow."

Daniel nodded grimly, "Send messages throughout the hill country, the nation is in danger. We march to the border. Then we'll see."

Cyrus gasped in disbelief, "They're falling back."

Magnus nodded, he was near the top of the barricade, looking down at the ruins of the Imperial skirmishers. "They're not used to people fighting back I suppose."

"What now?"

"Have we heard from the flanks?"

"The enemy has halted in place. They don't know whether to shit or go blind." Cyrus chuckled.

"A colorful way of putting it." Magnus paused, then said, "We fall back to the next barricade, booby trap this one. Send word to the flanks, if those cohorts don't move, observe them. If they fall back, then hold but let us know."

"And if they advance?" Cyrus asked.

"Then they are doomed, the trap has been laid."

The message had arrived while the War Minister and the Economics Minister were in a screaming match. The Ruler had retired to his quarters, saying, "Your Eminence, deal with this, I am too tired."

The Eminence simply nodded, he had arranged for the Ruler's drink to have a sedative in it. The Ruler would be down until tomorrow morning he assumed. He cleared his throat and spoke, loudly.

"Gentlemen, that is quite enough, sit and I will give you your ..."

Which is when the messenger forced his way past the guardsman at the door.

"Sir! The Meridionals have invaded!"

The Eminence made a gesture as if that meant nothing, "A raid, nothing more."

"No Sir, messages received from the south indicate at least 35,000 infantry, swarms of irregular cavalry, and ay least a hundred cannon!"

"Are you sure?"

"Sir, the garrison commander is my brother, I trust him. He is certain and he isn't prone to exaggeration."

The Eminence turned in frustration as another man forced his way into the room, he carried a naked sword. The Eminence realized it was the commander of the cohorts he had sent to the laborers' quarter.

"What are you doing here, man! Why aren't you with your troops?"

"Sir, my auxiliaries have deserted, my center force has taken heavy casualties and my centurions inform me that the men will not advance a step into the laborers' quarter."

"This is mutiny!"

The Chamberlain was listening at a window closest to the fighting. He had seen numerous Imperials in the street, all fleeing from the fighting. He had seen a single group which maintained its order, but they too were fleeing.

He listened, the gunfire was getting closer.

The Eminence burst from the conference room and shouted, "Have my carriage made ready, I will require a mounted escort as well."

The Marshal followed behind him asking, "Where are you bound, Your Eminence?"

"Back to my island. Get this situation under control Marshal!"

The Legate came out as well, "Your Eminence, I shall have my men escort you ..."

"To hell with your men, Legate. Marshal I want regulars, the Imperials are apparently all cowards," he stormed from the room.

The Legate's face went red, the Marshal turned and placed a hand on the man's sword arm, "Easy Legate, you know His Eminence's temper. Have your Imperials secure the palace. Protect the Ruler and his family until I return."

"Where, where are you going?" the Legate sputtered.

"To gather an escort of course, then I will go to my headquarters to assess the military situation. After that? I shall probably offer a prayer for the nation to return to sanity. Pull yourself together man! We could be at the end of a rope if we don't handle this properly!"

The Legate's red face immediately paled. The Marshal was right, with his own men fleeing, and most of the regulars in the field ...

Perhaps he should go to his estate with his personal guard and await events there. Things were starting to get far too exciting for his tastes.