Seven – The Basis Part One

Alyena

Alyena has to hurry to get to the emergency meeting with her generals on time. She may be the empress, but even then it shows bad manners to arrive late at appointments. The fact that this meeting was not scheduled does not change that.

The others are already waiting for her when she arrives at the meeting room a few minutes later. Not only are the both recently promoted generals Colling and Dwain already there, some of their commanders are already present. The last person to join the meeting is Captain Cervik of the palace guard.

“All right, let's get started right away, gentlemen.” As far as Alyena is concerned, this meeting cannot be over quickly enough. She was busy drawing up a plan to handle some financial matters in an unconventional way when the invitation for the meeting came in.

When everyone has seated themselves, general Colling sets off.

“I have convened this meeting to discuss the latest news from the front. We have finally managed to stop the army of Chakra. Fortunately, because if they had pushed even further, we could no longer use the Primeval Forest as a natural defensive barrier. General Ebredus was able to slow down the enemy long enough to fortify this new frontier. After a single attempt to break through, Chakra's army has withdrawn. At this time, they will secure their new territory. Fortunately, we were able to evacuate most people. It will take a few months before the conquered area is fully integrated. If we are lucky, they will not make another attempt to advance until next year.”

“Finally!” Alyena is very pleased with the general's report. “Once we have moved the evacuated people elsewhere, we can recover from that dastardly attack. General Colling, please make sure that this new border is strong enough this time to hold. This must not happen again.”

Immediately General Dwain takes the floor. “Personally, I don't think we have a year to prepare, your majesty. I think it’s more likely that we will have to endure another attack this autumn at the latest, and possibly even this summer.”

“What is your reasoning, General?”

“In order to stop the enemy in the north, we had to summon every possible warrior within the empire. As a result, almost every garrison is undermanned, including the garrisons at the southern border. Should Emperor Borya find out that we have all our men in the north, he will not hesitate to make another attempt elsewhere.”

“But your majesty,” General Colling responds immediately, “we will keep a close eye on the movements of their troops. As soon as troops are sent south, we can do the same.”

“So to sum up the situation, we have used all our troops to preserve the north and we must hope that not only Chakra, but also the nomadic tribes of the ice plains do not hear that we are weakened at all our borders.” Captain Cervik is now also making himself heard. “Doesn't that seem very dangerous to you, generals?”

General Colling, however, stands by his position. “The nomadic tribes have not committed a raid in years. I'm not afraid of that. And as I said, we keep a close eye on all of Chakra's troop movements. So there is no immediate danger.”

Then Alyena manages to put in the last word: “I think that you thought that last time when we were surprised, General. That is why I think you should bear in mind that an attack will be carried out earlier. I will leave it to you what preparations you make, but we have to make sure that we are ready when that attack does come.”

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Raidon

Just like every morning during the previous week, Raidon and the others are awakened at dawn. This morning, the recruits are told some important facts about the army they signed up for.

“Two weeks ago, a hidden room was discovered in the palace,” says Major Quinn. “In it we have found information and equipment from the time of the old empire. Some of you may already know something about the old empire? It was an empire on the other side of the world that once colonized these parts. They had an unbeatable army! We now have the opportunity to re-establish that army, and you are the first to form this army.”

“If they were unbeatable, how come they don't exist anymore?” One of the recruits asks.

“They were betrayed by their rulers. In the end, they were simply left to their own devices here. Many have gone back to their homeland. Some of the others are your ancestors. Also, a lot of them were eventually killed by wild tribes of the Ice Plains.”

“What you probably don't know is that we are at war with Chakra. A few weeks ago, they launched a first strike, breaking the ceasefire. During that attack, the northern border army was decimated. Along with that army, the commander-in-chief was also killed. We need you as soon as possible to help keep the Chakras at bay. We have tried to keep this information hidden from the population so that there won’t be a panic.”

“How are we supposed to do that with so few of us?” The recruit asks.

“We will soon have a second batch of recruits. After that, the found equipment will be used up, until we learn how to make new ones. You will soon find out why that is. What we expect from you is that you, as a special unit, will carry out assignments for which we would otherwise need many more warriors. This will allow us to free up more warriors to strengthen our border armies.”

“Enough about that,” Major Quinn continues, “this training camp has been set up just for you. We cannot use the normal training camps because you are going to follow a special training regime. You are going to become heavy infantry, or legionnaires. This means that you will be given a steel harness instead of the usual leather equipment. With those, you will be much better protected and you can even hold your own in the face of superior odds. You will also receive training in numerous weapons and will use various weapons in battle. This includes a large shield. The shield will not only protect you, but also your neighbor. Cooperation is extremely important with your way of fighting. So take a good look around you and get to know each other. Your life will depend on your neighbor.”

After Major Quinn's speech, a tour of the camp is next. They pass the headquarter, the training fields, the arsenal and the chapel. Once they arrive in front of the chapel, they receive a new order.

“Attention!” Major Quinn commands. “You will enter the chapel in groups of ten. There you will be presented with a choice. Accept the consequences and then you will be full members of the New Legion. Decline and you will be sent back to the city. This is your last chance to change your mind.”

Indeed they are ushered in, ten at a time. When it's Raidon's turn, he thinks: I'm curious what the choice will be, probably something super difficult.

Once inside, they are escorted to an altar. The altar looks rather old and there are strange signs on it.

A priest comes running and begins to speak:

“You all have a choice. This is an important choice and one that you should not take lightly.” The priest pauses for a moment before continuing: "For you to join the New Legion it is necessary to worship the god Mithras. This god will not accept fake worship. In other words, you will have to renounce our own gods." This seems rather complicated to Raidon, but before he can think about it, the priest continues: “According to the information we have found about the ancient legions, they all worshipped Mithras. Apparently this was also part of the strength of the legions, but we have not yet figured out how can be.”

Did those soldiers get their strength thanks to their faith? Raidon wonders. But the priest talks further:

“Part of renouncing the gods and swearing that Mithras is your only god will be a branding. The mark will show everyone that you belong to Mithras. Think deeply, because this is the last moment where you can back out.”

The priest remains silent for a moment to give everyone the opportunity to change their mind. When it stays quiet, he says:

“All right then, let's get started. You there, you can be the first to come to the altar over here.”

The first recruit slowly walks forward.

"Chop chop, a bit quicker now!" the priest shouts cheerfully. Raidon doesn't quite understand why he's so cheerful. Even though this priest is part of the nobility, he’s still converting people to a faith different from his own. But perhaps people who are not nobles are not important to the priest at all.

Then the first recruit begins reciting the oath:

“I hereby swear that Mithras is my only god. From this moment on, my life is in his hands. So do I swear.”

The recruit looks expectantly at the priest, but he appears to be done with him. The oath is very short.

The priest then grabs a branding iron from the fire pit next to him. It seems to Raidon that the branding iron is as thick as the priest's arms, because as soon as he rolls up the sleeves of his brown cloak, it can be seen that the man is extremely skinny. Nevertheless, the priest wields the branding iron with ease. He turns it until he has it straight. Then the iron is pushed against the upper arm of the recruit. With a lot of hissing and loud moans from the recruit, the iron burns itself into his upper arm. When the branding iron is removed, a beast is shown on the recruit's arm. Finally, the recruit must also prick himself in his thumb and leave a bloody fingerprint on the altar.

One by one, the recruits are introduced to the priest. Raidon also gets his turn. The oath is not a problem. He has never been helped by the other gods anyway, so a new god will not be a problem to worship either. The branding iron is way worse. Raidon can't suppress a moan. Fortunately, the pain is quickly over. How is that possible? Shouldn't it hurt a lot more? And especially much longer?

When they’re finished, they are led outside again. Once outside the fifth and last group can enter.

Once everyone has been inside, major Quinn steps forward again.

“From this moment on you are members of the order of Mithras and also of the New Legion. Without Mithras there is no legion and without legion there is no Mithras. A person who does not belong to Mithras cannot serve in the legion. The animal you see on your arms is an elephant. This animal apparently lives in distant lands where the emperors of the old empire once ruled. Here in our countries we have never seen such an animal, but according to the scrolls it is an impressive animal. The altar you have just sworn on is an original piece from the old empire. You are certainly not the first to swear on it. The altar comes from the palace and is very valuable,” he says. After a short pause, he continues: “You will now continue on to the arsenal. There you will get your armor and weapons. Later you will get more stuff, but for now you will get the standard equipment.”