Fifteen – Promotion & Knowledge Part One

The next morning Raidon wakes up early. While lying down, he thinks back to the events of the previous day. Yesterday he killed someone for the first time. The images of the fight have been haunting his mind all night. As a result, he did not get much sleep.

Especially that first bandit keeps returning to his thoughts. It happened so quickly and easily. Yet it was a human life that he took. A man whose future he has taken away.

Suddenly the morning bell interrupts his thoughts. Glad he finally has something to distract himself with, Raidon gets up. It’s time to start moving.

This morning there are no training sessions. Instead, everyone has to gather in the square after breakfast.

Here they are addressed by Major Quinn.

"Last night I and my colleagues have discussed yesterday's situation. We have decided that we need to investigate it further. Today the first platoon together with a cavalry unit will take the same route as yesterday's patrol. If we find out that the story is a fairy tale, then all the culprits will be stoned to death by the other recruits." Raidon and the others look at each other in a panicky way. Stoned? That sounds serious! But that thought is short-lived. They all know it wasn't a fairy tale. Like Raidon, most have been thinking about the fight all night.

While they are on the move, Raidon and his squad march at the front of the column, along with Major Quinn and Captain Bras. Both officers walk together with the foot soldiers, even though Captain Bras first intended to ride with the cavalry unit. Unfortunately for him, the major thought that that would set a bad example, so he had to join the foot soldiers.

Raidon's squad has to show where the battle took place. Since they left very early, they are already halfway there when the sun has fully risen. Suddenly, Major Quinn orders the column to halt.

"What is the meaning of this, recruits?" He shouts to Raidon and the others. Raidon has no idea what the major is talking about. They are still miles away from the attack. Looking around, he sees the others looking just as surprised.

Suddenly he sees something out of the corner of his eye. When he looks a little better, he sees that all members of his squad have colors on their armor.

"Did you tell them they could paint on their armor?" Major Quinn asks Captain Bras.

"No, sir, certainly not!" Is his angry response. The captain is not happy that he is being put on the spot.

When Raidon looks more carefully at the colors on the breastplate of the man next to him, he sees that they represent an animal. Every member of his squad has the same animal on their breastplate.

"And what about you?" Raidon almost jumps when Major Quinn addresses him. "It wasn’t enough for you to draw that beast on your armor, you had to have a few extra decorations with it?"

"Uhm ... no, sir!" Raidon still doesn't quite understand what's going on, but he does know he has to defend himself and his squad mates.

"We didn't do this ourselves, sir. This morning when we put on the harnesses, we didn't see it either."

Then he remembers something.

"I do think I read something about this in one of the manuals, sir! In one of the books I got when I was recovering from my punishment. There was something in there about the appearance of emblems on the armor."

"Are you sure? Never mind, we'll figure it out when we get back. Then you can show me that part in the books. It's not the intention that everyone just starts drawing things on their armor, but if you're right, that would explain why you all have the exact same thing."

Major Quinn is a bit annoyed about all the fuss about a rookie unit in an empty corner of the country.

"But even that doesn't surprise me anymore with this command," Raidon hears him mumble so softly to himself that no one else has been able to understand.

Captain Bras, however, is not so easily convinced.

"We can also find out here. Give me suit of armor, then I will put it on and then we will see if it indicates that I am the commander."

Major Quinn doesn't look happy now that they have to wait even longer. Yet he allows it because Captain Bras' father is an important nobleman in the empire.

It takes a while for Gareth, who has about the same stature as the captain, to take off his armor and even longer for Captain Bras to put the armor on with Gareth's help.

When it is finally done, he exclaims:

"These things are heavy! How anyone can fight in this is a mystery to me," he shouts as he takes his first steps.

"I don't see anything on this harness yet," he continues, but the moment he says that, colors begin to appear on the armor.

However, instead of the emblems that everyone expects, a large red cross is drawn on the front of the armor.

"Well, it's clear that those things themselves indicate something, but I don't understand how it works at all." Major Quinn turns to Raidon. "As soon as we get back, you'll be looking in those books with me to find out how this works."

With a red head, Captain Bras quickly pulls off the harness. As soon as the owner of the harness has it back on, the cross disappears and the other markings come back.

An hour later, they arrive at the scene of the ambush.

"Sir, there are bodies here!" Shouts one of the scouts.

"Hmm, apparently they're telling the truth," is all Major Quinn says. He and Captain Bras do not look happy. This is for a different reason for both men. Major Quinn mainly thinks about the paperwork that he has to fill in, while Captain Bras is disappointed that he cannot put the low-born recruits down.

However, Raidon and his squad are very happy. It is quite a relief to be able to prove that they told the truth about the attack.

Since Major Quinn is now already stuck with making a comprehensive report on the whole situation, he has his men examine everything properly. Especially now that Captain Bras is keen to destroy the image of the New Legion, it is important that everything is done according to the rules.

The major is aware that the wrath of the Vaughan family, of which Captain Bras is the youngest member, reaches very far. He himself does not come from a large noble house, but from one of the poorer branches of a house that has not occupied an important post at court in years. As a result, it is possible that he will be used as a scapegoat by the Vaughan family if Captain Bras messes up his position.

When Major Quinn is convinced that his men have investigated everything there is to investigate, he gives everyone another half hour break before they start the way back. All in all, by that time they have remained at the scene of the attack for almost two hours.

In the hour and a half that the guards have been investigating, the recruits have recovered the bodies. On the same cart on which Raidon and his squad took their belongings yesterday, the bodies of the bandits are now being taken back to the camp.

Once back in camp, Raidon has to accompany Major Quinn to headquarters to show what he has read in the handbooks about the armor.

Raidon tries to remember where exactly he read how the harnesses work. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember exactly where it was, he doesn't even remember which book he read it in.

While Raidon tries to find the correct part in the books, and Major Quinn is becoming more and more impatient, one of the guards knocks on the door.

"There are several recruits at the door, sir. They ask to speak to you about the harnesses. Would you like to receive them?"

"Let them in," replies Major Quinn.

Moments later, three members of Raidon's squad step into the room. They stand at attention until they have permission to speak from the major. When he nods to them, the middle one begins to speak:

"Sir, something strange happened to the harnesses of all the members of our squad. As soon as we took off our harnesses, the drawings that were on them faded within a few minutes."

"That's it! I have indeed read something like that somewhere!" Shouts Raidon. "There was something about it that it was impossible for anyone to pretend to be a soldier or officer of the legion. The harnesses don't allow that."

"Have any of you read or heard anything about this?" he asks the recruits.

When they answer negative, he addresses Major Quinn: "And you, sir? Have you ever read anything about this?"

"No, I haven’t," he replies. "It still sounds strange to me. I would like to see it again with my own eyes."

"Well, you can!" Says one of the recruits, after which he begins to take off his armor. A few minutes after he has laid down his breastplate on the floor, everyone can see that the drawing is slowly fading away.

"It's clear that you didn't draw this on your armor yourself," says Major Quinn. Then he turns to Raidon.

"What about it? How does it work?"

"Sorry, sir, there's something about it in one of these books, but I don't remember which book it is and where it is."

"Well, then you can go and figure this out. You're going to read all those damn books again, along with all the other books we have about the old empire. As soon as you find something important, you immediately report it to me personally. You will also report to me once a week. For now you are all excused to the barracks."

The next day is a long one for Raidon. Not only do the instructors keep him working, he also has to study the books for Major Quinn. In practice, this can only be done by trying to read a part at any spare time he has, such as at lunch or just after eating while the others can rest and relax after the exhausting workouts.

Out of frustration, because he can't find what he's looking for, Raidon finally starts reading the normal manual again. He notices that this is now quite simple. He can remember a lot of the things described in it almost word for word.

It doesn’t take him long to find out how it is possible that the book seems so easy.

A little further on it says that all members of the order of Mithras receive support in learning the manuals. This allows them to absorb the information described in them much more easily. It also states that there are different types of manuals. This first book is a soldier's manual, in which the reader is taught the knowledge that a soldier must have. It is the first book in a series of seven. Each book provides a little more information and helps with achieving the next rank.

In addition, there are other series of books. For example, books for civilian officers, specialists such as marines and engineers, and even books for affiliated units. There are also some separate books that don’t belong to a series.

It is now clear to Raidon that the information he is looking for must be in his soldier's manual. The other books he has read are all from different series, while the information about the armor must be somewhere in the book about the soldiers.

That's why he picks up the soldier's manual again. Some time later he finds the fragment he was looking for. Unfortunately, it only states that the rank marks and decorations will appear on the armor as soon as they are earned. The sign of the elephant represents that this person is a soldier and has completed his or her first training. The signs on the shoulders indicate the rank of a soldier. The double arrow means that he has been promoted to sergeant. How he got this promotion is, unfortunately, not listed.

According to the book, the ranks are as follows:

1 arrow -> Squad leader

2 arrows -> Sergeant

3 arrows -> Captain

1 star -> Major

2 stars-> Colonel

3 stars -> General

Furthermore, there are numerous decorations and medals with which the seniority within those ranks can be determined. This can result in an experienced veteran of a lower rank being respected more than a newly promoted captain who has a lot of talent but little experience.

The decorations will appear on the breastplate, forming a circle around the elephant of the legion.

Two days later, Raidon is finished with the first soldier's manual. Now that he has read the book a few times, he can almost recite the words by heart. He knows he can't learn much more from this book. He needs the next manual to learn more.

Knowing that there is little point in trying to get the book from the scribes without the major's explicit permission, he decides to report on what he has learned so far.

At the staff building he is stopped by the guards. No one can just go in and disturb the people there.

"I would like to speak to Major Quinn."

The older of the two guards looks at him with a mean smile. Apparently, this guard is just as much of a fan of the New Legion as Captain Bras.

"About what, recruit?" he asks.

"Just say it's about the manuals of the New Legion. I had to report to the major if I had more information," Raidon replies.

With obvious reluctance, the guard goes inside to convey Raidon's request. A little later he comes back again.

"The major has a few minutes to spare for you. So go inside quickly."

Raidon enters Major Quinn's office and stands at attention.

"Sir, I'm coming to report on the handbooks."

"Yes, I had already heard that. What did you find out?"

"I can tell you that the animal, the elephant, means that the recruits have completed their first training and that they have attained the rank of soldier. This is described in the first soldier's manual, which was handed out to every recruit," says Raidon. In doing so, he puts the book down with the right page opened. Raidon then explains that there are several series of books, and how they work.

Major Quinn takes a look at the passage Raidon has designated in the book.

"Hmm, so we officers have to watch as something unknown determines that recruits with only a few weeks of training should already be considered as trained soldiers?" He says, after which he looks at Raidon again. "And what is that other sign you have? I don't think I saw that with the other recruits."

Raidon hesitates for a moment. He's not sure if he should share that information with Major Quinn. Then he makes the decision. Better tell the major than the captain.

"The other marks, which you mentioned decorations, mean that I have been promoted a second time, sir," he says. "Apparently I am fit to be a sergeant. Those double upward pointing arrows on my shoulders indicate that I have been promoted to sergeant."

He then quickly adds:

"I have not yet been able to find out how it works exactly. In this first manual, a lot of the basic knowledge is given. More information can be found in the next book. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten that one yet."

"So the first books only give the basic information. That's useful to know. The more we learn about the structure of the ancient legions, the better we can train you." Major Quinn has to think about this for a bit.

"As for your so-called promotion, I still have to think about that. In my army, no one is promoted all of a sudden. Let alone a recruit to sergeant. That way you skip a lot of steps."

"Not so many steps, sir," Raidon replies. "Sergeant is the next rank after squad leader. Apparently there were fewer ranks in the old empire. This was possible because a distinction was made between soldiers of the same rank by means of other decorations. These can be seen on the harness, just like the rank. Nowadays we use more ranks than in the past, but that was once different."

The major can only sigh deeply and say:

"So many things are different than we had imagined, we can work around this as well. You have my permission to go get the second manual. I will pass it on to the clerks, and you can pick it up tomorrow. We can do very little with it, since even the clerks who know something about the old language do not seem to be able to remember what is in the books."

Then Raidon can go.