“Speed is vital, but so is preparation. A moment spent preparing might well save hours or even days in the field. Never skimp on your preparation, no matter how mundane it might seem. Sometimes, haste does indeed make waste.” - Ella Vedrasa, retired former mercenary.

“Got everything prepared and double-checked, Rory?” asked Erycea. She had given the command to prepare for immediate deployment half an hour ago, and while most of their supplies were already packed and ready to carry, her father always insisted that they double-check those supplies prior to departure. As such, her platoon was mostly kept busy over the past while either double-checking their supplies or procuring what bits they didn’t have with them yet.

Aurora – Cassie and Arne’s daughter – served as Erycea’s deputy in such matters as the diminutive girl had a meticulous mind and an attention for detail, qualities that made her ideal for such a task. Tasks that most of the mercenaries found boring, Aurora would handle with excellence and not a little enthusiasm, which was one reason Erycea entrusted her with them.

“Almost everything,” said Aurora with a nonchalant expression as she noted down things on a piece of parchment. “Our emergency food supplies are prepared, as expected, while Val and Beth already went to get the additional rations. As for battlefield supplies like arrows and the like, they are adequate since we aren’t planning on engaging in conflict. At the moment we’re just waiting for some extra signal flares. I already sent Rhia to get some.”

The signal flares Aurora referred to were the same ones the platoon used in Theodinaz, things that were launched into the air and burned bright. They were useful for emergency signals and to blind enemies in the night, amongst others, though the Free Lances had used them less ever since Reinhardt received the Artifact back in Levain.

However, Erycea’s group would have to make do without the artifact’s convenient functions which greatly helped streamline their command and communication. They would simply be too far away As Reinhardt himself would still be in Algenverr while they would be at the next Duchy over, too far for the artifact’s effects to reach and function.

As such, they prepared several kinds of methods to communicate with each other for various contingencies, as Erycea was always taught that it was better to be prepared and not need it, rather than not be prepared when one needed to be. That was one of the lessons she took to the heart, and her platoon was always one of the best-prepared ones in the company as she passed down those values to her people as well.

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“Good. In that case, have them pack things up properly. We’ll depart after Rhia returns and everybody else is ready,” said Erycea. Other than Hannah’s aerial reconnaissance platoon, the other five platoons would depart and travel together to Kolitschei. It was only in Kolitschei when they would seperate and each do their own task.

The scouts would move ahead of the rest and attempt to garner as much information on the mysterious invaders as they could, while Erycea and Alvaro’s platoon would be there to help them should the scouts come into trouble.

It was not that they had no information on the enemy, but so far, the reports received by the Border Duchies from their spies were rather hard to believe, at times. On the other hand, with reports that came from their former enemies, it was questionable on how far they could be trusted. As such, the need for some fresh information of better quality was paramount.

Certainly, the Duchies had their own scouts, but Nestor readily admitted that Reinhardt’s people are better than his in this regard, and not by a little bit. The aerial scouts were a massive advantage in terms of scouting out enemy movement, while in the forested regions of Kolitschei, Reinhardt’s irregulars similarly held a strong advantage over the Duchy’s more typical mounted scouts.

That, and there was no telling whether such scouts would be able to scout out the enemy freely and openly at all. Mounted scouts were good for keeping watch on enemies in flat terrain and to report the enemy’s presence quickly, while the Duchies wanted a more in-depth scouting. The sneaks in Reinhardt’s Company were perfect for such a job, however, and if they could leave some nasty surprises for the invaders while they were at it, all the better.

That was the main reason Reinhardt also sent out Fatimah’s Nightwalkers along with Nicole and Egil. The latter two’s platoons were better when it comes to conventional scouting tasks, and each also had their talents who were good at sneaking into enemy bases without arousing much ruckus. Fatimah’s people were assassins, however. Sneaking into the enemy’s house was part of their talent, and they could serve as guards for the rest during the infiltration.

Of course, if they managed to bring back the head of a general or two without endangering their mission, all the better. It was a valid possibility given how good some of Fatimah’s assassins were, and they were also good at weighing the risks to the benefits, so he trusted them to make the decision for themselves.

Officially, the platoons were being sent to Kolitschei as some “discreet helpers” under the table while Algenverr prepared their main army. There were other mercenary companies tasked with similar missions on Lovia-Hosberg, as sending mercenaries were more “tolerable” for the time being compared to directly marching Algenverr’s army across the borders.

Nestor considered it nothing short of complete folly, to still be mindful of politics and etiquette in times of emergency, but he was not above making use of it for his own benefits either. After all, the stubbornness on the part of his neighbors and former enemies were primarily damaging to themselves, and if they wanted to hoist their own petard, he would only be too happy to watch.

Though maybe not entirely, given that these invaders were clearly powerful enough to require them to work together to repel, but the point stood.