On the Rocks

by Peter Rhodan

  The sound of the horn and the thundering hooves dragged the whole combat to a stop and the Scotti warriors began to break and run from the side closest to the oncoming horsemen. Even though there were only nine of them clearly the effect was impressive. Seeing the cavalry charging the men of Wern let out a bellow and surged forward.

  In a second the whole situation was transformed as the ninety or more remaining Scotti simply broke and ran. The mounted force slammed into the fleeing mass spearing men left and right. The Wern fighters followed up as well, yelling their war cries as the Scotti fled. Arturo held on grimly as they rode through the fleeing warriors. He could feel the others either side of him spearing the Scotti as they rampaged among the fleeing men but it was all he could do to just to hang on and not get toppled out of the saddle. His horse’s ears were pinned back and the beast was charging pretty much out of control, spurred on by the other horses around it.

  After what seemed forever but was probably a few seconds he managed to get control of the reins and the horse, although he nearly lost his spear in the process. He struggled to keep hold of it although it could not be said he was really carrying it in a purposeful manner so much as trying not to let it fall out of his grasp. Just as he contrived to rein the horse back in to a more sedate canter he found himself closing on a Scotti warrior who was running as fast as he could. More by good luck than any great skill he managed to get the lance pointed at the back of the fleeing man just as he reached him and the point dug into the fugitive’s back in a sickly manner. The man went down and Arturo nearly lost his grip on both the spear and the horse but in some ungainly manner finished up still astride the saddle and holding on to the now bloody tipped spear.

  Struggling to get settled on the cantering horse he finally managed to get a firm grip on the reins and tried to pull the horse up. "Whoa" He said pulling back on the reins, but his efforts seemed to have no effect on the equine maniac who kept charging after his fellows. Arturo kept yanking back as hard as he could manage and eventually the message seemed to get through to the horse and the animal finally slowed to a walk.

  Finally able to look around properly he assessed the situation carefully. The Scotti were running south as fast as they could although the ones on this side of the battlefield were seemingly better organised than the remnant of those which had faced his men. As he held his horse in check and looked around men from Wern came running past him shouting in excitement, brandishing their spears at Arturo happily as they chased their foe.

  Dileen came pounding up breathing hard. He wiped his brow beneath the conical helmet he wore and grinned at Arturo. “Good fun this.”

  Arturo smiled in apparent sympathy although he hadn’t found his first experience of primitive land warfare all that enjoyable. He decided that space warfare was a good deal cleaner besides requiring far less physical activity, nor did it require him to sit astride one of these horrible beasts! “We were just lucky, all of us, that today was the day I decided to come south and attempt to overawe you into accepting my overlordship, or at least that of the new Republic I intend to set up, restore, whatever.”

  Dileen looked at him for a moment as if weighing up what he intended to say. “So if I join this Republic of yours what happens? Not saying I will mind, but a man can’t make a decision without all the facts.”

  Arturo waved his hand back toward Wern. “For you, not much. You would continue on as Mair for as long as the people of Wern wanted to put up with you. At some we institute regular elections for the post of Mair and such like but that is somewhere down the track. Taxes would be properly administered and collected but you will find our tax rate is lower than the official Empire ones. At some point next year there will be an election held to elect the representative from this Province for the new Ruffanig Concillium I intend to set up, one elected member from each province of the Empire.” He paused for a moment. “I do not know how much you have been following what we’ve been doing up at Dervent but I expect there to be similar growth here as obviously Wern will be our main port for whatever trade we undertake.”

  Dileen nodded. ”Interesting idea that, your elected Consillium I mean, especially as you don’t even control one province yet!. As far as the other matters go, I have been following all your new ideas, these companies and the bank you have had that Jew set up. I will admit I am attracted to some of the ideas you have. But there is still the problem of Maximus.” He finished.

  Arturo nodded. “True. Every time I talk about negotiating with him everyone pretty much laughs at me.” He held up his hand as Dileen was obviously about to agree with this.” I will still try. I have to! But I will also come up with an alternative plan. I understand he is not exactly a military genius?”

  Dileen laughed. “Ha. Point him at the enemy and he can charge with the best of them. Has Sarmatian ancestry so is a natural in the saddle, but he has no control or finesse. Up and at them is the sum of his tactical thought.”

  Arturo smiled. “Well you’ll just have to trust me to solve the problem, one way or another.” He opened his palms to sort throw the onus back on Dileen.

  The old ex-soldier stood for a moment looking at Arturo as if looking for some secret sign then bowed. “I guess we’re Republicans now. Can I go chase the Scotti some more?”

  Arturo laughed. “If you want. I’d like as many prisoners as possible though so don’t kill them all.”

  Dileen looked at him with a crooked smile and then nodded before trotting off. Arturo headed back to where his third squad was stripping bodies and sorting out wounded prisoners. The prisoners were roped together and made to sit under the watchful eye of some of the third squad’s troopers while the rest searched the battlefield. Arturo looked at the sky and realised the entire battle had lasted less than an hour and it was only just mid afternoon.

  A couple of hours later, as Arturo’s men began using the captured Scotti to collect the bodies of the fallen, a rider came in from Valerius. He doffed his helmet upon reaching where Arturo and Oween were sitting on their horses trying to look they were supervising things, rather than just exhausted. At least Arturo was. Oween seemed to be more disappointed that Arturo hadn’t let him go chase Scotti as well. Surprisingly, he had returned to Arturo's side as soon as he realised that Arturo was not following up the fleeing Scotti like the rest of the army. And spent the time since complaining!

  The rider came up looking worn out and took a swig of water from a waterskin tied to his saddle before reporting. “Valerius has sent me to tell you sir that the Scotti are beaten and have taken to their boats. Such that were not killed or captured. Valerius thinks less than half escaped.”

  “Good work. Have a well earned rest.”

  Just as night was falling Valerius, Radovas and the rest of the force returned with nearly seventy prisoners and much booty. All objects of value were sorted and put to one side, Arturo announcing to the troops that possessions of the locals who had been lost to the Scotti would be returned if there were survivors. Some of the men grumbled at this but it was quickly pointed out that it could their family farms that would get raided the next time.

  The next day Arturo conferred with Oween about Scotti attitudes and decided to try something. Each captive was brought out of the camp and given a choice of serving in the Republican army for ten years or serving in a labour gang for ten years. Unsurprisingly most opted for the army. Arturo had not been able to prevent badly wounded Scotti being despatched but the lightly wounded ones were added to the rest and in the end he gained eighty two recruits and fourteen labourers.

  The fact that the new recruits outnumbered the existing force by nearly three to one was a worry but Radovas and Meries declared they were fine with it and would have the lot of them licked into shape in no time. Arturo was not so sure that it would be so easy but Oween didn’t appear to overly worried either so Arturo bit his tongue and let them do as they saw fit. He supposed the fact the Scotti tongue was very similar to the local language would help with commun
ication. And the locals didn’t seem to have that strong parochialism many planets brought into the Federation still had.

  Three of Dileen’s erstwhile force volunteered as well as did Con Llewellius, much to Arturo’s surprise. “I thought you would stay with Dileen.” He commented when the man approached him to join his army.

  “We talked it over and he felt it better if I join your army. Someone has to keep an eye on Wern’s interests.” He grinned.

  Arturo saw he meant that as a joke and grinned as well. “Good. You are immediately promoted to Ensign. Go tell Radovas you are part of his Century for the moment. Oh and send Meries to me.”

  “Yes sir.” Said Con and departed.

  Oween smiled at him. “Regular little army you’re building up now Arturo. Even with all those Scotti it won’t be enough to face Maximus though.” His expression turned glum.

  Arturo stroked his chin, a glimmer of an idea appearing. “Perhaps my friend, perhaps. I will admit this land warfare stuff is different to what I’m used to, but tactics are tactics regardless of where you fight, while strategy is no different at heart either. All the stuff I learnt in military college is sure coming in handy now, if only I could remember more of it!” He finished ruefully.

  Oween started. “You went to a school to learn how to be a soldier?” He asked incredulously.

  “Well how to be an officer and a leader mostly. But there was lots of other stuff. Just because I was slated for the navy didn’t mean I missed out on all the general stuff. And I majored in Military History which is going to be the most useful part of all.” He said without really thinking of the effect this would have on his friend.

  “Military History? So we seem pretty backward to you, then, do we?” Oween asked after a moment a pensive look on his face.

  Arturo laughed. “Not all my friend.” He said clapping hi on the shoulder, which wasn’t smart considering he was wearing armour. He shook his stinging fingers, playing it up a bit. “Technologically we have the edge, but there is one thing I know to be true all over. People are people my friend. Nothing changes.” Oween nodded, mollified a little. Just then Meries arrived. “Ah Meries. With all these recruits I have decided we will form a second century. We will divide the men pretty much evenly between each century and between each company in each century. We will finish with four under strength companies but with plenty of room to feed recruits into. Also go through all the, ah, volunteers and see if any can ride. If any can ride they should be transferred over to Valerius.”

  Meries appeared to consider all this and then nodded. “Yes Arturo. I was a bit surprised Con joined us, still he will be welcome. With all these barbarians to train we need all the help we can get.”

  Arturo smiled. “True although Radovas seems to think it will be easy.“ He shook his head in doubt. “Anyway, I will be giving him your old company. “He saw a frown appear on Meries face. “You will be moving to the second century, Cennard Meries.” He ordered.

  Meries smiled as realised he was being promoted and clasped arms with Arturo. “Thank you.”

  Oween clasped arms with his cousin as well but said. “It could be a very short command if Maximus comes south.”

  Arturo laughed. “Always with the doom and gloom! Everyone acts like Miximus is some sort bogeyman." He actually used a local Brython word for a mythological member of their native pantheon that was a fearsome creature of dark desires. "Don’t be so pessimistic. Maximus is still looking over his shoulder at Combrosius. By the time he decides to come after us I will have thought of something.”

  “Good enough for me.” Said Meries but Oween just shook his head, the gloomy look still on his face.

  He was still shaking his head when the whole force arrived back at Dervent late the next day. He brightened up however when Briffet appeared at the entrance to the fort in company with her father. The small party assigned to being labourers were made to erect tents in a corner inside the fort while the new recruits and the thirty veterans were broken up and re-organised as two centuries. Two of the Scotti turned out to be able to ride and were added to the cavalry.

  Arcadius seemed more surprised than anything. “Impressive.” He said to Arturo as the miniature army marched past into the fort. Well, straggled really but they tried to at least look military.

  Arturo dismounted and gave his reins to one of the cavalry troopers who then led his horse inside. “It’s a start.” He said softly. Arcadius glanced at him with a query on his face. Arturo waved his hand at the men. “They will take time to train and there is still not enough them to face Maximus, who everyone seems to regard as some sort of bogeyman. Anyway, the extra taxes from the area down around Wern will help cover the cost of all this lot.”

  “You won’t have to raise taxes, will you?”

  “No. I have reserves of my own yet. And these companies should start showing their worth by next year. I only have to last till then.” He smiled, then nodded at Oween and Briffet off to one side quietly talking to each other. “You seem to be resigned to that.” He offered.

  Arcadius grimaced. “It’s not what I wanted for her, but she has certainly shown a constancy of affection for him. And I have to admit I have been somewhat surprised by the change in him since he adopted you.” This last with a twinkle in his eyes.

  Arturo grinned at the old Rufanig. “Yes, well that is about the size of it in some ways. I am going to make him a major shortly. That’s a new rank I am introducing. Each cohort will continue to be commanded by a tribune as per usual but each tribune will be assisted by a major who will be second in command and basically a tribune in training.”

  Arcadius frowned a little. “I have noticed some of the innovations you have made with our organisation. From your own homeland I understand?”

  Arturo nodded. “Yes. I know your formations have lasted a long time, but I need a new organisational structure to be able to handle the new methods and weapons I will be introducing in time.”

  “Like your metal manuballista?” Arcadius queried. “I gather, seeing all these chaps you seem to have acquired, that the manuballistas did well in combat?” He said pointing at the former Scotti raiders.

  “Against unarmoured foes who only had small shields if they had any and few helmets, well, yes. Against a well drilled armoured force it probably would not have gone so well. We shall see in due course now that I have some real action information to reference. But for now, yes, I am happy.” He paused and looked as his men.

  “As far as other new weapons go it needs to be better than the manuballista. They are currently not that much better than a normal bow, just easier to train for and are only viable because of the ratchet cocking mechanism Ceri and I developed which gives it a significantly better rate of fire than your traditional manuballistas.” He paused for a moment. “There are other things. Not just weapons. Talking to Valerius you people seem to have little idea about recon or information gathering. I am going to have to start an Intelligence unit from scratch for instance.” He knew the former military experience of Arcadius would cause him to take an interest in what Arturo was referring to so he deliberately made it vague in order to keep him attending.

  Arcadius bit. “Intelligence unit? What is that?”

  “It would be an organisation primarily dedicated to gathering information about our enemies. At the moment that would be mostly stuff about Maximus, if everyone is to be believed, plus Combrosius I guess. Then there are the tribes north of the wall and the Scotti too. But I would include the Saxoni and other Germani tribes, the Empire itself and so on.”

  “I see.” Arcadius said. “I think the Vicar of the Household does something like that in Ravenna.” He added after a moment.

  Arturo added this bit of information to his store. “Well anyway my operation is going to be professional and wide ranging. It will combine active agents operating outside the area we control as well as internal agents gaining information from people such as traders and so on. It will also be tasked with watching for
any signs of internal revolt or disaffection.”

  Arcadius considered this for a few moments. “That sounds like a pretty big job. Going to cost money too.” He paused then added. "Going to be hard to find someone trustworthy enough as well I would imagine."

  Arturo nodded. “Yes. But like everything it will start small and build up. Hopefully no faster than the revenue streams.” He smiled. “Now we have a port I expect duties on trade to help financially.”

  The other man nodded but smiled wryly. “Ha! You are aware there is only one trading vessel left in these waters.”

  “Yes, but that does not matter as I intend to revolutionise ship building too my friend.”

  Arcadius laughed. “Of course you are! How silly of me. You are a naval captain are you not?”

  Arturo nodded. “The ship that sails these parts sounds pretty limited from the description Oween gave me. Like everything else though I will start in a small way. Care to invest in the Wern Ship Building company Arcadius?”

  Arcadius stroked his chin. “I am tempted I have to admit. I missed out on the Iron works. Let me know when you form it. Maybe I will invest a little.”

  Arturo smiled. “Keep some of your wealth in reserve though. I have something else in mind that I will want all my friends to get in early on.”

  “Ah. Another piece of deviltry no doubt?” Arcadius asked.

  Arturo shook his head. “Many will think so, but it will change the way transport works for ever.” Arcadius looked as though he wanted to know more but Arturo waved his hand. “Unlike some of the other things I have done or am going to do, that one is something I have very little practical knowledge of, only the vaguest of ideas in fact. It may well take Ceri and I some little time to get the thing to work so I am not going to say any more about it for the moment.” He paused and looked at the dignified Rufanig next to him. “Would you be interested in helping me set up the Intelligence unit?”