To [Divide] .and. ` c o n q u e r -

[Yukiko]

The unruly civilians had been building in numbers for quite some time now; it was only getting worse. The attempt at suppressing these upheavals was working thus far, as the military was full of skilled officers as well as the many soldiers that were practically dispensable. Nevertheless, the once proud and eager men were tired, and had been battling tirelessly for weeks. The infantry had been significantly downsized; they needed some recuperation and time to regain acceptable numbers.

New strategies for sustaining the battle against these rebels were being brought to the King’s attention daily, but none of them seemed to be working as it were. The men were pushing them back, but only temporarily. And the most bizarre notion was that their numbers were actually increasing. The rebels were only gaining in numbers every moment, and they still had not been forced to the outer edges of the kingdom. The hope of an easy win was quite out of range as it seemed. The King’s army of the strongest men would not show the slightest inkling of defeat. Or at least, not on his watch. He would just have to deploy a new plan.

This day, his Majesty sent out a more personal battalion of his finest soldiers. It was time to give them a little bit of glory and honor; both of which would be amplified should they crush these rebels with ease, and in due time. He had faith and trust in these soldiers, two in particular.

His Majesty was proudly releasing his eldest son into the heart of battle; a quest that the young man yearned for and could not wait to pursue. However, his son was not the only one in this group.

Because he favored these two particular children, the King decided that he would employ his own method of leadership; duel Generals. He gave them the same position, equal in value and greatness, just split in half. This was gifted to his eldest son, and oddly enough, his niece as well. As if the mere fact that there were two generals in the King’s personal battalion wasn’t strange enough, one of them was a woman.

It was not a choice that was favored by many of the clergymen and townspeople. No one wanted to rely on a woman for their defense; there was no way she could prove capable in that aspect. Or any for that matter; she should have simply been married off to some random prince from a sister-country. But the King spared her from that fate, as she proved to be worth her weight in battle and matters of state.
It wasn’t a shock that she was well trained and educated by the same scholars that taught her cousin and other male nobles. They did find that she had a gift for strategy, but in being a woman, she was not as physically capable as her cousin. She could never be General without him by her side. Or at least, that was what everyone made sure was never to happen.

However, she did just that.

Just moments prior to their assignment, information had returned with intelligence that the rebel group had another counterattack planned from the north. In order to nip this in the bud quickly, the King decided to split his Royal Battalion. Leaving his son to fight the refugees from the north, while his niece to fight the ones taking hold outside of the city.
While his people were none too pleased with this idea, his niece was ecstatic. It would be a sort of chance to prove herself, not as a woman, but as a soldier. She was not nearly as physically strong or skilled in weaponry as her cousin, but she was smart; she could think quickly on her feet. This was a skill that couldn’t be taught. One just had to possess it.

And without further hesitation, they were gone. The youths had split ways, and now set off to accomplish their separate missions.

Her name was Amelie.

The brunette was of average height, and about twenty years of age. She was fairly old for a girl to be unwed and barren. Neither of those options were something she foresaw in her near future. Her complexion was tanned; years of training, riding, and outdoor sports and activities relieved her skin of the acceptable fairness a lady of nobility was expected to exhibit. Her shoulder-length, deep brown locks framed a delicate face; her features were fine and of good breeding. Her light brown eyes were set under a soft brow bone that was adorned with neatly manicured brows.

Although she was a delightfully interesting visage, she was as elegant as any other member of nobility. However with the exception that she took pride in what she could accomplish with her mind, rather than her appearance.

Her military garb of red and gold swished as she mounted her horse and took off towards the valley; unconcerned of what awaited, for she was fairly confident she could face any opposition that came her way.

 

[Nathanromml]

To say that King Edward II wasn't really popular among common people is to exaggerate at the very least. While being the favorite of rich, noble families of the Kingdom he was hated among common people. Now it was the dawn of his 21st year of his unjust, tyrannical rule. The first to rebel were those who were oppressed the most- the peasants. At first it was just the matter of few runaway serfs here and there, which was a pain in the ass for the local nobles but nothing the local militia couldn't handle. But the taxes kept rising and soon, several mayor merchant companies withdrew from the land. This was a disaster for the economics- the merchant companies provided roughly 2/3 of all the trade in the Kingdom. Cut off from, sometimes, even the most basic resources, cities started falling down and the famine and disease followed. Some citizens turned to crime, other choose to hide in the forests and live like the primitive barbarians of East. Unable to retake the control of his own country, the King declared full mobilization of his troops and death penalty for even the slightest crime. But the rebellion kept going, and in the 21st year of His Merciful Rule it seemed it was far from over. Rebel, both the bandits and those just hiding from the crown(called "Refugees"), manged to form some kind of strange alliance. The Refuges were providing the food ad working as a lumberjacks and workers for the bandits, while the bandits protected them from the army. One of such "hideout cities", as they were popularly called, was the old mining complex deep in the Northern Woods called by it's inhabitants "The Camp". The Camp was governed by a bandit chieftan Tork, a 35 year old mercenary who became the leader by killing the previous chieftain in a sword duel few months ago.

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John of Tamberlot,Tork's second in command, stood in front of his troops, preparing for the battle against the Royal Battalion itself. Though, these weren't really his troops. In fact, this weren't troops at all. The cowardly bunch standing behind him were refuges armed with bunch of sticks and armored in an old, damaged leather armors which was quite useless. But from far away the looked like warriors and that's all Tork need.
Tork, being a mercenary for many years, knew the way many armies fought- Kingdom's army included. He was more then certain that the enemy commander will send heavy cavalry first. Bold, proud knights, half of which would have sooner died then fled from battle.
Especially when the enemy was routing.
The plan was that the refugees will retarded back to forest as soon as soon as the enemy cavalry will appear. The enemy is "supposed" to follow them there, where the bandits and Tork himself awaited, armed with spears and muskets await. Course, Tork needed someone competent to oversee the first stage of operation. And who is more competent then his second in command?
The knights appeared in the distance. Bold, in a shining corny armors of theirs. If they won't make it back to forests in time, they are dead. If they will start retreating too soon, he is dead cause the operation will fail and Tork will kill him personally. The latter was definitely worse.
John noticed a sudden movement in a crowd behind him.
"Wait, whores! Even if you are not warriors yourself mat least pretend that you are ones! You'll run away on MY orders, do you under...." suddenly he noticed that the knights were moving faster then he predicted. What's their problem? Aww, fuck the speech!
"RUN!!" he screamed and started running as fast as he could to the theoretically safe forest. The battle had begun.

 

[Yukiko]

Amelie gave the signal simply by increasing her speed, and pushing her horse faster, ahead of her soldiers just enough so that they could still see her to follow. She led the division front and center, leading her men into the forest to engage the battle they had just enacted.

She smirked as her ruthless nature in terms of battle was already kicking in. She was not an ignorant soldier; she knew quite well that entering enemy territory wasn’t usually the best strategy. It was best to bring them to the home front, where you had the upper hand. But she had seen these so-called “warriors” and she was so confident she could crush them with little opposition that she felt no need to bring the battle home.

No, she would end this quickly. Right on their own grounds; she wanted to squash this insurgency as well as prove a lesson to any would-be rebel. Dare to go against the Crown, and you should pray you die swiftly. For if this General should ever take you prisoner, you will wish you had been slain.

She boldly treaded on way ahead of her battalion, leaving them out of eye-sight. She could no longer contain herself, she would force on ahead, and go for the leader. Her soldiers were merely to guard her from the pathetic weaklings that would even dare take a shot at her. She would find the mind behind this ridiculous rebellion, and she would personally kill him. Her direct orders were to kill anyone and everyone that was a threat, except for the leader. He was to be brought back alive.

She would not listen.

She passed through a series of trees, following the noises echoing throughout the foliage of the retreating band. They were no longer in her sights, but her wits were about her. She only stopped for a moment, to assess her ground. She kept her guard up, tugging the reins of her already agitated stallion.