C3P6: Koshka's Conundrum
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
The King is dead.
The personal union is broken and the nations divided. However he had died, that's exactly what these rebels are fighting for, exactly what the men and women you serve alongside are probably dying for out there on the streets of Polyapavlosk. You might be fighting for the King and a united Varnmark, but that's about to get a whole lot harder if word spreads of his death.
Better get to work then. Your first action is to send Vasily out in search of Sasha, trusting him to be able to look after himself and find out what happened on the other side of that wall. If she's been hurt… If she's been hurt, you emphasise to yourself, you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself for leaving her to lie there in the street, injured and bleeding. If you could go yourself, you would without a moment's hesitation, but you have other duties.
Deep in the armoury are fifteen or so sailors in various states of dress, readiness and confidence. You gather them up with a few stern words and the tone of command you'd learned from superior officers when they shouted at you because their ship hadn't been coaled fast enough. Never mind that coaling wasn't your department and they should have been shouting at some other poor Leytenant about it.
Ensuring they are armed and equipped in some sort of reasonable fashion takes an hour, and explaining to them that they are going to be operating as an infantry unit another still. There is much resistance, especially from some of the older 'swains and mates, but eventually they give when they are reminded of their duty to crown and country. You split them into two groups, one of ten and one of five, and send them off on their respective missions. To the first you point out nearby warehouses and demand supplies - food, medical equipment, anything they can lay their hands on that will prove useful if the rebels manage to lay siege to the armoury The second will reconnoitre the docks and the slipways to find out who controls the ships. They will be vital in the coming days.
Waiting is worse than anything else. It has one lesson though, and that's that you would have never succeeded in the traditionally male dominated Army. Not only would you have faced being a minority, but you would have had to wait for news so many more times. No, your little office was seeming more and more attractive, however much you wished to be out of it when you are working.
Over the course of hours the news starts rolling in. Food and medical supplies are easy to find and soon there are stacks and stacks of crates inside the armouries thick walls to go with the guns and ammunition. Any siege will be survivable for at least a few weeks, if not longer. Then a few new marines and sailors arrive, bringing news that the fighting in the port is beginning to settle into grim stalemate in all the places they have heard it but that the gate guards are low on ammunition. The marines leave with packs full of rifle rounds. The sailors stay to bolster your numbers.
As the sun goes down the men you had sent to the docks return. Or at least, two of them do, one carrying the other. He's badly wounded and your first urge is to get him stabilised before you can even take a report. When the report comes it is even worse news. The Docks and the ships which remain in port are held by forces loyal not the Varnmark or the King but to Kevia and some of them are already flying the traditional Kevian jack's rather than the newer ones that had been issued after the union was formed. At least half of the ships were missing, however, including three of the huge battleships. Not sunk, but not in port. You hope they have chosen the right side.
Finally, Vasily returns just as you are beginning to fear that he may not return and, even better, he has Sasha in tow. Without thinking you leap up from your position and run into her arms, wrapping your own around her waist and burying your head in her chest in full view of the door guards.
You don't particularly care what they think.You wouldn't know what you would do if she had been seriously injured, or been killed.
"Hey, Koshka, I'm safe." She whispers before letting go, the only words you care to hear.
The night passes uneventfully. When the sun rises, everyone is tired, but there has been little gunfire overnight. It is time to make new plans and coordinate with the Major of the Marines. It is no good to be reactive. The only way to push is to be proactive.
The young man you sent to the docks died in the night.
You have some forces and enough supplies to survive a siege, but you can do more:
[ ] Push towards the gates to relieve the marines there.
[ ] Push towards the docks to recapture the ships.
[ ] The armoury is the key to victory. We must reserve our strength.
[ ] Write-in
Known Rebel positions are shown in Blue.
Known Loyalist positions are shown in Red.
The personal union is broken and the nations divided. However he had died, that's exactly what these rebels are fighting for, exactly what the men and women you serve alongside are probably dying for out there on the streets of Polyapavlosk. You might be fighting for the King and a united Varnmark, but that's about to get a whole lot harder if word spreads of his death.
Better get to work then. Your first action is to send Vasily out in search of Sasha, trusting him to be able to look after himself and find out what happened on the other side of that wall. If she's been hurt… If she's been hurt, you emphasise to yourself, you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself for leaving her to lie there in the street, injured and bleeding. If you could go yourself, you would without a moment's hesitation, but you have other duties.
Deep in the armoury are fifteen or so sailors in various states of dress, readiness and confidence. You gather them up with a few stern words and the tone of command you'd learned from superior officers when they shouted at you because their ship hadn't been coaled fast enough. Never mind that coaling wasn't your department and they should have been shouting at some other poor Leytenant about it.
Ensuring they are armed and equipped in some sort of reasonable fashion takes an hour, and explaining to them that they are going to be operating as an infantry unit another still. There is much resistance, especially from some of the older 'swains and mates, but eventually they give when they are reminded of their duty to crown and country. You split them into two groups, one of ten and one of five, and send them off on their respective missions. To the first you point out nearby warehouses and demand supplies - food, medical equipment, anything they can lay their hands on that will prove useful if the rebels manage to lay siege to the armoury The second will reconnoitre the docks and the slipways to find out who controls the ships. They will be vital in the coming days.
Waiting is worse than anything else. It has one lesson though, and that's that you would have never succeeded in the traditionally male dominated Army. Not only would you have faced being a minority, but you would have had to wait for news so many more times. No, your little office was seeming more and more attractive, however much you wished to be out of it when you are working.
Over the course of hours the news starts rolling in. Food and medical supplies are easy to find and soon there are stacks and stacks of crates inside the armouries thick walls to go with the guns and ammunition. Any siege will be survivable for at least a few weeks, if not longer. Then a few new marines and sailors arrive, bringing news that the fighting in the port is beginning to settle into grim stalemate in all the places they have heard it but that the gate guards are low on ammunition. The marines leave with packs full of rifle rounds. The sailors stay to bolster your numbers.
As the sun goes down the men you had sent to the docks return. Or at least, two of them do, one carrying the other. He's badly wounded and your first urge is to get him stabilised before you can even take a report. When the report comes it is even worse news. The Docks and the ships which remain in port are held by forces loyal not the Varnmark or the King but to Kevia and some of them are already flying the traditional Kevian jack's rather than the newer ones that had been issued after the union was formed. At least half of the ships were missing, however, including three of the huge battleships. Not sunk, but not in port. You hope they have chosen the right side.
Finally, Vasily returns just as you are beginning to fear that he may not return and, even better, he has Sasha in tow. Without thinking you leap up from your position and run into her arms, wrapping your own around her waist and burying your head in her chest in full view of the door guards.
You don't particularly care what they think.You wouldn't know what you would do if she had been seriously injured, or been killed.
"Hey, Koshka, I'm safe." She whispers before letting go, the only words you care to hear.
The night passes uneventfully. When the sun rises, everyone is tired, but there has been little gunfire overnight. It is time to make new plans and coordinate with the Major of the Marines. It is no good to be reactive. The only way to push is to be proactive.
The young man you sent to the docks died in the night.
You have some forces and enough supplies to survive a siege, but you can do more:
[ ] Push towards the gates to relieve the marines there.
[ ] Push towards the docks to recapture the ships.
[ ] The armoury is the key to victory. We must reserve our strength.
[ ] Write-in
Known Rebel positions are shown in Blue.
Known Loyalist positions are shown in Red.
