17th of Fevriay, 0000 A.C.
Morning
Northern Ravissant Border.
Icy winds blew across the bleak terrain. The landscape was covered with snow as far as the eye could see. There were no signs of wildlife present, save for the occasional migratory flock of birds.
“It’s so cold!” Jeanne exclaimed. Jacques turned to see her shivering, dressed only in her warrior suit.
Sighing, he pulled out an extra wool jacket and gave it to her. “This is why I warned you to be prepared.”
Pouting, she replied, “Well, this is my first time away from the centre of Ravissant, so how was I supposed to know that it would be a temperature like this?”
As Jacques started to respond cheerfully, one of his underlings appeared next to him and saluted.
“Yes, Rikken?” Jacques put on a face of authority. The officer, who was probably older than him, pointed east. “The reconnaissance team has located a small village a few kilometres away. We believe that it’s inhibited by hunter-gatherers.”
“Then, as part of our mission of establishing borders, it’s mandatory that we meet them,” Jeanne stated.
Rikken nodded, “Of course, Commander.”
Jeanne sent him off, and turned to Jacques. “Hey, fellow Commander,” she grinned. “We’d better get moving, or are you already tired?”
Shouldering his bags, Jacques laughed. “I’m not some 50-year old man.”
The team of 30 people trekked along the snowy plain, determined to meet the leaders of this village to establish diplomatic relations.
As the neared the village, they could see a large campfire at the centre of the village. Many women were gathered around it, cooking meals in large pots, while children, dressed in wolf-fur played around the flames, getting scolded when they came too close.
“Seems quite peaceful,” Jacques noted. Jeanne, however, felt uneasy. “Where are all the men?” she asked, and immediately the squad went into Recon mode, scouting out the entire perimeter of the village, while the battle group stayed where they were in a circle, facing outward towards the harsh plain covered in snow dunes.
All of a sudden, one of the warriors fell, spouting blood from a wound on his shoulder, which was caused by a large wooden arrow.
“It’s a long range attack!” someone shouted.
“DISPERSE!” Jacques shouted. “Become a difficult target!” AT the same time, he looked in the direction the arrow should have come from. All he saw was a large dune. Intrigued, he ordered a medic to bandage the soldier, and ran as fast as possible towards the dune, in a zig-zag pattern. Using his swords, he slashed at the dune, causing blood to splatter on his blades. There was an archer hidden inside the dunes!
Leaving the dead archer, he shouted to his teammates, “They’re inside the dunes! Capture them all!”
A volley of arrows answered his order. Drawing swords and pistols, the squad set to work, sneaking behind the dunes and surprise-attacking the archers from behind.
Half an hour later, all the men were tied up. The two commanders went up to the one who seemed like the leader of the bunch.
“Hello,” Jacques pronounced slowly. “We come in peace.” Jeanne scoffed, “I think it’s a bit too late for that.”
Scowling at Jeanne, he returned his attention to the leader, who was now wriggling uncomfortably. “What’s your name? I’m Jacques.”
The man looked utterly confused, and said something in a different language.
Shaking his head, Jeanne said, “Call the president. Report the current situation to him.”
Ordering several members to watch over the archers, Jacques took a few soldiers and went to the village. The women were so scared at seeing outsiders in their village, that they started to hurl knives and similar weapons at them. Luckily, none of them struck the soldiers, revealing that they were inexperienced with weapons.
Establishing order using non-verbal cues, the team managed to calm them down. The team outside the village released the archers one by one. Running back into their village, they were hugged by their family, who were amazed at the fact that they were defeated.
“Is there anyone here who speaks English?” Jacques called. A murmur went through the crowd, as they didn’t understand. But then, an old man, who’d been sitting in the shade of a hut, wobbled to his feet. “I can speak it,” he slowly enunciated, as though he were tasting the words.
“Who is your leader?” Jeanne, who’d entered the village and seen the old man, questioned. The old man pointer with a shivering hand at a tall, muscular man who had been released by the Warriors and was now with his wife and children.
Looking at Jacques, Jeanne stated, “We’ll need to teach them English before we can decide on diplomatic relations.”
“Yeah,” Jacques called the Ravissant Education Sector Head of English, and requested a team of teachers and translators to travel to their coordinates, to aid them with the mission. “This might take while, so let’s set up camp here.”
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