Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (26 page)

“There will most likely be a compromise, with Wierangan consenting to have the garrison perform exercises with Battle Point on occasion and come to their aid if needed, until they get a dragon or two from Draconia. Plus, like the general said, we do have a degree of autonomy,” Jodem added.

“Time will tell,” Mkel responded. “It should not be long before an Avenger dragon or at least a brass or copper can be stationed out here. Freiland should be getting Turanth, the young bronze dragon,” Gallanth said as softly as possible.

“That is, if the POE senators do not try to block the move,” Jodem answered as he and Mkel moved their gear into their rooms beside the legion headquarters, facing the landing field so he and Gallanth could see each other through the window of Mkel’s room.

“The senate has its agenda and we have ours, Master Wizard. The Enlightened senators have only been emboldened from former Premier Bilenton’s tenure,”
Gallanth replied as he lay down and started to fall asleep in spite an ever growing crowd of onlookers. Both legionnaires and civilians gathered to get a peek at the big gold dragon, who looked impressive, even when sleeping. Jodem told Mkel that he wanted to see Andellion before everything started and wish him a speedy recovery, and also to get a little information from him regarding his fight with the drow.

The next several hours passed quickly, with Mkel watching as hundreds of Alliance soldiers, horses, hippogriffs, and land dragons poured out of the barracks and stables. The legion at Battle Point was slightly modified from the standard Alliance legion design, in that it was larger and most of the infantry units were horse mounted, similar to Eladran Weir’s legion. Not all were skilled to fight mounted like paladins, but they rode for rapid transportation because of the distances they had to cover out there on the plains of the unsettled lands. The basic legion was composed of roughly six thousand soldiers. This included three medium infantry battalions and a heavy infantry battalion to form the infantry regiment, a land dragon battalion, a heavy horse cavalry squadron, a catapult battalion, a sapper unit, a support corps battalion, and a ranger company. The Battle Point legion had four infantry battalions instead of three, and all were mounted. They had two additional medium cavalry battalions to supplement its heavy cavalry battalion that formed a regiment. This was also done to counter the roving gangs of bandits that plagued the area, preying on the many trade caravans, as well as the Kaskar clans that frequently broke the treaty and raided towns and merchant wagon trains.

As the legion started to assemble, their standard composition started to form with the first medium infantry battalion nearest Gallanth. It had the usual six companies of one hundred eighty soldiers apiece, along with a small staff of ten to twelve with a commander and a senior sergeant for a total of approximately twelve hundred. The soldiers were arranged in twelve-man squads with an eight-man infantry team equipped with a long sword, large shield, long spear, dagger, and either banded armor or scale mail with a helmet. The other four men formed the range weapons team, with two armed with either repeating or heavy crossbows, and the other two with long composite bows. They also had a long sword, buckler, and helmet. They carried forty bolts or arrows, and had the same types of armor. All the Battle Point legion’s weapons and armor looked to be of almost Weir quality but more worn.

The squad leaders seemed to be of good quality as they arranged their men, who were fairly well armed with several having either a mithril alloy or magic weapon. There were three squads in a platoon, with the platoon leader being a formally trained commissioned officer, having attended the Alliance military academy or with a field commission, and a senior platoon sergeant of great experience. All officers had to have served at least three years as a line soldier. There was usually one battle healer per platoon, but here at Battle Point, there were two. Each battalion was supposed to have an organic wizard of mid degree with one or two apprentices, all of which provided immediate magic firepower and protection for the battalion, but they were in short supply here in the remote plains.

The heavy infantry battalion formed in the middle of the legion and was structured the same as the medium battalion, but the infantrymen were equipped with either full plate or breastplate over scale armor and were armed with large shields and either long swords, great axes, or heavy maces. The range weapons teams were armed with banded armor, crossbows, and long spears. The heavy infantry battalion was utilized as an anchor for a defense similar to how the Keystone Weir used the dwarf company. They were more focused on the close fight than missile barrages.

The land dragon battalion moved past Gallanth; it was composed of three hundred sixty men working with fifty-two land dragons. They formed three companies composed of fifteen land dragons each, with three platoons of four dragons and the commander’s, executive officer’s, and senior sergeant’s land dragon. There were four land dragons in the battalion headquarters for the battalion commander and his senior staff. The land dragons were utilized by Battle Point like the Draden regiment did, as a spearhead or breaking force in an all-out land battle or to fight larger powerful opponents the legion faced such as giants. The wingless dragons were the heavy hand of the legion and used as much to intimidate potential threats as to help stabilize the region.

The land dragons were among the most feared creatures in the unsettled lands and kept the peace up until recently. The Battle Point land dragons had even slain small white, green, and black dragons, as they always worked in pairs but also worked as a whole platoon.

The heavy cavalry squadron then started to filter in after the land dragons. There were roughly three hundred sixty mounted heavy warhorses. They were arranged in three troops of one hundred twenty cavalrymen apiece plus the commander, senior sergeant, healer, and small staff. The squadron was usually commanded by a powerful and experienced paladin of colonel or senior colonel rank. The heavy mounted cavalrymen were mostly paladins (or horsemen training to be paladins), all equipped with half plate or full plate armor with metal shields, and they were armed with hand and a half swords and heavy lances. Many of the senior paladins had some type of magical weaponry or armor, with the rest being of masterwork. Half had light repeating crossbows. A very powerful paladin commanded the troop, leading with the power of his holy sword, which was the ultimate weapon for an Alliance knight.

The two medium cavalry squadrons immediately followed. The medium cavalry was organized in the same manner as the heavy cavalry, just lighter armed and armored with more of a focus on speed and mounted archery. Their horses did not wear barding and were runners as opposed to the paladin mounts of the heavy cavalry. The soldiers themselves wore light scale or partial banded armor and were armed with long spears, long swords, small shields, and light helmets, as well as short composite bows or light repeating crossbows. They were meant for fast strikes but could fight on foot as well and operated in the field longer than the heavy cavalry. They trained to have more endurance for covering greater distances faster.

The light archer cavalry worked in conjunction with all the other forces in the legion or performed fast strikes and reconnaissance. Both Battle Point and Eladran Weir took this type of fighting and cavalry style from the northern Kaskar clans, who used mass light cavalry strikes to deliver a hail of arrows and then rapidly withdraw. While they were not as accurate as a stationary archer, they were very effective for these rapid attacks. Their organization seemed different to Mkel, who observed senior archers with very few commissioned officers. He would have to ask General Daddonan about them, for he was indeed curious.

The Battle Point’s catapult battalion wheeled in from the opposite side of the field, and Mkel observed them though his crossbow’s sight. They consisted of three batteries of three heavy catapults and three trebuchets apiece, mounted on special reinforced spring-equipped wagons with seventy-two men per battery. These siege engines gave the legion a total of eighteen long-range throwers operated by four hundred thirty-two men. The operators were specialized in the deployment of these deadly weapons. Battle Point had extra men and horses to man their catapults to allow more rapid transport over the long distances that they needed to travel to support their soldiers. Their catapults apparently had the same range as his Weir’s and utilized the same type of stones, dragon’s fire canisters, and the soft clay projectiles that had hundreds of nails imbedded within the sphere.

The sapper unit of the legion consisted of only one hundred twenty men. Mkel surmised that the Battle Point legion was more concerned about their own mobility rather than defensive works, since they were not out to seize opposing enemy fortresses but defended the city and the surrounding areas through a highly mobile force. They were not as concerned with siege towers or battering rams. The sapper soldiers also seemed more armed than the standard Alliance sapper.

The support battalion for Battle Point was also arranged slightly differently, being much more mobile and robust to support the increased number of cavalry; this legion was also more spread out across the broad swath of terrain that they had to cover. They had several senior clerics to help the support battalion commander perform her duties as well as providing a greater magical defensive power to the battalion. Likely also to make up for the fact that they did not have any female dragons assigned to the support battalion.
This would also have to be remedied
, Mkel thought to himself. Again, these support soldiers were also more heavily armed and armored than their standard Alliance counterparts.

The aerial battalion assigned to the legion took off and then quickly landed. It had over seventy-five mounted hippogriffs. They were arranged in a similar fashion to Draden’s aerial battalion, with three companies of twenty-five hippogriffs apiece. A soldier told Mkel that they were mainstays of Battle Point, with their flights being a welcome reinforcement to all forces that were hard-pressed. While not at full strength, they were constantly attempting to increase the numbers of their war birds.

Mkel saw the legion’s organic ranger company, which was mostly mounted on griffons but had a few giant eagles. This one-hundred-twenty-man unit was composed of all human rangers with one elf to aid them in tracking and dealing with the wood elves that resided in the forests to the northwest. Mkel noticed that he had the markings of Haldrin’s clan from Lucian Forest on his cloak. Like the ranger platoon at the Weir, they conducted raids and scouting missions for the legion into enemy and troubled areas.

Andellion, the legion’s senior wizard, was a key individual on the legion’s staff, being an advisor to the legion commander and teacher to the apprentice wizards. Andellion gave the legion the most magical offensive and defensive capabilities that he could muster and coordinated with the battalion’s wizards if a great threat from enemy sorcerers, powerful evil creatures, and chromatic dragons materialized. They also acted as ambassadors for the legion when needed.

Jodem walked out of their lodging and joined Mkel as he made his way over to Gallanth. The gathering legion soldiers were all staring at the sleeping dragon, who even with his tail wrapped around his one side and his wings folded was still just under twenty-five yards long and took up a good patch of ground.

“Hey big fellow, it’s time to wake up. The whole legion is gathered to both see you and show off for you,” Mkel said to his dragon as he put his hand on his massive cheek. “I am awake. I just wanted to give them a little time to get by and to give me clearance to stand up. Quite a large force compared to the Draden regiment or even a standard Alliance legion,” Gallanth replied.

“Yes, but Draden has the Weir garrison and you,” Mkel replied.

“It has us,” Gallanth said with endearment.

“All right, just get up and raise their spirits,” Mkel said with a smile.

Gallanth lifted his head, stood up on all four of his thick tree-trunk-sized legs, and stretched his neck, wings, and tail after ensuring that he would not hit anyone.

“I see General Daddonan and his staff gathering up by his headquarters building, and we don’t want to keep the general waiting,” Mkel said as Gallanth looked down at him with the best a dragon could do to make a smile.

“No, we can’t have that, especially Colonel Sykes and his staff,” Jodem echoed as they started to walk to the front of the assembling legion toward General Daddonan and his staff. Gallanth walked slowly behind them, trying not to create too heavy a tremor from his heavy footsteps, for even as big as he was, he could walk relatively quietly when he wanted to. The soldiers of the legion quieted down as Gallanth approached, staring in amazement at the big gold dragon. They probably had not seen a gold dragon for some time, and then to be this close to the largest dragon in the world, save Michenth and Tiamat, must have left a distinct impression. This was especially true since Gallanth was almost three times the size of a land dragon. Mkel’s soldiers and even the soldiers of the Draden regiment were used to being around Gallanth.

“Welcome, Draden Weir,” General Daddonan greeted them.

“Gold dragon Gallanth, Captain Mkel, Master Wizard Jodem, on behalf of the Battle Point legion, we welcome you and are honored by your presence,” Colonel Sykes echoed as the chief of staff and official commentator of the legion. Mkel was used to some Alliance officers having a little animosity toward him for being both a dragonrider and an officer. Only a few like Colonel Lordan and Lieutenant Bristurm were in the same position he was. The only ones who could give Colonel Lordan a hard time were generals, but they did not, because of his stature as a silver dragonrider and Weirleader.