Blood Soaked Freedom [RP w/ Steve/Suavidici]

Faurtraie, Northern Aubervijr
The capital of the rebellion
Modern-day Heerenveen
Around June of 407 CE
Around noon

Gale Raeddeg rode on horseback, across a dirt track, which was, in some areas, overgrown with grass, but was still firm dirt, and easy to march upon. Gale donned long-flowing, black robes, with armour, which was as dark as possible. Behind him, marched an army of two thousand, not much, but it was enough, mostly men recruited from loyal towns and villages across the region. The Imperium had fled months before, allowing Gale to prepare for a war, recruit help from southern tribes, and raise an army capable of putting up a fight against the oncoming legion(s).

Gale approached the city, which had been walled off when the rebellion was declared, the wall wasn't that strong, and was rather loose, any major collision would send the wall crashing to the floor. But, a tall, and thick wooden gate had been set up at the entrance to the city, to stop any unwanted visitors from getting into the city. It hadn't been officially taken over by Gale, or the Imperium, it acted as a city, just sitting there, with no real leader. Gale and his small army were to change that.

Gale rose a hand, as he came to a stop. The army behind him, and the officers on horseback next to his troops, then stopped, and Gale turned his horse to face them. "Wait here." Gale spoke, "I'm going to speak to whomever runs Faurtraie." His army raised their right arm, their fists clenched and elbows bent, and let out a shout, in some local language, shouting a word which roughly translated to "Onward".

Gale nodded, before turning his horse to face the gates of the city. He tapped his stirrups against the horses' side, gently edging it along. Gale rode slowly towards the walls of the city, and stopped ten metres or so, in-front of said gates. Gale let out a shout, "Open your gates." He yelled. "Surrender to this movement, and side with us against the tyrannical reign of the Imperium Suavidici."

There was a deafening silence.

Gale frowned, opening his mouth once more. "Forget your singing, and your prayers, believing everything will be okay. If the legions march into this city, it will be burnt, and your population slaughtered." Gale raised an eyebrow, estimating whether what he just said was true, or not. "Open your gates", he continued, "surrender to this movement, and you will be saved from the fate the legions choose for you!"

No reponse.

"For all I care, you may dance with evil, pray to your Gods, sound your drums long into the night, I do not care. But if you refuse, you are casting yourself to an unknown fate! If you do not open these gates now, then to Hell with you all. But now is the time to be wise, to choose life over death, to live another day, rather than be judged at the end of a steel blade! Open your gates, let us in."

Gale took a long breath in, as he paused for a moment. Then, as a gust of wind, pushing his long hair out of his face, the gates were opened by eight guards from the inside, wearing old armour, that would be no match for four soldiers of the legions. Gale tutted at the sight of them, knowing that they wouldn't last a minute in any combat. Gale signalled for his army to move forward with his hand, as he then guided his horse inside himself.

"Thank you." Gale shouted to the guards, as he trotted in, to find the city surprisingly orderly. The track running through the city was completely clear, as civilians stood beside it, staring now at Gale, a complete stranger, whom they had only heard whispers of. Some legendary man, a brutal murderer, a liberating saint, rumours were everywhere, and Gale took notice of the whispers amongst the civilian population, with all eyes not even fixed on Gale's army, but Gale himself. Gale wondered what they were thinking of.

"What are you all afraid of?" Gale shouted to the onlookers, still mounted on his horse. Gale dismounted, as silence filled the air. He frowned.

"I can't hear you, if you're trying to answer me." Gale chuckled. A man then stepped up. Probably no older than 20, Gale's eyes darted from his head to his feet, surveying him. "What do you have to say, son?"

"We don't want to die. We want to live, in peace - not in war, and we don't care who under. Whether that be you or the legions, but we want to live in peace." There was a murmur of agreement from the crowds behind him.

"What is your name, young man?" Gale asked.

"Radbod." The man replied. "I'm Radbod."

"Radbod. I'm Gale Raeddeg." Gale approached Radbod, and the two grabbed each other's arm, which was essentially, their form of a handshake. Radbod nodded. "Now, Radbod, I'm not your King. I'm merely a man, born in a fishing town, who speaks a few languages, and knows his way around a sword. I want to free this region, one way or another, from the Imperium. They rule us with a disregard for our people, our culture, our way of life. Yes?"

Radbod agreed. "I understand you." He replied, and Gale nodded.

"I come here with 2,000 men, in hopes to find you all in good health, with adequate food and such. The Imperium, from what I know, and their legions left when the rebellion broke out. Nobody knows when they'll return, but we hope we have some time before they land yet." Gale explained.

"They're returning?" Radbod asked, likely on behalf of the crowd, who were dead silent.

"Of course they are. My army are a bunch of farmers and fishermen, who were recruited if they knew how to handle farming tools, or how to fish. They might have been given some training, but they were probably handed whatever weaponry or equipment we already had, or had gathered from what the Imperium left behind. If you had a shield, you were considered lucky. Even I don't have a shield, but some of my men do. My army is incredibly small, compared to the Imperium's own. But my men have proven their devotion to this movement. We're not big, nor powerful, we're just here. And we'll put up a fight to the best of our ability."

Gale cleared his throat.

"We're here, and we'll resist. In the event we somehow succeed, which would be a gift send from the Heavens, I would be your King, and a humble one at that. I have my own family, my son, Rauentet, who I haven't seen in a year. I hope to see him again one day, but I don't know when, or if I will. I'm like you all. I come from a normal family, my mother was a peasant, my father died before I could remember. I learned a few languages, and found my way around a sword. Now I stand before you all, with a loyal following, who will stand by me, and fight with me."

Gale paused, and the silence seemed unbreakable.

"I apologise if I'm going around in circles a bit. But I cannot emphasise it enough, I know your struggles. But the legions, the Imperium, they know nothing of what you've been through, they know not of your grief, your tireless hours of work. They're probably sitting in their luxurious palaces, sipping on some exotic drink, eating fresh fruit, whilst we all work, day and night, picking their fruit, for them to eat the next day. They don't know of your pain, your cuts, your brusies, your broken bones, your illnesses, they know nothing. But I know some. I may not have lived your lives, you may have had it easier or worse than I did growing up. But I can understand you. I speak your language, for God's sake, but the legions' don't know of your begging, they don't understand your pleading, not that they'd care when they are raising their swords to slash your throat."

Gale realised that he hadn't been speaking to Radbod, but instead the entire crowd. It was turning into a bit of a speech. But Gale didn't mind.

"Its hard to understand what I'm saying, I'm certain. But my humble army, our humble movement, our prayers and our songs, they won't go unnoticed. I am sure, at the end of all of this chaos, this confusion, this terror... this uncertain era, I'm sure we can all live in peace, as you have wished, and as I am sure you all wish."

Gale paused for a moment, to clear his throat once more, and cough a little.

"The odds certainly aren't in our favour. We're outnumbered vastly. Even if I recruited your entire populace, of what, ten thousand, we'd probably remain outnumbered. I have some armies scattered further south and north, in total we have about five thousand soldiers, and two thousand of them stand behind me, and only a few more are properly armed. I don't expect you to want to fight, to want to risk your lives for our seemingly impossible cause. But any help, any man we may have within our army, is another man closer to beating the legions, and securing this state our ancestors have lived in for centuries."

Gale looked down at the ground, thinking for a moment. "I don't expect you to volunteer. But if you so desire to, do not be afraid to stand up and tell me." Gale then looked up at the crowd, probably of three thousand or so.

"Who will take a stand and resist? Your mothers may miss you, your children may cry to see their fathers leave, but it will be for an honourable cause. I can't guarantee your life, I kko can't guarantee you will ever see your family again, if you choose to take up a sword. But I swear, hand over my heart, that I will personally search the battlefields with my men for your body, if you are to fall, and have it buried by a hillside with a nice view of the sunset. I can promise nothing but the blood of thousands. But we will still fight."

Gale paused again.

"If you are with me, raise your hand."

Slowly, hundreds raised their hands. Gale couldn't help but smile, as more hands raised. Some didn't, which Gale was fine with, but Gale didn't expect to see so many. Gale laughed. "I will try to have you all fitted with swords and some armour, but there are no guarantees at this present moment. I didn't expect to see so many hands, though. Thank you all, so much." Gale estimated a thousand hands were raided in total, although he couldn't be sure. He wondered how they would all be organised for a moment, but stopped thinking of near immediately after.

Gale then turned towards the gates, where his soldiers were standing, having listened intensely, all with gleaming smiles. They then formed a gap, as a horse and a lone rider moved through the gates and into the city. He stopped behind Gale's horse, and dismounted, walking to Gale, where he whispered in his ear;

"Suavidici vessels have been spotted off the northern coast. We don't know how many, but estimates sit at around a hundred, maybe more, maybe less."

"It's starting then." Gale murmured to himself. "Thank you." The man nodded, mounted his horse, and rode out of the city, out of the gap formed, as the soldiers then reformed following his departure.

"There are one hundred Suavidici vessels sitting off of our coast now." Gale announced to the crowd. "Maybe less than that, maybe more, we don't know. I will make this city my own capital city, and shall leave some advisors here, and some unequipped soldiers to help you with the strengthening of your walls. But my army and I need to depart and head north, as the Imperium may attack soon, and we must be there. I'll leave you under the command of my trusted general, Dirbad, who will arm the volunteers here the best he can. But in the mean time, I wish you all the very best of luck and health. Farewell for now."

Gale then turned, mounting his horse, as the crowd behind him burst into cheers and applause. A gap formed in Gale's army, and Gale rode out of the gap, before his army reformed and marched on behind him, with the gates behind closed behind him. Gale hadn't stayed long, but he had already made a substantial impact. Gale prayed it would be enough to fight the Imperium. But he believed in his army, and the ability of his generals. He closed his eyes, as his horse followed along the track. He sighed, before opening his eyes, continuing on with his journey.

Gale estimated that his brother, Finn, had rallied his own army of three thousand or so in the north, to prepare for any possible engagements. Gale would have to locate Finn and cooperate with him in order to win any battle against the legions, that is, if they could. Gale hoped Finn's armies were adequately armed, or at least, all had a sword. But he wasn't 100% sure if they all knew how to use one or not. He was expecting a defeat in any upcoming battled, but was praying for a better result.

The *Legate in charge of this operation looked onto the landmass with distain. He was charged with maintaining the lands overseas, while other Legates were allowed to fight for control in the homeland as the civil war was raging. Imperator Constantine **"Cruentum" had pushed certain Patrician families too far and they had raised armies in the far eastern mountains to combat him. Instead of focusing on that struggle he gave me two legions and told me to squash this uprising. These "legions" were made up of a few cohorts of veterans, but mostly made up of new recruits. The proper legionaries were to help hold the Imperators power.

As the ships docked in the colony of Brundasum the two legions worth of men began to unload and meet at rallying points, and then meet with their standards and cohort commanders. This campaign would be one where the whole of these barbarian lands would become subject to the Imperator. There would probably be some kind of plunder out in these lands too, perhaps even an actual empire to defeat. As Legate Crassus set up his command post in the Governors Villa he began to hear reports form spies on the current strength of the enemy army, and their movements.

"Me lord, the rebel army gains men by the day. They march north in order to take these lands. They number in the several thousands however they do not carry heavy armor, and they have not had time to train together. Your Imperial armies should have no trouble slaughtering them."

The Legate looked at the man who had come before him and took a drink of wine.

"Kill this man Centurion. If he is willing to give up information on his own people then he will surly tell our location to the enemy."

From behind the Centurion came and stabbed him through the back. They took the screaming man and began to put him up on a cross. The Legate began to pace, he needed to figure out the best course of action, he sent for a scout to look for the army in the field.

This should be a quick campaign, the Legate thought. They want to meet me in open battle, with no heavy infantry or cavalry. I shall come and face this hero. I will bring his head to the Imperator. Then perhaps I can be governor of this province and get rich.

"LEGIO, prepare yourselves to meet this barbarian host in the field. We will crush them under heel and then move on to destroy the countryside! AVE IMPERATOR, AVE IMPERIUM!"

With that the legions head into the field and went to see the barbarian forces.

---

*Legate- General
**The Bloody
Music to listen to-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkeLkuFzPfM&t=5s

Gale stood amongst his soldiers, dressed like them, with the same facepaint as them, essentially identical, and hard to tell apart from any other soldier. His army numbered around five thousand. Most carried either a sword, spear, some lucky ones carried a shield to go along with whatever else they had.

Only lucky ones had armour, mostly abandoned armour salvaged from the prior legions in the region. This was the best of Gale's army. The best trained, and the most he could arm at this time. Gale watched as the legions formed in the distance. He smiled, turning to his trusted commanders.

"We won't win this battle. This should be fairly obvious by now." Gale now chuckled to himself, adjusting the robes he wore, which fell down to his knees.

A general on horseback turned to Gale. "Maybe our goal shouldn't be to win. Maybe we should attempt to kill as many soldiers as possible, that way we can try and salvage the weapons and shields they drop, so we can fight with them in another battle?"

Gale shrugged dismissively. "Maybe. I fought with them at one stage. I know their tactics. I will have someone watch them in this battle, so we can note their initial tactics, or what I understand of them, so we can better counter possible future tactics with our own."

"So you want to lose?" The same man inquired.

"Not at all. I expect to lose. There is some difference. But when this battle is over, we will still have men, even if all of these men die on this field, we will have more. But when we are done here, and we will be done eventually, we will hang the skulls of these Suavidici bastards from our branches, and will parade their prisoners like a prized pelt, before, well. We'll see how they treat us first."

"Aye, Raeddeg*." Came the reply.

"We now wait for the Suavidici to move. They seem menacing, don't they? This will be quite the bloodbath, probably for us. Alas, we need to learn from them. I need to perfect my understanding." Gale clenched his fists, eager.

"Thousands will die. Entire villages will be wiped from the map and burnt. Gale, are you sure? Can we not just withdraw and wait?" The general asked.

"No. No, we cannot. We must sacrifice men to achieve glory. We are a bunch of nobodies. A bunch of peasants, slaves, and anyone else who has volunteered to potentially give up their life so that this region may live in peace. The Gods have their eyes on us, gentlemen. And they will keep us safe, no matter how many die today. We will live on. The Gods will make sure of it, and anyone who dies on this field will forever be under the protection of the Gods we have faith in so dearly."

The five thousand men had now quietened. "Pray, all of you. Pray." Gale yelled at the top of his lungs. "Pray that we live through this. And if we don't, pray for our safety in whatever comes next."

Gale sighed, now getting onto a horse, grunting as he did so, before patting the horse near its neck. "As soon as the legions move, we do. Prepare yourselves. This field will be red before sunset. Commanders, do what you do best. Or what you do worst. We will soon see."

There was a quiet chuckle amongst the commanders. A sense of humour was important, and showed arrogance, laughing straight into the face of near certain death against a seemingly unbeatable force.

"The Imperium will not abandon us today. It may not leave tomorrow. But they will be forced out eventually. They will lose this war, but we will lose this battle." Gale said. There was a murmur of agreement. Gale then turned to his soldiers, and began shouting.

"So march down there. Scream until your throat burns, yell until your chest screams, run until your heart pounds, fight until your brain begs you to stop. And when it does, fight some more. That is how we win this war. Grit, determination and skill. You are brave, all of you. And the Gods will bless you. But you must fight this battle, you must stare death in the eyes with a smirk, you must be prepared to die today, so that this land may be free. Fight for your family, your friends, your blood, yohr ancestors, your descendants… fight for them. For them."

Gale then drew his sword. "For them." He repeated, and the army burst into chanting;

"For them". It then turned into an uncontrolled frenzy of screaming, more intimidation than not, to at least, put the Suavidici on edge. Gale smiled. "For them." He whispered once more. He was quite pleased with himself, and knew that this would define his army for the rest of the war. And he was fine with that. Gale waited for the legions to move, patiently.

* - Old term for 'Leader'.