"So?"
"So I spotted you, and decided that I would have you. Your refusal now does not change that. Nor do I need to convince you. You'll see for yourself, that it is far better to work with Nolan Mormiter than the savages you're currently with. These men are destined only for their current position. That is their worth. But your worth? My worth? We extend far beyond that," Nolan said, his confidence infectious.
"Right…" Vol said nodding, still immensely uncomfortable with Nolan, and even more uncomfortable as Nolan confessed that he'd been scouting him from the moment he first stepped into this town.
They stood watching the drunkard shiver by the fire for a moment longer.
"Though, I'm afraid, I would ask you to consign your morality to more productive endeavours, if you were to join us," Nolan said. "I don't mean you can't torment a drunk or two, but deeds like that must be kept in the shadows, as I build my reputation."
"I didn't do it because I wanted to," Vol protested. He immediately regretted what he said, seeing the amused look that Nolan shot him. What must it have looked like to the boy? It was a pitiful excuse. Without the context of the System, it was just plain harassment, done for a well and truly pointless reason.
"Well, I won't anger you. Allow me something for my time, so I can say that this evening was not wasted. Your name?" Nolan asked.
"…Vol," came the reply, after a moment's hesitation.
"And your family name?"
"Not important."
"Hm… Well, I will consider Vol to be good enough. You needn't worry about our business here this evening. I will not breathe a word of this to anyone. And neither will he, I suspect," he pointed back to the drunk, who was settling into a stupor as he stared into the flames.
Chapter 6 – Preparations for Battle
"Do we have enough men, Boss?" Moesh asked. Those that had wanted to attend the strategy meeting were allowed, and those that didn't were not forced. Vol had been surprised to see that only a third of the raiders had bothered to show their faces. The rest seemed content to fight wherever they were sent, as long as there was money and women there to keep them satisfied.
In fact, that was likely part of the problem. Blackbeard's call had come only an hour after dawn, after he'd spent time conferring with Toljorn by the docks about the loading of his ship. Many of those that had heard it were too hungover to even think about attending it, and the others were determined to keep the warmth of their women for as long as their coin would allow them.
"Mm, less than I'd like," Blackbeard said, honestly. Vol hadn't expected him to be that honest. "But I don't see much harm in that. I'd want to double the numbers, but that just means we get double the loot per man. They ain't going to be expecting a raid. Not in the middle of winter. No one's mad enough to do that."
"'cept us," Nootka said with a grin. He seemed to take pride in that fact.
"Aye. Madness has won us just as many battles as numbers have. The mansion holds a full garrison of a hundred, with the walls to go with them. We'll do a bit of a stealth job, I reckon, get the gates open, and gut the guards on the ground," Blackbeard said.
"When you say guards, what d'ya mean boss? There are guards, n' then there are guards. We talking town guards, like those in Nookhaven? Or we talkin' propa elite fuckers? They've got the money for it. I'd wager elite, aye?" Nootka asked.
Nods and murmurs of agreement greeted Nootka's question.
"You suspect right. These are veteran soldiers. Got promoted to the position – had to fight for it. Had to earn their peace and quiet. You can expect them to be rowdy bastards. But I say again, what kind of loot do you think they're protecting with those kind of numbers?" Blackbeard pointed out.
"That's true," Moesh said. "Besides, we've got you, Boss, to deal with anything too troublesome."
"And we've got the boy there. I'm thinking he might be able to take some of the pressure of me, for dealing with those outliers that you lot can't touch," Blackbeard said, surprising everyone by bringing the attention of the group towards Vol.
He'd been standing at the back of the longhouse. It was one of the buildings that Blackbeard had rented for his men to sleep in. He leaned against the rotting wall, expecting to listen, and hoping to learn. He wanted to be excited about his first raid, but something about it seemed so anticlimactic…
Now that the attention was on him, though, Vol perked up a bit.
"Him, Boss? He's green though. Is he really going to be of much use to us so soon?" Moesh asked.
"You saw what he did to Usars men, even with an arm wounded. Could any of you have killed that many, even using both hands?" Blackbeard said.
"…You've got a point. So he's going to be a Hammer, is he?" Moesh said, nodding. "What about his arm, though?"
That excitement that Vol had been previously lacking kicked in with the mention of the Hammer. It was a position amongst Yarmdon raiding parties that allowed for flexibility that came with their more disorganized fighting style. It was one of many things that allowed them to match Stormfront battle strategy, without even really employing it themselves.
Hammers were elite soldiers, drafted amongst the rest. Whenever there was a break in momentum – Yarmdon battles were all about momentum – and the Yarmdon front line was held back, held in place by something as solid as a rock, it would be the Hammer's job to locate those blockages and smash them to pieces.
"Aye, we'll have me and the boy as Hammers, and we'll be able to storm the walls," Blackbeard said.
"That's only if we can get the damn gates open in the first place. That seems to be the real problem to me," Nootka said.