Captain is necessary for practical reasons, Alex. Your troops are not to be usurped by other officers. Your Lieutenants should be capable of leading the force in your absence. I suspect that, at times, your group will be split into three groups for logistical reasons. Choose one of your Lieutenants to be familiar with Sordoan customs and the other to be familiar with Cordonian customs.”
“I have just the men in mind, Sir. May I choose the name for the group?”
“Do you have a suggestion, Captain?”
“Yes, Sir. I would like to call them Rangers,” Alex proclaimed.
“Done,” accepted Colonel Gregor. “There is another group that I wanted your input on. I want to create a group of spies who work outside the military. I have not shared this vision with the General or anyone else and prefer not to. I am asking you because I believe the person most able to provide this would be your friend, Oscar Dalek. I understand that he has his own private army recruited from the less desirable ranks of society. Do you think he would help us and would his people be dependable?”
Alex thought of Larc and his band of cutthroats. Their loyalty to Oscar and Larc was unquestionable, most having been saved from death by Larc. Oscar would gladly fund the operation and Larc was as loyal to Targa as Alex himself. “Colonel, I believe that I could set up such an operation and their loyalty would be assured. I think the funding would also be covered so that no one could trace royal funds to the operation.”
“Excellent! Set it up. They will report only to you and myself, no other Targan officer. I need to know who the leader will be. I suppose you probably have a name for them, as well?”
“If it is acceptable, a man from my original village named Larc will be the head of the organization. He is the man responsible for building Dalek’s guards. As for a name, I don’t know. Perhaps Spiders would be appropriate.”
“Good. Set it up as soon as you can. We need to get to General Clark’s office.”
Alex had selected his Rangers carefully. David Jaynes and Mitar Vidson, two of the soldiers who had been with Alex and Fergy during the penetration of the goblin Northlands, had been promoted to Lieutenant. Each soldier had been issued two uniforms, one camouflage and the other black. Black was the official color of the Rangers and Alex now had black bars accompanying the red and green bars on his shoulders. Rumors were rampant in the Army on the purpose of the Rangers and Alex decided to remove the group from the prying eyes of Tagaret.
The men who had been selected for the Rangers were already well trained. They were the best of the Army before being chosen to join the Rangers. Alex, however, was not satisfied. Alex set up teams that had unusual skills to train those who did not possess the skills. The teams were designed to teach unconventional methods of warfare. There was wide variety in the backgrounds and skills of his men and Alex tapped that knowledge.
Classes were taught in the use of myric quills, forest and desert survival, use of the garrote, knife throwing, and the throwing of the Lanoirian Star. Alex was amazed at the accuracy that could be accomplished with the Star. It was an eight-pointed metal disk with the points finely sharpened. The Star could be thrown farther and more accurately than a knife because of its fine balance.
Alex was still not satisfied. He wanted his men to be capable of any task put to them. Before heading to the Boulders for an intense month of mountain climbing, he wanted to cover role camouflage and stealth techniques.
Oscar and Larc had agreed to the Spiders idea and many of the original Spiders came from the ranks of Oscar’s guards. Larc opened a business in Tagaret called the Pawn Shop and a shipping company called Continental Shipping. Oscar fronted Larc the funds to get the business operations started with the understanding that half of all profits would be his. Larc would run the
“I have just the men in mind, Sir. May I choose the name for the group?”
“Do you have a suggestion, Captain?”
“Yes, Sir. I would like to call them Rangers,” Alex proclaimed.
“Done,” accepted Colonel Gregor. “There is another group that I wanted your input on. I want to create a group of spies who work outside the military. I have not shared this vision with the General or anyone else and prefer not to. I am asking you because I believe the person most able to provide this would be your friend, Oscar Dalek. I understand that he has his own private army recruited from the less desirable ranks of society. Do you think he would help us and would his people be dependable?”
Alex thought of Larc and his band of cutthroats. Their loyalty to Oscar and Larc was unquestionable, most having been saved from death by Larc. Oscar would gladly fund the operation and Larc was as loyal to Targa as Alex himself. “Colonel, I believe that I could set up such an operation and their loyalty would be assured. I think the funding would also be covered so that no one could trace royal funds to the operation.”
“Excellent! Set it up. They will report only to you and myself, no other Targan officer. I need to know who the leader will be. I suppose you probably have a name for them, as well?”
“If it is acceptable, a man from my original village named Larc will be the head of the organization. He is the man responsible for building Dalek’s guards. As for a name, I don’t know. Perhaps Spiders would be appropriate.”
“Good. Set it up as soon as you can. We need to get to General Clark’s office.”
Alex had selected his Rangers carefully. David Jaynes and Mitar Vidson, two of the soldiers who had been with Alex and Fergy during the penetration of the goblin Northlands, had been promoted to Lieutenant. Each soldier had been issued two uniforms, one camouflage and the other black. Black was the official color of the Rangers and Alex now had black bars accompanying the red and green bars on his shoulders. Rumors were rampant in the Army on the purpose of the Rangers and Alex decided to remove the group from the prying eyes of Tagaret.
The men who had been selected for the Rangers were already well trained. They were the best of the Army before being chosen to join the Rangers. Alex, however, was not satisfied. Alex set up teams that had unusual skills to train those who did not possess the skills. The teams were designed to teach unconventional methods of warfare. There was wide variety in the backgrounds and skills of his men and Alex tapped that knowledge.
Classes were taught in the use of myric quills, forest and desert survival, use of the garrote, knife throwing, and the throwing of the Lanoirian Star. Alex was amazed at the accuracy that could be accomplished with the Star. It was an eight-pointed metal disk with the points finely sharpened. The Star could be thrown farther and more accurately than a knife because of its fine balance.
Alex was still not satisfied. He wanted his men to be capable of any task put to them. Before heading to the Boulders for an intense month of mountain climbing, he wanted to cover role camouflage and stealth techniques.
Oscar and Larc had agreed to the Spiders idea and many of the original Spiders came from the ranks of Oscar’s guards. Larc opened a business in Tagaret called the Pawn Shop and a shipping company called Continental Shipping. Oscar fronted Larc the funds to get the business operations started with the understanding that half of all profits would be his. Larc would run the
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