Fall, 1430

It had been a long, exhausting campaign, and Lord Oevcn’s forces returned to Tar Hollow eager for rest and recovery. Elation at having driven off another threat to their community and securing the mountain passes was tempered by the attrition they had suffered, with only two out of every five who set out returning on their own two feet. Even victory and successfully integrating gonnes into the Long Range Task Force was not enough to keep Oevcn’s forces from heavy casualties. The dark furred cyno sighed as he looked upon his small army returning to the cheers of Tar Hollow. His people would rest and recover, and perhaps half of those hurt would be able to return. Recruiting fresh volunteers would have to make up for the rest.

The tough little army quickly stacked their in-common weapons and garments before scattering among friends and family. Soon only Oevcn, Beimcu, Myrewecs and Rewrkerw remained, overseeing the increasingly effective support teams as they collected the equipment for maintenance and repair.

Soon enough Swefaw came up with his apprentices to collect the hand cannons for maintenance, cleaning the weapons, patching up damaged ones, reboring or even recasting the barrels if necessary.

&We'll have to increase the production of gonnes. There's still nowhere near enough for us.& Oevcn called out to the old smith as he handed off his own weapon.

Swefaw gave a long look over the worn and slightly rusted gonne, but finally nodded. &We'll do our best, Oevcn.&

&Thanks. I know you and your apprentices work hard.&

&Appreciate it.&

As Swefaw's crew left with their equipment Oevcn stripped off his old brigandine armor and took a good look before he organized the coverings into a neat pile for Malinec and her weavers. Already outdated when he first received it, the cyno commander’s old armor was now decidedly worn, with the quilted padding discolored and fraying and the metallic pieces beginning to rust. As Malinec’s group arrived and began gathering the garments Oevcn went over to give his own.

&I think we also need more protection for our warriors. A third of our soldiers fell to the elements, another third to projectiles. Our lightness and fleetness are great for raids and ambushes, but not for standing fights. Can you try replicating this armor?& He asked, pointing to the quilt and plates.

Malinec snorted. &You know that I probably can. I'm slightly insulted you asked. But I lack metal. Someone else needs to make plates.&

&I just meant-&

&You may get that chance, Lord Oevcn Burntfeet.& A voice abruptly interrupted the conversation.

Oevcn turned around to see an familiar merchant with a thick, bearded chin and green eyes blazing from under an old straw hat, riding with a duregaren atop a massive wagon pulled by four oxen and filled with heavy wooden crates.

“Gren!”

Tail wagging, the cyno ran over and embraced the half Tragsu merchant as the latter jumped down from the wagon. For a second, he was like a puppy again.

"Good to see you again, Oevcn." Gren laughed and returned the hug. "I've heard you have great successes. I heard you brought glory to Tar Hollow. "

Even Beimcu, Myrewecs and Rewrkerw behind them chuckled at that comment. Oevcn blushed.

"Yes we've done a lot of good protecting Tar Hollow, thanks in part to your supplies. What goods have you brought over this time?" The cyno scratched his head looking at the wagon, while Myrewecs whistled in awe behind him. "Seems big."

“This is in fact a delivery." Gren replied, before pointing to his companion. "You remember my assistant Appakew."

"Yes, welcome to Tar Hollow, Appakew."

The duregaren nodded. "Sure."

Gren gestured to the duregaren, who nodded again and began unloading and dragging over one of the crates. "I have a shipment for you from Caldern.”

As the other cyno leaders crowded behind him in curiosity, Oevcn opened the first crate. Stacked among straw were dozens of iron barrels.

“Who?”

The old merchant took out a letter from his coat and handed it to the dark cyno, who unfolded the letter and read it out loud.

"Dear Oevcn. We have heard about the role of Tar Hollow in pushing back the invasion attempt from the Overmountains, and are both appreciative of your successes and acknowledge your people's sacrifice. The Arcadian Republic has had difficulty arming its own forces, but nevertheless recognizes the importance of its allies and will provide some support in the form of these 500 hand cannons. These are a gift of the Arcadian Republic to the Tar Hollow Federation."

Another large and extremely heavy crate was brought over that contained a black slurry of corned powder. A third crate contained nothing but balls the size of a quail's egg.

Oevcn bowed. "I thank you Gren, and also the Arcadian Republic for these gifts. Tell the president that our alliance remains strong, and these will quickly be put to good use against our enemies."

"Not done yet." The merchant replied as he pointed to the back of the parchment and Appakew carried over a smaller crate. The cyno flipped the document.

“Additionally, I provided some personal gifts for you, Lord Oevcn Burntfeet.”

Appakew opened the new crate and revealed pieces of finely polished curved metal plates.

“Ooh.” Went Rewrkerw.

The cyno commander looked at the merchant.

“New armor, Gren?”

The merchant nodded. “New armor. Courtesy of our friends down in Caldern.”

The cyno commander picked up a folded piece of paper placed on one side.

“Alwyte Armor. Plate armor has advanced to be fully protective, even at the joints. We still had some of your measurements from when you first joined us during the Revolution, and used them to make a custom one for you.”

"Try it on!" The merchant coaxed with a smile.

Oevcn quickly began removing the plates and strapping them upon himself. Within a few minutes the dark cyno had on cuirass, spaulder, rerebrace, couter, vambrace, faulds, cuisse, poleyn, greave and sabaton and finally his sallet. The plate armor was slightly loose, but nothing that hindered movement, and it was surprisingly light.

As he fit the sallet snugly over his head, Oevcn called out. “How do I look?”

“You look well protected.” Gren laughed.

&You look like an automatron.& Beimcu snorted.

The dark cyno blepped.

“And finally, there’s this.” Gren announced as Appakew handed Oevcn a small box and also took the parchment. “I’ll finish reading the letter.”

Slowly, the cyno commander opened the box to his shock.

“Gunpowder weapons have also advanced dramatically since we last worked together. I have sent over a shipment of some of the latest technology, with instructions courtesy of Professor Hassan Mukerji.”

Eyes wide, Oevcn picked up a new firearm with a long barrel, a shoulder stock, a hinged stand at the bottom to hold it, and a simple three-piece metallic mechanism hinged near the torch hole.

“It’s called a matchlock arquebus. I had Hassan write out some instructions. You're a bright boy though, and I'm sure that you'll pick it up quickly. I bid you the greatest care, President Jayna Durham-Alisan."

&You know the President of the Republic?& Rewrkerw asked.

&Was it that long ago?& Myrewecs replied. &Lord Oevcn fought in the Arcadian Revolution. That’s how he got his name Burnfeet. When he was-&

&Let’s not talk about that anymore.& The cyno leader interrupted before taking the letter back from Gren and placing it over his heart. “Thank you Jayna.” Ovecn muttered.

Both the merchants and the members of Tar Hollow looked at the dark cyno curiously.

“Again my thanks to the Arcadian Republic and President Jayna Durham-Alisan.” Oevcn quickly explained, as he began playing with the weapon. “Now who wants to watch me test this thing?”

***

Figuring out the weapon was straightforward and the instructions clear, and soon enough Oevcn had the gist of it: drop the ball into the barrel, add the wad, ram everything down with the ramrod, sprinkle black powder into the flashpan, strike the fuse, place fuse into the serpentine, lift the gonne, aim and pull the trigger. Pulling the trigger sent the match into the flashpan, igniting the flash through the torch hole and firing the projectile. With a crack, the arquebus sent the ball flying into the wooden target. It did not have much greater range than his old handcannon, but after a short learning curve Oevcn found that he could fire the arquebus much faster, and with better aim at longer ranges. The support stand also greatly helped with balance and aim.

&Good?& Beimcu asked.

&Good!& Oevcn replied with a laugh.

&So what do we do, commander?& Myrewecs asked.

Oevcn swung his new weapon over his shoulders. It was not much heavier than the handcannon, and was easily carried. He smiled.

&We rest, we recover, we build and we train. By the time the snows melt I want a fifth of our forces to be armed with gonnes, and another fifth with armor. When the next Invasion comes, we will face the Overmountain Men head on.&

---

The Clash - Tommy Gun

From  FelanGrey!

Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54963220/