Subj:	 [ffml] [MW] Departure of the King ('s mind)
Date:	00-09-03 19:38:31 EDT
From:	darklord@compusmart.ab.ca (His Dark Lordship)
Reply-to:	ffml@egroups.com
To:	ffml@egroups.com (ffml)

(Grah, leave it to me to fall hopelessly behind everyone. Anyway, this
paticular beauty takes place before "[MW] Arrival of the King" and after
"[MW] Avenging Private Tyler." Enjoy!)

Cyan covered his face with a cloth as he stepped through the tent, gazing at
the sick.

A victory over the Moogles had last slightly, when the true terror of thier
plan had revealed itself.

Gazing, smiling, nodding, bowing, Cyan did this to the many soldiers who he
knew would not make it through the night. The healthy soldiers had been
moved out of the city and encamped a few miles upstream where the effects
were not seen. Cyan himself was making a last sweep of his dying men before
leaving to join them.

Sighing, he mounted his chocobo, Locke, and began riding east. His honour
guards gathered around him in case of a sudden attack.

The Moogles had poisoned and diseased the river. His men, those that weren't
already dead from the poison, were suffering from the terrible Black
Plague. It now seemed obvious why the landscape was dead and the Moogles
had put up a less than commendable resistance.

A silent rage had built itself up in Cyan these past days. A rage of the
Moogle's cowardice. A rage of his men, more fit to die in battle and many
having young wives to return to, dying in the streets of what was once the
most beautiful city in the world. Dying such a humiliation that Cyan spat
at the thought of it.

The Moogles would pay.

* * * * *

Cyan sat at his tent. Wang sat at once side. His advisor, Jonas, sat to the
other.

"This hast been the last straw. The Moogles shalt suffer eternally for this
crime against us."

Wang nodded.

"Therefore, we move for Tim's fortress immediately. Once there, we shalt
brief him and others present on our march. Operation Can 'o Whoopass shalt
spell the end for all Moogles on Doman soil."

They nodded. Wang and Jonas left the tent. Cyan sighed once more.

Then, a voice began to chill the room...

"Zeig Hail..."

"Eh, be quiet, eh!"

"Hold me Adolf..."

Cyan whirled about. He stared at the apparations before him.

"Y.. you're dead."

"That's right, eh." grinned the Fonz.

Michael Jordan nodded.

"Had I known that the legendary Shadow was going to come dump us, I would
have written my will and left a couple million to my illegimate
children..."

Adolf Hitler simple clicked his heels and saluted Cyan.

"Zeig Hail."

Jordan squeezed Adolf's balls.

"Oh, I luv hov voo do vat to me, Mikey."

"ENOUGH!" yelled Cyan.

He rubbed his face. They were still there. Mocking him. More deaths of his.

With them sitting there, trying to have a conversation with him, Cyan opened
his wine chest and popped open that bottle he'd had for awhile. He needed
to get intoxicated.
-- 
The eternal lord of darkness...

Subj:	 [ffml] [MW] Arrival of the King
Date:	00-08-30 00:46:58 EDT
From:	skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)  [Very slightly re-written for
continuity by Spacecat]
Reply-to:	ffml@egroups.com
To:	ffml@egroups.com

  "So what do we have?" asked Tim, Colonel in the Doman army, commander of 
Tim's Dragon's.
  Before him stood his captains and lieutenants, and Triu representing the 
avariel.
  Captain Jayel spoke before the assembled men.
  "We currently have three brigades of dragoons, numbering three hundred 
men. We have four brigades of knights, numbering four hundred men. We have 
one brigade of mounted archers, one brigade of light cavalry, two brigades 
of spearmen, and one brigade of light infantry. We have eleven hundred 
fighting men of are regular soldiers."
  "Of our auxilaries?" asked Tim, turning his eyes to Ricca.
  "Of the original one hundred Norlandese Rangers that set out with me, sir, 
seventy four remain ready and able to serve," said Captain Ricca, a Lord of 
All That Kicks Ass. "Of the fifty dragons, thirty seven remain."
  Triu saluted and spoke. "Of the avariel force under Captain Nighthawk, 
three hundred set out. Well over two hundred remain, ready to serve."
  Tim nodded at the young avariel. Nighthawk had sent her magic users to 
'reinforce' the fort, and Tim had set them to enhance the walls and provide 
their quick-mud traps and other tricks to the ground not immediately before 
the fort walls. This would make any moogle force marching east or west along 
the shoreline slow down, and still provide room for the dragoons to charge.
  "Very good," said Tim. "Doma City has been captured. Captain Clive has 
kept the land between Doma City and this fort clear. The rest of the army 
under command of General Wang will soon be joining us here. They will camp 
in the fort, hence why I ordered it to be built so large. A detachment of 
the Henriksen army is already camped here. When King Cyan and General Wang 
arrive, I want the camp to look orderly and clean, even though it is made 
out of dirt." Tim smiled and several men chuckled.
  "I want every man to look his best," continued Tim. "I know that many of 
the soldiers do not have dress uniforms, and that the armor of lots of the 
men is dirty, scuffed, dented, and just plain ugly. But within two days, I 
want everyone looking as top notch as possible. General Wang and King Cyan 
have not seen us for months now, and I want them to know that we have not 
lapsed in our discipline or our formalities. Is this clear?"
  "Yes, sir," rang the response.
  "Very good," said Tim. "Commence operation Mr. Clean immediately. 
Dismissed."
  The men saluted and left.
  Tim turned to his orderly and indicated the back of the command tent. The 
two men walked through the flap.
  "Now, let's see about these stains in my dress uniform...." muttered Tim 
as he picked up the shirt and begin peering over it.
  The two men busied themselves with Tim's outfit, which had been packed and 
left in a trunk for months, with evidence of water seepage and mildew on the 
dark blue fabric.
  As they worked, the orderly mused aloud.
  "I heard that when General Kat arrived, sir, she nearly had a fit, not 
knowing what to do with her command," said the man, who was in his early 
twenties and named Roger.
  "Didn't she know to inquire of the officer on duty?" asked Tim, as he 
shined up the brass buttons.
  "No,"responded Roger. "She ordered her men to set up camp and it was 
barely then that someone took notice and directed them to the east 
section of camp. And then I heard that General Kat was even helping to set 
up the tents."
  "What the...?" asked Tim, shocked. "I don't believe it." Tim shook his 
head returning to bossing the buttons. "I know she has taken several 
military courses in college, but that is ridiculous. Doesn't she know that 
as an officer she is not supposed to do such work? I mean, even in my 
mercenary days, we had a captain  and his leiutenants, and occasionally the 
sergeants, and none of them ever did anything like help set up tents. Even 
in the lecture they gave me when I joined the Doman army as a corporeal 
specifically remarked on the behavior of an officer."
  Tim shook his head.
  "She is no officer," mused Roger.
  "I'm beginning to agree with you," said Tim. "If she can't act like one, 
how can she lead like one?" Tim sighed. "It's too bad we have to rely on 
her."

  The morning air was crisp and clear. All around the camp, flags and 
banners were displayed. Men in polished armor and formal uniforms strolled 
about, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their king. Then, the signal was 
given, and all present in the camp assembled to the north, forming into 
their units and bordering the main thoroughfare. Outside of the gates, a 
double line of dragoons formed, bordering the road down which King Cyan V 
would use.
  Down the road from Doma City, marched the vanguard of the Doman army. 
Though they seemed tired, the discipline was evident in the men, and their 
clean uniforms showed their attention to detail. The lancers made their way 
up to where the line of the dragoons ended and parted, allowing the honor 
guard to proceed. These walking men carried the banners of the army. The 
banners of the king, General Wang, and major and important officers.
  As the honor guard neared the gate of the fortress, they parted and 
through them rode King Cyan V mounted on a beautiful white chocobo. Before 
the gates of the fortress was Colonel Tim, mounted on fluffy, his trusty 
yellow chocobo.
  Cyan halted his chocobo before Tim. Tim dismounted Fluffy, roger taking 
the reins, and kneeled on the ground before the king, his head bowed 
slightly.
  "Your majesty, I, Colonel Tim, present myself and my command to your 
will."
  "Rise, Colonel Tim," said Cyan. Tim did so and looked up at his king. "I 
commend you for your service to the crown, and to all of Doma." Tim beamed 
with pride.
  "With your permission, sire," said Tim, "I shall lead you to the royal 
pavillion."
  Cyan inclined his head. Tim hurried and mounted Fluffy and took a position 
next to Cyan, General Wang on the opposite side. The trio rode forward a few 
steps and stopped at the close gates.
  "Open the gates!" ordered Tim, and the two large wooden and iron doors 
creaked open. The trio rode through.
  As they passed the gates, they made their way down the thoroughfare. As 
they passed, the assembled men  kneeled in the presence of their king.
  "Your men look well," said Cyan.
  "Aye, sir," said Tim. "The moogles decided to give us some time to sit and 
relax. And the local villages not destroyed by the moogles have provided us 
with good food. In fact, a feast is in honor for your majesty and the rest 
of the army for your victory at Doma City will be held tonight."
  Cyan was silent a moment.
  "Tell me, Colonel Tim," said Cyan. "Why do so many of your men wear the 
armor of knights? I thought you were given command of one brigade."
  "I was, your majesty," said Tim, feeling his throat tighten slightly. "But 
while at Hiel Keep, I felt the need to upgrade the rest of my men to 
knights. I now command four such brigades."
  "And I take it the cavalry outside the fort is..."
  "Dragoons, sire," finished Tim.
  "Ah, I see..." said Cyan. He was silent a moment. "Why are your men 
arrayed in such a way?"
  "I felt the need to upgrade their abilities, my lord." Tim swallowed and 
continued on, reciting his prepared response. "As you are well aware, I 
train my men very well, sire. And in the span of that training, I discovered 
that I could promote their abilities by training the foot soldiers as 
knights and the cavalry as dragoons. The result has been fantastic. The 
knights and dragoons have excelled in the field and no moogle force has been 
able to stand up to them. That is partly the reason for our success, sire."
  General Wang glared at Tim. Cyan was silent a moment, looking forward. He 
then burst into laughter. "My dear Colonel Tim, thou art indeed a Lord of 
All That Kicks Ass."
  Tim was surprised but said nothing.
  "I wish the rest of the army had been so bold and had such foresight," 
continued Cyan. "Maybe we would have taken Doma sooner by now."
  They had reached the center of the fort, a crossroads that led in four 
directions. Three led to gates to the north, east, and west, the fourth 
direction to the south, to the wall. On one corner of the crossroads was 
Tim's tent. Modest and simple, it had a main antechamber that also served as 
headquarters, and connected to it was Tim's sleeping chamber. On the next 
corner was General Wang's command tent. It was twice as large as Tim's, with 
several rooms made out of fabric and even displaying a few different colors 
other then off-white. And next to that was King Cyan's royal pavillion. The 
large tent complex looked twice to three times the size of Wang's, with even 
an arching roof. The final corner was an open space of packed earth that 
became an assembly ground.
  Tim had ordered the command tents be erected by having his dragoons rush 
in the baggage from that morning. He was glad his troops had completed the 
matter before Cyan reached the fort.
  "Splendid," said Cyan. He dismounted and dropped his reigns, an orderly 
rushing up to take ahold of his mount and lead the animal away.
  "I wish to inspect the rest of the fort and see Southvale."
  "Yes, sire," said Tim. He dismounted as well and led Cyan and Wang south 
to the wall.
  "And are our plans ready to launch?" asked Cyan.
  Tim nodded. "Yes, your majesty. We merely await your command and we shall 
set out. I am sure the moogles will know nothing of this."
  "Excellent," said Cyan. "Then the final doom shall before the moogles and 
we shall reap the rewards."

  The doman army made camp in the fortress, making four thousand soldiers 
not including their allies.


--Sky