"Milady," an unfamiliar voice asked her in one of the languages of Chin that she recognized. It seemed to come from afar. Slowly her eyes opened and revealed a beautiful airy room decorated with carvings, tapestries and the like. Off to her left a woman, whom she presumed was a servant, stood patiently awaiting her awakening. She barely remembered going to bed.
"Please I am no lady," Gabrielle retorted and rose in all her nakedness from the very comfortable bed. "You can just call me…" She had to pause and consider what name she would give these people. She had made an agreement with the Emperor last night that she would help if she could avoid giving anyone her real name. "Warrior Bard," she suggested. The servant just nodded and motioned towards the next room of the lavish apartments she had been given. Gabrielle was astounded to find a large scented and obviously warm bath awaiting her as if they knew her habits already. With a contended smile she stepped into the pool and sighed as the warm water swirled around her. The temple had been a great place to visit, but the lack of proper warm baths had really shaken her faith in their understanding of what was really needed to live healthily. She didn't notice the amazed stare of the servant as she caught her first good look at the softly muscled warrior woman's massive dragon tattoo.
Gabrielle had never had a servant as attentive as this one. She insisted on drying her off and wanted to help her dress as well. Gabrielle considered her dress options as she motioned for the servant to let her handle it alone. According to the last comments from the Emperor she remembered, he would be introducing her to his command staff today, so it would probably be best, if she dressed appropriately which alas was no problem as she really didn't own anything appropriate for anything but war these days. After the war she would do something about that and maybe allow herself to not only a warrior, but also a healer, bard and woman as well. She decided on wearing the kimono and hakama combination that had served her so well before.
The maid began serving her breakfast and for a while Gabrielle busied herself with eating heartily. "So do you come from Chang'an or are you from further away?" She couldn't help herself, Gabrielle had a reawakening need to talk and relate to people around her.
"I…" The maid sounded astounded at her talking for a moment. "I… Yes my family comes from Chang'an. We've been in the service of the Imperial family for two generations."
"Really then I might have met some of your ancestors once. So what is your name?" Gabrielle asked between bites of bread.
"Mai," the maid answered shyly. Gabrielle rewarded her with a warm smile.
After breakfast Gabrielle decided to finish dressing by adding the accessories to any warriors dress. The maid watched with wide eyes as Gabrielle added the black armor and bracers that she had carried in her packs from Japan to her attire. She seated the beautifully lacquered sheath containing her katana at her left side and placed her sai in their straps on her boots. After combing her recently shorn hair once she turned with a smile towards Mai and asked: "Now do you know where I am expected to be?"
Mai nodded and asked her to follow her to where the Emperor was meeting with his advisors and generals. Gabrielle for a moment considered if she was a little over armed and armored for the meeting, but decided that if Xena had been able to pull that off constantly so could she. They were in the middle of a war after all.
Gabrielle found herself directed into a large hall, where several other men were standing around a large table filled with maps talking boisterously about their exploits and how they were going to lead the armies of the Emperor to glorious victory. Neither The Emperor nor Master Fong was anywhere to be seen. Gabrielle did notice Mai slipping away to her remaining tasks as she stood in the door opening. She stopped just inside as the door to the corridors of the palace slid shut behind her. She contended herself with observing for now.
Carefully she looked and listened to the armored and armed men standing around the map table. Several of them were engaged in typical male pissing contests telling about how they lead wildly successful battles or which move they used to utterly defeat their enemy. The others were trying to convince their more boisterous companions that it wouldn't mean that they would be chosen for glory. Gabrielle nearly snorted at the thought. Only generals could call any kind of battle or war glorious or great. There was no glory or lasting greatness to be found through simple warfare, she knew this very well. She noticed eyes staring at her.
Slowly turning her gaze she saw a muscular man slightly older than the Emperor, who like her stood apart from the milling generals. He wore a suit of ordinary warrior's armor and a single long sword of Chinese make was seated on his back. Like all the others in the room he held his helmet at his side and seemed content like her to merely observe from afar.
The Emperor entered the room in full stride, wearing an almost ridiculously over-decorated suit of armor, tailed by Master Fong and a couple of people, who looked like the bureaucrats they had been blocked by last night. "Gather around," the Emperor asked and strode up to the map table. Everyone fell silent and gathered at the table.
"I've gathered you all here, so that we may initiate a campaign to stop the invaders from the North. Even as we speak here, they spread like a plaque throughout my Empire." The Emperor gestured over the main map, which showed all of Chin.
"Right now the Green Dragon, whose real name is Temudjin, is finishing securing his control of a rather large section of the Great Wall. He isn't expanding his territory, but it is just a question of days before his army is fully formed and ready. Now General Wu has led the scouts and spies, who were charged with discovering what the plans of my enemy are, and just returned this morning. Sun, would you be so kind and bring us up to date?" The Emperor motioned for the man, who had been observing just like her. He stepped forward and began unrolling a much smaller map like the one on the table. It was covering in small notes written in what looked to Gabrielle like Roman letters. An excellent code it seemed, because it looked like no one else at the table could read it.
Master Fong ambled over to stand behind her. "General Wu is the man the Emperor and I mentioned. He is the greatest tactical and strategic genius that this Empire has ever produced. He is a master swordsman and it is said that anyone he teaches carries a touch of his greatness," he whispered.
The man looked around at the gathered generals and then began to outline the lay of the land on the map. Gabrielle looked as well as listened, but her eyes weren't focused on the large map, where General Wu was pointing, but on his little map, where she discerned a lot more just by reading his scribbles. She had to strain her eyes, but she quickly grasped the facts. Temudjin had not one but four armies each organized under one general except for the largest one made up of his veteran troops, which he controlled himself. Each army was at least 20000 thousand men large and equipped mostly with light armor, bows and good swords, while Temudjin's personal army was easily 3 times that. There was a disproportionate large amount of horsemen, but most of the horses were of dubious quality as warhorses. The last word from the spies was that the armies were deploying already and that they would march not as one but each by itself on different sections of the Empire.
Gabrielle considered the routes that the spies had been able to get. If this Temudjin was a great general, then it would be obvious even to him that the quickest way to topple to ruler here in Chin would be to take and hold the capitol. The key to ruling Chin quickly was not the smaller regional cities but the Imperial seat of power and its bureaucracy which together with the Imperial army really ruled the land. This way the Empire would be forced into forming at least four armies of their own as well as to go out and protect their differing regions from the marauding invaders. "Divide and conquer," Gabrielle whispered.
The General fell silent and stared around the table. "Yes," he said as his dark eyes fell upon the suddenly blushing woman standing in the midst of the warriors trying to look as if she belonged. More eyes turned in her direction and regarded her as if they were seeing her for the first time. "It is an old Roman tactic," Wu said before he turned a questioning glance towards his Emperor, who just shook his head as if he didn't want to answer the unspoken question. General Wu shrugged and continued his explanations.
"There is unfortunately no other way that I can see my Emperor. We must split the army into four parts to match the Green Dragon's deployment and send them out to stop his advance or all of unprotected Chin will fall before him in just a few months. I fear it will be a long and hard campaign, a dreadful drain on the Empire and its people, but there simply is no other safe way. We will then put our armies in the field bolstered by the conscripts as they get trained and meet the enemy in battle," General Wu explained and looked to his Emperor for instant approval, but was surprised to find his Emperor staring past him into the eyes of the small woman, who had joined the military counsel without explanation or he noted with ire warning from his spies in the palace. To his astonishment she walked up to the table and take a long look at his private map for a moment then nodded.
"The honored General Wu is right," Gabrielle said and nodded in his direction. "There are very few other options available to you. The best thing to do is to split the army into equal parts of trained and veteran soldiers and distribute the fresh and untrained conscripts among them. Secondly you should avoid attacking for a while. Fortify the towns and cities in the path of the enemy until your army is ready to defeat them. Sure there is a chance that our armies could defeat theirs one on one, but there is no advantage to our side that guarantees it. We do have the advantage of position and knowledge of the countryside. I say be defensive at least until we have to upper hand, then we go out to meet them on the battlefield. If it is done right, time will be on our side instead of on theirs", she said and kept her gaze locked on the maps on the table as if she could come up with a better plan just by staring at them.
Protest exploded around her, generals spluttering at the outrage of letting an army walking around in the empire burning villages, when they could surely defeat them on a battlefield. Gabrielle noted Master Fong looking at her with approval, while General Wu looked at her with bewilderment showing in his eyes. "Quiet," the Emperor commanded.
"Who is this upstart woman?" One of the older generals said and shoved at a pointed finger in her direction. Gabrielle smiled wistfully, but kept her eyes on the Emperor.
"This woman is a veteran warrior of more battles than you General Bai. She has graciously offered her services and great abilities to the Empire in exchange for the respect that must be afforded such a warrior and as well as secrecy about her involvement in this war. I gave her my word in this matter. You would have me break it?" He asked and let his voice drop to a low threatening tone. The General just shook his head. The Emperor fell silent once more staring at the map for a few moments, walked away from the table and spoke in whispers with one of his bureaucrats for a few moments then returned to the table.
"I have decided that both the suggestions of General Wu and the Warrior Bard are to be heeded. Furthermore I place General Wu in command of the entire war effort and place all my faith in his abilities to guide those of you he chooses to lead his sub-armies to victory. Now please if all of you would please leave me and the General alone," the Emperor said and waved people away. Gabrielle and Master Fong joined the quiet procession out of the room.
Just as they stepped out into the corridor the bureaucrat that the Emperor had talked to stepped up to them. "The Emperor requests that you wait out here in the corridor, while he confers with his general. He would like to speak to you in a few minutes," he explained then hurried off.
"You did well in there," Master Fong commented after several minutes of waiting in silence.
"I've seen it done so many times before this is almost trivial," Gabrielle answered and returned to regarding the decorated walls of the corridor. She had several ideas on how the architecture and construction methods could be used by her amazons, if she ever returned to them.
"So did you like your bath," Master Fong said after another couple of minutes.
"I have you to thank for that? Well thanks a lot it was absolutely wonderful," she replied with a smile.
"Well I did have to listen to you complaining about the lack of warm baths for over three months," he said. Gabrielle didn't reply.
"You're awfully quiet," he commented shortly thereafter.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just I've been trying to figure out a quicker way to end this war. Do you think the Northerners would give up if Temudjin died?" She asked.
"No, this is about a whole lot more than just a simple invasion Little Dragon. The wars and invasions have gone back and forth many times. There is more bad blood between our two nations than between your Xena and that warlord called Caesar," he explained with a sigh.
"Then I'm back at square one: plain old warfare," Gabrielle said.
The door opened and a smiling Emperor beckoned them to come inside. "I've explained to General Wu that you're a very able commander and warrior my dear Warrior Bard. And while I am sure he still harbors some doubts, I've commanded him to give you command of one of my armies. I know you won't prove my trust was misplaced Warrior Bard," he explained and ducked out of the room, while Gabrielle and Master Fong walked inside. "Now Master Fong I would be glad to have you here in Chang'an, where I will be preparing the defenses and coordinating the bureaucracy so that the armies will be kept well-fed and stocked with weaponry and equipment. So shall we leave our two Generals to their jobs then," the Emperor asked and gestured for the old man to follow him.
"I fear I must ask my Emperor to let me continue with my calling. As I tried to explain last night I am not here to participate in the war as the Emperor's advisor. I am here as guide and advisor to the Warrior Bard. She came to us seeking spiritual guidance and we've not yet decided that she can be without that. So until that day I will remain at her side," Master Fong explained.
"Very well then I ask you to commit all of her deeds to paper so that I may read about them in a way not phrased by some soulless bureaucrat," the Emperor commanded, smiled and disappear out in the shadows of the corridor.
"Alright this is your show General Wu, what do you propose we do for an initial deployment of the armies?" Gabrielle asked and gave him a friendly smile.
The General looked at her for a moment then looked down at some notes he had been doing. After ignoring her for a few moments he said: "I guess you could take a regiment of cavalry men and some conscripts down to guard the south eastern cities".
Gabrielle looked down at the map for a moment and crooked a thin eyebrow. "But that would be pointless further more I am fairly sure that I could…" She said but General Wu interrupted her.
"Now I don't know what foolishness convinced the Emperor that you should go out onto a battlefield. I am sure that you can use those weapons you carry and I believe my Emperor, when he tells me that you have been in many battles and that you've even led a few. But I will not let some unproven wench come in a take control over one fourth of our armies and expect her to understand how to lead an army of a people, whom she has no understanding off. I am sure you are not familiar with our methods of communication, command and signals and until that day, if it ever comes, I cannot afford to give you command of more troops. Take those I've given you, go out, perform your task and be glad," he explained, while looking her in the eye.
Honesty and honor shone from his eyes and so Gabrielle couldn't bring herself to countermand his orders. He was right. These weren't her people. She didn't know how their army operated and so this was maybe the best way. But she swore that it would only be a start. She had a sense, a premonition perhaps, that she would be a part of the solution to this war. She would be there for the end. She only had to prove to this General that she was worthy of it. He handed her a couple of notes, which he had put his seal on. "These are your orders. These you should give to the bureaucrats in the court, they will give you directions to your troops and these will identify you as the commander of the regiment, when you get there," he explained and turned his eyes back to his work. Gabrielle walked towards the exit.
"Aren't you going to protest to the Emperor?" Master Fong asked just as soon as they were out of General Wu's earshot.
"No, he's right. I am not familiar with the structure and style of command of their army. I would've done exactly the same if it had been an amazon force we had been talking about. If I had some way to end this quickly then I would've protested. But the fact is that I don't, so I will just go out and do the most good that I can and hope it will help," Gabrielle explained as they headed down the corridor at a brisk pace.
"I would understand if you went somewhere else if you felt you could do more good there," she commented as she headed towards her room to pick up her things.
"Don't be foolish Little Dragon. I meant everything I told my Emperor. Now go and get your things, while I try to handle the bureaucrats. I fear that you would end up having a bad day and then so would he, if you went to them being a woman and all that," he said and held out his hand to receive the papers that General Wu had given her.
Gabrielle walked out into the glowing sunlight with her baggage slung over her shoulder and looked around for her friend.
"Over here," Fong's voice came from a place in the middle of the courtyard, where he and Ghost towered amongst the people walking back and forth. Gabrielle waved and walked in their direction under her heavy load.
"You women, you always seem to have so much more baggage than us men. Now look at me. I just have my simple little satchel here and I'm good," Fong said and held out the reins of Ghost.
Gabrielle took them and then let them drop free, while gesturing for Ghost to stay still, while she carefully distributed her possession on her horse. After assuring herself that everything was in order she vaulted into the saddle and turned her head towards Master Fong. "So was everything in order with the papers," she asked.
"Yes my dear. Your troops are awaiting their new commander out on the field to the South. A runner has been dispatched to notify them that you're coming," he said and gestured towards one of the gates leading out into the city.
"Off we go then," Gabrielle said and tapped Ghost gently once with her feet. They set off taking the next step of their adventure.
The staging area for the Imperial army was positively huge. Tent upon tent filled an area rivaling that of the entire city of Chang'an. And the place seethed with activity. Again Master Fong proved invaluable to her, when he barked orders like he was a general rather than a simple monk from a rural temple. Quickly the guards gave them directions to the regiment that she had been designated. Gabrielle dismounted and followed Master Fong on foot as they approached the section of the camp, where what would be her warriors rested.
"Show no weakness. You're the commander, they must come to see you as undefeatable, strong and always in control," Xena's advice given to her before they headed for Helicon echoed through her mind as they came into view of the regiment. Gabrielle almost gasped as she realized that this regiment was a thousand units thing and that was excluding the retainers going around to make everything work when there wasn't a battle going on and then there were all the warhorses on top. Steeling herself she strode towards the guards that sat casually playing mah-jongg in the shade of a canvas in front of the entrance to the fence that surrounded the cavalry regiment.
"Hey we haven't ordered any camp followers have we?" One of the guards asked rudely and appraised her like she was some cow on a market. Fortunately for that mans front teeth she had been away from her amazons for a while now and so the reflex to knock him into the land of Morpheus was easily ignored. But she knew that she needed to establish respect for her person immediately, or they would ignore her commands at times when it was critical. Gabrielle strode up to the guard, making it look like she didn't see the others, unceremoniously lifted him out of his seat and threw him out into the sun.
He struggled to rise, while all his friends fumbled with their swords as they tried to rise. Gabrielle drew one of her sai and threw it into the ground between the guard's legs just inches from his crotch all in one liquid and lightning quick move. "You will address me as Commander or Ma'am. Is that clear?" She said in a voice loud enough to be heard well into camp.
The guards stopped in their tracks dumbfounded for a moment. Gabrielle walked over and pulled her sai out of the trampled grass. "Now if you don't mind I would like to be shown the way to my tent, then I will meet with my officers," she commanded and gestured for the guard to rise.
For a moment he seemed confused then nodded, turned and gestured for her to follow him. He led them into the camp past the outer regions, the large area, where the horses were corralled and a couple of mess tents towards a section of slightly larger domed tents, which as she had guessed before entering the camp were the abodes of the officers. Rank as always granted privileges in exchange for the pressures of command.
The guard knocked on the wooden desk set before the large tent in front of which he had stopped. "Yes," a voice came from deep within the tent and a muscular man in a colorful officer's uniform ducked out of the tent. Gabrielle noticed how he wore one of the typical large and long swords at his side. The man rose to his full height and stood towering over them all.
"Captain Chang, I… This…" The guard seemed to search for a way to explain why he had brought her there in a way that wouldn't get him in trouble.
Gabrielle decided to hurry things along. "I am the new commander of this regiment," she explained.
The Captain blinked in surprise and stuttered: "But… You're a woman."
"Why does this surprise these men so much? This is the land that brought forth Lao Ma and they're still stuck on that," she thought, but only asked: "And?"
"Well how am I to take commands from a woman? The men will never obey you," he said still seemingly surprised by her presence in his camp.
"Captain Chang, was it? The Emperor himself suggested me for this position and General Wu approved. I am a veteran of many wars and a capable warrior. Don't worry about me taking command, but if you think the men will have a problem with that, then I might as well prove to them that I am good enough to be their leader," she said while showing him the papers given to her by General Wu.
He read for a few moments then looked up at her again. "And how do you propose to do that?" He asked.
"Well how about I give them a small show of my fighting prowess. That always seems to impress men," she suggested and looked from the Captain to Master Fong for approval. "I think we should show the officers my skills," she suggested.
"Good idea," Master Fong replied, "I'll help of course."
"You do that," she replied. "Gather the officers over by the horses," Gabrielle said to the Captain and mounted Ghost.
A few minutes later Gabrielle sat looking out over the small field. A small group of curious soldiers had gathered to watch, why the officers had suddenly been asked to show up for some demonstration. Gabrielle smiled and took up the amazon bow that had proven so well suited for mounted archery and cocked an arrow. She looked over to Master Fong, who was standing besides unobtrusively besides the Captain, whom she was sure would become her second in command. "Yah," she yelled and spurred Ghost into a gallop.
Gabrielle thundered towards one of the targets that they probably used for charging practice and quickly while passing sank three arrows into it. She continued towards the assembled officers and just a few horse lengths away, she made Ghost skid to a stop. Like she had seen Xena do so many times before she flipped out of the saddle and thankfully landed on her feet with her sai drawn.
As if they had planned it, Master Fong suddenly flung two daggers at her as she began walking towards the officers. Gabrielle saw them move through the air and threw her sai to intercept them. He had however already thrown a third one and with what looked like practiced ease she caught that one in her left hand. She continued to walk towards them.
"Now I could show a hundred more tricks and moves like that, but we're going to war and so my commands and decisions will be just as important as my martial skills. I've been appointed your leader, but I am not opposed to suggestions and if I am about to make a mistake I would like to be told. But understand that if I give you a command, you'll follow it to the letter and intent of the word or suffer the consequences," she explained, "I am known only as the Warrior Bard and you can address me as either that, Commander or Ma'am. Now gather the supplies, setup the supply routes, we've been orders to march southeast to guard against the invaders." And without another word her officers followed her commands.