Day 1, 2022
"Major Casey, sir, we got a big problem," Captain Sarah Walker informed her CO as she and Chuck made it back to camp.
"The Great Survivalist wasn't able to find water?" Casey guessed with a huff.
"We got water, Major Casey. The problem is that we're not alone in these woods. On the way back, we were chased by... by wild men with crude weapons," Chuck summarized the ordeal.
"Are you fucking with me? Because if you, it isn't funny, Dr. Bartowski," the major growled, looking up at him from his spot on the ground, his leg heavily bandaged.
"We're being serious as death here, sir. If they could have, I jave no doubt they would have killed us. We know nothing about them, except they would have loved to have our heads," Sarah butted in.
"Damn," Casey growled. "Crude weapons, huh? Bunch of cultish, inbred stick throwers, or what are we thinking?"
"That may not be too far off," Chuck said, scratching his chin. "They might be some kind of weird neo-zealots. We won't know more until we run into them again, that is if, we run into them again."
"Sir, I recommend putting up an armed guard, establishing a perimeter of whoever is physically able. I'd arm the civies, too," Sarah suggested.
"You have a key to the lockers. Do what you have to do, just keep checking in with me," Casey ordered.
"Hey guys," Devon said, jogging back from the other end of the wreckage. "Please tell me you got that water."
"Yeah we did, Doc, but it wasn't free," Sarah told him, unclicking the belly straps of the bag and slipping it off her shoulders.
"What do you mean?" Devon asked, his brows furrowed.
"The woods are littered with German mines, and we have some unfriendlies out there that didn't take a liking to me and Chuck."
"Getting water; awesome. Woodland dudes; not awesome," Devon said with a grimace. "So are we doing weapons free then, sir?" Devon asked Casey.
"Yup. Me and Walker just talked about that. I want a list of everyone medically cleared for duty. I want Lieutenant Larkin to find the most defensible place for us to shack the wounded until we can figure out more," Casey laid out.
Sarah sighed and slumped her shoulders, looking at Chuck. "I really could use that bath, Doctor."
October 14, 1066: Morning
"Freja, good news," John Casey, her right hand man, informed her.
"Good news means you can poke your head inside my personal tent without fucking asking?" the mercenary captain hissed.
"So sorry, your highness," Casey shot back, taking a bow. "I just thought you'd want to know that you have an answer from Duke William."
Freja shot up in bed, an animal pelt being the only thing stopping Casey from seeing her nakedness. "Bring me Sir Charles, yourself, and his squire," she ordered.
In only moments, the war captain had a nearly full tent.
"So tell me, what did the Lord of Normandy say for the return of his man here?" Freja demanded to know.
Morgan looked to Charles. "His excellency said he will pay for you half of Sir Charles' weight in silver upon his return, and the other half upon striking a contract with you."
Freja smiled devilishly, and thumped her chest. "Yes! This William is a smart man! I will gladly meet him. John Casey, strike camp!" Freja ordered.
2022- Day 1, Night
"You ever use a gun, Chuck?" Sarah asked the professor as she handed him a pistol.
"I certainly have not. I'm pretty good with a dart gun from playing tag around the Stanford campus."
"Great. It's the same point and click interface. You're on watch with me tonight, so you're going to carry my side arm," Sarah explained.
"Why don't I get to use a rifle like yours?" he asked with petulance.
"Because these require far more training, Chuck. This also has a very expensive night sight that I can't accept you dropping if shit gets real."
"That's fair," Chuck said with a sobering nod. "Do you think those wild men will have tracked us here?"
"No way to be sure," Sarah shrugged as she cut into an MRE. "I don't want to take any chances. We still gotta figure out where we are, and if we can get lifted out."
"Morgan, Jeff, and Lester haven't updated me on the plane's radio. All I know is they're working on it," Chuck said, his shoulders deflating.
"Yeah, could take them a while. I was hoping this was going to be more of a vacation but here we fucking are," Sarah sighed as she snacked on a packet of MMs.
Chuck sighed and leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the sky as the last of the sunlight brought in a deep purple and blue to the trees, a million stars making themselves known overhead. "This would be a beautiful camping spot under normal circumstances."
"Yeah," Sarah agreed, digging into some less than appetizing mac and cheese. "Too bad this camping trip involves dead bodies, internal bleeding, and a whole lot of broken limbs."
"You're just a big ball of sunshine, aren't you, Captain?"
"You would be, too, if you've seen and done what I have, Professor. You study and write about atrocities long past; I commit and see them committed," Sarah said, her mouth still full of the shitty pasta.
"You do need a vacation, don't you, Sarah?" Chuck asked with a frown.
"You offering?" Sarah chuckled.
"And what if I was?" Chuck fought back. "Clearly you need one, and I have a friend in Italy."
Sarah rolled her eyes and laughed. "Thanks, Chuck, but right now I'm focused on getting us the fuck out of here."
"That's fine," Chuck said, looking up I to the night sky. "I don't like those clouds."
Sarah joined Chuck in looking up, and said, "Fuck me raw, it's definitely looking like rain."
October 14, 1066 - Late Morning
Freja, Charles, Morgan, and John Casey led the small column of riders as they headed south towards the Norman Beach head, with Freja's mind full of silver.
Freja's eyes widened as she took in the size of the army that had landed in Britain, and were no doubt in the process of mobilizing in hopes of hammering Harold Godwinson into subservience.
"This way, I'll lead you straight to Duke William," Charles offered, but Freja took the reigns.
"No," she snapped. "The one known as Morgan, send for him. He meets us here," she ordered, being smarter than allowing herself to be taken prisoner. She could only imagine would befall her were she to be taken by Normans with minds full of pillaging, killing, and savagery.
Morgan rode ahead, and the rest of the contingent waited patiently until they saw banners and a long line of riders approaching, Duke William at the head.
"Sir Charles, you look healthy," the dark haired man said, his eyes appraising his friend.
"I am, your excellency. Freja Ice Walker has taken care of me, even seen me fed," Charles stated.
"You must be the Ice Walker?" he asked, turning his eyes on the Captain. "I understand you to be a mercenary, no? If you can be trusted, we have use of your band."
"This man, Morgan, has told me so. Half of Sir Charles weight in silver for his return now, and then half after signing of contract?"
William nodded. "Those were my words. How sound this deal to you, Ice Walker? You shall also be authorized to pitch camp next to mine, but that shall be after today's fighting is ceased."
"Today's?" Charles asked his eyes widening in shock.
"Indeedz good sir. If Ice Walker's news is accurate, we mustn't give Godwinson any time to rest; we smash him now, while he is tired."
"The news is accurate, my lord," Freja interjected. "I was at Stamford Bridge where Hadrada fell."
William studied Freja carefully and then nodded. "Sir Charles, ready your cavalry. Ice Walker, we shall have use of your infantry once Sir Charles' plan is enacted. If you are not a fool, you will know it when you see it."
2022, Day 1 - Night
"Can't see much through this rain," Sarah cursed, her gortex poncho pulled down over her head. "We could get hit by a small army and we wouldn't know till they were on top of us."
"What are the chances there is one almost on top of us?" Chuck asked his watch partner. "Call it first watch jitters, but my stomach doesn't feel right."
"I hear that," Sarah said and lifted her rifle, looking through the night scope. "Ah hell," she breathed, and flipped off the safety. "Chuck, deploy flare!" she shouted before squeezing the trigger for a controlled burst of fire.
"What the fuck!" Chuck shouted as he pulled a long red tube from the pack they had brought with them.
The red flare shot into the night sky and illuminated the woods around them.
"Oh hell no!" Chuck shouted, the woods just yards ahead were moving with wild men, the same variety they had seen earlier that day.
"I need fire support over here!" Sarah keyed into the walkie talkie they were able salvage earlier that day.
"I'll do what I can, but we have hostiles, too!" Casey replied, the sound of gunfire reaching them through the air and through the radio set.
Sarah laid down fire into the woods while Chuck squinted his eyes trying to see through the rain or wait for someone to come within pistol range.
It wasn't long before Lieutenant Bryce Larkin and Sergeant Carina Miller had joined them. "We're all Major Casey could spare," Larkin said, taking up cover behind the plane wreckage with Chuck and Sarah.
"Great. I can't imagine these bastards will suffer a lot of losses before they turn back," Sarah said as the four combatants picked targets.
With sustained, patient fire, the four were able to make the woodsmen rethink their attack and fall back into the woods, beyond the reach of the flare.
"Captain Walker, everyone alright?" Casey asked.
"Yes sir. We were outnumbered, but they don't have a lot of stomach for fighting," Sarah responded.
"Well don't think we're done yet. We have no idea if they'll make another push," Casey advised.
"Chuck, how are you doing?" Sarah asked the only noncombatant on their line.
Chuck was staring at the gun in his hand, and then at the field, a dozen corpses laying before them.
"I... I killed one, Sarah. I killed a man," Chuck said, his voice trembling.
"I know you did, Chuck. You had to, though, alright? It was either us or them. That's all it is. You defended yourself and everyone who couldn't defend themselves," Sarah told him, her eyes steeled more than Chuck had seen.
Sarah was a hardened, and sometimes foul-mouthed woman, but the look in her eyes told him that there was still an understanding, compassionate soul behind all the combat gear.
"You're right. Of course you are. They came at us. We didn't go looking for them," Chuck said, his hands still shaking.
"Hey, come here," Sarah said, leaning her rifle against their makeshift cover, and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I need you to be okay, Chuck. I need you to be able to keep shooting if they come back, okay?"
"Yeah," Chuck said, his arms holding Sarah tight. "I can do that."
"That's good," Sarah said, lookikg over his shoulder. "Because here they come again."
October 14, 1066 - Midday
It had taken a good portion of the day for William, Charles, and Freja to array their forces in the field, under the gaze of King Harold Godwinson who held the high ground, overlooking from atop the rounding hill.
"It won't be easy to get him to come down off that hill, and I don't like the notion of charging up it," William said, scratching his brow.
"No worry, your excellency. Allow me to fix that," Charles said confidently. "Freja, I would appreciate your assistance with this."
"What are you planning?" Freja asked, her arms crossed as she stood among Normandy's finest.
"I need you to lead the infantry up the hill and engage the shield wall," Charles told her.
Freja scoffed. "Are you daft?"
"Just put up a convincing fight to make it look convincing when you withdraw, and then let me handle the rest."
"I'll lead them, but don't expect me to only use my band," Freja said, nearly scowling under her blue face paint.
"You'll have a combined force of your mercenaries and Normans, Ice Walker. If Charles' plan does not win the day, we are wasting time and lives here, and I plan to waste neither here today," William assured the wary Viking.
"Right. Let's get the day going then."
Once in position, Freja waited until she saw a banner with two crossed spears waved, and she knew it was time to move in. She said a quick prayer and motioned for her line to move forward.
They took their time marching across the open field as Norman arches covered the advance. As soon as archers became a liability, Freja increased speed to a full jog, and then her mercenaries and Norman foot soldiers scrambled up the slope of the hill as best they could.
Freja's combined force crashed into the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, but were unable to move it an inch.
After a few futile moments, Freja ordered her troops to fall back, and they turned and ran back down the hill in a disorganized mess.
A section if the shield wall, thinking they had the enemy truly on the run, broke formation and gave chase.
Once a distance from the main Anglo-Saxon force, Freja ordered her line to turn back into them.
The ground thundered beside her, and as if on a timer, Charles and his Norman knights clad in chainmail crashed into the Anglo-Saxons, routing them easily.
This ploy was used a handful of times to great effect until the line on the hill was weakened enough that William could lead the bulk of his army to destroy Godwinson.
By the end of the day, William had won decisively, and Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, laid slain.
Now the game of controlling and subjugation would begin.
XxX
A/N: This chapter read like a textbook, but it's very formative for the rest of the story. Thanks for hanging in, if you have.