Episode 12 Downtime

Newton Defense Plan, Draft 5
SIGNED, FORCE COMMAND
Cmdr. Eva Cervantes, Capt. Charles Sheridan, Virgil Church, Sam Newton, Alexander "Dutch" Williams

ABSTRACT
Given the radical imbalance of forces between those defending Newton and those attacking, we feel that it is of grave importance to leverage our comparative advantages to their greatest extent. We feel that these advantages lie in four areas: first, terrain; second, equipment; third, unique skills of elite troops; fourth, psychological warfare.

The terrain of Newton is uniquely suited for defense. The enemy has two options for attack: they may enter the town through one of two mountain passes, both of which are narrow and easily defended, and which we have much experience defending. Their other options are to attack through the mountains, which present unique challenges for moving a large force and, most importantly, would preclude the use of the enemy's heaviest weapon, the tank. Either option works to our advantage.

The equipment recently discovered in the pre-cataclysm cache brings us up to rough parity with the Greer renegades in terms of average equipment. It also puts us clear in the technological lead over the New Eden mixed/irregular forces. We have discovered that there is enough light and medium weapons to equip approximately 100 troops with state of the art "Land Warrior" equipment, as well as allowing us to redistribute existing equipment and not rely on some of our older and less reliable gear. We feel this will act as a significant force multiplier, especially in light of some of our plans of attack (see below).

It is also worth noting that we recovered a tremendous amount of radio gear, which will give us communications unequaled among our enemies. We mean to use this to its full advantage.
In terms of elite troops, we have the 16 men of Church's Irregulars, all of whom are highly skilled in both defense operations as well at detached, asymmetrical warfare. They are also highly adept at moving quickly through inclement terrain. In addition, we have thirty men provided by Lucius Lessard-Newton, who are all rated as excellent marksmen and in individual combat. In addition, many of our recently-activate militia are former mercenaries and veterans of the Bandit Campaign. Less than 20% of our forces are unbloodied, bringing us to only a slight disadvantage in terms of overall experience of the Greer renegades.

We believe that the enemy's strength lies in their faith in the leader and the righteousness of their mission. They are on a mission from God, so they cannot fail. We will rid them of that notion through unpredictable and devastating surprise attacks, attacking targets of opportunity as well as officers, supplies, and gear. We will use leaflets to compound the effects of these actions.

PREPARATION
Barricades will be constructed on the Newton side of the northern pass sufficient for our entire regular force. These will be designed to counter heavy infantry and cavalry.

The Newton Outpost will be reinforced for the brief stand and feint.

Town Hall and Fort Newton will be reinforced for our last stand.

Church's Irregulars and Lessard-Newton's elite troops (whom we are dubbing the Commandos) will be outfitted with the best of the gear recently recovered from the Pre-Catalysm Cache. They will also set up an encryption scheme to cover communications between them and Force Command.

Sam Newton's steam engine will be made ready to attack. It will be armored to resist light weapons. An armored rail car equipped with heavy machine guns and grenades will be prepared for volunteers to man. They will cut it loose a few moments before impact and use the momentum to carry themselves in to the thick of the enemy.

Church's Irregulars and Commandos will be equipped with whatever anti-tank weapons we have in case the train fails.

PLAN OF ACTION
We foresee three distinct but related operations: first, skirmishes and harassment to slow down and demoralize the enemy, second, defense at the pass, and third, defense in the town itself.
In the first phase, our elite troops, moving quickly, will capitalize on our enemy's lack of mobility and attack them from forest and mountain at night or when they are otherwise unaware. There are no less than five places between the enemy's current location where following the track will lead them close to compromising terrain, which we can use to our advantage.

Our skirmishes will try to severe the enemy's supply lines wherever possible, or destroy his supply train. Furthermore, if the opportunity presents itself, they will try specifically to eliminate Colonel Sam Washington. According to Corwin's report to the council, he has built up a substantial cult of personality and his death, we believe, would deal a blow to morale without equal.

It is also recommended that the irregulars make every effort to carry the dead out of the combat zone, both to recover their equipment and to add an air of invincibility. We believe that this will provide a significant blow to morale.

A crucial part of the this plan lies in Sam Newton's steam engine. Although we believe that we have recovered sufficient anti-tank gear to defeat Greer's weapon, we believe that attacking it with the engine will be a surer and more demoralizing method of destroying it, in addition to providing excellent support for the first of our skirmishes. We will use our superior communications equipment to coordinate this attack, and it will be timed to attack when the terrain affords our enemy minimum warning.

During this initial skirmish, our irregular troops will attempt to assist those who have volunteered to man our ad-hoc armored train, though it is a secondary objective and those troops manning it are to be regarded as expendable.

During these skirmishes, our troops would also disperse leaflets in an attempt to wreak havoc with morale and motivation through psychological warfare. See below for recommendations regarding these leaflets.

Once they reach the Newton Outpost, our troops will put up a brief firefight and then fall back into the pass, leaving our enemy three options: stay put, in which case we will hit them with our artillery as best we are able, attack through the mountains, the disadvantages of which have already been discussed, and attack through the pass.

If they attack through the pass, troops stationed along it will use automatic fire and grenades on the tightly-packed troops, while snipers will attempt to pick off officers. At the far end of the pass, our troops will retreat to already-established barricades and hold their ground. The irregular troops, should any have survived, will move in the open end of the pass and either attack or pick off retreating troops. We will, however, not box them in - as Sun Tzu suggested, a cornered enemy will fight much harder than one who has means of escape.

If the enemy makes it through the pass, our forces will retreat and regroup at the Fort and town hall, these being the two most structurally sound buildings in the town, as well as occupying commanding terrain. At this point, auxiliaries will pass out our remaining equipment to anyone in town who wishes it. It is our hope that if things make it to this point, the enemy will be sufficiently few that this may turn the tide.
[Maps, etc. included]

LIST OF FORCES
[What follows is a long list of troops, divided by command and assignment]

SUMMARY
Use of terrain, elite troops, and psychological warfare will win the day if anything does. These facts are to be kept in mind at all times.

Note that this plan may work equally well when applied to the New Eden forces. However, being less experienced and further from home, we expect the psychological aspects to be even greater.

APPENDIX 1: LEAFLET DESIGN
The Reverend Stapleton contributed to the first portion of this leaflet.

"As a man who knew William Netwon though his entire life and had the solemn honor of overseeing his last rites and burial, it saddens me to see grievous actions being committed in his name. Separatism and blind obedience were anathema to him. He fought for himself and for God, not for leaders high on their plateau of command or hierarchs in their rich palaces. Consider, are you fighting for yourself? Are you making your own decisions, as he did? Or are you being blindly led to your own destruction?
-Reverend Wyatt Stapleton

Take heed of the Reverends words. If you choose not to, then, be aware that we will make every effort to defend that which we've worked and bled for. We will attack you at night, we will strike your flanks, we will use artillery to hit from beyond the horizon. There will be no defense. Our elite troops, skilled in mountain and forest warfare, are shadowing you as you read this. They may be watching and preparing an attack at this moment.

In William Newton's stead, however, we are prepared to be merciful. If you surrender by unloading your weapon, placing it barrel-first in the ground, and waving this leaflet or white flag, you will not be harmed. Indeed, our town is made up of diverse and eclectic individuals seeking their own wealth - if you are not her enemy, you are welcome to join her.

So consider your options: death at an unexpected moment, or a new life in a fast-growing town. Which seems like a better deal to you?"

Downtime Episode 11

"I admit I'm curious, Colonel. You haven't ever fully explained your reasons, and you strike me as a man of principle. Why betray your oath to Greer?"

Colonel Sam Washington looked up from his glass of port and regarded Lorenzo with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting way to put that question, Hierarch. Very...direct."

"Well, they say a man who turns once might well turn again. I don't want to find myself in the position Greer does now."

Washington laughed and reclined further in his chair. The Hierarch's office was large and well-appointed, with original artwork, sculpture, and a few interesting machines framing the single largest desk that Washington had ever seen. "That's wise enough, I suppose. Well then," he leaned forward, "let me make this clear. I won't betray my oath to you because I'm not going to swear one."

Lorenzo sat up, looking surprised. "What? But you-"

"I don't even like you, Lorenzo; I think you're a petty bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur." Lorenzo sniffed at that but Washington didn't give him time to interrupt. "For better or worse, however, your delusions seems to be shared by a awful lot of people and, perhaps more importantly, your goals and mine are the same."

"So, what? All I've gained is a mercenary, loyal only to his paycheck?"

"Oh, not at all. What you've gained is a crusader, loyal to his cause, and that is the very best type of soldier to have." Washington stood and walked over to a miniature orrery and pushed on one of the planets, sending the entire system spinning around the miniature, gold-leafed sun.

"It became clear to me that the Greer to whom I'd sworn an oath no longer existed. They're not concerned with people or God anymore, just resources. Monopoly, leverage, supply, those are the watchwords of the government. I can't say that elicits a tremendous amount of sympathy from my...romantic heart." They shared a chuckle.

"So why me, then? What's your cause?"

"I'm a soldier second and a Christian first. An Edenist first, really. And as an Edenist, I believe as you do that William Newton is as near to a saint as you're likely to find nowadays. But, when the people of Newton put him in the ground, they must've buried his ideals with him because suddenly, they're acting much less like William and much more like Greer. And that will not do at all."

Lorenzo nodded. "Then you're right, we are agreed."

Washington turned back to Lorenzo. "I assume, then, that we're also agreed when I say that action is necessary, and soon. I didn't bring an army with me to keep them in camp."

Lorenzo smiled and finished off his glass. "We are agreed. Action it will be."

Corwin Gray, Ep.6 Downtime

Corwin started of his meeting with Gus White directly, as he always did.

"Lucius is going to buy the Parks estate when it goes up for auction tomorrow."

"I'm not surprised. He's asked me about it once or twice."

"Even if he buys it, he can't be allowed to take a seat on the council."

White raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his brandy. Corwin always set the best for his guests. "Now I am slightly surprised. I'd always suspect that you had a hand in his actions."

Corwin chucked and took a sip of his own brandy. "Very briefly, it's true. During the time I did work with him, however, I became certain that his instability and frankly blinding lust for power undercut his usefulness."

"You're definitely not alone in thinking that. I assume you have a suggestion?"

Corwin took a deep breath before saying, "Yes. I think you should retire."

White coughed. "Excuse me?"

"You'll be out of the council anyway. Jeffery Newton's will explicitly states that his property can't be broken up, so regardless of who Abrams decides is actually going to be the beneficiary they're going to have more land than you. So if you take your retirement now and sell off most of your land, you'll have a generous nest egg, not have to worry about management, and someone else will take your place on the council."

White pursed his lips and sighed. "I'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I mean, I've enjoyed being a part of making Newton what it is."He looked distinctly resigned. "As long as I'm out, I suppose, I might as well keep that sniveling bastard from enjoying it. The only problem is that since the town's boundary's just opened up, there's land for the taking for just about anyone. Values have never been lower. Anything I own outside of the central town area is going to sell for a substantial loss."

Corwin nodded. "That would be true, but fortunately, I've received word of someone coming in to town whose desires are going to far exceed the little plot of land we're giving to veterans. An old friend, actually, and he'll pay market price for any land he can get."

"Who?"

"Lewis Bryant. Remember him?"

White cradled his head in his hands and sighed. "Good thing Bill's dead."

"Why do you think he's coming back? It's water under the bridge, anyway; I would gamble not a dozen people in town can even tell you what their feud was about. Regardless, it's not like Bill exiled him or anything; they just went their separate ways. It'd be a good sign of reconciliation if it was him you sold land to."

"Maybe, but do we want him on the council any more than Lucius? Better the evil you know; after all, nobody's really spoken to Bryant outside occasional correspondence in something like 15 years."

"I think he'd make a good addition to the council. His disagreement with Bill was one of concience, remember, not passion. Some level-headedness in power would do the town good."

White shook his head. "All right. If you think it's a good idea I'll look into it. I can't promise any more than that, of course..."

"Not that I would expect you to. And if you need any help, just let me know."

Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep.6 Downtime

Lucius felt his vision narrow and his heartbeat pound in his chest. His hands shaking ever so slightly, he put down the report his lieutenant had handed him and tried to breathe deeply.

"Who's responsible for this?"

His lieutenant licked his lips, refusing to make eye contact. "Well, Mr. White's obviously responsible directly, but it looks as if certain other members of the council have taken a set against you."

Lucius felt like shouting, but bit his tongue until he could respond with more dignity. "That's not very helpful, St. Croix."

"Um, well, sorry, sir. What I mean to say is, the rumor is that Mr. Gray and Mr. White discussed the matter after a council meeting a few weeks ago, and that he's been helping White shop around for a suitable buyer for his land."

Rejected! A personal insult! And after all he'd done for the town! Wasn't his support of the militia sufficient? And certainly his campaign against Jeffery had been popular on the council. And he's even conspired amiably with Corwin during that man's shot at power. And now, rather than proper thanks, a knife in the back from each of them.

It was a good thing that he had already purchased his insurance. Now, as it turned out, he might want to buy a larger policy.

"And who, St. Croix, has Mr. White found? It's not in this report."

"As near as I can find, his name is Lewis Bryant."

Virgil Church, Ep. 6 Downtime

Virgil penciled in the last few columns in his ledger and pushed it away from him, not bothering to look at the bottom line. He knew what it would say, anyway. Being a town hero in the aftermath of a bandit uprising buoyed his group along for a few months, but people were starting to get back to reality. There was no way another group of bandits was going to spontaneously rise up. Even the old camps that had little to do with Philo had been effectively disbanded by Newton's campaign and its aftermath. Caravans weren't being attacked at all, or only by very small numbers. In short, there was no reason to pay for a group of heavily armed, highly skilled escorts like Virgil's band.

For now, costs were being met, but each week brought fewer and fewer customers, and Virgil's expenses had increased. 15 men, rather than 12, each with the best equipment and horses he could find, were expensive to keep happy. Fact was, unless business improved measurably in the next month to a month and a half at most, he was going to have to cut back just as he was expanding. Virgil had never styled himself a soldier, but his days as an irregular were looking rosier than ever in afterthought.

Good thing he'd sprung Philo from the Fort.

Collective Downtime, Ep.6

All of my character's plots are kind of in limbo right now, so I figured that I'd just briefly recap their current objectives.

Corwin wants to expand the town of Newton. Corwin doesn't specifically want to increase his personal power per se, although he is quite jealous of the power he already has and views any increase as a desirable side effect. Really, Corwin has invested himself in Newton so thoroughly that he views the town as his personal responsibility, one he owes to Bill, and it flatters his ego to see the town do well. Especially if it's under his direction. He is quite convinced he knows what's best and won't hesitate one bit to push his will on others. Thus, he may have somewhat altruistic goals, but he hasn't suddenly become an altruist.

Lucius, on the other hand, wants the town to expand as well, but it's for a more personal gain. He wants to be on the Council, or to lead it. He wants to be important. He's so convinced that he needs to be on the Council he hasn't yet come up with a firm plan regarding what he'd do if he got there. As the last episode showed, he's completely willing to break the law, but he is not entirely evil - he doesn't want to kill or ruin unnecessarily.

Virgil wants to make money. He knows that he can only do that by protecting the trade of Newton, so he does want the town to expand, at least in principle. However, if the town expands too well and eliminates all of its threats, as it appears that they might do to the bandits, he would not be entirely opposed to creating a new one (such as with Cody or Greer?) in order to be paid to end it.

Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 4 Downtime

"He did what?" shouted Lucius, feeling sheer outrage fulminate in his breast.

Gray ducked slightly and looked around, nervous about being overheard. Nobody was listening, of course - they were standing in a logging hut on the edge of Lucius' property, well away from prying eyes.

"It's not so much him, but -"

"I know, you insipid fool!"

"But Doctor Solomon said that Jeffery has regained much of his faculties. He said that he might even be at the next council meeting!"

Lucius fought the urge to throttle his informant. It wasn't the man's fault, of course, he was just doing his job. And maybe he couldn't blame Jeffery for healing, but he was going to be damned if someone wasn't going to pay for this obstruction. It threatened to throw a monkey wrench into the entire plan.

The Newton name still carried a lot of weight, as the recent unrest had definitely shown, just as it had shown that the weigh disappeared if your Newton had a hyphen in front of it. Suddenly, his plans for expanding the town were "not what Bill would've wanted," as if his sniveling bastard of an uncle had a monopoly on Grandfather's opinions.

Feeling his heart rate slow, Lucius decided on a plan. "Gary, I want you to go back to him and do as you've been doing. Congratulate him on his fast recovery. But set your affairs in order - I may have a tremendous amount of money for you if you're willing to do a few...unsavory tasks for me."

Gary narrowed his eyes. So the man had standards after all! "Like what?"

"That'll remain to be seen. Trust me, I wouldn't have you do anything you'd be too uncomfortable with. No, you're far too useful for that."

Virgil Church, Ep. 3 Downtime

Virgil is getting a bit worried. He's not concerned about the danger of fighting the bandits, he's concerned about it being too safe afterwards. Nobody would be willing to pay for an escort by a band of heavily armed mercenaries if the pass was safe enough that children would be playing in it. That'd shoot his dreams of expanding his business in Newton. No bandits means no risk, meansno money for protection. He'd have to leave Newton and make his living somewhere else, fighting against more competition and, heaven help him, more regulation. He hadn't realized at the time, but Church is slowing discovering that the old status quo had a lot going for it.

Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 3 Downtime

Lucius waited impatiently as Jeffery's manager counted the money. It was all there, of course, just as Lucius promised - he was no spendthrift, especially when it came to something this important.

"Alright, 500 dollars. What do you want again. I think you need to be real clear."

Real clear? Lucius briefly entertained the idea that the man was wearing a wire, but that seemed unlikely - not only were such things rare enough as to be improbable, by all accounts Gary Bucknell was a tremendously unimaginative person, if competent enough at his job.

"Very well, friend Gary. I want you to write up a summary of any substantial order that Jeffery gives you, and I want you to give it to me. Just substantial orders, mind; I don't want pages of nonsense such as what he had for lunch."

"And what are you going to do with it?"

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to pay you for it. That's all you need to know. I'll contact you in a few days - I expect an accurate summary at that point. If I like what I see, there'll be more money and more work."

Gary nodded thoughtfully, and Lucius waited for him to go away. He hated dealing with this kind of subterfuge - Grandfather would never have stood for it. He'd have called Jeffery out and they'd have settled their differences one way or another. However, Lucius held no illusions about how his combat skills compared to Grandfather's; at any rate, shooting a man who's ill would hardly be sporting. The confrontation would come soon enough, but to know just when might require Lucius to get his hands dirty a bit.

Corwin Gray, Ep. 3 Downtime

Journal Entry for December 20th.

Jeffery is awake now. I told him of what was going on in the town, and with the bandits. I told him of our campaign to eradicate their infestation. I told him of our plans to expand the town. His response was less positive than I expected. Far less. "It's too fast. This isn't what my father would've wanted."

Did he even know his father? The naive fool. How could someone as incompetent, as blind, as Jeffery possibly be the son of someone as capable as Bill? I see now that I was correct - Jeffery is badly underqualified to serve as Chief Administrator. Of course, I could never have voiced his opinion to Bill while he still lived. Not only did he love his son, he honestly thought that Jeffery would be the future of the town, would continue to shape it in his image. The imbecile is trying his best, apparently, but it seems as though he has no idea what his father's vision was!

There are those in the Council who feel that I've overstepped my bounds and that I'm pursuing this agenda for personal profit. Anders, in particular, has made little attempt to hide his suspicions. In a sense, they're right - I am doing this for my own profit. I am also doing it for their profit, for the benefit of the entire town. Without the bandits, think how we could grow! Expanding the town is not just a pleasant side effect of our campaign; it both allows and forces us to make good on our promises. It is essential.

In the end, I have no choice. Bandit raids on Newton and her outposts are intolerable. I will do whatever is necessary to destroy every bandit that remains a threat to us - THAT is what Bill would've done. It's what he did, in fact. If Jeffery, or Anders, or whoever else disagrees with that fact, they only prove their ignorance.

Corwin Gray, Ep. 2 Downtime Addendum

Dutch,

I agree completely. I'm going to be presenting the council with a bill that will provide for the hire of a number of "irregulars," mostly mercenaries and hired guns from out of town, but also including natives like Virgil Church's band. This might seem unusual, but there is much at stake and we cannot afford to lose.

Under normal circumstances, these men will be integrated with the normal militia, but I will see to it that you, as our new Supervisor of Irregular Troops, will have complete oversight of their use. This will involve making sure they do what they're supposed to, of course, but you will be free to use independent detachments in special circumstances.

-Corwin

Captain Charles Sheridan, Ep. 2 Downtime

After-Action Report, December 10th

At length we found the remains of the bandit raid – seven dead men (find their names attached) with a small fraction of their cargo, mostly worthless sundries of no use to uncivilized men. Of horses, weapons, and carts there was no sign. There is substantial evidence of a firefight in the area, and all of the men died of gunshot wounds.

Afterwards, we decided to push forward slightly, to see if we might be able to catch the bandits dividing the spoils nearby, or perhaps overtake them on the way back to their camp. In this we were unsuccessful, but we did see evidence that points to a considerable bandit presence: a number of abandoned camps, fresh garbage, and traps for large game. These are too far off the road to be the detritus of normal travelers, and too far from Newton to be townsfolk.

Attached are pictures of several of the abandoned camps.

Corwin Gray, Ep. 2 Downtime

Journal Entry, Corwin Gray, December 11th, 2073

After reviewing Cmdr. Cervantes’ report on militia readiness, and after Lucius’ generous but (I am quite sure) not entirely selfless donation, I have decided to pass through the Council a bill authorizing the militia to purchase arms and heavy weapons from neighboring towns, as well as non-Newton “irregular” forces, to be armed with aforementioned weapons.

Though I have no doubt my plan to bring in foreigners to fight for us will not be an entirely welcome decision, I feel that there is no reason to commit to an endeavor of this magnitude without being prepared to take it all the way. For the first time in its history, Newton needs a standing army.

I am no fool; I have read my history. Mercenaries can be uncontrollable and dangerous. Therefore, we shall distribute them evenly throughout the militia, as well as keeping their numbers to the bare minimum possible.
Idea: Lucius will no doubt be pleased to hear me say this, indeed, he strongly hinted at this himself in his speech to the Council. Much as Bill did, we shall wrest control of the pass and the mountains from the bandits, as well as expanding the safe zone around the Crossroads Outpost. Rather than being content to leave it safe yet still “contested,” we should strongly consider annexing that territory.

It is my understanding that there are several claims on the land, including a tenuous one from Newton proper, but, in clearing it, I have no doubt that our claim would be recognized by any objective source as strongest. Therefore, let it be done – I shall propose it to the council myself at our next meeting. This will also allow us to reward those who serve best with additional land, always the strongest motivator. Who knows – perhaps in time some of these mercenaries will become proper citizens.

Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 2 Downtime

Address to the Council:
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, fellow citizens. This town has begun on a journey of a magnitude that it has not seen since my grandfather, William Newton, first killed the bandit kings of this valley and declared it free territory. I am speaking, of course, of the campaign to ride our town of its bandit menace, and to free the road for trade of goods and ideas.

I feel that this is exactly what grandfather would have done. I have heard that he spoke often of the bandits in his later years, but was concerned that we lacked the strength to deal with so deadly a menace. However, I feel that, understandable as it was, his concerns were not justified – not only are we capable of dealing with this threat, we must deal with it.

As a patriotic citizen of Newton, then, I feel as though I must to everything I can to ensure our operation’s success. To that end, I shall commit every non-essential employee of my family and my lands to the militia, and to furthermore make a substantial donation to the town’s coffers, to be spent on arms and experts to assist us.
It is my hope that, as a result of this campaign, Newton will emerge from its chrysalis into a Golden Age, which will catapult it from a small trading town to the greatest city-state in the land. Thank you!”

Mild applause.

Lucius Lessard-Newton, Downtime #1

The map of the town was hopelessly out of date. Additional land Grandfather had acquired late in his life had been crudely and imprecisely penciled in, and the places where the “official” border of the town had expanded had been annotated with that information and absolutely nothing else. It was the same on survey documents, deeds, and the handful of other official documents that he’d looked over so far.

Lucius took another swallow of his now lukewarm tea and turned to the next document. Just like most of the rest, it indicated the borders of the town with a reasonable degree of precision, but it was a brand new number – not a single one of the documents agreed with any of the others as to Newton’s exact boundaries. Furthermore, Lucius had no doubt that most of the farmers on the periphery tilled and sowed on land that was technically outside the borders of the town and therefore contested. His father certainly had.

Most likely the reason for the inaccuracy lay in Newton’s extremely ad hoc origins. Nobody could agree on how big the town was at its founding, with the few sources that named it (Neither Grandfather or anyone else in his band had been much on paperwork in the early days, it seemed) saying that it was either the walls of the bandit compound Newton had formerly been, or the trickling Washington River, or the edge of the forest as it had existed then.

Whatever the reason, Lucius’ felt his hopes lift, if not exactly soar. Maybe with a full blood, first generation Newton or two on his side, especially one with land on the periphery, he might be able to convince the council that the town extended beyond his current fields, possibly all the way to Dosset Creek. That’d add almost 100 acres of unimproved land to his claim by itself, and reasonable good land too. The more people that agreed with him, the larger the expansion was likely to be – they’d all want a slice of the pie after all. Aunt Lorraine, for instance, would certainly not say no to some more of the prime grazing land watered by the creek. With 100 acres of additional land, he’d just need square inches more to edge old Gus White out of the council.

Lucius leaned back in the town hall’s uncomfortable chair. He’d need to put all this away before the meeting started – the council were the last people in town he wanted hearing of his plan.

Virgil Church, Downtime #1

Virgil sat in the lockup, twiddling his thumbs. Anders had thrown him in here as soon as he’d had a spare moment, to “think for a spell” on what he’d done. He’d dealt with a threat to the town, right? The men were patsies; there was no way that had useful information. It wouldn’t do to leave them behind where they might make trouble. Besides, the only good bandit was a dead bandit. As long as things didn’t get too peaceful, anyway.

At any rate, Virgil had other things to ruminate on. He had realized, sitting in the Fort with the doctor and Anders and Eva, that only he and Ophelia Wolfe knew where the stranger had gotten his explosives, and it naturally would not be good for Sam Newton if word got out what he’d done to his nephew. Virgil tossed around the idea of blackmail, but decided in the end that Sam was too goo d a friend for that, and too useful as an ally in any case. Still, he could make some money off of this – doubtless Sam’d pay good money to protect what was left of his reputation. Otherwise, well, it didn’t bear thinking on.

Corwin Gray, Downtime #1

So, Keller and Masterson were off the council. Keller was a fool and it Corwin wished that it had taken an event less momentous than Bill’s death to knock him off his high horse. Masterson was competent enough, more so than his lineage might suggest, but he was also something of a non-entity. That left Ed Grissom, Gus White, and David Croft on the council, plus Corwin himself, in addition to the two most likely new members: Anders Leigh (Corwin was still shaking his head over this one) and Lorraine Newton.

Corwin pushed his ledger aside and rubbed his eyes. He was not looking forward to the evening’s meeting. The others were going to be howling for blood with no real ideas to back up their rage, and demanding action without allowing for planning. Just like any other week, except no administrator to break up disputes, plus doe-eyed Leigh and Lorraine too new to hold their own.

He paused for a moment before pulling a blank sheet of paper and, with a brief hesitation, started writing notes. Corwin’s position as Council Speaker, tenuous and honorary as it was, meant that he was more or less first among equals. The town’s bylaws were rather incomplete, but if anyone was going to stand up and take the position of administrator pro tempore, it would be him.

Corwin hated the thought of scheming his way into Bill’s old post; his death still felt a little unreal, like he could walk in through the door any moment and start barking about how things were going to get done. No more of that. Jeffery certainly didn’t have the spine for it. Corwin would just have to get things done himself, without the old man’s omnipresent stare to break through deadlocks.

Corwin shook his head. Back to the matter and hand. Leigh and Newton didn’t know how things worked and probably wouldn’t try to stop him. Grissom would protest no matter what Corwin did, but his greatest supporters had been Keller and Masterson, so he was neutered. Croft would disagree with Grissom for just about any reason. White would be wary, but if the rest of the council (Grissom aside, of course) fell on his side White would go along.

Corwin put his pen aside and crumpled up the sheet he’d been writing on. Politics were supposed to stay out of the council; it was for “the good of the town, and the good of its people,” as Bill had always said. No more of that either, it looked like.

(P.S. I didn’t mention this in the narrative, but Corwin has a substantial, high-value shipment ready to go to Greer, and is getting very frustrated with the pass being closed. This is very much an open secret – a fair amount of Corwin’s wealth comes from the shipping concern he owns, and much of the stuff he ships is grown or produced on his own land.)

Virgil Church

Virgil is a member of the rapidly-increasing service industry in Newton. He's a protection agent; he and the group he runs ride with caravans heading to the city-states and provide muscle to prevent and, if necessary, fight off bandit raids.

Virgil had a rough childhood. He grew up among the bandits and has been fighting for his life and livelihood, one way or another, nearly his entire life. He has no family, and few friends except for the dozen other men in his outfit. Even now that he's legitimate, he doesn't hate the bandits in general, seeing them as just another group fighting to survive, like everyone. If his own survival depends on fighting them off, then so be it. Virgil carries this same type of pragmatism with him everywhere; he is not a very principled man. If the stakes were high enough, he'd betray almost anybody (though for his friends, naturally, the stakes would have to be tremendous).

Though Newton's location and culture have made his business successful, he doesn't particularly care for the city in principle. Specifically, he does not care for the Newton family much at all - their luxurious, struggle-free lifestyle is moderately disgusting to him. William Newton himself was the only one who deserved his wealth, and with him will die the last does of reality left in the family.

Church's dramatic axis is as follows: he does not care for Newton, except insofar as its conducive to his continued business. Virgil firmly believes that this depends on good relations with Cody, Greer, and Laurel, and those good relations will stop if Newton tries to over-flex its muscles. In addition, his business depends on the bandits not being entirely eliminated; with the roads safe, who needs an escort? In short, Virgil needs things the stay the way they are as much as possible, and just like he always has, he'll do whatever he can to get what he needs.

EDIT: Virgil never knew his father and ran away from his mother early in life. He doesn't have any other family. He's had some on-again-off-again relationships with some women in Newton and the city-states, but he's just as likely to visit a prostitute.

Lucius Lessard-Newton

Lucius Lessard-Newton is the son of Newton's oldest daughter, Isabel, and is among the oldest of his generation of Newtons. He's very much the trust-fund type, and he's been called a brat many times throughout his life. Though he's likeable enough in most situations, he is strong-willed and stubborn in the extreme, and pretty much nobody has been able to stand up against him for long, including his parents. Even more annoyingly, knows it and is keenly perceptive when it comes to manipulating others.

Lucius was only 22 years old when his father died in a flash fire. His mother, unable to deal with his manipulation and subterfuge, sent him to work as a middle manager on his aunt Lorraine's farm. She hoped that close association with those not as fortunate (not to mention working a day job) might help straighten him out. She was half right - he's not nearly as arrogant as he used to be, but he's also honed his manipulative talents extensively.

Lucius and Lorraine have kind of a love-hate relationship. He's strictly loyal to the Newton family (at least, to the ideal of the Newton family), and Lorraine is at best distant. They're both strong personalities, and fight constantly, but it's almost a game for them - their combat belies their loyalty to each other.

EDIT: Lucius' mother very much wants him to marry a particular young woman from the prosperous Knight family named Alexandra. She's equally hard to manage and uppity, so Isabel, along with the Knights, hopes that they'll calm each other down. Lucius publicly scorns her, and she him, but he is secretly attracted.

Lucius absolutely adores William Newton. He sees him as a perfect man: warrior, leader, teacher, king, and friend. Though Lucius realizes that he's not as likable as William, he at least hopes to be as capable. It should be noted, however, that Lucius doesn't really know William all that well and has built the man up in his mind to fairly unrealistic levels.

Currency

Even though there's no national currency, it seems to me that a strict barter economy is a little infeasible considering the fairly substantial industrial base remaining in cities. There would be a common need to make wealth highly portable. Thus, precious metals. Gold and silver coins, bars, bullion, whatever. You'd get paid in a certain weight of such metals, which would translate into varying amount of paper currency or whatever depending on where you go. An ounce of gold might be $30 Cody or $50 Laurel, depending on whatever the bank of that city had decided the value would be. Thus, people would still speak of dollars, but would insist on getting paid in gold.