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."

Anders Downtime Episode 6

Duty Report, First Week of February, 2074

Not much to report this week. The new Eastern patrol seems to be settling into their routine, though they still need to figure out the difference between "minor conflict" and "good shindig." Also, thinking that that kid... Parris, I think his name was, needs to have his gun taken away for the week.

Hell, I don't even recognize my whole staff any more, let alone half the folks we're supposed to be serving and protecting. I hate to do it, but I might have to ask the council to start documenting folks, making a record of everyone in town, and establishing a basis for "Newton Citizenship." Otherwise, there's no telling where my jurisdiction ends and the militia's begins. Well, that's something for another day.

One final thing to report - One of the deputies brought in a pamphlet for something called "Citizens for an Equitable Newton." Mostly garbage, railing against the Council, and pretty much all nonsensical, but I felt like it should be noted.

Sam Downtime Episode 6

Ya know, the people of this town never seem to astound me. A man picks up a gun, rides around the woods for a bit, suddenly he's a model citizen. Heh. Buncha damned fools. Still, seems to me that 'model citizens' don't get their businesses looked at too closely, so score one for me.

Of course, it'd also help if business weren't so damned slow. Nobody needs a gun if there ain't nobody to shoot at. If we don't get ourselves into a war soon, I may have to go legitimate. Bleh. Well, best thing at this point seems to be to keep on the lookout for some new avenues for my particular breed of commerce.

Dutch Downtime Episode 6

It's been a quiet couple of months, thank God. With the bandit problem gone or near-gone, the business of managing shipments and protection for Corwin is now astoundingly easy. Spending a lot of time sitting on my hands, and worrying.

It's only a matter of time, though. The Shadows will be wondering why Chris stopped reporting back, and sooner or later whoever they've got playing boss will start wanting questions answered. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Chris will have sent back info about the town, especially regarding the lack of any 'ruling faction'.

I don't know how many they've got any more, but I'm thinking that beating Chris to death was a bad move. Get the feeling I'm going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I'm thinking that there are those in town who, left with nothing better to do, might welcome an... organization like the Shadows.

Character Recap, Ep. 6

Lorraine is noticing a slow, but steady dip in sales between Newton and the other three city-states. As such, while Lorraine is in favor of expanding Newton, trade is her main priority and she does not want to jeopardize that by pushing the city-states away. As such, she has been conducting diplomatic correspondence with officials from all foreign parties. Nothing too overt, merely putting out feelers for who would be in favor of Newton's expansion and what she would need to do to placate those who want to keep Newton under wraps. I will note that Lorraine intends to play the piper's tune as well as she can, but pluck her strings one too many times and she'll break. (Don't tell me that a piper's instrument doesn't have any strings.)

-------

With the bandits dispersed, Eva (feeling that her job may be in jeopardy) has converted the militia into a standing army. The bandits may be gone, but tensions are running high all around and it's in Newton's best interest to be prepared at all times. She has enlisted 50 men to work in the militia year-round. Some of them have their own land and families, some live and eat in the barracks of Fort Newton. A few have lived in Newton for years, but most are mercenaries. As soon as the last snows melted, she began in-depth training including firearms, artillery, tactics, and drills. She has also contracted to have an outpost built on the western path going out of Newton. While not complete, the outpost's construction is well under way.

------

Ophelia is realizing the price of working for Corwin. Being out in the field again has made her constraints clear. She is anxious to have her independence again, but she is not quite willing to give up her new source of income. As such her only option is to make Corwin dependent on her information network so much so that he doesn't have a choice. She won't betray him, strictly speaking, but she doesn't maintain any delusions of undying loyalty either. In her time out on the streets, she has found that her contact in Greer has gone missing with not a trace left behind. Thankfully she has managed to secure several other sources. As to how trustworthy those sources may be is questionable.

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."

Note to Chris Wall - Episode 3 Downtime

Chris,

Sorry I had to run off; urgent business for my boss, you know how it is.

I'm thinking it's best if you and the boys you brought stay off the radar for now. We've got a lot of people coming into town right now, so everyone's keeping extra eyes on anyone unfamiliar. Wouldn't want anyone down at Smackey's starting to ask questions. I'd put you up myself, but we've only got the one bedroom, and that couch we found ain't exactly great for sleeping on.

I put out some supplies for you; there's a tent, some cots, food and some firestarters. If you head up west from town, there's a nice little spot just over the third hill where the cliffs shelter the site pretty good. Y'all should be comfortable enough there for a couple of days. Keep your guns around, though; plenty of bandits afoot.

I'll talk to you soon.

-Dutch

The Journal of Anders Leigh - Downtime 8/19/08

Jeffery's awake, finally. Doctor says there's no brain damage, and that he's going to try to get him on his feet in a week's time or so. Said something about plans "moving too fast;" not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, a bigger Newton is more traffic, more safety, more prosperity. On the other hand, my job gets a lot harder when I stop knowing everyone as people and start seeing them as "the civilian population." Guess we'll have to see.

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.

Lorraine Newton, Downtime Ep #3

My good brother Jeffrey has come back from the dead. Unfortunately, our reunion was not as satisfying as one might hope. Perhaps Jeff will cool down after realizing how brazen the bandits have become. If Newton continues the way it has been, and if the bandits continue the way they've started, all that Bill wanted will have become the equivalent of the piles of horse shit peppering my ranch.

Fortunately Jeffrey's opposition provides me the opportunity of entrenching Corwin in my grasp even further. Thus far he's been thankful for the support I've given. In the coming weeks, convincing him that he needs me, as a Newton, to stand against Jeffrey shouldn't be too difficult. It would a shame if the rift between the two of them were to become too wide, but it might serve to benefit me. I mean, we all know who #1 is.

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.

Dutch Williams Downtime for Ep. 2

Mr. Grey,

It's been a hell of a couple of days, hasn't it? I'd like to say I'm sorry about what happened to the caravan; I should have known that the first shipment of the year was going to get attacked hardcore. Maybe with a heavier guard... well, I doubt we would have saved the gear, but we might have kept a few of our men alive. Maybe.

Anyway, I'm writing to ask you for a favor, of a sort. That militia woman just drafted me. Thing is, I think I'll be able to do better work without a chain of command over my head. There's things one man or a few can do that an army can't. I'd like to ask if you could inform her that I'm busy working on some "special projects" for you. At the very least, it'll probably end up being true.

-Dutch