Chapter 1: Slaves
K-Day +5 years

It was far too hot to be in full kit, i could feel the humidity forming a river of sweat down my back, and despite the sun dipping behind a thick layer of clouds i could still hardly bear the fire retardent tunic i wore underneath the breastplate, but none the less i bore it. I kept my eyes to the west. Reports of smoke in the distance had been made a day ago and it set the entire fort on edge Myself and my three house mates along with our squire had been shifted to the guard post just north of tent City Bravo, along with two extra detachments of regulars than the post is relatively comfortable to man, My 5 man element of Regulars had been expanded to a grand total of 11 with myself making 12 total, it id help with the watch rotations and general upkeep of the post. parts of the watch tower had fallen into disrepair but now were in the beginning stages of being refurbished. 

I took another look though my binoculars scanning the horizon as i pushed the thoughts of the unbearable heat from my mind, slowly scanning the horizon quadrant by quadrant looking for any discrepancies, any sign of smoke, perhaps an incoming refugee group, but alas there was nothing.. until there wasn't, my eyes coming to a stop on an anomaly in the pattern of the overgrowth and vegetation of the distance shifting in the vegetation, the glinting of unshadowed metal, perhaps lance tips, maybe glints of armor, but  certainly un natural in its movement, moving in the shadows trying to dance between them even now as they come closer. My hand reached for the telephone mounted to the table beside the lookout chair, dialing the bottom of the guard post it run for a moment

"Squire Hastings" the sharp voice came from the other side, my superior officer, Squire Keith Hastings responded. "I see movements in the town off to our.. north East, seems they are making a direct line for the Wall, perhaps a day out. unknown number, composition, or intent, but making their way towards us" the line went silent for a few moments, awaiting response form the squire it came in a surprisingly calm tone "Continue to watch, should you get a clear identification report back, ill inform the South west tower" the line then clicked dead, with. a short sigh i reclined in the chair and picked up the Knight Rifle from beside me and laid it across my lap, and bringing the rusty binoculars to my eyes once more, the flashes continuing until the distant foliage and urbanized zones became too thick to see though, an end to that worry perhaps, yet no matter how often i tried to push the thought of it from my mind and continue my scanning i could only bring myself to look back to it, wondering, worrying what it was that had caught my eye.

id spent so long in my worry that id lost track of the time, nearly jumping out of my skin when the next Man at arms tapped me on my shoulder, his husky voice echoing from his helmet "Caliban, swap with me, Hastings wants you down on ground level patrolling  TC bravo" i let out a sigh as i secure my helmet onto my head keeping the locked in the UP position "Fuck i hate patrolling bravo, they are always Extra fanatical there" the other Man at Arms shared a mirthful chuckle with me "aye, means the priests are doing their end ya know" we both shrugged, him taking my place in the tower as i made my way down the wooden ladder to the top of what was once a large parking structure.

Planting my feet on the ground i let out a loud whistle and almost instantly several men rose to their feet and started making their way over, my usual men, regulars who i had the pleasure of hand picking myself, a rare gift but one that Hastings had allowed all his Men at Arms, his way of saying 'if he had to trust the men under him then they should trust the ones under them'. the last of the 5 came dragging the other 5 whom had been assigned to me, Hendrix the Eldest of the group of regulars and the defacto stray wrangler of my men. i gave them a moment to straighten themselves before giving them the briefing "alright, were going to Patrol TC Bravo myself, and Group A are going to take Exterior wall side, Group b will take the main road though the center, were gonna give it a walk about down to South West guard post, check in with Squire Mckay and then head back. we will stop for lunch somewhere in Bravo, ill give you all a moment to grab your shit, ill be waiting down on the ground floor." with that i gave them a clap and they began to scatter, of course i woudln't make it down to the ground floor in a minute but they didnt need to know that, i took the stairs down slowly, joined gradually by Hendrix