Kerowyn's Ride

:Thank you,: Warrl said softly into her mind.

“Kero, did you say some of those free-lancers were a Company, or am I dealing entirely with individuals?” Daren asked. “I don’t want to hire individuals; it would take too much time to get them coordinated and I’d have to detail one of my own officers to command them. According to these notes, I don’t have that kind of time, and I don’t think I have an officer to spare. And besides, I know I remember you saying that the bonded Company won’t work with something just thrown together.”

Kero looked at the list again. “One Company, the rest on their own.”

Daren winced. “Well, I’ll be hiring one bonded Company, anyway. Now, what’s the difference between a free- lance Company and a bonded Company?”

Tarma licked her lips. “It’s easier to tell you what freelancers aren’t. A bonded Company has posted a pretty hefty bond with the Mercenary Guild, on top of the individual dues each hire-sword’s paid into the Guild. What that means is that they have to follow the Guild Mercenary Code. If they violate that code, the Guild pays the injured party damages, then takes it out of the bond. Then they take it out of the offending party’s hide, and they are not gentle, let me tell you! And if you violate your contract, the Guild will fine you, and you won’t be able to hire bonded fighters for at least a year. Maybe more, depending on the severity of the offense.”

“What’s this ‘Code,’ anyway?” Kero asked. “You’ve never mentioned that before. You’ve talked about the Guild code of conduct for individuals, but not a Company code.”

“It’s pretty simple. Whatever is in the terms of the contract is followed by both parties, to the letter. Bonded Companies do not pillage in the countryside of their employer, and pillage only in enemy territory with permission of the employer. That takes care of cutting your own throat in a civil war.” Tarma looked at both of them. “Can you figure out why?”

Kero was marginally quicker. “Easy; if you keep everybody on your side from looting, the locals are going to come over to you, and that’s going to make big problems for the opposition if they aren’t doing the same.”

“Good. And really, what’s the point of wrecking your own tax base? All right; if a bonded Company or one of its members surrenders, they are permitted to leave the battlefield unmolested and report to a neutral point. They’ll get ransomed by the Guild; that’s why the individual members pay their dues every year. You know about the individual Code, so I won’t go into that.” Tarma leaned against the sand-table. “They won’t switch sides in mid- contract, they won’t follow a mutiny against their employer, they won’t fight a suicide-cause, but they’ll do their damnedest to get their employer out of a bad situation in one piece. Because of the twin Codes, bonded Companies are more reliable and trustworthy than unbonded. That’s why they’re expensive.”

Daren examined the table again. “I’ve got a bad situation here. I think maybe I’d better take out a loan, or go find a buyer for some Crown properties and go the distance for two bonded Companies.”

“What would you do if I set up the situation like this?” Tarma moved two of her counters away and placed them farther along the Border.

Daren studied the table again. “Hire one bonded and one free-lance, and see if I couldn’t negotiate with my neutral neighbor to take a stand. Those two Companies are threatening his territory, too.”

“Good. What about this?” She pulled the counters oif the table entirely.

“The bonded foot and the free-lance guerrillas. Then I’d arrange things this way—” He set up his counters against hers, accepting the two mercenary counters from Kerowyn. “—and I’d put the free-lancers right here. They’re not going to pillage my countryside because that’s all rocky hillside; once I move the sheepherders out, there’s nothing there to pillage, which means every profitable move for them to make will be against the enemy and not against me.” He moved around the table, and looked at the situation from Tarma’s angle. “What’s more, they can’t mutiny, they’re on the end of the supply line and all I have to do is cut them off. I think they’re relatively safe to trust there.”

Tarma studied his setup, and smiled, slowly. “Excellent. Let’s play this and see how it runs. Kero? The first move is yours.”

Kero had the most interesting time of it; according to Tarma’s profile sheets, the free-lance guerrillas were a newly-formed Company, and fairly unreliable, but the bonded foot were an old, established Company with a nice subgroup of scouts that made up for the deficiencies of the free-lancers. And Daren had set up a situation in which the very worst that could happen would be the free-lancers deserting; with a howling wilderness between them and civilization, they were, Kero judged, less inclined to do that. They played the game out over the course of two hours, and in the end, Daren’s side won. During that time he’d even found the bribe that would bring Warrl in on his side, so the victory cost him less than he’d feared.

“Good, all the way around,” Tarma applauded. “I’m proud of you both. Daren, did you see why Kero’s Companies did what they did?”

“Pretty much, though I was kind of surprised at the versatility of the foot.” He smiled over at Kero, who returned it, feeling warmed by it.

“That’s one thing you’ll often find in a good bonded Company; they’ve trained together with many weapons, and they have their own support groups.” Tarma yawned. “Even the best Companies have gotten shafted now and again; the Guild imposes fines, but that’s after the damage has been done. That’s why they like to have everything they need under their own control.”