[ Immediately after Our Heroes were dismissed, the Captain told Fyril to wait up a bit. "Hold it, Fyril. I'm not done with you, just yet." See? I told ya'! ] [ MINISESSION START! ] * Fyril blinks, then looks back over his shoulder from his position at the front of the tent. "You need me?" [ "Not exactly. I need to talk to you about what you'll be doing. Chances are you want to hear, which means you want to stick around while I talk about these things." ] * Fyril nods uncertainly, and ducks back into the tent. He walks over to the captain. "All right. What am I supposed to do?" [ "I have been told," says the captain, "That your main skills are not in fighting, but rather lie elsewhere. I've been told that I tend to have an open mind about such things, which is probably why you were assigned to my unit." ] * Fyril nods sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm not much of a fighter. I've been training, though." His eyes sparkle. "I'm much better at some other things." [ "Mmm-hm. I've been thinking of ways we could put those talents to work. So far I haven't come up with much, but I've never had to approach tactics from this angle before." ] [ "There are some obvious things, of course. If we're not near a river, drilling holes in the enemy's water barrels would, if nothing else, deprive them of morning coffee and give us a few mor minutes to prepare." ] (Morning COFFEE? You are the sissiest armies. <.<) * Fyril nods. "Never been in the battle before, but I can help. I can definitely manage that." (They're elves. Enough said.) (Man, no wonder the humans manage to fight them off. Human armies are water and bread and meat. Not 'coffee'.) (What? This isn't half-caf! That's it, me and my crossbow are going home." ( What, you expect soldiers to get up at 5 am to fight without caffeine? ;P ) ( 'Sides, this isn't Starbucks. This is Army Coffee. Not even Sei will like it. ) (I don't think that's possible.) ( Trust me. It can happen. ) [ The Captain nods. "Of course. For now what I want you to do is to attempt to think of other ways you can help. You can consult your messmates on this; they will likely find the notion humorous if nothing else, and will also be able to tell you what may or may not be acceptable." ] * Fyril cocks his head. "I always read that in war, everything was acceptable." [ The Captain shakes her head. "Whover wrote that was wrong, then. Poisoning food or water, for example, is out of the question." She looks thoughtful. "Although laxatives, now..." she shakes her head. "But nevermind that." ] * Fyril grins. "What about sabotaging weapon stores? Is that fair?" [ "Probably, but not practical. Most soldiers keep their swords with them, and doing anything with company spares would be awful noisy." ] * Fyril nods, and runs a hand through his hair. "Maybe, but archers need arrows, and arrows can be quietly cut." [ The Captain blinks. "I rather doubt that the enemy will have archers. And if they do, then perhaps we can have the arrows burnt, yes." ] * Fyril shrugs. "Burning wood attracts attention. There are other ways to break them. And the swords, too. All you have to is get there with the right tools." [ The Captain shrugs. "Very well. As I said, if you can think of anything else, be sure to remember it, or come tell me or Sergeant Cropper." ] * Fyril nods quickly, then hesitates. "Um... by the way. Who does the cooking for the company?" [ The Captain smirks. "Nobody, although sometimes people will pool their rations and make 'soldier's stew'. For the most part, you get meals of rations handed out three times a day. They're not warmed or seasoned, but they're guaranteed to be edible, and they'll keep you from starving." ] * Fyril wrinkles his nose. "There's no cooking?" [ "None. There are very good logistical reasons for it, I assure you."] * Fyril sighs. "I couldn't even do it once in a while?" He grins. "It would raise morale." [ The Captain shrugs. "If you can convince your messmates to volunteer their rations, you can do whatever you like with them." ] * Fyril shakes his head, then shrugs. "Well, once the others tell them how well I can do it, I'm sure they will." [ The Captain smirks again. "If you say so." She thinks for a second, then, "I believe that will be all, for now." ] * Fyril nods, starts to head out, then remembers he should be soldierly. He turns back and bows to the captain, then heads out of the tent. [ MINISESSION END! ]