[OL - Mar FB4] War Memories

[Brandon Stark]

Flashback by Brandon Stark, on Flickr

An 18 year old officer of the Royal Army of Oleon stood on a hill on the northeastern border of Oleon, looking down on the advancing Corrish soldiers. Of the original 250 soldiers he had brought with him, hours of battle had taken their toll, leaving only about 100 men. He and his men had to constantly retreat further up the hill, as nearly 5,000 Corrish soldiers advanced. They had no idea when the reinforcements would arrive, but were determined to fight to the last man. After all, they were protecting the Oleander border.

This officer's name was Brandon Lantell, the second son of the Lord of Ladros, a northeastern province of Oleon. He had only recently joined the army, but his father's position in politics gave him a decent position in the army. He had joined when the Juniper War was in its last stages, and after weeks of training, was admitted to the army. It was mere days ago when it was heard that a Corrish force would try to invade Oleon. It would take days before any force from Valduria, Juniper, and Boussac were mustered, so Brandon decided on a decoy.

Thus he led, along with three other commanders, 250 men each, totalling to 1,000 Royal soldiers, to temporarily hold the border until other forces would arrive. They were joined by about 500 other soldiers from the provinces along the way. However, Brandon was aware the Corrish had around 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers, or even more. But this would have to do. Brandon's force made contact with the Corrish in early morning, and they had been fighting even since, with casualties mounting up on both sides.

As the Corrish rushed up the hill, in one of their many charges of the day, Brandon looked behind him. There was another row of men, but now there was none. The rest had been killed. Now just open fields and juniper trees. This was surely bleak. A bullet came, hitting an Oleander soldier, who died instantly. "Fire!" was all Brandon could say in response. Bullets soon fell upon the Corrish soldiers, decimating entire ranks. Being on the hill had an advantage. A much smaller force than what they started with arrived up the hill.

The gun fights soon broke into a melee of bayonets and swords. A Corrish soldier fired a bullet, hitting Brandon's arm, near his shoulder, before spearing him with a bayonet in his chest. With a quick stab from Brandon's sword, the soldier slumped to the ground. Brandon was caught from falling by a nearby soldier. He was very young, around Brandon's age, possibly around 16 or 17. "Sir! You're hurt!" he shouted. "We must get you out of here!" Brandon pushed him away. "I'm fine. Let go of me." Brandon wasn't fine. 

Many of the original Corrish who had stormed up the hill earlier were dead, but they were quickly replaced by more Corrish advancing up the hill. Brandon's force now numbered around 70, while the advancing Corrish seemed endless. He wondered what was the situation in other parts of the battle. Was it going well? Was everyone else already dead? Days before the battle, Brandon received word that reinforcements would arrive soon. Where were they? With the fighting like this, there was no hope. 

Now, he and his men were almost  surrounded. There was a juniper grove behind them, and hundreds upon thousands of Corrish soldiers in front of them. Brandon's men had been forced to retreat up the hill slowly as they lost the battle. "I want every one of you fighting to the last man! Because if we die here today, we will die defending Oleon, our families, and our land from these godless barbarians!" Despite the short speech, his men weren't faring any better. There were probably only 50 men left now.

Then the Corrish came advancing. The Oleander ranks were quickly being decimated. Brandon was stabbed in the abdomen by a Corrish captain's sword. He slashed at the captain, who fell back, injured. The distracted captain was then killed by a bullet from one of Brandon's soldiers. Brandon was now severely weakened from much blood loss, yet he still was able to fight off a few other Corrish soldiers. The boy who had caught him earlier was shot by a Corrish bullet, but was still alive.

Around Brandon, there looked even less men than before. A quick count showed there was probably around 30 men left, though the battlefield was littered with many more Corrish soldiers. That still didn't change the fact that more Corrish were still advancing up the hill. Brandon fought off a few more Corrish, but while distracted, he was slashed in the leg. Another Corrish soldier stabbed him in the chest, right below the heart. This was enough, Brandon slumped to the ground. This time, no one caught him. 

Sword in hand, Brandon tried to hold off a few more Corrish, but now only his soldiers were protecting him. He was getting increasingly tired from the sleepless days and now the multiple wounds he was bleeding from. Knowing he was going to die, he thought of home, of his family, and of Maelin, the girl that was now being courted by a boy who had a better chance of marrying her than he did. He hoped the Oleander reinforcements would be able to protect the land from the Corrish when they defeated his force.

In the distance, however, Brandon could hear hoofbeats, drums, and horns. Many of the Corrish were now running down the hill. Brandon also heard the nearby Oleander soldiers shouting "Vive le Roi!", among other Oleander patriotic words. Reinforcements, he thought. He hadn't died in vain. Knowing all was at peace now, Brandon rested. An Oleander officer came up to him. "Sir, we're winning. The tide has turned in our favor. Royal reinforcements have arrived." Brandon could only say, pulling his last strength. "Good." He closed his eyes.

"Maelin..."

Edited June 16, 2017 by Brandon Stark
Changed title

[Mesabi]

Nice build. I always like to see someone doing a lore build like this. You stole my title though

 

[Kolonialbeamter]

Hui, that was a close call. This story kept me quite in suspense - well, done, Brandon. And the vignette is very nice, too, great work on the minifig placement 

Keep it up!

[Brandon Stark]

On 3/15/2017 at 6:02 PM, Mesabi said:

Nice build. I always like to see someone doing a lore build like this. You stole my title though

 

 

On 3/16/2017 at 6:39 AM, Kolonialbeamter said:

Hui, that was a close call. This story kept me quite in suspense - well, done, Brandon. And the vignette is very nice, too, great work on the minifig placement 

Keep it up!

Thanks for the compliments guys. Do you think Brandon should end up marrying Maelynn or not?

[Ayrlego]

Nice build and like Mesabi says, it is nice to see someone doing some lore - although I seem to recall that the war mongers in Oleon were the aggressors in the Juniper war and took the rightfully Corlander owned provinces off peace loving Corrington at the conclusion? Might just be my Corrish bias though!

[Bregir]

Apart from the blatant liberties taken in redacting history and the unpleasant romanticising of Olean war criminals, I really like this! ;)

Simple but effective landscaping, and nice fig posing. Interesting read too. Well done.

[Brandon Stark]

3 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

Nice build and like Mesabi says, it is nice to see someone doing some lore - although I seem to recall that the war mongers in Oleon were the aggressors in the Juniper war and took the rightfully Corlander owned provinces off peace loving Corrington at the conclusion? Might just be my Corrish bias though!

Thank you! Maybe you're just saying that because you're trying to defend the fact that it may be Dirk Allcock who nearly killed Brandon Lantell? 

1 hour ago, Bregir said:

Apart from the blatant liberties taken in redacting history and the unpleasant romanticising of Olean war criminals, I really like this! ;)

Simple but effective landscaping, and nice fig posing. Interesting read too. Well done.

Brandon Lantell does not find your slandering of Oleander war heroes amusing. 

That said, thank you for the compliments. I appreciate it.