20:11 (Paris Time)
Wednesday, October 5, 861 C.E.
Guardroom, Count Raymond’s manor
Toulouse, County of Toulouse, Western Francia
The nine Carolingian men-at-arms got up on their feet the moment that Count Raymond entered the guardroom, followed closely by his son Bernard and by Major Hans Arntern. The five commandos present also got up, albeit less quickly. Raymond eyed first the portable surveillance console that had been set up in a corner of the guardroom, then the five commandos. He was not a little surprised to see that one of the commandos was a woman. She was very tall for a woman and was apparently fit and strong, apart from being most pretty. Major Arntern then started presenting to Raymond his five commandos.
‘’Count, may I present you my soldiers who will be on duty with your men tonight: Sergeant Mark Dempster, who is in charge of this squad; Corporal Baya Makwando; Private Jor Deloran; Private Diane Champagne and Private William McGrath.’’
Raymond had to crane his neck up to look at the face of the gigantic Baya Makwando, who stood a good 192 centimeter-tall and whose head nearly bumped on the ceiling of the guardroom. The African man was also bulging with muscles, attracting a remark from Bernard.
‘’Uh, I would not want to get into a fistfight with that man, Father.’’
‘’Neither would I, Son! Well, Major, tell us about the organization of your watch.’’
‘’It is actually quite simple, Count Raymond. First, I want to emphasize that my soldiers and robots will simply be assisting and supporting your own men in enforcing peace in Toulouse at night. We do not intend to impose our own laws inside Toulouse. Your men will decide if an infraction or a crime was committed and my soldiers will then assist them, unless irregularities happen, in which case my soldiers would then report to me before acting.’’
Raymond understood at once what Arntern meant by his polite use of the word ‘irregularities’: it was common around the kingdom for men-at-arms in charge of watch patrols to abuse their powers by levying so-called fines under flimsy pretexts, in order to fatten their purses. He however knew well each of his guards and was confident about their honesty. The arrangements for this cooperative venture, as stated by Arntern, satisfied him fully, as they emphasized his authority in Toulouse.
‘’Those terms suit me just fine, Major. What will be the use of that machine in the left corner?’’
‘’That is a remote surveillance and control station, Count Raymond. It will link up my commandos and robots, who will be able to communicate instantly between themselves anywhere in and around Toulouse. Talking of my robots, a total of twenty combat robots just dispersed around Toulouse, using nightfall to take discreetly their positions at key street junctions and public squares. They will be watching their surroundings with the help of their night-capable sensors and will report immediately to this surveillance console any anomaly or disturbance they will detect. That will then allow our combined patrols to react quickly and converge on the trouble spots to restore order. Another ten combat robots are also kept in reserve at our new market place, ready to reinforce any point if necessary. If a band of cutthroats decides to commit crimes tonight, they will be out of luck.’’
‘’My citizens will most certainly appreciate this extra security from criminals, Major. Well, I will then let you do your work. Good luck to you all!’’
Raymond, his son Bernard and Major Arntern then left the guardroom, leaving the commandos and men-at-arms to resume what they had been doing.
Mark Dempster went back at studying with Adélard, the head of the Count’s guards, the photomap of Toulouse that had been made with high resolution air photos of the town.
‘’So, you think that these two inns, the Tavern of the Crown and the Tavern of the Pig, could be centers of trouble at night?’’
‘’Not ‘could be’, but rather ‘are’, Sire Dempster.’’ Replied the big Carolingian head guard. ‘’They are the usual meeting points for the worse scum in town, especially in the case of the Tavern of the Pig. I hate to say this, but even my guards hesitate to enter those inns at night, unless they are at least four men together.’’
That made Dempster raise an eyebrow.
‘’Then, we definitely need to keep a keen eye on those two places. One of our patrols will also have to pay a visit to them.’’
‘’A patrol, pay a visit to those taverns? They could end up dead!’’ Protested Adélard. The commando shook his head in response, a mean smile appearing on his lips.
‘’I don’t think so, Adélard. Here is how we will proceed…’’
21:07 (Paris Time)
Place du Salin, Toulouse
Half hidden behind the corner of a house, Diane Champagne detailed visually the small city square and the buildings bordering it with the help of the night vision camera integrated to her multi-function helmet. Tonight, she wore only a light protective suit, instead of the massive powered combat armor more common to commandos. Marcelus, one of the guards of Count Raymond, stood behind her, watching nervously two buildings in particular.
‘’Those two inns over there, the ones where you see many lights inside, are the Tavern of the Pig on the left and the Tavern of the Crown on the right. Probably the most dangerous place out of those two is the Tavern of the Pig. The thieves and cutthroats that frequent it don’t like seeing members of the night watch in it.’’
‘’Then, we will have to do some provoking, won’t we?’’ Replied Diane, sounding amused. Marcelus gave her a dubious look.
‘’Look, I know that we have other guards ready to back us up, but don’t underestimate the criminals in there. They are very good with knives and won’t think twice before slicing your throat open if they think they need or want to do it.’’
Diane mentally debated how much credit she should give to those words but finally decided that she was better off playing on the side of caution.
‘’Very well! I will keep my helmet camera and my microphone on continuous transmission mode, so that our other guards can react quickly at the least sign of trouble. Now, let’s do our best to look unafraid, Marcelus.’’
‘Unafraid?! I would have to be totally dumb to be unafraid right now!’ Thought the Carolingian guard as he followed the female commando towards the front door of the Tavern of the Pig.
21:10 (Paris Time)
Tavern of the Pig, Toulouse
‘’…and you should have seen how I rearranged the face of that fat merchant. He fled with his tail between his legs. Then, me and Fréjus helped ourselves to his wife and daughter!’’
The said Fréjus, sitting facing directly Jules, burst out in laughter, showing twin incomplete rows of yellow, decaying teeth in the middle of a greasy, unkempt beard.
‘’But we were nice with them: we let them go afterwards…as naked as newborns!’’
A third man sitting at their table smiled as Jules and Fréjus laughed again. As dirty and smelly as his companions, his huge frame and big, thick hands marked him as someone particularly dangerous, and with good reasons: Rufius didn’t count anymore the number of people he had killed or maimed, either for money or for fun, but rarely by necessity. Nobody in Toulouse, where his reputation was notorious, dared get in his way, not even the guards of the city watch. He however still wasn’t sure how to react to the newcomers from the future: anybody who could massacre Vikings with apparent ease deserved a modicum of caution.
As Fréjus, who was sitting facing the main entrance of the tavern, was raising his cup of wine and starting to drink from it, his eyes opened wide with surprise and he choked on his wine, spitting it in Rufius’ face. The colossus let out a loud swear and grabbed the terrorized Fréjus by the collar, pulling him off his bench with ease.
‘’ARE YOU CRAZY, YOU SON OF A BITCH? I’LL BREAK YOUR NECK FOR THIS!’’
‘’Marcelus, from the city watch…he is here, with a girl!’’ Said Fréjus, half strangled and barely able to talk. Turning his head towards the door, Rufius then let go his grip from the effect of surprise, letting Fréjus fall back on his bench, wheezing for air.
‘’By the Devil! That Marcelus cockroach, here! And with a girl from those newcomers, on top of that.’’
Pivoting on his bench to face the door, Rufius watched as the count’s guard and the woman, who wore some kind of armored suit and a helmet, sat down at a table near the door and ordered some wine. As the tavern’s serving wench was about to go to their table with a pitcher of wine and two cups, Rufius grabbed her by one arm, stopping her cold and nearly making her drop her pitcher.
‘’Let me serve those two, Marthe.’’
A concert of laughs and encouragements greeted Rufius’ words. With the pitcher of wine and the two cups in his hands, the colossus walked heavily towards Marcelus and the woman, looking at both with murder in his eyes. While Marcelus looked quite nervous, with good reasons, the tall young woman sitting beside him simply watched calmly Rufius approach, apparently not intimidated one bit. That made Rufius positively furious: no man had ever dared look back at him like that. Coming from a woman, that felt to him like a slap in the face. Brutally putting down the pitcher and the cups on their table, Rufius bent forward, until his face was only mere centimeters from the woman’s face. Completely ignoring Marcelus, who was by now as tense as a spring, the colossus spoke in his most threatening tone.
‘’You’re not very smart, coming here to provoke me like this, you fucking bitch! However, if you follow me quietly upstairs and if you prove to be very nice with me, then maybe I will decide not to cut your throat and that of your shit disturber.’’
The young woman waited until the concert of laughs that those words raised had died down before replying in a calm, firm voice, looking straight into Rufius’ eyes.
‘’You know the penalty for threatening members of the watch, you fat lard?’’
Screaming with rage, Rufius threw the content of the pitcher of wine in the face of the woman before grabbing her by the throat. Temporarily blinded by the wine, Diane then raised her riot baton, which she had discreetly taken out of her belt, and jabbed it in the belly of her opponent. An intense pain went through the brute’s body, while his muscles contracted uncontrollably under the effect of the high voltage jolt he received from the baton. Watched by the incredulous crowd of customers, Rufius crumpled to the ground, convulsing with pain. Diane Champagne then got up from her bench and adopted an aggressive stance, holding her baton with both hands.
‘’LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU! YOU WILL NOW COME OUT QUIETLY BY THE FRONT DOOR, ONE BY ONE! AS FOR YOU, YOU BIG BULLY, I AM ARRESTING YOU FOR ASSAULT AND FOR UTTERING DEATH THREATS AT A MEMBER OF THE CITY WATCH.’’
Nobody moved at first, the customers being still shocked by the defeat of their champion at the hands of a woman. That delay was enough for Rufius to get over the effects of the baton’s discharge. Jumping back on his feet, he pulled a long knife out of his belt and pointed it at Diane.
‘’You are starting to really break my balls, you snotty little whore!’’
He then rushed at her like a bull, his blade held in front of him, while screaming furiously. Diane waited until the ultimate moment before taking one step to a side, while she swung her baton twice with lightning speed. The first hit was on the right wrist of Rufius, with the second one striking his right temple. The colossus lost his grip on his knife and crashed into the table previously used by Diane and Marcelus, breaking it into pieces. Mad with rage, Rufius got up and, still a bit wobbly, rushed again at Diane. This time, he managed to grab her baton with both hands, intending to take it away from her and hopefully to use it on her. Diane kept her grip on her baton and raised both of her feet, planting them against her opponent’s chest. Put off balance by the 67 kilos of the female commando, Rufius fell forward and was catapulted in the air by a furious kick from Diane, who let herself fall and then roll on her back. The colossus fell down heavily on top of a table and three customers, crushing them. Before he could get up again, Diane drew her stun pistol, which was already set on maximum stun, and fired once, hitting Rufius in the chest. The big man then crumpled on the floor, down for the count. Diane then looked around her, fury in her eyes and voice.
‘’WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I SAID ‘GET OUT’, ALL OF YOU!’’
Encouraged by slaps from the flat of Marcelus’ sword, the customers hurried out by the front door. There, they were firmly lined up, searched and handcuffed by Sergeant Dempsters’ commandos and Adélard’s men-at-arms, who were backed up by twenty combat robots. Baya Makwando and Beaudouin, the biggest of Count Raymond’s guards, came in the tavern and grabbed Rufius none too gently, putting two sets of handcuffs around his wrists before dragging him out. Now alone in the devastated hall of the tavern, Marcelus and Diane looked at each other. A sparkle of admiration shone in the eyes of the old soldier.
‘’My, you crazy girl! You really know how to take down big bullies, don’t you?’’