Captain Miller rode slowly through the rough road carved through the forest by loggers and timber merchants. Behind him followed a large group of soldiers on horseback. They wore identical uniforms, carried spears, and had lever-action rifles tucked into their saddle straps. Thunderbolts and eagles were engraved on their simple half-breastplates, scarlet plumes adorned the spikes atop their helmets, and leather straps studded with copper nails on their shoulder armor slapped against their blood-red cloaks with the horses' slow steps.
This was an army, raised by imperial decree and funded by the temple. Its predecessor had been a city-state defense force formed during the first twenty years of the Emperor's rule over Eridu. It had consisted entirely of citizens with clean records, descendants of the first chosen, local natives, and the like. There had been no slaves or foreigners, and its numbers had never exceeded three hundred.
Such an army had been enough to deal with every city-state and village on the Mesopotamian plain that refused to submit, bringing them into the tax system and administrative structure. The Emperor's labor-intensive factories also required enough manpower to produce weapons, equipment, and daily necessities. Now, the army following Captain Miller numbered more than two thousand. Every soldier carried enough weapons, ammunition, and supplies to last five days. Behind the long cavalry column came wagon after wagon loaded with more food and medicine.
Six years ago, when he had tried to confront the Emperor over his student Kadmoz's work assignment, the Emperor had stripped him of his post. Six years later, Kadmoz rode beside him, which was enough to prove that all his previous efforts had failed completely. The Emperor had sent him to Egypt without hesitation. He was not the commander of this army, nor was Kadmoz. They were merely members of