Departure from Neronea

[Braden Indianensis]

Baldwin stood in the midst of the bridge of his flagship, The Yavanna.
It was just a heavy transport, nothing too fancy; in fact, if it weren't for the fact that the Count was on it, the vessel would hardly merit the term "flagship" at all. It wasn't any bigger than the many other ships assembled in Neronea harbor that chilly morning: a Burke-class destroyer, about 505 feet long; mortars up and down the port and starboard sides;machine guns mounted at the bow and stern.
Baldwin looked odd, even out off place among all of these modern weapons and soldiers; underneath the flowing white robe he wore as heir to the ancient kings of the Kaikians ( a title whose right of claim his house had abandoned after the unification of the old Antican kingdoms) he wore Victorian slacks, waistcoat and cravat. Of course, he would change into the grey-green of the Kaikian military as soon as he could get to his cabin, but meanwhile, he was being waylaid by various ship commanders, all calling in to report that headcounts were nearly complete and that almost all of the 25,000 men who had enlisted for this voyage were present and accounted for.
Nearly an hour later, after all engine diagnostics and ship inspections were complete, the Kaikian First Flotilla departed from Neronea on a south-by-southeasterly course down the Bay of Auxere, hoping to reach the port of Melangia by 22:00. Finally, Baldwin was able to change into his military tunic (with a sensible bar of officer-chips on his right breast) and shiny, black knee boots; however, he still got looks, that, rather than shocked, were resentful; they came from the minority of crewmen who did not look like native Kaikians. You see, after the cession of Antica to Shireroth, there had been a great deal of immigration of non-homogenous people into the County of Kaikias, mostly other Anticans; they were all of a younger generation, who were used to fighting wars because the Senate--of which they were a part-- voted that they ought to, not because one man got very annoyed at another man, the latter of whom wore a Viking helmet. Of course, most of the men were ethnic Kaikians, whose fathers or grandfathers had fought for the old Kings.
Being little worried about this, Baldwin strolled back to the bridge, determined to bring wrath and ruin to his adverseries.