July 24th, 1565 – Aft Quarterdeck
Renault watched as the last few stragglers made there way to his assembly point. He looked up at the sky to check the position of the sun and the felt the rhythm of the sea. Nodding once to himself he addressed his men.
“Well gentlemen,” this elicited several chuckles from various veterans of the unit, “it seems that the time has come for us to get a feel for each other. You veterans I’m not so worried about but you new men, while you proved worthy to become a Ranger you still have a long way to go. Remember none of you are dumb grunts and just because you can sneak in the bush it doesn’t mean you can tell me the disposition of enemy troops nor the inclination to slit a throat in the dark. Let me tell you first and foremost, there is no such thing as heroes in this unit. We’re Rangers, we go, we find, we report. At times we fight. That though is not our main purpose. If we have to fight we’ve failed. Is that clear?”
Several of the veterans nodded their heads, hearing the same thing before sometimes several times. Usually they got the speech before a mission. This time they knew it was for the new men. A couple of the new men had hesitant look on their faces as if unsure of what to think about that.
“Being a Ranger is not heroic nor is it glorious. Yes we are the best damn fighting man in this company, but that’s not our job. If you want to chop off heads I can send you back to the normal Infantry. Look we get dirty, nasty, smelly. We have to be able to lie in wait for days until we get the information we want or need. At times we’ll be sent to skirmish a particular army… yes I said army… and then we have a hard time of playing cat and mouse. Our intent is to slow and distract that army, not win a battle. Is that clear?”
More men nodded this time. Still several looked a little disappointed. He would know soon enough who to send back to the infantry though. Their first landfall will definitely let him know that.
“Okay with that being said we’re going to work on our silent signals. Veterans work with the new recruits and teach them the signs. Even you grunts that have moved over will need to know our pretty specific signs now. While you have a good base to work from you will need to learn the new signs for troop types and distances.”
He locked eyes with one of the new Rangers that had a bloody bandage over his left eye and motioned him over to him as the men broke into groups. He knew the Veterans would teach the new recruits quickly and efficiently, they had a bit to learn. When the one eyed man came up to him Renault voiced slightly above a whisper to him, “I know what it’s like to be limited in vision, luckily I didn’t lose my eye. I want an honest answer from you, will you be able to compensate for your lack of distance telling? I can work with you on that if need be. I’ll have no man that will be a jeopardy in my unit. You’ll need to learn to compensate or I will have you wielding a pike in no time at all. Am I clear?”
He waited for the man to respond.
Renault watched as the last few stragglers made there way to his assembly point. He looked up at the sky to check the position of the sun and the felt the rhythm of the sea. Nodding once to himself he addressed his men.
“Well gentlemen,” this elicited several chuckles from various veterans of the unit, “it seems that the time has come for us to get a feel for each other. You veterans I’m not so worried about but you new men, while you proved worthy to become a Ranger you still have a long way to go. Remember none of you are dumb grunts and just because you can sneak in the bush it doesn’t mean you can tell me the disposition of enemy troops nor the inclination to slit a throat in the dark. Let me tell you first and foremost, there is no such thing as heroes in this unit. We’re Rangers, we go, we find, we report. At times we fight. That though is not our main purpose. If we have to fight we’ve failed. Is that clear?”
Several of the veterans nodded their heads, hearing the same thing before sometimes several times. Usually they got the speech before a mission. This time they knew it was for the new men. A couple of the new men had hesitant look on their faces as if unsure of what to think about that.
“Being a Ranger is not heroic nor is it glorious. Yes we are the best damn fighting man in this company, but that’s not our job. If you want to chop off heads I can send you back to the normal Infantry. Look we get dirty, nasty, smelly. We have to be able to lie in wait for days until we get the information we want or need. At times we’ll be sent to skirmish a particular army… yes I said army… and then we have a hard time of playing cat and mouse. Our intent is to slow and distract that army, not win a battle. Is that clear?”
More men nodded this time. Still several looked a little disappointed. He would know soon enough who to send back to the infantry though. Their first landfall will definitely let him know that.
“Okay with that being said we’re going to work on our silent signals. Veterans work with the new recruits and teach them the signs. Even you grunts that have moved over will need to know our pretty specific signs now. While you have a good base to work from you will need to learn the new signs for troop types and distances.”
He locked eyes with one of the new Rangers that had a bloody bandage over his left eye and motioned him over to him as the men broke into groups. He knew the Veterans would teach the new recruits quickly and efficiently, they had a bit to learn. When the one eyed man came up to him Renault voiced slightly above a whisper to him, “I know what it’s like to be limited in vision, luckily I didn’t lose my eye. I want an honest answer from you, will you be able to compensate for your lack of distance telling? I can work with you on that if need be. I’ll have no man that will be a jeopardy in my unit. You’ll need to learn to compensate or I will have you wielding a pike in no time at all. Am I clear?”
He waited for the man to respond.