The Young Lion

Act 2 Ch 3 New Recruits

After finishing his business with Tobho and his industrial sector Joffrey made his way to the training grounds to overlook his new recruits. Once he arrived he made his way into the stadium and found that his recruits had multiplied by three times their original size. He watched one section committing conditioning training; lifting kettlebells, free weights, pull ups, and more. Another section was engaging in personal combat; empty handed mix material arts, short sword training, crossbows, pole arms, and more. The last section were practicing group combat; from their three man triangle units to an entire cohort practicing the phalanx formation and others.

As the king walked through the training grounds the royal guards and officers stopped and saluted him as he walked by. He had grown tired of all the kneeling and had told his men that a salute was respectful enough. As he made his way to the platform he found Jacelyn his vice commander and right hand man going over documents. As he arrived in front of him Jacelyn shot to his feet and gave his king a salute.

“Your grace!” He said, holding his hand up to his brow.

Joffrey returned the gesture and smiled.

“At ease.” He told him smiling which Jacelyn relaxed after hearing.

“What brings you to the training grounds, your grace?” He asked afraid to have messed something up.

“I’ve come to check up on your progress and to see our new recruits with my own eyes.” He said nonchalantly. 

“Of course, your grace.” He said smiling as he came out from behind his desk.

The pair then made their way down to the field and walked among the new recruits as they trained. He watched the older veterans he named his officers acting as drill sergeants to the youths. He saw one group who were being disciplined for being late to the training grounds for their morning PT. They were all in planks with their foreheads touching the ground and their arms behind their backs.

“You worthless maggots think yourself worthy of being royal guards!” The one sergeant shouted.

“You're nothing more than shit scraped off a horse's hoof.” Shouted another as he walked around the unit of young men.

Joffrey thought they were being a little intense, but knew what they were doing was necessary. He didn’t need lazy snobs in his ranks, so hellish training would weed out those worthy to join their ranks and those that weren’t. As the pair continued to walk, Joffrey questioned Jacelyn on his new recruits' progress. 

“So how are our recruits coming along?” He asked with curiosity.

“Better than expected.” He said rubbing his chin with his hand as they watched the youths being punished. “When they first applied we had over thirty five hundred applicants, but after two weeks of the hellish protocol more than half quit.”

Joffrey knew what he was talking about when he left him in command of the recruits training regime. He had told him the tactics to use to weed out any unworthy applicants from their ranks. They would make them train sometimes till midnight, then wake them up from their soft cots with a bucket of cold water for surprise four AM PT. Joffrey used the protocols that his instructors had used on him and his fellow Marines in his past life. Anyone could say what they wanted about the Marine Corps training regime, but they had it down to a science: how to take an average man and turn him into a lethal weapon in just ninety days.

As the pair moved on he overlooked other recruits at work. In the personal training section there was a group of twelve men each with a short sword in their hand. Once the instructor had signaled for them to go, the recruits attacked the man across from them. Slashing and hacking with blunt steel, after a few moments Joffrey watched as one over extended and was disarmed.

“Hold!” Joffrey shouted to the startled recruits.

He then walked down between the two lines of men while Jacelyn remained back observing. The men parted ways standing at attention for their commander and king until he made his way to the youth who was disarmed. Joffrey then picked up the short sword and held it to the youth's neck who rose to his feet. He analyzed the young man's face for a moment before speaking.

“You’re letting your footing betray you.” He said sternly. “Don’t let your strength come from the veracity of your attack, but from the stability of your feet.” He repeated the same advice Barristan had told him at the beginning of his sword training. He then presented the handle of the sword to the surprised youth who nodded his head.

Joffrey then walked back to Jacelyn and the men prepared to resume their training. After Joffrey was once again beside him the youths had started practicing once again. The swung and hacked at each other with their training weapons with a satisfied Joffrey looking on. The duo then resumed their walk and continued to talk. They saw the men in lines taking turns hacking at wooden posts practicing their sword techniques. Then shooting crossbows at hay targets before moving to the back of the line and reloading with the goats foot lever he had mass produced. Allowing them to reload bolts in ten second intervals.

“You’ve done well, my vice commander.” He said with a smile. “I estimate these men will be ready in about a month's time.”

“Of course, your grace.” He smiled hearing his king's praise. “They’ve nearly mastered all the formations and tactics in your instructions. I’m sure they will be worthy to receive the brand and see real combat.”

“Good, they’ll be needed. My enemies are already starting to move so I need them prepared.”

The pair walked into the last section and watched the recruits practice their unit formations. From a cohort practicing the phalanx formation, then a dozen man squad practice the roman formation tortoise. The soldiers in front would hold their shields out, while the soldiers behind them would carry their shields above their head. It was a great strategy that won the roman empire many victories. 

Then they watched the individual units practice the triangle formation. In which when under attack the men would form into a three man triangle with their backs and flanks covered. It was a brilliant formation which allowed an individual to focus on their frontal hostile without having to worry about blind spots. It was one of the reasons why Joffrey issued any of his royal guards on patrol to work in three man units.

The pair watched as the cohort practiced spreading out and then regaining their formation and lines as fast as possible. He watched with pride as they practiced marching as one, shielding as one, and attacking as one. He knew these men would serve him greatly in due time, no matter who stood against him, the young wolf or the old stag, he was confident that none would overcome them in time.

As the pair watched the formations being practiced, that's when some factory workers carrying a large wooden crate appeared. They made their way inside and once Joffrey spotted them he nearly jumped with excitement.

“Excellent, it's here!” He said excitedly before quickly trotting over to the crate and workers.

Joffrey came upon them and asked them to open it for him which they proceeded to do. Once he saw inside his smile and excitement only grew. He quickly took out two silver stags from his pocket and gave them to the workers as a tip.

“Thank you for delivering this so quickly now please return to your work.” He said with a smile of appreciation. “And give my thanks to Tobho for me.”

Jacelyn quickly made his way over to see what had gotten the young king so excited. When he looked inside the crate he found small spherical steel devices with some stick sticking out. He looked confused at the metal balls before turning and questioning his king.

“Your grace, what are these?” He asked, confused. 

Joffrey turned and looked at his vice commander with excitement.

“The first step into the next era Jacelyn!” He said smiling. “These are the newest arms for our army.”

Jacelyn just looked more confused after hearing the king's words in his eyes they seemed like tiny balls that children would play with.

“Have some of the officers and guards meet us outside the kings gate near the Kingswood.” He commanded. “Tell them to bring and set up some straw men, it's time for a demonstration.”

Jacelyn just saluted the king and fell to command despite his confusion. After all he couldn’t remember a time when the young king did anything unnecessary.

[Outside The City]

Five of Joffrey’s officers and some of his trusted guards including Jacelyn stood away and gazed upon a royal guard standing on a testing field. In his hand was one of the small spherical metal balls with a fuse sticking out. In his other hand was a slow match in which he used to ignite the fuse. After successfully igniting it he threw the ball towards the straw dummies and quickly took cover. Within a few seconds a thunderous explosion was seen and shrapnel shot in every direction shredding the dummies to pieces.

After the shocking scene, the sound of clapping could be heard from his officers as Joffrey smiled with approval at his new weapon. What was just tested was the prototype of the hand grenade. It wouldn’t be long before he could field these to his soldiers in large numbers and establish grenadiers into his ranks. However that would be later as he didn’t want inexperienced men getting their hands on these otherwise his army would end up blowing themselves up. This however wasn’t the only device being tested today.

Jacelyn became filled with anticipation as the men assembled what appeared to be a multiple arrowed Scorpio. It was actually a late fifteenth century prototype missile system called the Hwacha. It was invented by the Koreans and used to repel the Japanese samurai invaders. It used gunpowder in boot-like bags allowing one man to fire a hundred arrows alone. As the men stood back and watched, the ignition was lit and hundreds of arrows flew through the air and pierced the few remaining dummies.

Jacelyn saluted Joffrey and congratulated him on his latest innovation; with this their soldier would grow even more fearsome than when they took down the gold cloaks.

“Your grace, let me be the first to congratulate you on the success of this revolutionary device! With these metal balls and new Scorpio's our men will own the battlefield!” He said excitedly now, understanding Joffrey's enthusiasm.

Joffrey smiled and returned the salute to his vice commander, but quickly gestured for him to calm himself along with the other ecstatic officers.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm but these need to be handled with care, otherwise they could very well spell the end for us not the enemy.” He said, giving Jacelyn a knowing smile.

Jacelyn quickly understood and reigned in his excitement, knowing full well all it took was one scared pup to end all their hard work by mishandling these metal balls.

“Your grace, if I may, what are they?” One of the officers asked.

“I call them hand grenades.” He said with a proud smile holding up one before his mesmerized men. “The latest invention from our industrial sector.”

The men resumed clapping ecstatic by their king’s latest inventions that would surely redefine warfare as a whole. Little did they know it was just the tip of the iceberg for Joffrey’s inventions. He had many more designs in mind to better equip his city and his kingdoms as a whole for the threat they all face both to the east, and to the far north beyond the realms of men. Joffrey couldn’t get those cold blue eyes out of his mind, and spent every waking moment trying to think of better ways to prepare his citizens for the horror they all had to one day face. 

After finishing testing their new weapon, Joffrey wanted them mass produced as quickly as possible; as such he put a priority order with his industrial sector. He would establish the strongest and most elite of his infantry units into his Grenadiers and would set up his Hwachas on wheels to be used in the field. Of course all weapon operations were confidential even among his factory workers; as such he had established a new testing field out of sight of curious eyes.

After testing his weapons successfully and instructing his officers on his expectations, Joffrey returned to the Red Keep which was quite a journey, because of his secret testing grounds. When he returned he found both Tommen and Myrcella playing in the courtyard. They were close in age and got along very well much to Joffrey’s delight. They seemed to be handling the freedom of both their terrible parents quite well. Upon seeing him Tommen ran and hugged his leg. 

“Big Brother, will you play with us?” He asked innocently, flashing his puppy dog eyes with Myrcella in tow.

Joffrey chuckled upon seeing his siblings' behavior glad that their old fear of him had completely vanished. After thinking to himself for a moment, he decided to entertain his two siblings with their little game. It was an imaginary one where Myrcella was a damsel in distress, kidnapped by the wicked prince Tommen. Like Rhaegar had done to Lyanna Stark apparently. Though Joffrey knew better thanks to his knowledge.

Joffrey played the valiant knight like their "father" to slay the wicked prince and rescue his true love. He felt incredibly embarrassed by playing such childish games, and thanked the old and new gods that there were no recording devices yet invented. However after rescuing the princess and slaying the wicked prince, Joffrey picked up his little sister and held her in a princess carry with his strong arms. To his surprise his sister gave him a tiny reward for playing with them.

“My hero.” She said then pecked him on the cheek giving him a smile.

At this point Joffrey was ready to burst from the embarrassment but continued on with his role.

“I will always protect you, my darling princess.” He said almost cringing at the cheesy line.

“Oh will you protect me as well, my valiant knight?” He heard a sweet voice say.

He turned his head and found a smiling Sansa and her sworn shield Sandor Clegane standing there with different smiles on their faces. Upon seeing that both his future wife and former sworn shield had witnessed the entire spectacle made Joffrey’s heart want to burst from sheer embarrassment. He sincerely hoped that no one else had seen the little performance or else he knew he would never live it down. Though seeing the sly smirk on his lover’s face he soon realized that ship had already sailed.

“C-care to join us Sansa?” He asked sheepishly.

Sansa’s smile just grew into a more teasing grin, happy to see this new cute side to her future husband. While Sandor shook his head derisively feeling embarrassed for the young king.

“I’m afraid I have lessons pertaining to governance that you had scheduled for me, your grace.” She said in a teasing tone. “But I’d be more than happy to play as your little princess after that.”

Joffrey felt like he was ready to end his second life right then and there hearing his lady teasing him. He was still standing there holding Myrcella who was confused about what was so embarrassing, while Tommen remained on the ground pretending to have been slain. Sansa then came up and gave him another kiss on his opposite cheek before bidding him farewell. As the pair made their way to Sansa’s lesson, The trio Baratheon children were left alone in the castle courtyard.

“Well I think we should stop there for today.” He said as he set his little sister down.

Tommen and Myrcella looked disappointed they wanted to spend more time with their big brother who always seemed busy with kingly duties. But ultimately relented and resumed playing with one another as Joffrey made his way back to his quarters. After getting inside he sat at his desk and poured himself an extra strong drink.

“Yeah that's not the last time I’m gonna hear about that.” He said despondently as he took another sip from his chalice. He then got busy and began drafting up new innovations for his city.