Göker looked at the men before him a little strangely. They were like him, slaves taken from their families as boys to serve the empire, yet they weren't the same. He couldn't help but wonder what made him so special. Why was he so different from the men standing before him? In his entire sixteen years of existence, Altan had never done anything to treat him as a slave and he had been given the same education and training as a prince. Even so, he had never felt extraordinarily special. Just what made him so different from these men?
Then as always happened when such thoughts invaded his mind, Göker pushed them away and focused at the task at hand. He stood with his blue eyes focused towards the group and his head held high as he spoke.
"Although I may be young, I ask all of you to place your trust in me for the coming battle. My master is one who wishes to save this empire from destruction. You do not have to like me, but for this battle, place your trust in me so that we may save this empire that we call home from destruction!"
The crowd of soldiers let out a resounding cheer at Göker's speech and everyone began to prepare with a new fervor for what was to come.
Yildiz looked at the men before her and was not surprised by their confused looks, but she grudgingly supposed that their looks weren't uncalled for. She was quite obviously female and yet was dressed in the same military uniform of green parachute pants, black boots, and long-sleeved white tunic tucked into her pants and held together by a faded red sash. Even her long brown hair was braided back so to not to interfere with the match that was to occur. She mentally damned Altan and his stupid decree that the only way she could join the coming battle was if she managed to get this lot to respect her as a leader while not lying about her gender.
Well, here goes nothing, she thought with a slight grimace.
"I'm Yildiz! Your new commander for the upcoming battle," shouted Yildiz to the crowd.
Instead of the bickering and disgruntled murmurings that she had anticipated, the crowd laughed.
Damn you Altan, she thought for the umpteenth time.
She then made a quick dash for the closest one and flipped him into the crowd so that a good four or five soldiers were knocked down. She then spun around and side kicked another one that was standing to the right in the ribs and backed away slightly. Immediately, the laughing stopped and the crowd began the expected curses and insults that Yildiz had first thought to see. She was strong, but she was still just a human so she back flipped and landed in a crouch a good distance away from the angry soldiers.
"If there is one among you who thinks they can take my place, then by all means try. If not, then we prepare for battle," shouted Yildiz as she stood up.
She spent the rest of that day beating different soldiers to the ground until all of them came to grudgingly respect her, not for her gender, but for her obvious display of strength and power.
Mostafa had no trouble gaining the respect of the soldiers before him. Not that it was any surprise, he had been famous in Istanbul for his strength, breeding, and intelligence. He wasn't sure how everybody else was dealing with their assigned troop-especially Yildiz-but if they could manage to gain their respect then the battle would be won. Speaking of Yildiz, he still couldn't believe that she had managed to talk Altan into letting her lead one of the troops. Then again Yildiz was Yildiz. Even if she was a woman, there was no denying how good of a warrior she could prove to be.
Night had fallen and looking at the foreign Grecian sky, Mostafa couldn't help, but wonder if there would ever come a time when he would see the moon and stars from his precious Egypt again. It had been so long since he had left, but he could still remember the moon and stars from the only place that could be called his home. Even after he had met Yildiz and the rest, Istanbul had never felt like home. Regardless, if they were to be victorious, this battle would be the first step towards returning home and securing a stable future for his people upon his return. For that reason, defeat was not an option and he would make sure that each of the men placed under him did what was needed to see this battle through.
Not far from these three sat Altan inside the city that everyone else would soon be joining him in. For the first time in a long time, he gave a satisfied smile. For once in his life, everything was falling into place. There was no one in this world that he trusted more than his three friends so he knew they'd have no problem gaining control of the troops that Liwa Huseyin had lent him. But really, could these rebels be any more obvious? Didn't they think that a large group of soldiers gathered in one place wouldn't cause a commotion?
Then again, the current crown prince was an idiot, the sultan was away in China, and they had gathered the support of a lot of people if he gathered anything from the disgruntled members of the army. Seeing these traitors, Altan wondered what face they'd make when they realized that the son of their most hated enemy was within their grasp and they didn't do anything.
No matter, it's only a few more hours until I reduce these fools to ashes, thought the young man to himself with another smile.
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