10AM February 29th, 1588 - Besançon, Kingdom of France Multiple branches of the Church of the Beanmeister have been documented in the largest Empire cities, with evidence suggesting that they spread as far as the French village of Besançon before the initial Bean attack on November 8th, 1587.

Schmidt and Rob sat in the makeshift conference hall.

The remnants of winter outside had long since left Besançon, the coming spring evident in the warm breezes arriving periodically from the north. With the coming spring came an increase to Kaplan’s confidence.

After his confrontation with Rolf, Kaplan started holding musket training sessions five days a week, as well as information and training sessions regarding the new Bean-specific weaponry developed by the researchers in Stuttgart like firebombs, explosives, and any blunt melee weapons they could find in the abandoned town. They had also begun to modify their weapons to follow the Empire’s suggestions; weighing the butts of muskets and adding and sharpening bayonets was all the soldiers in Besançon could accomplish with the resources at hand.

Kaplan ensured that his men knew the Beans better than they knew themselves; the abilities of the different Bean types, their weaknesses, and how to fight in close quarters with the Beans, the dangers of the abnormal, Kaplan made them memorize all of it. He also made each of the soldiers check themselves for Bean growths every evening to ensure that they had not contracted the new Bean disease.

Kaplan stood behind the bar. His arms were no longer crossed in front of him, his eyes no longer glanced nervously around his audience; he stood with a purpose, straight and still. He cleared his throat, his soldiers immediately going silent, though Rolf scoffed. “Today marks an important day for zee Holy Roman Empire. Zee reason today is important is because today is zee day we will set zee Empire’s plan to retake zee lost territories of zee Kingdom of France into motion.”

A murmur broke out among the audience. Kaplan smiled as he began to pace behind the bar. “Do not fear. General Krüger is confident in our ability to recover zee land zat has been lost.”

Rob nudged Schmidt, whispering, “He can’t be serious, can he?”

Schmidt tried to ignore Rob, not wanting Kaplan to reprimand him, but Rob continued to nudge him until he replied, “It seems like he is.”

“This is crazy! What, are we gonna trap the Beans in Besançon then light the town on fire? It’s not like we can fight them with swords, they’re way stronger, and our muskets aren’t as effective as the Empire seems to think… We’re gonna be dead in a week!”

“Calm down, let’s just keep listening…”

Kaplan continued. “Zee plan is simple. One week from today, on March 7th, all Empire forces along zee border of Bean territory will begin a frontal assault. Zee Empire expects every soldier to comply. If you do not, zey will consider you a traitor. Zee Holy Roman Emperor signed this order himself, as well as Generals Krüger, Ziegler, Beckner, Klein, and Roth.

“Zis is what I have been training you for. Every one of you have made considerable progress, zough you are not yet ready. In one week, I expect all of you to be ready to fight zee Beans. Failure to do so will most certainly result in your deaths, zee deaths of those you love, and, perhaps, zee death of the Empire herself. Zee ideal weapon we have now for fighting zee Beans is zee musket, due to zree reasons; zee impact from zee musket balls are able to crush beans, zee balls are hot enough to kill beans on contact, and zee ease of access to muskets and ammunition. A six inch hunting knife has been provided for close quarters combat, zough, if you are close enough to initiate melee combat with a Bean, it is safe to say zat you are already dead.”

“They’ve gone crazy, haven’t they?” Rob whispered. “They’re seriously sendin’ us all to die.”

“This is going to be worse than November,” Schmidt replied.

Kaplan took a breath. “Zee reason zee Empire has decided to commence with zee plan zis early is zreefold. Firstly, we must reclaim zee territory zat zee Beans have taken. Zat land, which mostly belonged to the Kingdom of France, rich in both natural resources and farmable land, has infrastructure the Empire can make use of to alleviate zee struggling of her citizens. If starvation continues at zee current rate, the Empire will collapse upon itself by next fall. Secondly, zee advance of the Beans has been a large blow to morale. Not only to zee soldiers and zeir families, but to civilians as well. Having civilians view us as incompitent will only hasten zee Empire’s collapse. Zirdly, zee Beans are weak; zere has only been one reported sighting of a Bean since November, and zat sighting has dramatically increased our knowledge of zee Beans. Not to mention zee fact zat zee Beans should still be unable to move due to the cold, meaning zat zere is little danger posed by zis advance. Zis will be the victory zee Empire needs to reclaim order, confidence, and resources.”

Schmidt closed his eyes. “This isn’t going to end well…”

Rob was about to respond when Kaplan said, “Do you not have confidence in zee Empire, Schmidt?”

Schmidt looked up and saw that Kaplan was staring directly at him. He glanced at Rob, who looked back, confused. They sat in the back row of seats, and Schmidt had barely spoken above a whisper; there was no way Kaplan should have been able to hear him.

“Well?” Kaplan asked, his gaze never leaving Schmidt.

“Uh…” Schmidt began cautiously. “That’s not what—”

“Stand up when you speak to your commanding officer,” Kaplan said.

Schmidt stood up quickly. “What I meant was that… we still don’t know enough about the Beans to commit to a frontal assault… And with the weather getting warmer, the Beans may be more active than the Empire anticipates… I was in Dijon when the Beans attacked, and I saw what muskets and knives are able to do… Sending the Empire’s forces into Bean territory with a plan like this seems… Not very well thought out.”

“Suicidal?” Rob suggested.

Schmidt ignored him, keeping his eyes locked on Kaplan’s.

“Do you have any family, Schmidt?” Kaplan asked.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant to—”

“Do you have any family?”

Schmidt paused. “Yes. I have a sister in Stuttgart. I understand that I have a duty as a soldier to protect her, but I don’t see how getting myself killed by attempting to reclaim territory we can’t hold is going to protect my sister.”

“Frankly, I don’t give a damn what you think. I’m glad you’re finally starting to understand your duties as a soldier, however; to protect.” Kaplan paused. “Do you know why I singled you out specifically, instead of the dozen other men in this room questioning the Empire’s plan? It’s because of how much hope I had for you, and the others that found that Bean in the field. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to understand the extent of the impact the four of you made on history. I understand why you would think that this mission is suicide, and I understand that my actions in the past have made it difficult for you to trust my judgement. If I had been a better commanding officer from the beginning, maybe it would be easier for all of you to trust me. But do you really think the Empire is dumb enough to send their men to die? General Krüger himself, one of the greatest tactical minds the Empire has ever seen, has been developing this plan for some time. If you can’t put your trust in me, put it in him.”

Rob stood up. He glanced at Schmidt before turning to Kaplan. “I seem to remember one of Krüger’s plans being responsible for the deaths of my entire company in Dijon.”

“Genius does not mean absence of failure. General Krüger made a mistake, one that he fully understands the consequences of, and has worked to correct that mistake by developing this plan, ensuring that it does not result in more unnecessary death.”

Rob balled his fists. “A mistake? Unnecessary death? It cost… the lives of thousands! Maybe even more! If Captain Bösch wasn’t in Dijon, me and Barry’d be dead right alongside the others. We’re lucky to have gotten out alive.” Schmidt thought of Jakob.

“We shouldn’t be throwing ourselves into a battle we can’t win,” Schmidt added. “We should be fortifying our cities and learning more about the Beans and how best to fight back against them, before we’re massacred again.”

To Schmidt’s surprise, Marvin stood up near the front of the tavern. “I agree with Schmidt and Rob. Krüger’s plan won’t do anything but get people killed. We know more about the Beans now than we did in November, but that doesn’t mean we’re ready to fight them yet.”

Other soldiers began to stand up, voicing their opinions to Kaplan.

Kaplan raised his voice above all the others, though he still spoke with a dangerous calm. “This is not a debate. You will follow your orders, just as I do, or be charged with treason. It’s that simple.”

“Why defend Krüger?” Marvin asked, quieter than before. “You don’t seem convinced that this plan will work either, you—”

Kaplan slammed his hands on the bar. “If anyone else talks, I will convict you of treason and personally fulfill your punishment.”

Silence

“We are at war, and we are the footsoldiers. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. I’ve already accepted this fact.” Kaplan looked at his soldiers for a few moments before stepping out from behind the bar. As he left the tavern, he said, “You should too.”

There was silence for a long while, the soldiers in the tavern unsure about how to react. In one week, they would be heading out on what would most likely be a suicide mission. Slowly, soldiers began to exit the tavern, led by Rolf and his friends. Schmidt and Rob merely sat in their chairs, thinking about what had just happened.