Arnauld's eyes went wide as he understood. Or at least he thought he did. They were the V'anna, the frog people. Or maybe one of their tribe? He'd have to figure it out. He'd obtained what he needed.
"That's fantastic! Glad to hear we are all on the same page. Us" he gestured towards him and the other soldiers "Clathermont. Friends. Your friends. We'll give you weapons." He gestured for her to follow him. Linette walked up to Arnauld.
"So, any progress?"
"They'll join the fray."
Linette nodded solemnly.
"Let them help themselves to the rifles, and help them carry some of the crates back to their village. We are setting base here at the beach. If Clathermont sends reinforcements I want to be here to greet them Besides, if things go south, it's good to have a clear coast to evacuate from, and I doubt Teprorian tanks will fare very well in the sand."
"Neither will our walker."
"We are giving the frogs the walker."
"The V'anna" corrected Arnauld
"Sorry?"
"They call themselves the V'anna. Or this particular tribe does"
Linette smiled at him, a smile that evidenced a certain pride in herself. Arnauld would start caring about this cause, soon enough.
"Godspeed, then, and may the Duchess keep us in her prayers."
After his brief conversation with Captain Linette, Arnauld gestured once more for V'bits second in command. Around them, the Clathermontisse had jumped into action. They were setting barricades with sandbags close to the treeline, but far enough from the shore to avoid the tide. A couple of soldiers were palcing barbed wire across the treeline leading to the Clathermontisse beach, and a few others were busy settings sturdy iron and bras tripods. Someone mounted, with the help of another soldier, what to the frogfolk seemed like an elongated rotating golden tube. The Clathermontisse knew it as "Sunsbreath", a machine gun. Soldiers hurriedly unloaded things from the shipwreck, throwing tools and weapons from the board tot he sand for others to catch. A couple men had set a tall mortar next to a boulder and were working on calibrating it in case of another airstrike. A lookout guarded the skies with a spyglass.
Finally, Arnauld stopped in front of one of the crates. He tossed the wooden lid aside, he proceeded to drag it along the sand, towards the trees, and the frogs. Two other soldiers stopped what they were doing and helped drag the heavy crate full of rifles and ammunition. Then with wide gestures, he grabbed one of the rifles. He pulled on a lever to open the reloading chamber, and then grabbed one of the cilinders of ammunition from the crate. He raised it up to make sure the frogs could see it. Then, he loaded it into the rifle. Finally, he pulled on the lever again aimed the rifle away from them, and shot it into the ocean behind them. The shot rang out loudly across the camp, turning some heads. He had hoped that, although his demonstration was short, it'd give the frogfolk the basic principles of reloading and firing a rifle. With that, he offered the rifle to the second in command, and with his free hand grabbed another rifle, throwing it to the ground in front of him, as an offer to the frogs in the trees.
