The Border of Mercia, near Nottingham
Ragnar and the Imperial Corps had arrived within the buffer zone of the Don Valley after two days' worth of marching along the Roman roads.
Obviously, they had established a fortified perimeter throughout the nights.
Ragnar was trying to lose as few "Human Assets" as possible to environmental attrition; as such, he had kept his forces dry, heated with portable coal braziers, and fueled by the high-calorie Nutrient Bricks.. Helga had concocted from oats and honey.
To Ragnar, every one of his soldiers was a significant investment of capital and training time; those terminated due to pneumonia were not easily replaced without the Human Resources department suffering a backlog.
Expansion required kinetic force, but he did not want to conduct a hostile takeover without regard to his employees' longevity. As such, they marched at an optimal pace, rotating the heavy equipment between squads.
