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No...you had already done this before, had you not? You had refused to pay the price, refuse to take that unseeming act, and the reward for such refusal had been this very situation you find yourself thrust upon. Had you allowed the Halberdiers to be cut down, you certainly would not have had your hand forced to this grim choice. To refuse would mean the death of your men, of your own person and even Joan. And that you could not accept. No, you know very well what your choice was. You would find penance with the chaplain whence this battle had ended, but for now?
<span class="mu-s">"Fire!"</span>
And your ears almost burst. You had seen fire before...heard it not too far from you. You had thought yourself almost aclimated to the thundering of firelocks. But to hear one fired right next to your head is something else entirely. Yet the ringing which follows the thundering can barely be noticed by your mind as you remain transfixed to the targets which you had sought to kill, and in that regard, the results of hundreds of muskets firing at point blank is not lessened. The Cavalieri, elevated above the rest by their great horses, receive the full wrath of a volley upon their faces. Against these guns which killed giants, the knights stood no chance - you see the very moments as their armors are burst to pieces, riddles with pellet holes by the musket fire. The mares too, for all their power, do little better...and of course, your retinue, those who had not been brought low already, do not much as see it coming - they simply slump off from their mounts in what you can only hope to be a sudden, painless death.
Within but one volley, the entire company of knights was destroyed. Those who had not immediately perished from the fire or had not been, in following, trampled to death by their horses, are quickly finished off by your troopers, too frantic to bother with hostage taking as they were. The mares, bereft of their riders, struggle for a while longer, but are quickly brought to heel by your men.
You breathe a momentary sigh of relief. The immediate threat to your life was dealt with, but the battle continues still. You order your men to see if any of your guards still live, and turn to look at the developments of the field.
