After a days travel with good winds, albeit a bit of rain the first transport ship of the imperial fleet reached the shores of Telmarion.
Making sure he was first, only a single sailor which tied the small landing boat to the shore before Claus jumped down upon the soil of the east.
He took a deep breath of the summer air, a breeze gently made the feathers in his helm sway and Claus got a good feeling of his upcoming endeavours.
Behind him troopers were beginning to unload and unpack things, while another landing boat with several people on board gently beached nearby.
Claus had had the fleet unload the Steel fist just a bit south of the Tuania encampment in the north, he was roughly a days march away or so he guessed, for an army. With that he helped his scouts disembark the boats. They were roughly fifty men from all over the steel fist, for this task they left their polearms and their shields at the camp which some of the other men were beginning to build up.
It was a temporary encampment, just for having a reinforced landing for when the fist were being transported the upcoming days.

Claus left two of his lieutenants and Katrina in charge of the landing, while he himself joined his scouts and set off for the Tuanias encampment.
The scouts were fit men, you know those people with a bit more spring in their steps, they wore slightly smaller cuirasses and had more tight fitting clothes for moving more simply.

The small force set out at high speed for the encampment in the north, Claus not used to the way the scouting group moved slowed them down a bit so the group made contact with Tuania's scouts the same evening.
While the scouts moved out once more, Claus met up with Orland and Grandin Tuania in the command tent of the encampment.

-"Welcome to Telmarion, the home of the Tuania's!" Grandin said with a welcoming voice, shaking Claus's hand.
They both turned and faced a table with a map on.
-"Orland i presume?" Claus asked the younger man, his response was.
-"Yes, i am Orland Tuania, son of Grandin Tuania, i will be the commander of our forces in this conflict." While speaking of Grandin he faced him.
-"I heard you sent out scouts of your own, do you not trust our judgement or our scouting forces?" Grandin suddenly asked, he had doubt in his voice but made a good effort of hiding it.
-"It is true, however i don't mistrust your scouts mister, i just want to hear about the lay of the land from a familiar point of view." Claus responded with a broad smirk.
The response from the two was some sort of silent acceptance.
The meeting went on with one or two similar remarks, or more like hints. While going over the battle plan Claus naturally asked questions, and requested to speak to one of the Tuania scouts to get another view on things and decided upon changes of the deployment.
He couldn't help but notice a slight dislike from the two Tuania's against him. Claus couldn't blame them though, the concord had appointed him leader of the defense of their homeland instead of them.

-"It is time i return to my own post, at the stronghold Clarn. I will leave this to your capable hands." Grandin expressed some time into the meeting, before leaving the tent and joining up with his honor guard and ride off.
Somehow when he said it, the words seemed aimed at Orland while simultaneously ignoring Claus. Claus couldn't help but feel insulted or ignored or something, but said nothing of it.

The planning went on for some extra time, followed by Claus and Orland taking a stroll around camp and inspecting the troops at their disposal. The soldiers were well armed, good armour and shields. There was also a great number of longbowmen who looked competent when Claus watched them do some practise shooting.
The much more numerous militia however had rather poor equipment, but Claus's skepticism wasn't really convinced of Orland's claims of their excellent training.
Later they returned to the command tent to continue the planning.
-"So Orland, you will deploy here on the left flank while i deploy in the rear of the vanguard. The main tactic is to wait for them to come to us while we rain fire upon them." Claus watched the estimated numbers, and it didn't look overly convincing, but he felt his plans would give victory in the end.
-"So you get all the glory i see." Orland suddenly remarked, Claus turned to him in surprise and gave him a questioning look with a raised eyebrow.
-"Glory? I am going to lead the vanguard personally, and seeing that the vanguard is my men i'd say i am most suited for leading them." Claus noted with a firm tone, he didn't like where this conversation was going.
-"Oh i know you mercenary types, seeking glory in battle and stories to tell your wenches. I suggest i lead the vanguard!" Orland responded, he was not in the least convinced.
-"Look here, i am by far a more experienced battlefield commander, i am also by far a better swordsman than anyone around here and finally, it IS MY MEN!" Claus began to raise his voice at the final words, he didn't want to but he was getting annoyed.
-"I have been raised since i was a child in the art of leadership, i have also been teached by a arms master in the art of swordsmanship since even earlier, how long have you trained in these arts?" Orland spoke with a calm voice, raising his right eyebrow at the final question. Claus calmed himself for a few seconds before speaking.
-"I've been in the Steel Fist for ten years, six of which i have led them in battle. I have been with them in both victory and defeat, i have fought in Formaroth and Beilokias and even further east than anyone else probably have. Three times i have annihilated my opposition and returned triumphant. I have been at war half my life, and was trained as a man-at-arms since i was nine. I am not sure if that means i have less battlefield experience than you and frankly i don't care. Patrick De Reimer have appointed me as the commander of the defense and as such i will command and you will listen to my orders. Understood?" Claus went over the facts as briefly as possible, he tried to be calm but a hint of annoyance shaped his words, hearing the amount of time Claus had been in the fist staved his claims.

-"UNDERSTOOD!?!" Claus yelled, this caught Orland of guard who twitched before straightening his back.
-"Understood." Orland said simply. Claus did not like this, it always went sour when he spoke to the fine folk and this one didn't seem to fancy him much.
Claus rubbed his eyes.
-"It seems we have been at this for too long, our tiredness is getting to our mood. Don't ya think?" Claus made his best at cheering up and finished the sentence with a smirk.
-"Hmph, it would seem so." Orland just realised it, but it was very late and they had been at this for several hours just in the second sitting. He realised his tense eyes and heavy shoulders.
-"So i say we retreat to our quarters, there is more time tomorrow and there is much to plan." Claus just left the tent there, too tired to bother with anything else for today.
-"I suppose." Was heard from within the command tent. Claus just kept walking to his arranged tent.

The following days the defence forces were being gathered, and the encampment enlarged to accompany the growing numbers, but in the end all planned forces were ready to march off any day, they were fed and had equipment.
Claus and Orland's relations improved slightly as well, but Claus couldn't really say he liked the man, and Orland would probably say the same if asked about Claus.
What really improved the captain's, now general's mood was seeing Katrina do a superb job with the logistics.
The part that Claus always disliked the most, was now handled with excellent care by an newfound expert. Which made him relax a whole lot more. Up to this point the operation had gone very smoothly, Claus had high hopes for the coming battle.