The Virginians divvied their estates while the governing body allotted pieces of land to be used for various things, from agricultural sectors, to business sectors, to the occasional trade and market sectors. It was not unusual to run into large nomadic communities, they often had much to share, information perhaps, knowledge to improve a starting civilization, and the rest of the sectors were used for housing and communities; statues were erected from large stones depicting the bravery of the new pioneers that found this land for the people of New Virginia. Lee was pleased with this progress, he felt somewhat responsible – a catalyst of sorts for human advancement – he glanced at his metallic fingers stretching them out as far as he could and for once felt purpose as he closed his fingers and balled his hand into a fist turning it to face him, he felt accomplished. He glanced back outside the new government building which was still somewhat primitive by some standards as it was partially constructed out of wood and Limestone – they had foresight to keep some sections unfinished for further renovations when needed – most of the concrete buildings were overtaken or simply unusable, so they had to build completely from scratch, using the old-world buildings as a key to layout the new structures. Just then Cook opened the creaky wooden door, stamping his boots on a fur hide that they used as some sort of welcome mat. “Lee.” He spoke, greeting his Android friend, “Cook.” Lee responded returning Wilson’s greeting, “How goes the Frontier?” Lee tenuously asked, Wilson sat down and grabbed the bottle next to it and a cup, both made from clay hardened into tapestry; he poured himself a swig of an alcoholic beverage that he frequented and enjoyed, he downed a cup and placed it back onto the table only to pour more of the beverage. “The Frontier, went as well as you’d expect…” Wilson finally replied, he scowled at the memories of his journey to the Frontiers, now designated as the West Virginian Frontier, the Eastern Frontier, the Northern Frontier, and the Carolinian frontiers, no one had reached farther than a Kilometer, but there are parts of the Frontiers that can be settled – Just not immediately – people in New-Richmond were still building up their strength and a community; Wilson knew that moving would cause too much trouble for the already troubled folks here in the capital especially while there were bandits around. Lee turned his head to look at the Virginian, the pressures of expanding territory and expectations were starting to weigh on Wilson, Lee didn’t even need to ask as his Empathy matrix kicked in. “So… Another expedition gone?” his voice was sullen, as if he went down to the doldrums, the artificial emotions almost indistinguishable from the real ones that Wilson portrayed way before the Virginians even became a small nation. “The Expedition went well, the way home did not… Bandits… Again… No banner, no allegiance.” Wilson downed another cup and sighed heavily. Lee walked over and extended his hand towards the comfortably sat Wilson – Wilson looked at the arm extended with good intentions; a pregnant pause before anything was said, Wilson looked up at Lee, “I think it’s time that the Armed Forces started to look into this.” Lee stated, Wilson grabbed his hand as Lee pulled him up lumbering to their feet, Wilson nodded and briefly stated, “I’ll get General Hazel, I want these lands cleared, if we want to even make the place even remotely habitable.”; Lee nodded in agreement, the Bandits were to be hunted and crushed. Wilson wrote up a letter for both the 1st New-Richmond Cavalry and some of the other close by regiments to head to Harrisonburg, another one of the rediscovered territories that wasn’t blown to hell. [quote= Wilson Cook, 1st President of the New Virginian Confederacy.] General Hazel, The Frontiers have proven difficult for the independent expeditionary pioneers, the Harrisonburg Sapper regiment is ready to assist at a moment’s notice, however their ranks are not completely filled out, much like yours. They are in need of more men, that is why some of the New-Jamestown sappers will be reinforcing them, along with a handful of cavalry, the infantry militia regiments from the various regions going towards the Northern frontier are also willing to help if you so choose to ask for aid. I expect the Northern Frontier to be cleared of Bandits and a scouting report to be handed to me after this armed expeditionary mission, you of all people are the most qualified to lead this expeditionary force, expect the bandits to be on horseback they’ve been sighted all over the Northern Frontier. I hope you can complete this task, God Speed. [/quote] Wilson put down the piece of parchment, barely modern printing paper and the method of writing was quite primitive, resorting to feathered quill and ink. “That should settle that, they should be able to begin their march tomorrow.” Lee observed the Human writing, it reminded him of bits and pieces of memories that had been deleted by his system as a last ditch attempt to save the doomed Android. “Lee? Are you alright?” Wilson waved his hand in front of Lee’s face testing the Android’s Cognition skills. “I think…” Lee answered after a pregnant pause, “No need to worry, but we need to get those bandits out of the Northern Frontier if we want to gain better building materials” Some of the quarries and mines lay abandoned all over the Appalachian stretch in Virginia, some were retaken after the humans started gaining strength, it provided them with various types of material, from coal, slate, limestone, Granite, etc. but these were small deposits, and there was more out in the frontiers, the Eastern Frontier had been explored, but difficult to settle due to the many ruined cities and the uneven terrain left behind by the Superweapons that crippled humanity. “The Eastern regions would also be a great place to expand, but I’d like to take the mountainous areas first, then check the western face, before expanding west.” Wilson made reference to an old map, somewhat inaccurate as most of the cities depicted are now but holes in the ground, he nodded and called it a day handing the letter to Lee to be passed on by the Virginian Courier service, in place to serve as the main mode of communication until they can reinvent something better. Lee walked outside, in his hand the rolled up piece of parchment, he considered that harm and death would come to those that would receive this letter; the letter itself contained the seal of the Confederate constitution – still somewhat shaky due to the nation being somewhat new – Lee could feel an overwhelming urge to just throw it away, he hadn’t the faintest clue why, as if he wanted to avoid the bloodshed, just then a boy shouted his name, “Lee sir!” the bellowing voice sounded, “Need a letter delivered?” Lee simply nodded and handed it off to the young courier, “Bring it to general Hazel, he’s at the New-Richmond barracks. You should be able to find him in his office.” The boy nodded and simply dashed out of sight to deliver the letter to General Hazel of the New-Richmond Garrison – One things for sure – Lee figured, that there’s going to be a lot of commotion in the frontier in the next few weeks.