350

CAIN selects a simple coat of arms for you, a red chevron on a white background, and prepares a sword, shield and armour in the molecular convertor. You glide to the ground, looking for all the world like an English man-at-arms, and an atmosphere of tense expectancy hits you. As you step away from Falcon's Wing, around which the hologram of a group of trees is projected, battle is about to be joined. The Genoese cross- bowmen are charging towards the Black Prince and his knights. You clank down the slope and take up a position in the rear rank, behind the King, sword at the ready. His advisers are asking him whether they should send help to his young son but he replies, 'Let the boy win his spurs.' The Genoese halt suddenly and let loose a volley of crossbow bolts - the thud of one hitting your shield with great force shocks you as you realise that you could die at any moment. A few of the English fall under the hail of flying steel, but the English longbowmen let loose a volley. The sky is blackened by a great mass of arrows and they fall upon the Genoese in a withering cloud. The Genoese mercenaries must rewind their crossbows before they can fire again, whereas the English archers, tall, deep-chested men, can fire an arrow with deadly precision every six or eight seconds. The Genoese veterans have never faced such a rain of death and they panic and flee within moments. The French knights are so incensed at this that they ride down their own men in their frenzied charge.

All nobles, they treat the Genoese mercenary soldiers with contempt. The charging knights are about to attack the Black Prince's position. Will you: