Ten flintlock rifles rested on a table at the center of the barracks ground. Nearly two hundred soldiers stood around them with no explanation yet given, and that alone kept the ranks quiet.
The senior squads were slightly afar with their arms at their sides, watching without speaking. Closer to the table, the twenty-one company captains formed a tighter ring. Godric stood at the edge of their group where he could observe both the captains and the squads without fully joining either side.
The rifles were longer than the pistols by enough that nobody needed to measure it. Two captains near the front had already noticed their purpose and exchanged brief looks, but neither commented.
The soldiers waited instead. That was standard when unfamiliar equipment appeared without information attached to it. Nobody wanted to speak before they understood what kind of reaction was expected.
