The Iron Forge
The Iron Forge began as a simple calculation: escaped Irons who had been through the worst the Ironworks could offer decided they would never be put through it again. The way to ensure that was to become too strong to subjugate.
As the Uprising grew, a group of freed Irons started training for combat. What began as self-defense became a militia, and what began as a militia became a professional mercenary company. General Clarity Ward, an Iron who had escaped the Ironworks with help from the Postal Worker Raymore Diggins, took command and built a rank structure from the ground up: Recruits at the bottom, working their way to Soldier, then Captain when they earned their own team. The General assigned missions and hired out units for specific jobs.
The Iron Forge accepted fighters from all Strains and every walk of life. The entry requirement was straightforward: start at the bottom, prove yourself, and work your way up. There were no shortcuts and no exceptions. The group took on any contract, no matter how difficult or unpleasant, with one absolute restriction. The Iron Forge would never accept a job from the Ironworks or anyone sympathetic to the practice of slavery. That line was not negotiable.
Beyond mercenary work, the Iron Forge conducted refugee escort operations, smuggling Irons and Unstable out of Ironworks territory and delivering them to safe settlements. These operations kept the group tied to the Uprising's broader goals even as it developed its own identity.
During one Ironworks occupation, the military discovered the Iron Forge's encampment. General Ward faced an impossible choice: evacuate and expose the Uprising's plan, or stay and die to maintain cover. She ordered most of her fighters out and stayed behind with volunteers. The fighters who remained knew they were choosing death. The scene was bloody and deliberate, and it worked. The Ironworks believed the cell was destroyed. Ward recovered afterward and returned for the final fight.
After the settlement uprising succeeded, General Ward announced that the Iron Forge was severing its formal ties with the Uprising. The group would continue as an independent mercenary company: sympathetic to the cause of liberation, but answering to no one. They had been forged in someone else's fire. From that point forward, they would make their own.
As the Uprising grew, a group of freed Irons started training for combat. What began as self-defense became a militia, and what began as a militia became a professional mercenary company. General Clarity Ward, an Iron who had escaped the Ironworks with help from the Postal Worker Raymore Diggins, took command and built a rank structure from the ground up: Recruits at the bottom, working their way to Soldier, then Captain when they earned their own team. The General assigned missions and hired out units for specific jobs.
The Iron Forge accepted fighters from all Strains and every walk of life. The entry requirement was straightforward: start at the bottom, prove yourself, and work your way up. There were no shortcuts and no exceptions. The group took on any contract, no matter how difficult or unpleasant, with one absolute restriction. The Iron Forge would never accept a job from the Ironworks or anyone sympathetic to the practice of slavery. That line was not negotiable.
Beyond mercenary work, the Iron Forge conducted refugee escort operations, smuggling Irons and Unstable out of Ironworks territory and delivering them to safe settlements. These operations kept the group tied to the Uprising's broader goals even as it developed its own identity.
During one Ironworks occupation, the military discovered the Iron Forge's encampment. General Ward faced an impossible choice: evacuate and expose the Uprising's plan, or stay and die to maintain cover. She ordered most of her fighters out and stayed behind with volunteers. The fighters who remained knew they were choosing death. The scene was bloody and deliberate, and it worked. The Ironworks believed the cell was destroyed. Ward recovered afterward and returned for the final fight.
After the settlement uprising succeeded, General Ward announced that the Iron Forge was severing its formal ties with the Uprising. The group would continue as an independent mercenary company: sympathetic to the cause of liberation, but answering to no one. They had been forged in someone else's fire. From that point forward, they would make their own.
A mercenary militia formed by escaped Irons who vowed never to be enslaved again. Led by General Clarity Ward, the Iron Forge accepts all Strains but will never take a contract connected to slavery.
