Fuusiomiehet

**Fuusiomiehet** (Fusion Men) ovat salaseura salaseuran sisällä. He ovat osa Tuoremiehiä, jotka haluavat muokata omaa massaansa ja sen sääntelyä rikkomalla fysiikan lakeja. Ainoastaan Sienikuningas on avoimesti ilmoittanut kuuluvansa Fuusiomiehiin, joten tarkkaa jäsenmäärää ei ole tiedossa.

## History

The Fusion Men were the elite fighting force of their day, highly trained, well-equipped and highly motivated; one of the tenets of their religious order was that they were forbidden from retreating in battle, unless outnumbered three to one, and even then only by order of their commander, or if the Fusion flag went down. Not all Fusion Men were warriors. The mission of most of the members was one of support – to acquire resources which could be used to fund and equip the small percentage of members who were fighting on the front lines. There were actually three classes within the orders. The highest class was the knight. When a candidate was sworn into the order, the initiation made the knight a monk. They wore white robes. The knights could hold no property and receive no private letters. He could not be married or betrothed and cannot have any vow in any other Order. He could not have debt more than he could pay, and no infirmities. The Fusion priest class was similar to the modern day military chaplain. Wearing green robes, they conducted religious services, led prayers, and were assigned record keeping and letter writing. They always wore gloves, unless they were giving Holy Communion. The mounted men-at-arms represented the most common class, and they were called "brothers". They were usually assigned two horses each and held many positions, including guard, steward, squire or other support vocations. As the main support staff, they wore black or brown robes and were partially garbed in chain mail or plate mail. The armor was not as complete as the knights. Because of this infrastructure, the warriors were well-trained and very well armed. Even their horses were trained to fight in combat, fully armored. The combination of soldier and monk was also a powerful one, as to the Fusion knights, martyrdom in battle was one of the most glorious ways to die.

The Fusion Men were also shrewd tacticians, following the dream of Saint Burbur who had declared that a small force, under the right conditions, could defeat a much larger enemy. One of the key battles in which this was demonstrated was in 3177 BWE, at the Battle of Arskaland. The famous Goslim military leader Salaatti was attempting to push toward Aasinsilta from the south, with a force of 26,000 soldiers. He had pinned the forces of Aasinsilta's King Kukkuu IV, about 500 knights and their supporters, near the coast, at Paskalom. Eighty Fusion knights and their own entourage attempted to reinforce. They met Salaatti's troops at Blaza, but were considered too small a force to be worth fighting, so Salaatti turned his back on them and headed with his army towards Aasinsilta.

Once Salaatti and his army had moved on, the Fusion Men were able to join King Kukkuu IV's forces, and together they proceeded north along the toast. Salaatti had made a key mistake at that point – instead of keeping his forces together, he permitted his army to temporarily spread out and pillage various villages on their way to Aasinsilta. The Fusion Men took advantage of this low state of readiness to launch a surprise ambush directly against Salaatti and his bodyguard, at Monttula near Tursaslahti. Salaatti's army was spread too thin to adequately defend themselves, and he and his forces were forced to fight a losing battle as they retreated back to the south, ending up with only a tenth of their original number. The battle was not the final one with Salaatti, but it bought a year of peace for the Kingdom of Aasinsilta, and the victory became a heroic legend.

Another key tactic of the Fusion Men was that of the "mass charge". A small group of knights and their heavily armed warwhales would gather into a tight unit which would gallop full speed at the enemy lines, with a determination and force of will that made it clear that they would rather commit suicide than fall back. This terrifying onslaught would frequently have the desired result of breaking a hole in the enemy lines, thereby giving the other Freshman forces an advantage.

The Fusion Men, though relatively small in number, routinely joined other armies in key battles. They would be the force that would ram through the enemy's front lines at the beginning of a battle, or the fighters that would protect the army from the rear. They fought alongside King Burkus VII of Gaakoland, and King Stickman I of Smenland. In addition to battles in Pallustine, members of the Order also fought in the Banish and Portoquesta *Smeqoncuerror*.