by Han Yang
But our plans differed massively from the norm.
As soon as we moved from the deforested area in the woods, we took a sharp turn to follow the edge of the treeline. Rather than outright telling our enemies the path we planned to take, the objective was to leave them confused and flustered should they try to intercept us once we reached the edge of the no man’s land area.
After around twenty minutes, the Master Scout called a halt to our journey. We had traveled far enough to confuse any spies who might be trying to track our route, so, after a short break, we turned back into the forest to begin our trek deeper into the wilds.
I stayed in the center of the group as we made our way further into the woods. Though I didn’t want to discount myself when it came to battles and tactics, I knew when to let the skilled and experienced members of my group take charge.
The Master Scout worked with swiftness and precision as he led us through the monster infested lands toward our goal. Several times through our journey, we saw beasts and mechanical contraptions whirring away in the distance, but none of them caught wind of our group as we skirted their territories.
It took a full day to reach the projected route taken by the enemy reinforcements. My scouts found signs of their passage after a brief search, after which we planned to set up the first series of traps in preparation for our ambush.
Unfortunately, our plans were cut short as the loud crack of a long rifle rang out in the distance.
It came from the direction we expected reinforcements to arrive.
“Take the traps down,” I hissed at the scouts around me.
They glanced at each other before nodding and following my commands. Luckily, we had not set up too many of the vicious contraptions, so it did not take all that long to clear them down before we shifted up into the cover of the treetops far above.
The Master Scout nodded in my direction as he settled down beside me. Even if we had rushed, chances were high that our ambush wouldn’t have been ready by the time the attackers arrived.
If we were to attack them at all, I wanted to wipe them out entirely. One straggler reaching the main camp would bring the whole ‘take them down one group at a time’ plan crashing down around our ears.
As much as it irritated me to consider the notion, I decided to let this group pass by unscathed.
As the enemy forces drew closer, more noises began to filter through the trees.
The crunch of snow under their boots, the occasional crack as they stepped on branches or broke through any undergrowth standing in the way.
And, faintly, the sound of conversation.
“Did that idiot really let off a shot for that?” a woman’s voice asked in the distance as I laid low against the tree branch before me.
“I mean, he said he thought he saw a person watching from the bushes, so…”
“It was a god damn silver rabbit.” A low chuckle met her response before she added, “If you’re going to shoot, at least hit the thing you’re aiming for, right?”
Another laugh rang out, but that was quickly silenced as a new voice reprimanded the two. “Do you want to advertise our position further, or was that shot not enough for you?”
The enemy group moved into view a moment later, revealing several well-armed men and women led by a tall figure wrapped in a long, grey cloak. The Master Scout froze up at the sight of the leader, but I couldn’t tell anything about their identity.
I counted how many soldiers were in the squad, along with the equipment they were carrying, including their bags.
My guess was that they were likely full of rations and spare Hydrox for their brethren at the main camp.
They still outnumbered our scouting team, but an ambush would most likely set the odds in our favor. It was still up in the air if we would manage to take them all out before a few managed to escape, however.
And that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.
I turned to the Master Scout, but he held a finger to his mask and gestured into the distance. After a moment, I nodded and looked toward where he had pointed.
Around ten seconds later, a further pair of soldiers cautiously made their way into the clearing. They were dressed similar to the rest of their team, though their equipment and burdens were far more balanced toward speed than carrying efficiency.
“I really thought I saw something,” one of them murmured as they unknowingly made their way past our ambush. “I mean, really. I thought it was -”
“Oh, shut up, will you?” the second huffed angrily, though I saw that the person’s gaze didn’t stop flicking around as the pair kept an eye on their surroundings with every step. “You’re lucky the Commander didn’t gut you and leave you behind as bait. All the time in the world, and you decide to pop a shot off when HE’S around?”
Their chatter faded into the distance after a while, but the meaning of their words stuck with me.
Who the hell was this ‘commander’ of theirs? Why was everyone in the group so scared of him?
And why had he not been sent in the first deployments?
“We’re lucky to have avoided that mess.” The Master Scout heaved a long sigh as the enemy forces finally moved far enough away to no longer be a threat. “If that man is who I think he is, things may have ended badly for us.”
“Who was he?” I asked as I clambered down from the tree. The trackers around us also looked spooked by the near miss, but they still began to work on setting up a series of traps in preparation for the next group to pass along the route. “And if he is their commander, why is he just arriving now?”
“Commander isn’t his official title. It’s more of a nickname.” The Master Scout shivered a little despite how well dressed we were for the chilly conditions. “He doesn’t lead anything, really. He’s a mercenary. Whoever pays the most Hydrox gets him, and the others die. Usually.”
“Oh. Shit.” I sighed as yet another problem added itself to the pile. “Portin and Darden must have thrown out a big lure to get someone like that on their side.”
“Probably.” The Master Scout finally perked up as he finished setting a large, vicious looking bear trap on the forest floor. As he worked to cover it in a bed of leaves and snow, he continued speaking. “But it might be just the chance you need, Baron Lord.”
“What do you - Oh!” I couldn’t help but clap my hands in merry glee. “They send a top mercenary, just for me. All I need to do is beat him, right? If we don’t die, this might actually be one of the best things to happen to us!”
Chapter 12
After our close call with the mysterious Commander’s little squad, we prepared for the next group to pass by.
The Master Scout had already arranged for a rotation of scouting parties to leave Norn at regular intervals, so we only had to guard the area until our replacements arrived to take over the watch.
Eventually, whoever led the camp would notice how their reinforcements had stopped arriving. Once that occurred, they would most likely send a message back to their respective cities to request an update. That would take a significant amount of time, during which they’d lose more troops to our war of attrition.
Of course, the amount of damage we could do with such piecemeal guerrilla warfare was limited. Sooner or later, they would catch on, and at that point we would need to shift our tactics. The Master Scout had a few ideas. The most amusing of which was to force a monster stampede into the enemy camp as a distraction for our own full-on assault.
As much as I loved the sound of his plan, I had to dismiss it. The number of troops gathering at the camp would have already reached levels where a pitched battle, even amidst the carnage caused by a monster horde, would most likely lead to devastating losses for our forces without really causing much of an impact to the enemies’ fighting effectiveness.
Overall, the downsides outweighed the potential benefits.
Fortunately, the next group of reinforcements passed by before the next group of scouts could relieve us.
I stayed high in the tree and laid my long rifle down against a branch in front of me to steady my aim. The new squad held around as many soldiers as the one escorting the Commander, though the new group didn’t hold any celebrities as far as I could tell.
The leading members of the enemy squad wandered through the trees without a care in the world. It was usually unheard of for a hunting squad to go this far from their city unless the density of targets was too low when nearer to the walls. Additionally, Norn had an abundance of potential monsters to hunt.
“Idiots.” I pulled my rifle up against my shoulder as I took aim at the leading soldier.
From their outfits, every single one of them looked the same, which helped a little, but it wasn’t like I was used to killing people.
Still, I had taken the role of lead shooter, so my bullet would be the call to arms for the rest of the ambush squad.
I held my breath as more and more of the enemy squad filtered into view. They were packed together, far too closely to my eye, but at least their lack of care would assist in our assault. As the group moved closer and closer to our line of traps, I silently counted the number of steps needed before they set off the first line.
Three. Two. One-
SNAP!
“AAARRRRRRGGHHHH!”
A horrible scream rent the air asunder as the front line triggered the giant bear traps hidden beneath the piles of snow below their feet. Some collapsed instantly as the pain overwhelmed them, while the rest froze in shock as they tried to understand what had just happened.
And that moment was their downfall.
My first shot flew true, slamming straight into the masked face of one of the stunned soldiers who had yet to move after the traps went off.
They stumbled away as their comrade’s head vanished, replaced instead by a geyser of blood. My long rifle, while not as powerful as Darcy Sr., had more than enough force to blow a head clean from a person’s shoulders.
And my shot wasn’t the last.
Another rain of Hydrox powered bullets slammed into the now terrified squad. The two rear guard members were targeted first as several large holes were blasted from their chests.
A full third of the group before them tumbled to the ground in moments.
I shifted my sight to the next in line, a tall figure who was trying to dodge behind a tree. Though the soldier had taken cover against some of our shooters, he wasn’t hidden from me.
My rifle thumped back as I pumped another round down range. Another direct hit, this time in the enemy’s shoulder. The cloaked figure, who had been trying to figure out where the shots were coming from, was blasted from their cover and out into the open...
Where several further shots ended their feeble attempts to escape their inevitable fate.
From that point on, all we had left was clean up. Any who tried to flee were cut down long before they could reach the relative safety of the forest.
The remainder were taken down efficiently and methodically by our tactical positioning and overwhelming firepower.
An ambush was by no means a brave and heroic maneuver, but the results spoke for themselves. Our small team had taken out a group twice its size without taking even a scratch in return.
A fantastic result however you looked at it.
Still, our jobs weren’t complete. More squads of soldiers would make their way along the path, and attempting the same trick on them without clearing signs of the last ambush wouldn’t go well at all.
With that in mind, the grim cleanup work began in earnest.
Bodies were moved, stains were cleaned, and the entire area was once more turned back to its prior pristine glory. The corpses would need to be disposed of, but that would have to wait until our reinforcements arrived. At that point, the remains would be taken away into the forest for a ‘natural burial,’ as the Master Scout called it.
The monsters of the wilds were always hungry, after all.
Once the ambush site had been fully reset, I settled down on my perch up in the tree and allowed my mind to wander.
Guilt came first, at least a tinge of it. Our enemies hadn’t even had a chance to surrender before they were cut down to the last. That haunted me a little, but I pushed the notion away a moment later.
What group of soldiers would willingly lay down their weapons when faced with an enemy force they outnumbered more than two to one? What warrior would give up after seeing their allies shot to pieces before their very eyes?
None, as far as I could tell.
The plan wasn’t pretty, but it did the job. If we allowed the Portin and Darden forces to swell up any further, it would be extremely difficult for our city’s defenses to hold off their assault. They had to be culled, and this was the only available method to achieve that goal.
Even though I felt a faint chill down my spine at the thought of further vicious and bloody battles to come, there was no way I would order a retreat, not until it was absolutely necessary. My scouts and trackers whispered quietly amongst themselves, but not a single one showed any remorse or worry about the orders I had given them, the actions they had committed in my name.
Gearnix was a cruel but fair world. It was possible many of the men and women before me had done worse just to survive.
Fortunately, our reinforcements arrived long before the next enemy squad rolled through the area. Each team held the same number of hunters and was led by an experienced scout master. I could tell the members of each group held a high level of comradery toward their fellows, which gave me a good feeling about our chances of success going forward.
One tracker was chosen from the group to keep an eye on the path from our ambush point to the main camp. If anyone was sent to investigate, they would send back a signal to the ambush team to give them advanced warning.
If all else failed, the group would then have time to recover their traps and retreat before they were pincered from two sides by overwhelming forces.
Our group remained silent as we made our way back into the no man’s land around Norn. The Master Scout gave me a few glances as we left the cover of the trees and once more entered the cleared lands near the city walls, but thankfully he kept whatever comments he had to himself.
As we strode in through the gate, a lumbering metallic figure strode out to greet us.
“Ah, welcome back.” Duke nodded at the Master Scout before motioning for me to follow along. “The Baron Lord wishes to hear a report. Follow me.”
I gave the team a quick nod before turning to follow along behind Duke. He didn’t even glance in my direction as he led me through the city, into the manor, and finally up into my study once more.
“Bradley! I thought you’d be back hours ago!”
Before I could even fully peel my thick outfit off, Joanna rushed out and grabbed ahold of me. A moment later, she dashed back, shivering from the chill as she wiped dew and snow from her chest and arms.
“That was a little silly.” I admonished her as I pulled off the puffy overcoat and tugged the mask from my face. “We have been out in the forest for a few days, you know?”
She responded with an angry huff as she waited for me to fully remove the winter clothing and set it aside. Once she saw that the last piece had been put on the table to be dried and cleaned, she once more darted forward and pulled me into a rough hug.
“I missed you too.” I smiled softly and pulled her into my chest. Her warmth helped break through the cool chill as we stayed together, silently locked in a long, loving embrace.
But eventually, all good things had to end.
“Baron Lord, I hate to interrupt, but I believe you will want to see this.”
I gave Duke an irritated glare, but Joanna merely giggled as she released her grip around my body and stepped back. It was good to see her smile again.
“What?” I huffed as I made my way to the desk. As I dropped back into my chair, Duke rolled out yet another map, this time with some very peculiar additions noted in variou
s places. “Don’t tell me… You’ve finished them?”
“Indeed. The watchtowers are complete, and a rotation of guards has been arranged.” My robotic helper’s finger tapped on the evenly spaced markers tagged along the outer wall. “Advanced warning systems have been implemented, along with enhanced long rifles fitted with adjustable scopes.”
I hummed softly as I looked down at the map on the desk. Arcs of fire were laid out, along with an estimate of the effective distance of each tower. Luckily, the terrain we had cleared already was relatively smooth and even, so it wasn’t like there were any places for the invading forces to hide after they began their assault.
“What about a moat?” I glanced up at Duke, who tilted his head in confusion. “Dig a long pit around the outside of the wall, fill it with spikes, water, things like that?”
“That’s a good idea.” Joanna glanced over my shoulder at the intricate drawing. She traced her fingertip along the outer edge of our walls with a thoughtful expression. “What about blimp drops? I know the main force is gathering outside, but Portin and Darden have enough clout to send in a few drops during the assault.”
“Leave those to me.” Duke rapped his metallic knuckles on the desk and let out a low chuckle along with a hiss of steam. “I have plans for such annoyances. The main priority will be holding back the first charge from the ground forces.”
I nodded as I looked at the battle lines laid out on the map. While my scouts were doing what they could to choke off Portin and Darden’s main camp from reinforcements and supplies, our chances of whittling their numbers down further were limited.
A moat would slow them and our watch towers would take out a good number during their charge, but what about the time after that point?
If they managed to scale the walls, their sheer numbers would mean a swift and decisive defeat as the army washed over my relatively meager forces without much in the way of resistance.