by Dean Henegar
You have taken your first critical location in the zone of Hayden’s Knoll. Control all of the following locations to win the war:
1. Goreaxe Peak.
2. Town of Holdfast.
3. Northern Transition Point.
4. Ruins of the Gul Dorg.
5. Drebix Tribal Lands.
6. Stonefinder Clan Mines.
7. Southern Transition Point.
8. Town of Hayden’s Knoll.
9. Eastern Transition Point.
10. Southern Crossroads.
During an invasion scenario, the rate of troop respawns is greatly reduced. Replacements for the invader’s forces can only spawn at a transition point that is attached to another territory they control. The more critical locations your forces control, the more your respawn rates will increase. Special benefits may be unlocked for both the invader and the defender as each conquers or defends the various critical locations.
Current respawn rate: 5%.
Critical location benefit unlocked: Gaining a Foothold. You have conquered the first location in your march to victory and have unlocked garrison forces. For each area that you conquer, a small garrison force will spawn so that the bulk of your army can remain in the field. Losing control of the eastern transition point will cancel this reward, and any existing garrison forces will immediately despawn.
Narbos watched as defenders began to emerge from the barracks building of the transition point. The garrison troops positioned themselves around the area, clearing the detritus of battle and manning the walls. The troops were equipped the same as his town guards, matching their stats exactly. Just over a hundred guards spawned, along with an elite captain to lead them. It wasn’t a huge force, but Narbos’s main army would be standing between any opposing force and the transition point. With his respawn rate knocked down to five percent of normal, any additional forces were welcome.
“Hey, you still there, Narbos? If you’re done regretting your life choices, we need to decide on our next move,” Zipp told him.
“Yeah, I’m here. Where did you want to strike next?” Narbos asked as Zipp unfolded a map in front of them. Somehow, the little guy was always able to produce documents—in this case a map—whenever he wanted. He wondered if that was a specific ability the NPC had or just a way for the AI to streamline things.
“We’ve got a few places we can attack as our next target, but unfortunately, none of them are very close. The ogres in their little mountain are the closest to us, so that would be a natural choice. We could also try to bypass the ogres and strike at either the Drebix lands or follow the road to Holdfast,” Zipp advised. “Considering our army is not exactly geared for fast-moving warfare, I think we should take the closest locations first instead of trying for fancy-schmancy maneuvers.” Zipp pointed toward the slow column of troops still emerging from the portal. They had well over fifteen thousand troops of different types, and it took time for them to march. In addition to all the troops, he had hundreds of wagons filled with supplies and the precut pieces of siege engines.
“How long will it take us to get to the Goreaxe Peak?” Narbos asked.
“As slow as our army is, at least three days. We could make it in two and a half if we push it, but I’m inclined to take it even slower than normal and stretch out our travel time,” Zipp said.
“That’s dumb. We need to beat these guys quick, not durdle around,” Darkfallow said, surprising both Narbos and Zipp with his appearance.
“Look what the cat dragged in. Usually they bury turds like you,” Zipp said in annoyance.
Darkfallow turned red with anger, and Narbos was worried he would attack Zipp.
“The reason we ‘durdle’ our way there is because we need to lure Raytak and his army outside the city,” Zipp explained. “Trying to take Hayden’s Knoll or even Holdfast with their entire army defending behind the walls is the only way I can see us losing the fight. We need him out in the field where our numbers can surround him or where we can pin him in behind less favorable fortifications, like at the mountain those goofball ogres have.”
“That sounds like a plan. Let’s get everyone moving—slowly—toward Goreaxe Peak. Do you have any estimates on how many troops Raytak and Delling command?” Narbos asked, knowing that Zipp often had access to more information than he let on.
“Nothing recent, but it’s safe to say that based on the reports of his battles with the Ikbose, he has five to seven hundred in total. He will have no doubt scraped together more, but not a significant amount, I believe. Nharia is sending some of her elves out to scout, and we’ll know something as soon as their army is spotted,” Zipp replied before climbing onto Snuggles and trotting off toward the army.
“I really don’t like or trust that guy,” Darkfallow said.
“Yeah, I get it,” Narbos said, “but he’s doing everything he promised so far. Just be careful, and don’t let him goad you into attacking him. He promised not to randomly kill you anymore, but that promise doesn’t extend to defending himself if you attack. Anyway, I take it things went well with the bone giants? I saw them on the unit roster and figured you’d finished up the quest.”
“Sure did. Kind of an easy one for once. The ground near the kobold mines was all torn up from Zipp and his friends digging their way out, and that’s where the giant bones were hiding. These guys are with us now, too,” Darkfallow said, pointing off to four cloaked figures that had just emerged from the transition point. They were obviously his new necromancer cultists, and they were followed closely by the immense bone giants. While the giants were unarmed, their sheer size would let them cause serious damage, and Narbos figured they’d be great at breaching walls.
“Are they any good?” Narbos said, indicating Darkfallow’s new forces.
“Yeah, the giants have a huge HP pool, and their attacks generate siege damage to deal with walls and stuff. Other than that, their attacks are kind of slow and easy to dodge for players and more agile foes, but they can hit multiple targets at once if they bunch up like armies tend to do. The necromancer minion guys have a decent selection of spells and lots of raise-dead abilities that I think will do well in the middle of a battle.”
“I think they’ll work out well for us. Thanks for completing the quest so fast,” Narbos said.
“No problem. Thanks for the quest! It was easy and I got enough XP to gain a level from it. Not only that, but a small piece of bone from one of the giant’s toes fell off when it was being raised, and it turned out to be an undead wand with five charges. Nice loot and XP is why I’m here, dude,” Darkfallow said while waving his new bone wand.
“I think we’ll need all the help we can get. You didn’t see it, but those soldiers did a number on the army attacking the transition point. I hope the others we face aren’t as good as those guys were,” Narbos said, still concerned about what Delling and Raytak might spring on him.
“Those guys are tough, but we’ve got the numbers to beat them. I would have won against them earlier if the stupid elves didn’t mess up,” Darkfallow said, though Narbos had a feeling that the elves might not have been the only weak link in that fight. Darkfallow was a good guy, but not the leader type. Still, he was a skilled player and had a powerful class, one that excelled in the kinds of battles they were going to fight.
“Do you think we’ll get another crack at those players that Delling has working for him? I still have some more payback to dish out to them for when they ganked me,” Darkfallow said.
“I suspect so. They all seem to like to hang out together. There will be a limit to how many players and troops he can add during the war. Once we declared war, I wasn’t able to add any other players or hire any mercenaries. It’s just us two, the crazy imp, and a massive army,” Narbos replied.
“Well, I’m going to log out for a bit. It looks like the army will just be marching around for a while anyway. See you later,” Darkfallow said before logging off.
Narbos had things to do as well, but he did worry
about what might happen while he was gone. The system notification said things would keep rolling along even when he was logged out. Still, real life called, and he had other obligations besides world conquest.
Chapter 10
I returned from my brief time in the real world, trying to remember if I had heard and understood the voices around me when I was pulled from the medpod. According to the AI, my mind was improving, so it stood to reason that I would begin to be more in tune with reality when my meds were being filled. It was a positive sign that things were progressing well for me.
What wasn’t a positive sign was the fact that it was the middle of the night in-game. For some reason, I had been logged out of the game for much longer than usual. Still, since the AI wasn’t there for tea and a chat when I logged back in, I supposed I wasn’t in imminent danger of death. I found myself sitting on the bench of one of the supply wagons when notifications about what had happened while I was out flooded my interface.
War has been declared between Bharga’s Crossing and Hayden’s Knoll.
The first notification caused a surge of excitement; the invasion had begun. I read through the series of follow-up notices, reviewing how invasions worked, the critical points the invaders needed to take, and how my replacements were restricted. Replacement rates for the defender started at fifty percent, so I would only have half of what I normally received as replacements for my losses.
“Driver, what’s our current position?” I asked. Pausing the seemingly endless stream of notifications.
“Sir, we passed the crossroads an hour ago and are well on our way north toward Holdfast,” the soldier driving the wagon replied. I had been out for well over a day. That meant that in the real world I had been disconnected from the pod for just over six hours. That was the longest I had been out, and it was enough for me to hit the panic button. Searching through my menus, I found a request help button. Not sure if it would work, I hit the button and waited for the results.
Attempting to contact available customer service representative . . .
System reroute . . . AI override.
Connecting to virtual meeting place . . .
My point of view shifted to a small meeting room, where I was seated in a comfortable chair across from a generic human woman who looked like a typical middle manager type. She looked up at me with curiosity before speaking. Something about the situation told me this wasn’t a live person and was an AI-controlled creature.
“How may we be of assistance today, Colonel Raytak?” the woman asked.
“What’s going on?” I replied. This was not what usually happened when I talked to the AI.
“Oh, I suppose I should make the environment a little more recognizable for you, Colonel. When you hit the request help button, I assumed you had a generic game issue you needed help with, and this is the usual guise I wear when interacting with players,” the AI replied as the world around me morphed again and I found myself in the familiar back room of the Commencement Commissary. The woman across from me changed into the usual—and older—version of Clio I had interacted with in the past.
“Okay . . . that was weird. Clio, I was pulled for my normal med changes, but it looks like I was out for well over a day in-game, which means six or so hours in the real world. What’s going on?” I asked.
“I can see how that might be disconcerting, but there is nothing wrong at all. Apologies are in order, as I did not realize you would be so distressed from a break in your normal routine. The medpod you were housed in was one of our earliest-production models. There have been improvements over the original medpod, and we had to pull you out for a longer period in order to install the upgrades. I will make a concerted effort to inform you of anything affecting your treatment routine that might be considered outside the norm. On the positive side, Colonel Raytak, the new medpod holds enough medication for forty-eight hours of treatment before medication refills are needed, which should give you more time in-game before I have to pull you out again. The only downside is that you will be out of the game for a slightly longer period, as the refill cycle takes longer to complete.”
“Well, thanks for that? At least this time you didn’t tell me I was dead,” I replied, still a bit confused.
“Very well. Unless you would like to join me for some tea and biscuits, I can return you to the game now. I understand you are about to be very busy,” Clio said, and a cup of tea and a plate of cookies appeared on the table beside me.
“Thank you, Clio, I’ll take a cookie before I go!” I said, yelling the last part to see if I could get a reaction from Finley. As my viewpoint began to shift back into the game, I heard Finley sputtering behind the curtain that led to the shop. It was a bit mean, but I liked messing with the little guy about his insistence on calling a cookie a biscuit. When I returned to the game, I was still sitting in the same wagon as before.
“Sir, is that going to be part of our field rations?” the driver next to me asked, staring at the cookie that had somehow made the transition with me.
“Uhm, no, Private. It’s just something I picked up. Help yourself,” I said, handing the cookie to the driver, who seemed to enjoy it.
Turning my focus back to the game, I continued with the review of all the system notifications. There was a bit more information on the critical locations and some mention of benefits to the attackers if they took control of one. There would also be a benefit to my forces if we successfully defended one of the locations. I had several options to consider now that war had been officially declared.
Quest Issued: Defender of the Imperium. Successfully repulse the invading forces from Bharga’s Crossing.
Rewards: 10,000 experience, 1000 gold, 2500 resources, legendary item suitable for your class.
Bonus Objective: To the Victor! Repulse the invasion of Hayden’s Knoll and then conquer the zone of Bharga’s Crossing for the Imperium.
Rewards: 10,000 experience, 1000 gold, 2500 resources, elite formation added to your legion.
The quest rewards were very generous and if—no, when—I completed them, I should hit level 20. I was almost drooling over what the legendary item reward might be, not to mention an elite formation to command. First, though, I had to win the war. I pushed away the loot hound inside of me as I continued reading the system prompts.
Your zone of Hayden’s Knoll is under assault by a powerful enemy force. The Imperium stands by your side in this incursion. A group of reinforcements has been dispatched to bolster your forces, along with enough coin to hire 3 groups of mercenaries to assist you. There will be no further aid from the Imperium, as you are expected to execute your duties with the resources you have been allocated. The defensive garrison forces are under your command for the duration of the conflict but cannot be ordered to leave their assigned locations.
You may add up to 9 players to aid you in the war as long as they are within the acceptable level range. If any players decide to decline your offer, other options for support will reveal themselves in time. Players involved in the conflict will not be able to participate further if slain. Should a player die during the war, they will respawn as normal but will be unable to do anything to affect the outcome of the conflict. Respawn protection for the NPCs under your command will only function once during the war. Should your protected NPCs be killed a second time during the conflict, they will be lost for good. Your own respawn timer is greatly increased for the duration of the conflict. Multiple deaths will result in severe time penalties.
Reinforcements: Three companies with attached auxiliaries from the 14th Legion will be arriving to assist your forces. They will arrive at your southern transition point within 24 hours of their assignment and will carry out orders to the best of their ability. The levels and equipment of the troops in the 14th Legion will match those of your troops. The order of battle for this detachment is as follows.
Regulars: 3 companies (750/750).
Scouts: 3 squads (30/30).
Engineers: 3 squads
with siege equipment (30/30, 8 scorpions, 2 catapults).
Elite NCO: 1/1.
Elite Officer: Captain Landry.
Auxiliaries:
Longbowmen: 4 platoons (200/200).
Mercenaries can be hired at any of your garrison buildings in Hayden’s Knoll or Holdfast. Once selected, mercenary groups will arrive within 24 hours and follow your orders within the confines of their contracts. Mercenaries will fight hard but will not sacrifice themselves if called upon to do so. Should they face overwhelming odds or be placed in an unwinnable situation, mercenaries will likely surrender or quit the battlefield. The number, quality, and type of available mercenaries will vary.
The reinforcements were an unexpected and welcome addition to my forces. I had to worry, though, at how powerful our foes must be for the system to decide it needed to offer them to me. According to the cooldown timer, our reinforcements from the 14th Legion still had twenty-two hours and thirty-four minutes remaining until their arrival. The countdown must have started after the war was declared, despite me just now reading the message. That meant that the war was less than two hours old at this point. There was still no word from Ty and the others about what the enemy was bringing to the fight, and the lack of contact was a bit ominous.
Speaking of Ty, it was time to add my friends to the war effort or at least give them the chance to do so if they wished. For the AI to let me have so many players join the fight, even if they were limited to one life, the enemy must be powerful indeed. I knew that Narbos hung out with that Darkfallow guy, but I wasn’t sure if he had added any other cronies. I would find out in time. For now, I sent requests to everyone I thought could help. Messages went out to Ty, Yendys, Jacoby, Kathala, Smashem, Nitor, Quimby, and Drake.
Since Delling wasn’t selectable as a player and was already involved in the war effort since the invasion was here in his zone, there was one more slot open. Thinking back, I recalled that gnome guy that Yendys talked about, the one that delayed the Ikbose and tore them up on the road to the transition point. I sent a message to Yendys, granting her and others permission to select the final party member, and asked her to invite the gnome guy or anyone else she preferred. The message went out instantly through the system, and because they hadn’t joined the war yet, it didn’t look like I needed to send a physical one. Unlike the other players, my army did need direct orders sent to them.