Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  “Yes sir, I will carry out my orders to the best of my ability,” I answered. The captain stood up from the chair and made a point to brush off his uniform as he stood.

  “My duty here is complete. Please read your orders and comply; your job is really simple when you think about it, just follow the orders given. Now that I have completed my orders to deliver your documents, I believe I will be leaving. I have other things to attend to and no desire to stay the night in this Hayden’s Knoll. Good day to you, Lieutenant. Normally I would say I hope we meet again, but you really don’t want to have to meet me again. As a field inspector, if I have to meet you a second time, it’s usually for unpleasant reasons,” Leighton said and left, not bothering to return my salute. After the captain and his guards left, Sergeant Brooks returned to the room.

  “Sir, anything I can help with?” the sergeant offered.

  “No, Sergeant Brooks. Thank you for your decorum with Captain Leighton…I know he was a bit abrasive,” I offered, letting Brooks know I valued his composure.

  “Not a problem, sir. You didn’t do too badly yourself if you don’t mind my saying. I’ll be outside finding some duty for those lay about privates I saw out there pretending to be busy,” Brooks added. I pitied the soldiers outside who would now bear the brunt of the sergeant’s frustration. They brought it on themselves, I warned them to find something productive to do. The AI imparted the knowledge of an Imperial field inspector into my mind and I realized what a close brush with disaster I had avoided. The inspectors are used as an internal secret police force that monitored the military and other government organizations. They are feared for their near unbridled power when administering punishments in the field. Inspectors are also often used as spies and intelligence operatives. I had to wonder if this inspector was an anomaly, or if all of them were as annoying as Captain Leighton. I opened the scroll with my orders and began to read.

  To: Lieutenant Raytak, currently assigned to independent command in the Hayden’s Knoll zone:

  Lieutenant, intelligence has been received that indicates a threat is building in the adjacent zone of Bharga’s Crossing. You are hereby ordered to secure the entire zone of Hayden’s Knoll for the Imperium. Once the zone is secure, prepare and improve fortifications to maintain security in the zone. Do your best to increase your personal level and resources, standing ready to repel any aggressive advances into the zone from hostile parties. Time is of the essence, so focus your efforts on initially securing the western part of the zone before moving east. The threats you face will likely come from the east, so having a stable and secure base of operation at your back is critical. The Imperium is currently being pressed from all sides and you can only be provided with minimal support in the event of an attack. That which we can provide, we will. Your progress can be tracked by using your war table. An upgrade to your garrison, which should free up your forces for offensive action, is also included inside this message.

  For the Imperium!

  For Emperor Trodaxius!

  For Victory!

  After reading the orders, another prompt appeared, showing the upgrade that headquarters had granted.

  Your garrison has been upgraded to include a fixed defensive force. This defensive force will occupy and protect all critical areas you conquer in the zone. Upgrade the garrison and your soldiers’ equipment to improve their effectiveness. The defensive garrison will be equipped the same as your assigned troops, and upgrades to your troops will immediately upgrade the defensive garrison forces as well. Defensive garrison forces will not count as part of your command limit. These forces are autonomous and will operate under pre-planned orders that you can make minor adjustments to through the war table interface.

  The defensive garrison will stay within their assigned defensive areas and cannot be ordered outside of those areas. The commander, or any other officer/nco, can give orders directly to these soldiers, but only if in the immediate vicinity. Replacements and additional forces will spawn automatically within your garrison and move independently toward their assigned area. Defensive garrisons have their own replenishment rate which mirrors the rate at which your forces replenish. The defensive garrison reinforcements do not interfere with the replenishment of your own forces. The cost of supporting the defensive garrison is covered by the Imperium.

  This significant upgrade is given in order to provide you with the means necessary to concentrate your own forces into a unified group. A unified force will be necessary as you move to secure the rest of the zone. View the war table to see the changes this upgrade provides. Once viewed on your war table, the defensive garrison will begin to spawn.

  There was a lot to process. Taking control of the entire zone for the Imperium could take some time, and my forces were still minimal. The addition of non-controlled garrison troops would be a great benefit to, not only me, but also to the town. Having to spread everyone out to defend the transition point, various roads, and the town itself was leaving me with only a token force to take out on missions. The defeat by the ghouls taught me the danger of facing a similar level encounter with an understrength force. Pulling up the war table, I was anxious to see what the upgrade provided. There was a new tab labeled “defensive garrison” which, of course, I activated.

  Defensive garrison. *Note, this is a new upgrade. As such, the entire defensive garrison will spawn over the next thirty minutes and proceed to their defensive position. Once in position, they will begin to create improvements to defenses/roads within their area of assignment. The quality of their defenses will increase as you improve your garrison.

  Current defensive force allocation.

  Southern transition point: Two squads of ten soldiers and two advanced scouts. Current defenses include a dirt berm with sharpened stakes and a crude observation tower.

  Hayden’s Knoll Crossroads: One squad will occupy the crossroads area, providing a stopping off point for the road patrols and maintaining a small rest area for caravans. Defenses n/a. Construction of a crossroads hardpoint, including a crude observation tower and road barricades will be constructed by the garrison forces.

  Southern roadways: One squad of soldiers led by an advanced scout will patrol the roadways randomly, seeking to prevent the infiltration of bandits or dangerous creatures. Defenses n/a.

  Mines/Foul Spore pit dungeon: One squad of soldiers. This is a critical location in the zone. Despite being considered within the town’s boundary, the garrison still maintains a small defensive force to provide a control point at the entrance to the mine and a separate one at the entrance to the dungeon. Defenses n/a. Construction of fortified guard posts will be completed by the assigned defenders.

  Hayden’s Knoll: The town of Hayden’s Knoll is assigned a force of two squads of soldiers led by an elite soldier. The elite soldier will operate as the senior nco for the garrison. This force will be used as a rapid reaction force to deal with any threats to the other garrisoned positions in the zone. Defenses n/a. Defenses constructed at the garrison itself are the responsibility of the commander.

  *Note, your forces are no longer required to be assigned to reconnaissance. Defensive garrison forces will aggressively recon the areas they are assigned to, giving updates to any threats that can be reviewed on the war table interface. You can still assign your own troops to specific recon missions (or create quests for players to do so) if you desire.

  This was just what I needed. I no longer felt tied down and was anxious to get out into the field. I closed the war table interface and rushed out of the barracks to see where the new soldiers would spawn. Just outside the building, in the large open square, the first group appeared. The soldiers were equipped the same as mine, save for one notable difference. These garrison troops wore uniforms trimmed in the standard Imperial red, whereas my troops wore a forest-blending green trim. One of the scouts saluted and reported in.

  “Sir, this detail is proceeding to defend the transition point. Do you wish us to pass along any orders to the for
ces already there?” the soldier asked, as I returned his salute.

  “Yes, soldier. Have the current forces there return to the garrison here at best possible speed,” I replied as I considered how long it would take to gather all my forces back here at the garrison. The furthest troops were the transition point forces and the trip there from the town was about a day and a half, if using the road (which increased travel speed slightly). I couldn’t expect all my troops to be back for at least another two to three days. As the new troops were spawning in, Mayor Delling approached the garrison.

  “Hey, Raytak…what’s up with all this?” Delling motioned toward the new troops spawning.

  “I got an upgrade; these soldiers will guard the current areas my men were defending, freeing up my soldiers to join me in questing. The Imperium granted the upgrade…along with orders to conquer the entire zone, something about trouble shaping up in the zone to the east. After the troops finish spawning I was going to head over to talk to you about a disturbing conversation I had at the inn. I had a fight with another player that said he was representing the Bloody Blades. They wanted to bribe me to look the other way as they raided the town for experience. You may want to keep a heads up if some clown named Darkfallow comes looking for you. He’s not showing as a Bloody Blades guild member. I guess they needed to hire someone the guild that we wouldn’t attack on sight.

  “I got approached by that goofball as well. Wanted to pay me to let them have exclusive access to the dungeon and hinted at wanting to buy my interest in the town itself. I turned them down, despite their cash or their vague threats. I was on my way over here to let you know to watch out for trouble from Darkfallow as well. I’ve notified the town guard to be on the lookout for trouble if members of the guild enter town. They will pop as hostile if they show up. I was able to set up a town ban for the guild, but it looks like they are recruiting folks that aren’t in the guild yet to try and get around the ban. I can’t believe they had the gall to think I would do some shady deal with anyone aligning themselves with the guild that destroyed my first town,” Delling said shaking his head.

  “At least we’re on the same page, Delling. My soldiers will also keep an eye out for that Darkfallow guy here and in any of the areas of the zone we control. Anyone in the Bloody Blades guild should show as hostile to my troops as well. I’ll also check the war table and make sure they’re rated as a hostile group for the defensive garrison. I also wanted to ask you about the ghoul quest. With these new soldiers manning the defenses for us, I would like to take a crack the ghouls,” I asked.

  “As far as the quest, you missed out on that one, just gave the quest to another group. I’ll let you know what happens. The quest won’t let me assign it to anyone else unless the first group fails. They also have a time limit of three days to complete it before the quest expires for them. If they fail, or the quest expires, I’ll let you know. If there’s nothing else going on, I’m heading back to the town hall,” Delling said as he made his way back. I headed back into the garrison after the last of the new troops had spawned and marched toward their assigned areas. I had a couple of days to kill while I waited for my forces to return. By that time, we hopefully would have an idea of where our first target in the zone should be.

  Chapter 15

  Phineas sat behind the counter, contemplating whether to stock more potions, or perhaps expand the weapons selection a bit. He was also toying with the idea of souvenirs. The people visiting the dungeon would love it. Perhaps some commemorative ale mugs could be ordered; maybe even a collaboration with the Inn? It was now near dinner time and the emporium would typically empty out as people left to eat their evening meal. Always thinking, Phineas decided he needed something to lure customers in during the dinner time. Hard to separate a customer from their hard-earned cash when they were spending it on buying food somewhere else. His schemes were interrupted when the door to the store creaked open. The first thought going through his head was that the previous customer hadn’t latched it completely when they left. He had shelled out the money to make the minimum structural improvements to the building that Delling had required, so he knew the door at least fit in the doorframe now…sort of. Phineas was just about to call for Kip Kip to close the door when the open sign on the front of the door flipped to closed and the door shut, the locking bar snapping into place. A small recitation from Phineas activated several defensive spells, while traps conveniently placed around the shop were also set to active. A silent signal was sent to Kip Kip who would, even now, be in the back arming himself with his hand crossbow and dagger, ready to assist, or run for help, whichever Phineas ordered. Just before he cast a detect illusion spell, the invisible intruder materialized and addressed the merchant.

  “Sorry for the cloak and dagger routine, Phineas. I had a bit of an altercation with that Commander Raytak guy. He and his friends turned down my generous offer and sent me to the graveyard. I take it you have compiled what my organization has requested?” the necromancer Darkfallow said, as he dropped his invisibility spell. Phineas held up a finger to his lips and motioned Darkfallow to hide behind some equipment racks.

  “Let me clear my worker out. I have no desire for anyone to know of our financial interactions, even the goblin,” Phineas replied and then shouted toward the back of the store. “Kip Kip, take a break and visit your father for the rest of the day. Come back in the morning and help me rearrange the store. I have some new and brilliant merchandising ideas I want to implement.” Phineas was not known for generosity to his unpaid employee. Kip Kip was soon heard yapping in joy and rushing out the back entrance, heading quickly to the mine for a visit with his father before Phineas changed his mind. Phineas checked that there was no one loitering in the back room and locked that door as well before returning to the front of the store, making a “give me” motion with his hands.

  “Yeah, yeah it’s always about the money with you, isn’t it. The AI just seems to love to populate weirdos like you into the game,” Darkfallow said insultingly. He and many other players treated the npc’s as props, choosing to not immerse themselves fully into the game. Darkfallow reached into a hidden pocket in his robes and then plopped a heavy pouch of coins on the counter. “There’s your coin, now give what we ordered,” Darkfallow commanded. Phineas reluctantly reached behind the counter and handed the necromancer a small journal.

  “Here you go; everything I know about Raytak, Delling, the dungeon, the mine, and the town itself,” Phineas reluctantly advised as he handed over the journal. Phineas felt a bit of something as he handed over the information, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Was it regret at selling out people who he was beginning to like?

  “Pleasure doing business with you, Phineas. We’ll be in touch if there’s anything else we need. By the way, a word of advice, stay inside later tonight. I’ve made sure nothing will happen to your shop, but let’s just say there might be some trouble in town later,” Darkfallow warned while a mischievous grin plastered itself on his face. With the cryptic warning, Darkfallow recast his invisibility spell and left the building, making his way out of town as quickly as he could.

  Darkfallow’s invisibility spell expired as he made it to the bottom of the plateau. He stood there on the road for a moment, wondering if it was worth it to recast the spell. The spell did slow down his movement speed by thirty percent and he didn’t know how much further he had to travel before he met up with his last contact. Darkness had fallen, and he was unlikely to meet many threats on the road at this time of night so Darkfallow decided against invisibility. A benefit of the necromancer class was improved night vision, so the darkness held no special danger for Darkfallow. There was just one more person he had to meet this night before he used the teleportation scroll and returned to Bharga’s Crossing. He would normally use the transition point, but it was all too likely that he was now flagged as hostile. The soldiers there would attack him on sight. He was confident he could handle a few soldiers, but there were too many v
ariables to be sure. With one death already this night, there was no desire for a possible second, as well as the experience penalty that would soon follow. The scroll was expensive, but worth the time saved, as he was needed to assist in the upcoming assault on Haven. Just as he began down the road once more, a voice was heard from the shadows.

  “You realize that making me wait can be very detrimental to your health don’t you,” a voice said as three humans on horses walked from the shadows revealing themselves. “I believe you have something for me,” Captain Leighton said as he nudged his horse into the personal space of the necromancer. Darkfallow looked to be angry at first, before realizing how hopefully outclassed he was by the three soldiers in front of him. The necromancer realized that he really needed to work on controlling his anger before it got him into trouble.

  “Yes, here’s what was promised. Just make sure you do your part in the plan if we activate it,” Darkfallow snarled as he handed a very heavy bag of coin to the captain.

  “Tell your little group of friends not to worry, I’ll keep my end of the bargain… as long as you have another bag like this one ready for me when I deliver.” Having said that, the captain and his two bodyguards trotted down the road at a good clip, soon disappearing into the darkness. Darkfallow watched them leave and then activated the teleportation scroll. A flash of light was seen on the road as the spell completed, then an empty silence once more fell over the dark roadway.

  Back at the Petty Dispute, a group of nine adventurers sat quietly eating and drinking. The group consisted of mainly rogues and warriors. They were all level two or three, save for one level 4 rogue, and one human female that sat a bit apart from the others. The human female wore much better gear; the best coin could buy for her actual level of nine. The hood of her cloak was pulled up and a dark grey bandana covered the lower part of her face. Masked players were somewhat common in the game, so her garb didn’t attract any undue attention. Several passive abilities prevented anyone from taking too much notice of anything she did. Should someone’s gaze lock onto her, they would only see a level three rogue, not the level nine assassin that she really was. Many abilities and spells to obfuscate her true nature were part of her class. When the timer she had set on her user interface (UI) dinged, she looked to the other eight players. They were all truly low-level players, unlike her.