Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  Fortifications Level 1: Unlocks basic fortifications at your garrison, as well as at the other defended points in the zone. Individual fortification upgrades will have to be purchased once this upgrade is unlocked. Cost 250 resources, 25 gold.

  I wanted everything, of course. With only 52 gold and 225 resources to my name I would have to decide on one building now, and eventually a queue order for the rest. Trying to prioritize, I crossed off the supply depot and the fortification upgrades for now. The buildings would only unlock upgrades that would cost more gold and resources I didn’t yet have. The aid station with the npc respawn option caught my eye. I thought back to losing Private Tremble to the ghouls. He had been the last of the soldiers that I had originally started with. The thought of saving Sergeant Brooks from a similar fate would put this upgrade high on the list but, once again, this would unlock upgrades that would cost funds I didn’t have. I could only afford to build one of the upgrades now (except of course for the total garrison upgrade) and I decided to choose the engineer barracks.

  I was taking a gamble, hoping that the soldier type would unlock immediately without cost. It was the only option that didn’t mention an additional fee after unlocking. I hit the build tab for the engineer barracks. I didn’t set the build queue yet for the other buildings. That could wait until I was ready to move out. I feared the queue would dump all current resources into the next building and I wanted to save the few I had left in case I needed them for engineering items. The upgrade would take an hour, so I had some time to kill. I suppose it was time to face the music. I trudged my way out of my headquarters and toward the inn, looking forward to a good meal, yet dreading the coming duel with Yendys.

  Chapter 24

  The inn was bustling with activity when I arrived. There was a good mix of players and npc’s enjoying the food, drink, and entertainment offered. Looking about, I was relieved that Yendys and her group hadn’t arrived yet. I was hoping to get a meal in before our duel. The delicious food I had last time at the inn was still on my mind. The game didn’t require players to eat, but certain foods can give a random minor buff for several hours. To be honest, I was less concerned about the buff and more interested in the taste. Somehow the AI had gotten flavors and textures of food correct, perhaps even better than in real life. Of course, I was a little out of practice with eating in real life. Being on life support with a feeding tube tends to limit your culinary variety. There were several tables open, but I didn’t want to take up a whole table for myself. I made my way to the bar to order whatever was cooking and another excellent ale. The smell of fried food was in the air and I couldn’t wait to see what it was…hopefully something not labeled “beast”. As I approached the bar, a familiar voice rang out.

  “Hey there, Lieutenant Raytak, join me for a drink!” Bhurke shouted above the growing clamor of the busy inn. Bhurke was an npc mercenary leader I had met on my way to Hayden’s Knoll. He was initially abrasive and unprofessional, but after seeing my disciplined troops save him from captivity he had turned around. I hoped he didn’t carry any grudge, since I had recruited all his guards into my forces at the end of our trip. Bhurke had changed his ways and formed his own mercenary band that specialized in protecting caravans.

  “Good to see you, Bhurke. It looks like the mercenary life has been treating you well,” I told Bhurke, noticing his gear was of a better than average quality. He wore a tabard over his chain shirt displaying a blue sword imposed over a caravan wagon. This was the symbol of his mercenary band, the Azure Blade. I motioned for the barkeep to order whatever food they had on special today, as well as drinks for the both of us.

  “Things are going well, my friend. I just escorted another caravan safely to Hayden’s Knoll. I was glad to see plenty of your troops guarding the roads; not much to worry about anymore as far as bandits go. Maybe you could do me a favor and have your men let a few bandits through now and then. It makes for better business if the caravans are reminded that there is still danger on the road,” Bhurke said, joking about the bandits…at least I thought he was. Bhurke turned serious and looked as if he wanted to say something that wasn’t too pleasant.

  I was distracted by the arrival of my meal. The plate held several pieces of glorious, crispy, golden brown, fried chicken! Half the plate held a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy covering the whole mess. I happily shoved coins at the barkeep and dug in. As my first bite crunched into the chicken, the wave of flavors unlocked a memory. I was sitting at my family dinner table as a child, anxiously waiting for my mom to finish frying the chicken for dinner. My father had placed the potato’s he had mashed into a serving bowl and was distracting himself by making little patterns on top of the potatoes. My mother was making fun of him for his little quirk. The memory vanished and with it the faces of my parents faded as well. I was sad at seeing the fleeting images fade, but hopeful that this meant the AI was doing its job of continuing the repair of my ragged mind. Bhurke brought me out of my stupor when he lowered his voice and began to speak in a more serious manner.

  “I was hoping I would see you on this caravan run, Raytak. While Kofi was furious about me and the men leaving his employ, he was even more furious when I took some of his business away with my new band. When one of his agents approached me at Amerville, I thought I was in for a fight. Strangely enough, the agent was asking about you, telling me that if I told him everything I knew about you, all was forgiven. I told him about our encounters. I didn’t think there was anything harmful in that. Hopefully you’re not mad at me for spilling what I knew, but Kofi is a dangerous man and I couldn’t face having him come after my new venture. I don’t know what he’s up to Raytak, but I recommend you watch your back. That man is cunning and for some reason he is blaming you for his recent misfortune. Kofi has many connections and the most disturbing are those within the government. How else do you think he gets away with cheating caravans without any repercussions?” Bhurke warned.

  Kofi was a mercenary guild leader that Bhurke had previously worked for before forming the Azure Blade. I hadn’t thought about Kofi since and had placed him as an arrogant bully, not a well-connected threat. If the man scared Bhurke and was blaming me for Bhurke’s defection, I would have to keep an eye out for him causing trouble here.

  Bhurke finished his drink and made his goodbyes, deciding to turn in early as the caravan he was guarding left at dawn. Bhurke promised to check in with me the next time he was in town. I finished my delicious meal and followed it with a large chunk of apple cobbler, complete with a dollop of fresh, whipped cream. The Petty Dispute was well positioned to take a lot of my coin, as long as the food kept turning out this excellently. I was licking the last of the cobbler off my spoon when I felt a presence behind me. Turning around I was confronted with a very angry halfling staring daggers at me with her arms crossed.

  “Well, well, well, old man Raytak. Looks like you were brave enough to show up after all. I told Crunchy that I thought you would chicken out, but he was convinced you’d show up,” Yendys said, glaring at me with a smug expression on her face, while Crunchy busied himself with nibbling on the scraps of food that had fallen to the floor. “Meet me over at the dueling arena and get ready to be beat bad! I can’t wait for you to start calling me the unicorn queen!” With that, Yendys stomped over to the back corner of the Inn. The Petty Dispute’s arena seemed small, only a roped off square about ten feet across. The arena was an instanced area. Once players entered, they found themselves in a space to rival a colosseum. Onlookers could watch from the edge of the square and the AI would give them a bird’s eye view of any action. I hopped off the barstool and shuffled toward my fate, thankful that the game didn’t give you that overstuffed feeling after eating too much. I doubt I could stand, let alone fight a battle, after all I had just eaten. Yendys, of course, made me pay the entrance fee before we walked under the ropes separating the arena from the rest of the inn. Several players and npc’s began to gather around to watch, curious to see how the stran
ge match-up panned out.

  You have been offered a duel with Yendys, the level 5 Druid Summoner. Do you accept Y/N. *Note, this is not a ranked duel and will not affect reputation. All cooldowns have been reset and will return to their previous state once the duel has ended. No consumables are allowed.

  Ok, so no potions, not a big deal since I only had one. The good news was that I could use honor guard and Tessel’s Promise without worrying about using up the cooldown for the day. I hit yes, accepting the duel as the small arena changed into a large walled in colosseum. The edges of the arena were hazy, the indistinct shapes of the spectators were blurred out to prevent distraction or interference. The system then threw up some prompts as it performed last minute calculations.

  Loading commander forces.

  Adjusting number of commander forces based on level difference, no stat or gear adjustment needed.

  Loading Druid summons. No stat or gear adjustment needed.

  Soldiers began spawning around me and soon a full platoon of Imperial soldiers were there. Four scouts with their crossbows also spawned, along with a sergeant. These soldiers had the same gear as my own but were not the same men that were in my legion. The system allocated what it thought I would need to put up an equal fight. They snapped to attention as a countdown timer started.

  Duel begins in 30,29.28…

  Looking quickly across the arena, I could see Yendys. Next to her was her animal companion, Crunchy. There was also a pack of large dogs with her. I didn’t take time to count, but a quick estimate was over a dozen. She was busy casting a spell as the countdown continued. I knew she would likely concentrate on me, not bothering with my soldiers if she didn’t have to. I began to shout orders, getting the men into position for the fight.

  “Scouts, move out twenty yards to our left flank. Concentrate on the giant beetle first, before hitting Yendys. Sergeant, take fifth squad and cover the scouts. The rest of you, I want four ranks by squad with javelins at the ready. Listen for orders from myself or the sergeant. Depending on her spells, we may need to break up the formation. Get ready with your first throw!” I ordered, and the men moved into position. The scouts would bring the pain down on Crunchy. Their crossbows were the most effective weapon against the armored beetle. The thing had a huge health pool and was deadly in a fight. I hoped to use our ranged attacks to draw Yendys and her summons in. Fighting up close and in formation favored our forces. A ranged spell duel, or her kiting us around the arena, would be a disaster. We were only about fifty yards apart and I would want to close that distance by half before throwing javelins. My soldiers only had two javelins each and I wanted to get some value out of them before melee started. Looking back at Yendys, she finished casting a long spell and all her animals shimmered, glowing as they grew larger from whatever buff she cast. The timer finished, and the battle began.

  The Battle Begins

  “At a slow march, forward,” I ordered, and my formation began to move slowly forward. I wanted to have Yendys focus on the mass of my troops to give the scouts time to land some hits. Four crossbow bolts hit Crunchy, three clacking off the hard carapace and one penetrating. The beetle’s health pool showed only a tiny fraction removed.

  “Get him, Crunchy! Eat old man Raytak!” Yendys yelled, as she saw that we had hurt the beetle. Crunchy and the dogs surged forward toward my formation. I called a halt and waited for the beasts to get in range.

  “Throw! Prepare your last javelin,” I ordered while heaving my own javelin. When the animals were twenty-five feet away, the missiles arced over and landed amongst the beasts. About half of the javelins found their mark, not great, but a better percentage than in previous fights. One of the dogs was down and the rest had their health pools knocked between three-quarters and one-half. Crunchy was hit by several javelins and shrugged off all but two hits. “Throw; prepare to receive charge!” I ordered, and the last wave of javelins were loosed. This volley had most of the missiles find their mark and I smiled as my own javelin hit Crunchy and penetrated its armored carapace. This was the first time in all my fights that I hit with a ranged weapon. Ranged attacks were most assuredly not my thing in this game. Give me an M4, on the other hand, and I would hardly miss…alas, no battle rifles were available in-game.

  Four of the dogs crashed to the ground as the rest of the pack, along with the giant unicorn beetle, crashed into 1st Squad. Crunchy’s horn glowed as it hit, piercing the shield of a soldier and impaling him. The dogs had less luck. Our disciplined line held and the men began to thrust out from behind their shields, swords ramming into the soft hides of the dogs. Looking over to the scouts, I was wondering why they hadn’t landed any more shots on Crunchy after that first volley.

  Yendys hadn’t been idle during the fight. She had cast a spell toward the scouts. Thorn encrusted vines began to break out from under the feet of scouts. The vines wrapped themselves around the scouts and the men assigned to protect them, preventing the scouts from firing. I could see their health pools dropping as the thorns had no trouble penetrating the soldiers’ leather armor. The sergeant ordered them to draw swords and they began to fight back, hacking at the entangling vines. They were out of the fight, at least for now. As I turned back, a burning pain flared across my face.

  You have been hit by Natures Wrath. 48 damage taken and continuing damage of 5 health per second for the next 5 seconds.

  I quickly ducked behind 4th Squad, getting out of Yendys’ line of sight. I couldn’t let her pick me off. She’d have to fight through my full force before I would let her take direct shots at me. The rest of the dogs were down, but Crunchy was easily chewing through my men in a frenzied attempt to get to me. The beetle used another ability and cleaved through two soldiers with it’s huge mandibles. The other men tried to surround it, most of the blows glancing off the armored carapace. Some of the blows did crack through, usually when a soldier used the thrust ability. I ordered shield bash and the men around the beetle slammed their shields into it. A few more cracks appeared on its armored hide, but no stun effect occurred, unfortunately. Crunchy had a one-track mind, oblivious to the blows landing on him as he ate his way through my men to get at me. Just as I was getting hopeful at the beetle’s quickly dropping health bar, a green glow encompassed it and its health began to tick up again as Yendys cast a nature’s mending spell on Crunchy. I knew her spell was essentially a once per battle cast. It was now a race to see if we could burn down the beetle before it got to me.

  Yendys refreshed the thorns spell on the scout group and then began to alternate between casting her nature’s wrath spell on soldiers and summoning more animals to fight. Several of my soldiers pulled away from Crunchy to handle the occasional incoming summoned animal that headed our way. I was down to fifteen soldiers fighting Crunchy and three holding off the summons. At least Crunchy’s armored hide seemed to be weakening. Multiple blows had cracked it, allowing more damage through with each hit. Pointing my hand toward the beetle, the thorn shaped scars on my wrist began to glow. With a mental effort I unleased the spreading corruption ability on Tessel’s Promise. A stream of acidic sap few from my fingers and landed on the face of Crunchy. The sap stuck to his face and began to burn, eating through its shell and causing the beetle to squeal in pain. I hated to hurt the poor thing, but I was NOT going to call Yendys the unicorn queen for the rest of my time in-game.

  “Get him, Crunchy; activate rage!” Yendys yelled from across the battlefield. Crunchy glowed red and increased in size once more. I was familiar with rage effects and knew they were usually short-lived. A plan came to mind, as the newly angered beetle tore through the last soldier in front of me.

  “Charge Yendys! Ignore the beetle!” I ordered the last few soldiers from my formation, as I activated my new boots, instantly teleporting to a space behind the scouts. They had outlasted the grasping thorn covered vines and began their fire once again on the beetle. Two of the standard soldiers guarding the scouts were down, but the squad medic was making his way ar
ound the remaining soldiers applying magical healing bandages. The bandages helped, but all the soldiers were nearly dead. The medic slapped a bandage on me and then moved on to help the rest of the soldiers. A cool, soothing feeling washed over the wound to my head and my health slowly ticked up.

  Twenty feet away, Crunchy was confused, jerking its head about while it looked to see where I had gone. Once it saw me over by the scouts, it resumed its attack, scuttling as quickly as he could toward the thin line of soldiers in front of him. Another volley of crossbow bolts hammered into the beetle as it charged into the eight soldiers standing in front of it. The raging beetle tossed his head about as it reached our thin line, horn and mandibles shredding armor and the flesh beneath. Soon it was just me and the sergeant facing the angry insect. The scouts had fallen back a few steps and were trying to get shots in as they could without hitting any of their allies. I thrust at the beetle, my blade only penetrating its shell by a few inches. A trickle of the milky fluid that passed for the creature’s blood began to leak out. Crunchy wrapped its huge mandibles around me, pinning my shield to my side and slowly crushing me. While this was happening, the sergeant began to land heavy blows and the scouts continued to fire.

  You have been hit by the Crunchy’s crushing mandible attack. 100 damage and held in place. Escape save failed.

  You have taken 100 crushing damage, escape save failed.

  I struggled in the beetle’s grip, unable to free myself as a nearly unbearable crushing pain wracked my body, despite the AI’s pain reduction programming. I was just about to use the honor guard ability when the red glow around Crunchy winked out as its rage ability expired. The temporary health it had gained from rage drained, dropping its health to zero and releasing me from its grip.