“We go now, Raytak, back to our lands.” The ogre waved to the mountain in the distance.
“Travel safely. Would we be welcome to visit your lands and meet with your people? It would benefit us both to trade as friends. The leader of our people in this area is Governor Delling, and he is a fair man to trade with,” I said, attempting to continue the dialogue.
“You may pass through our lands unharmed, especially if you intend to continue after the Ikbose. Be warned, do not approach the mountain itself. We have no wish to live under your Imperium or to trade with outsiders. We keep to ourselves and demand others respect that or face our wrath,” Stench warned while gripping the axe handle so tight it creaked.
“We’ll respect your wishes and appreciate you letting us cross your lands as we pursue the Ikbose. They’ve lost a battle and I can’t allow them the time to recover. Can you at least tell us what you know of their numbers and how they fight?” I asked, resigned that no great alliance would be formed this day. I would settle for safe passage and hopefully some insight into our foe’s dispositions.
“We don’t know their numbers for certain. For many years, warbands would occasionally cross our lands, looking to kill or capture small groups of my people. Recently they have stepped up their attacks, emboldened and bolstered by some new force. This is the first I’ve seen of them working with the humans.
“A guess would put their number at around one thousand swords . . . minus what you have killed this day. They inhabit the lands southwest of here once you pass our mountain. Most are like the ones you’ve fought here, though occasionally they have some mages who are empowered by inflicting pain. These are deadly. Use caution when facing them.
“We found ourselves in battle today because we were investigating reports that the elves had blocked the road and captured the transition point. Normally we wouldn’t care, but my people do cross to the north of the road for most of our hunting. The presence of the Ikbose there would be a threat to our food source and cannot be allowed,” Stench said.
“They were blockading the road with a force numbering fifty or sixty. We killed them off before we faced down their army. All in all, we figure that they lost just over one hundred elves and three hundred of their human allies in our fights, not counting how many you killed here,” I advised, wanting to return the favor of information given in kind.
“These humans are a new threat. I will leave now and gather a war band to protect our hunting grounds. The elf city lies to the southwest. It is large, fortified, and well-defended. We’ve never had the numbers to take them on, or I would have seen that foul place destroyed. There are rumors of horrible things that go on within its walls,” Stench said, pausing and grimacing as if experiencing a painful memory.
“We will not interfere with your people, but understand that we will be using the road extensively to reinforce and resupply my legion. I ask that you allow them safe passage, and in return we will not bother you in any way. In fact, I would be willing to reimburse you for passage through your lands,” I offered.
Stench thought for a moment before nodding. “If you wish, you can send steel and grain. We are not farmers, but my people do enjoy bread when we can make it. Know this doesn’t establish trade with your people. We are only accepting recompense for trespassing on our lands,” Stench said.
“I understand and will arrange for wagons with grain to be delivered as compensation. You also need to understand the road itself was built by the Imperium and is the property of this zone, not the Goreaxe Clan. Disputes over territory can wait for the moment. I have some elves to kill. It was good to meet you, Stench. Safe journey,” I said while forming up the men. Stench nodded in agreement and gathered his people before walking toward the towering peak in the distance.
I marched alpha company and Ignominia back toward the crossroads. It was only a short thirty-minute-long march back to the blockade. When I returned, I could see the rest of the legion had been busy. Patrols walked the area while the rest of the men had cleared the battlefield. Brooks and Tavers were speaking with one of the scouts.
“Welcome back, sir. We’ve just received reports from some of the scouts. The defeated enemy forces turned toward the west and look to be making for the transition point area. The leader and a dozen elves broke off from the group and headed southwest toward the elf city after passing Goreaxe Peak. There was a scout tailing them, but he hasn’t reported back. I suspect the worst,” Brooks reported.
I had ordered most of the scouts to go with Wrend, so I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for the lack of more detailed information. No more than a hundred reavers could have escaped the battle. The elves numbered around fifty survivors at my best guess; they hadn’t engaged in the melee, but the siege engines had given them a good pasting.
“Let’s move a few more miles west down the road before setting up camp for the day. I don’t want to hang out here in case scavengers or other creatures come to investigate the bloodshed. All nco’s will report to my tent once camp has been set up. Then we’ll come up with a plan to defeat the Ikbose,” I ordered. The decision about what to do was a difficult one.
I hated to fall back, but we just didn’t have the numbers to defeat an army the size of the ones the elves could field. The other problem was that we had no idea how many reavers Darkfallow had brought with him. There could be just the few remaining or thousands more waiting to crush us. The other player, Narbos, hadn’t shown himself yet, either, and I feared him popping up at the helm of another army while I was tangling with the enemies I was already facing.
Based on what I knew so far, the reavers must be some of the soldiers that Narbos used. Had he given them to Darkfallow to cause trouble here while he planned the invasion? Was Narbos sitting at the city of Ikbose with thousands more waiting for us to foolishly move in? While worrying at this, a memory reconstructed itself.
I found myself back in the war college, listening to a lecture about General Patton. The memory was strange and more vivid than I was expecting. I could feel the stifling heat in the room with no air-conditioning and the cool condensation on the side of the water bottle on my desk as the lecturer gave a quote from General Patton: “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
The AI had improved in its memory reconstruction, and I had the information I needed to make my decision. It was time to get the enemy moving to my tune, to take the initiative and have enemies fear where we would pop up next. It was also time to remember that this was also a game, and games had rules that could be exploited at times to my advantage.
We marched for another two hours before stopping for the night. The camp was set up quickly and then the nco’s stuffed themselves into my small tent. Now I began to understand why officers sometimes had more elaborate quarters in the field. I could do without the creature comforts, but having a place to fit everyone for a planning session had become more of a necessity. Finding a bigger tent sounded like the perfect job for Blevins once we returned home.
“We now have a better idea of what we’re facing after talking to the ogres, at least regarding the elves. Their total numbers are estimated at over one thousand combatants. Unfortunately, we’re down to just over four hundred soldiers after our battles today. We’re far too outnumbered to hope to successfully besiege their city. While we know the number of elves, we still don’t have any idea how many of these humans are helping them. The leader of the humans is a necromancer named Darkfallow, and from the damage his skeletons did, he represents a serious threat. We should pull back and regroup,” I advised. The nco’s grew quiet, angry; they didn’t like pulling back after a successful battle any more than I did.
“That said, I do not want to pull back just yet. It will take the elves a while to organize a large enough force to challenge the legion. I believe what we have already faced—and defeated—was the bulk of their readily available forces. They had amassed enough to take out the ogres and set up the roadblock. The
y weren’t counting on running into us. The 1st Legion showed them what a real army can do. Like one of my old marine friends was fond of saying, if you mess with the best, you die like the rest. I think we’ll have some time before we pull back, enough time to teach them another lesson about war. Our target is here,” I said, pointing at the western transition point.
“Tomorrow we push hard, moving the legion as fast as we can while still having enough left in the tank to fight a battle at the western transition point when we arrive. I don’t think they will have it guarded too extensively, and once we take it, the garrison troops should spawn to reinforce the area.
“Once it is secured, we will use the western transition point to move the army to the southern transition point. From there, it’s a short march to Hayden’s Knoll. Once back home, we will gather our allies, replace our losses, and head back here to crush the Ikbose and any others who stand in our way,” I said, watching for a reaction from the men.
My concern was that the AI would consider it a bit of an exploit to use the transition point to move my forces quickly around the zone. I stood there, curious if Clio would use any of the npc’s to disrupt my plans. In my experience so far, the AI generally liked to use the npc’s to deliver restrictions to the game in a more natural manner.
“That should work, sir, as long as the transition point doesn’t fall while we’re away. If the enemy recovers the transition point, we will not be able to return as quickly. Having to march all the way from Hayden’s Knoll would give the enemy all the time in the world it needs to organize and plan for our attack,” Brooks said.
“We would need to reinforce the garrison at the transition point with some of our troops, but first we’ll have to see what forces are generated to help us defend it. I also plan to spend all the resources I can muster to upgrade our army once I’m back in our garrison at Hayden’s Knoll,” I added.
“Do you believe these reavers are coming from another zone?” the npc sergeant asked. A question from him was an indicator the AI was paying attention to my machinations and choosing to use the npc’s to deliver approval or restrictions on my game mechanic–related actions.
“I do, since they’re led by Narbos’s lackey, Darkfallow, and due to their level being higher than Darkfallow’s. I believe they have been sent here from Bharga’s Crossing to foul up our plans or maybe to gain a foothold in the zone,” I said.
“That would be better for us. No hostile army can usually cross a transition point without declaring war on the zone they are moving into. These forces under Darkfallow must be some type of expeditionary force, and that means Bharga’s Crossing will not have them available if they declare war on us,” the npc sergeant said, an explanation of expeditionary forces populating my view.
Expeditionary Forces: An expeditionary force may be sent to an adjacent zone to support a faction the controlling player designates. The force must be taken from the player’s standing army and will no longer be available to the player until the force has completed its mission. Losses to an expeditionary force do not begin to respawn until the mission is complete and then will begin to respawn in their home territory based on their current respawn guidelines and restrictions.
Expeditionary forces are limited to a maximum of 75% of the total standing forces of the player and cannot be controlled by the player directly. Command can be given to a designated ally (which can be either an npc or another player) or control can be given directly to the faction they are supporting. Should the designated ally leading the expeditionary force be killed, they will lose control over the expeditionary force and its control will revert to the faction it was sent to support. If the ally is another player, the player will respawn as normal but lose the ability to command the expeditionary force.
Victory and defeat conditions will be set at the time the expeditionary force is created. Either the victory or the defeat conditions must be met before the force can return home and begin to respawn losses.
After reading the description the system gave, I realized there was little likelihood that Narbos would declare war until his expeditionary force returned. Unless he wanted to invade with a massively understrength army, he was stuck until Darkfallow won or lost his battle against me. I still needed more information on Narbos’s total strength, but my army lacked much in the way of surveillance outside of scouting the local area.
We dismissed the meeting after hammering out a few details. I also took a moment to send messengers back to let Delling know of my agreement with the ogres and that he needed to send some wagonloads of food over. A letter was drafted to the Drebix as well as the Stonefinder Clan, letting them know we had a new foe and their forces would be needed once more.
I felt bad calling on our allies so soon after the last battles against the Gul Dorg, but I would do the same for them, gladly marching the legion to help them at any time if they were threatened. After all, the elves and their newfound allies would eventually pose a problem to the entire zone. I still had hope that we could open more friendly relations with the ogres. Having them fighting alongside the rest of us would be a great help . . . and I could admit to myself, if no one else, that I wouldn’t mind an auxiliary unit of ogres attached to my forces.
Chapter 14
The next day, I had reveille called before dawn. The camp was broken down quickly and the men formed up for the day’s hard march. Last night, I had used the Command Table to select Hayden’s Knoll as the respawn point for my forces. The troops already spawned at Holdfast were ordered back to Hayden’s Knoll, save for those already on the road from Holdfast and headed toward the legion. These forces would continue their trek to rejoin the legion.
First Sergeant Brooks took point with alpha company and set a brutal pace, one neither I nor the men would have kept up with if it hadn’t been for the daily conditioning drills. Thankfully, the benefits of the program helped with more than just a higher health pool. We stopped at noon for fifteen minutes to allow a short rest and a chance to eat. It was during this time that the replacements from Holdfast joined us, adding forty-four standard soldiers, two scouts, and two siege crew. The replacements were distributed where they were needed most, and we resumed our blistering pace.
The column halted just over an hour later, and a runner from alpha hustled toward my position in the column near the siege engines. At the front of the column, Brooks was shaking alpha company out into battle formation.
“Sir, compliments of the first sergeant. We have encountered another roadblock. The area is occupied by the Ikbose elves and is being assaulted by ogres. The first sergeant requests permission to move alpha up and support the ogre assault. He also requests the siege engines move into range of the roadblock, should they be needed,” the messenger reported.
“Understood, soldier. Tell the first sergeant to carry on. I’ll let Corporal Tavers know to meet him upfront with the siege train. Tell him not to wait for me; he is to engage the enemy and support the ogre assault immediately,” I ordered, taking a moment to have the messenger read the message back to me. He took off, waving his hands in a prearranged manner to let Brooks know he had the go-ahead.
Alpha company moved at a quick step toward the distant roadblock. I rounded up Corporal Tavers, who was already wheeling his scorpions forward toward the action. Harbox and the npc sergeant joined us.
“Corporal, bring up the scorpions and support Brooks in his assault. Keep the catapults with the column for now. If the assault succeeds, we’ll likely not need them. If our attack fails, we’ll have time to set them up while we reorganize.” The corporal saluted and organized the catapult crews to help push the scorpion carts forward at a quicker pace.
“Sergeant, move the rest of the legion forward but keep out of range of the roadblock once you get there. When you’re up with the rest of us, deploy into a defensive formation, protecting the supply wagons,” I ordered. The sergeant ran to get the column moving again as I sprinted up to join alpha and see how the fight was going.
From my new, elevated perch, I could see the roadblock two hundred yards in the distance. The men of alpha had closed to within fifty yards and were starting to take some fire from elves that would pop up over their cover, loose an arrow, then duck back down.
We were approaching from the east of the blockade while the elves’ main attention was focused on the two dozen ogres who were even now assaulting the southern wall of the roadblock. The roadblock itself was the same affair as the one we had destroyed yesterday; the rocky ground around this part of the zone provided ample building materials.
The shoulder-high wall proved no impediment to the ogres, the first of which were even now hitting the wall. The lead creatures took the wall at a run, crouched a bit at the last minute, and smashed into the makeshift barrier. The wall was stout enough to block missile fire but not nearly strong enough to hold out against the massive strength of the ten-foot-tall ogres.
The rumble of falling rock reached my ears even amidst the din of battle. The elves were alone. No human allies that I could spot. Our foes remained equipped like the others we had fought so far in this conflict. Dual-wielding their longswords and daggers, the elves, to their credit, didn’t hesitate to meet the charge of the ogres.
The ogres wore an assortment of gear. All were protected by a studded leather chest piece and padded cloth pants with reinforced patches of leather sewn in, but only about half had simple iron helmets. Their weapon of choice was a two-headed giant axe like the one that the ogre Stench had wielded, minus the gore stains. A few ogres were equipped with long spears, fearsome things nearly fifteen feet in length with barbed iron tips.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 14