by Dean Henegar
“Very good, Raytak. We will see to getting our people ready to move,” the shaman replied, dragging a dejected Stench out with him. The others left as well, but I asked Nergui to stay.
“Nergui, I need to send orders out for our plans. Can I use some of your troops as messengers?” I asked. The centaurs could move three times faster than even the enhanced speed of my messengers.
“Very well. It may delay them joining back up with the rest of my force, but I can see the importance of getting your orders out,” he agreed.
I sent letters off to Hayden’s Knoll, the players, my other mercenary groups, and the dwarves at the southern transition point. We were going to have to leave the defense of that spot to just my garrison for now. The dwarves needed to move their people to Hayden’s Knoll before they were cut off. I crossed my fingers and hoped that the stubborn dwarves would join us once they heard the ogres had agreed to relocate. There was always the possibility they would instead hole up in Stonefinder Mine, which would deprive us of a strong force and likely doom their people to destruction.
Chapter 21
The Goreaxe clan worked with a grim determination once Stench told them of their temporary relocation to Hayden’s Knoll. Once we got a full headcount, I found that nearly a thousand noncombatants would be making the trip. Most were just the workers of the clan, those who did the farming, merchants, builders, and the like. Of that number, there were also over one hundred who could not make the long march without assistance. These were either the elderly or parents with small children. To transport those, the ogres had several carts on hand to haul them. The carts were small enough to be pulled by a couple of adult ogres who would rotate out if they became tired.
The ogres also needed to bring several loads of critical tools, seeds for the next year’s planting, and any valuables the clan owned. Every available space was stuffed with ogres or their necessary items. Small flocks of goats and sheep would be coming along, guided by their ogre shepherds. Finding enough grazing room and fodder for our animals was yet another logistical challenge of our march. Beremund’s skirmishers left at noon and would mark a trail for us to follow. When possible, we would keep far to the east side of the road to avoid having the imp’s forces overtake our column after the inevitable fall of Holdfast.
The eastern transition point has fallen to the forces of the Zipzisilerpicazant clan.
While I had expected the point to fall, given the large force heading to take it, seeing the system prompt added urgency to our move. I needed to get back to Hayden’s Knoll to organize the defense there. Having Stench agree to bring his people to safety was a big relief, but why couldn’t the stubborn ogre have decided earlier in the war? Then the army would already be halfway back.
My soldiers helped with the loading process, but even with the extra hands, we didn’t finish until the early evening. The civilians were exhausted, both emotionally at having to leave their homes as well as physically from all the hard labor of loading up. My army was also worn down from the fighting earlier and hard exertions today. Knowing that our journey home would be a long and grueling one, I opted to start in the morning, giving everyone a final good night’s rest. In the morning, we would be traveling at sunup to sundown and taking only limited breaks during the day.
The order of march was a mess to organize. I knew the civilians wouldn’t be able to keep a fast pace, so I had to slow the army’s pace. In the lead of the army, I had three companies of infantry, followed by our legion supply wagons and siege train. After our first formation, large groups of the ogres would follow, occasionally broken up by platoons of soldiers or allied forces. The entire column would be over a mile in length. Should there be any attack, the formations interspersed among the civilians would be large enough to hold out until other forces at different points in the column could converge to help.
Progress was very slow, driven by the fact that many of the ogre children were forced to walk; the carts they had brought only had enough room for the very old and the youngest among them. When we stopped for a supposed thirty-minute break at midday, the column had gone only a short distance from the mountain. Food wasn’t going to be a problem, even if the journey took longer than expected. The ogres had huge amounts of food reserves in their mountain, and every soldier and civilian carried as much as they could stuff in their packs.
“Sir, we need to pick up the pace with these civilians. We should have made it twice the distance we’ve gone so far,” Sergeant Brooks said to me as I scarfed down a bowl of back and beans.
“You’re right, Sergeant. I’m open to suggestions. There’s no way I’m going to complain about it to Stench after we just pressured him to leave his home,” I replied.
“I may have one suggestion, sir, but you’re not going to like it,” Brooks replied, reluctant to continue.
I waved him on, wishing the man would just spit it out.
“We should ditch some of the siege engines. We can use the freed-up wagon space to carry more of the younger folks. I don’t expect we’ll be fighting any set-piece battles out here, and we can easily replace the equipment once were back at the garrison,” Brooks suggested.
I loved my siege engines; they were the main source of ranged firepower for the legion and a great equalizer against larger masses of enemies. Still, if we kept on at our current pace, by the time we got there, the Hypogean forces would have already made themselves at home in Hayden’s Knoll.
“Gather up Tavers, Wrend, and Captain Landry. I don’t think Tavers is going to be too pleased with your solution,” I told Brooks.
Sitting on a nearby rock, I managed to finish the last of my meal while waiting. From the shouts and heated voices, I could tell that Brooks had spilled the beans on what we were planning to do.
“Sir, there is no way my men will give up our siege engines. What if the imp’s army catches up to us? We’ll be helpless!” Tavers shouted, nearly crossing the line into insubordination with his tone.
“First off, Sergeant Tavers, I value the input from my subordinates, but I will be giving the orders for this army,” I said, emphasizing his rank as a reminder of where he stood. “Second, if we don’t do something, the Zisilerpicazant clan will own Hayden’s Knoll and the rest of the zone long before we return. I’m open to suggestions, but other than abandoning children on the trail, I don’t see another way to solve our problem.”
To his credit, Tavers cooled down a bit and seemed to regain control over his emotions. The engineer was a hothead, but his expertise had been invaluable. Many of our battles would have been lost without his support. He was quiet for a while, but I could see the gears turning in his mind. Once the heat of anger had left, the solid, calculating mind of an artilleryman shone through.
“Very well, sir, but I don’t think we’ll have to ditch all of my firepower to accomplish what you want. The kids that have been forced to hoof it were a bit older than the ones that secured a seat in the other transports. While they run out of energy quickly, for the first hour or so of the march, they were doing okay. We can ditch the catapults. They each take up two wagons, one for our engines and one for the ready ammunition. They won’t fit all the kids, but we can work them in shifts, walking one group for an hour, then switching out to give them a rest. I may even be able to find room to stuff one or two on each of the scorpion carts if we ditch some of the ammo,” Tavers offered.
It would work and was a good compromise to keep us moving at a decent, if still painfully slow, pace. Keeping the scorpions would give us some long-range punch even if the ammo would be a bit light. I had enough gold and resources stored up that I could easily replace the catapults once we returned to Hayden’s Knoll.
“Very good. Make it happen, Tavers. Your engineers will oversee rotating out the kids. Who knows? This move might even give us a little goodwill with the ogres. The gods know we’ve asked them for a lot recently,” I said.
Tavers scrambled off to inform his crews, who reluctantly dumped the pieces to thei
r siege engines and stacked up the ready ammunition. Not wanting to leave anything to the enemy, we burned the engines and the scorpion ammunition we’d tossed out.
“Hurts me to my bones to see good gear go up in smoke, sir,” Tavers said, watching the flames as the column formed up again after our short break.
“I understand that, but that should make the pain hurt a bit less,” I said, pointing toward the ogre children who were being helped into the wagons. It was tight, but we were able to stuff most of them into the space we had freed up. The kids would have a long and hard road, but they shouldn’t slow us down as much anymore.
“Aye, sir, I suppose that the new cargo is the more precious of the two,” Tavers said.
He was right; we fought to protect the innocent, sometimes sacrificing our lives to do so. This time, sacrificing our lives wasn’t required—only our gear.
***
“So, guys, everyone ready?” Ty asked the others inside the Petty Dispute. They had received Raytak’s message and were more than happy to accept the quest. The ones not going with Ty were a bit disappointed they would have to wait longer for some action, but Ty was sure they would have more than their fill before the war was complete.
“Yeah, I think most of us were given some kind of quest by the system to help prepare here in town,” Jacoby replied, the others nodding. Jacoby and the other melee warriors would be spending time training a town militia. If they were successful, a force of militia would be added to the town’s defense. Kathala and Yendys were tasked with finding and training up some medical support personnel among the town’s NPCs. They had already secured the Petty Dispute to use as a triage location once the battle started. The owner of the place was also a player, and the AI had offered her a quest to help the town. Drake had been online at some point and accepted the quest, but otherwise, they hadn’t heard from him.
Ty, Quimby, and the new kid Deacon were heading out to find some good locations to delay and begin wearing down the enemy army. Once everyone was squared away, Ty led the other two out of town and toward the crossroads, which would be their first stop. The pace he set was punishing, but they needed to cover some ground while the enemy was distracted at Holdfast. The more time they had to prepare their surprises, the deadlier they would be.
Raytak had put him in charge of the operation, and the dwarves had sent word to Delling that they were moving their people to Hayden’s Knoll. Ty and his force would need to buy time for the dwarves and their families to make the journey. Looking over the forces at his command, Ty was pleased with the mix of units, but the real trick would be getting the most mileage out of them. His old friend had a good eye for what he needed, sending units that would fit in with what he hoped to accomplish.
Special Detachment Forces:
Devlin Horde: 187/200.
Legion Scouts: 45/45.
Shield Brothers: 200/200.
Azure Blades: 200/200.
Dwarven Pathfinders: 50/50.
Ty had been up and down the road between the ruins of the old Hayden’s Knoll and Holdfast many times. Several points along the road would be ideal for delaying actions. In less than a day, Ty and his two companions had made it to the crossroads, where they found the mercenaries and the force of dwarves waiting for them at the small garrison outpost there.
“Good to see you, Ty. You ready to lead this bunch of misfits?” Ty’s friend Rollox told him. The leader of the dwarven pathfinders was a kindred spirit, and Ty could count on his support.
“You are the one assigned to lead us in this fight?” Aristides, the leader of the Shield Brothers, asked as the trio of players jogged up to the garrison. While Ty didn’t like their leader’s attitude, he was impressed with the soldiers themselves. The band of mercenaries was more like an army unit in terms of its discipline and equipment. Its gear was solid, featuring heavy armor as well as a round bronze shield that was large enough to cover the carrier’s entire upper body. The soldiers all carried eight-foot-long spears and had shortswords as a backup weapon.
“That I am. As long as your boys fight like Raytak said you would, we’ll get along fine,” Ty replied.
“As for that, I hope he informed you that we would not be a party to any suicide runs to buy you time. If the fighting becomes too costly, we will consider our contract complete and will quit the field,” Aristides added.
Ty was aware of their stipulation, and when he zoomed in on the mercenary leader, he could see a bar showing the band’s commitment to the fight.
Mercenary Commitment Meter: Mercenaries are required to fulfill the contract they have signed. Most reputable groups have a clause that allows them to yield or quit the field if casualties are high or their position is untenable. Once the bar reaches zero, the mercenaries will leave.
“That goes for our groups as well,” Bhurke, the leader of the Azure Blades, replied, and the centaur, Nergui, agreed with the man. Where the Shield Brothers had been impressive, Bhurke’s group was less so. All of his mercenaries wore mismatched armor and were only identifiable by the bright-blue sword emblazoned on various pieces of their gear. While they weren’t uniform, their gear was at least well cared for.
“I know,” Ty said. “We’ll all play by the rules. Here’s the situation. We have a huge army that will take Holdfast anytime now. Once they do, the whole mess of them will be coming down this road toward Hayden’s Knoll. Raytak is leading most of the legion, as well as the entire Goreaxe clan, back to the town. We need to buy them and the dwarves the time they need to make it to the city with all their people. Once they’ve all gathered, the enemy will have a difficult, if not impossible, time cracking the city. Once they’ve been bled dry on our defenses, we’ll push them back and retake what they’ve stolen.”
“How much time do we need to buy them?” Nergui asked.
“All that we can. The longer we delay them, the stronger our defenses in town will become. But just delaying them isn’t enough for me. I want to make them bleed. That’s what I specialize in—what I have specialized in all my life. We’re going to use every dirty trick I’ve learned in decades of war to bring the pain to the little imp. We’ll hit him every time and in every way we can. Zipp will never know if that next stretch of road will be full of traps or if there’s a cavalry charge waiting to burst out of the tree line. Let’s get moving. It’s time to go to work, boys,” Ty said, an evil grin plastered on his face.
Chapter 22
“Such a lovely day,” Zipp said as he watched the city of Holdfast burn, the glow complementing the sunrise. He would have to stop the fires before the entire city was destroyed, but it served the citizens right for putting up such a stiff defense. What should have taken only a few hours ended up taking two days. Not because Zipp didn’t have the forces he needed but because his sister was insistent on “preserving the family army.” She would alternate between hassling him about how long it was taking and nagging him about losses. Still, it was done, and now he could move on to the next step.
“Dear brother, I have the latest reports from our scouts. Narbos is holed up in Haven, and while our army there has him bottled up, it isn’t strong enough to break in just yet. Once we finish taking this zone, we’ll have to shift some forces over to Bharga’s Crossing to finish off Haven. Speaking of finishing up here, what are your plans?” Lilly asked, seated on her ridiculous pink razorbunny instead of a noble steed like Snuggles.
“Looks like Raytak is running home with his tail between his legs. Goreaxe Peak is abandoned, along with the Drebix lands. There is also a small garrison at the ruins of the Gul Dorg place we need to clear out. Why don’t you take that objective and have our cousin Braxzisilerpicazant take the other?” Zipp suggested.
His father had sent a column of reinforcements for the fight here in Hayden’s Knoll, which was a welcome addition to Zipp’s forces. What was unwelcome was the inclusion of his irritating cousin, Brax. The little blue guy was just a waste of space, and Father probably just wanted him out of his hair. Blue
imps were rare and were usually a sign of stupidity among his people. Should Brax die in the coming battles, it would be no big loss to the family. Of course, Zipp wouldn’t be surprised if the next correspondence from home included a message to make sure that Brax met an unfortunate end.
“I’ll send Brax with a small force to take the ogre mountain and Drebix lands. I’ll see to the ruins. Just to be safe, I’ll take a thousand troggs, a hundred razorbunnies, and two hundred of the imp warriors. What should we send Brax?” Lilly asked.
Zipp had finally gathered the army together and he didn’t want his forces spread out all over the place. Still, he needed to send enough to deal with any surprises that Raytak and the ogres might have left behind.
“Give him a thousand troggs and maybe a couple of your trolls to keep him in line,” he replied. He hated to admit it, but his sister had done well in adding the trolls to her forces. They were loyal, hard to kill, and vicious—everything he looked for in a minion.
“Sounds good. I’ll get Brax moving and then head out with my force to the ruins. As soon as we’re done, we’ll rejoin the army along the road somewhere. Now, stop this mindless destruction and get the army moving. The city here is supposed to be a supply point for us, not a playground,” Lilly told him.
While he was officially in charge of the invasion, he suspected that dear old Dad would give the honor to Lilly in a heartbeat if he messed up. So for now, he had to keep her happy and not react to her digs.
“All right, everyone, put out the fires and call off the pillage and plunder. We need to get moving. There’s still a war on,” Zipp called out.
