Leo looked at the small army gathered outside his gates. Their camp lay out of arrow range and his strongest mages could only send spells that would be mildly annoying to the attackers.
They had been waiting for three days. Neither of the two sides sent messages or communicated with one another. They prepared their weapons, readying for war.
Leo looked at the enemy with a dark expression.
“Well, at least my cousin’s army came prepared. Looks like they allied themselves with the Dapan empire and hired out every mercenary in their outpost,” Leo muttered.
They’re well prepared and ready for a fight. We have supplies for a fight if we need it, but that is an empire’s army. Although the outpost guards are good at dealing with powerful mercenaries and beasts that cause trouble, they aren’t trained to siege.
An empire’s army is completely different. They are trained to siege. Just looking at their formations and their weapons, it’s clear that they are well prepared to take down my Sea Castle Outpost.
Leo gritted his teeth and his hand tightened around his sword.
“Lord!” a woman said, running up.
The guards around Leo all tensed, holding their weapons.
Leo waved for them to calm down, recognizing the messenger. “What is it?” he asked in a clipped tone, at odds with his normal easy smile and relaxed manners.
“A letter has arrived from Vermire,” she said.
A guard took the letter and opened it. They checked inside and pulled out a bracelet as well as papers with magical runes on them. He checked it and then passed it to Leo.
Leo looked them over. “This is one of those communication devices and sound transmission talismans.” Leo checked the device and put it on his wrist.
The bracelet glowed slightly. A few seconds later, a voice came from the bracelet.
“Ah, Outpost Lord Leo, it’s Aditya. I know you’re not one for small talk. King’s Hill Outpost has been established. I am informed that the forces there are moving to reinforce the outposts closest and band together with guards from those outposts to sweep around the Beast Mountain Range to assist our allies. Now, this might take some time. My forces have remained at King’s Hill Outpost. They are defending the crafters and have planted a true outpost interface there. I wanted it to be a surprise, and I guess now it is.” Aditya laughed.
“How does that help?” Leo asked in a terse voice, feeling he was being played with.
Aditya let out a dark laugh. “Well, it is simple, really. The outpost’s leadership will be the alliance leadership. Which makes you a leader of the outpost, which makes your population part of the outpost’s numbers. Have you heard of the passives that an army defending their home can gain if they are recognized as a village, or a city?”
Leo’s eyes shook.
With all of the outpost lords as the alliance leaders, that means that all of the people sworn to us will become the outpost’s citizens, boosting the population of the outpost interface, upgrading it to village or city grade, increasing the passives placed on the army. It should bolster our strength considerably, increasing the chance that we can defend against the other outpost lords’ attacks.
“When will it take effect?” Leo asked.
“Tonight. By that time, I should have reached out to all of the outpost lords and contacted them. The papers are sound transmission talismans. Inside the letter, I also gave you information on how to contact the other lords. With it, we can create a network, knowing where to strike and where to reserve our strength.”
“That is a good plan. Communication is a powerful tool,” Leo said, hidden meanings within his words.
“That it is, and information can be like a knife or a shield. Once this is resolved, I am planning to host another dinner to our victory and discuss King’s Hill Outpost,” Aditya said, as if the current predicament wasn’t anything to worry about.
“Once this is all done, I hope that we can share a beer as allies,” Leo said.
“I would like that, too—to the King’s Hill Outpost Alliance.” Aditya sounded amused before the bracelet dimmed.
“Well, Lord Aditya doesn’t fail to surprise still.” Leo looked at the gathering forces, his mind turning over.
Who is the real threat? Who is the one that is a greater problem? Does Aditya mean us good or are we simply jumping out of the fire into the tiger’s mouth?
The attackers started to move, pushing their rolling siege towers, catapults, and wheeled trebuchets.
“Ballistas?” Leo asked, not looking away from the enemy.
“Ready, my lord!” a sub-commander said, standing nearby.
Leo waited as the trebuchets got into place. He looked as the catapults paused. They had coverings on their front to protect their crews.
The other groups halted, their shields ready as they waited for the order to charge, standing in their formations or hiding behind the siege towers.
Still, they were outside of effective bow range.
“Light the ballistas,” Leo commanded.
A bagpipe sounded off and the ballistas heads were lit.
“They are all lit, my lord,” the sub-commander reported.
“Fire!”
The bagpipe sounded out, followed by the whoosh of released arrows and the deep wooden noises of the ballista arms’ tension being released.
They shot out their nearly meter-long loads. They were tilted upward, creating a fiery rain that struck the catapults and the trebuchets. Some missed, hitting the ground, while others cut through the formations. It didn’t kill many but it sent the groups into disarray and they had to reform.
The catapults were hit with multiple ballista arrows that stuck into their hides, trying to reach the wood and set it on fire.
A few who were caught outside of the defenses were killed and a few started to smoke as the wood was catching on fire.
The trebuchet crews were safer, due to their range. Ballista hit the ground around them, saturating the area around a trebuchet to kill the operators and strike the siege weapon.
It only took out a fraction of the enemy’s ranged attack power.
The trebuchets creaked as they released their payloads and the catapults joined in.
Rocks struck the ground ahead of the wall, walking their fire up to the wall and landing beyond.
The wall was rocked in places. The battlements exploded when hit straight on. A few unlucky people were killed in the attack. The defenders hid in stone-constructed huts along the wall while the ballista crews in their own stone towers rapidly reloaded and fired again.
Leo watched this from his own tower, looking at the shield warriors and those around the siege towers.
They really think highly of us. There must be close to two and a half thousand out there, while our normal guard force is reduced to four hundred and fifty. They’re confident that they have the time to wear us down as well. Their commander doesn’t seem impatient, ready to wear down our walls and our morale with constant bombardment.
***
Valter stood outside of his command tent, looking at Vermire. The outpost stood there, its new walls standing uniform across the two rises it rested on.
Ballistas rested on the walls. Soldiers could be seen moving between positions on the wall—their armor well cared for, their actions orderly.
Their training is no less than ours. Their weapons and armor are on par. Though it didn’t feel as though they were pressured when we were attacking them.
Valter’s eyes looked at the marks on the walls where the siege weaponry had hit. They were scuff marks; nothing showed signs of destabilizing.
The dead had been moved from the battlefield, but the bloody spots where they had stood remained.
Although we can’t do much for the wounded, Vermire has healers who can get even the severely wounded back on the front lines in just a few hours or days.
He was disturbed, looking at the outpost.
“Just how was he able to amass so much power without our mistress knowing? He was just a small figure a few years ago. She was thinking of dominating him and using his outpost as her own in the future, but then we lost our spies within his walls and then there was the reversal with the Zatan Confederation. Now, when I look at Vermire, it doesn’t look like a simple outpost anymore. It looks more like a capital. Well-trained forces, strong construction, and with hidden means.”
He looked down at the weapon on his hip. It had been purchased for him from Vermire. It was the strongest sword in the Twilight guard’s arsenal. Though Vermire had sold it like a simple cabbage.
“Tomorrow, we will fight once again. I refuse to think that our force of ten thousand can’t defeat them. No matter the losses.”
If we don’t defeat them now, then they could grow to be the lord of the Beast Mountain Range. We need to destroy them now.
***
Aditya stood on the wall in his armor, his eyes looking across the battlefield. He watched as Valter returned to his tent.
“The Twilight guards…I always wanted to pay them back for what they did.” Aditya’s voice was cold, filled with fury he had hidden when meeting the other outpost lords.
“Well, I am told that they will no longer be a problem shortly,” a familiar man’s voice said a short distance down the wall. Aditya was startled and Miss Evernight cupped her hands and bowed to Elan as he walked up.
“Please, Miss Evernight, we don’t want to give anything away. I am but a simple merchant,” Elan said.
Aditya’s thoughts were washed away as he studied Elan. There was a new depth to him. He realized that he couldn’t see through the other man’s cultivation. When he had left, Aditya felt that they were on the same level, but in such a short period of time he had been left behind.
“Elan,” Aditya said, tilting his head to the other man.
Elan seemed to read his thoughts as he looked over the wall at the enemy. “Don’t worry. I feel that Vermire and the Beast Mountain Range will soon enter into a new period of prosperity. As the one to do so, I don’t think that the rewards will be small.”
Aditya smiled, feeling a bit awkward.
“Something on your mind?” Elan seemed more perceptive than ever.
“Seems you really have taken over the information networks. I can’t keep anything from you,” Aditya said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Ah, I don’t know everything, but that is something I am looking to rectify,” Elan said mysteriously and glanced to Aditya. “What is on your mind?”
Aditya debated for a second but he knew that it would be useless to try to hide his thoughts.
“I, well…well, when I started this, I was simply looking for the rewards. I wanted more power, wanted to grow Vermire. You and your people have dealt with me in good faith. I didn’t deserve it—what I did when meeting Mister Jasper… You gave me a chance. I took it and I didn’t like it at first—I won’t lie. Now, well, Vermire is my greatest achievement, and although I care for it, I am your instrument. I want to prove myself to your leaders. Show that I can be trusted. That I can take on more responsibility. I want to use my strengths to grow something bigger than myself.”
Elan and Evernight looked at each other. Both of them turned their gaze on Aditya.
“Maybe one day you’ll learn the truth. I know that my leaders are interested in you. I can raise the subject with them, but there must always be someone controlling Vermire and the King’s Hill Outpost under our command. It will take time to get to that point.”
“I’m not in a rush. I have plenty of years ahead of me now.” Aditya smiled.
“It looks like the outposts going against you have used all of their contacts to wage this war,” Elan said.
“They’ve certainly got a lot of strength right now,” Aditya said.
“The situation in the other outposts varies. With all of the armies needing to prepare their siege weaponry, it has bought us a few days,” Evernight said.
“Your forces are in place?” Elan asked.
What he didn’t know was that Elan’s orders weren’t his own, but came from Glosil, who was watching the battle above Alva closely.
***
“Thank you.” Glosil lowered his sound transmission device.
“Something important?” Roska sat in the chair opposite.
“Aditya’s second army is mobilizing to take out the other outposts,” Glosil said.
“We could have dealt with the issue easily,” Roska said.
“There were enough questions when you dealt with the Zatan Confederation leadership. Thankfully, each of the other groups thought it was the other that carried out the attack. This is a chance for Vermire to prove their strength.”
“Are we going to add them to Alva?” Roska asked suddenly.
“We might. We still have a lot of people who are willing to join from the Fourth Realm and it takes less resources to train them. Talking of training, shall we get back to the main subject at hand?”
“Your close protection details?” Roska smiled.
Glosil nodded.
“For the first three days, we pushed them to the limit. We all gave them medallions that made them the same strength. The majority held up through it all. Then we moved them into specific training, testing them on shooting, scouting, engineering, spell casting, mortars, medical support, close combat, and ranged combat skills. The basics were already there; we gave them the tips and tricks that will turn them from a good operator to one who can jump from one task to the other without issue. Next, they will be participating in the tournament held in Vuzgal. While there, they will be matched against people from across the realms. This is to temper their fighting styles.”
“Unlike before, they were trained as soldiers first and warriors second. They’ll be able to reintegrate quickly into units. Bringing that higher combat capability with them,” Glosil said.
“Good to know that those annoying reports are of some use.” Roska smiled.
Glosil snorted as she continued.
“Once they have completed their combat training, then they will be organized into CPD or close protection detail squads and assigned to different combat companies.”
“Have you organized the group that will take over advanced training for roles beyond sharpshooter? The staff teaching right now are the best we have and I would prefer to keep their skills honed by allowing them to train with their units.”
“I wanted to clarify that with you. The CPD squads will be on a rotating basis. They will train and be active with their units, but every combat company will effectively have three, not two, CPD squads. One attached to the artillery platoon, the other to the support platoon and the third on a three-month rota giving advanced training to the new privates and overseeing the recruit training?”
“Correct. They’re our best fighting force. The more information that they can give our basic soldiers, the stronger they will be.”
“Is this competition within Alva thing going to happen as well?” Roska asked.
“The competition will be for school-related subjects. While the military is in Vuzgal, they can go to the Battle Arena to train, but unless given permission they are not allowed to enter the tournament events,” Glosil said.
“Okay,” Roska said, curious.
“Competition is good, but I don’t want the units fighting one another over something stupid. Now, how is the training program going for the special teams?”
“After completing their CPD training, then they will need to wait a month until they can go on and apply to join the special teams. If they want to become an officer, they can begin their officer training right away.”
Glosil nodded in confirmation, following along.
“Training for the special teams will come in three parts. One, test of training. They will go out with a special team training cadre, to clear dungeons, to traverse different terrain. Instead of checking what they have learned, they will have to demonstrate it in every environment. The second part is that they will run missions to scout, gather information and plan out an attack on different groups in the Fourth Realm. They must do so without being detected and complete these faux missions to a high standard. This will also aid us in knowing just what kind of strength our neighbors have.
“Finally, they will be bid on. They must not only be the best person at the tasks set out for them; they need to be part of a team. The special teams and their leaders will pick out the ones they want, bidding upon them. They will remain within the special teams on a three-month probationary timetable. If they are a good fit with the rest of the special team, they will remain. If they aren’t, then they will be up for bid once again. They can be bid on three times before they will be returned to their unit, with an invitation to attempt the course again in six months.”
“Sounds rigorous,” Glosil said.
“Our job is to be able to operate on our own under any condition in any realm. I aim to make sure that the new special teams are all capable of this task.”
Glosil could see the determination in her eyes. The special teams were a ragtag group, but they were one hell of a fighting force.
“I’ll leave it to you,” Glosil said.
“Do you want us to be ready to act if something unsuspected happens in the Beast Mountain Range?”
“If the Alva Healing House is targeted, then I will send you in.”
“Understood.” Roska nodded.