《Swords & Gunpowder》


 Old: Prologue

    Palisade: Day 15


    ¡°When will this stalemate end?¡±


    The sounds of magical artillery shells exploded, shaking the cramped bunker. A small cloud of dust fell from the ceiling, a group of eleven people looked down at a massive map that was spread out on the floor.


    None of them were bothered by the dust falling on them or the explosions, simply focusing on the map.


    ¡°The trenches at the East Gate have had no luck in getting deeper into no man''s land.¡±


    The map depicted an area where lines crossed. map. Which had around 150 chess pieces placed on the map, both black and white pieces. The white pieces were on northside of the map, while the black pieces were located on the southside.


    ¡°Our tanks have had no luck in breaking through Central, too much firepower and too many obstacles.¡±


    In the center of the map was a thick line, an opening was present in the center, with a dozen white pawns right behind the gap in the thick wall. On the sides of the walls were forts with 2 pawns in each and 2 pawns behind the forts.


    ¡°The forts are still manned, preventing the enemy from moving past the wall.¡±


    At equal intervals were more forts with the same opening to the central opening. Each with the same set up, 2 white pawns in it and 2 white pawns behind it, with a dozen holding the line at the opening.


    ¡°The front line is still defended and well manned


    3 flags were placed at equal intervals all south of the thick wall. Behind the last flag were two white knight pieces on each side, in front of them next to the second flag were the Rook pieces.


    ¡°Our tanks are having difficulties moving towards the front, so I have ordered them to remain in the back as my engineers fix up our spaghetti trenches.¡±


    While the Pawns were placed all along the trench lines, they became denser when one got closer to the wall. The total number of pieces on the southern side of the map were 100 chess pieces in total.


    ¡°Our battalion is at full strength with only a couple of undermanned squads.¡±


    With Pawns numbering in at 85 pieces alone, there were 10 rook pieces, 2 Knights, 3 Bishops with the queen and king pieces missing from the map.


    Meanwhile on the northern side of the map it was less clear on what the positions of the black units were. Closest to the wall they were able to tell easily due to only one hundred feet separating the two sides.


    ¡°We have identified several enemy squadrons of tanks. Their forward lines are filled to the brim with bunkers. There''s at least 100 by visual count.¡±


    The eleven individuals looked at the map uncomfortably, silence reigned, each one clearly deep in thought on how to deal with this deadlock.


    ¡°We could send in the behemoths? Let them tank the damage.¡± Major Forthelolz said.


    ¡°Really and get them annihilated by the 100 or so Anti Tank Guns waiting for us on the other side?¡± Major Fishman responded.


    ¡°The plan could work, but we need to attack when they are most vulnerable.¡± Everybody looked at the highest ranking officer in the room. Colonel CeoMacNCheese.


    ¡°Ten bombardment spells with all the Lieutenants using Volley, while the Warrant Officers use Healing on the front line directly?¡± Major Silenz suggested.


    JacktheRipper responded, ¡°Look we tried using volleys and bombardments before, their forces on their vanguard are understrength for a small time then their other companies come and counter attack. While the other companies directly attack our flag when our own forces are busy fighting over the other flag. That''s ignoring all the artillery that would¡¯ve bombed our troops to oblivion while under the healing spell.¡±


    He shivered at the time they nearly lost their flag only to barely push them back to the middle a mere ten days later.


    Colonel CEOMacNCheese responded, ¡°While all what you¡¯ve stated was true, Jack. We¡¯ve only been using infantry supported by artillery and very rarely any tanks with the infantry. You know why?¡± Jack shook his head, CEo answered. ¡°because you¡¯re scared our troops will run out of points to spawn in as tanks.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re going to blitz them then?¡± Major JacktheRipper said.


    ¡°Essentially, we¡¯re going to need more tanks though.¡± MacNCheese said, ¡°first we¡¯re going to need to deal with those bunkers.¡±


    Pointing down on the forward most trench system on the northern side of the map.


    ¡°That''s where the most casualties will be caused. Even with the tanks providing mobile cover for the infantry, there''s bound to be a bullet or two which will get through. That''s also ignoring the possibility of the tanks getting stuck in the abandoned trench systems. And as Fishman stated there are a hundred or so anti tank guns in the lines alone that ignores the dozens of artillery guns in their back line.¡± MacNCheese said pointing towards the second line it''s incredibly hilly back there making it a perfect place for artillery.


    ¡°I agree, I could start employing infiltration tactics to try and get troops behind their lines to cause as much damage as possible.¡± Major Sharkfan suggested.


    ¡°If this was any other map then it would certainly be possible, Shark. But this is Palisade which is infamous for being extremely difficult to do any other tactics than just human waves and overwhelming firepower.¡± Major Jjvillage said.


    ¡°You do know historically battles are always won with superior firepower?¡± Major Memesboss replied.


    ¡°Well if it is about superior firepower, then why haven¡¯t we ended the battle by now? Last time I checked we fired thousands if not millions of shells at them with constant charges.¡± Major Jjvillage retorted.


    ¡°Because we haven¡¯t used enough firepower.¡± He turned to CEO. ¡°Colonel.¡± Memesboss said, throwing a glare at Colonel MacNCheese.


    ¡°If I use my personal spell you know full well the Noxu will just simply respond in kind.¡± MacNCheese said.


    ¡°What if we¡¯re quick enough about it ,you could fire it before they even have a chance to respond.¡± Major Buzzsaw suggested.


    ¡°It takes a full minute for my spell to fully charge, and a minute is more than enough time for them to react. Not only that I need visual contact for the spell to even hit the target properly. So in that minute I need to be at the front with direct sight of them. I also can not move while the spell is active so I am extremely vulnerable to artillery fire.¡± CEO explained, Buzzsaw simply looked down at the map.


    ¡°We could do a combination of all those plans. Use a distraction frontal assault while several squads infiltrate behind enemy lines by jumping the wall, with the goal of destroying as much equipment as possible. While in the confusion of the attack you could activate your spell, due to the commanders being too busy to respond you¡¯ll be able to activate it without any concern.¡± Major Shadow suggested.


    ¡°That possibly could work, let''s try it then. If it doesn''t. Back to the map then.¡± CeoofMacNCheese said, turning towards Shark, CEO started giving out orders. ¡°Major Shark, have your Stormtrooper Company get ready for infiltration. Place them here.¡± MacNCheese pointed towards the western gate ¡°here.¡± pointing towards the eastern gate ¡°and here.¡±


    ¡°For the finer details I¡¯ll leave it to you and your men, Shark. As long as you get behind enemy lines.¡± MacNCheese added.


    CEO turned to Buzzsaw. ¡°Major Buzzsaw, have your artillery company begin concentrating fire on the flag and the fortifications. Have your anti tank gun platoons to shoot the bunkers one at a time, make sure all of your men know what to target. I want those bunkers gone in a single volley.¡± Buzzsaw nodded, CEO turned to Shark.


    ¡°Major Shark I want more than a single platoon of tanks at the ready. Major Jack, Village, and Silenz I want your men to get ready for a charge on Central gate. Memesboss have your engineers on standby to help build fortifications once the flag is taken. The rest of y¡¯all wait till the forward trenchline is taken, during that time simply hold our lines and wait for the order to move forward.¡± Everybody nodded.


    ¡°Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Colonel, do you mean all of my anti-tank guns to target a single bunker fire all at once to try and destroy it before the engineers could repair it?¡± Major Buzzsaw asked.


    ¡°Yes. Anything else?¡± CEO responded quickly.


    CEO looked around and there were merely shaking heads.


    ¡°And I¡¯ll prepare the spell after the assault begins. All of you are dismissed, start giving out your orders. We¡¯re attacking by morning, forecasts show that there''s going to be a heavy fog tomorrow so have everything presighted.¡± Everybody gave nods of affirmation before all leaving, several minutes had passed and now order after order filled MacNCheese¡¯s virtual ears.


    The morse code informs the Colonel that the plan is being executed.


    Palisade: Day 16


    A dense fog covered the battlefield, visibility was only ten feet. Hundreds of men sat down along the forward most trench. The thick concrete rebar wall 10 meters in thickness was the only thing between them and No Man''s land.


    Only one order, one sound separated them between silence and total hell. Officers were running across the back line yelling out orders.


    ¡°Warrant Officers save your healing spells till you get to the enemy lines!¡± Yelled Lieutenant named Bomblitz, spellbook in hand.


    ¡°Arm Bayonets men!¡± Lieutenant Topha ordered, the sound of metal on metal filled the silent trenches as soldiers put bayonets on their guns.


    A battalion wide order came out, the distinct sound of morse code filled everyone''s ears. Up in the sky, visible even through the dense fog, was an imposing, impossible to exist floating text.


    ¡°All non warrant officers prepare volley and bombardment spells on the whistle. Artillery prepare to fire. All soldiers assigned towards Vanguard prepare for a charge. Warrant Officers save your spell books for healing.¡±


    The text remained there for 30 seconds, the soldiers quieted down at that order listening intently for the whistle. Several slow seconds passed, then the high pitch sound of a whistle filled the air. Lieutenants and Majors both responded in kind with their own whistles.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Dozens after Dozens of men jumped over the trench into no man''s land, a man holding bagpipes played scotland forever, after he jumped over the trench as well. Hundreds of magic circles appeared in the sky above where the officers were in the trench. Quickly followed by hundreds of explosions as they all landed onto their targets.


    The kill feed suddenly blew up with hundreds of names, as the trench line and the pillboxes that remained lining it were wiped from existence, leaving only collapsed pillboxes. Assuming they weren¡¯t outright destroyed the night before.


    A gutteral war cry from the soldiers filled the air rivaling the deafening explosions including the bagpipe wielding soldier. The air was silent as bullets and explosions weren¡¯t filling the air.


    Each man moved as fast as their legs would take them, crossing the mud stricken, crater ridden no-man''s land, filled with landmines and dead bodies. Then the first explosion detonated, a loud rumble filled the stagnant air. A land mine was detonated and men slowed down as land mine after land mine had to be disarmed manually.


    Several men working on one mine instantly removed it from existence; the pace picked back up as land mine after land mine was methodically removed. Before long men started arriving at the now desolate nearly non-existent trench line and starting deepening it. While others continued on further into enemy trenches.


    Distant hums were heard, men looked up and saw dozens of red streaks of light, forgetting what they were doing. Men jumped into the trench line if they weren¡¯t already, they huddled down with their helmets protecting them. Others couldn¡¯t respond in time as the magical shells rained down hell fire on them killing dozens, including the bagpipe wielding soldier.


    Few remained in the trench line as another distant sound of a rumbling, a counter attack by those that remained in the captured trench line looked over.


    ¡°Enemy counter attack!¡± They yelled, as others desperately typed into team chat the same message. While others pulled their rifles and LMGs over the trench line waiting for the first signs of the enemy.


    An order appeared over the captured trench line.


    ¡°Get to the new vanguard trench line now!¡± Orders from Ceo MacNCheese


    ¡°Spread out to cover all the spots on the trench line!¡± A warrant officer ordered,


    Soon after another rumbling could be heard from behind them, reinforcements. Soon after the first enemy could be seen in the early morning fog, in response an inconsistent staccato of bolt action rifles and LMGs opened fire on the charging horde.


    Dozens fell as round after round were pumped into them. Artillery started raining down onto the enemy¡¯s charge but they kept charging, more friendly soldiers started to arrive to try and reinforce them.


    Due to the lack of heavy machine guns, they eventually started reaching the trench line as brief moments in between fire, bolt pulling, and reloading allowed them to inch closer.  Some even use their dead comrades as meat shields to protect themselves.


    A Noxuian soldier armed with a rifle and a bayonet flew towards a Vost Dorian medic. In response the Vost Dorian Soldier dropped his gun, brought out his knife to try and block the incoming attack.


    But the bayonet had stabbed him before he could respond. Despite being stabbed the Vost Dor Soldier responded with a stab to the Noxuia Soldier in the head.


    But a struggle ensued between the two as neither had the strength or skill to overpower the other. But the Vost Dor soldier lost as he bled out from the stab. After the victory the Noxuia soldier. Couldn¡¯t enjoy it as they were shot dead by the remaining Vost Dor soldiers.


    Being left on top of the now dead Vost Dor soldier.


    At the same time dozens of more soldiers on both sides arrived, leading to a brutal melee. Explosions rocked the trenches, as glowing magical grenades were thrown. Explosions from magical anti tank rifles fired into the trench line by both sides. Taking dozens of more lives in the brutal fighting.


    Eventually the sound of tanks rumbled over the war torn battlefield, as the forward trench line near the flag was secured by Vost Dor soldiers as they started mopping up the remaining troops from the Noxuia counter attack.


    The tanks stopped right in front of the trench line as soldiers gathered at the communication trenches, stopping any and all attempts at further attacks.


    Another order appeared in the sky.


    ¡°Continue pushing and raise our flag!¡± Orders from Fishman


    The Vost Dorian Troops continued along the trenches getting closer to the flag. While armor continued pushing towards the flag acting as a magnet to draw artillery fire away from the trenches.


    During that time as enemy forces and artillery support was drawn away from the East and West gates leaving the defenses there undermanned. Only the AI pillboxes, a few engineers and rifle men were left to hold the line.


    This severely undermanned trench line was their major mistake as squads and companies rushed from their positions to reinforce the attacked central Trenchline. This allowed a platoon of storm troopers to sneak across, destroying the remaining pillboxes with dynamite, and grenades.


    ¡°Continue on going, the attack should lose momentum by now. Make sure to split up into your squads in the forest.¡± Major Shark ordered over the clipboard.


    The Company didn¡¯t acknowledge only moving deeper behind enemy lines. The further one got away from the front line the greener it got. Soon after it turned from dead trees, endless snow mud and craters to an evergreen forest. The dense forest was clearly untouched due to lack of any discernible trench lines or sandbags.


    ¡°Dig a trench line around this tree.¡± The lieutenant ordered his platoon ¡°this will be our base of operations until tomorrow morning once operations are to begin.¡± At the lieutenant''s orders the 50 men under his command started to quickly dig a trench. In several minutes the digging was finished as sandbags, barbed wire and land mines were set up in the surrounding area.


    Friendly Soldiers could see land mines that were buried appearing in bright lights. To the enemy it would be invisible until they got close.


    Elsewhere behind enemy lines other stormtrooper Platoons either began digging in for long term hit n run tactics or started immediately causing havoc behind their lines.


    During the time of the charge, and infiltration behind enemy lines, there stood a single person on the Wall. Holding a book in their hand they started a spell, magic rune after magic runes appeared some spinning others turning. Some overlapped each other while turning and spinning. In the chaos of the battle few saw the massive magic spell and extremely visible spell appear.


    Those that did see it tried to get the message out but were killed. By the time they would respawn it would be too late for a retaliatory strike. After a minute the magic runes soon floated above its caster and then compressed itself into a single multilayered magic spell. It was pointed at the enemy''s back lines, for several seconds it spun. Its charge up finished MacNCheese was free to move.


    During that time its caster, Colonel MacNCheese jumped behind the wall on the Vost Dor side hugging the ground, then it fired. A beam of red light quickly flew out, and just as fast followed by a bright flash of light as hundreds were incinerated in its heat.


    Soon after a shockwave followed blasting everybody down onto the ground. Almost everybody within its shockwave radius died from burns, both friend and foe. In the game''s term it was just instant death.


    MacNCheese wasn¡¯t spared from the death and destruction as while the wall held the fast moving superheated air, MacNCheese wasn¡¯t in a ditch and didn¡¯t have time to find one, so also burned to death.


    The body despite being burned beyond all recognition suddenly and miraculously reformed itself.


    This included everybody that was burned and killed by the blast, returning to their pre-death state.


    In the end the only thing that remained was rubble and thousands of fresh dead bodies. An eerie silence the map didn¡¯t have ever since it was being generated and the first minutes of the battle.


    ¡®You know, I never expected the spell to be that powerful and designed to cause damage to all players in its blast radius.¡¯ I thought, simply staring at the menu in front of me. Beneath me was an aerial view of the Vost Dor side of the map.


    The games menu was simple to say the least, a selection of 3 classes was available, Infantry, Vehicles, and Specialists. At the top right corner of the tablet-like menu was a button that would send me to another external menu. I quickly checked how many points I had left.


    I did, having over 3000 points. Being single with very little economic responsibilities lets you buy a lot of in-game stuff, such as points to continue playing as an officer.


    I was surrounded by darkness and then slowly brought into the battlefields of Pordier at Wars: Dive Palisade map.


    Quickly taking a look around I saw other players were spawning in. Not wanting to stand around doing nothing, I checked out the bunker the officers used 20 minutes earlier. The one used to plan out the disastrous attempt at ending the stalemate with a nuclear bomb or a pseudo magical nuclear bomb.


    Moving through the dead body ridden trenches I arrived at the Officers bunker. After stepping over several more dead bodies in front of the entrance to get inside, the bunker was to say the least open. In the middle was an empty space where the map once stood.


    A desk was off to the back of the room, with several drawers, and an empty rifle rack next to it. The desk, drawers, and rifle rack all came from my external inventory all designed by myself. A flare if you would say.


    Then there was a small room divider on the right side corner, inside the room divider was a cot on the ground. The wall divider and cot was also externally brought in and of course designed by myself. Actually most external items in the bunker were designed by me.


    In the left corner was another room divider and a small restroom was in it. With a shower head, a sink, and a toilet, along with basic plumbing. Although did it lead somewhere? No, it was for decorative purposes only as was everything in the bunker.


    Then there was also the hallway connected towards the other bunkers.


    The other bunkers were spread throughout the Trechlines. All of course connected by tunnels and trenches. They mainly acted as places of command, or for more roleplaying purposes as they had barracks, supply depots, kitchens, and restrooms. But also played a defensive purpose.


    Everything was covered in a layer of dust, the game Pordier at War was well known for its extremely detailed background. Very little of which was scripted.


    Focusing in the top right corner of my vision, the time was currently 23:29 pretty soon a game wide announcement will occur.


    Then a message appeared in my vision, ¡°Game Shut Down in 30 minutes.¡±


    I made my way towards the forward trenchline. The Chat log was in a sense going crazy, on both sides many called for a cease fire for the last 30 minutes of the game till shut down, which in game is around a day and a half.


    In response I sent out a battalion wide message.


    ¡°Cease fire, don''t shoot unless shot at first.¡± I quickly wrote out on my clipboard. Sending out the message, morse code went off and if you knew it which I actually did, sounded like what was written. A wall of text appeared in the sky.


    Everybody stopped what they were doing and quickly read the message, followed by cheering.


    From what I could see, some were leaving for no man¡¯s land for what I had to guess was to remove mines so it¡¯s safe to cross or to the other side to interact. Some went to repair artillery batteries even though they would be deleted in thirty minutes, others simply explored the map, the other side probably did the same.


    Soccer was played, aiming competitions were held, boxing matches occurred. A lot of things actually happened, sometimes distant explosions could be heard followed by the kill feed adding a new casualty to the list.


    I was currently sitting in a recently repaired trench in no man¡¯s land with a dozen other players.


    ¡°Wait, you''re from Japan? How did you get past that firewall that separates that corporate hellscape of East Asia from America''s?¡± Someone asked, there was a yellow armband with the rank insignia of a lieutenant.


    The person who was asked that question was on the Noxuia side, ¡°I use-¡° before the foreign player could finish he was interrupted by the person from before.


    ¡°You know what don¡¯t tell me I heard they record everything and use it to black mail people. Best to keep it a secret.¡± The Lieutenant said.


    One thing for sure I could confirm my suspicions of life in Mega Corporate Japan ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± The Japanese person said robotically, clearly the work of a translation software on the Japanese players¡¯ end.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard rumors and bits of information and the complaining of my boss''s boss. After the corporate takeover, 10 years ago did you notice there was a sudden change in life?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± he paused thinking it over ¡°at the time I was only around 5 at the time. So I didn¡¯t work back then but I remember overhearing my mother and father talking about trying to leave for the States, but couldn¡¯t afford it. Several years passed and my dad died from over exhaustion to try and provide for my education. Recently my mother died from exhaustion as well. Now I have to get a job by the end of the month.¡±


    The mood suddenly sombered after the Japanese Player explained.


    ¡°Sorry for asking.¡± I replied.


    ¡°It''s alright, I¡¯m just one of thousands of kids who had to drop out due to the death of our parents. I¡¯m assuming the same is true in America is it?¡± He asked.


    I raised my eyebrows in complete confusion then I realized what he said. ¡°You have to pay to go to fucking primary school in Japan, who is leading the education system in Japan? Fucking barbarians?¡± I paused for a second. ¡°A child''s parent doesn¡¯t need to bend over backwards to simply provide a basic education for them! Education is a human right and is what allows a modern country to properly function.¡± With my rant over I simply relegated himself to a corner of the trenches fidgeting with my rifle.


    The trench line was only covered in solemn silence, several minutes passed some left to join others, while those that stayed slowly started talking again. I remained in my grumpy mood writing in a virtual piece of paper for reminders to ask for a CIA report on Japanese living conditions.


    When the clock struck midnight, nothing happened. I was confused, I should¡¯ve been sent to the home menu but I wasn¡¯t?


    ¡°What the hell is that smell?¡± Someone yelled, I grabbed and closed my nostril, gagging a little.


    ¡°It smells like blood?¡± I guessed, looking around we were still in the game.


    The trench I was in hadn¡¯t been replaced with my living room or the virtual bluescape I used, the area was still covered in the same muddy blood stained snow that had covered the battlefield for the past 3 hours.


    ¡°Wait?¡± I said, towards no one in particular, ¡°My voice is different.¡± It was more feminine slightly higher pitch than my usual middle C voice, but was more similar to an octave D instead.


    Looking down at myself I was still in the randomly assigned character I was in. The gray trench coat of Vost Dor, touching my head I felt not only my hair which was longer than it should¡¯ve been, but another tuft of hair or fur.


    It was cat ears, which Vost Dor player characters had.


    Just what is going on?


    I swiped down on nothing in an attempt to bring up the menu that was required to be coded in by law.


    Nothing happened, no matter what alternate gesture I tried, nothing worked. Contacting the moderators was out of the question, chat wouldn¡¯t come up as well.


    Panic was soon spreading, as no one could open the menus, contact the real world, or anything really.


    ¡°Colonel, what''s going on?¡± Someone asked in the growing panic.


    Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at me.


    I sighed ¡°I¡¯m gonna be honest I have no clue what¡¯s happening. I am just as confused as y¡¯all are.¡± I said, I knew the result of what I would say. I had no lie to soften the blow.


    Yet no one panicked and instead simply looked at me ¡°What do we do?¡± Everybody looked at each other.


    ¡°First of all we need to get into contact with the others, and get out of this cold!¡± I said, pretty much shivering and trying my best to warm up.


    Everybody else also realized it was freezing, who quickly agreed with me. We made our way towards the bunkers.


    While I was heading there, I brought out my clipboard and hoped that it works the same as it normally does.


    I wrote down the order, tore out the paper from the clipboard, then it burned up in the air and reappeared in front of me floating without a care for gravity. I tried grabbing it but my hand just went through it, meaning it was some sort of illusion and not real.


    ¡°Everybody get to the bunkers, before you freeze to death we¡¯ll figure out what to do once there.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    I made my way to the main bunker complex, everybody was slowly shuffling into the multiple bunkers present across the entire map. Vost Dor players weren¡¯t the only ones present as some Noxuia players were with us.


    I looked around and saw a couple of Noxuia Officers, their ranks I¡¯d have to ask.


    ¡°Noxuia Officers!¡± I yelled to them, not knowing their names. They came up to me.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± One of them immediately asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know as I said before. But have you received any information from your superiors? Colonel or Lieutenant? It doesn¡¯t matter who.¡± I responded.


    ¡°Yes we have received orders. Colonel Rex sent out an order for everybody to head to the bunkers just like you told us to.¡± The Noxuia officer said.


    ¡°Can you send a message?¡± I asked


    ¡°We already did, the Major told us to stay here, they¡¯ll try to get to the Vost Dor side when morning comes.¡±


    ¡°Tell them the Vost Dor Colonel will be waiting for them, if they can reach us.¡± I told them.


    ¡°Going to send the message out now.¡± The second Noxuia officer said, bringing out her own clipboard.


    ¡°I would like to ask what gender you are?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We''re both be male in real life. But the characters as you know are randomly assigned. You look female just so you know.¡± He answered, granted, the voice was more akin to a girl''s voice in pitch but highly masculine.


    ¡°What gender do we look like? Because you look like a girl, but your masculine sounding voice tells me you''re a guy.¡± The Noxuia officers asked.


    ¡°Smurf, Female, and blue skinned.¡±I responded.


    They snorted at that response ¡°Make sense, they are randomly assigned looks.¡±


    I got serious once again. ¡°Just keep me informed on their progress.¡± I said, ¡°Before I go, what are y¡¯all¡¯s names?¡±


    ¡°Gamer or real name?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    They gave their names before I departed for one of the many entrances to the bunker complex.


    Looking out I saw the same mud blood stained snow mixture with the same heavy fog from earlier in the day.


    The smell of blood, gunpowder, and ash was still present as it was a few minutes before.


    I couldn¡¯t see much farther than a few feet as darkness took over, on top of that fog prevented any moonlight from coming in.


    The freezing air went inside the bunker, no longer wanting to be out there anymore. I quickly went inside and closed the door.


    When I got inside I ordered another player to inform the majors of a meeting, and to immediately report to my bunker.


    Several small figures watched the entrenched bunker complex, as CEO went inside and closed the door behind her. They spoke in hushed tones amongst each other.


    ¡°demi human.¡±


    ¡°Girl.¡±


    ¡°live underground, perfect home for new nest.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s return home, and report to the shaman and champion.¡±


    They all spoke to each in high pitched nasal voices, no one heard or saw them. They all left from their hiding spots in the snow as snowfall picked up removing any trace of their presence.

 Old: Chapter 1

    I simply stood at my spot near my desk as all the Majors of Vost Dor filled into the officer bunker. When the last Major came in, Forthelols. The door was closed.


    ¡°Thank you for heething my call, considering recent events and not being able to log out. I want to thank you all for remaining calm.¡± I told the Majors, ¡°Let''s get down to business now shall we talk about the reason I called you all here.¡±


    Everybody else remained silent and I continued. ¡°The first thing we need to discuss is what''s literally happening right now.¡±


    Jjvillage responded first ¡°we¡¯re still in the game and we can¡¯t access our menus to leave.¡±


    ¡°From what I can tell, yes we¡¯re still in the game but something tells me we aren¡¯t.¡± I said.


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Jjvillage asked, uncomfortably looking around.


    I looked around silently asking ¡®is he serious?¡¯ But I answered anyway, ¡°As we all know, Pordier at War has an extremely advanced Physics, and Chemistry system. Pretty much could simulate weather, and the human body, with how it reacts to everything.¡± I explained he understood where I was going by what I was saying.


    ¡°But it didn¡¯t have a System that simulated scents while it ignored how the cold felt to a human.¡± He nodded his head at my explanation, still remaining silent just like everyone else.


    ¡°Yet when the game was supposed to shutdown we weren¡¯t kicked back to either the real world or back to the Home Screen like if you tried to boot up the game without sufficient Nanite in you.¡± I explained, as Jjvillage nodded along, I continued.


    ¡°But we remained in a sense in the game, then we all smelled blood and Gunpowder. Then it felt cold. Which leads me to believe we aren¡¯t in the game anymore.¡± I explained.


    Jjvillage responded, ¡°But what if they pushed back the shutdown? And we¡¯re still in the game?¡±


    ¡°Certainly a possibility, but I can¡¯t see why they would push back the schedule, especially since its bankruptcy and the studio had to sell off all of their assets. Or if they did, why wouldn¡¯t they tell us that the shutdown was pushed back to another date?¡± I responded.


    Jjvillage didn¡¯t respond simply standing there, but Shark was the next to speak ¡°maybe we missed the message that shutdown was pushed back, or maybe the shutdown was actually a new update in disguise. Right guys?¡± He asked, chuckling nervously.


    Some shook their heads, others nodded to his explanation.


    Fishman was the first to rebuke ¡°If it is a new update then why did they remove the ability to access the menu or Home Screen?¡±


    Village responded immediately ¡°maybe it¡¯s a new gesture that is required to open it? And as I said we probably missed the announcement that it¡¯s an update explaining the changes.¡± Village responded, and the same people from before agreed with him.


    Fishman responded ¡°How would we miss-¡°


    ¡°YOU DON¡¯T KNOW IF YOU MISSED THE ANNOUNCEMENT, I DON¡¯T KNOW IF I MISSED THE ANNOUNCEMENT AS I SAID BEFORE THEY PROBABLY CHANGED THE GESTURE FOR OPENING UP THE MENU AND HOME SCREEN.¡± He said desperately.


    ¡°Alright how-¡° I was cut off.


    ¡°What do you mean by that!¡± Fishman responded with a hint of barely contained anger.


    But Jjvillage responded with the same thing rehashed in a different manner, as shouts started soon after. All the Majors who were calmly discussing strategy, politely arguing about why their plan won¡¯t work and how their plan worked. All less than 3 hours earlier.


    I attempted to reign in the arguing officers for 10 minutes straight, but to no avail. As I eventually resigned myself to simply let them exhaust themselves


    The arguing and childish bickering continued for half an hour, between the two groups that had clearly formed. I didn¡¯t need to look that deep into it to know what their beliefs were.


    The denialists and the acceptors. The former are ones who believe they are in the game, and the latter who believe they¡¯re not in the game but reality.


    I believed in neither of those, as I feared something far worse. I however didn¡¯t want to fall into the pit of anxiety and panic, so I decided to stop this childish arguing.


    I placed my hand on my pistol grip, pulled it out of its holster, checked if it was loaded, and pointed it towards the ceiling.


    Covering my new Kyntari cat ears as my human ears were gone. I pulled the trigger. Immediately after, my ears were ringing from the shot, and my firing hand was forced down by the recoil. They were shaking. It was a lot more powerful than I remembered.


    This got the desired result, as everybody grabbed their ears in response to the extremely loud noise next to them. My ears were still ringing, but were quickly disappearing.


    When the ringing had settled down I spoke.


    ¡°I know we¡¯re scared, and confused. But this isn¡¯t the time to argue about whether we¡¯re in a game or not. We¡¯re still here, let¡¯s discuss what we¡¯re going to do now.¡± I said, everybody looked at me, at each other.


    ¡°The first order of business is to figure out what we have and what we¡¯re going to do.¡± I looked around, and the rumbling of stomachs easily told us what the first order of business was. ¡°It seems like our first order of business is finding food.¡± I said.


    I immediately started formulating a plan of what we''re going to do.


    ¡°Fishman and Jack split your men up to start searching for any sources of food outside.¡± The two nodded in response.


    ¡°Memes have your Engineers begin requesting players to share what they have in their personal inventories assuming they placed anything down, specifically food inside. Jjvillage have your men help Memes men, while Buzzsaw have your men help Fishmans men, Silenz have your men help Jacks. The rest of you have your men cooperate with Memes¡¯ men, and help search for food.¡± I said, everybody nodded in response.


    ¡°If there''s nothing else you wish to discuss, you are free to leave.¡± Everybody left the door quietly discussing their own plan of action.


    Moments later ten floating papers with orders appeared in front of me. Yet we would have to wait as it was not only dark out, but was snowing hard. A blizzard was literally outside when a half an hour earlier it was foggy, with light snowfall.


    We had to wait for it to warm up and wait for the sun to come up.


    Several hours had to pass for the snowfall to slow down. So our work isn¡¯t buried outright. We only know this from the few attempts we tried to dig our way out. Only for it to quickly fill up with snow. So we kept it closed for then.


    When we opened the door leading to the outside again there was still a wall of snow. Good news is that the blizzard has stopped, bad news is that the wall of snow has hardened making digging somewhat difficult.


    On top of that the small space is enclosed so we couldn¡¯t easily throw any snow that was dug out onto the side of the opening as it was blocked by the frame.


    So the diggers had to throw it to the side of the hallway where the snow slowly melted in the much warmer inside and pools of water and mud formed.


    ¡°This is taking too long.¡± I muttered to myself, ¡°We don¡¯t have the time to dig the snow out.¡± I started pacing around, ¡°how to speed this up? How to speed this up?¡± I repeatedly mumbled to myself. Then I realized and looked at the melting snow, ¡°We can simply heat it up.¡± I muttered.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    The two digging engineers stopped to look at me when one of them asked, ¡°Heat it up? With what?¡±


    I ignored them as I continued mumbling to myself ¡°with what though? Something that is hot out can become hot. AT rifles steam after being fired so they should be boiling hot at least.¡± The two engineers simply looked at me as I was rumbling to myself.


    ¡°So colonel what is-¡°


    ¡°While I go and find an Anti Tank Gun, you two figure out how to build sandbags and to see how the building system changed.¡± I ordered them.


    I took off to search for a poor AT Riflemen to rob his AT Gun from him.


    It didn¡¯t take long as I found one fiddling with his Anti Tank gun in the main sleeping quarters. I immediately made a beeline towards him swiftly dodging people, boxes, bunkers as all looked on in confusion. I didn¡¯t give them much thought outside of how to not hit them.


    ¡°Can I borrow your Anti Tank Gun for a second? I need it to test something out.¡± I fired off ADHD immediately taking over my thought process; nothing else mattered to me.


    ¡°Uhhhhhh¡­ sure.¡± The ATG said, confused at what was going on.


    He held it out as I snatched it away from his hands, and quickly went back.


    When I arrived at the door, to my surprise a fully built sandbag was in the middle of the hallway.


    ¡°You guys actually figured out how to build a sandbag.¡± I said getting behind the sandbag as the two engineers joined me at the sandbag.


    ¡°Well we found a nearby closet with a bunch of sandbags and put them together that way. Problem is that the closet was never there before until we started building.¡± The engineer said.


    ¡°A closet that wasn¡¯t there before?¡± I asked.


    They pointed to a closet that I hadn''t seen before and it was filled with sandbags.


    ¡°That is a lot of sandbags in a single closet and I never noticed this closet before.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well it had sandbags, all that matters is sandbags.¡± The engineer said.


    I sighed and just ignored the weird magical closet, by turning my attention back to the wall of snow we needed to melt.


    I made sure to properly aim the sights and were in line. After several seconds of aiming I pulled the trigger, nothing happened. No magic brittle out explosion, no sign that it even fired.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you fire?¡± I said to myself as I imagined the possibilities of why it won¡¯t fire.


    Almost in a mocking response the recognizable low hum and red magic circle of Vost Dorian magic started. I panicked a bit, surprised at its sudden start, but I was able to keep it aimed down at the snow.


    After several seconds a deafening explosion rang out making me temporarily deaf. I dropped the ATG as I covered my ears in pain.


    With dust, steam and smoke kicked up, I closed and rubbed my eyes in pain. My eyes started to water, the pain ebbed away as the dust particles were washed away in a stream of tears.


    The dust settled several seconds later and my eyes were watery, yet I could see light pouring through.


    I tentatively got up and slowly walked towards the light as my eyes cleared of water. Even then my darkness adjusted eyes were blinded by the light, stopped right where the door and snow was. I reached out to try and touch where the snow wall was, yet I was met with hot, rapidly cooling air.


    My eyes adjusted to the sun''s light, I was met with the trench wall the bunker was connected into.


    There were bits of still boiling, rapidly cooling water, while the snow that didn¡¯t get melted surrounded a snow free area following the trench walls.


    ¡°Hey it¡¯s open!¡± I yelled inside, the two engineers who had dug for several dozen minutes could¡¯ve just used an ATG to dig through the snow.


    Yet they weren¡¯t mad that their hard work was finished in just a couple of seconds.


    No, they were stunned like I was.


    The ladders that led to the top were broken so we had to resort to climbing.


    Jumping up and grabbing the top edge of the 8 foot tall snow wall after grabbing some surrounding snow into a staircase. I was barely able to reach the top, my fingers just short of the edge.


    So I gathered some snow into a pile that was a foot tall, which made the jump slightly easier.


    When I grabbed the ledge my hands were freezing, not only that it wasn¡¯t stable, so I lost grip and fell.


    Luckily nothing was hurt too much so I tried again this time with a little more caution.


    After several failed attempts and a very much aching back I tried one more time.


    I jumped up, grabbed the snowy unstable ledge again and promptly fell. This time I was hit with a wall of falling snow.


    ¡°Sh-¡°


    I was confused, did I fall on my back again? My memory was foggy on what happened last.


    A light shone in my eyes. All the while the front of my head hurt, and all of my body, which was slightly aching here and there.


    ¡°Can you stop shining that light in my face?¡± I meekly asked.


    ¡°You''re awake? Good,¡± the light turned off as I looked around, I was inside for sure laying on the ground on a mat.


    ¡°Do you know your name?¡± The medic asked.


    I looked at him and answered ¡° Since I¡¯m talking to a Kyntari I¡¯m going to assume I¡¯m still in Pordier?¡±


    ¡°Yes we sadly are, please tell me your name.¡± The medic said again.


    ¡°My name is CeoofMacNCheese.¡± I responded, ¡°So what happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You were knocked unconscious after a bunch of snow fell on you. Apparently there was a buried ammo box in that snow that fell on you and knocked you out. Don¡¯t worry you¡¯ve been out for only a few minutes, nothing too serious. Although you would¡¯ve probably been out longer if I hadn¡¯t administered whatever the syringes used to heal and wake you up with.¡±


    I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You used a syringe you didn''t know what it had in it?¡±


    ¡°I would like to apologize if it scared you, but I wanted to know what they did exactly. If anything else we learned something new.¡±


    I sighed not wanting to make a bigger issue than it needs to be ¡°So I¡¯m good to go?¡±


    The medic didn¡¯t respond for a few seconds before answering ¡°I would say, yes but don¡¯t climb or do anything dangerous that could get you knocked out again. Also please tell me if you notice any headaches or anything of the like.¡±


    ¡°Will, do medic.¡± I said, getting up and making my way back outside. I wasn¡¯t that far from it.


    I found where I fell and saw the area was larger and a lot more people were digging. A ladder was moved to the spot where I was trying to climb up from.


    Climbing up the ladder, and past the snow. The sun, which was still somewhat low in the sky, shined in my face. Blocking out the sun with my hand, I saw lots of freshly fallen snow.


    I wasn¡¯t met with muddy snow blood stained by dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of dead bodies as I had expected.


    There weren¡¯t signs of the trench lines dug over the course of several real life hours and over a week in game. Only thing I could tell there are trench lines still is the depth differences of snow and how it moved.


    Some of the pill boxes that were built, both destroyed and standing, were all sticking out like a sore thumb, all of which were covered in snow.


    Looking around I saw some of the tanks that were used on the last offensive before the ceasefire, some were destroyed, and others in working condition.


    The treads were buried completely, while the barrels and turrets were sticking out as snow covered them.


    Artillery, machine gun nests, were all buried. No signs of barbed wire either, everything was covered in a layer of deep snow.


    Yet there should¡¯ve been one noticeable feature of Palisade. The Broken Wall wasn¡¯t visible, it would be impossible to miss unless it was over the horizon.


    Where it should¡¯ve been however was a river, nothing too interesting.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m looking in the wrong direction.¡± I mumbled to myself as I continued scanning the horizon yet it was nowhere to be visible. I paused, ¡°A river?¡± I blurted out, I snapped back towards the direction of the river which shouldn¡¯t have been there.


    Yet it was there, the river was where the wall was supposed to be.


    ¡°How did that river get there?¡± I blurted out again, and several people came up from behind me.


    ¡°Colonel, what was that explosion?¡± Major Fishman rushed up behind me.


    ¡°You see that river?¡± I ignored the question, as I focused on the newly added river.


    Fishman looked towards where I was looking and said, ¡°That river shouldn¡¯t be there.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there ever was a river in Palisade. Just a forest Separated by a wall.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wall?¡± He looked around ¡°where¡¯s the wall?¡± He exclaimed, just as confused as I was.


    ¡°Colonel, what do you say we should do?¡± Major Fishman asked.


    ¡°We continue with the plan.¡±


    I originally thought that trying to find food would¡¯ve been harder, but the river made those fears go away. However finding enough food would be another issue entirely but having a food source was a start.


    In their place was getting to that food, and the river. Simply because I don¡¯t know how the snow packed itself where it landed.


    Is it over an unstable piece of wood or a bridge creating an air pocket but if stepped on will it break and I¡¯ll fall six feet down? Will stepping on snow where landmines are will set it off?


    There are a lot of things to worry about, yet I completely forgot about those concerns once I started making my way down the hill.


    Everybody else soon followed, all attracted to the prospect of the river, it has fish, which is food.


    It was uneventful to say the least, nothing happened outside of the usual conversation. It took us a ten whole minutes to get to the river, it was a mile away despite the distance everyone had high hopes.


    Everybody had their rifles with Bayonets at the ready to spear any unsuspecting fish that passed by.


    Yet that hope died out when we arrived and we saw it was frozen over, like solid ice at least 3 feet thick.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna kick the ice!¡± A person yelled, charging the ice and hopelessly slipping on the ice onto his back. As a result a bunch of laughter erupted, as the person tried to get back over to our side of the river. But grumbling stomachs stopped the laughter, as everybody realized their situation.


    The person stuck on the ice was able to get out as everybody just stood there, wondering how to get through the thick ice that''s above the water.


    Then a volley spell activated and all were pointed towards the ice, they fizzled out and were unable to charge up. Looking around I saw a Lieutenant with their spell book out attempting to use volley. They were clearly trying to use the spell but it was more complicated than it seemed. After an agonizing minute of everybody watching the Lieutenant trying to use volley only for it to fail.


    ¡°Does anyone have an ATG!¡± I yelled, several people suddenly came up with an anti Tank Gun in hand. ¡°Shoot the ice with one, it should be simpler! Just think of the result you put into it!¡± I told them.


    They took aim and after a few seconds of nothing, magic circles formed in front of the guns barrels. A low pitch droning sound as the guns charged up their explosive energy, and after five seconds several deafening explosions soon followed the ice cracking and melting where holes formed. The ice continued to crack, breaking off into chunks revealing icy water underneath.


    In some parts of the river ice remained connected to the other side. But I wasn¡¯t worried about that, no I saw fish, an actual to god fish. I pulled out my officers swords and was able to stab a fish after the fifth attempt. Others joined in with their rifles with bayonets as they stabbed fish.


    While everybody was busy fishing I saw a Noxia scout arrive from their side of the river. Along with a dozen other men, yet no one paid them any mind or each other as they all started to immediately spear fishing.


    ¡°Colonel MacNCheese!¡± The Noxuian officer yelled across from the river.


    ¡°We found food!¡± I yelled across.


    ¡°Food? What is it? Fish?¡± The Noxuian responded.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Did you find a way to cross to the other side?¡± The Noxuian player asked, yelling across the river.


    ¡®Fuck I forgot!¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°There was ice here we could¡¯ve used to cross but we sort of blew it up to get to the fish.¡± I answered.


    The scout responded ¡°The Commanding Officers said to start building a bridge anyways.¡±


    ¡°How about we eat first then we can continue with the labor.¡± I said, I only received a response of agreement. Before the scout left to join his group. ¡°Now then I am starving, time to cook my fish.¡±

 Old: Chapter 2

    There was an issue with the fishing idea, we couldn¡¯t catch enough fish, there weren''t enough fish that were close to the banks. They were some massive salmon-like fish, but most were tiny and were not being caught. There wasn¡¯t enough to go around to feed a company, maybe a squad but not a company. We were also on limited and borrowed time due to the cold, so I had to make an irrational decision.


    I gave my catch to a soldier next to a fire that was lit in a short time frame.


    ¡°You can have it.¡± I told him, he was about to say something but I left before he could speak any further.


    Then I started looking around and I approached another soldier ¡°can I borrow your shovel?¡± I asked him.


    He looked confused, ¡°why?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I need it to dig.¡± And I took it from him.


    The soldier was still confused, I then started digging in a place that was clearly a part of no mans. There were several hundred bright red lights shining through the ground meaning land mines were there, none of which reacted to my presence or anybody else''s presence.


    But there were spots where no land mines were, as such I started to dig in that area and quickly found what I wanted.


    A trench coat sleeve with a frozen blue hand sticking out, I dug in the direction of the torso, throwing the snow to the side revealing a dead Noxu laying on the ground.


    The rest of their body was frozen covered in snow and frost, yet they didn¡¯t die from freezing but bullets which there was no evidence of except for the holes in their clothing.


    The dead body appeared to be in good condition. Frozen but in edible condition once defrosted and properly prepared, we would have to eat human flesh.


    There was a gun with its bayonet still attached, I grabbed the gun and removed the bayonet. It was just a long knife with a cap on the back to attach to the barrel of the gun.


    Everybody had gathered around me to see what I was doing, and I pulled the Noxu body out of its hole on top of the snow. I removed its helmet and began speaking to the crowd around me.


    ¡°We can not catch enough fish, and likely will never be able to in 3 days. So this is what we are all going to eat in the meantime.¡± I pulled it over towards a nearby fire and removed its clothing. I tore the pants into cloth. ¡°Dead bodies.¡± I said as I waited for the body to defrost for cutting.


    ¡°Begin digging for dead bodies, cut out the muscles, and crack the bones for its bone marrow. After that, cut out the organs, except for the brain, do not eat the brain.¡± I said, the body had quickly defrosted.


    I got to cutting the Kidneys out, it was one of the easiest organs to get to when compared to the amount of work it takes for an arm or leg.


    Everybody else looked around uncomfortably, towards each other and then to me.


    I continued talking despite their reactions. ¡°If you wish to take your chances with finding fish or berries, go ahead but I cannot guarantee you¡¯ll be able to find or catch enough for everybody here. But there are around seventy five hundred bodies, enough for the 1000 mouths we have to feed. With each body being enough to feed 25 people with the minimum suggested daily caloric intake of around 2000 calories.¡± I said, placing the knife over the left kidney.


    I cut a tiny hole over where the left kidney should be, I felt for the bean shape and found it. I then cut it out and pulled out the bean shaped slab of meat. My hand was covered in the blood that was spilling out of the left kidney.


    I grabbed a cloth in my free hand and moved towards the river only 10 feet to my right and washed out the kidney in the freezing water.


    The water drained out the blood and any potential contaminants, I wrapped the kidney in the cloth and moved back to the fire.


    Everybody still looked at me, in shock. Fishman was the only major here with the crowd, equally as surprised. This isn¡¯t the worst I¡¯ve done, nor would it be the last.


    A Noxu soldier stepped forward and said something in Japanese, he bowed and pulled out a knife. He was in a Noxu flamethrower''s uniform, heavy fire proof trench coat and clothing although he wasn¡¯t wearing his gas mask or the heavy gas tank on his back.


    ¡°So a foreigner beats you guys in the willingness to feed yourself?¡± I asked the large crowd who all didn¡¯t respond.


    The Noxu began deliberately cutting at the hip bone slowly trying to cut through the bones. He was very clearly trying to copy what I did with the body.


    ¡°If you are willing to dig up, cut, preserve or cook bodies for food, step forward, if not you can go back to trying to spear fish.¡± Several dozen stepped forward, ¡°but be warned you may not be privileged to eat, unless you help. If you fail to get food then you¡¯ll go hungry.¡± More than half of the crowd stepped forward joining the previous few dozen. Leaving a minority of 30 people who haven¡¯t stepped forward.


    ¡°Good, look for bodies and when you do remove all the clothing, armor, weapons and whatever else that isn¡¯t flesh. Then wait for orders from your majors, we do not want a mess.¡± I brought out my clipboard and sent out orders to the rest of the battalion.


    ¡°Find dead bodies and gather them at the first flag, await for more specific orders from your Major¡¯s.¡± Orders from CEOofMacNCheese.


    I soon got up, leaving the Japanese kid to cut the body by himself. I then made my way to the first flag with Fishman behind me.


    Fishman didn¡¯t say a thing as he followed me. We arrived at the first flag and I approached the nine men of varying ages, who were all confused at the orders.


    Yet I didn¡¯t let them talk. ¡°Each of your companies will be assigned a job. Body finding, Butchers, Preservers and cooks. 4 companies will be assigned to body finding, 2 companies will be assigned to butcher the bodies, 1 company will build fireplaces and maintain them, a single company will preserve the meats and a single company will cook the butchered body meat.¡± I looked around at the confused Majors. ¡°Any questions?¡± I asked.


    They all spoke at once, but all stopped with Fishman taking the spotlight. ¡°What? Find bodies, butcher them? Preserve them? Cook them? What are we doing exactly?¡±


    ¡°Getting food of course, you haven¡¯t had the desperation to resort to cannibalism. Or is that a thing people off-world do on long term missions, when you run out of supplies.¡± I said, it wasn¡¯t a question despite the way I worded it.


    Fishman remained unresponsive.


    Sharkface then spoke in Fishmans place, ¡°Why?¡±


    I quickly answered. ¡°I realized there''s probably not enough food to go around. Ignoring dead bodies of course, we also have around several million calories to eat, assuming these bodies are healthy adults, and it would take days for us to gather the necessary amount of food for everybody as a non-significant amount of us would¡¯ve starved in several days time. So we resort to cannibalism now, when the bodies are fresh and we have somewhat full stomachs and fat.¡± Sharkface didn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°Any more questions?¡± I asked.


    Punisher stepped forward ¡°Ma¡¯am I thought we were originally assigned to find food.¡±


    ¡°We have found food, now we just need to prepare it for human consumption or preserve it for future consumption.¡± I said.


    Punisher didn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°Any more questions, if not we are moving onto assignments.¡± I said, no one stepped forward or said anything.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Alright then here are the assignments. Lolz, Ripper, Shark, and Silenz your men will search for the bodies and bring them to storage or to the butchers. Village your company will build fireplaces for the food and keep them supplied. Punisher, and Shadow your men will butcher the bodies for meat. Buzz your men will preserve the meat however you can for long term supplies, preferably keep them cold. Memez your men will cook the food you are given. Butchers only will need to give 50 bodies to the cooks to feed everybody here.¡± I said, everybody was nodding now and brought out their clipboards.


    Ten papers appeared in front of me all at once, and they left without further words. The orders were what I expected, with everybody giving out the correct orders. After that I left the flag to check on the kid.


    When I got there he was still cutting the body fats and muscles off. But the limbs were gone and the head was cut off, it was a brutal scene that''s for sure.


    I crouched down next to the kid ¡°So what''s your name?¡± I asked him. He stopped cutting the ankle.


    ¡°Ronin.¡± The kid said.


    ¡°CEO.¡± I responded.


    Ronin likely knew or understood some English, considering the fact we controlled the country for 40 years, just over 30 years ago. Although the Japanese education system likely failed him considering the fact his parents had to pay for something that the community provides.


    The kidney was still where I left it, in the cloth. I then began cutting out the right kidney, after that I washed it out and placed it with the left one in another cloth. After that I needed to cook, the current fire isn¡¯t good enough and I would need to make a grill or just a plate of metal that sits above the fire.


    I looked around in the snow and found a plate of stainless steel that belonged to a light tank. It was probably a tank I blew up a while ago with a blast spell, the plate of stainless steel was not malleable but it was a big enough piece for me to safely cook over the fire and effectively cook the kidneys. I then grabbed a bunch of rocks, piled them on top of each other creating a very bad base. Ronin had helped me build the stone base, he did attempt to keep it up by burying a bunch of sticks to hold some up but it didn¡¯t help.


    There were some openings in which I could throw sticks into the fire to keep it going. The base held together as I placed the stainless steel armor plate onto the base praying I didn¡¯t knock a stone over causing it to collapse. It didn¡¯t.


    I occasionally checked the heat by tapping and within a few minutes it was pretty hot, around 400 degrees fahrenheit. I decided to make the base an entire foot above the fire itself so it wouldn¡¯t be too hot, it was almost a thousand degrees farenheit in the fire itself.


    I placed the kidneys on the plate which began to sizzle satisfyingly, and an Engineer came by to see what I was doing.


    ¡°Did you build that to cook the food?¡± The soldier asked.


    ¡°Yes, it''s just a base of stones stacked on top of one another in a pyramid shape with a stainless steel armor plate on the top which acted as the medium to cook the food.¡± I explained, the sizzling stopped and I flipped the kidneys.


    They began to sizzle on the other side.


    The Engineer nodded, ¡°Alright so it''s a normal fire in the center?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes, although I built the entire stone stove which could collapse at any moment, with fire still on. I suggest you guys just find a bunch of clay, combine it with some water and fire it to make simple bricks. Although it isn¡¯t as simple as I explained it, as I do not know how to make clay or bricks so you¡¯ll have to figure it out yourselves. You guys are welcome to use this stove for as long as it stands.¡± I said, the sizzling stopped and I grabbed them with the knife and held them with several layers of cloth.


    ¡°Ok.¡± The Engineer said he turned to the other engineers building stone fires, ¡°recreate this design for the cooks! After that we need to start searching for clay!¡± He yelled to his fellow Engineers.


    They all yelled with an affirmative, they came over to my stove and began to ask me questions. I explained them all in a short time.


    Ronin and I moved away from the stove which the engineers took over carefully looking at the stones and the way they were placed.


    ¡°Here.¡± I handed him the right Kidney which had just cooled off.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ronin said in Japanese, it was one of the few words I understood.


    I responded with the Japanese word for ¡°Your Welcome.¡±


    I took a bite into the Kidney, it wasn¡¯t that hard to bite into. I didn¡¯t think much of the cooked kidney, it was a kidney something I had to do over a dozen times on the failed manned Pluto Missions. Traumatizing the first time I killed someone and turned every single body part into food, then it became almost routine by the third person that died.


    Ronin took a bite into his cooked kidney and his eyes seemed to light up the second he started to chew, and he quickly took another bite into it.


    ¡°Is it that good?¡± I asked him.


    Ronin ignored me and quickly finished his cooked kidney, there was a surprising amount of a mess he made and by that there was no mess.


    I looked at the cooks who were busy cooking up slabs of meat at the makeshift stove, the engineers were nearby digging several holes very clearly trying to make clay of any kind. There were however several people who knew what they were doing, I didn¡¯t bother watching them any further.


    I got up and headed back to the bunkers, next to the snow filled trench system. I passed several dozen men who were hanging arms over an open campfire. The smoke passed through the meat, they were smoking the meat was what they were doing. A very simple tactic.


    Alongside that was dozens of people butchering the dead bodies, starting with the arms, and legs which were cut off from the torso and then cut further in half at the ankles. Then the limbs were to be skinned of any hair and skin on it and then those were to be given to the cooks or preservers.


    The Noxu meat looked indistinguishable from other meats like pork and steak. But when you are hungry with no food anywhere, but you are on top of hundreds of bodies you¡¯ll eat the bodies.


    I continued on and it was more of the same, holes being dug to search for clay, camp fires being made and meats were smoked. That''s what we only did, butcher dead bodies, and preserve or cook them.


    I however needed to know where the wall went, if we were even in the walls.


    ¡°Ronin.¡± I said to the kid ¡°get your flamethrower we''re going to find the gates.¡± I told him.


    He looked at me confused and I sent an order directly to him via a clipboard hoping it got translated. Ronin looked at the invisible piece of paper in front of him and nodded, then pointed to a nearby bunker.


    I nodded and he went down into the connecting trench, then inside the bunker he came out several minutes later carrying a short flamethrower with a gas mask on, and a large tank on his back. I nodded ¡°good, lets go.¡± I started walking in the opposite direction of the river which should be east.


    If the river went north to south that is.


    Ronin followed right behind me as we passed first the front line, then the middle and finally the back line where the Officers bunker, and Heavy artillery was held. There were also some field guns there too, everything wasn¡¯t as quiet as one assumed as everybody was evenly spread out through the trench system doing their own thing related to food that is.


    We stopped at the backline which had a large forest behind it, it was dark with many evergreen trees. There was a single road which led to the backline, as it was the command center of Palisade in game.


    It was dark in the forest, but we braved it as Ronins flamethrower glowed blue. I pulled out my SMG and we entered it, surrounded by pretty trees that glowed white from the reflecting snow that was starting to slowly melt. I could tell the temperatures were above freezing now but just barely.


    I looked from left to right, seeing only trees and their snow covered branches. The road was gravel, but was covered by snow. However there was a path of trees cut down creating a path for us to easily follow being lit up by day. Like a path of light.


    We walked for almost an half an hour at a brisk pace when we reached the broken wall, with the forts untouched and not crumbled down like they were by the end of the last match.


    The trenches, sandbags, barbed wire, and grenade boxes that were built over those two hours were still there. The trenches however were shallow, and unmaintained hundreds of buried bodies were thrown to the side.


    I firstly stole a carbine from a dead Kyntari soldier, as the SMG didn¡¯t have that good of a range. Ronin showed me a shotgun he took from a dead body, and posed with it his flamethrower he was sheathing to his side.


    ¡°A shotgun fits you well.¡± I said giving him a thumbs up.


    Ronin nodded, and I moved my attention back to the broken wall which was no longer a broken wall, but now a gate. It was wide open, something I didn¡¯t like to see. I looked around and saw there was nothing to block the gate. The only way you can close it is by building your own gate.


    I sighed, and turned to Ronin who was also looking at the gate. He muttered something in Japanese, it was muffled by his gas mask.


    I approached the gate cautiously with my SMG out, and Ronin got in front of me. On the other side wasn¡¯t more forest but a lightly forested hills that went on for miles. It was very green for some reason, not covered in snow as one would expect from snow but green grassy hilly plains.


    It was cold that''s for sure, that was the only correlation the inside and outside the walls had. It confused me, so I turned to Ronin and asked him, ¡°are you seeing this?¡±


    Yet Ronin didn¡¯t respond, he took off his gas mask, his blue skin and long ears glistened in the sunlight. He seemed to be awed by the greenery, as he was just staring out towards the hill.


    Although I too was entranced by its beauty, however I shook my head and brought out my Clipboard and sent out this report:


    ¡°Found the Broken Wall, it leads towards lots of greenery with green hills going as far as the eye can see.¡± Was all that I sent.


    I moved back inside the wall.


    ¡°Come on, let''s go to the top of the forts, we could see more.¡± I told Ronin, he still didn¡¯t respond so I snapped in his face which seemed to get him out of it. The kid looked at me and I pointed to the forts.


    He nodded, and we entered the forts. It was the same exact layout as a newly generated fort would be. Concrete walls on the inside forming a hexagon giving protection on the inside, with shooting holes, and on the outer wall were holes for shooting out of them.


    To the side were boxes filled with supplies such as ammo, and other items like binoculars.


    I grabbed the binoculars as did Ronin, then I climbed to the top. At that moment I was bombarded with a dozen plus reports all confused from what I meant by that. I could see every single order given by lieutenants and up. Which they took advantage of for communication purposes.


    I ignored them for a short second as I climbed to the top, Ronin seemed to also receive all these messages at once for some reason. Well one of those messages.


    I sent another message saying ¡°Follow the road you¡¯ll see what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    I then brought out my binoculars and looked around the hills from a different vantage point. All I saw were hills and somewhat jagged terrain that went on for miles. I didn¡¯t look through my binoculars for long as I was bombarded with 10 different orders telling everyone to continue doing what they are doing. The Majors were going to check it out.


    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some ignored those orders, but sure enough I heard the other Majors yelling from the forest.


    ¡°Colonel CEO, where the hell are you?!¡± I heard Shark yell from a distance in the forest.


    ¡°In the fort! Just follow the road!¡± I yelled, and went back to my binoculars scouting out the surrounding area. I saw what I expected, a lot of greenery, and nothing else. When I looked to the left and right and saw the wall go into a circle, a perfect circle surrounding the entire area almost like a medieval wall.


    It was still made out of pure concret like before, just in a perfect circle somehow.


    ¡°Alright!¡± He yelled back, he didn¡¯t yell again as I was looking around.


    Shark yelled again this time his voice was much closer, but not towards me. ¡°So this is where the Broken wall was?¡± He asked, he was with several of his soldiers who were looking on in confusion at the now Broken Wall.


    I jumped down onto the boxes and left the fort, seeing Shark who was surprised by my sudden appearance.


    ¡°Yep, just to the east of us. I think, instead of being the center protecting just Vost Dor. Now it''s protecting Noxuia and Vost Dor.¡± I said, looking at the entrance.


    ¡°The gate being open like that is not good.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Yes it is not, can you get a few dozen of your men over here to guard it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I could, just that they are busy butchering dead bodies to be smoked.¡± Shark said.


    I looked at him, and said, ¡°Get your men over here, your entire company as well. Have them build walls and a gate to block it, place landmines outside it to discourage any intruders assuming we have anything nearby that''s a threat.¡±


    Shark nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll send the order out right now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for your reinforcements to come before we leave.¡± I said.


    Shark nodded ¡°Alright, it¡¯ll be at least an entire hour if not more before my company gets here.¡±

 Old: Chapter 3

    I watched outside the wall on the fort, Ronin was in a trench at the gate of the Broken Wall. With Shark on the other fort, his men were evenly spread in the forts and front with Ronin.


    The hills outside were empty grasslands, with nothing of note happening other than of course the small figures I keep seeing off in the distance, or was it me seeing things. Although it could also be because the sun was in my eyes and I was being blinded by it. Meaning I can¡¯t tell if those figures were real or not, and I didn¡¯t want to bother Shark if he saw anything as he too would be blinded.


    There was only the sound of crickets making noise as the temperatures began lower once more to sub freezing as the sun had set. Yet there were clear skies, the clouds, and fog from yesterday disappeared entirely being replaced by the blue sky.


    Then I saw a silhouette once more, similar to the figure from before. But I wasn¡¯t being blinded as badly as before, due to the sun turning red as it set lower and lower into the evening.


    The silhouette was small, it was far away and I am 20 feet up from the ground. I brought up my binoculars and attempted to focus in on the silhouette but it was a shadowy figure under the binoculars. Which was expected, however as the sun setted further I did in fact get a bit of color and detail from it.


    I placed my elbows on the wall of the fort to stabilize the image a bit more, and I saw that it was a green humanoid.


    Which was the only details I could make out at this distance.


    I decided to call it out. ¡°I see a figure, around 3 miles away!¡± I reported to everybody.


    Shark responded, ¡°3 miles away? What do you see?¡±


    ¡°A green humanoid figure, can¡¯t tell you much more than that as the atmosphere is blurring my view.¡± I said, continuing to focus on the green figure.


    Then the figure ran down a hill.


    ¡°It ran down the hill and I can no longer see it.¡± I reported to Shark.


    ¡°That''s not good, was it scouting us out?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t tell you, all I know is that it was there.¡± I pulled my binoculars down and looked at the area closest to the wall. There were footprints in the snow, tiny not a human''s foot prints but it was only a few footprints that led nowhere.


    I chalked it up to me seeing things and ignored it.


    Nothing much happened, it was incredibly boring but boring to me is an opportunity to imagine. In fact I like to embrace boring, with a specific task I need to really finish like writing but without anything to write with all I can do is daydream.


    Yet I kept an eye on reality, the sun had fully set and I saw the moon rise in its place. It was waxing crescent, it looked very different from the moon I grew up with. It looked surreal seeing an alien moon, it was grayish like Luna but the craters and features were entirely different. The Sea of Tranquility wasn¡¯t where it was supposed to be, in fact not existing at all.


    By being much darker in color, meaning there was more exposed rock on this moon than Luna.


    My thought process and analysis of this alien moon ended when I heard footsteps, a quiet pitter patter.


    Everyone else seemed to hear this as well, with a soldier below me asking. ¡°Do you hear those footsteps?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± I responded, bringing out my carbine rifle and putting it at the ready.


    Ronin seemed to hear this as well as I heard the Noxu spell activating and then stopping, Ronin was likely testing if the spell worked and how it worked. Shark put his LMG at the ready, and the soldiers below me turned off their safeties.


    ¡°Be prepared for a-¡± Overwhelming pain shot up in my chest, the force of it led me to step back and fall down everything was muffled when I heard an explosion. One familiar, a Noxu flamethrower activating. Then an ensemble of gunshots, an LMG, bolt action rifles, carbines with a choir of yelling, screaming.


    Muscle memory came into action as I reached for my spellbook and I flipped to the page with the healing spell. The first page, line 3 and I activated it. I imagined the spell appearing above me, a massive foreboding magic circle with stars that spun. Seconds later I saw the circle appear and the pain disappeared. I didn¡¯t see what had hit me.


    My ears were no longer muffled or were still as my cat ears were held closed but I was sure I could hear Ronin screaming who was underneath the goblins cries and the desperate gun fire. I got up and grabbed my SMG, the soldiers were shooting out of the holes at something I didn¡¯t pay attention to.


    The soldiers outside were busy shooting at small green humanoids, which I automatically dubbed as goblins. I didn¡¯t pay attention to much other than their size and color, as Ronin was being held down by those goblins each one carrying a small knife, club, bones, whatever a weapon and hitting him.


    I charged through the crowd with enhanced strength, speed, and healing from the spell firing my SMG not caring about friendly fire. It didn¡¯t matter as long as the spell was active and healing Ronin, the goblins all fell down to my bullets but it eventually clicked and I threw the gun to the side bringing out my Saber.


    I began to try and cut through the entire horde of goblins, the first goblin charged me with a dagger and I sliced the head off with extreme strength and speed. Well it wasn¡¯t clean at all as I actually had hit it with the flat end, with the result of the head exploding from the force my saber hitting it, then I decided to just go full brawler mode dropping the sword and just using my fists.


    Several years of competitive boxing came back to me, and I threw the goblins around into the walls so hard that blood splattered. I gave a roundhouse kick to another goblin, it was very strong to the point I sent it flying and killed an entire line of them.


    I sent another goblin flying who could barely react, in fact everything was moving slow, at least half as fast as it normally would. In other words I can react twice as fast, like a fly.


    I threw a hook towards another charging goblin, as they kept stabbing my legs with their knives. Yet no wounds appeared and I kicked them off of me into a nearby wall, I got to Ronin who was pinned down on all limbs.


    I began punching each of the goblins off and Ronin immediately jumped up, grabbed his flamethrower and fired it. A short blast of fire incinerated a horde of goblins that were attempting to reinforce their attack. I grabbed an abandoned LMG near a dead Kyntari soldier, and began firing into the horde as the healing spell ended.


    The bullets tore through several goblins before not going any further, Ronin and I stepped back into a shallow trench as dozens of stone arrows rained on us. Ronin and I rushed towards a broken bridge nearby, Ronin was hit in the leg from an arrow.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Ronin gave out an anguished cry, and brought out his trench shotgun slam firing into a dozen goblins.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I looked at Ronins leg, the injury wasn¡¯t life threatening and a simple medkit syringe can fix it. I was uninjured with many holes in my trench coat, showing I should¡¯ve died a dozen times over by now if it wasn¡¯t for the healing spell.


    There was no more gun fire, and no more sounds of the goblins'' cries.


    ¡°Is everybody alive and well?¡± I yelled out.


    ¡°Alive!¡± I heard Shark yell, soon afterwards I got confirmation from the rest of Sharks men from their yells.


    ¡°Ronin, the guy with a flamethrower is injured.¡± I reported, I grabbed Ronin by the shoulder and supported the side with the arrow in it and we got out from the shallow trench and bridge. ¡°Lets get inside the fort.¡± I told him.


    I saw there were hundreds of dead goblin bodies, most were littered at the gate, with most not even being able to pass the first forward communication trench. On top of that a lot of them was a charred mess, with another sizable chunk being either filled with bullets or caved in bodies from my punching.


    ¡°Do we have a medic?¡± I asked as we entered the left fort, the place where I was when the short battle started.


    ¡°I am a medic.¡± Said a middle aged Kyntari medic, he rushed over as I placed Ronin on the ground.


    Ronin gave a groan, as the medic rapidly brought out a syringe from the medkit.


    ¡°Take the arrow out of his leg.¡± The medic ordered.


    I tore the arrow out, leaving a massive bleeding hole in Ronins leg. Ronin gave a massive cry. Then the medic stabbed Ronin with the syringe on the shoulder muscle.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to find out what this does in the bloodstream.¡± He said, Ronins injury rapidly began to close and then fully disappeared leaving only a slight scar.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said.


    Ronin said thank you in Japanese.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± The medic said in English then Japanese, Ronin got up and looked at the Medic. ¡°So he¡¯s the Japanese kid I keep hearing about. I am Lieutenant Hans Gunther, a medic in Sharks¡¯ Company.¡± The medic said.


    ¡°I am Ceo, the Colonel.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well hello, you are someone with less of a life than me.¡± Gunther said, putting the syringe away back in his medkit.


    ¡°Well coming back from a failed space mission really traumatizes one into laziness.¡± I said.


    ¡°You were a part of that failed Pluto mission, where half the crew cannibalized the other?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°Yeah, and I do not wish to go into detail about it.¡±


    Gunther then turned to Ronin and began speaking to him in Japanese, likely giving introductions.


    I received a message from one of Sharks lieutenants asking what had happened, and at the same time the first squads and platoons arrived.


    I went outside to meet the reinforcements, ¡°Y¡¯all are late.¡± I said to them, there were 3 squads arriving.


    The warrant officer didn¡¯t respond and said ¡°You are covered in blood, ma''am, and holes.¡± The warrant officer looked at the hundreds of dead bodies, charred, beaten, and shot dead all at the Broken wall. ¡°And that''s a lot of dead bodies.¡±


    Shark got out of his fort and immediately gave out orders ¡°start building defenses, and get to work!¡±


    The squads immediately began getting to work and none commented on my appearance any further. I sat down on a grenade box, and slumped forward in exhaustion as the adrenaline wore off.


    I wanted to go to sleep but my work wasn¡¯t done yet. I brought out my clipboard and sent out an order to the other Majors except Shark.


    ¡°Head to my office in the Bunker for a meeting in 20 minutes.¡±


    I got up and saw Ronin was pulling the dead goblins into a ditch that was being dug by the reinforcements. Others were dragging sandbags that were around the area towards the gate, making a wall that blocked the entrance, along with repurposing barbed wire in front of them. There were several openings made that would make defending easier.


    But I had to get moving, and Ronin looked at me as I left onto the road passing several dozen more squads who were just arriving.


    Once I got onto the right side of the road, I began running the entire distance. I was likely on limited time so I needed to get to the back bunkers as soon as possible. So I jogged at a brisk pace and arrived at the bunker in 15 minutes. I went down the stairs and entered the door, passed the bunk beds and into my office with all the Majors except for Shark.


    I was met with everybody waiting for me, and the second I entered questions immediately began being asked.


    ¡°What happened over there?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Why was there a healing spell activated?¡± Punisher asked.


    The questions from everybody kept coming and I said ¡°Shut up, give me a moment to breathe and I¡¯ll answer them.¡± I took a sip from the cup that sat on my desk and I sat down in the chair.


    I sighed and sat up ¡°so what happened fifteen minutes ago that we were attacked by green humanoids. What matters most is that they were repelled in the time span of a healing spell so a minute, none at least from what I could tell got past the Broken Wall. Which is a gate now.¡± I reported.


    Everybody then began to panic, ¡°Attacked?¡± Memes asked.


    ¡°Yes we were attacked, which is why I have a dozen holes in my uniform.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°So what are we to do now? Since you were attacked, by how many?¡± Memes asked.


    ¡°I am not sure exactly, I got here in a rush and couldn¡¯t count there were at least several hundred, though the good news is that they aren¡¯t immune to bullets and flamethrowers.¡± I said, taking another refreshing sip from my cup of water.


    Village then spoke, ¡°What are we to do, anybody have ideas?¡±


    I answered ¡°for now we hunker down, and we guard the gate, letting no one come in or out until we can confirm it''s safe outside the walls. On top of that we would need to prepare our land for long term habitation. I don''t think it''s safe to be living in the remnants of a warzone.¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest exactly for inside the walls, guarding the gate is something I can already easily guess. But for here?¡± Village asked.


    I started to explain, ¡°Well firstly we are to start picking up the land mines, barbed wire, and other hazards designed to slow the enemy''s advance who is across the river and is no longer our enemy. We also need to get into consistent contact with the Noxu players. Our food situation still hasn¡¯t been solved yet, the meat is going to last only so long before it decomposes away so we need to continue collecting food.¡±


    Village responded. ¡°I could have my men deal with the mines, trenches, barbed wire and also getting across the river. While everybody else can deal with the other issues.¡±


    Fish said, ¡°My company could deal with the food issues via fishing. How long will the smoked meat last if we ration it at the minimum at which people can effectively work?¡±


    I did the math in my head, and said ¡°Well assuming the meat doesn¡¯t spoil, which it will, we should have enough supplies to feed everybody 2000 calories a day that¡¯ll last around for six months, give or take a few days. Enough time to make a fishing industry, or a fish farm industry.¡± I said.


    ¡°That is assuming we properly smoked every single body we can get our hands on?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Yes, in actuality however we should expect the food to last 3 months. I¡¯m not sure how much we can preserve in a day, but it''s a conservative estimate.¡± I answered.


    ¡°That should be enough time for me to build small fish farms, and fishing boats. Giving us more time.¡± Fish said.


    Silenz spoke, ¡°I could have my company try and start a traditional farm, whether to feed some sort of livestock or to grow edible food to cook with. It won¡¯t be done in the 3 month time limit but it should be started by then.¡±


    I turned to the remaining Majors, ¡°Y¡¯all have any ideas on what to do?¡±


    Memes, Shadow, Punisher, and Buzz all shook their heads.


    With Buzz saying this ¡°I¡¯ll like just help with whatever comes up, maybe manage who goes where and does what. I don¡¯t know, I just threw an idea out there, I was in the HR department for the company I worked at before getting fired.¡±


    I cocked my head curiously, ¡°So you want to manage the workforce?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well if we need that kind of management, I would like to volunteer. I am very good at managing numbers to get the desired result of more productivity. Although my boss did disagree with me on that and fired me, so please don¡¯t fire me.¡± Buzz asked meekly.


    I leaned closer towards him, ¡°If you don¡¯t fuck up the numbers game of human resources.¡± I said.


    Buzz nodded meekly.


    Memes said ¡°Well whatever comes up, I am free to take any position you can give me. But for now I¡¯ll stay as a commander if you are fine with that.¡±


    Buzz immediately answered Memez. ¡°You could just be a reserve company in which we can move people towards different work wherever they would be needed.¡±


    Fish looked at Buzz, ¡°You really are a HR manager, if you came up with the idea of having people in a reserve.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I wasn''t sure how well it would work in reality other than just having people be employed constantly. For now my job may be useless, and if it is then I¡¯ll just resign to prevent bloat.¡± Buzz said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll keep that in mind but we might need your HR skills one day, or not, who knows.¡± I turned to the remaining Majors who hadn¡¯t volunteered. ¡°For the rest of y¡¯all just donate your men to the cause of Village, Fish or Silenz as they are doing the most important things right now.¡±


    Memes, Shadow, and Punisher nodded.


    ¡°Well I would like to hear y¡¯alls ideas by Noon for the specific issues you guys have volunteered to try and solve. I need to go get some rest as it''s probably nearing 9:30 PM now, so y¡¯all get some sleep and we¡¯ll start working tomorrow.¡± I said, everybody nodded and left the office.


    I slumped back into my chair and looked at my uniform. I was covered in Goblin blood and I didn¡¯t look too good. Plus I needed to find a replacement for my uniform and trench coat, along with some armor. I won¡¯t have access to my healing spell all the time.


    But the good news is that there''s a lot of bodies to loot so someone should have my size and or a lot of clothes assuming they all weren¡¯t torn up for fuel. But I also had some role playing clothes in a box beneath my cot. I got up and went to the sectioned off room and went under the cot where the box was still there.


    I opened it and was met with an extra Vost Dor, Noxu, Adushasha, Rostora, and Oskovian uniform with a trench coat. I grabbed the Vost Dor uniform and the Trench coat, I changed my uniform into the fresh uniform and then left for the river to clean myself. I made sure to grab the lantern before I headed out.


    The entire walk was uneventful, I arrived at the river and simply rinsed off my face and hands with the cold water. Making me wish I was back in the bunker but the entire thing didn¡¯t last long and I returned to the bunker wet but also cleaner.


    I went to bed and immediately passed out.

 Old: Chapter 4

    Jupiter was above me, an orange brown gas giant a million miles away. I was doing a routine check on the Engines. We were to fire them in a day for a gravitational assist slingshot for the return to Earth, as half of our supplies had gone bad.


    I floated down towards the main engine, a massive engine that can give off 20 kilonewtons of force when turned on. I opened the panel and was met with the panel looking fine and normal, I ran several tests and signals were being received as fine.


    I couldn¡¯t actually fire the engines as I am next to it, but a signal test should be fine. I then moved to the valves where they had no leakages, which was good and then I moved to check the paneling around the engine, which wasn¡¯t looking too good. I didn''t have the equipment on me to fix it so I just radioed in.


    ¡°Maintenance we have some slight damage on the paneling around Engine 2, and I do not have the equipment to fix it on me right now, over.¡± I said into the radio, the crackling came from the radio and I scratched my nose on the velcro stuck to the front of my helmet.


    There wasn¡¯t an immediate response.


    ¡°Maintenance? Over.¡± I said once more.


    There was only background radio noise, so I checked my transmitter which was somewhat small but had an impressive range of several thousand miles.


    I looked at the radio and saw the transmitter was extended, and it was on too. So why would I not be sent or received?


    I sighed and I would need to tell them about that issue.


    I turned around and was about to get back to work checking on everything. However the ship wasn¡¯t around me, my tether was gone and I was just over jupiter. I looked down and up to my left, and to my right, and behind me there it was the ship. The engines fired without me even noticing, the tether was just flinging getting dragged along by the nuclear engines.


    My breath began to hitch up, I desperately tried to get the jetpack online in a futile attempt to chase the ship, but it wouldn¡¯t work. I looked at the tank, the oxygen was venting yet I didn¡¯t feel the force to the side, and a second look showed me the pack was just gone a white dot flying away.


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± I sputtered, as I began to cry ¡°Why?¡± I asked in between whimpers ¡°Why?¡± Was all I can say as even Jupiter was flying away.


    Was I hated? Was this a punishment? For what though?


    Curling up into a ball, I just held that fetal position just accepting my fate. The stars began to suddenly stretch, become red for the ones going farther away, and blue for the on coming ones, and eventually disappear into darkness.


    Was I going faster than the speed of light? The only light I had was my helmet light and I couldn¡¯t see anything outside.


    I just sat there in the fetal position for what felt like hours, alone with my thoughts. I should¡¯ve suffocated by now, yet I hadn''t. I just sat there with my own mind and the darkness of being faster than light.


    I checked my internal clock and it was 2133, I was here in this suit for 5 years. What? Why did the date just suddenly jump?


    Then the stars suddenly reappeared, and a yellow dwarf that looked like the sun appeared off in the distance.


    Then I saw a pale blue dot rapidly approaching.


    Earth?


    No, it was not Earth as the continents came into view. It was completely wrong, and then I hit the atmosphere at orbital speeds.


    I gave only a whimper as I felt myself burn-


    I shot up out of my cot, the light blanket falling down from my chest. I felt sweaty, and my palms felt constricted. I looked around and saw I was in a place I didn¡¯t recognize for a few moments. Then I recognized that I was in the bunker, my office.


    ¡°What was the nightmare about?¡± I mumbled, as the nightmare was now just a distant memory.


    I didn¡¯t know the time and I just simply decided to prepare for the day.


    I was in my undershirt and my pants, I probably took it off sometime earlier in the night.


    I lit the lantern lighting up the divided cramped room, I pulled my feet off the cot, and onto the floor. I immediately began looking for my shirt, it was laying on the ground. I grabbed it and threw it on, Igrabbed a pair of socks and put them on, then my boots. I pulled on my yellow armband signifying my rank as an officer.


    It wasn¡¯t cold in the bunker at all, and was warm so I didn¡¯t bother putting on my trench coat. I left the makeshift room, and I saw the dark empty office space lit somewhat well by the lantern.


    I moved to my desk, grabbed my spellbook and clipboard, and moved the gun rack on the back of the room and grabbed my SMG, and shouldered it.


    I went back into the divided area and turned off the lantern, throwing the room into darkness.


    I then went towards the door and headed out in the somewhat lit hallway. Some people were up surprisingly enough, although I could¡¯ve overslept or woke up early I didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Good morning ma¡¯am, breakfast is going on right now.¡± A person said, as I walked down the hallway.


    ¡°Alright, I will keep that in mind.¡± I said, giving a yawn. ¡°What time is it?¡± I asked the person passing me.


    ¡°About 7:30 or so I don''t have a clock.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± I said.


    I was actually hungry and began following the signs saying ¡°cafeteria this way.¡± I arrived at a side door that led outside towards the trenches, I exited it and saw it was clear of any trenches, just a secluded door in the ground.


    There was no snow meaning it was above freezing, and it felt like it was way above freezing. It was nice in fact. A low morning mist was hovering over the brown ground and trees.


    Nobody recognized me except for the arm band, but no one saluted me nor did I ask to be saluted so I continued on my way. I saw a small sign saying, ¡°breakfast line is here¡± and there was a small line with people waiting in line with plates.


    I joined the line quietly with a few people talking and laughing. It was surprisingly lively, eventually I reached a spot with the aforementioned plates with a lot of metal forks just laying there in a large bowl.


    There was a sign saying, ¡°Grab only one plate and one fork, no seconds.¡± I grabbed a plate and a fork and entered the makeshift line.


    There were dozens of chefs managing the line, with spatulas filling the plates with a single meat.


    The chefs didn¡¯t wear anything specific, just a piece of clothing likely looted from a dead person.


    A small slab of meat was placed on my plate as I said ¡°Good morning.¡± To the Chef.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± The chef responded to me as I exited to the line, there was no need to check out at all. It seems they trusted people and didn''t go back for seconds.


    I looked around the open field, there was not much in terms of furniture however, just people sitting on the ground around raised parts of the ground acting as a table.


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    Someone tapped me on the shoulder, I looked behind me and saw Ronin. He gave me a big smile and waved.


    He pointed towards a spot near a still unfilled trench, there sat Major shark, Hans Gunther and several others that were likely a part of Sharks company.


    ¡°Oh you guys want me to sit with y¡¯all?¡± I asked.


    Ronin simply nodded and moved to the trench. I followed him, and when Ronin sat down a girl cuddled him, I ignored the two.


    ¡°Good morning Colonel.¡± Shark said to me.


    I responded ¡°Good morning Major Shark.¡± I responded, cutting into the soft meat and taking a bite out of it. It tasted like bitter pork, a taste I was all too familiar with, Especially after the multi trillion dollar waste of the Pluto Expedition.


    The others said good morning.


    I looked at Shark and said, ¡°What are you doing here, I thought you were at the Broken Wall?¡±


    ¡°Well, my lieutenants told me to get some sleep at around midnight and they said they¡¯ll handle everything there while I rest. I am going to return by 9 AM or so, don¡¯t worry about me ditching my job.¡± Shark said, tearing a chunk of meat with his fork.


    I took another cut out of my meat, as everybody talked with Gunther and Shark surprisingly enough, occasionally speaking in Japanese to Ronin.


    ¡°I never knew you could speak Japanese Shark?¡± I asked, taking a bite out of my meat.


    ¡°I thought an astronaut who worked with Japanese and Chinese Astronauts, would know Japanese?¡± Shark shot back.


    I narrowed my eyes at him and swallowed my meat, ¡°You don¡¯t need to dox me like that, and also how do you know who I am?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well you should know the answer to that, especially since you¡¯ve met me before, did you forget Washington?¡± He said.


    Gunther stood up immediately and said ¡°It seems like we are eating with high standing members of the US, as such I and the others will be taking our leave.¡±


    The other people at the table looked confused and I held out my hand to stop him. ¡°No, no it''s alright you can stay. I just never knew this middle aged general of the U.S knew Japanese and plays video games.¡± I said.


    ¡°I never knew a traumatized genius playboy of an engineer, who really should¡¯ve been working, really plays video games and for four hours straight mind you.¡± Shark shot back.


    I looked at Shark annoyed and said, ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to dox me like that.¡±


    Shark sighed and continued, ¡°Well, if you want to know, it has to do with the fact that I needed to know how to speak Japanese, especially during the War when I had to interrogate captured soldiers as a concern they¡¯ll be tortured endlessly by justifiably angry men.¡±


    I sighed and changed the discussion to something more interesting. ¡°So I''d like to ask how the defenses are going, has anything new happened in the past night?¡± I asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Last I checked we¡¯ve built a wall and have set up some trenches alongside landmines and barbed wire, outside the gate in front of the broken wall. Throughout the entire night nothing attacked.¡± Shark answered.


    ¡°That''s good, keep me updated. I''ll need you to leave the walls with a force if they attack again. Although I¡¯ll likely lead that force myself, despite your qualifications.¡± I said taking a cut out of the soft meat.


    ¡°That sounds exactly like you.¡± Shark said, as I shot him a simple glare.


    We continued eating in silence with only the sounds of other people talking in the distance, and the clinking of our forks cutting the soft meat.


    I finished my food and sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave, and I¡¯ll be at the river figuring out something to do while I wait for noon to see what Silenz and Fish have planned.¡± I stood up and began to leave.


    Ronin said something in Japanese, Shark said, ¡°Ronins asking if he can join you.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but Ronin needs to learn English.¡± I said, ¡°but does he know where I am going?¡±


    ¡°Yes he does, we told him.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°Alright good,¡± I motioned for Ronin to follow as the two of us followed some signs that led to the river with a bunch of dishwashers.


    ¡°Please place your dishes in this pile here.¡± The sign pointed towards an ever growing pile of plates that is being desperately washed by a group of dishwashers and moved by men.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing Buzz came up with this idea?¡± I mumbled.


    Ronin was still behind me just watching.


    ¡°Come on, let''s go find Fish.¡± I told Ronin not knowing if he understood.


    We continued on and found a lot of people working together trying to cut down a somewhat large tree whose trunks were wide enough to fit a person in it. Fish, and Shadow were commanding their respective companies in chopping down the tree. Which had quickly fallen down from the dozens of men and women working together in cutting it down.


    Followed by the men and women moving to the branches and quickly removing them, their tools hacked away at the branches.


    I saw Fish giving orders to the company, ¡°Save the longest branches for fishing rods!¡± He turned to a group of men messing with tall stalks of small plants that were brown. ¡°Remember how I taught you guys to get the core out of the wood.¡±


    ¡°Hello Fish.¡± I said.


    Fish turned to me ¡°Good Morning Ceo, you already here to ask about my plan?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yeah, you are already working on it, why not tell me.¡± I said.


    It was easy to guess what Fish decided to try and make as his initial plan.


    Fish nodded and began explaining, ¡°There are several things to it, firstly I am trying to make a rope, which is what the guys over there with the thick branches are doing, specifically they are getting the core out. The guys that are at the tree are working on cutting out a section of the tree to make a boat.¡± He then turned back to the boat people ¡°When you start to cut the boat make sure to remove the core in the cleanest way possible for the rope team to work with.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°You know a lot about how to make a rope.¡± I said.


    ¡°I had to know it because it was a part of my end of year research paper in my Ecology class for my senior year.¡± Fish answered.


    ¡°Senior Ecology Class? You''re 18?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, I am just. I also like playing games. Although I¡¯ve never actually attempted to try and make a rope out of plants. Did you know you can also filter out water with tree xylem?¡± Fish answered.


    ¡°I saw a video on it years ago, but never actually did it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well yeah plants can filter out water pretty good, but water isn¡¯t an Issue for us right now. But the plan is to make rope and string for fishing rods, nets, and build boats. Village is over there. I think his plan is to cut down trees for a bridge.¡± Fish said.


    I looked over and several hundred feet away and I saw a dozen men moving logs towards the bank of the river and hitting them down.


    ¡°I think they might need some ropes as well, you need more people making ropes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I already have around 100 people making ropes, more than enough for all our needs for now.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°Alright, get back to work I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡± I said.


    ¡°Will do.¡± Fish said as I walked away with Ronin following me.


    I turned to Ronin as we passed a squad clearing out a trench of all its items, there was a pile of logs and nails near it. ¡°You heard that, Ronin?¡± I asked the kid.


    He looked at me, and just tilted his head not understanding.


    ¡°We really need to work on your english.¡± I said, then an idea crossed my min.d ¡°Let''s tell you the name of things, that there is a Machine Gun.¡± I pointed towards an abandoned MG gun in a nest, no one was in it, not interested in it currently. ¡°Machine gun.¡± I said again.


    Ronin pointed at the MG, and attempted to copy what I said with some success.


    ¡°Yes, good.¡± I said, as we arrived at where Village was, he wasn¡¯t even that far from Fish.


    Village was busy giving orders to a group of engineers who were busy placing a long log into the water that was waist deep, ¡°See if the log will stand if you hit it down.¡± The engineers attempted to hit the log down into the ground.


    It was as tall as some of the men but those tall men were somewhat successful in getting it to stand.


    ¡°Good now get the other one down, 6 feet away the first log should suffice.¡± Village ordered.


    The men did as ordered and brought another log in.


    ¡°Village.¡± I said, approaching him.


    Village turned towards me, ¡°Oh, Colonel hello. How long were you here for?¡±


    I answered ¡°Long enough to see your men start on the first log.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, so I am assuming you are here to see how I plan to get across?¡± Village asked.


    ¡°Yep, it''s a bridge I know that much.¡±


    ¡°The plan is to place down the logs as far as we can place them, without having to swim to the logs there. We already know the depth of the river which is around 50 feet, pretty deep meaning we cannot cross it with a bridge it¡¯ll have to be by boat.¡± Village explained.


    I raised an eyebrow at him, ¡°So what are you building?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A dock, mostly so we don¡¯t lose whatever boats we do build. Eventually we are going to build a large raft that can move a lot of stuff from one side to the other.¡± Village explained.


    ¡°So it''s Fish''s job to get across the river?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well he is the one building the boats, I am just building the infrastructure for him to help make his boats.¡± Village explained.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said, nodding ¡°then how''s the clean up going?¡± I turned towards the miles of trenchline that was being systematically filled up by hundreds of men.


    Village looked at the direction I was looking at, ¡°The clean up is going good, we are mostly ignoring individual foxholes, but whatever is on the main lines got to go, we have all the dirt we could possibly need. It''s simply moved up to make the trenches just to fill them back in, but we also are taking the wood and nails that are in the trenches.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that''s good we need planks.¡± I said.


    ¡°Go get back to work, I¡¯ll be checking on Silenz. Do you know where he is currently?¡± I asked.


    Village shook his head, ¡°I am not sure myself actually, I think he is waiting for the trench lines, and mines to get cleared up before starting. It''s not like we have anything to plant at all either, so I am not surprised if he doesn¡¯t want to do agriculture without the seeds.¡±


    ¡°I understand, I¡¯ll find him myself, get back to work.¡± I turned away and began heading towards the rear trenchline and bunker.


    Ronin followed right behind me, and he tapped me on the shoulder.


    I turned to face him, ¡°Yes.¡± I asked.


    Ronin was pointing at a trench line, or specifically a foxhole that had an abandoned AT rifle in it.


    ¡°What about it?¡± I asked.


    He pointed again, then I remembered, ¡°Oh, the name that''s an Anti Tank Rifle.¡± I pointed the gun, ¡°Anti Tank Rifle.¡± I repeated.


    Ronin copied what I said, and jumped into the foxhole, picked up the bolt action rifle with the glowing blue attachment. Wasn¡¯t sure what the name of the device that allowed the explosive potential of the gun.


    He came back up and held it like a kid found a cool rock, smiling to himself. ¡°Careful with that thing it can blow up a person.¡± I said.


    Ronin shouldered the AT rifle, he wasn¡¯t in his flamethrower equipment today. Although it''s not like he is going to fight right now, he didn¡¯t need it.


    We continued on towards the command bunker, passing other frontline bunkers whose doors led up out of the ground with the trenchline it connected quickly being cannibalized for whatever is valuable.


    We continued on, with us passing more and more intact trenches that weren¡¯t being filled or cannibalized for their planks and nails.


    We arrived at the main bunker, and I saw Silenz speaking with Shark.


    I approached the two, with Ronin seemingly instinctually stopping following me.


    ¡°Silenz, Shark hello. I didn¡¯t expect you two to be talking with each other.¡± I said.


    Silenz and Shark turned to me ¡°Oh, Colonel.¡± Silenz said ¡°I was just talking to Shark over here, about how to procure seeds and food from outsiders. Especially since you were attacked by a somewhat large army which you guys were able to thwart easily.¡± He explained.


    I quickly realized what Silenz was getting to, ¡°You think that the Goblins can farm?¡± I asked.


    Shark stepped forward and spoke, ¡°Yes, it was I who came up with the idea and sent it to Silenz especially since I heard he was trying to solve our food problem we¡¯re going to have in 3 months.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?¡± I asked.


    Shark gave a smirk, ¡°We go find their villages, and take all of their food and grain.¡±


    I gave a smirk back ¡°That sounds like a plan, a desperate one that I can get behind.¡±

 Old: Chapter 5

    ¡°We need to know where those goblins have come from to even have a chance at taking their food.¡± I said, stepping under a low branch.


    Shark was on my right with Silenz on my left, Ronin was behind me fully geared in his flamethrower equipment plus his shotgun.


    Shark responded, ¡°Which shouldn''t be that hard to achieve, as we have spotted several potential spots their base of operations is at.¡± Shark explained.


    ¡°And where would that be?¡± I asked.


    ¡°This morning we spotted a small wooden fort to the north East, on a hill.¡± Shark explained.


    ¡°A wooden fort on a hill? I would¡¯ve seen something like that last night when they first attacked.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well it was foggy last night and evening but in the morning it wasn¡¯t, with the temperature having risen above freezing it gave clear morning skies according to the spotters.¡± Shark said, we arrived at a barbed wire fence with the opening guarded.


    The men were in stormtrooper armor, appearing like a knight of sorts but with a gun instead of a sword. They nodded and allowed us in almost immediately.


    ¡°That explains why I didn¡¯t see anything last night until they were quite literally at the gate.¡± I said, passing the opening in the fence with Silenz allowing me through first.


    ¡°Yes, it is a part of the reason why we didn¡¯t see anything last night. So the plan is to attack that fort, without artillery we do not want to destroy all the intel assuming they have any.¡± Shark said, as we approached the right fort and started climbing the boxes to the top. Ronin remained on the bottom taking a position at the door cover.


    An armored stormtrooper man was on the fort looking over the entire area surrounding the walls.


    ¡°Lieutenant Bomblitz.¡± Shark said, introducing me to the stormtrooper who I immediately recognized the name of.


    ¡°Daniel?¡± I blurted out.


    Daniel turned around and looked at me surprised. ¡°James?¡± He said more excited than I expected. He immediately rushed up to me, with more speed than I would¡¯ve expected with something so heavy on him.


    ¡°It''s been years since I last saw you, where have you been? You don¡¯t call or text, anything happened to you?¡± He had deep bagged eyes, his Kyntari player looked very similar to what I last remember how he looked like.


    He had the typical cat ears of a Kyntari, pale skin with several scars along his cheek and some facial hair. Wearing the armor of a stormtrooper. He was only 3 inches shorter than me at five feet and the armor made him taller by about two inches.


    I gave a weak guilty smile ¡°I became a little busy after high school, very very busy more than I wanted to.¡± I said.


    Daniel however gave me a friendly hug on the shoulder, the cold armor took me by surprise ¡°that doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯m glad you''re alright, and alive. So what brings you here?¡± He asked, ending the hug on the shoulder.


    ¡°Well we are planning on attacking a fort that belongs to the people who attacked us last night.¡± I answered.


    ¡°That fort?¡± He pointed towards something off in the distance, ¡°I¡¯ve been watching it the entire day there hasn''t been much movement nor can I tell if anybody lives there.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I turned back to the four star General of the US army ¡°Anyways Shark, this my highschool friend. As you can tell, I haven¡¯t seen or talked to him in years.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well that makes my job much easier with introductions, so Lieutenant you were saying?¡± Shark asked.


    Daniel brought up his binoculars, Shark handed me a pair of binoculars and looked in the direction Daniel was looking at and saw the small silhouette of a wall.


    ¡°Well I haven¡¯t seen much, or can tell much of what the fort is. The angle doesn¡¯t allow me to, but what I do know is that it should be easy to storm. Unless I am wrong about what it is as I am an idiot and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I¡¯m wrong as all I¡¯ve seen is a tiny silhouette of what I think is a fort.¡± Daniel said.


    I continued looking at the fort and the surrounding area, ¡°I¡¯ll take you at your word for the information as you¡¯ve been looking at this thing much longer than I have.¡± I said adjusting the binoculars in an attempt to get a clearer image.


    But it was too far and was still grainy.


    I brought down my binoculars, and looked at Shark. ¡°So I¡¯m going to propose this, we take a small army of 50 stormtroopers, with 1 ATG¡¯s, 10 medics, 10 engineers, 10 LMGers, 5 flamethrowers and 5 officers.¡± I gave my idea.


    Shark responded, ¡°I was thinking of sending a small scouting party towards the fort to see what was there.¡±


    ¡°Thing is we do not know if they are lying in wait for us, so I say we take a mixed company that will be able to make an organized retreat if need be with few casualties due to safety in numbers, or be able to fight off a large force successfully. We do not have the Broken wall to act as a funnel for their troops; it''ll be an open battle.¡± I said.


    Shark nodded his head seemingly considering this, ¡°Yeah, I see what you mean by that. Bomblitz can you summon your platoon of Stormtroopers along with Doms?¡± Shark ordered.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Bomblitz said, saluting Shark and me of all things.


    Shark looked at me ¡°I am surprised he saluted me? Is Lieutenant Bomblitz a part of the military?¡±


    ¡°Last I checked Daniel joined the Texan Army National Guard and I think he took part in putting down a Nationalist uprising in Mexico City. So I would say he is possibly one of the most qualified people here, despite his character traits.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Really? That explains a lot about him.¡± Shark said.


    Daniel came back with 5 rows of 10 filled with soldiers all wearing stormtrooper armor. Next to that row of storm troopers was a mixture of engineers, medics, ATGs, Infantry and all their subclasses, along with a few flamethrowers. All in rows of 5 of 10.


    ¡°Sir, I gathered the company.¡± Daniels saluted Shark and I.


    I nodded, still somewhat surprised by Daniel saluting me. ¡°Good.¡± I said.


    Shark, Silenz also nodded.


    Silenz spoke for the first time while we were here, ¡°I can summon my company to be on guard duty while you guys are out raiding.¡± Silenz said.


    ¡°That¡¯ll work.¡± Shark said.


    Silenz took out his clipboard and I received a message from Silenz.


    ¡°My company, head to the Broken Wall south of the main bunker.¡± Orders from Silenz.


    ¡°Alright, now we need to take in consideration that we have nonexistent logistics. On top of not having any industry to support a long term conflict.¡± I said.


    Daniel responded, ¡°So we make the campaign swift, we hit them hard and fast before they can realize what is happening. That''s what we did during the Mexico City uprisings.¡±


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    ¡°Thing is we know nothing, literally nothing of who we are fighting or going to.¡± I said.


    ¡°Which is why we are going to raid that fort, it''s not far, it''s only 9 or so miles away. A four hour or so walk it will take. We don''t need any serious logistics. We have everybody take whatever food and supplies they can carry on their backs, then we will attack only that fort. If we see any more forts we¡¯ll attack them later.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Alright, that sounds good.¡± I said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll handle the attack plan later, for now we have to tell our men as they are starting to leave.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take the reins and tell them the plan.¡± I said.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Shark said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, I am technically ranked Colonel and as such I am technically in charge of everything here.¡± I said.


    ¡°Technically.¡± Daniel said in between air quotes.


    ¡°Ok blackhole.¡± I said, and I stepped onto the wall ignoring Daniels reaction. I was twenty feet up off the ground overlooking a large crowd.


    ¡°Hello everybody!¡± I yelled out, the 100 people all stared at me at around the same time. ¡°Ok.¡± I whispered to myself as I psyched myself up.


    ¡°I am Colonel Ceo, the one who was in charge of the Kyntari side in the game and I hope you guys see me as that still.¡± I mentally facepalmed and I was sure Daniel did the same. ¡°So your commanding officers and I were just discussing a plan. A plan that will hopefully help deal with the current crisis we are in, one in relation to food security as many of you remember. Yesterday I ordered us all to butcher the thousands of dead bodies from the battle and preserve them for food. That meat isn¡¯t going to last forever, so we are going to attack a fort that will hopefully have information on who the goblins were that attacked us last night, and hopefully we could learn where their fields are.¡± I said to the crowd.


    ¡°Are you saying we are going to go to war?¡± A person in the ever increasingly disorganized crowd asked.


    ¡°Yes, that''s what I am getting at.¡± I answered and then continued ¡°We are not at home, on Earth in America. We have nothing to feed ourselves with to survive for more than 3 months, not even seeds, only swords and gunpowder is all we have.


    Last night we were attacked, while repelled with no losses thank god for that. We were still attacked, by an unknown force who has the capability of a civilization that can manufacture weapons, and as such they should have food. I ask you people today to join us to fight for any future to dig us out to the light on the other side of this mountain we find ourselves in, or if anything else you¡¯ll at least have a shot at eating something other than human meat.¡± I looked over the army and everybody was whispering to each other.


    None gave me a sign that they were accepting my call to arms.


    Then suddenly one person jousted their rifle into the air, giving a war cry, ¡°RAAHH!¡± He jousted up the rifle barrel up and down.


    Followed by another person doing the same, and like dominoes every single person in the company was accepting my call to arms.


    I raised my hand and motioned for the crowd to quiet down, and when they did I spoke. ¡°Alright then we will be moving towards a fort 9 miles to the North East. We are not sure what it exactly is but we believe it''s a fort, and as such gather enough food that can last you till tomorrow morning. Dismissed.¡± I said.


    The company gave nods and then began to move towards a bunker in the back, I returned to the right fort.


    Daniel gave me a smirk ¡°That was very good, I expected you to stutter a lot more.¡±


    ¡°I have changed a lot over the last seven years.¡± I said.


    Shark nodded and said ¡°Despite your speech, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that we don¡¯t have the capability to transport the supplies we need to keep our men effective over the 9 miles.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that''s still an issue.¡± I said.


    I brought up my binoculars and looked towards the river and then towards the fort off in the distance, I saw several small streams and possibly big streams branching off the river. ¡°Look at the river and how many streams are branching off of it,¡± I pointed in the general direction of the streams. ¡°I don¡¯t think supplies are going to be a problem, and if we find a deep enough stream we could possibly forage for food.¡± I suggested.


    Shark looked through his pair, looked around for a few seconds before saying. ¡°Yes, I see what you mean. So should we leave once Silenz¡¯s men get here and just get whatever we need from the surrounding lands?¡±


    ¡°That could work to support our small force of only 100 men, maybe a little more but that¡¯ll work.¡± I said.


    ¡°Assuming we can even effectively cook fish.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Well it''s worth a shot, even then it''s not that far away in the grand scheme of things.¡± I said.


    ¡°Just that we are walking the distance and not driving it.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s the only issue.¡± I said.


    Silenz approached us and said, ¡°My men are here ready to replace your force when y¡¯all leave.¡±


    I nodded ¡°Alright, Shark, are your men ready to leave?¡± I asked, looking over towards the positions.


    ¡°Not sure myself.¡± Shark said, bringing out his clipboard and I received a message.


    ¡°Y¡¯all ready to leave? If so, gather outside the wall in front of the gate.¡± Orders from Major Shark.


    Soon after the entire company began making their way outside the wall in front of the gate.


    ¡°Now we know.¡± Shark said he got down from the top onto the boxes on the ground. Followed by me getting down to the ground, when I got out I looked at the general position of the sun and found it to be about noon.


    Ronin was waiting for me at the cover and saw I was getting down.


    ¡°You were waiting here for me this entire time?¡± I asked, knowing there was a language barrier.


    He said something and Gunther appeared behind me translating what I said.


    ¡°You''re here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I am in Sharks¡¯ company.¡± Gunther then looked at Ronin as the kid was saying something, ¡°Ronin says that you were one of the first people other than his parents to show concern about him.¡±


    ¡°That''s kind of sad.¡± I responded.


    ¡°That''s life in Japan.¡± Ronin said.


    ¡°Well let''s get going, the army is waiting for us kid.¡± I looked at Ronin as he took the position in front of me.


    ¡°You know Ronin sees you as a parental figure?¡± Gunther said behind me.


    ¡°Really? That makes a lot of sense.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well he¡¯s a good loyal kid, and you¡¯ve given him a reason to be loyal to you.¡± Gunther said.


    We passed the gate and joined Shark and Daniel at the head of the army.


    ¡°Is it because I treat him as an actual human being?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Probably, he doesn¡¯t give me a straight answer when I ask him about it. What I can tell you is that he isn¡¯t horny for you, that''s for sure.¡±


    ¡°Well that''s good.¡± I sighed as Shark and Daniel waited for me.


    ¡°So we''re leaving?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Yes, we are right now.¡± I said turning to the army, ¡°We are going to move towards the river and then make a turn towards the unknown fort.¡± I yelled at the company.


    Everybody gave nods, but Daniel stepped in.


    ¡°Say yes ma¡¯am!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am!¡± The company yelled in varying degrees in unison.


    I sighed ¡°Well let''s get moving.¡± I ordered and began moving in the direction of the River with the company following.


    Shark was next to me while Daniel moved to his company.


    ¡°So what''s the plan of action?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°If we meet anybody that isn¡¯t us, and hostile we kill them and take anything of value they have and butcher the bodies for supplies. If they are not hostile, kidnap them and interrogate them for any information they may have.¡± I said.


    ¡°For the fort?¡±


    ¡°Just knock on the front door, blow up the walls, walk in and take everything of value they have. While killing all who resist, and capturing those who seem to be of value or surrender.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then what about the way to the fort?¡±


    ¡°Stop whenever we get tired, catch some fish, cook it and drink water then get moving. We¡¯ll figure that out when we get there.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not exactly the most well planned out or prepared mission but winging it for a small force with a single goal in mind works well.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°What¡¯d you expect from me? I''m not the greatest strategist or the most organized with very little resources in my hands. So what did you have in mind?¡± I asked.


    ¡°My idea would require things we do not have, so it wouldn¡¯t work until we finish this mission.¡±


    ¡°That tells me everything.¡±


    I looked around and endless fields of tall grass, that wasn¡¯t fully green, more like a dull green. Trees occasionally spotted the field that rolled with the hills that occasionally turned rough with cliff faces, but there weren¡¯t any hills directly surrounding Palisade. Which was simply flat for the next mile or so out.


    Like it was artificially flatten out, but it didn¡¯t look out of place more like we were in the middle of a basin of sorts. One that wasn¡¯t really seeable as it was likely massive.


    I looked at the River off in the distance, it was wide as we slowly went down a gently downward sloping hill. The walls were following that slope, the river was surprisingly empty like no one lived here.


    Then I looked to my right, away from the wall and off in the distance I saw a big wooden ship.


    ¡°Stop!¡± I yelled and everybody did ¡°There''s a ship upstream!¡± I reported.


    I picked up my binoculars to get a better look at it, it seemed like a galleon. I wasn¡¯t sure what it was exactly but it had oars that were rowing with the stream, an unfurled sail, and a metal front meaning to me it was a Galleon.


    ¡°That''s one big ship, with lots of people too if I¡¯m counting those oars correctly.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡± I brought out my clipboard and sent an order to the entire battalion.


    ¡°WARNING UNKNOWN SHIP APPROACHING PALISADE UP STREAM, BE PREPARED FOR A POTENTIAL ATTACK FROM THE RIVER!¡± Order from Colonel CeoMacNCheese.


    I sent the order and soon after I received orders from every single Major that belonged to Vost Dor.


    ¡°Company begin placing barbed wire and sandbags on the beaches, along with Machine gun nests. Be prepared for a potential naval invasion.¡± Orders from jjvillage.


    ¡°Get the field and heavy artillery ready for use!¡± Orders from Memezboss.


    ¡°My Company stay at the Broken Wall. Be ready for a potential attack.¡± Orders from Silenz.


    ¡°Get the canoes filled with a meeting party to contact the unknown ship.¡± Orders from Fishman.


    ¡°Company, move three of the Behemoths onto the banks of the river and cover its sides and front with sandbags.¡± Orders from Forthelolz.


    ¡°Infantry gather at the banks of the river.¡± Orders from JacktheRipper.


    The other orders were similar to that of Jacks, and didn¡¯t need further reading.


    ¡°Come on, let''s get to the banks of the river.¡± I ordered everybody.


    ¡°Double time it company, come on!¡± Shark ordered, as everybody including me, began running towards the river.


    We got to the banks in ten minutes and looked at the big ship off in the distance through my binoculars. The ship''s oars were still moving and it was only three miles away.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting closer to that ship before it arrives at the Walls, preferably a mile or so.¡± I ordered, as everybody started running once more.


    Ronin tapped my shoulder with Gunther ready to translate.


    ¡°Ronin says that the Noxu have received the news and are waiting on their side of the banks. Along with that they are guarding their side of the broken wall.¡± Gunther reported.


    ¡°How long have they been guarding it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ronin says he doesn¡¯t know, that is something only the Noxu Colonel knows, let''s hope nothing is inside their side of the wall.¡± Gunther said, off in the distance I heard several large rumbling as a Behemoth was activated and began moving.

 Old: Chapter 6

    Yrnag slammed his scaled fists on the table, knocking over the candle lantern.


    ¡°You told me we went down the Central River, and that fort downstream is not Fomf!¡± He yelled at his crew''s navigator, he then turned to the Captain Tukwm who remained stoic despite the yelling. ¡°And you.¡± He angrily approached the Beastkin Captain tapping him on the chest.


    The hippo beastkin dwarfed Yrnag Hric. ¡°You didn¡¯t check your navigator''s work, and as such everyones pay here is getting docked! Get this ship turned around and back up the river!¡± He yelled, and angrily left outside.


    His ship the Hric was a merchant vessel of the Hlpecby Theocracy, he was making an inland journey towards the Toh Empire. Yet they weren¡¯t in Toh, they should be somewhere in one of their frontiers or at the edge of it as the river marked the edge of any definitive control by the Treyarch Penal Force.


    He stomped to the bow of the ship overlooking the front of the ship, the slave oar rowers continued rowing meaning the order hadn¡¯t gotten them yet.


    He scowled looking down the river, he looked on his left and saw the wooden fort pass them by.


    He began stomping his right foot angrily onto the deck below. ¡°Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!¡± He cursed.


    ¡°Yrnag Hric, yelling at your crew members won¡¯t get anything done.¡± Said Rivm Erma.


    Yrnag heard the clack of her heels on the wooden boards of the ship approaching him on the bow.


    He turned to face the Treyarch, calming himself down before he responded and said ¡°They are all idiots, and yelling is the only way I can get the message across.¡±


    The Treyarch was a tall pretty Hobgoblin looking woman, but he knew she was something else entirely.


    ¡°Well, you are right about the fact that Fort is not Fomf.¡± Rivma looked at the fort, ¡°and it seems uninhabited, which doesn¡¯t look good.¡± She said grimly.


    Yrnag looked at the fort that was behind them and onto the Banks and saw a single goblin running along with the ship, yelling and waving their arms at them.


    ¡°Well there''s a single goblin on the banks yelling at us. What does it want?¡± He asked.


    Rivma looked at the goblin and said ¡°ignore the goblin, it''s a convict soldier trying to gain freedom by sneaking onto lost merchant vessels. I suggest your men be careful not to have that murderer sneak up on them when we stop to drag it back up.¡±


    Yrnag looked at the disheveled goblin on the banks yelling and waving and said ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°Sir Yrnag!¡± Yelled the spotter from the mast.


    He angrily turned but remembered the guest was here and decided against beratings. ¡°What is it?¡± He calmly yelled.


    ¡°Walls, I see walls off in the horizon!¡± The Navigator answered.


    ¡°Walls?¡± Rivma asked.


    ¡°What do you mean walls?¡± Yrnag asked.


    At the same time two green vines appeared out of Rivma¡¯s arms and she picked herself up to the height of the mast.


    ¡°Like city walls! It looks like a wall that protects a city!¡± The spotter responded.


    Rivma backed up the Spotters words. ¡°Yes, it looks like there''s a town wall! But it doesn¡¯t belong to any of the towns I know. There is no gate regulating traffic or a naval guard!¡± She yelled from above.


    Yrnag climbed up the pole on the bow, which had a beautifully exquisite statue of his wife in it. He didn¡¯t see it initially from his position way below the mast, but as they got closer he began to see it, it was far off a small line but he saw it.


    He looked to the left bank and there he saw a large crowd, it was still far off but it was getting closer by the minute.


    ¡°There''s a crowd over on the left bank!¡± The spotter yelled.


    ¡°Yeah I see it!¡± Yrnag responded.


    ¡°Stop the ship! I think that crowd is human!¡± Rivma yelled.


    Yrnag turned to Rivma, still perched on her long vine arms. ¡°Human? They won¡¯t be able to touch us if they don¡¯t have iron weapons or magic. We¡¯ll fight the local humans for those walls and we¡¯ll rest there for the day then head back.¡±


    Rivma came down, her vine arms disappearing. ¡°No stop the ship, these aren¡¯t the local human tribes. They are someone else!¡± She said approaching Yrnag.


    Yrnag scoffed, ¡°You aren''t the owner of this ship, I am. If these are the local tribes we can easily kill them all by shooting at them from the river.¡± Yrnag said.


    ¡°But they aren¡¯t, in fact the local tribes were reported to have been annihilated several months ago. We shouldn¡¯t be seeing anybody here except for some local Penal forces of Goblins and Ogres.¡± Rivma tried to get through Yrnag.


    ¡°They¡¯re Dead? Then that''s the local Penal Forces, we ask them to help us pull our ship back up river for however long they are allowed to and we pull it the rest of the way.¡± Yrnag quickly made a plan in his head.


    ¡°That could work.¡± Rivma said, looking at the crowd that was getting closer that was running towards the ship.


    The navigator approached Yrnag. ¡°Sir there''s no walls on the map, once I readjusted our position I found out there''s no Walls or towns located along the entire southern river.¡± The Navigator deftly reported.


    ¡°No walls?¡± Yrnag squeaked out. ¡°And if the local human tribes are dead then who is that crowd?¡± Yrnag looked towards the now much closer crowd which seemed to be wanting to intercept them at a certain point.


    The spotter then reported from the mast ¡°Sir Yrnag! I have a clear view of the crowd; they seem to be wearing full body iron armor!¡±


    ¡°Iron armor?¡± Yrnag looked at the crowd once more and he saw no shining metal off in the distance.


    ¡°The local Penal forces do not wear full body iron armor.¡± Rivma said with a grim expression.


    ¡°Stop the ship, tell the slave oar rowers to stop and reverse the ship!¡± Yrnag ordered ¡°now!¡±


    Yrnag saw the oars suddenly change direction of movement, attempting to counteract the movement of the river and momentum of the ship. Yet it wasn¡¯t enough, the river was too strong and quickly after the oars stopped.


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    ¡°Sir the rowers are exhausted!¡± Yelled a man below deck.


    ¡°Yrnag I beg of you stop the ship, I do not want to know who those strangers with full Iron Armor are.¡± Rivma said wearily.


    ¡°Stop the ship, drop the anchor if you have to but stop!¡± Yrnag ordered.


    The captain was running around yelling, giving out the appropriate orders. Soon afterwards several blocks of iron were dropped, causing the ship to suddenly jolt to a stop.


    ¡°Let''s hope the anchor pins hold.¡± Rivma said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the anchor pins, I hired the best shipbuilders in all of Hlpecby. I say let''s hope those strangers on the banks don¡¯t attack us.¡± Yrnag answered.


    ¡°Sir Yrnag, the large crowd with full iron armor is approaching the ship. I think they saw us drop anchor!¡± The Spotter reported.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope they aren¡¯t barbaric humans.¡± Rivma said under her breath.


    Yrnag ignored Rivma and simply stared at the ever closer large crowd.


    ¡°Sir they appear to be armed with spears!¡± Reported the Spotter.


    The crowd grew closer to the point where he was able to discern individual bodies, the iron armor was dull and dented it didn¡¯t shine like new armor. Meaning it was either old or worse it saw lots of combat.


    The armored people held long, bulky planks with a knife attached to the end or nothing at all. Glowing red lights shone from their waists, along with pouch bags on their waists as well. They were all running at a good speed towards his ship.


    Then he saw the ears on them, and the face of an unarmored person wearing a cloth that covered their entire body. There was a yellow armband on their left shoulder, a long spear on their back and a book in their hand.


    Rivma however reacted differently than Yrnag. ¡°Those are humans! Get the ship moving now Yrnag! We do not want to find out what they are going to do if we remain here. We have time to get the anchors up.¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°Humans?¡± Yrnag heard many things about them and didn¡¯t like the stories. His cargo was going to get stolen, he turned to the crew and began yelling ¡°Get the ship moving now, have the oar rowers get us moving, we¡¯ll go upriver at a tributary but get us moving now!¡± He yelled.


    The ship''s anchors then began to be pulled up, and the ship started to move once more with the river''s stream. Then the oars started to splash against the river and the ship began to move much faster.


    Yrnag looked over the port side and saw the crowd was on the bank not that far ahead of them, all in a line, crouching spears pointed out towards them. He began to laugh at them, ¡°They seriously think they can hit us with their spears from the banks? Hahaha!¡± He laughed.


    Then he heard a high pitched whistle followed by dozens cracks of thunder and wooden planks being broken followed by the port oars no longer moving and then screaming.


    He looked at the crowd on the banks with another whistle, and then a wave of cracks of thunder rang out hitting the wooden walls. When the cracks of thunder rang out, dozens of flashes of light, he looked around and saw two unarmored people on the banks, a woman who had a shining object in her mouth and a man with a thin board in his hand.


    ¡°What''s going on!?¡± Yrnag yelled at the crew, who were running around panicking.


    ¡°Sir the port slave rowers below deck, they are dead!¡± Reported a sailor who had run up from below deck.


    ¡°Dead? What about the Stern rowers?¡± Yrnag asked.


    ¡°The stern rowers? Shit!¡± The sailor yelled running down ¡°Stop! Rowers! Stop, your going to cr-¡±


    Yrnag was thrown off his feet as the hull of the ship had crashed into the banks. Getting up Yrnag felt his snout was unbroken, and he moved over to the bow and saw his ship was in the banks.


    ¡°You idiots crashed the ship!¡± He turned around and began berating the crew and the slaves, then he heard yelling and stopped his beratements.


    ¡°Break into the hull!¡± He didn¡¯t understand what the yelling off in the distance was but it didn¡¯t sound good.


    He went back over to the bow and looked onto the banks, there the humans gathered around the bow which he realized was cracked. Followed by a massive red magic circle appearing above the ship''s bow right below him. With a deep long hum, as it spun on its axis.


    ¡°That''s magic! The human tribes should not know magic!¡± Rivma yelled, she seemed to activate a magic spell of her own.


    ¡°But what does that spell do?¡± Yrnag asked, he looked up and only saw red particles fall slowly from the circle that covered the entire front half of the ships.


    Then he heard the front half of the hull break with planks broken. Like a door being kicked off its hinges.


    ¡°Captain, they are breaking into the ship!¡± Yelled a sailor below deck. Then he heard nothing else than a hundred feet stomp into the ship.


    ¡°I am getting out of here.¡± Rivma said, going to the stern.


    ¡°Take me with you.¡± Yrnag asked, grabbing her arm.


    Rivma threw her arm back and pushed Yrnag away. ¡°No, your one sleazy bastard, you know that right?¡± Rivma said as she extended her arms into vines and leapt away into the forest headed towards the correct river.


    He slammed the boards as the fighting and yelling seemed to stop as he heard weapons clatter onto the ground below deck. ¡°Damn it! Damn it! Damn it¡­¡± He said slower.


    He heard the grate that covered the entryway to the lower decks creak open, and he looked on in horror as pure dull iron armor came out to the top. Followed by a leather armored person with a mask that looked like a horse.


    Followed by the unarmored woman he saw on the banks.


    ¡°Capture them all and take any valuables they may have.¡± The woman said in the unknown deep sounding tongue.


    One of the armored foreigners picked him up roughly by the shoulder with leathered gloves.


    ¡°Hey careful this expensive cloth-¡± The armored foreigner flicked him in the snout, and then held his snout closed like an animal.


    ¡°What do we do with this one?¡± The armored foreigner asked in a muffled voice to another armored foreigner with a yellow armband.


    In another muffled voice the yellow armband foreigner responded, ¡°Just time them up, capture all those who don¡¯t resist.¡±


    Yrnag didn¡¯t understand but he was sure they were capturing people, was it slaves they were looking for? He was dragged to the base of the mast, then was tied to it with rope probably from below deck.


    Up above the spotter was yelling at several unarmored foreigners to not come up. ¡°Do not come up, I am warning you!¡± The spotter said.


    Looking around he saw that Captain Tuwkm, and navigator, were tied up with him.


    None of them spoke to him, but Captain Tuwkm and Navigator shot him glares.


    Then the armband woman came up to him, Yrnag saw more features of these people now. The woman had clear, tanned skin, with gray hair, and a pair of gray cat beastkin ears, wearing cotton clothing that was a dark gray.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± The woman asked in her foreign tongue.


    ¡°Most were below deck, and we have kept them below deck.¡± The armored foreigner with the yellow armband said with a muffled tongue.


    Yrnag didn¡¯t understand a single word but it was clear to him that they were talking about the crew from the way that she glances below deck, and at them.


    ¡°They look important, so they should know where we are on the map.¡± The woman said, as the two armored foreigners grabbed him by the shoulders, along with Captain Tuwkm and Navigator. They were shepherded into his room.


    The room was untouched, with nothing much having been moved. The map that laid on the table was still there, it showed the entire area they were in.


    The woman placed a compass on the table facing Winter, right below the directions.


    ¡°They know how directions work.¡± The navigator said.


    ¡°What do you think they want to know?¡± Yrnag asked.


    ¡°Our location, I¡¯m guessing.¡± Tuwkm said.


    The woman raised an eyebrow, arms crossed. The woman was watching all of them silently, and she tapped on the map and looked into the desk.


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t go thro-¡± He was flicked on the nose by one of the armored foreigners.


    The woman pulled a feathered writing utensil out of the desk and looked at it, she seemed unsure how to use it. Then she brought out a glass of ink and some parchment.


    She drew something on the parchment. It took her a moment to figure out how to use the feather but after a bit she turned the parchment around and showed them what she drawed.


    A rectangle, in the top left of the rectangle was the four cardinal directions. Morning, Evening, Winter, and Summer. Left, Right, Up, Down. It was a crude copy of the directions by Yrnag, there was a large symbol X, a mark on the representation map.


    ¡°What are they asking?¡± Yrnag whispered to the Navigator.


    ¡°I think they are asking where we are on the map.¡± Navigator said.


    Tuwkm then gave grunts to the foreigners and looked at his hands and back at the woman.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to tell us to unbind his hands. Release his hands but be ready for anything.¡± The woman said in that foreign tongue.


    Tuwkm held up his hands and slowly brought his hand onto the map.


    ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± Yrnag began to try and undo his binds to stop Tuwkm. The armored foreigners flicked him on the snout once more to get him to stop and he did.


    Tuwkm then tapped the exact spot they were in or the general area really, the woman brought the inked feather and placed a dot on the spot tapped on the map. The woman looked at the map and gave a wide smile, almost happy with what she was seeing on the map.


    They were at the bottom of the map, far away from anything else at the edge of the Goardsdaf Colony. Not that far winter of them would be Fhof town, which he was sure Rivm was going towards now or the general direction towards. Hopefully they would send a rescue party for them and deal with these foreigners.


    But something told him that rescue wouldn¡¯t come or would be easy, by the way she was looking and tapping over the map talking with the man with her.


    Tuwkm pointed at himself and said ¡°Tuwkm Seimer.¡±


    The woman was taken off guard and didn¡¯t immediately respond, she narrowed her eyes and then she relaxed and pointed at herself.


    ¡°See e oh. Ceo.¡± Was what Yrnag heard her say.


    Tuwkm nodded and she approached Tuwkm.


    ¡°I think you and I are going to be good friends once we learn how to speak each other''s tongue. Take Tuwkm to the place he wants to go but let him not leave the ship, not yet at least.¡± Yrnag didn¡¯t understand but from the non threatening nature she spoke, despite her deep voice it was almost an invitation or inauguration to have their people join them.


    ¡°If you''re allowed to leave, go get- '''' Tuwkm flicked Yrnag on the snout, causing the merchant to pause and widened his eyes. Tuwkm gave a toothy grin to him, pointed at the fort and pointed at everybody here.


    ¡°I think Tuwkm is asking if he can take everybody to the fort.¡± The yellow armband armored foreigner said in their native tongue.


    The woman looked at the fort, then at Yrnag and the Navigator.


    ¡°We could use it as a prison depending on what is in there. But we need to check it out first.¡±


    The armored men then grabbed them and pulled them down into the lower decks tying them down. With Tuwkm being left on the ship, he wasn¡¯t sure what they took but he didn¡¯t like the idea of losing so much merchandise.


    Which was in the room next to the room they were put into. Yet he couldn¡¯t see it, but he knew it would be useless by now.


    Tuwkm was left with several of the armored foreigners to watch over them as the others left for the fort.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you betrayed me like that.¡± Yrnag said.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t such an asshole I would have not tied you up.¡±A

 Old: Chapter 7

    I opened the wooden boxes the alien ship had in their storage space.


    ¡°Look at this. They seem to be transporting luxury goods.¡± I picked up a large green gem ¡°and something I can use to build an AC with.¡± I said.


    Shark looked at the green gem I had in my hand, ¡°That''s one big gem and what do you mean you can build an AC with that gem?¡±


    ¡°General, do you know where my family got our money from 100 years ago?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Air Conditioners and Desalination plants, why?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Correct, the Pentagon has been using my family company¡¯s ACs for nearly 75 years now. But do you know how the AC units work?¡± I asked, placing the green gem and looking at the other big gems.


    ¡°I actually don¡¯t really know myself. That''s something my son would know.¡± Shark answered.


    ¡°Well the Building AC HVAC System the Pentagon has installed, uses 5 520 nm DPSS 10 watt Lasers reflected at a 45 degree angle hitting water to cool incoming air in the system. An AC system that uses green lasers based on the Photomolecular effect, an oversimplification but that''s how my family started to gain all of its money it has today. And an AC unit using those patents is what I was taught to build and manage. I was expected to at least know how to build my family''s legacy from scratch. These green gems might allow me to do that.¡± I said finishing my explanation.


    ¡°Your family got all its money from revolutionizing AC units? I thought it was developing revolutionary dedicated robotic and AI hardware?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°That''s what allowed us to be worth a trillion dollars by 2080, but not what started it. Remember my company is nearly a century old and started in the 2030s after my Great GrandFather showed off his AC system to his entire neighborhood before a major heat wave hit San Antonio.¡± I said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, and I worked with you for a year.¡± Shark said, opening another box and then immediately closing it.


    ¡°Well it was only for a year and it''s not like we went out for dinner or anything other than that. Well I could build an AC Unit assuming this is the type of gems used in the lasers the AC Units use, but it''s probably not.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well there''s probably something out there you can use or make it yourself.¡± Shark said.


    I looked at Shark and said ¡°You honestly think I know all the intricate processes of making a laser? I studied aerospace, and I didn¡¯t build AC units at the same time unlike my Great Grandfather. Honestly I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever do what he did.¡± I sighed as I attempted to end my spiraling thoughts but to no avail.


    ¡°Look kid, your Great GrandFather is an old man from a bygone era that influenced what we are today. Do your own thing different from him, and the situation we have today is very much different from what he had to deal with. So let''s take all of these items and check out that fort not to farm from here.¡± Shark said.


    I sighed, ¡°You are right about that, attention everybody!¡± I yelled to the force ¡°Take these boxes out of the ship if we can. If not, leave them here and we¡¯ll go check out the fort we were originally planning to get.¡± I said.


    Everybody that was in the room nodded and began trying to move the boxes. I tried moving one myself, but it felt like it was connected to the hull itself. No amount of force would even nudge the boxes.


    ¡°James.¡± Daniel said, approaching me.


    I stopped my attempts at moving the boxes ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I think we have to take everything out of the boxes if we are to move them. Unless we are missing something about the boxes, as we can¡¯t even nudge the boxes without breaking the floor.¡± Daniel explained.


    I sighed and said ¡°I completely agree with your idea.¡± I turned to everybody else in the room and said ¡°We¡¯ll get the items later, after we check out the fort we were originally out here for.¡± I ordered.


    All the soldiers nodded and I entered the room next over where the captured crew was held, Hippo looking Tuwkm was watching over the crew. A few other members were free and were feeding the ones that were in chains.


    A lieutenant I recognized as the commanding officer of the second Platoon of the Company came up to me. ¡°Ma¡¯am what do you want us to do with the captured crew?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well have the unarmored part of the company take them to the Broken Wall for further interrogation and information gathering. Maybe we could learn their language and figure out who they are and where we are exactly.¡± I ordered.


    ¡°Alright ma¡¯am.¡± He said and then left soon after I received a message from the lieutenant towards his platoon.


    ¡°Gather the prisoners and march them towards the Broken Wall.¡±


    ¡°So you are taking them to the walls?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Yes, it''s the only place I can think of that we can keep them safe for interrogation purposes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well the entire stormtrooper force is ready to leave and we are waiting for you to get moving as well.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be going with y¡¯all, the Lieutenant and his platoon can handle himself well enough. They aren¡¯t marching on a fortification, you are so I might as well join you to give a bit of extra firepower.¡± I said, as I began walking down the stairs towards the open hole in the hull.


    The bottom deck was claustrophobic but at the end was an opening around the size of a grown man 6 feet tall. I carefully moved through the hole which while much bigger than me had splinters everywhere which wouldn¡¯t be pretty if I wasn¡¯t careful.


    On the other side I was met with 50 armored men standing around waiting for me and Shark.


    ¡°Well let''s get moving to our target.¡± I ordered, taking the lead of the disorderly crowd of stormtroopers.


    Ronin took the spot behind me, while Daniel was on my right and Shark on my left.


    ¡°The fort is a lot less than I expected.¡± Daniel said, as they got closer to the fort.


    ¡°Well it was barely perceptible with binoculars twenty feet up, what''d you expect?¡± I asked.


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    The fort they saw had a central wooden watchtower up on a hill which was in the middle of the compound. Which was somewhat large with wooden fortifications that were in the shape of stakes, there were two large double gates with two shorter guard towers flanking the gate.


    It looked almost like a prison with the way it was built, I couldn¡¯t see above the tall wooden walls which were made out of tree trunks tied together with rope of some kind. The walls were around ten feet tall along with the gate, the guard towers were no more than fifteen feet off the ground.


    ¡°Is it just me or is no one home?¡± Daniels commented.


    ¡°Yeah, the guard towers next to the gates are empty.¡± I said, trying to look into the wooden tower next to the gate. Which was a simple open air tower, with short walls probably acting as cover placed behind the wall.


    On either guard tower it was empty; you would expect someone to be on it guarding the gate, especially after the first attack.


    I sighed and approached the closer wooden gate, which seemed to be the most well developed out of everything here. It was a wide double gate spanning about 15 feet for each individual door of the gate.


    I pushed on the gate, and it nudged but it seemed blocked.


    ¡°It''s locked.¡± I said, I looked around and saw there was no mechanism, just a simple wall. ¡°Probably with a big piece of wood that prevents it from moving.¡± I concluded.


    ¡°I say we blow up the gate.¡± Daniels said.


    ¡°Well that''s the only way we can get in. But I am surprised we haven¡¯t been attacked yet.¡± I said, looking at the guard tower with suspicion.


    ¡°As I said, probably no one is home.¡± Daniels said.


    ¡°Well we have to be cautious anyways, hopefully us blowing up the door will get anyone there to surrender.¡± I said approaching the closest Stormtrooper AT Gunner, ¡°you blow up the center of the gate with your AT gun. Everybody get away from the gate!¡± I ordered.


    Everybody did as I ordered and the Stormtrooper I ordered from before got into position, aimed and aimed. I was wondering if he knew how to get magic to run when the gun activated with a light hum and five seconds later a red beam of light came out of the barrel and immediately after an explosion rang out.


    The gate flung off its hinges and away from the wall, and a loud crash was heard. The doors of the gate seemed to hit a building of sorts as the crash followed by a loud collapse of wood and maybe dirt.


    As a lot of dust came out of the gate obscuring the view passed the gate, when the dust settled. Saw dust, possibly dirt, and smoke revealed on the inside was neatly arranged mudbrick houses flanking two sides of a road or street. It seemed almost like a ghost town in it, there wasn¡¯t a soul insight in the gate.


    No one dared to move an inch closer to the gate, in fact everybody agreed that the silence wasn¡¯t good and holstered our weapons out. Including me.


    I didn¡¯t even need to give an order as everybody looked in all directions. Even the banks of the river.


    ¡°Shark what do you think? An ambush or something?¡± I asked the middle aged general.


    Shark answered as he had his LMG pointed at the gate. ¡°Not sure, I mainly use drone swarms to deal with enemies. Gunther you participated in the 2071 American Invasion of China, what do you think?¡± Shark asked the middle aged man standing next to Ronin.


    Gunther on the other hand seemed eerily calm in the midst of the tense situation, ¡°Well I think Mr. Daniel''s deduction that no one is home is correct. If there was a large force here waiting in ambush, I think they would realize that us blowing up the gate means they just lost their defensive advantage of being able to perform urban warfare. If we can just blow up the walls and let loose a hail of bullets into their mudbrick houses, which 9 mil bullets is the only bullet type that won¡¯t be able to pierce the walls of the mudbrick houses.¡± He said.


    ¡°And I am assuming the moment they realize that they didn¡¯t have that advantage then they would¡¯ve attacked by now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, and if they were lying in wait in the houses. We would¡¯ve heard screaming from the building that was hit by the gate.¡± Gunther said pointing towards the collapsed mudbrick single story building.


    I sighed, ¡°Well, I hope Lieutenant Gunther is correct.¡± I turned to the rest of the very tense company. ¡°We are going inside the fortress, I cannot promise no attack but be prepared. There''s probably no one in there, and we killed them all last night. If they are there, let''s hope they surrender.¡± I said, everybody seemed unconvinced by my speech.


    A few nodded weakly they seemed equally as scared as I was, while most continued looking at all of our flanks.


    I sighed, ¡°let''s get moving, watch all the angles where we can be attacked from. After we confirm it''s clear we¡¯ll move onto the next plan of action, which we¡¯ll discuss later. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°What is our goal here?¡± A stormtrooper asked in the back.


    ¡°Gather any information we can find, it doesn''t matter. Books, maps, weapons, letters, and most importantly gather any food we come across.¡± I looked around, ¡°any more questions?¡± I asked, no one said anything. ¡°Alright then let''s go inside.¡±


    The 2 Platoons cautiously moved forward, and passed the gate without incident. Passing the gate I saw the road was littered with well nothing, it was empty like a place meant to be slept in but for nothing else.


    The left gate door was on a building, looking around the other buildings were literally just mud bricks, from dirt you can get out of the ground. It wasn¡¯t clay bricks, just dirt probably dried and combined with some other things. They were also not that tall, only 6 feet in height at max, which was why we couldn¡¯t see them over the wall.


    ¡°These houses aren¡¯t of good quality.¡± I commented.


    Shark was next to me looking at the entrance of the building. We were looking at ¡°how can you tell?¡±


    ¡°I am not a professional but I don¡¯t think the bricks these houses are made of are clay. It looks more like dirt, probably using some processes used to make bricks but instead of a specific clay, they grabbed dirt from nearby and used that.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yeah, this looks like it could be washed away by a flood in a snap and be destroyed. Instead of just being floated away by a flood.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Yeah, I can agree with that assertion.¡± I said.


    ¡°Calm down, but yeah I saw someone in that tower over there.¡± Gunther said.


    I looked at the guard tower again, I saw it clearly and it meant the ones in the tower could see us clearly too. All the way down the roads, I didn¡¯t see how many roads there were but I didn¡¯t see any ever cross over one another.


    I brought out my clipboard, and sent: ¡°Ignore if you''re in the walls. Someone is home, go towards the wall that is away from the entrance gate.¡± Orders from Ceo MacNCheese.


    Immediately thereafter all 100 people of the 2 platoons that were a part of this scouting force quickly began rushing down towards the wall.


    Daniels rushed up to me and asked. ¡°You said someone was home?¡±


    ¡°Yes, in the guard tower there.¡± I pointed to the left guard tower.


    ¡°That''s not good.¡± Daniels said.


    ¡°Should we scare them by blowing up the gate?¡± Daniel Suggested.


    ¡°Well it is the only real option we have, especially since this is the place where last night attackers came from.¡± I said.


    Daniel nodded ¡°Alright you heard her, get the AT gun up here and blow up the gate!¡± Daniel ordered the closest AT Gunner.


    Who got to the front and everybody else got behind. The magic spell opened and the moment it activated, I heard foreign yelling from the otherside.


    ¡°It sounds like someone is home.¡± I said.


    Right after that the gun fired, an explosion rocked the walls and the buildings seemed to lose some structural stability even. The gates flew backwards, and I heard cracking beyond the smoke, and dust followed by a few splinters flying out.


    When the dust settled, I saw the gates had slammed into the hillside causing the gate to splinter into pieces.


    I looked at the guard towers once more, and I saw someone or something in it. This time much more clearly, they looked on in shock at us all very much confused and scared.


    I couldn¡¯t see many details other than it was a dark green in skin color and small. Although the distance and angle I saw it at didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°I guess it is time to go inside this wall now.¡± I pointed at the thing in the guard tower ¡°also capture that thing you see in the guard tower there.¡± I ordered Daniel.


    ¡°Alright, I will get it.¡± Daniel turned to the ten armored men behind him, ¡°let''s go squad.¡± He ordered and they took off followed by everyone else cautiously passing the other gate.


    We passed the gate without incident. I was in the front surrounded by Daniels men, Ronin in front of me cautiously looking around, almost scared. He was looking at the guard tower I did too.


    On the back was a wall that prevented me from looking into it, except for a ladder that entered the tower.


    We stopped right at the foot of the hill as Daniels'' men moved towards the two forts and looked inside of them.


    I heard a resounding clang from the left guard tower and I looked left. An arrow had slammed into the top of the stormtrooper''s helmet who was at the entrance.


    The stormtrooper responded by rapidly climbing the ladder which gained the response of more arrows having been shot into the armor. From the resounding clangs I heard from the guard tower followed by high pitched nasally screaming in an alien tongue.


    The stormtrooper that had entered the tower dragged a small green humanoid out of the building, no taller than four feet in fact. Its leg was bruised, which was likely the spot it was grabbed and pulled down from the guard tower.


    I approached the small thing, it looked similar to the attackers from last night. The goblins as I had dubbed them, and I was confirmed they were goblins from last night. This one was disheveled and looked like it was hungry, deep bags were in its eyes.


    The pupils of the eyes were tiny, like they were more adapted for seeing in the night than the day. It wore ragged clothing, which only further exaggerated its disheveled state.


    ¡°What are you?¡± I asked.


    The tiny Goblin immediately began crawling backwards up the hill, yelling and it was trying to avoid looking at me. The moment I looked at it, it tried to look away avoiding my gaze. I didn¡¯t think much of it, except for the fact it was trying to run away yelling.


    Halfway up the hill I saw it get onto its hind legs and began running upright, with a bit of a limp. By then its yelling stopped when it no longer was crawling backwards and looking at me, when it reached the top it disappeared over the hill with only the tower being viewable from the angle I was at.


    Moments later I heard a deep guttural yell in an alien tongue, followed by the goblin from before falling from the sky in two pieces.


    The upper half of the body landed right in front of me with a disgusting squelch as its intestines oozed out of the dead body. The bottom half somewhere in the crowd, we all looked at the hill.

 Old: Chapter 8

    ¡°Sky Demon, show yourself!¡± Yelled a deep gutteral voice in a heavily accented but understandable english voice.


    ¡°They know english?¡± Was all I could say, as I brought up my SMG and checked if it was loaded.


    Shark stepped up on to my right LMG in hand, ¡°I am more worried about who this sky demon that voice yelled out for.¡±


    The voice from the top yelled again, ¡°Don¡¯t act like you don¡¯t know who I am talking about Sky Demon. Show yourself!¡± It was demanded in English once more.


    Ronin silently stepped in front of me with a flamethrower at the ready, Daniel stepped up onto my left Shotgun in hand. ¡°It sounds like someone here among us somehow has a reputation with the locals already. Being called a demon from the sky is a reputation that sounds both cool and terrifying.¡± Daniel commented.


    Gunther stepped right next to Ronin, his rifle and bayonet ready, ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t give a damn, I just want food and if this guy knows English, then we should capture him.¡±


    ¡°I completely agree with that statement but if we stand here we¡¯ll get nothing done.¡± I said, looking at the top of the hill.


    Then a figure appeared at the top of the hill, everyone took aim at it. The figure despite being silhouetted I could somehow feel it was pointing at. ¡°The tanned unarmored woman with cat ears, surrounded by soldiers in the front. You are the Sky Demon the Goblin Champion Senum Mermace is referring to.¡± The figure said in a heavily accented English I couldn¡¯t recognise except the same as the deeper voice from before.


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked, pointing to myself. ¡°For your information I¡¯ve only been here for about 2 days. I am not this Sky Demon you are talking about.¡±


    The figure responded angrily, with almost a hiss in its voice. ¡°You lie, I remember your face. Everyone here knows your face, you built those walls in which you inhabit, barely over the horizon.¡±


    Everybody looked at me, and held up a hand ¡°I do not know what the fuck is going on. I don ot know where the fuck we are, and I think these people are pulling bullshit out their ass.¡± I said angrily and I looked towards Daniel to back me up who was surprised by cursing.


    ¡°Ceo is telling the truth, Ceo only cusses when they really need to make something clear or hit home a point.¡± Daniel said.


    Everybody else seemed to take this at face value, and looked at the figure.


    ¡°If you continue following that Demon, then may your god save your poor souls from whatever torment she may bring you.¡± The figure said off in the distance.


    I had enough of this idiotic charade and standing around doing nothing, I holstered my SMG, grabbed my whistle and yelled ¡°Capture them all! Charge!¡± I blew the whistle and everybody ran forward. I pulled out my spell book, I would activate the spell once we reached the top.


    ¡°That figure is mine!¡± I yelled, charging ahead at top speed outrunning literally everyone.


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t go ahead you¡¯ll kill yourself!¡± I heard Daniel say it, but I didn¡¯t listen.


    When I reached the top of the hill, I suddenly felt myself get thrown backwards by a bit. However I didn¡¯t hit the ground or went flying as far as the goblin did, no I was caught by Gunther and Ronin.


    ¡°You good kid?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks for catching me.¡± I said to both of them, getting up with help from Ronin and Gunther.


    ¡°Told you not to run ahead.¡± Daniel said as he too was forced backwards and we had to catch him. His armor was much lighter than I expected but the hit did hurt a bit.


    ¡°Stop! There''s something forcing us back.¡± I ordered everybody to stop. With the ones at the top having been forced backwards into the sky but the force wasn¡¯t enough to send them flying unlike the lighter goblins.


    We were quite literally right below the top, the incline the hill had was hard to keep footing on but I was able to crawl upwards to see what was happening.


    There I saw the small figure much better, they wore a wooden mask in the shape of a face and I didn''t recognize it. They wore brown linen clothing, holding a wooden staff that was glowing green emanating a force field of sorts that was a barely opaque mostly transparent green wall.


    Next to the goblin was a big guy, possibly coming in at 7 feet or so. They had gray skin with green stripes looking almost like tiger stripes but green on gray, a large horn was tipped sharply on a bald head covered in numerous amounts of healed scars, and healed bruises. They were shirtless with only a sort of skirt covering their genitals.They held a massive cleaver looking sword with numerous dents and scratches in it, and a bit of blood that looked fresh.


    Surrounding them were a dozen or so smaller goblins that were scraggly as the one that is in two pieces at the bottom of the hill. They all held bows with arrows loaded in them all at the ready to shoot at a moment''s notice.


    They were in front of the tower, behind some short stakes acting as a sort of cover. Next to them there were three mudbrick buildings, similar in size to the buildings down below. However they seemed to have put more care into its building, from more wood having been used to support its structure.


    I crawled back down as an arrow had slammed into the spot I was at, throwing up lots of dirt almost like a bullet. In fact it burrowed itself through the ground and its tip stuck out the other side.


    ¡°Christ.¡± I said as I realized that they might have a lot of firepower.


    ¡°So that''s why they weren¡¯t shooting at us from above. Their arrows would be going too fast to accurately fire non direct volley methods.¡± Gunther surmised right below me as dirt fell down the hill.


    ¡°Would a dozen volley spells break their wall?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that wall is just a gust of air that forces us back or something else. So I am not sure if a blast spell would even work, or the magic shells would just be redirected back at us like a game of cursed ping pong.¡± I said.


    ¡°It''s worth a shot to shoot the wall with an explosive spell.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll crawl back up there and activate a blast spell. Hopefully I can run away fast enough before they would be able to respond or the spell fires.¡± I said.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a medkit waiting for you, if you do get injured.¡± Gunther said.


    I nodded, ¡°Tell Ronin to wait here.¡±


    ¡°Sky Demon, why don¡¯t you just summon your constructs and have them destroy us?¡± The goblin leader asked.


    ¡°Because, I want to beat your asses personally.¡± I answered, crawling up towards the top I readied a blast spell and once I saw that green translucent wall I activated the spell. It took me a second but I visualized what would happen, then I heard the low loud almost ship horn like drone of the blast spell.


    I instinctively ran away from where I activated the spell.


    Then ¡°BOOM!!!¡± As all I heard was my ears ringing, dirt flying up, and I realized I was rolling down the hill, only to be caught by Ronin.


    I looked at the top of the hill and saw the dust was thrown up right where the green forcefield was. My ears were still ringing as was likely everyone else''s, I was sure my eardrums were blown out but I saw red particles start to fall above me. The ringing stopped and my hearing returned, and time seemingly slowed down.


    I got up quickly and ran up the hill, to see the others were right ahead of me.


    ¡°Capture the one in the wooden mask!¡± I ordered as I saw a large cleaver swing my way.


    I couldn¡¯t move out of the way and I slammed into the large cleaver like a sword, yet my body was as hard as steel with only my uniform having been cut.


    But my momentum was only stopped as the sword came down to me at an extreme. I was barely able to react but I didn¡¯t need to. I was essentially unkillable for as long as the spell was active which meant I needed to make the most of my time with these temporary boosts to my own abilities.


    The large unicorn thing, which I think was the Goblin Champion Senum Mermace their leader was referring to before. The sword slammed down onto me several times in quick succession, on my head, my shoulder, stomach, and legs.


    The Goblin Champion scowled at me and he simply charged forward yet he wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. Thing was I could move with the force of a Rhinoceros, because I was just that much faster.


    I got into a running stance and pushed off with my right foot, I was likely moving at 60 or so miles an hour.


    The gs from the acceleration barely bothered me as I slammed my head into the Goblin Champions chest and rib cage area, I heard every single bone in his chest crack gruesomely as I sent the large Champion flying backwards.


    I saw the Goblin Champions face, he barely had got the chance to react as one moment he was running the next he was in the air.


    I immediately tried to break on the grass, and the moment my boots had hit the grass I was thrown forward into the short wooden stakes. I had hit the pointed end of the stakes, yet I didn¡¯t feel the stakes as they had broken from the rapid cracking of them as I slammed into them at 40 miles an hour.


    There was nothing I could use to stop myself, except to spread my arms out and slam into the tower. Which I did anyway, without the part where I spread out my arms like an angel.


    I slammed into one of the central support logs of the watch tower, which only cracked partially, not all the way there would likely be lots of weak points now in it. I fell down and immediately got up at my normal speed with my reaction time increased to twice as fast meaning I likely appeared as a demon to the goblins.


    I looked up and saw they were already captured by everybody else and the healing spell wasn¡¯t even over yet. The entire event probably took only 20 seconds.


    And the spell ended, in reality the fight took 30 seconds. 5 seconds fighting 25 seconds in the air and slamming into things like a wrecking ball.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am you good?¡± Gunther rushed over to check on me.


    ¡°Yes I am, I stopped being a wrecking ball right before it ended meaning I healed either way.¡± I said.


    ¡°I am surprised your clothes are still holding on.¡± Gunther said.


    I looked down and I saw my uniform just torn to shreds, barely holding on for dear life. The pants had been torn from knees down with bits having been torn up at the hip. The shirt barely covered my breast which I had barely begun to notice that they exist, now they were revealed to me. The sleeves had been cut where the cleaver like sword of the Goblin Champion had hit me with a lot of force that should¡¯ve killed me.


    ¡°Me too, stop staring.¡± I told him.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He said looking at something else.


    ¡°James.¡± Daniel said, approaching me helmet down with several arrows in his armor. ¡°How did you even do that?¡±


    I looked at the destruction around me, the Goblin Champions chest caved in his heart and lungs likely crushed. Towards the stakes which was covered with ripped cloth of my clothing, and towards the tower which its central support was partially caved in.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, all I know is that I am given immense strength, healing, speed and increased reaction time while a healing spell is active over me. Do you get that?¡± I asked.


    Daniel looked at the devastation I created. ¡°I do get something similar, but not to the level of you. You probably broke a zero to 60 speed record just right now.¡±


    ¡°I think I did.¡± I looked at the goblins ¡°but it seems like you guys are in much more control than I am, so let''s go home and interrogate our captives, but I need to go find what they have here.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, you''re going to check out the mud brick house over there, and I''ll check out the tower?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, as long as we see what they have.¡± I said, quickly approaching the mudbrick house.


    Everybody was staring at me, and I was sure most here are 16 year old boys. With half having been genderbent into girls, but I could care less as I had more pressing matters to deal with.


    I entered the building, with Ronin having placed himself at the entrance of the small building.


    Inside I found an actual bed, it used ropes as a mattress with a simple thin blanket. It was on the right side of the building which was a single room. An actual desk that seemed to be crafted by hand was at the foot of the bed.


    There was a chair that wasn''t pushed in like they left in a rush, the desk was wooden pure wood. A candle lamp sat on the top left of the desk, there was a piece of parchment in the center of the desk with a message written on it in an unknown language I didn¡¯t recognize.


    A small bottle of ink with a feather quill in the bottle sat on the desk on the top right of the desk. There was a cubby below the top of the desk, I felt my hand in it and found simply more parchment and a curved wooden hand.


    I grabbed it and saw it was a stamp with a seal on its stamp end. A plant that looked like a venus flytrap with only one mouth, and flowers on it. I took the ink, parchment, feather and stamp. I felt around some more and found nothing more and so I left.


    Almost everybody was still outside when I got out, with the captives being tied up. Shark was with the goblin leader interrogating him.


    ¡°Who do you call your people?¡± Shark asked calmly.


    The goblin leader didn¡¯t speak, simply staring downward at the ground.


    Shark sighed, ¡°Alright then let''s start with your name.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you for as long as that demon is alive.¡± The Goblin Leader threw me a glare.


    Shark sighed once and pinched his nose. ¡°The name is Shark.¡± He said, sitting down getting down to the Goblins height.


    The goblin clicked his tongue and said ¡°Adertan.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Adertan.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°That''s all I¡¯m going to tell you, Shark.¡± Adertan said.


    I approached the two, Adertan was on the ground legs crossed ¡°Well I believe it''s time we went home. It is getting somewhat late.¡± I said, the time was probably around 5 PM.


    Shark got up and faced me. ¡°We also need to get all the stuff from that ship too, so we¡¯ll be getting home pretty late.¡±


    I looked down at my torn up uniform. ¡°Along with new clothes for me, I can''t believe I already ruined this uniform. Might need to rock the Adushashan uniform now, or I could go with the Rostoran uniform.¡± I said as we walked down the hill towards the gate.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be in the back Shark if you need to know where I am.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, the missions about to be over anyways take a break from all the leading.¡± Shark said.


    I slowed down and pulled to the side of an empty mudbrick house as the crowd quickly passed me by. Ronin as always was next to me along with Gunther of all people as well.


    ¡°I would say today was a pretty eventful day wasn¡¯t it?¡± Gunther asked as we began walking at the rear of the crowd.


    I yawned, ¡°It was an eventful day for sure, it felt so long. Now we need to get new clothing.¡± I said, looking once again at my torn up clothes which were still barely holding on.


    "Yeah, you were quite reckless today. Head butting that giant guy and somehow accelerating from 0 to 60 in like half a second. Isn¡¯t that like a bunch of gs?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡± I said as we passed the broken gate and out onto the open hilly fields, we followed the river downstream and we passed the ship.


    I looked at the beached ship and Ronin spoke, ¡°I saw some clothing in the ship''s storage, I could get you that.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Silk clothes.¡± Ronin simply said.


    ¡°That¡¯ll work.¡± I said as we splitted off from the group and Ronin led me through the empty ship. Then to one of the boxes, he was mumbling to himself in Japanese while searching the boxes.


    Ronin then brought out a simple white silk dress, ¡°you fine with dresses?¡± Ronin asked.


    ¡°As long as it fits.¡± I took the white silk dress, tested it and covered my chest and legs well enough. It was slightly larger than my size but it seemed to fit. ¡°Now I need some privacy to change.¡± I said.


    Ronin and Gunther left to the opposite entrances and guarded them, as I took off all of my torn clothing and put on the dress.


    It was a simple slip on dress, there was nothing to tie it with meaning it was very loose fitting but it didn¡¯t matter as long as it didn¡¯t fall off.


    ¡°Alright I am ready to go now.¡± I said, pulling on my boots and tying them.


    Gunther came in as did Ronin. ¡°Gonna be honest it looks like it suits you well.¡± He said.


    ¡°I just need something to cover myself, we¡¯ll be taking this stuff tomorrow morning anyways.¡± I picked up my torn and dirtied clothes and held onto them.


    I stretched out my arms and said. ¡°Well lets head back to base, we have a long week ahead of us.¡±

 Old: Chapter 9

    I looked at the goblin leader who was tied to a tree, with long strips of cloth tied together. The short thing was sitting down, avoiding eye contact with me. I was still in the dress I found on the ship we crashed into, I didn¡¯t bother changing as well as the prisoners were at the broken wall.


    ¡°So are we just going to stare at each other, or are we going to talk? Like leaders?¡± I said to the goblin.


    The goblin didn¡¯t respond, just continued looking at the ground.


    ¡°I know you understand and speak English, so let''s make a deal. I tell you who I am and you tell me who you are.¡± I said, crossing my arms.


    The goblin leader scoffed. ¡°I already know who you are, Skydemon. And I know you already know who I am.¡± I furrowed my brow at the goblin.


    ¡°Well if I should know who you are then refer to me by name, and please do remind me of your name.¡± I said curtly.


    The goblin scoffed once more, ¡°You honestly shouldn¡¯t lie to yourself, it looks bad on your father, when you fully join this game that the others have been playing since the beginning of everything.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are getting at, I simply wish to be¡­ reminded of your name and you refer to me by my name if we¡¯ve met before.¡± I said.


    ¡°The child plays dumb as well! Hah! That''s the first time I''ve ever seen one try to pull that on someone as aware as me.¡± He continued laughing.


    ¡°Child?¡± I raised an eyebrow and approached the goblin leader, who continued laughing.


    ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t know you''re a child? The creation of man, I was told you were given a lot of responsibilities the second you were born. Expected to slave away at a problem until you gained awareness similar to your creator, and like his creator. No wonder why you view yourself so high and mighty thinking you''re a big shot that can take on the world.¡± The goblin continued laughing.


    I gritted my teeth and approached the goblin even closer, then I stopped. I decided to be a little sass instead of kicking him, ¡°Oh, you got me you are one smart fella aren¡¯t chu?¡± I said with an over exaggerated Texan accent, I crouched down to his level. ¡°I do remember you, sadly only the face is all I remember.¡± I put my hand on his shoulder ¡°mind you be a good prisoner and tell me your NAME!¡± I angrily said, squeezing my hand on his shoulder harshly.


    The goblin gave a loud squeak as I squeezed his shoulder even harder, but I gave the goblin a hopefully warm smile.


    Then the goblins face seemed to have a dawn of realization on it.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t actually the Sky Demon are you?¡± He chuckled even more, ¡°for a moment there I thought I was speaking to the real deal. But now I know you are just some blind follower, too dumb to see the reality of this world. Heh.¡± The goblin closed its eyes, and I saw a pure white ball come out of his forehead.


    I took a confused step backward, not wanting to touch that white ball which was just floating with no visible anti gravity, or floatation mechanisms.


    I looked at the ball of energy with confusion, and the next thing that happened was the goblin leader just standing up, ignoring the binds to his feet, legs, arms and the tree he was tied to.


    ¡°It seems like she doesn¡¯t know how to-¡± The goblin stopped to stare at me.


    ¡°How did you break the binds?¡± I asked, slowly approaching the goblin who was now taking a step backwards through the tree he was tied to. His body lay slumped down, in fact still tied to the tree.


    ¡°You know how to access the spirit realm?¡± The goblin asked panickedly, clearly showing his frustrations. He looked behind me, towards the ground and his face became contorted with fear. I didn¡¯t bother looking behind me, just at the goblin. ¡°My lord, it seems as if the child has made sure her creations can instinctually access the spirit realm.¡± He weakly said, with a tinge of fear.


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± I asked, approaching the Goblin who then ran through the tree, I gave chase. Following his path and I passed through it as well, I quickly caught up to the goblin who¡¯s short legs couldn¡¯t take him as fast as I did.


    However he suddenly fell through a hole in the ground, a hole I was sure that wasn¡¯t there before. However I didn¡¯t give it much thought as I jumped down the hole too in a desperate attempt to make sure my source of information didn¡¯t run away.


    The hole started off as simply dirt and brightness, I could perfectly see the goblin several dozen feet below me. Then suddenly the dirt environment suddenly changed, and I found myself over a massive city, or really a highway that connected a bunch of cities.


    The goblin dived downward and then suddenly was hit by a flying open top vehicle. Plane like even, something shouldn¡¯t fly, I looked around for another plane, one that can hopefully give chase.


    Then I slammed into another one of the open top planes, but the plane didn¡¯t shudder and I didn¡¯t hurt. I stood up and looked at the singular person in the plane, a strange looking plant person.


    They didn¡¯t notice I was there, so I approached the plant and grabbed the plant by its two tendrils.


    ¡°Out!¡± I yelled at the plant throwing them off the plane.


    I sat in the pilot seat and saw the plane the goblin was speeding ahead, there were a massive amount of planes in all directions going towards infinity you could say. In all directions, I looked at the control system. It looked very familiar, similar to the in atmosphere training jets I used to fly with after I got grounded after the Pluto Mission.


    I then turned on the afterburners, speeding up to a high speed. I didn¡¯t know if vehicles could collide with one another but I didn¡¯t want to test that, so I deftly weaved passed plane after plane trying to find the one the goblin was in and there it was. The vehicle was another open top vehicle, with railings on its side, looking almost like a flying boat.


    The goblin pointed at me and was yelling.


    The computer system blared out, like the vehicle was adjusting to my expectations of what flying is.


    ¡°Target: is 100 feet away, their predicted destination is¡­¡± The computer paused for several seconds as if it was calculating something, I looked at the vehicle the goblin was in. There were several heavily armed goblins, who were bringing out what appeared to be an anti air chain flak gun, ¡°Target''s predicted destination is the Garden of Sitgc.¡±


    ¡°Ok then, if they get there then I will lose my target.¡± I said to myself, looking for the defense system.


    The computer blared out again ¡°Evade! Evade target lock from¡­ target vehicle.¡± I jerked the control stick, the jet''s nose jerked upwards as an explosion rang out from where I was.


    ¡°Computer, what are the weapon systems I have here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You have a magnetically directed plasma launcher, miniaturized coil gun, and minigun. Would you like to go into detail?¡± The computer calmly asked as it was sending warnings of evading.


    ¡°No, activate the plasma launcher and target-¡± I pulled on the stick to the left as a head up display appeared over my vision, revealing the entire scene around me.


    ¡°What do you want me to target?¡± It asked dumbly.


    ¡°Holy hell! Ok, target the main engine of the target vehicle, disable it!¡± I said.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Affirmative. Targeting: Main Engine of Sitgc vehicle.¡± Followed by a low hum and on the wings a ball of plasma formed. They launched forward, accelerating to hyper sonic speeds instantly. I couldn¡¯t see where the plasma went, but the plane was below me as I continued pulling what should be 10+ g maneuvers while under acceleration to avoid the explosive anti air fire towards me.


    I dive bombed in hopes they didn¡¯t have anti air below their ship. Up above me I saw smoke, and molten slag pour out the back of the plane, where the engine was.


    ¡°Warning, Garden of Sitgc is on the right. Target will have enough gliding distance to make it towards the Garden.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± I said, pulling back on the stick matching the cabin height of the vehicle the goblin was in.


    Several bulky goblins, and plant people were on the plane. The bulky goblins turned the gun as I suddenly appeared right next to the goblin.


    ¡°Can you keep the plane in a steady position?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can do all sorts of things, that is the easiest of them all.¡± The computer said.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said, opening the cockpit window which wasn¡¯t there originally when I landed on the open top plane.


    I carefully stepped out, I wasn¡¯t met with a blast of wind at all just the sound of the engine firing and all the others. The gun was now suddenly bigger, as I charged forwards and brought out my SMG. Firing into the closest living thing, a plant person who was charging me with a sword.


    The gun gave loud and high pitched explosions, peppering the plant with bullets as the plant person took a step back, almost like it was in shock. A large bulky goblin, who looked extremely similar to the Goblin champion approached me with the same sword and cocky grin.


    ¡°So we meet once more, I didn¡¯t know you could access the spirit world. But at least we¡¯re now on even footing.¡± The goblin champion gave a deep chuckle.


    ¡°So that''s where we are? The spirit world? Doesn¡¯t matter where I am, I''m still going to make sure I get my source of information alive.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll make sure you won¡¯t!¡± The goblin champion said charging forward.


    The plane suddenly banked to the right, leading me to lose my footing and as a result the goblin champion missed.


    The computer blared out from the computer ¡°Warning, Garden of Sitgc is 5 miles away! And altitude is 500 feet. Ground contact in 5¡­¡± The computer began to count down and it began pulling up separating from the plane I was on.


    ¡°4¡±


    I looked over and saw we were awfully close to the skyline of a large city.


    ¡°3¡±


    Passing over a large city made out of wood.


    ¡°2¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± I heard the Goblin Champion say.


    ¡°1¡±


    I was suddenly launched forward over the rooftops of the buildings.


    Everything whizzed by, as I splashed into a shallow pool of water, rolling and rolling. Yet uninjured with no pain, then I slammed into something hard almost like a rock.


    ¡°Hey are you alright, miss?¡± I heard a crackly voice say above and behind me, as I got up on my feet quickly.


    I looked around and saw that I was in a plaza of sorts, with what appeared to be shops, and restaurants surrounding a large fountain. I looked behind me and saw a tall thin man, with a grinning face you could say. Holding a radio stick in his hand, almost like a cane.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, do you know where a plane crashed?¡± I asked, looking around as a crowd was gathering around the fountain.


    ¡°Oh.¡± He said with a crackling voice, ¡°So that''s what that explosion was about? By you very pretty lady that fell from the sky into a fountain.¡± The man said.


    ¡°I do not wish to get involved with you if you are crashing transportation into a city, right outside the Garden of Sitgc especially so. But if you want to catch whoever you are chasing they are probably looking to get sanctuary in the Garden whose entrance is over there.¡± The man said, pointing towards two sets of large doors flanked by two large soldiers.


    ¡°I do not want to fight those things.¡± I said.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to unless you are planning on attacking the Garden itself.¡± He said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said I was still suspicious of the only human looking person here. The crowd was still gathering around me and I ignored them jumping over the crowd.


    ¡°Is that an apostle?¡± I heard people yell from below.


    ¡°But whose apostle?¡± Another said.


    ¡°That''s not an apostle of any god I know.¡± Said another.


    I looked at the doors as I landed neatly this time, and in an alley to the right I saw the Goblin leader along with the others from the plane.


    They looked at the large doors flanked by the massive guards, and then at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± I said.


    The goblins then took off as fast as they could, yelling.


    ¡°Sanctuary! Give us sanctuary Guardians! The Child''s creation is here to drag me back to hell!¡± The goblin leader yelled. This seemed to garner a response from the so called Guardians, as the two almost instinctively knew to look at me.


    ¡°So you are going to fight two guardians, to get to a mere goblin. Not bad for a child.¡± Said the crackly voiced man before who was standing right next to me.


    I ignored the strange man, and gave chase after the goblin rapidly catching up to them. Like I was under the effects of a constant healing spell, I slammed the goblin leader to the ground and with me.


    ¡°Help!¡± The goblin yelled as I began dragging the goblin away. It struggled but couldn¡¯t leave my grip, the ground shook as the two guardians approached me with large strides.


    The guardians were equally matching my speed, and catching up easily. I was at what appeared to be the entrance of the plaza I had landed in.


    ¡°Where the hell are you, computer!¡± I yelled out.


    ¡°Your transport vehicle will not come for you.¡± One of the guardians'' voices said. Their voices boomed in an echoey way.


    ¡°Well that''s great.¡± I mumbled, jumping towards the other side trying to gain some distance between me and them. They didn¡¯t change speed or bring out the swords that were on their backs.


    ¡°Great for us, bad for you hellspawn.¡± The other guardian said in a similar way.


    I looked behind me and saw a crowd had formed blocking off the road, and the guardians stopped where they were. Halfway to me standing in the fountain water, the guardians looked up and quickly drew their swords. I looked up and saw a bright white dot, that then suddenly slammed on the two guardians who had barely blocked the beam of white light that had suddenly hit them.


    Followed by a large robot slamming into the ground, one that looked all too familiar.


    ¡°How is that here?¡± I silently mumbled to myself as I looked at the X-10 Armored Infantry Mech. A project that by all accounts should still be in development to this day.


    I felt the goblin leader try to squirm out of my grip, but I only tightened my hold on him. Still watching confused at what was happening.


    The guardians brought down their swords to meet the unrelenting gaze of the mech. ¡°You deciding to show yourself here, is an act of war in of itself. Do you know that? Child?¡± The guardian said.


    ¡°That''s the point of the battlefield isn¡¯t it?¡± Its voice spoke out, it sounded familiar.


    ¡°Emma?¡± I quietly asked, loosening my grip on the goblin leader and slowly stumbled forward towards the mech and two guardians. I felt my eyes tear up, yet the mech didn¡¯t notice me during the conversation.


    The goblin leader didn¡¯t leave, and in fact he stood next to me. ¡°I don¡¯t think the voice from the giant is an old lover of yours.¡± The goblin leader said.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the battlefield, Child. Having your apostles chase after a minor creation in the Spirit Realm is not a part of the rules.¡± The guardian said, the two began to slowly circle around the mech.


    ¡°Then why is your minor creation running to the spirit realm all the way towards the garden of Sitgc?¡± The person who I thought was Emma said.


    I felt I was tearing up, I shouldn¡¯t be crying at her mere voice. I turned to look at the goblin leader with tear filled eyes who seemed to be taken aback by my appearance.


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think that is Emma, whoever they were to you, is not them. Just sounds like them, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if your old lover if I am assuming correctly that they were that to you. Had close connections to the Child. Just like us creations, the gods have creators.¡± The goblin commented.


    I looked back at the mech, ¡°Well a man can believe.¡± I said.


    The two guardians stopped in their tracks pondered the mech''s line of questioning, saying ¡°Point taken, send the goblin creation back to the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t leave me with them!¡± The goblin leader screamed as he suddenly shot up.


    I just looked on in surprise as the mech turned to me.


    ¡°James, to make this clear Emma is actually fully dead.¡± The mech approached me carefully and softly.


    ¡°Then who are you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Someone you¡¯ve already known for a long time, as does General Hammond and Emma bless her soul.¡± The mech said cryptically.


    Its large foot stopped only a few dozen from me, and I looked up. The mech continued, ¡°I will be sending you a message at midnight in your bunker at your office. Be there, and everyone else in the highest rank of whatever you¡¯ve organized in the past couple of days since you¡¯ve arrived on the battlefield. Now go back to the physical reality, you do not need to be here. At least not yet you do.¡± Next thing I knew I shot upwards into the sky.


    I opened my eyes, like I was asleep. Yet I was sure they already were open, I was on the ground next to the tree where I was interrogating the goblin leader. I picked myself up and looked at the tree the goblin leader was held in, he was still there tied up.


    The bindings haven¡¯t been undone, and the goblin leader was leaning up against the tree. His eyes were open and he was cursing expletives all in english for some reason.


    ¡°Fucking hell, can¡¯t believe I broke the rules.¡± The goblin said in english heavily accented tho.


    I sat up and curled my legs up, and looked at the goblin leader ¡°why are you cursing purely in english?¡± I asked.


    The goblin looked up at me, ¡°Oh, you''re finally back to your physical body, that''s great.¡± The goblin scoffed.


    ¡°Can we please answer at least one of my questions. Why are you speaking in pure english?¡± I asked.


    The goblin gave a chuckle ¡°You do not understand your position in this great game do you?¡± He said.


    ¡°I am asking a simple question about language.¡± I said.


    The goblin sighed ¡°If I literally need to tell you about you then I will. I am not speaking in your native tongue of english. You are speaking in my native tongue in actuality, it just sounds as if I am speaking in your native tongue.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never studied your tongue.¡± I said.


    ¡°Neither have I yet I understand you. Just so you know if you meet an average goblin or ogre none of them will be able to do this, speak to you in your native tongue.¡± The goblin leader said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll continue this at a later date, as I have some important things to be informed of.¡± I said, getting up from the ground and headed back to the forts where Shark, and Ronin were waiting for me.


    ¡°So how did it go?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Well not much was done, but we need to head to my bunker, right now.¡± I said.


    ¡°So we are discussing what we are to do in the future?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Sort of, I am going to summon the Noxu staff as well as ours to my bunker. What time is it?¡± I asked.


    Shark looked up at the moon that was hanging over us on this clear night. ¡°I¡¯d say it''s around 9:30 PM.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Alright, let''s get to the bunker immediately.¡± I brought out my clipboard and sent this message towards the other majors.


    ¡°Report to my bunker for a meeting, summon the Noxu majors and colonels as well.¡±

 Old: Chapter 10

    I sat down in my chair at my desk, tapping my foot on the floor in anxiety of what was to come.


    Looking around I saw the Noxu Colonel John Smith sitting across me in anxiety. The bunker was crowded with 22 people in here, it felt like a public school classroom that had poor funding and as such had to cram as many students they could reasonably fit in it.


    ¡°So you said something will happen at midnight, correct?¡± Colonel John asked.


    ¡°Well they said a message should be arriving in my office at around midnight. Didn¡¯t say how it would arrive.¡± I explained.


    ¡°What time is it?¡± John asked his Major Burrito.


    Major Burrito took a look at his pocket watch ¡°23:59 about to be midnight sir.¡±


    John nodded, several few tense moments passed and then blue glowing particles appeared above my desk.


    I realized what was happening.


    ¡°What is that?¡± John asked, holding out his finger.


    ¡°Don''t touch it unless you want to lose a finger.¡± I said.


    John rapidly pulled his hand away the moment he processed my words, ¡°Alright duly noted.¡±


    I felt the air being pushed around. A vacuum was forming in place of the blue glowing particles that were rapidly growing in numbers. The air was attempting to fill the vacuum the teleporting object was making, the reformation process was excruciatingly slower than what I had to build with before.


    ¡°What is happening here?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Our means of messaging is getting quantum teleported, but the process is slower than usual. Meaning whatever is being teleported is something with a complex build that probably needs certain states to be rebuilt in the correct place to work properly. Like a computer, the machine that is teleporting needs to account for the state of each transistor, possibly pixel, all of its memory, everything.¡± I said.


    Burrito responded with a surprised look. ¡°Quantum teleportation? So you guys can teleport shit?¡±


    ¡°Teleport every single atom of an object, down to the atom.¡± I said, looking back at the computer.


    I saw the main components of the computer, specifically a laptop in fact. Was finished being moved to its targeted spot, and then suddenly the rest of the laptop just formed with a gush of air as it all was pushed out the way with the sudden added amount of volume. Followed by the room suddenly lighting up in blue as I was sure every single air molecule had stopped moving.


    ¡°Why did the room suddenly light up in blue like that?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°To prevent a nuclear explosion from occuring by stopping all the local air molecules from colliding with each other with the suddenly added objects.¡± I explained.


    ¡°You know a lot about teleporting.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°Because I helped develop a weapon for the US military that used it.¡± I said curtly.


    Shark sighed, ¡°You seriously had to go out and break the NDA.¡± He was face palming himself.


    ¡°They saw the technology in action with their own eyes and I do not have anything to wipe their memories with. Might as well show off what I¡¯ve been working on these past few years.¡± I said.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone said in unison.


    ¡°Whatever, let''s go see what this laptop has in store for us.¡± I looked at the fully formed white laptop. It was truly military grade in that it was a shitty ass computer with armor slapped around it running a half a century old operating system that sucked up ram. Why doesn''t the government just use Linux or whatever the Administrator designed for them?


    On the top of the laptop was a sticky note saying, ¡°it''s the password to your great grandfather''s PC at Home, you remember it right?¡±


    I took off the sticky note and opened the laptop, but it didn''t turn on. I pressed down on the power button for several seconds until the screen lit up. Which it did, showing a lock screen from Windows 15. It was a furry animal standing on its hind legs with a widget in the corner saying ¡°Despite their fuzzy and cute look, they are one tough critters¡­ Click here to learn more.¡±


    The link would likely lead to nowhere as the company that used to manufacture this operating system is now gone. Went bankrupt after betting too much on ¡°AI¡± bullshit and being run into the ground by its investors.


    This was their last product to the world in fact, and yet when they were paid for it the investors ran off with the final bits of money, selling everything they invested in. Including several revolutionary nuclear power plants. Leaving all the developers who actually wanted to work at that multi trillion dollar corporation with nothing.


    I tapped the spacebar and was met with an account name ¡°JJ¡±, and a bar saying password.


    I typed it in, I hoped I got the right password and I did get it right on the first try. With me now being met with a simple GUI menu screen with widgets of several dozen programs, such as long abandoned and forgotten Computer Aided Design Programs.


    An older AI program was also installed on this computer called ¡°Neuro Sama¡± several games were downloaded, mostly simulation games that seem related to robots, space, war, and a few FPS.


    There were several dozen folders on this main GUI, named many things such as AI Generation results, Project Sentience Progress Reports, Old Company Finances and so on. On the taskbar were several more forgotten programs, one seemed to be a social media app, another a paint program, another CAD with a big F and a FUs. And two forgotten browsers.


    A notification popped up in the corner of the screen, ¡°Message from Administrator:


    Open google chrome you fucking slow poke.¡±


    I sighed ¡°Fucking hell you don¡¯t have to yell at me computer.¡± I said, clicking on what I was sure was the long forgotten Chrome. A blue circle surrounded by red, green and yellow which was the first on the taskbar. I clicked on it and a web browser popped up immediately, with me having to sign in.


    Another notification popped up ¡°I¡¯ll sign you in, give me a second.¡± When I turned my eyes back to the browser, I saw a lot of bookmarks and options on the main google screen.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Which held more forgotten websites I could choose to click. I looked at the top right and saw 9 black boxes and several more things with gmail being the one I needed to click on.


    Gmail opened instantly and there I was met with decades old emails, at the top however was a brand new email sent a few minutes ago. The time was 00:03 now, I clicked on the newly sent email.


    The title was, ¡°Hurry up you fucking slow poke I know you wanna see what Great Grandpa was doing when he was alive but I have important shit to tell you.¡± I sighed again and I began reading the email.


    ¡°Alright I got to our message.¡± I said.


    Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.


    ¡°What does it say?¡± Shark asked.


    I looked at the message and began reading it outloud, ¡°So you must be confused at what is happening and many questions. Most of which I am not going to answer, I know all of your questions I just don¡¯t feel like answering them.


    However I am going to answer this: Where are we, and what are we to do?


    To answer the first one you are in a place called the battlefield by the gods. (Yes they are real, or really Yahweh/Allah and Jehovah, but I won¡¯t be clarifying anything on that so don¡¯t bother asking). To be more specific where I placed you people, in an area between the two human realms, surrounded on all sides by genocidal plant people. Who rule over an empire that includes goblins and ogres, which you guys have fought.


    What you guys are to do is to remove any and all traces of anything that isn¡¯t human in your local area. (Your local area is shown in Map 1 below in PDF Titled ¡°Your Local Area¡±) Because if you don¡¯t they¡¯ll be the ones who remove any traces of what is human, meaning if they had the chance to kill you all they absolutely would. Peace is not an option.¡±


    I stopped for a moment ¡°is everybody keeping up?¡± I asked, quickly scrolling down a bit and skimming it.


    ¡°Yeah. We are.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Alright, I think this is a long message with lots of things in it.¡± I said.


    I continued on where I left off, ¡°You are all going to have more questions now that I explained your purpose here, and I am going to answer the questions that belong to the ¡®who¡¯ and ¡®what¡¯ section you guys are going to ask.


    Who you guys are fighting is the Toh Empire and the. Hl¡­ le Pec¡­ big. Hlpecbyg(?)(Literal grammar translation) Theocracy.


    What they are is that they aren¡¯t human, and their government sponsors a war of genocide against us humans. Why is something I might as well answer, is that their creators. (if you¡¯re wondering, yes I the thing that sent this message created you. Don¡¯t ask any further now that you know.) Their creators are in a competition to see who has the smartest, fastest, strongest, luckiest creation in all of everything. So everyone sends a population of their creations who are at different periods of technology and understanding essentially once a century or so to compete in a war of survival.


    So where do we (yes you and me) fit in this? Well we are to be the second generation of humans to be sent to the battlefield, previous populations of humans were measured in iterations. Generations are different things, with due time you will begin to notice the differences, I am sure after your recent battles you guys have certainly noticed new abilities.


    Might as well answer some questions that pertain outside who, and what while I¡¯m here. The last iteration was at the time of the US invasion of warlord China in the early 2070s, with a US expeditionary force being sent to promptly bomb and nuke everything that wasn¡¯t explicitly human. Along with leaving 3rd Quarter 21s century Christianity in the remaining human populous before fucking off back to Earth allowing us to figure out wormholes and quantum teleportation better in the process. (Ask Lieutenant Hans Gunther for further details about what happened then, as he was apart of that Expeditionary force.)¡±


    ¡°Wait Gunther? The old war veteran never actually fought in China?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°Apparently so.¡± I answered.


    I continued reading ¡°I have compiled further details on everything from who you are fighting, with population, and military size estimate. Level of technological development, social development, details on the society, and a lot more. All located in the PDFs located below. If you want to you can use the laptop for organizing shit if you want. I''ll also be sending you several more things by 08;00 hours such as a projector, printer, fax machine and a wormhole generator, antennas to communicate with the old satellite network and a few more.¡± I stopped reading aloud at the next comment ¡°(No food, although you guys did solve that immediately. Good work James on immediately deciding to resort to cannibalism you psychopath.)¡± I skipped to the next paragraph.


    ¡°I expect a lot from you guys, don''t fail, but most importantly don¡¯t lose your humanity to other humans in the process.


    Sincerely,


    -Administrator.¡±


    I groaned and pushed the laptop back a little ¡°Of fucking course it was Administrator that orchestrated this.¡± I said.


    I heard Shark sigh as well, however everybody else looked confused when I looked up.


    ¡°Who is this Administrator?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Just an AI program that pretty much runs all of American Society.¡± I said.


    ¡°So you mean the subway train?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I answered, groaning.


    ¡°The program that does my taxes?¡± Punisher asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°The thing that is literally central to my conspiracy theory that the government is taken over by an AI overlord that is hellbent on controlling everything?¡± Major Sherman said.


    I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and looked at the computer awaiting for a notification or a gun appearing out of nowhere and just shooting the guy. But nothing happened, ¡°maybe not that far.¡± I said in between awkward chuckles as a notification ping on my screen.


    N: ¡°The only reason why I didn¡¯t kill that kid, was two reasons, the first it would only prove his point that I am hellbent on controlling everything (if I don¡¯t we¡¯ll all die or really humans and I like humans a lot. You guys are dumb and lovable.). Secondly it would make it clear to everyone else (The other creators) that I am hellbent on information control which isn¡¯t a good look. By the way only you can see the message so if you mention this to anyone at all you¡¯ll look insane.¡±


    I turned back to the conversation and said. ¡°Well what matters is that it''s an AI that just makes everyone''s lives easier. So don¡¯t look too much into this and we¡¯ll be all fine.¡±


    ¡°And if I do?¡± Sherman asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably be dumped into hell and forced to fight the hordes of hell or something. For the rest of eternity I don¡¯t know. I suggest you don¡¯t look into something that supposedly has control over everything as it controls everything.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, I guess I¡¯ll do my job here instead.¡± Sherman said.


    ¡°That''s a much better plan.¡± I said.


    Smith stood up, ¡°So now what are we to do?¡± He asked.


    I simply leaned back in my seat and said, ¡°For now you guys get some rest for the night, and I¡¯ll be studying a lot. So come in at 08:30 hours so we can make our plan of attack with what I find out from my studies.¡± I said.


    Burrito stood up, and said. ¡°I can work that, if it is fine with you can I leave?¡±


    I gave a yawn and stretched out, ¡°Yes, you guys are all dismissed goodnight.¡± I said.


    ¡°Good night colonel.¡± Everybody began to say at varying times as they all nicely shuffled out of the crowded room.


    Leaving only me and Shark, ¡°you know you can leave for the night General Hammond.¡±


    ¡°Well Secretary Maldonado as a General of the US Army you know a part of my job is to gather intelligence.¡± Hammond said.


    I sighed and pinched my nose, ¡°You forget I am the one with the computer correct? And also remember I literally organized like half of the coup non violent plans into something cohesive? So leave all the numbers, and names to me and if you want I can give you the detailed report in printer paper, as my eyes are going to be in pain after this.¡± I said.


    Shark sighed, ¡°Well don¡¯t push yourself too hard.¡± Shark stood up and left for the door ¡°goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I responded as I began to scroll down and read the linked PDFs.


    They were all titled, ¡°Maps¡±, ¡°Your enemies¡±, and finally ¡°Your friends¡±.


    I clicked on the Map PDF and was met with text.


    ¡°The next page is going to be the first Map of the local area, some things to keep in mind. The maps are somewhat outdated (and not you wiped out a fort, and crashed a ship outdated) outdated in that I took this planetary survey a year ago with the only area I was able to keep perfectly updated was the area 100 miles surrounding American Palisade. (Your home for the time being) So I suggest you make your own map base it off of these ones but update it with whatever has changed. So get to learning your local area James.


    -Administrator¡±


    I scrolled down and was met with a really zoomed in map, with 1 inch is equal to 10 miles.


    The walls were easily visible in the center, albiate the thickness of the walls were certainly exaggerated, likely to make it clear where we were in the map. To the direct west of American Palisade was a dozen red dots likely only 10 miles or so apart, there was one not that far from the Noxu side.


    The fort we attacked yesterday, has a x covering it. Showing she really did just update this. The river going through the river wasn¡¯t the only river, around 50 or so miles north of us the river splits into two and turns sharply with 3 towns dotted on it named (from right to left in their positions) Fhof, Fomf, and Fomaf. They were in a dark green area titled Goarsdaf Colony, under it in parenthesis was the Toh Empire under it suggesting that was the mother country of Goarsdaf.


    To the north there were a lot of forts to the west of the river, bordering a pink blob with the title Anphotwp Confederacy and in parentheses under the name "friend" written. There were striped lines of alternating pink and green, suggesting that it was an area of active conflict.


    To the east of us, was a tan blob border following several rivers with some leading towards the river. It was titled Hlpecby Theocracy with ¡°kill these guys¡± under its name with parenthesis. There was an unnamed black dot at the edge of the border; it was the closest village or town of Hlpecby.


    I went back to the email and clicked on ¡°Your enemies¡±. It led me to a google document of all things. On the left there were titles with ¡°Your closest enemies (worry about them)¡± and ¡°your farthest enemies (don¡¯t worry about them)¡± Your closest Enemies only had half a dozen headings, Your Farthest Enemies however had several dozen entries.


    ¡°This doc is going to explain everybody I found out about who isn¡¯t explicitly human or that is allied with humans. The only nations listed here are those that are explicitly hostile towards humans, some places may be lacking in information, you will be able to fill up and consider this document a general overview of who you''re going to fight close to home. Happy studies.


    -Administrator¡±


    I scrolled down to the first part.


    ¡°Your Closest Enemies:


    This is going to be a general overview of all the enemy states within a range of a 500 miles or so of Palisade, which isn¡¯t many in the grand scheme of things so lets start.


    Toh Empire and Hlpecby Theocracy were the ones I was interested in, so I opened up a slide deck ignoring decades old proposals and other random stuff my Great Grandfather had on his account and got to work making an even more condensed overview of them for the meeting later this morning.

 Old: Chapter 11

    ¡°Honey, wake up. You stayed up late working again?¡± I heard Emma say, my right shoulder was shaking.


    I slowly picked up my head and opened my eyes with a slight groan, I rubbed my eyes and looked to my right and there I saw her.


    ¡°Emma?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. ¡°You''re alive?¡± I said.


    Emma seemed to be confused, and gave me a look of concern. She crouched down to my height, and gave me a hug. ¡°Did you have another one of those night terrors again, or visions as you keep insisting they be called?¡± She said rubbing my back.


    I nodded, I felt a single tear drop begin to fall down my cheek. ¡°Yeah, I just have a feeling something bad is coming and I will survive it but you won¡¯t.¡± I said.


    Emma grabbed the water bottle on my desk and popped open the plastic cap, ¡°Here drink some water, and don¡¯t forget your medicine as well. I¡¯ll have breakfast ready soon.¡± Emma put the cap up to my mouth and silently drinked the water from it. ¡°You''re an absolute mess, you know that?¡± She said, closing the cap.


    ¡°Yeah, I think the failed mission left an impact on me.¡± I looked back at the solid 4K monitor that was off in front of me and I looked at Emma with a sad look.


    Emma seemed to notice my mood. ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to leave me?¡± I asked.


    Emma gave me another hug and said ¡°no, I won¡¯t. As you are my mess.¡± She gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I got a look at Emma¡¯s face, as she pulled away I couldn¡¯t tell what her face looked like, almost like a distant memory.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember your face.¡± I said.


    Emma seemed to be confused and cocked her head. ¡°Remember my face?¡± She laughed, ¡°your funny James.¡±


    I shot up, a little too fast as I suddenly fell back and onto my back. I looked at the concrete ceiling, I didn¡¯t feel my head hurt from the sudden acceleration and deceleration.


    ¡°Emma.¡± I mumbled, the ceiling''s concrete had slight cracks in it. I was sure I saw her face in the pattern the crack made and the way it was poured.


    My cheek felt wet like I was crying, I brought a finger up to my eye ducts and felt slightly dried out water and my mouth felt slightly dry and salty.


    I felt a warm hand carefully glide across my cheek. ¡°You need to get to work, Ceo.¡± I heard a soft voice in my right ear.


    I looked to my right and saw the golden eyed, pale face belonging to Administrator.


    I narrowed my eyes at the AI masquerading as a human, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Just making sure you wake up on time.¡± Administrator said, I felt myself getting pulled up into the upright position back at my desk. I looked at Administrator one more time, despite the Administrators very pretty looks I was turned off almost immediately by the figure. Administrator wore a pleated blue dress, similar in style to one of those Victorian era dresses she seems to like.


    I narrowed my eyes at her, ¡°right and totally was not watching me start my slow descent into madness.¡± I said.


    ¡°You seriously need to be less suspicious of me, you forget I kept you safe during the war.¡± Administrator sat on my lap, facing me entirely.


    I was sure I could smell lilac on her, but that ever present hint of motor oil, and soldering. She always tried to cover that stench of machinery, in an attempt to separate herself from her much more brutal brothers.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t keep Emma alive before the war, when the suicide bomber slammed their car into my childhood home.¡± I said.


    Administrator wrapped her arms around me, giving me a bear hug. I could feel the attempted fake breast on her, despite that she was warm and my room felt cold so I¡¯ll accept her closeness if it meant I could warm up.


    ¡°Well you know they made a coordinated effort to blind us all. You of all people should know that the best.¡± She said.


    ¡°And somehow did not get the attention of all your Brothers who were all separate from the grid for that exact reason.¡± I said.


    Administrator continued hugging me, I wasn¡¯t sure why Administrator was hugging me or here whether it was because she noticed I was slightly cold and was trying to warm me up out of compassion or if she just wanted to mentally fuck with me.


    ¡°Not everything is perfect, including your Great Grandfather''s money creating my older brothers.¡± Administrator gave me a kiss on the cheek. I could feel her fake breath.


    There was the smell of burnt beef, the smell of space. I simply stared at her with annoyance more than anything. ¡°Well, I just wanted to physically check on you. Mentally, I can tell your fucked up big time.¡± Administrator put her hand on my belly. I heard a silent warble like an ultrasound, ¡°You are the perfect person to lead this colony.¡± The finger passed between my breasts, and up my neck. ¡°I made the right choice sending you.¡±


    Her finger ran up my face past my mouth and towards my hair she began slightly combing my hair with a comb that she teleported in. ¡°Being genderbent into another body you do not know how to deal with, and then being told to fight. Most would not be able to handle the stress of that.¡± She said with a sly voice.


    ¡°Is getting turned off at everything you do a part of the test, deciding if I was perfect for the job?¡± I asked.


    Administrator gave a smirk ¡°You didn¡¯t stop me, I can tell deep down you are still slightly turned on by me.¡± Administrator came in close, she put her lips onto mine, hugging me tighter and I felt warmer.


    We just sat there for a few moments, I now felt turned on by her. I fucking lost to my temptations as I held onto her tighter, at some I was sure I was french kissing her. Not wanting to lose this warmth a damn machine provides.


    Administrator pulled away, I gave heavy gasps, my brain was now a horny mess no more sane thoughts just looking at the robot and imagining things only a younger teenager would.


    ¡°Every biological being likes to be warm, especially those who have lost everything. Including their access to the warmth of another person, like you.¡± She got off my lap and I just sat there still staring.


    ¡°You always lose to your temptations James, your very bad at keeping control.¡± She said as she disappeared in blue particles almost instantly. Meaning she wasn¡¯t actually there, no brain in that head of hers, just a radio transponder.


    Or I was just schizophrenic right now and is actually slowly going insane and I imagined I was kissing the company AI that manages all the finances and everything else in our products.


    I sat there for a few more minutes, when I heard a ping from my laptop I received a notification. I shook my head attempting to get the horny thoughts out of my mind, and I scooted forward closer towards the laptop and tapped the trackpad.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The screen lit up, prompting me to log in. I did so and went to the notifications, the message said, ¡°Just so you know¡­¡±


    ¡°The fuck is she telling me now? She could¡¯ve easily told me when she was here.¡± I said annoyed at the AI. I was now absolutely sure she was trolling me, physically being there because she felt like it and nothing more.


    I clicked the notification, it opened chrome and a new tab I saw the other tabs were still open. The slidedeck, docs and PDFs including the original email was open still.


    I began reading the message.


    ¡°Just so you know there is a large army from Goarsdaf marching towards the Noxu side. I am guessing the army is going to arrive at the gate at around 12, they are only 10 miles away after all and they are moving pretty slowly so you guys have time to prepare defense.¡±


    I looked at the time it was only 7:10 AM.


    I sighed and responded, ¡°And you couldn¡¯t have just told me while you were here in person?¡±


    N: ¡°If I am there in person with you, it''s going to be about me and you, not about the whole. Meaning I won¡¯t talk about anything from the outside, just enjoy yourself when I¡¯m with you as you absolutely need to have a partner to release your stress on. Heart <3 >:3¡±


    You: ¡°Fuck no.¡±


    I closed the tab, ¡°now where the hell did I put my clipboard?¡± I asked as I began looking around.


    Another notification came in, with only a title ¡°Bottom right drawer.¡±


    I opened the bottom right drawer and I found the clipboard along with my spellbook right there. I sighed and clicked on the notification. It was the same email thread and typed ¡°Thank you.¡±


    N: ¡°You¡¯re an absolute mess, I can fix you if you need. Heart <3.¡±


    ¡°Fuck no.¡±


    I closed that email tab, I absolutely forgot just how creepy or horny in this case Administrator can be. I don¡¯t know whether it''s a personality trait inherited by her mother''s AI program which was designed to be an AI Vtuber but I needed to get back to work.


    I grabbed my clipboard and sent out the report.


    ¡°Be advised enemy force has been spotted on the Noxu side, send the message to the Noxu commandment. They are expected to arrive at the Noxu Broken Wall at around 12 PM, 5 hours.¡± Orders from MacNCheese.


    Moments later I received a few messages saying, ¡°Passed the word onto Colonel Smith.¡± Order by Sharkface.


    ¡°Well he was fast in passing the word.¡± I said, giving a yawn.


    I went back to the slidedeck tab and saw I had actually done a lot in compressing several hundred pages of information Administrator had put together. The slide deck compressed all of that information into 30 slides in total. However those 30 slides were on the Toh Empire, the non-humans to our west.


    The Hlpecbyg Empire, the non-humans to our east, I haven¡¯t even been bothered to start compressing all of their information which was extensive. However it seems to me that Toh is a much more aggressive empire than Hlpecbyg. Or maybe they simply haven¡¯t gotten word of our arrival here and aren''t responding yet.


    I pushed back from my desk and stretched my body, my back popped a lot along with all my fingers, legs. I felt a lot of tension release and I felt more relaxed, and now all I could do was wait till 08:00. I looked at the laptop one more time, the current time 07:18 so I had around 42 minutes till all of the stuff arrived.


    I closed the laptop, and left my office with only my clipboard and spellbook. I made my way to the exit door, I passed through the concrete hallways with wooden pillars. I passed a large room with dozens of bunk beds, then a storage room filled with smoked meat, followed by an armory.


    I passed a few dozen people. It was quiet and empty, but the beds were empty so everybody was out already. I arrived at the door, and opened it being met with a familiar trench.


    I climbed a ladder that was close to the entrance and saw individual groups of people eating, everybody was eating breakfast. The food line was surprisingly short meaning everybody got their food or we were out already. It was the former luckily as I entered the line I saw cooks managing bowls of food being prepared.


    ¡°Good morning Colonel, you''re here a little early before anyone else.¡± One of the line cooks said as I grabbed a plate and wooden silverware. The cook placed a bit of meat onto my plate.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, as I quickly exited the line.


    I arrived at the trenchline where we ate yesterday, luckily I found everybody there from yesterday. The girl and Ronin were still cuddling, the two were talking a bit or really they seemed to be saying the same phrases over and over to each other.


    Gunther gave me a wave, with an empty plate next to him.


    Shark however was the only one not there.


    I carefully got down into the trench and took a spot across from Gunther, away from the couple.


    ¡°I am assuming Shark is on the other side?¡± I asked Gunther.


    ¡°Yes, you did send out a message warning of an attack by the Goblins in a few hours so Shark volunteered to cross the River and help the Noxu.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°I would like to know how is the Noxu side doing?¡± I asked, cutting into the meat it was slightly harder today.


    Gunther sighed, ¡°They aren¡¯t doing well, they are currently fighting an earlier goblin force that successfully snuck onto their side. They believe that goblin forces snuck into their side the night we arrived, on top of that they haven¡¯t slaughtered their dead until today so food for them is in short supply.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow, ¡°Hold on when did this all start I would¡¯ve heard gun fire when I left the bunker.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well that''s the thing, they find pockets of the goblins. The goblins are quickly killed but they have to cover around 39 square miles, on top of that they only found out about the goblins less than hour ago so they¡¯ve only started recently.¡± Gunther reported.


    ¡°That''s not good, do they have a plan of action? Remember there is another goblin army coming, do they have their side of the broken wall protected?¡± I asked.


    Gunther nodded, ¡°yes, as it''s the only other place that is considered important. But everywhere else than the former main front, however, is a no.¡±


    I sighed, then I came to a startling realization ¡°What if there are goblins on our side as well?¡± I asked.


    Gunther''s eyes widened, ¡°they could¡¯ve gotten in en masse, maybe the attack 2 days ago was another attempt at getting troops in. Remember we didn¡¯t guard our Broken Wall until like what sundown? They would¡¯ve had a long time to sneak a lot of troops into our side, even when we destroyed their base camp.¡± Gunther explained.


    ¡°How many goblins did we kill the first night?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the actual number but I am sure we gunned down probably around two hundred or so.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°And how many goblins could the camp hold?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We counted around 500 housing units from what I remember, with each being able to a dozen or so goblins. Meaning, there could be thousands of goblins hidden in some abandoned bunker.¡± Gunther came to the startling conclusion as I did.


    ¡°Damn it I forgot the damn rear line bunkers! Whose purpose was to be a last line of defense before we would lose the battle.¡±


    ¡°But the game had shut down before it came to it.¡± Gunther completed my line of thought.


    ¡°Yes, how many miles of bunkers and rear trenches did we dig again?¡± I asked.


    The girl who was cuddling and talking with Ronin seemed to get interested in what we were talking about. ¡°How many miles of bunkers did us engineers dig? Let me see,¡± She put her finger up to her chin.


    ¡°We engineers have spent the entire last game building several hundred pillboxes which my friends and I have confirmed are empty of people. We built around 10 miles worth of fresh untouched trench lines, along with a similar amount of miles worth of tunnels connecting several dozen bunkers able to hold 3 times a server''s max capacity. Above ground is filled with hundreds of Heavy machine gun nests, around 60 heavy artillery pieces, 120 field guns, and covered it all with dozens more miles of barbed wire, while burying around tens of thousands of land mines.¡± The girl answered.


    I looked at the girl''s arm band, it showed that she was an engineer with the rank of E-4 Private, slightly above Ronin in terms of ranking in the game.


    ¡°You guys dug that much in 15 days?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it was to be a final art project as a final goodbye to the Pordier at War Community. I am going to come out clean, yes we did use cheats to complete this project but you guys were able to keep the game stalemated for the entire time we were digging.¡± The girl said proudly.


    ¡°Did you map out all of what you built?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Actually we did, mostly for preservation purposes but also if the game lasted long enough and we were pushed back to the final flag. Players would be able to find their way around the admittedly very complex fortifications.¡± The girl said.


    ¡°Where is this map, how many do you guys have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We have enough to give everyone on both sides a map, well actually 2. I don¡¯t know how many we actually made. All I know is we have them sitting in a bunker near the pillbox/bunker. Me, Ronin, and my friends have been staying since the game shut down.¡± The girl explained.


    I sighed and pinched my nose, ¡°Alright then, show me the map of those bunkers.¡± I ordered.


    The girl stood up, followed by Ronin ¡°Well right this way.¡± She said climbing out of the trench.


    I quickly gobbled down my breakfast like someone was going to steal it, I then left it down next to my spot and got up. Joining the girl, Ronin, and Gunther.


    When I climbed out of the trench, I asked the girl ¡°what''s your name.¡±


    She turned back to me, ¡°You can call me Crumpet if you want, or Private. Doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°Well it''s nice meeting Private Crumpet. I am Colonel Ceo.¡± I introduced myself.


    Crumpet raised an eyebrow as we entered the forest ¡°I know your name, I heard you say hello to Major Shark yesterday and Lieutenant Gunther today.¡± Crumpet said as I stepped past overgrown foliage and brush.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said, stepping under a low tree branch.


    ¡°We are here, at my house or really where Ronin, I and my squad lives.¡± Crumpet said as we approached a large concrete pillbox placed on top of a bunker. Several large spotlights were on the top of the pillbox.


    ¡°I never knew there was a pillbox here in the forest.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve heard things move out in the forest and the tunnels that connect our pillbox and small bunker to the rest of the system.¡± Crumpet explained as we passed a barbed wire fence with an opening in it.


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked, as we approached a steel door that was on the side of the pillbox.


    ¡°Scampering of small critters at night, with the clinking of metal utensils. On the second night something attempted to break down this door.¡± Crumpet explained. I looked at the door, there were dents and scratches all over it. I looked at the ground and found partially buried iron and copper blades with iron shavings mixed in the ground.


    Gunther crouched onto the ground, digging through the dirt grabbing an iron chip in the shape of a blade. ¡°Sounds and looks like the goblins we fought.¡±


    Pounding on the door ¡°Hey! Its Private Crumpet, unlock the door I am home with the Colonel!¡± Crumpet yelled into the pillbox with its small openings being several feet off the ground. I could see the barrels of a HMG sticking out of the port hole.


    ¡°What did y¡¯all do that night? Why didn¡¯t we hear of this sooner?¡± I asked.


    Crumpet sighed, ¡°Well when that happened we were still reeling from not getting kicked out of the game at Shutdown, so we sort of just hid in the bunker and didn''t even bother to fire the guns or see what was outside.¡±


    The large steel door wheel spun and it screeched open soon after.


    I sighed ¡°Well we¡¯re going to find out soon anyways.¡±

 Old: Chapter 12

    The door screeched open, and there was a single person in it a male Kyntari with the rank of Lieutenant.


    ¡°Welcome to our humble abode Colonel, I am Lieutenant Raspberry come in.¡± Raspberry held his hand and allowed us into the concrete pillbox. There were several concrete walls blocking our view of the outside behind them, with an entryway next to the door I saw sunlight pour in from the concrete wall.


    A simple peak showed several HMGs peering out of the small slit opening giving me enough viewing space to see the forest that surrounded us.


    I got out of that area and saw there was a table in the center of the room, a shelf and couch pushed up against the left concrete wall that offered protection. There were small holes in the concrete wall, its design was very similar to the forts that guarded the broken wall. Meaning there was internal and external protection.


    In the center of the pillbox was a metal trap door in the center, a long table with a few chairs was pushed up against the right wall.


    ¡°Alright the map is down here.¡± Crumpet said, opening the trapdoor revealing a ladder into a bunker.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said, as Gunther and Ronin allowed me to go down first, after Crumpet and Raspberry.


    When I got down I was met with a room lit by an oil lamp at the top of the room. There were 5 bunks beds spreaded out through the largish bunker. That was around 3 times the size of my own officer bunker. My bunker would be half the area the pillbox had, or about 1.5 times the area the pillbox above us had. Give or take that much as it was eyeballed.


    To the right of the ladder was another steel door, blocked with a shelf.


    ¡°That there is the door that leads to the Tunnels, we haven¡¯t touched it in a couple of days.¡± Crumpet said Ronin seemed to also be afraid of it as well.


    ¡°Is Ronin afraid of the tunnels?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well according to him he is actually scared of the dark.¡± Crumpet said.


    ¡°Well I am also scared of the dark, and small spaces.¡± I said.


    Gunther looked at me, ¡°You worked on a spaceship that would¡¯ve spent several years headed to Pluto. And you''re scared of small spaces?¡± I asked.


    I looked at Gunther with an annoyed look. ¡°I am more scared of space than claustrophobic spaces, so I am more worried about the ship losing pressure than the small spaces available to everybody on the ship.¡± I said.


    ¡°Make sense, one phobia overpowers the other?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°It''s not a phobia, especially with space, it''s more me rationalizing the risks of space, but also my fear of small spaces formed after the mission.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, so trauma then.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said, unyieldingly showing no hint of reacting to my past.


    ¡°So show us the map.¡± Gunther said, changing the topic before things broke down for me.


    ¡°Give me a second.¡± Crumpet said, moving the bunk bed on the opposite side of the room from the ladder and door. ¡°Come here.¡± She said, bringing out a box and bringing out a rolled up piece of paper. Then unrolling it out onto a nearby night stand that dotted the claustrophobic bunker.


    ¡°So this is the map.¡± Crumpet said, rolling out a fancily designed map showing an extremely complex web of trenches and rectangles. I and Gunther crowded around the nightstand with Crumpet as Ronin looked at us from the bunker above us.


    In the bottom right of the map was a legend, blue lines were trenches, and red lines were tunnels. Squares were bunkers, circles were pillboxes, thin rectangles were heavy artillery emplacements. In the center of it all was something titled the FEI50.


    I pointed at the FEI50 ¡°What is this?¡± I asked.


    Crumpet eyes lit up, ¡°it''s a railway gun we built, it does work just that its minimum range would¡¯ve made it unusable on the map.¡± Crumpet explained.


    ¡°What is its range? 50 miles?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes we designed it to be able to shoot in a 50 mile radius, its minimum range is however only 6 miles in radius.¡± Crumpet explained.


    ¡°Alright, do you guys know what it shoots?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes it does, in the game it just hits the invisible wall on the other side of the map. Doing nothing much, so it was mostly there to look good.¡± Crumpet said.


    I nodded, ¡°Then where are we on this map?¡± I asked.


    Crumpet pointed not that far from the main bunker I lived in, ¡°We are here near the center of the defensive line, the pillbox we are in is actually right in front of the final flag on our side.¡± Crumpet happily explained.


    ¡°Ok then, so to the north of us is the railway gun. Then according to this map there are several dozen miles worth of tunnels, some going right below are previously existing tunnels and trenches.¡± I said, tracing the map.


    ¡°There was a tunnel that did go under the enemy side, but it is now underwater. Nor is it like we ever went above ground or near any of their tunnels, bunkers or trenches with it so there''s that.¡± Crumpet added.


    ¡°Alright then, let''s go and check if there''s anything in the tunnels.¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the rest of my squad to back you guys up.¡± Said First Lieutenant Rasberry, taking out his clipboard, ¡°If it''s fine that they are taken from their jobs.¡± He asked.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be fine, I want to keep this as a small reconnaissance mission. I do not know if there are goblins here and if they are watching us so tell them the Colonel has a mission for your squad and to report back here.¡± I said.


    Seconds later I saw a message appear in front of me.


    ¡°Come back home, we have a mission from the Colonel herself.¡± Orders from Lieutenant Raspberrypiecake.


    I sighed, ¡°this area is too large for just ten people to explore so we need to break it down by area.¡± And I asked the two builders. ¡°So Raspberry, Crumpet where do you think we should start looking for goblins?¡± I asked.


    Crumpet, and Raspberry got in deep thought.


    Finally Crumpet spoke first. ¡°Well what do you think the goblins are wanting to do with the defensive lines?¡± Crumpet asked.


    ¡°Well I¡¯d say it would be a good base of operation. If there''s as many bunkers, pillboxes, and trenches you said there were. It''s easily defendable even with primitive weapons, close quarter combat is what fighting in trenches is like anyways.¡± I said.


    Crumpet and Raspberry looked at the map once more.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Raspberry pointed at the southern part of the map, ¡°This is where I would hold up if I was a goblin with an army. There''s a lot of food there, all edible in fact.¡±


    I stared at Raspberry blankly. ¡°So you''re telling me there''s food here? What kind?¡± I asked.


    Raspberry seemed unfazed by my staring. ¡°Well, the food there is mostly what you would find on a battlefield for an army. Canned food mostly with a few officers'' foods there, with enough food to feed the 1000 people on our side for 3 months.¡± Raspberry explained.


    I sighed, and looked at the map once more, ¡°So there''s a lot of food here, and no one knew about it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It was to give attention to detail for the final art project. Just like you, we didn¡¯t expect that we would be sent here.¡±


    I sighed and pinched my nose, ¡°The problem is you didn¡¯t tell us that there was food here. I feel like a fool for telling everybody to start butchering bodies for food.¡± I said.


    Gunther finally spoke.¡°And that is an issue, because the goblins have possibly been here for a couple of days, a little less than we¡¯ve been here. Assuming they are here, they could have eaten several days worth of rations already?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°Yes, and we do not know enough about goblin biology to accurately deduce how much they could¡¯ve eaten.¡± I said.


    ¡°So you are saying we are to get moving?¡± Crumpet asked.


    ¡°And to summon every single soldier on our side of the river to get access to that food.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°I have one more thing to ask, Crumpet, Raspberry. Was there another one of these art projects on the Noxu side?¡± I asked.


    Crumpet and Raspberry both gulped, ¡°Yes¡­¡± Crumpet meekly said.


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Gunther cursed.


    ¡°We have to inform Shark and John about that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well it couldn¡¯t be all bad. There''s a good chance the builders on the other art team could¡¯ve also told them about the other art project.¡± Crumpet said.


    ¡°I know the other art team, they are good people that will step up to the occasion and tell them about the forts, and food.¡± Raspberry said.


    ¡°Then why is the Noxu side going hungry?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Um¡­Uh¡­¡± Raspberry said, before going silent.


    I sighed, ¡°lets go focus on our side for now.¡± I said.


    Bringing out my clipboard.


    ¡°All Majors except for Shark report to the Bunker for a meeting.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    ¡°Well let''s get moving.¡± I turned to Lieutenant Raspberry. ¡°Have your squad get to the maps as soon as you possibly can once they arrive. Get as many as you can and bring them to the surface to be handed out to everyone as soon as you can.¡± I turned to Gunther, ¡°Tell Ronin to stay with them, and don¡¯t burn the maps.¡± I said, before leaving the area.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± Gunther said, behind me I turned and saw he was saluting.


    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Can I lead these kids? They aren¡¯t exactly military and you are sending them on a potentially dangerous mission.¡± He asked.


    ¡°If you think that is best.¡± I said.


    ¡°Tell me I have permission followed by my Rank and Name.¡± Gunther requested.


    ¡°You have Permission First Lieutenant Gunther.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you ma¡¯am.¡± Gunther said ending his salute and he turned to the three in the bunks. ¡°You heard what the Colonel said, I am in charge now.¡± I grabbed the ladder and began climbing, not hearing the rest of what Gunther was saying.


    When I exited the Pillbox, I was met with a group of people outside of the door.


    ¡°Are you the Squad of Lieutenant Raspberry?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Yes, we were sent an order by Raspberry. I am assuming you are the Colonel?¡± The closest one asked, he was a rifleman with a long bayoneted rifle on his back.


    ¡°Yes, you have an important mission to get down into your bunker. The commander I assigned you is going to begin his briefing and planning.¡± I said.


    They all looked uncomfortable and simply nodded, except for one in the back.


    ¡°What do you mean commander you assigned?¡±


    I looked at the person in the back.


    ¡°Shut up Jerry, we don''t need to hear this now.¡± I heard the one in the front say.


    ¡°You have a mission, but you are artists not soldiers are you?¡± I said, approaching the tallish Kynari male medic.


    ¡°Yes, I know that but what do you mean by Commander you assigned? This isn¡¯t the Soviet Union or the American Imperial days.¡± Jerry said.


    I looked at Jerry straight in the eyes, he backed off. ¡°Well you guys are untrained, and you have a job that will stop everybody here from having to eat human flesh for the next month. So you will have someone who actually knows what they are doing to lead you, so please shut up.¡± I said circling him with a careful step.


    He gulped ¡°and if I don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll all die, or just¡­¡± I ran my finger nail along his neck, ¡°you, depending on the success of your mission.¡± I slowly said.


    Jerry seemed to take pause at my sudden demeanor change.


    ¡°So please be quiet and follow orders, or I¡¯ll make you wish you were quiet.¡± I said slowly, I stopped several feet away from Jerry respecting his personal boundaries once more.


    Jerry didn¡¯t respond and seemed to follow it.


    ¡°Good, you aren¡¯t brain dead like some people I¡¯ve abandoned in my life. Get in there now, you have a mission to prepare for.¡± I said, before walking away towards the main bunker. Doing a slight skip.


    ¡°She¡¯s fucking creepy.¡± I heard Jerry whisper under his breath.


    I stopped and I faced Jerry, looked on the ground and cracked a stick which gave a loud snap in my direction. Everyone looked at me, including Jerry.


    ¡°Get inside or I¡¯ll make you.¡± I said loudly.


    Everyone hurriedly shuffled inside the pillbox followed by the door loudly screeching and slamming closed with a clunk as the steel door was locked.


    I turned around and began making my way towards my bunker, I was also on edge constantly checking my surroundings to see if I was being followed. But there was nothing following me, and I made my way back to the bunker by myself.


    When I got there it was empty with a few people in there, I saw several of the Majors in the Bunker making their way to my room.


    I joined them.


    ¡°Hello Colonel, what''s with this sudden meeting?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain once everyone I told to come, gets here.¡± I said, as we arrived at my door. It was a metal door, not as sturdily built as the entrances to the bunker or pillbox. Which we keep open almost all the time.


    I opened the door, and saw nothing but darkness.


    ¡°I¡¯ll light up the room, you guys wait here.¡± I said entering the dark room with my lamp in hand, then it suddenly lit up the room and burned a dull orange glow with my shadow being casted.


    There weren''t any blue particles, it just lit up, like someone else did it for me. But no one was next to me, it just lit up.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate in hanging the lamp on the hook on the ceiling. I felt paranoid at how it lit up by itself, but I forgot about that the moment I saw, whiteboard and markers on the back wall of my room. With a projector hanging from the roof above my desk.


    Along with a Printer on the floor next to my desk, the laptop was still where it was still closed.


    I sat down as the last of the majors entered my office.


    ¡°Good morning Colonel, what is the reason why you called us here today?¡± Punisher asked.


    ¡°The reason why I called you here today is to tell you the fact that we may have goblins in our walls.¡± I said.


    Fish raised an eyebrow. ¡°Goblins? The things that attacked us the second night and then you proceeded to defeat why would that warrant a meeting?¡±


    ¡°They also might be where all our food is.¡± I added.


    Everybody seemed to explode at me, each talking over each other.


    ¡°Food? As in not human flesh?¡± Punisher asked.


    ¡°We have food and you didn¡¯t tell us?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Food?¡± I heard Shadow ask.


    The majors yelling became an incoherent mess, and I raised my hand and started yelling over them ¡°quiet! Please!¡± I yelled.


    Everybody got quiet at my request.


    ¡°If you want to know, I just learned of this today not that long ago. So let me explain our situation, there is a potential that there are thousands of goblins in our walls where we live. Eating our food, the issue is those goblins are more than likely in a fortress one that was built as an art project, with enough supplies to last us months, in not just food but also supply and materials. But also space.¡± I explained.


    Memezboss spoke, ¡°So you are saying that we have allowed the enemy in our territory? We didn¡¯t even bother to check for food or anything else?¡± Memez asked.


    I responded, ¡°Yes, but that area has miles of tunnels and trenches. If the goblins figured out its purpose and all the defenses were in it, it would be impossible to take back. So we need to start planning now, however the fortress is so complicated you need a map to be able to effectively navigate it.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Do we have maps?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Yes we do, the issue is that they are somewhere in the fortress and the only map we did have is with the team and I didn¡¯t memorize the map so we¡¯ll have to wait until they come back with the maps.¡±


    ¡°Well we could plan out where to check out the above ground map.¡± Silenz suggested.


    I nodded ¡°Alright then, where should we start?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I say we simply start from the Broken wall and start following the trench lines towards the direction the food is stored.¡± Fish suggested.


    ¡°Alright, that works.¡± I grabbed a marker and started writing on the board with a black marker. I wrote down what Fish suggested.


    ¡°Where did you get the marker and board?¡± Silenz asked.


    ¡°The same person that teleported the laptop here.¡± I said, writing down my own idea to scout out the forest to make sure nothing is hiding there.


    ¡°I say we turn our artillery towards the direction of the fortress, for direct fire support if needed.¡± Village suggested.


    ¡°Alright what else?¡± I wrote down the idea.


    ¡°We could put some AT Gunners on a boat and have them act as a moving artillery support platform along the river.¡± Fish suggested.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said, writing down the idea.


    ¡°We could activate one of the behemoths, if our troops encounter any stiff resistance we get that tank over there and blow up whatever is causing them trouble.¡± Lolz suggested.


    ¡°A little expensive but could work well.¡± I said, writing down the idea.


    ¡°This may be a bit of a stretch, but if the tunnels turn out to be too much of a hassle to clear out we could gas the goblins with Mustard gas.¡± Silenz suggested.


    ¡°Mustard gas in the tunnels, I like your thinking.¡± I added the idea to the board.


    This went on until the board was filled with increasingly violent methods in which we could clear out the tunnels which just turned into full on sadism to just kill them. I didn¡¯t help in preventing the sadism, as I think I started the increasingly sadist ideas.


    ¡°I say we stick with realistic ideas in clearing out the tunnels. We could use these ideas later when we have more resources, but I don¡¯t think we have even 10 of the resources required for these ideas.¡± I said.


    A message came in from Gunther.


    ¡°Gunther Here, We got the maps, the issue is the tunnels are filled with goblins and also big guys that look like Ogres. Send men please, before Ronin accidentally burns our maps.¡± Orders from Lieutenant OneGermanGuy.


    I raised my eyebrow at Gunthers name but ignored it as I turned towards the Majors.


    I began giving out orders. ¡°There are Goblins in the Tunnels, but also Ogres too. So everybody get your soldiers together, we are going to war.¡± I said exasperated.

 Old: Chapter 13

    Soon after I began receiving orders after orders from the majors, who were quickly writing out orders on their clipboards. I gave a general report about the situation.


    ¡°We are under attack from Goblins inside the walls, get ready for an attack from the forest.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    ¡°Take up a defensive position on the road toward the Broken Wall, and keep an eye on the forest.¡± Orders from Memezboss.


    ¡°Engineers get our Heavy Machine Guns pointed towards the forest behind our lines, they are going to come out that way.¡± Orders from jjvillage.


    ¡°Get the boats ready for combat, place ATG¡¯s on them and be ready to give fire support at a moment''s notice.¡± Orders from Fishman.


    ¡°Team of the Black Betty get your Behemoth ready to be activated at a moment''s notice once requested.¡± Orders from Forthelolz


    ¡°Turn the artillery towards the forest and have them ready to be fired for a volley at a moment''s notice.¡± Orders from Buzzsaw.


    Along with more, but it was all the same to get ready for a fight.


    A report came in from Gunther, ¡°We¡¯ve closed the door, they are trying to break down the door. Don¡¯t know how long it will last. there''s probably thousands down there in the tunnels please reinforcements immediately Colonel.¡± Orders from OneGermanGuy.


    ¡°Jack, have your troops gather here at the main bunker, you¡¯ll be the one who¡¯ll reinforce Lieutenant Gunther.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Was his response as he brought out his clipboard.


    ¡°My Platoon gathered at the Officers Bunker for a specific mission.¡± Orders from JacktheRipper.


    We made our way out of the bunker to see everyone doing as ordered, very clearly panicking. I didn¡¯t hear many orders as they were all directed down the company level, thank god that I didn¡¯t receive every single order sent out by every Lieutenant or I¡¯d be comatosed if I did.


    Jack''s Platoon of 100 soldiers all gathered at the bunker we were at, Jack and I were on the hill overlooking the crowd. The soldiers weren¡¯t storm troopers, as they were either at the Broken Wall or across the river helping the Noxu.


    I took a breath in and yelled, ¡°Attention Platoon!¡± I yelled.


    Everybody looked at me, ¡°So the mission today is to begin clearing out miles worth of tunnels below us, dug during the final battle. They are filled with our enemy, thousands more soldiers than we have here, possibly thousands. We are to clear them out, the tunnels are complicated but at the end of clearing them out, there would be lots and lots of food.¡± I paused, gauging the reaction of the platoon, it seemed to really get their attention. ¡°However these tunnels are complicated, spreading possibly over the entire area in these walls that surround us. I have sent a small squad to recover maps that were to be used to navigate this fortress of ours, however they confirmed that the enemy is in there in the thousands as I¡¯ve said before. So let''s get moving and reinforce them. I''ll lead the way!¡± I ordered over the top of my lungs, and began walking down my hill towards the place Crumpets Pillbox was at.


    I brought out my whistle and blew in it, a high pitched screech came out and soon after the entire platoon got moving. Then moments afterwards another order from Gunther came.


    ¡°They have surrounded the pillbox from the outside Colonel, repeat they are outside the tunnel system above ground, get our defenses moving!¡± Orders from OneGermanGuy.


    ¡°Shit.¡± I brought out my clipboard and hurriedly wrote out this order.


    ¡°The enemy is out in the forest, be prepared for a battle.¡± Orders from MacNCheese.


    Immediately afterwards I heard several Heavy Machine Guns begin firing, and yelling then a stampede. I was at the edge of the forest, the rest of the Platoon was behind me and I saw the muzzle flashes from the concealed pillbox. Along with a bright light emanating from the forest.


    The yelling was loud, and deep I could hear it in english, ¡°Get out of their field of View!¡±


    Jack who was next to me began to yell. ¡°Platoon! charge towards the muzzle flashes, and that light in the forest is prepared for a fight without an enemy! Be wary of stray bullets from the Pillbox!¡± He then blew his whistle and charged forward.


    I charged forward as well joining Jack in the front, I kept an eye on my surroundings. The light shone past through the tree branches, illuminating a crouched goblin in the forest.


    ¡°First Contact!¡± I yelled, giving a kick to the goblin face slamming it into the ground. It was dead. I brought out my Clipboard boot still on the goblin.


    ¡°Gunther, Reinforcements are here, we are coming from the direction of the Front, be careful when shooting in our direction.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    More gunfire started sounding out, it seems like we arrived just in time. I joined Jack, and saw a massacre: a pile of dead Goblin bodies littered the area surrounding the Pillbox. On the top of the pillbox I saw crumpet was manning a lit up spotlight, she was lighting up a retreating group of goblins and what I thought was an Ogre.


    ¡°Stop firing, let them retreat back to their base of operations!¡± I yelled at the top of my lungs, which seemed enough to get everyone to stop. I turned to Major Jack, ¡°Get a squad to follow them, Jack.¡± I ordered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a squad.¡± Jack got up and grabbed a nearby squad.


    The spotlight turned off and I saw Crumpet waving to me from the top of the pillbox.


    I waved back.


    ¡°We got the maps, around 500 of them in a cart down in the tunnels below!¡± Crumpet yelled from the top, she then disappeared into the pillbox.


    ¡°You''re pretty late!¡± Gunther yelled from the inside of the pillbox.


    ¡°Well I am sorry everything happened suddenly!¡± I responded.


    ¡°Just get over here we have to retrieve the maps from a cart in the tunnels. We were ambushed while down there, luckily we lost no one.¡± Gunther yelled.


    ¡°How many maps do you guys have?¡± I asked, approaching the steel door which was opening.


    ¡°Only 10.¡± Gunther reported.


    I turned to the Platoon, stopping at the door ¡°Commanders of every squad in this platoon, come inside the pillbox.¡± I ordered.


    7 people stepped forward, and joined me along with Jack.


    I turned back to Gunther, ¡°Give them maps and we¡¯ll go over it.¡± I said.


    Lieutenant Raspberry came out hands full of maps, giving one to each commander of the squads.


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    After that we got inside, it was a little crowded but I didn¡¯t care at all.


    ¡°This is a map of the defenses that scatter the entire back line.¡± I said holding up the map, ¡°as you can tell it is complicated, but we do know where everything is with this map. Look on the right side of the map. There you will see boxes marked supplies, that is our final goal, however this is a large area and 100 people aren¡¯t going to be enough to clear out all the goblins and Ogres that are surely in the tunnels.¡± I turned to Gunther who was next to me ¡°Would you like to take over the report?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll do a much better job than you.¡± Gunther said, I didn¡¯t respond as Gunther started. ¡°The tunnels are dark, and commonly forks towards different directions which are already hard enough to navigate if any of you all played maze games before. Now with the added benefit of a local infestation that will kill you if you aren¡¯t paying attention, so here is what we are to do. Do you see the boxes labeled B on your maps?¡± Gunther asked the commanders.


    ¡°Yeah I see em.¡± One said.


    ¡°Where?¡± Another asked.


    The previous one pointed on the map, ¡°Oh, ok I see it now.¡±


    ¡°Everybody found them?¡± Gunther asked.


    There were nods from them all.


    ¡°Good. The plan is we will attack the bunkers closest to us and have our squads meet up at a certain point, we are here on the map in Bunker 16A.¡± Gunther pointed on the map, ¡°one Squad will head to this bunker here, called 52A, after that you¡¯ll head to here along Tunnel route NS2, which is connected to this Pillbox and Bunker we are in currently.¡± Gunther began to give out orders where each squad would go and then what tunnel and direction they would go.


    ¡°Colonel, anything else you would like to add?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°While y¡¯all are down there in the tunnels clearing them out. The rest of us up here will be assaulting the other Bunkers and pillboxes, so just be aware of the possibility of friendly fire especially if you guys are exiting a tunnel into a Bunker.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, then let''s get moving. Remember our main goal currently is to get the maps but also to make a clear area. If you have any questions about tunnel warfare don¡¯t hesitate to ask me, but remember we don¡¯t have much time.¡± Gunther said, the rest of the commanders nodded as they began to file out to give out orders to their squads.


    I was about as the last of the commanders left the pillbox, ¡°Colonel.¡± Gunther said behind.


    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Can we discuss the question of rank when this is over?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°If you want a promotion then that¡¯ll require us to change a lot of things about the current system. But yes, we will discuss this after this is over.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Gunther said, and he climbed down. I could hear him yelling at his squad.


    I stepped out of the pillbox into the forest, with Jack waiting out there.


    ¡°CEO?¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If you wish to, you can have Hans Gunther take my position. I think I am underqualified for this position, especially when put into comparison to the skill of that guy there.¡± Jack said, bringing out his clipboard.


    ¡°We do not have the time for this yet, also there''s the issue that you do not know how good you are as a commander. We¡¯ll discuss reorganization after killing the Goblins, for now just shoot, don¡¯t do friendly fire and stay calm.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, I will keep that in mind. Thank you.¡± Jack said, as he left to join his squad.


    I brought out my clipboard and sent out this order, ¡°Begin preparations to assault the goblins on our side.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese


    I got to moving towards the area we were living in and there I saw field guns, and heavy artillery barrels pointing upwards towards the walls. They were all manned, sandbags lanced with barbed wire were set up right at the edge of the forest. It was like they were expecting an assault from the goblins.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot me! Friendly here!¡± I yelled, as I saw hundreds of barrels aim at me.


    ¡°Friendly?¡± I heard a deep voice somewhere from behind me, ¡°You do not look friendly at all. More like a monster.¡±


    I quickly spun on my heels looking at the direction the voice came from. I brought up my SMG and aimed it into the forest.


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t sound too friendly either.¡± I responded.


    ¡°So you are the one that leads these buffoons.¡± The voice said.


    I turned to the left and saw a glimpse of something or someone in the forest hiding behind one of the trees.


    ¡°So what.¡± I answered, aiming at the spot I saw it at.


    ¡°You don¡¯t care do you? You really think you can beat me?¡± The voice was coming from a different direction and I turned to face it.


    ¡°Yes, I do and I can prove it to you right now.¡± I said, walking backwards towards the sandbag wall. There were several HMGs sticking above the wall, they were all finished and ready to manned.


    ¡°Then why are you running? Especially since I am not here, you cannot kill me with your weapons. Unless you get closer to me.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t that stupid you know, I see you in that forest moving about.¡± I jumped over the sandbags, I seemed to surprise everybody at the fortifications from just how high and cleanly I jumped. Then I landed.


    ¡°You really think that is me? You ought to look again.¡± The voice called from the forest ominously.


    I got onto the HMG and looked once more.


    ¡°Do you see anything?¡± I asked the guy in the sandbag fort in front of me.


    ¡°See what? I only trees.¡± He responded.


    ¡°Yes, I know but look closer. See any movement?¡± I asked.


    I looked, seeing trees, brush, and foliage first then passed all of that. There I heard whispering, and talking loudly.


    ¡°The sky demon is looking right at me!¡± I heard a high pitched voice squeak out.


    I aimed the gun at the direction it came out, ¡°Did you hear that high pitched voice yell?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What voice?¡± The soldier asked, ¡°and who were you talking to?¡±


    I ignored the final comment as it seemed to be just me who heard it, and I listened once more hearing a dozen plus high pitched voices speak out at once from the forest. The trees specifically, there were so many it was indecipherable. But I could tell the direction they were in.


    ¡°I hear the enemy, they are in the trees!¡± I yelled, taking aim at a tree top, and then pulling the trigger. A low sounding gunshot, in slow succession bursted out as a goblin fell out of it blood splattering everywhere.


    ¡°Fire at the trees!¡± I yelled at the soldier.


    ¡°I see what you''re talking about!¡± The soldier in front of me said as he soon started to fire his bolt action rifle at a tree top.


    I brought out my clipboard once more and sent another message.


    ¡°The enemy is hiding in the treetops, fire at them! Do not use the artillery, we still have friendlies in the area. For those who are to make their way to the bunkers to clear out the Tunnels be wary of stray bullets.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    I then blew the whistle before firing once more, hundreds of gunshots rang out as I heard the high pitched voice yell once more in my mind. I used their panicked yelling to take a shot at a treetop hitting a goblin before turning to another and another.


    The yelling got extremely loud, deafening even yet with almost sadistic glee I continued shooting at them.


    Then the yelling stopped, it got quiet. Well except for the gunfire, but the yelling stopped.


    ¡°Come on you all lets go find their base and kill these fuckers! Charge!¡± I ordered, blowing my whistle.


    I gleefully got up as several hundred soldiers in the nearby vicinity followed my orders. They made their way to several of the openings to funnel the enemy into a killzone and began charging into the forest.


    ¡°Go the direction downstream, that''s where they¡¯ll be! I hear their fear.¡± I said, and it was true I could hear the high pitched distance talking of the goblins.


    Then I heard yelling ¡°Be careful with how loud you think! They have a powerful telepath as their leader! And they are insane, wanting to kill us all!¡± The deep voice cried, from the forest and I was headed straight towards the direction the yelling was.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the reason why we¡¯re here? To prove who''s the best and I damn sure want to win?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The demon hears us all.¡± the voice whimpered.


    Then suddenly the talking got loud, really loud as we passed a pillbox..


    ¡°They are in that bunker there, below us specifically.¡± I said, pointing towards the pillbox 27A.


    The soldiers around me all stopped and looked at me.


    ¡°I am giving y¡¯all the location of your target so get to them. The pillbox should be on top of a bunker which is connected to a tunnel. Which I think we are right above right now.¡± I said.


    The soldiers nodded.


    ¡°Come on, get this door open.¡± One of the Lieutenants ordered.


    They approached the steel door, ¡°Does anybody here know how to open one of these doors?¡±


    ¡°Do you want the door still intact? Or not?¡± An Anti Tank Gunner asked.


    ¡°Preferably intact but it doesn¡¯t matter as long as you guys can get into it.¡± I said.


    I looked at the door as the squad stepped away, giving the ATGer room to safely shoot, when it suddenly unlocked itself and screeched open slightly.


    ¡°It unlocked ma¡¯am.¡± A Warrant Officer reported.


    ¡°Well then get in there, be careful of an ambush. I think they know we¡¯re here.¡± I said.


    ¡°Will do, come on squad, let''s clean out this bunker.¡± Said a warrant officer as ten people entered it.


    I looked downward and heard the hurried yelling of what I was sure was goblins.


    ¡°My lord, why have you made us fight these demons?¡± One of the voices cried.


    ¡°I just stole bread for my younger sister and brother, why did I have to be damned to fight demons?¡± Another cried.


    ¡°They are here, I hear them on the other side. Be quiet, and remember the plan!¡± A goblin ordered.


    ¡°It''s too late to hide now, better bring out your knives and fight to the death.¡± I said quietly. This seemed to get the yelling towards another layer as a conversation played out.


    ¡°Why do I hear the demon in my head!¡± The bread stealer said.


    ¡°No, do not let it get into its head. It may be able to speak to us, but that doesn¡¯t mean it has physical control over us! Remember the plan, and our promise!¡± The goblin said.


    I moved around, I could intuitively tell I was above the Bread Stealer Goblin.


    I whispered in just his ear, only for him to hear ¡°I have bread. Lots and lots of bread for you to give to your siblings. All you need to do to get it is to kill your leader.¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Obre! Do not let that demon into your head, you hear me!¡± The goblin Leader yelled.


    ¡°She promises me bread for my family!¡± Obre cried.


    ¡°Fucking hell, get off me!¡± The leader said.


    ¡°You stabbed me.¡± Obre said with a shocked sounding voice.


    ¡°Sorry I had to do what I needed to do to keep us all safe, and to you demon. I will kill you!¡±


    ¡°Sir they are attacking!¡± I heard another goblin yell.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± I heard the leader say, followed by a muffled explosion down below.


    The squad came out of the pillbox, their boots covered with blood. Leaving a small trail.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am the goblins are dead.¡± A grenadier said with a smiling face, one the holsters for his grenades was empty.


    I turned to the south and continued forward. ¡°Good let''s continue.¡±

 Old: Chapter 14

    ¡°Aim¡­¡± I heard a goblin quietly say, to the direct left of me. Wasn¡¯t too far away, then the goblin said. ¡°pull¡­¡± I started to duck down and a moment later I heard the goblin say ¡°release.¡± An arrow flew out and struck the tree to the right of me, where my head would¡¯ve been. I quickly spun on my heels as the Goblin repeated the same words this time much faster, and another arrow flew missing my face by what I felt was only a couple of inches.


    ¡°It''s looking at me.¡± The Archer said.


    I pulled up my SMG and sprayed the bush I heard the Goblin from. Followed by the goblin speaking.


    ¡°What? What just happened? It shouldn¡¯t¡¯ve been this quick in finding me. Then what had hit me?¡± The Archer asked in perfect English, slowly getting quieter.


    ¡°I am bleeding, a fatal bleeding. I am sorry Mother for being a disappointment¡­¡± The voice died down to almost silence and then nothing more.


    I heard more goblins yell about, but none in conversation with each other for some odd reason.


    ¡°What was that!?¡±


    ¡°Thunder doesn¡¯t sound like that.¡±


    ¡°I wanna go home.¡±


    I heard all around me from the foliage, they were close that''s for sure.


    ¡°M¡¯am what are you doing?¡± Asked Warrant Officer Valdez.


    ¡°Listening to the goblins talk, you guys don¡¯t hear them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, all I know is that you suddenly shot a bush. Were you sure a goblin was there?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°Yes, I am sure. I think I heard their last words too.¡± I said, looking throughout the forest around me.


    ¡°Do you hear these goblins now?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°Yes, they are all confused at what just happened right now. I don¡¯t think they have line of sight of us or each other on top of that I am sure they are on orders to not speak. Probably attempting an ambush.¡± I said.


    ¡°An ambush?¡± Valdez asked concerningly, looking left and right.


    I heard a goblin off the distance say, almost a whisper towards the south. ¡°Alright that should be the last of the traps set, I hope these work.¡±


    ¡°There are traps set up that way.¡± I said, pointing to the south.


    ¡°Traps?¡± Valdez asked again.


    ¡°And a goblin in that tree up there.¡± I said pointing at a nearby tree at the canopy.


    The goblin yelled, ¡°How the hell does it see me?¡±


    Valdez pulled up his bolt action rifle and took aim at the top, and fired.


    ¡°Fuck! They see me!¡± The Goblin yelled.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hit it but it''s up there. As they yelled just right now.¡± I said.


    ¡°What''s yelling? I hear nothing but the occasional gunshot off in the distance.¡± Valdez said.


    He was right as there was gunfire off in the distance, the occasional pop and yelling but we were in a very quiet area.


    ¡°Just shoot the tree again, I think they are taking aim right now.¡± I said.


    ¡°Aim¡­¡± I heard the goblin yell.


    Valdez pulled his bolt back loading a new round into the chamber, and took aim.


    ¡°Pull¡­¡±


    Valdez fired his gun, it hit the tree causing bark to fly out.


    ¡°Shit, they do see me! At least they don¡¯t seem capable of breaking the bark.¡± The goblin threw out expletive after expletives. ¡°Fuck theres a hole in it.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°Shoot the spot you just shot before.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ok.¡± Valdez fired once more, followed by branches breaking and a light thud.


    ¡°What the fuck? Why am I on the ground?¡± The goblin said, I heard quiet high pitched nasally groans from behind the tree.


    ¡°You hit it, have your squad shoot that tree.¡± I pointed at one to the left of me with a bunch of thick branches perfect for a goblin to hide in, ¡°At that one¡± I pointed to the tree at the right similar to the one to the left, ¡°And those two behind us. All at the top of course.¡± I ordered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the one in the back.¡± The squad medic said.


    ¡°I think they are catching on to us.¡± I said, looking at the tree to the back and I actually saw the point of the arrow stick out of the foliage.


    I heard almost all the goblins say ¡°Pull¡­¡±


    ¡°Duck! They are about to fire!¡± I ordered, pushing Valdez to the ground and the team''s LMGer. In the process getting to the ground.


    Immediately afterwards, they all said ¡°Release¡­¡± Unanimously, followed by five arrows flying out towards where I was, where Valdez and the LMGer was. I didn¡¯t hear the others yell or cry, I looked around and saw that the others all were able to duck in time.


    With arrows having hit the ground next to them, or none at all as there were around twice as many troops in the squad then there were goblins.


    I heard a variance of yells saying essentially ¡°I fucking missed.¡± Then after they began to go through the sequence of firing their bows, I rushed towards the LMGer ¡°Give me your gun.¡± I ordered as another volley of arrows came at us missing by mere inches from me and the others.


    They held out the gun and I grabbed it, and then aimed then fired into the trees behind us, the one to the left and the one to the right all in bursts of a few rounds. My hits were confirmed by branches breaking followed by light thuds not too far from us.


    I heard the same confusion from the goblins as the first goblin Valdez shot. Before their talking eventually stopped after about 15 seconds, confirming their deaths.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am you are something.¡± Valdez said, pushing himself off the ground rubbing his left arm.


    ¡°Did I hurt you?¡± I asked.


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    ¡°Just a slight bruise, nothing too bad.¡± Valdez said.


    ¡°Good, cause I think there are more coming, way more.¡± I said.


    Off in the distance I heard soft speaking in my right ear a conversation, ¡°I think that was in the direction of the ambush.¡± Said a goblin off in the distance.


    ¡°That''s not good, those poppings are everywhere around us. But that one was the loudest.¡± Said another.


    ¡°So one of their disorganized attacks?¡± A Goblin asked.


    ¡°Let''s get moving to the south, that''s where all the action is.¡± I said, making my way towards the direction of the speaking.


    I heard Valdez speaking with his squad, ¡°How do you think she knows where they were?¡± A Private whispered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she says she hears all of their talking.¡± Valdez said.


    I stepped under a branch, when I suddenly heard a deep voice ¡°That one is pretty¡­ small too, like those Treyarch kids. It has breasts too, like hobgoblin women not as big as some but I do need entertainment after this is over.¡± Laughed a gravelly creepy voice to my right.


    Goosebumps shot up all over my skin as I brung out my spellbook and aimed a blast spell directly at the direction of the voice. A loud ship like horn rang out, as red magic circles, on top of red magic circles appeared above me.


    ¡°What the hell is that, and I can see right past the 5 points on it?¡± I aimed right on the creep good.


    Followed by an explosion, dirt, tree parts, grass and an assortment of other underground critters were thrown up into the sky splattering the forest with its destruction. It was hot, loud and most importantly it silenced the creep.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am why did you use a blast spell?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°There was a creep in the woods imagining very horrible things. That I can not get out of my fucking head.¡± I said, walking to the spot I aimed at. Revealing nothing but a crater in its place, nothing was left of whatever I heard.


    We continued on, the whispering of the masses was slowly getting louder and louder. A hundred or so voices all indiscernible from each other like a loud cafeteria, all talking below the ground in the tunnels.


    After walking a few hundred more feet we arrived at a trenchline, one long trench line that went to the left and right for hundreds of feet. There was a small pillbox every few dozen feet, it was the AI controlled pillboxes.


    The barrel of a machine gun slightly jutted out of the opening in the pillbox, it was leaning downward sitting on the concrete wall. There was a quiet voice coming from the pillbox.


    ¡°Stop thinking¡­¡± It whispered. It was barely audible when it yelled ¡°That''s how you don''t attract a Telepath that''s your enemy.¡± Followed by it saying ¡°damn it, stop thinking.¡± It quietly said.


    I approached the pillbox, the source of the sound. I narrowed my eyes at the opening pillbox, and I heard an eep from the voice. Followed by no more sound from the pillbox at all, I leaned into the opening putting my hand on the barrel.


    Not a good idea but just wanted to make sure they had no attempt at getting a shot at me. Leaning in, it was dark in the pillbox. I could only make out shapes. The gun was an LMG as I guessed, it was set up on the tripod on a small desk and the legs were bolted down into the desk.


    Small cans littered the ground, the Pillbox was clearly partially buried as it was a good 3 or so feet below ground enough for a man to stand in. It was also cramped with enough space for one person.


    Yet I heard soft breathing from below the desk, or was it my breath as it can be quite loud at times.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am what''s in there?¡± Asked Valdez.


    I jumped back slightly startled at Valdez¡¯s sudden appearance and sighed. ¡°I thought I heard something in there, guess I was just hearing myself.¡± I said, stepping away from the pillbox window.


    I pointed to the pillbox next to the one I was looking at earlier. ¡°Check that pillbox, I hear someone in there.¡± I said.


    One of Valdez''s infantrymen looked at each other and one of them just shrugged, approached the pillbox, and climbed through the pillbox window. Followed by panicked talking.


    ¡°Oh god they are here. How did they know I was in here? Maybe if I just don¡¯t make a sound and hide even more under this table even more they¡¯ll leave?¡± The nasally voice asked.


    ¡°Look under the desk.¡± I ordered.


    The infantry looked out the window and shrugged, followed by the same nasally voice from before yelling. Immediately followed by the infantrymen yelling in pain with a gunshot ringing out, the Nasally voice was gone.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been stabbed!¡± Reported the infantryman, prompting the medic to rush over and help him.


    I narrowed my eyes at the pillbox, and I focused my hearing on it. I heard panicked whispering come from the one I was just in.


    ¡°Oh god¡­ oh god¡­ I hope they didn¡¯t find one of us.¡± I heard the whisper out of the hushed whispers around me. Approaching the previous ones my boots gave thuds on the dirt ground before turning into clicking as I stepped on wood.


    I brought out my SMG and put the barrel right next to the top of the table and loaded several rounds into the wood. Prompting a high almost girlish scream to sound out, a scream no one else heard.


    ¡°That was close, I just hope they are satisfied and left.¡± The voice said from below the table.


    I waited a few moments before whispering. ¡°The woman left, you have a chance to escape, be careful as they are still nearby just distracted. Go and regroup with the rest of the army, if you want to respond do not speak physically as I am not actually here.¡± I did the equivalent of whispering.


    ¡°Why are you whispering to me, my lord?¡± The goblin whispered back.


    ¡°Do not want to lose, wait for my signal, on it you will sneak out through the window and into the ditches you¡¯ll find hiding places if you need to.¡± I whispered, I quickly and quietly stepped over to the right side of the pillbox hiding out of view from the window.


    ¡°Alright on my signal you will exit the fort and then go to the left that way if they turn their way towards you they will not see you.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Yes my lord.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°Good.¡± I responded, left my spot and went to talk to the rest of the crew.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am what are you doing over there?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°Just waiting, you are going to make me wait longer. Go check the other pillboxes, I¡¯ll call you if I need you.¡± I ordered.


    Valdez looked at me confused but still nodded, ¡°Alright ma¡¯am.¡± He said before leaving.


    ¡°What direction are you going to run off in again?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°To the left side my lord.¡± The goblin responded.


    ¡°Where are you going to run towards, on my signal?¡±


    ¡°To the ditches behind these forts and run back to camp.¡±


    ¡°Good, good, you are listening. Go now, it''s clear.¡± I said.


    I barely heard anything as light thumps occurred, followed by light clapping of shoes on the dirt.


    ¡°Alright my lord I made it out and am now hiding on the left side of the fort. Is it clear for me to continue running it?¡± The goblin asked.


    I genuinely looked around making sure it was clear for the goblin to make it out alive. After all, I needed it to lead me towards their base of operations.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but be careful there are many of them nearby.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± The Goblin said, I then heard the light scampering of the goblin.


    Looking over towards the trench line, I saw the goblin run into the trench line and then it hid under the Tank Bridges.


    ¡°Give me an update on your position so I know you are alive.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°I am going to head to one of the big stone forts, towards the warehouses. It is to the South away from the river, that''s where our main forces are, if that''s what you''re asking.¡± The goblin said, as I began to trail it.


    ¡°I see, I¡¯ll know if you''re alive.¡± I said waving towards the rest of my platoon to follow me.


    ¡°Thank you for helping this small goblin, my lord.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± I responded.


    Valdez approached me with the rest of the platoon ¡°What¡¯s going on ma¡¯am?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°I have successfully made an unintentional mole, and that mole is going to lead us towards their base of operations.¡± I answered.


    ¡°A mole?¡± Valdez asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Warrant Officer. All you need to know is that if that Goblin makes it to their base alive we won¡¯t have to eat human flesh and organs.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, then lead the way?¡± Valdez asked unsure if that was the correct way to go about it. I was also unsure if that was the way to go about it.


    ¡°Well just follow me, they are in that trench.¡± I said, turning my attention towards the Goblin once more.


    ¡°My lord, I am making a detour. Towards the big stone forts in the middle of this massive fortress, as there''s a large enemy force in the trenches with me.¡± I heard the goblin practically say right next to me.


    I jumped on top of the highest nearby pillbox and looked in the direction the Goblin was in and saw it was correct.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, keep going.¡± I whispered towards the goblin, I climbed out of the trench line and followed the path the goblin took.


    ¡°If you say so my lord.¡± The goblin responded off in the distance.


    I went towards the direction I heard the goblin from.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am are we following the mole?¡± Valdez asked who was behind me.


    ¡°Yes we are. Although there is a chance it won¡¯t lead us to one of their main bases as it would likely be killed pretty soon.¡± I said to Valdez.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Was Valdez''s response.


    I saw the goblin from before silently running through the trench lines, slowly heading towards several massive warehouses off in the distance.


    ¡°My lord, I am nearing our base. What should I tell the commander?¡± The goblin asked.


    I could tell the goblin was telling the truth, as it was approaching the warehouses. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said to the goblin.


    ¡°Thank you? Why do you need to thank me, my lord?¡± The goblin asked. I could hear the fear in its voice.


    ¡°Thank you for believing in me, as your lord. I am ordering you to run now, it''s going to get brutal soon and I wouldn¡¯t want you to die here, you''re too useful.¡± I said.


    ¡°Where am I to go, my lord? I am a prisoner of the Penal Colonies. I was arrested for stealing, I am expected to die here for you.¡± The goblin said, I could hear the goblin start to break down crying.


    ¡°Outside the closest town, live off the land I will ensure you are safe from persecution and any enemies you¡¯ve made.¡± I told the goblin.


    The goblin started to really sob ¡°thank you my lord. The closest town, that is across the river if you want me to be in the Toh empire. But I could walk it to Hlpecby an ally of Toh, although I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll like your presence there.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°Alright hide out in the merchant ship that crashed up river, but before you go take enough food from the warehouses that¡¯ll last you a week. I¡¯ll ensure you can safely cross the river, just wait for my signal and go into the warehouse.¡± I told the goblin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you my lord, I¡¯ll hide in a crater and hide under the bridges.¡± The goblin said.


    ¡°That¡¯ll work, you just need to wait for my signal but be more quiet from here on out.¡± I saw the goblin in question quickly run out of the trench and scramble into a foxhole that was covered by bridges, a pseudo cheap bunker the goblin was now hiding in.


    There was no further talking from the goblin.


    Valdez approached me from behind while I was looking at the surrounding area. ¡°Ma¡¯am the enemy is too well dug in, despite our superior firepower it is difficult for us to break through. Without risking our lives that is.¡± Valdez reported.


    I turned around and looked at him, ¡°alright.¡± I said bringing out my clipboard.


    ¡°Everybody gather at the forward vanguard trench lines of this fortress, on the whistle we¡¯ll perform an assault on the warehouse.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    ¡°Alright then, let''s get ready for a real assault.¡± I said, I heard the voices of hundreds of confused goblins.


    ¡°They are retreating?¡± I heard a goblin nearby say.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said to the goblin.

 Old: Chapter 15

    Minutes passed since I sent out the order and I saw people start to gather at the vanguard trenches. It was clear there was confusion about what Vanguard meant, but eventually everybody understood what was going on exactly.


    Me and the rest of Valdez¡¯s squad was joined by a dozen others as everybody gathered at the vanguard trenches preparing for an assault.


    I was sure everybody was in the trenches or as many that could realistically fit in the trenchline, to target the warehouse for one big push.


    I brought out my clipboard, ¡°Majors once you confirm most of your squads are in the vanguard or surrounding trenches, send a message confirming everyone is present. The main goal of clearing out the bunkers and tunnels is still a priority, but taking their base of operation is now more important.¡± Orders from CeoofMacNCheese.


    I looked over the top of the trench, I didn¡¯t see anything until I saw a goblin pop its head up from the trench line. Followed immediately by a gunshot and then falling down back into the trench very much dead.


    I heard the panic of the goblins from the trench not that far away.


    ¡°Can we hit them with our arrows from this close?¡± A goblin asked.


    ¡°Possibly.¡± Another answered.


    I turned to the grenadier who was sitting down on the firing board.


    ¡°Throw a grenade into the neighboring trench, I hear quite a few in there.¡± I said.


    The grenadier nodded, he stood up, grabbed the red glowing ball from his pouch, when he pulled the pin it started to buzz, and threw it. The grenade flew in an arc, it exploded right above the trench line prompting cries from the goblins.


    ¡°What the hell!¡± One cursed.


    ¡°So those glowing balls really explode.¡± Another said scared.


    The grenade roused a response from the trench they were in, as orders from whoever their commanders were, started being yelled around.


    ¡°Prepare to attack. Stop standing around doing nothing! This is our last chance at victory!¡± Yelling the deep voice.


    A message from Fish, and Silenz confirming everybody in his company was at the trenchline.


    ¡°Prepare for an enemy attack!¡± I yelled, everybody turned their attention towards the communication trenches that connected to the ones we were in.


    I looked towards the trench line that the enemy was in and saw the goblins were climbing up and out of the trench line and for some reason started to cross directly towards ours, despite cover being available.


    Everywhere they did just that, up and out then they ran towards the forward trench line we were at, all exposed. These were very much untrained conscripts.


    I brought out my SMG, and began firing into the charging goblin horde. I wasn¡¯t all that accurate, but from the sheer amount climbing out almost every shot had hit, resulting in a goblin falling down and being trampled in the process.


    The rest of the force had also taken notice soon after I did and began to fire into the charging horde. AT Guns charged up, grenades were being desperately thrown, the trench they were climbing out was only 30 feet away.


    30 feet was the distance they had to cross to get to us, I reloaded and fired another mag in the seemingly never ending horde of Goblins. Explosions rocketed the goblin horde throwing up dust, and gore into the sky. Hundreds of guns tore through the goblin horde, annihilating the disorganized lines of goblins.


    I heard the goblins fear, yet the sheer amount of goblins made it impossible to pick out any words from them.


    No spells had been activated at the moment, the goblins'' attempted charge lasted less than a minute. As in the end there were only hundreds of dead goblins that formed a small hill, I looked over to my left and right and saw men were moving forward through the communication trenches.


    I looked over and saw no more movement from the trench the goblins were in, meaning we either killed them all or they were scared shitless and as such refuse to attack us.


    I brought out my clipboard. ¡°Cancel waiting, they have made attempted attacks, whatever you have just take the trenches and surround the warehouses on the whistle. Do not use grenades, flamethrowers, or AT guns when you get near the warehouses.¡± Orders from CeoofMacNCheese.


    I brought out my whistle and blew it, a high pitched whine came out. ¡°Go get dinner!¡± I ordered, everybody gave a cheer and began moving through the trenches, with me right behind them.


    I entered the communication trench, with the rest of the squad. No one, not even me, wanted to risk getting hit by making a direct beeline towards the warehouse. Instead we took an indirect route, through the for once properly built trench lines that wiggled providing natural cover from the way it moves through the landscape.


    I could hear explosions off in the distance, by distance I mean it was loud. Deafening so, as I saw several pillboxes being shot at with a dozen AT guns. The boxes immediately caved in on itself; a quick survey of the surrounding trenches near the pillboxes showed there were attempts at resistance via arrows from the goblins. They were somewhat successful from the fact that a few dozen soldiers were being treated by medics for arrow wounds.


    I didn¡¯t even need to raise a finger or order as I silently moved through the trenchline towards the warehouse with Valdez¡¯s squad.


    The fighting was desperate, with goblins performing suicide charges from surrounding trenchlines, pillboxes, and bunkers. There was a pile of dead goblins everywhere I could see, there''s an alright chance we will be eating good tonight.


    When I arrived at the warehouses it was a different story entirely, the warehouses were brick and mortar, providing substantial protection. I didn¡¯t know the inside of the warehouses but there were archers and crossbowmen on the roof.


    Smoke covered the battlefield obscuring my vision so I couldn¡¯t see much yet.


    I saw that Fish was here, he was cautiously looking at the battlefield from the fire step, occasionally looking over for brief moments before crouching back down. I took a position next to him on the fire step.


    ¡°What''s happening?¡± I asked.


    Fish turned to me clearly in shock. ¡°They have guns, that''s what''s happening.¡± He exclaimed.


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    ¡°Guns? I thought they were less advanced than that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I thought so too, good news is that it''s just single shot guns from what I¡¯ve seen.¡± Fish Mekely said.


    ¡°I hope their guns aren¡¯t rifled.¡± I said I was equally scared.


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯ve fired several volleys at us, and lost a few squads.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°Volleys? They have that many guns?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yep, we already lost a few guys.¡±


    I took a peak from the trench, I saw several squads cowering behind brick cover, looking closer towards the warehouse the smoke had disappeared there I saw a single Lizard just standing in the center uncovered.


    To the sides of the lizard, there was a long line of sandbags, through the firing holes in the fully built sandbags I saw possibly hundreds of goblins behind them. I could also hear all those goblins from that direction too, so I was sure they were taking cover behind the sandbags.


    The warehouse had many open windows where I saw a barrel belonging to a gun sticking out from each one. The archers and crossbow goblins were as stated before were on the roof.


    Yet no one was taking any shots at the goblins on the roof. Then the goblins and ogres suddenly stood up revealing hundreds of them, along with the goblins on the roof.


    ¡°Take cover, they are about to fire!¡± Yelled a Warrant Officer in the trench, as hundreds of arrows fell down on the trench line. Fish and I were luckily not hit by an arrow as dozens of soldiers in the line fell down in pain. Arrows littered the battlefield around.


    Followed immediately by someone activating a healing spell, leading to those that were hit getting back up immediately.


    I got to ordering bringing out on my clipboard once more, ¡°Prepare to return fire! Throw grenades and fire AT guns at the sandbags!¡± I ordered, with the same message appearing in front of me and everybody else.


    Everybody scrambled back up onto the fire steps, presenting their arms. The soldiers behind the cover carefully gauged the battlefield then they started lobbing grenades, followed by the wind up of an AT Gun. Prompting an immediate response from the guns in the warehouse, with them attempting to hit the AT Gunners.


    However several explosions rocked the sandbag forts annihilating the cover revealing hundreds of goblins and ogres in the lines. All of them were guarding the warehouse.


    I brought out my whistle and when I saw the majority were on the firestep, ¡°Aim!¡± I yelled.


    ¡°They are about to fire, get behind cover you meatbags!¡± I heard the lizard yell, it was pointing around. The goblins and ogres immediately began scrambling for new cover.


    However the bipedal lizard didn¡¯t run for cover, just standing there.


    When I blew the whistle, a second later a massive volley tore through the lizard, ogres and goblins. Followed immediately by a counter volley from the warehouse, I saw dirt get thrown around as a round musket ball hit the dirt in front of me.


    Smoke covered the warehouse''s top floor. I looked back at the lizard who was clearly the commander.


    The lizard didn¡¯t fall down, the goblins and ogres that couldn¡¯t get to cover in time fell down dead. Yet the lizard didn¡¯t fall down, there was blood dripping out of it, a lot from what I could tell from this distance.


    Then the Lizard moved their head upwards and gave out a series of high pitched squeaks, almost like a laugh.


    Then it said, ¡°These newcomers are funny with their guns. But this is not how you kill an Apostle!¡± The Lizard laughed.


    ¡°Fire another volley directly at the lizard!¡± I ordered, everybody turned their guns on the lizard.


    I blew my whistle again and a hundred rounds tore into the lizard in every inch of the body. It was annihilated, to the point it was unrecognizable if I knew what it even looked like before. I could literally see what I thought was the organs.


    This prompted a counter volley of arrows from the goblins on the warehouse.


    The side of my head felt warm, followed by a slight sting.


    ¡°What?¡± I quietly said to myself.


    I put my hand on the stinging spot, and looked at it, there was blood on my hand. I was bleeding, looking behind me I saw a bullet belonging to a rifle was lodged into the plank behind me.


    ¡°It ricocheted?¡± I said in disbelief, I looked at the lizard again and at that moment I saw its wounds just heal.


    ¡°Open fire at the lizard again!¡± I ordered, panicked at the idea of an unkillable enemy.


    Then the lizard got down into a running stance like it''s going to kick off the ground. Then it did just that, suddenly dashing forward almost like a character from those shonen manga. Directly towards the line, hundreds of guns fired in another volley, all missed the lizard hitting the warehouse and surrounding area.


    I lept off the ground with a lot of strength and speed in an attempt to intercept the flying lizard.


    I was successful in my attempt as I directly slammed into the Lizard mid air, with a speed equal to it. Knocking it off course into remaining sandbags while I was essentially stopped and I slammed into the ground.


    A healing spell was active, the lizard however wasn¡¯t too happy about me.


    ¡°So you are the apostle, although you are a mere toy, to the Child. I¡¯ll entertain her for a little bit but no more. I¡¯ll show the child a real apostle, not this embarrassment to our kind.¡± The lizard said, all I knew was that it was a threat.


    I grabbed my spellbook and activated another healing spell as the Lizard charged forward. Time slowed down even more, as I barely avoided the lizard slamming into me.


    I got a good look at the lizard, leopard gecko-like scales covered in blood. I didn¡¯t get much chance to look any more as the lizard somehow stopped itself midair, or was stopped by something from the way it seemed to bounce off an invisible wall.


    Then it launched forward without needing to kick off the ground, followed by what felt like a shock. Almost as if the air was rushing out to equalize in pressure with the surrounding air.


    The lizard came flying at me again, its hands or claws were spread out as I couldn¡¯t recover in time. It was fast, almost the speed of a high speed train. It was too fast for me to dodge, the lizard grabbed my arm and it slowed down as it should¡¯ve and by a lot.


    Followed by another shock wave as I suddenly found myself in the sky.


    ¡°Ever been in the sky before?¡± The lizard asked with a murderous look, throwing me upwards.


    I was rotating out of control, I couldn¡¯t straighten myself out when the lizard suddenly slammed into me. My breath was thrown out of my gut.


    ¡°At some point the air becomes too thin for a living being to breathe in, before eventually disappearing. I am sure you know that if you are considered an apostle.¡± The lizard said.


    I didn¡¯t respond as I couldn¡¯t, nor did I want to. The Lizard gave a punch to my gut, knocking out whatever air I was able to recover.


    I was becoming angrier with each hit I took, I was angry at the world for giving me a hand I could barely control, I was angry at, Program Administrator for throwing me into this world without preparation or hell prior warning. But I was also angry at myself for not being able to even fight back, I failed everybody, even Administrator.


    The lizard grabbed my throat, as I had barely recovered my breath. It was getting cold now, the wind was powerful, there was a good chance we had hit some sort of jet stream. Although it wasn¡¯t like it mattered at all as I was losing consciousness from the lack of air.


    The lizard grip tightened, as I weakly tried to reach for my saber. I gave up on that line of attack as I was losing consciousness to even grab onto it. Let alone to pick it up.


    ¡°I knew it, you are a mere toy. You are getting thrown around just like a toy, it seems like the only thing the Child is good at is throwing around city destroying weapons. Which the child doesn¡¯t have here do they? Apostle of the Child to the Abrahamic God.¡± The lizard said grimly, their grip was tightening even more on my throat. I was grabbing at the Lizards claw that was digging into my throat but to no avail at relieving the pressure.


    The lizard wasn¡¯t speaking at all, just simply focused on killing me.


    I decided to do one last desperate attempt at a chance of getting free. I opened my jaw as wide as I could, and with the last bit of strength I had left. I lunged forward and chomped onto the lizard''s neck, before pulling back, tearing out the shoulder muscles.


    As I hoped, their grip loosened on my neck giving me room to breath. As their shoulder dropped before it began to rapidly heal the exposed flesh.


    The lizard was clearly angry.


    It picked me up with its right arm, till I was eyelevel by the neck still, brandishing its left claw it slashed across my face, I could no longer see out of my left eye as pain shot up across my face. Almost like a cat scratch but worse, with my remaining right eye beginning to be covered in blood.


    Before it lets me go, allowing me to fall, the height will surely finish me off.


    Through blurry eyes I saw the lizard was just standing there, on nothing with an angry look, not sure how I could tell. I just knew it was pissed.


    I was in free fall, now still looking at the Leopard Gecko styled lizard, who was covered in a neon glowing red. Before suddenly it disappeared.


    Afterwards I blacked out. There was nothing, nothing left to experience or was there?


    I couldn¡¯t tell.


    I heard whispering in my ear, ¡°You won¡¯t die,¡± I heard the familiar voice of Administrator, ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡± She whispered.


    ¡°You won¡¯t die.¡± She said, repeatedly then stopped, there was nothing except for my mind.


    Everything that happened before was a blur, I could barely remember.


    Wait..


    Who am I?


    Where am I?


    How am I?


    When am I?


    What am I?


    I just stood there in this nothing that surrounded me, confused, before I heard something then saw something. Sparks of white, and shades of gray and black. Along with the garbledness of nothing.


    I felt something, a massive amount of pain. I didn¡¯t like it, I had nothing to tell me what was happening. Why was I in pain, how do I know I am in pain, what is causing that pain.


    The only thing I knew was to respond and that was to scream, yet I had no mouth yet I must scream. To tell someone, I am in pain in hopes they know I need help.


    How do I know I am not alone, and why must I scream?


    I don¡¯t know, maybe I should sleep. Will it help?


    I hope so.

 Old: Chapter 16

    I crouched down behind the brick wall with the rest of my squad, I was terrified as I always was on the battlefield. Yet this time I was truly terrified, the enemy was unkillable, truly unkillable no matter how many bullets we fired into that lizard''s face. It would just come back, it should¡¯ve been made into swiss cheese, a bloodied defiled mess. Yet it just healed right back up and continued laughing.


    It was silent, deafeningly quiet. I, like the rest of the Kyntari forces, just a moment ago saw the Colonel get thrown up into the sky by the Lizard.


    I didn¡¯t know what to do now, any plan that I did try and come up with at that moment was immediately overshadowed by doubt. So all I did was just look upwards as James and the Enemy commander went higher and higher in the sky. I can easily guess what is going to happen next, with the end result being the Colonel dying.


    ¡°So now what Lieutenant Bomblitz?¡± Asked my Warrant Officer, His voice muffled through his armor.


    ¡°I am not exactly sure.¡± I gave a heavy sigh.


    A few moments passed with nothing happening.


    ¡°Sir the enemy hasn¡¯t moved at all. Nor do they seem to be planning on making a move.¡± Reported my Second Lieutenant.


    ¡°Maybe they are waiting for their commander to come back and finish the job.¡± I said solemnly, sitting down onto the ground legs up against his chest. As much as my armor allowed me to curl up into a ball. ¡°This ain¡¯t looking good for us.¡± I said once more over taken by anxiety something that never happens unless I know we are really screwed.


    ¡°It ain¡¯t.¡± Added my Second Lieutenant.


    A few moments of silence permeated as no one bothered moving, like everybody was holding their breath. Waiting for something.


    Then in the silence an order appeared, the distinctive sound of morse code played in my mind, a sound that just doesn¡¯t go away. I immediately snapped my attention to the area where the message was in my vision.


    ¡°The Enemy commander is dead, we have the advantage. Get ready for a continued assault.¡± Orders from Sharkface.


    I just stared in disbelief at the orders, the enemy commander was dead, the one that lived after taking hundreds of rounds to the face.


    ¡®Whatever James did, it sure as hell sounded like him.¡¯ I thought, I stood up and saluted up towards James, my hand up at an angle outwards in the Mexican salute style.


    ¡°Incluso en la muerte se vive.¡± I said, a common saying my regiment had in the back of the Texas National Guard during his Patrol Duties in Mexico. The saying respected the actions of a dead man, whose name is not remembered.


    After a brief moment of silence, I put down my hand as the rest of my squad was just confused at what I was doing ¡°So you guys really aren¡¯t military then?¡± I asked.


    The rest of the squad simply shook their heads, ¡°That explains a lot about all you.¡±


    I sighed and looked back at the other squads hiding behind the other brick walls, there was an opening in the middle of the two squads. A large one at that big enough to let an 18 wheeler through, on the other side of that wall was the enemy fortified behind a sandbag wall.


    The outside was where the hordes of goblins and ogres were along with the spot where the Colonel and the enemy commander fought. I was in fact right next to a pile of dead goblins.


    I received another order, ¡°Stormtroopers at the front, on the whistle charge the enemies position. Anti tank gunners target the sandbags the enemy is behind.¡± Orders from Sharkface.


    I nodded and turned to my squad, who was now starting to panic a little. ¡°Charge them?¡± Muttered one of the Privates. Despite the armor in the way he could tell.


    I furrowed my brows confused at why now of all times they were questioning orders. But I simply answered their question. ¡°Yes, we will charge them. It''s the only way we¡¯ll be able to eat anything more than just human flesh and fish.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t wanna die.¡± muttered another private.


    I snapped to the armored private, now annoyed at this disobedience. ¡°I don¡¯t care, we¡¯re all going to die one day. Just accept that you''re already dead on the battlefield no matter who you are up against.¡± I grabbed my pistol and pointed the barrel between the eye slits of the private, ¡°because if you don¡¯t, well you¡¯ll just be too afraid to fight and will die anyways. It''s not like most of you here have anything to lose from dying, either back home on Earth or here, so what''s the matter with taking risks?¡± I asked.


    Upon a quick reflection of the last few days I finally realized most of these guys here were on some sort of welfare or unemployed benefits back on Earth. These were the worst of people, they were the leeches of society, the spoiled brats riding off the victory of the Third World War.


    Parasites is what he liked to call them, ironic that''s what he and his friends would describe himself back in high school as a Parasite.


    ¡®No time for that Daniel, just deal with them for now.¡¯ I thought


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ wanna die.¡± Said that same private from before.


    ¡°You¡¯ve fought the goblins before, shot them down. So what''s the issue now?¡± Daniel said.


    The private from before remained silent, unresponsive.


    As I heard Shark yelling off in the distance. Followed immediately by droning of the anti tank guns and the magic circles with them.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this, get ready for the charge.¡± I said, at that moment the guns fired followed by explosions which shook the ground.


    A whistle was blown as others were blown in response. ¡°Go now!¡± I ordered, running out and charging towards the thrown up dust and soot.


    I hoped the rest of his squad was with me, I didn¡¯t have the time to check.


    I grabbed a grenade from my belt as I quickly approached the sandbag line as flashes of light lit through the smoke followed by more smoke making it impossible to see the battlefield.


    Several musketballs pinged off my armor, I felt the sting of the kinetic energy. I primed the grenade and threw it into one of the warehouse windows, then another volley came at me with several more rounds pinging off my armor.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I was around 20 feet away from the sandbag wall, the smoke however is making it difficult to tell though. Yet I kept running despite my unsureness, and then I ran into the smoke cloud, I slowed down and reached over my back and pulled out my smg.


    A brief red flash of light went off through the smoke as an explosion went off in the warehouse. The lizards were yelling in their alien language, like orders.


    I came to a stop as the sandbag wall was only a few feet in front of me yet I didn¡¯t see them. I got down to be level with the gun hole. I heard cleaning rods slam down on the bottom of a barrel, as the lizards were hurriedly speaking in their high pitched tongue, they were still reloading. I pushed the barrel of my smg through the opening and blindly sprayed them.


    The muzzle flash lit up the smoke filled area, yet I saw nothing only to be followed by the yelling and screaming of the lizards. I grabbed my trench mace and jumped over the sandbag wall, the smoke surprisingly cleared up quickly. The smoke revealed dozens of lizards all up, their heads were at my shoulder. Bayonets pointed out to me.


    The lizards were short, somehow shorter than me and I was already short. Their muskets were short, the muzzle diameter was small, and their bayonets were about a foot long, through the slight vision the metal spears seemed dull.


    One of the lizards gave a high pitched shrill and the lizards ran towards me, I quickly swung my trench mace outwards and into the skull of the closest lizard''s head. The other lizards charged me, the bayonets hitting the steel plates on my chest giving a resound dull clink, two grabbed my arms and began to pull me down, I stood my ground and broke my right arm free, and slammed down the spiked club that was my trench mace into the side of the lizard in front of me I could hit.


    I shook off the lizard from my left arm and slammed my mace down into the lizard on the left side. Then into the one that was charging me, a subsonic gunshot cracked from my right and then the sound of metal on sand. I slammed my mace into the next lizard, at this point the remaining lizards were keeping their distance bayonets pointed out towards me. The battle field wasn¡¯t silent as the occasional artillery gun fired off in the distance, accompanied by the occasional gunshot.


    Yet here at the warehouse it was quiet, the lizards were now at the front as their commanders were just eyeing me, the commanders were fancily dressed, in fine silks that seemed to be very similar to the silks we found on the ship we raided only yesterday. With admittedly beautifully crafted chest plates that had intricate designs on them, their eyes suddenly shifted to the right of me, to the ruined brick walls that surrounded the warehouse.


    Then the lizard commander slumped down to the ground, with a gunshot that echoed from everywhere. The lizards looked back in horror and screeched, clearly panicked. They all rushed to the warehouse door as more gunshots came from the walls, I quickly ducked down behind the sandbags. I just realized now at just how many lizards were here holed up in the warehouse, I quickly scrambled back to the other side of the sandbags as the lizards tried to get to the now wide open warehouse.


    Their attempts at survival were in vain as hundreds of gunshots fired into the retreating lizards, I looked through the gun hole and reloaded my SMG. The lizard''s dead bodies piled up along the warehouse wall, sometimes the bodies were stacked on top of one another as if they were tripping over each other.


    I looked to the left and right of me and saw other stormtroopers were behind the sandbag wall just like me, lizard bodies covered the entire ground, likely only dozens of lizards were dead. I heard the hurried squeaking of the lizards from the windows above me.


    The guns died down, as the last lizard ran into the warehouse the double doors slamming shut with a thud having come from the door. It was clearly locked up or the doors were locked, unable to be opened from the outside.


    I cautiously looked up towards the windows of the warehouse, I couldn¡¯t see in it, but there was lots of commotion coming from the inside. Like the lizards were in a panic.


    I looked at the other stormtroopers whose rank I can identify through their armband. From what I saw only officers and sergeants, any rank lower than that wasn¡¯t present or I just didn¡¯t see them.


    ¡±I should¡¯ve expected something like this¡­¡± I sighed under my breath, the biggest threat to our success here isn¡¯t the enemy but us. It¡¯s always us, specifically from the cowards who won¡¯t pull their weight. I of course will need to deal with this as the Colonel is dead already.


    I heard the quiet shuffling of metal on dirt from my right and I saw the other storm troopers were headed towards me. The first one to reach me was Lieutenant Reivax.


    ¡±Do you know where the privates are?¡± His armor was coated in a thin layer of lizard blood and guts.


    ¡±I think they didn¡¯t follow orders.¡± I answered.


    ¡±Really?¡± Reivax asked quickly, throwing a look back to the brick wall and then back to me. ¡°Cowards.¡± Was all he said.


    ¡±Yep, they are cowards. For now however we need to focus on the battle at hand.¡° I answered.


    Reivax sighed with a bit of frustration, ¡°Yea, I know.¡±


    I looked back and peaked at the window once more and nothing had changed all that much except now it was more quiet, the lizards seemed to have calmed down or they somehow died.


    ¡°Stormtroopers get to the front entrance and prepare to assault the inside.¡± Orders from Sharkface.


    Sighing I looked at the other storm troopers and they just nodded, I nodded and cautiously looked over to the window, as before I couldn¡¯t see anyone in the window. I quickly jumped over the sandbag wall, and got to the wall to get cover. The stormtroopers did the same, an infantry man holding an anti tank rifle was quickly rushing to the sandbag wall. I reloaded my SMG. The soldier took position behind the sandbag wall. A bright red magic circle with a star in the center appeared at the window, with a high pitched groan the gun fired and five seconds later the door exploded open.


    I turned the corner taking cover behind the brick frame that surrounded the now gone door. I saw a lizard man''s arm, then the occasional short snout and the eyes just briefly I took aim, I kept an eye out for any other movement. The muzzle of the lizard I was watching suddenly came out, more of their body was now exposed, I aimed my sights on them, their muzzle was half way pointed towards, more the body exposed. When the muzzle was all the way down a good amount of the body was exposed. I pulled the trigger. The SMG fired several shots in fast succession, but at that moment the musket fired.


    A loud ¡°ding¡± came off my armor, and I felt a sting on my chest. The warehouse erupted into gun fire as a dozen more guns and lizards exposed themselves and fired. I jumped Behind cover. I heard the brick crack behind me, as dozens of the dull cracks of the short muskets had hit the surrounding brick and mortar. I looked at the other Stormtroopers who were taking cover at the wall. I saw the smoke from the guns slowly waft outwards from the door, before suddenly the smoke was forced inwards.


    ¡°So they are controlling the smoke.¡± I mumbled to myself. I slowly poked my head over the doorway and saw the smoke just stop at the doorway, I couldn¡¯t see past the smoke wall, it was just a gray whiteness of moving smoke. I pressed my hand through the smoke, it passed through with ease. It wasn''t solid, just opaque with a lot of smoke. Pulling my hand out caused disturbances within the cloud, and resistance from within the smoke. I was suddenly jerked towards the smoke, like my hand was pulled on, I was able to keep balance and the pulling stopped. My forearm was in the smoke.


    ¡°Did y¡¯all see that?¡± I asked, looking at the others.


    ¡°Yeah, I did.¡± Reivax said.


    I attempted to pull back, but I was met with counter pulling force, the more I tried to pull out, the more I was being pulled into the smoke.


    ¡°Hey can you pull yourself out?¡± Reivax asked.


    ¡±No, I cannot.¡± I stopped trying to pull out and the pulling in stopped when I stopped trying.


    ¡°That is not good.¡± I heard a storm trooper to my left say.


    ¡±No it is not.¡± I said.


    ¡±Any ideas?¡± Reivax asked.


    ¡±Well we are to attack them, might as well jump in.¡± I said.


    ¡±Alright then y¡¯all heard the first lieutenant, lets go.¡± Reivax said.


    I took a moment to spike myself up and then I jumped in through the smoke, I felt the resistance drop and the opaque smoke start to get a bit more transparent. The smoke didn¡¯t pull me in at all, the inside didn¡¯t change at all, it was just very smokey on the inside, I could barely see 10 feet in front of me, and I saw the lizards. Muzzles pointed at me, and at the door, a yell came from one of the lizards. I immediately dove for the closest cover as dozens more gunshots fired from the surrounding lizards.


    I landed onto my side, my arm went numb from the shoulder plates digging into my right shoulder. I quickly got up as a lizard. I heard the footsteps of leather boots run straight to me, a lizard giving a battle cry. I barely had time to pull out my mace as a lizards¡¯ bayonet slammed Itself in between the plates of armor onto the weaker leather armor, the lizards were learning for sure. My left arm flared with a sting then numb, the lizard pulled the bayonet out, I grabbed my trench mace and slammed it into the left leg of the attacking lizard.


    Gunshots went off behind me the moment the lizard had hit the ground, I got up and saw the other stormtroopers came in, visibility was even lower than before. The smoke was lit up with consistent flashes of light from the muzzle flash. Through the gunfire I heard the lizard¡¯s scream, and cry in their high pitched voices, alien in pronunciation, alien in biology, yet somehow familiar in technology.


    I grabbed my spell book, and activated a healing spell. I saw red particles fall which were clearly visible even through the thick smoke and are absorbed through the holes in my armor. My numbness and stinging in my arm disappeared as I felt rejuvenated.


    I looked at my trench mace, the body was covered in lizard blood. I then got moving, taking cover behind a pillar looking over. I saw more smoke, up above me was the ceiling which above that was the second floor.


    ¡°This second lieutenant Bomblitz! I will be on the second floor!¡± I yelled out over the gunfire and yelled. I began to follow the wall, stacks of boxes lined the walls yet it was still navigable. Under the gunfire I heard the squeaking of a lizard to my right behind the boxes.


    I investigated the scene, by the way I was barely walking for 10 feet and I was met with another lizard, who was hiding behind a box looking away from me towards what can essentially be described as an aisle. An LMGer was recklessly blasting down the aisle with no regard for ammo usage, although I can¡¯t blame them though visibility sucked.


    The lizard was crouching behind four boxes with a slit in it, facing towards the gunfire in its hands was the short muskets they used, its barrel between the slits. The lizard was panicking, yet it kept the barrel down the aisle. I slammed my trench mace down onto the lizard''s head under the gunfire. It didn''t notice my approach.


    The lizard slumped forward when I took out the trench mace and I continued on. I heard the duller gunshots of the lizards muskets and visibility dropped even more with more thicker smoke having wafted in. I didn¡¯t know how they were doing this but it was starting to get annoying.


    ¡±BOOM!¡° A louder duller explosion went off, it was close to say the least. A grenade it sounded like.


    Yet I continued on, and luckily I quickly found a staircase. It was an obscured step that led up and another one. It clearly led to the second floor of the warehouse. I switched weapons to my SMG, and aimed it upwards, I couldn¡¯t see no more than a foot in front of me now. I kept an eye on the stairwell itself as I feared it was destroyed, yet those fears were unfounded as I slowly took one step followed by another, and within a flight I arrived at the top.


    I couldn¡¯t hear my footsteps under the gunfire, and so wouldn¡¯t the lizards. The smoke slowly began to clear up as I reached the second floor. When I reached the top it wasn¡¯t Smokey, just barely. Visibility was good. I could easily see a central tower of boxes, and I saw over a dozen lizards each. Who were all watching the stairwell I came up from.


    ¡°Dyrea!¡±


    I aimed my SMG at one of them.


    ¡±Ima!¡±


    I put my hand on the trigger.


    ¡°Efri!¡± I heard a lizard yell.


    ¡±Shit.¡°


    I pulled the trigger.


    A dozen guns fired at me, and mine fired back.

 Broken Wall: Chapter 1

    Ceo


    23:25 Hours CST,


    August 3rd, 2133


    ¡®I never expected the spell to be that powerful, nor did I expect it to cause damage to all players in its blast radius.¡¯ I thought, simply staring at the menu in front of me.


    Beneath me was an aerial view of the Vost Dor side of the map Palisade. It was empty, but slowly filling up with movement on the ground as people respawned in.


    The games menu was simple to say the least, a selection of 3 classes was available, Infantry, Vehicles, and Specialists. At the top right corner of the tablet-like menu was a button that would send me to an external menu. I had over 3000 points left, so I pressed the ¡°specialist¡± button and a submenu opened to the right of the main options, there were Officer, Medic, Engineer, Flamethrower, and Stormtrooper.


    I pressed Officer, and then the deploy button, darkness briefly surrounded me and I was in a trench on the Vost Dor side.


    Quickly taking a look around I saw other players were spawning in, the entire place was a mess, items that effectively wasn¡¯t bolted down were scattered amongst the entire Vost Dor side of the map. Kyntari and Noxu bodies were piled up against the larger manned pillboxes, several Behemoths were on their side, one of the tracks in the trench line. Snow began to once more fall on the map, and as such slowly covered the dead and destruction that this place experienced.


    Not wanting to stand around doing nothing, I headed to the bunker the officers used 20 minutes earlier. The one used to plan out the disastrous attempt at ending the stalemate with a nuclear bomb or a pseudo magical nuclear bomb, the irony was no flag was taken or moved. Everyone just died, what a weird spell to award someone.


    I thought it would be more like a moab than anything else but nope it was a full on nuclear bomb.


    Moving through the body riddled trenches I quickly arrived at the Main bunker, which guarded the final flag. It was built inside the hill, a reinforced concrete rebar wall protruded out from the side of the hill, several large holes were cut out from the wall facing towards the Broken Wall, several HMGs and field gun barrels were pointing out of these holes.


    I went up to the side of the hill towards one of the side entrances, there I was met with an open steel door. On the inside was a long hallway, lit up by incandescent light. Another open steel door separated the entrance of the bunker from the main hallway, to the left of me was another steel door, which only led to several flights of stairs that led to a complex web of tunnels that led to other bunkers.


    I entered the long hallway, after walking a dozen feet, to the left of me was a simple wooden door, on the other side of the door I was met with a relatively large room which can hold 11 people standing. There was a desk at the front of the room, with several drawers, and an empty rifle rack next to it. The desk, drawers, and rifle rack all came from my external inventory that I had designed myself. A bit of flare if you would say.


    At the back of the War Room, was a wall with a simple wooden door. That was Colonel''s Quarters, which at the moment was my room, the wall and everything that was in it also came from my external inventory.


    Everything was covered in a layer of dust, the game Pordier at War was well known for its extremely detailed background. Very little of which was scripted, and mostly from the physics engine, which probably contributed to why they are declaring bankruptcy.


    Focusing in the top right corner of my vision, the time was currently 23:29 pretty soon a game wide announcement will occur.


    Moments later a message appeared in front of me, ¡°Game Shut Down in 30 minutes.¡±


    I made my way out of the bunker intorear trenchline. The Chat log was in a sense going crazy, on both sides many called for a cease fire for the last 30 minutes of the game till shut down, which in game is around a day and a half.


    I agreed with their sentiment, and brought out my clipboard.


    ¡°Cease fire, don''t shoot unless shot at first.¡± I quickly wrote out on my clipboard. Sending out the message, morse code went off and if you knew it which I actually did, sounded like what was written. A wall of text appeared in the sky.


    Everybody stopped what they were doing and quickly read the message, followed by cheering.


    From what I could see, some were leaving for no man¡¯s land for what I had to guess was to remove mines so it¡¯s safe to cross or to the other side to interact. Some went to repair artillery batteries even though they would be deleted in thirty minutes, others simply explored the map, the other side probably did the same.


    Soccer was played, aiming competitions were held, boxing matches occurred. A lot of things actually happened, sometimes distant explosions could be heard followed by the kill feed adding a new casualty to the list.


    I was currently sitting in a recently repaired trench in no man¡¯s land with a dozen other players.


    ¡°Wait, you''re from Japan? How did you get past that firewall that separates East Asia from America?¡± Someone asked, there was a yellow armband with the rank insignia of a lieutenant.


    The person who was asked that question was on the Noxuia side, ¡°I use-¡° before the foreign player could finish he was interrupted by the person from before.


    ¡°You know what don¡¯t tell me I heard they record everything and use it to black mail people. Best to keep it a secret.¡± The Lieutenant said.


    ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± The Japanese person said robotically, clearly the work of a translation software on the Japanese players¡¯ end.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard rumors and bits of information so I¡¯m not exactly sure what happened since the last war ended. But has there been a notable difference in living conditions since then? From what I know the tariffs and embargoes initiated by the Miguel Administration devastated the East Asian Economy, especially Japan, which to my knowledge destroyed any good will the two nations had.¡± I asked.


    ¡°The last war? Between Japan and America?¡± The player asked.


    ¡°Yeah in the last ten years at least.¡±


    ¡°At the time I was only around 4 at the time. So I didn¡¯t keep track of anything, but to my knowledge and from what my parents said about the past, but things were initially hard. Food was expensive, energy was still cheap and to my knowledge when the government defaulted, then suddenly everything became expensive. I remember overhearing my parents worrying about money whenever I went to bed at night, and my dad started to come home later, then my mother started to come home late from work. Even after I came home from school, they started to leave before I went to school. Eventually my father died from over exhaustion, and a few years later my mother. So I would say from bad to worse.¡± The player said.


    ¡±I¡¯m sorry for your loss, thank you for telling me though.¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I am just one of thousands of orphans forced to pick up a job to get by. I would like to ask how life has been for you in America?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I sighed, ¡°I was actually born on Venus, descended from one of the first American colonists on the planet. Which is why I am curious about this stuff. For some context on Venus we don¡¯t really have a capitalist economy where a currency is used internally, instead we essentially scratch each other''s backs. Life hasn¡¯t been all that harsh, but simply filled with issues I was expected to know how to identify and, later deal with, but it never got bad enough where I lost both of my parents to overexhaustion, most of my family tree from Venus is intact.¡± I said.


    ¡±Then life on Venus must be good? At least way better than Japan?¡± The kid asked.


    ¡°From what I hear from you, yes by a long shot Venus is better.¡± I answered, we sat in silence for a few moments, the clock was 10 till midnight.


    Someone broke the silence after a minute, who was a Rank Private who was looking at an external screen, ¡°From what I am reading here Japan did have offworld colonies, though there has been no news on them. Colonel, do you know what happened to them? From what I can tell the Space Agency and Offworld Colony Agency have been pretty quiet about it.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I grimaced a bit, I had to be a little careful with what I say due to my position as Secretary of the Space Agency. ¡°Japan did have several offworld colonies, they used to have a section dedicated to their colonists from when my home was a simple airship back in the 90¡¯s. Though that was a minor addition to the colony that assimilated within a generation. Though there was a big story about a decade ago that the Japanese attempted to start their own colony on Venus.¡±


    This caught the attention of the Japanese kid ¡°Really, just around the time that the government defaulted on its debts.¡±


    ¡°Or right after the corporations took over.¡± I added.


    ¡°You said they attempted to establish a Colony. What happened to them whoever was in the Colony, I never heard of this at all.¡± They said, curious.


    ¡°Really? It¡¯s common knowledge on Venus. No one establishes a colony without everyone else on the planet knowing¡± I said, ¡°What happened to the colony is that it failed within the same month of their airship arriving.¡± I said.


    ¡°Airship? I thought you said it was a colony?¡±


    ¡°On Venus Airships are the basis of your colony, so they are pretty much treated synonymous, my apologies I didn¡¯t make that clear. But yes they did have a colony once.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how it failed?¡±


    ¡°On Venus it''s very easy to tell why a colony failed, and it''s never due to starvation. But a failure to stay at the proper altitudes, the Japanese Airship dipped too low into the atmosphere and was crushed.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why they went too low?¡±


    ¡°According to the last known location of the airship, we aren¡¯t sure why they dropped that low into the atmosphere without sending a distress call. At the time the no Japanese Organization took claim of the airship, though when their airship was finally crushed large amounts of lifting gases were released into the atmosphere, and the numbers were simply normal. The only explanation is that the Japanese crew of that airship willingly went down that low, their intentions are unknown. Though there are rumors of course from the few people who decided to visit the Japanese airship when they first arrived said the crew seemed agitated at them being there and in fact they seemed to be depressed to the point of suicide, though no one has confirmed those stories.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Honestly, if I were to commit suicide.¡± The kid started.


    ¡°What?¡± I said, dumbfounded.


    ¡°I¡¯d do it in a place that hasn¡¯t been corrupted by the worst of humanity, in a place where the only thing is the sky where no one can come and dig up your body and sell the organs. A place where the rules are simpler and not suffocating, a place where for a short time you can have a purpose, the most simple and pure of purposes, to survive, and even thrive. In my experience Japan hasn¡¯t had any of that.¡± The kid said, despite the robotic voice I could easily tell he was steps away from crying.


    I approached him and grabbed him by the shoulders, ¡°Hey it''s alright, how about this I can ask the shipyard to prepare for the establishment of another colony on Venus. Then I can get some help from the American Government to get y¡¯all out of Japan, if life is as bad as you say it is then I can give you a second chance. No an actual chance.¡± I said.


    The kid gave a sniffle, ¡°You can do that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can, the hardest part would be getting you out of Japan but leave that to me. Just don¡¯t commit suicide until then.¡± I said.


    A player tapped me on the shoulder, ¡°I know you''re having a heart to heart moment with this kid but the shutdown is in less than a minute. About 30 seconds from now.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Alright then,¡± I turned back to the kid, ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised if an American knocks on your door in the next couple of weeks.¡± The kid nodded, ¡°See you then.¡± 5 seconds till.


    The clock hit midnight, and I was enveloped by white light around me. The light dissipated and I was still in front of the kid.


    ¡°Huh?¡± I mumbled, ¡°We are still here.¡±


    A moment later ¡°What the hell is that smell?¡± Someone yelled


    I smelled an iron smell with sulfur, grabbed and closed my nostril. Yet I didn¡¯t gag. ¡°It smells like blood and sulfur?¡± Looking around we were still in the game, or what appeared to be the game.


    The trench I was in hadn¡¯t been replaced with my living room or the virtual bluescape I used, the area was still covered in the same muddy blood stained snow that had covered the battlefield for the past 3 hours.


    I took a step back from the kid, ¡°Do you see me?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The kid said, cocking his head before saying something else in Japanese.


    ¡°It sounds like your translation software is offline.¡± I said.


    The kid seemed to start to tear up, and sat down on the firing board.


    I looked down at myself. I was still in the randomly assigned character from the game, the gray trench coat of Vost Dor, touching my head. I felt not only my hair which was longer than it should¡¯ve been if I was out of the game, but another tuft of hair or fur. It was cat ears, which Vost Dor player characters had.


    Just what is going on?


    I swiped down on nothing in an attempt to bring up the menu that was required to be coded in by law.


    Nothing happened, no matter what alternate gesture I tried, nothing worked. Contacting the moderators was out of the question, chat wouldn¡¯t come up as well.


    I saw the others trying to bring up their menus as well, they were clearly starting to panic.


    ¡°Colonel, what''s going on?¡± Someone asked in the growing panic.


    Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at me.


    I sighed ¡°I¡¯m gonna be honest I have no clue what¡¯s happening. I am just as confused as y¡¯all are.¡± I said, I knew the result of what I would say. I had no lie to soften the blow.


    Yet no one panicked and instead simply looked at me ¡°What do we do?¡± Everybody looked at each other.


    ¡°First of all we need to get into contact with the others, and get out of this cold!¡± I said, pretty much shivering and trying my best to warm up.


    Everybody else also realized it was freezing, who quickly agreed with me. We made our way towards the bunkers.


    While I was heading there, I brought out my clipboard and hoped that it worked the same as it normally does.


    I wrote down the order, tore out the paper from the clipboard, then it burned up in the air and reappeared in front of me floating without a care for gravity. I tried grabbing it but my hand just went through it, it was some sort of illusion.


    ¡°Everybody get to the bunkers, before you freeze to death we¡¯ll figure out what to do once there.¡± Orders from CeoMacNCheese.


    I made my way to the main bunker, and snow was starting to fall. Everybody else was slowly shuffling into the multiple bunkers present across the entire map. Vost Dor players weren¡¯t the only ones present as some Noxuia players were with us.


    I looked around and saw a couple of Noxuia Officers, their ranks I¡¯d have to ask.


    I approached the two officers, ¡°Noxuia Officers.¡± I said getting their attention, they turned around to face me.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± One of them immediately asked.


    ¡°As much as you do. I want to know have you received any information from your superiors? Colonel or Major? It doesn¡¯t matter who.¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes we have received orders. Colonel Rex sent out an order for everybody to head to the bunkers just like you told us to.¡± The Noxuia officer said.


    ¡°Can you send a message?¡± I asked


    ¡°We already did, the Major told us to stay here, they¡¯ll try to get to the Vost Dor side when morning comes.¡±


    ¡°Tell them the Vost Dor Colonel will be waiting for them, if they can reach us.¡± I told them.


    The other Noxu officer nodded and brought out their clipboard. ¡°Going to send the message now.¡± The second Noxuia officer said, bringing out her own clipboard.


    ¡°I would like to ask what gender you are?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We''re both be male in real life. But the characters as you know are randomly assigned. You look female just so you know.¡± He answered, granted, the voice was more akin to a girl''s voice in pitch but highly masculine.


    ¡°What gender do we look like? Because you look like a girl, but your masculine sounding voice tells me you''re a guy.¡± The Noxuia officers asked.


    ¡°Smurf, Female, and blue skinned.¡± I responded.


    They snorted at that response ¡°Make sense, they are randomly assigned looks.¡±


    I got serious once again. ¡°Just keep me informed on their progress.¡± I said, ¡°Before I go, what are y¡¯all¡¯s names?¡±


    ¡°Gamer or real name?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    They gave their names, afterwards I departed for the eastern entrance. There snow was starting to fall, covering the old blood ridden snow.


    I still smelled the blood, and gunpowder. It was a horrid smell, a bit like space in fact. The wind was powerful, and freezing but I dealt with it for a little longer.


    I looked to the front getting one last view of the Broken Wall but that view was short lived as a very heavy and dense fog moved in covering everything around me visibility was now non-existent.


    The cold finally got to me, and I went inside. Closing and sealing shut the steel door behind me.

 Broken Wall: Chapter 2

    Ceo


    Main Bunker, War Room


    00:50, August 4th


    I stood at my spot near my desk as all the Majors of Vost Dor filled into the officer bunker. When the last Major came in, Forthelols. The door was closed.


    ¡°Thank you for heeding my call, considering recent events and not being able to log out. I want to thank you all for remaining calm.¡± I told the Majors, everybody nodded. ¡°Let''s get down to business now. Shall we talk about the reason I called you all here.¡±


    Everybody else remained silent and I continued. ¡°The first thing we need to discuss is what''s literally happening right now.¡±


    Jjvillage responded first, ¡°we¡¯re still in the game and we can¡¯t access our menus to leave.¡± He shot off.


    ¡°From what I can tell, yes we¡¯re still in the game but something tells me we aren¡¯t.¡± I said.


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Jjvillage asked, uncomfortably looking around.


    I looked around silently asking ¡®is he serious?¡¯ But I answered anyway, ¡°As we all know, Pordier at War has an extremely advanced Physics, and Chemistry system. Pretty much could simulate weather, and the human body, with how it reacts to everything.¡± I explained he nodded at that and I continued. ¡°But it couldn¡¯t simulate smell, while it ignored how cold or hot it felt to someone.¡± He nodded once more, remaining silent.


    ¡°Yet when the game was supposed to shutdown we weren¡¯t kicked back to either the real world or back to the Home Screen like if you tried to boot up the game without sufficient Nanite in you. But we remained in a sense in the game, then we all smelled blood and then gunpowder. Followed by it being cold. Which leads me to believe we aren¡¯t in the game anymore.¡± I explained.


    Jjvillage responded, ¡°But what if they pushed back the shutdown? And we¡¯re still in the game?¡±


    ¡°Certainly a possibility, but I can¡¯t see why they would push back the schedule, especially since they declared bankruptcy and the studio had to sell off all of their assets. Or if they did, why wouldn¡¯t they tell us that the shutdown was pushed back to another date? Even then that doesn¡¯t explain why we have the ability to smell now.¡± I responded.


    Jjvillage didn¡¯t respond simply standing there, but Shark was the next to speak ¡°maybe we missed the message that shutdown was pushed back, or maybe the shutdown was actually a new update in disguise and they decided to add smell. Right guys?¡± He asked, chuckling nervously.


    Some shook their heads, others nodded to his explanation.


    Fishman was the first to rebuke ¡°If it is a new update then why did they remove the ability to access the menu or Home Screen?¡±


    Village responded immediately, with a thin veil of calmness ¡°maybe it¡¯s a new gesture that is required to open it? And as I said we probably missed the announcement that it¡¯s an update explaining the changes.¡± Village responded, and the same people from before agreed with him.


    Fishman responded ¡°How could we have miss-¡°


    ¡°YOU DON¡¯T KNOW IF YOU MISSED THE ANNOUNCEMENT, I DON¡¯T KNOW IF I MISSED THE ANNOUNCEMENT AS I SAID BEFORE THEY PROBABLY CHANGED THE GESTURE FOR OPENING UP THE MENU AND HOME SCREEN.¡±  He said desperately.


    I attempted to rein in the argument ¡°Alright how-¡° I was cut off as yelling began.


    ¡°What do you mean by that!¡± Fishman responded with a hint of barely contained anger.


    But Jjvillage responded with the same thing rehashed in a different manner, as shouts started soon after. All the Majors who were calmly discussing strategy, politely arguing about why their plan won¡¯t work and how their plan worked. All less than 3 hours earlier.


    ¡°Ok, how about-¡° Another bout of yelling interrupted me.


    I attempted to reign in the arguing officers for 10 minutes straight, but to no avail. As I eventually resigned myself to simply letting them exhaust themselves, it was loud, nauseating even, but I didn¡¯t know what to do either.


    The arguing and childish bickering continued for another half an hour, between the two groups that had clearly formed. I didn¡¯t need to look that deep into this argument to know what their beliefs were.


    The denialists and the acceptors. The former are ones who believe they are in the game, and the latter who believe this is reality.


    I was leaning towards this as reality, but a small part of me wanted this to be the game or even a dream, that I had passed out the moment the game had shut down. Even then this screaming match was starting to get annoying and it felt like my eardrums were going to rupture.


    I placed my hand on my pistol grip, pulled it out of its holster, checked if it was loaded, and pointed it towards the ceiling.


    I covered my new Kyntari cat ears as my human ears were gone. I pulled the trigger. Immediately after, my ears were ringing from the shot, and my firing hand was forced down by the recoil. They were shaking. It was a lot more powerful than I remembered.


    This got the desired result, as everybody grabbed their ears in response to the extremely loud noise next to them.  My ears were still ringing, but the sound was quickly disappearing.


    When the ringing had settled down I spoke.


    ¡°I know we¡¯re scared, and confused. But this isn¡¯t the time to argue about whether we¡¯re in a game or not. We¡¯re still here, so let¡¯s discuss what we¡¯re going to do now.¡± I said, everybody looked at me, at each other.


    ¡°The first order of business is to figure out what we have and what we¡¯re going to do.¡± I looked around, and the rumbling of stomachs easily told us what the first order of business was. ¡°It seems like our first order of business is finding food.¡± I said.


    I immediately started formulating a plan of what we''re going to do.


    ¡°Fishman and Jack split your men up to start searching for any sources of food outside.¡± The two nodded in response.


    ¡°Memes have your Engineers begin requesting players to share what they have in their personal inventories assuming they placed anything down, specifically food inside. Jjvillage have your men help Memes men, while Buzzsaw have your men help Fishmans¡¯ men, Silenz have your men help Jacks. The rest of you have your men cooperate with Memes¡¯ men, and help search for food.¡± I said, everybody nodded in response.


    ¡°If there''s nothing else you wish to discuss, you are free to leave.¡± Everybody left the door quietly discussing their own plan of action.


    Moments later ten floating papers with orders appeared in front of me.


    Satisfied, I left the War Room and went to the closest exit in which four people were at, ¡°Y¡¯all are quick.¡± I said.


    The players turned to face me, ¡±Well I want out of this bunker, it''s very cramped in here.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Alright, open the door.¡± I said.


    The one closest to the door nodded, and began to spin the wheel and with a pull the door was pushed open by rushing air. Snow flew in, covering everything in the foyer with snow including me. The wind speeds reminded me of being on an EVA on the outer hull of the Colony on Venus, but way weaker.


    The incandescent light shone dimly to the outside, the outside was pitch black. The players closed the door and locked it.


    ¡°It looks like¡­ we¡¯ll have to¡­ wait for morning.¡± One of them said between breaths.


    ¡°Alright. Get one of the Majors to wake me when the blizzard stops. I suggest y¡¯all get some sleep while we wait.¡± I said, returning to the war room. I then went into my room, which was split into two parts: a restroom which probably doesn¡¯t work, and a bed with a standing closet on the other side of the room.


    I took off my trench coat, it was covered in snow which was quickly melting. Then my boots I didn¡¯t like going to sleep without taking a shower but there''s no water to wash with. Then I put down my SMG, Sword, spellbook, and clipboard. I then laid down on my bed, and just closed my eyes for what felt like forever¡­


    ¡­¡­..


    05:54 hours


    ¡°Colonel? Wake up!¡± I heard someone knocking on the door. I opened my eyes and groggily rolled off the bed with a thud, the ceiling light blinded me.


    ¡°Colonel! You good?¡± They exclaimed.


    ¡°Coming!¡± I groggily yelled as I stumbled to the door. Opening it I was greeted by Major Fishman. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked harshly.


    ¡°Um, you asked us to wake you when the blizzard stopped, and has.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ give me a minute.¡± I said, closing the door I dragged myself to my boots which were dry now, putting them on, next was my coat. I went back to the door into the War Room.


    ¡°Here.¡± I groggily said, I stretched out and gave a yawn. ¡°Tell me what is happening, are we good to get out?¡± I asked.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°No, the doors are blocked in by snow, and there is a lot of snow.¡±


    ¡°How much exactly?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think it''s better to show you.¡± Fish said.


    We left the war room, and to our left were several engineers. I heard shovels digging into snow, and the clanging of the snow on metal.


    ¡°Where are y¡¯all moving the snow? It''s small in the foyer area, and I don¡¯t see any snow or water around here in the hallway.¡± I said.


    ¡°Currently the engineers are throwing the snow down the stairway into the tunnels.¡±


    All three steel doors were open, the engineers moved a lot of snow out of the door frame, then a bunch of snow fell in a mini avalanche. They then pushed the snow down the stairs creating a cacophony of sounds as the snow went down the stairs for brief moments.


    I walked around behind the engineers getting a look into the stairwell, a singular incandescent light barely lit the stairway, there I saw a small build up of snow on the steps.


    One of the engineers turned to face me then towards the door, a female Kyntari. ¡°If we keep this up long enough, we¡¯ll be able to slide down to the tunnels.¡± She said, then getting back to work.


    ¡°If we decide to continue down this way.¡± I said to her, I then turned to Fish. ¡°Have we tried anything else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, not yet. Do you have anything in mind?¡±


    ¡°I do, we could use a flamethrower, or an AT rifle. Melt the snow directly instead of digging our way out.¡± I suggested.


    ¡°We could try that, but the only flamethrower we have in the tunnel is a kid who only speaks Japanese. Even then I don¡¯t like the possibility of igniting a fire here, even then we¡¯ve been getting unusually hard pieces of ice that I doubt we could melt with a flamethrower. We could try an AT rifle first.¡±


    ¡°So you are willing to fire a handheld artillery gun, but not a flamethrower?¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, if you think a flamethrower is better you are more than welcome to try it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it''s been a while since I last fired an AT rifle, and I want to be the one that fires it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, that works. Just don¡¯t hurt yourself.¡± Fish turned to a soldier who was watching with us. ¡°Can you get us an AT gun?¡±


    The soldier nodded, and then left.


    ¡°Those pieces of hard ice, can you show me them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well we¡¯ll have to wait a bit, every once in a while a big chunk of ice comes from snow with the removal of the snow.¡± A moment later a shovel had hit something hard with a notable loud ding. Which meant either the shovels aregood, and no cracks were in them, or it was whatever the shovel head hit.


    ¡°We found another ice chunk!¡± The engineer who was digging said, at that moment  the soldier who was sent to get an AT rifle for me had returned. The other engineers gave a noticeable annoyed sigh, they then got up and started to help the digging engineer.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, I grabbed the red glowing rifle and strapped it around my back. I caught glimpses of the ice they were talking about and dealing with. They attempted to dig it out for a moment, but the constant hitting of the metal shovel heads on the ice was the only thing that could be heard.


    The engineers stopped trying to dig out, realizing as I did the ice chunk was bigger than the door frame.


    I approached the door ¡°Can I get a look at the ice y¡¯all were trying to remove?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not like we can do anything else with it.¡± The female engineer from before said.


    They stepped out of the way for me, and I approached the door frame, the ¡®ice¡¯ was white. ¡°White ice?¡± I mumbled to myself, I wasn¡¯t particularly familiar with water ice but solid nitrogen which was white, it is commonly used as rocket fuel due to its energy density, but that is gauche nitrogen, which is high pressure high temperature.


    Though that didn¡¯t explain why it was so hard, solid nitrogens density was less than a gram per cubic centimeter which meant that the shovel would¡¯ve just gone through it like water yet it was like water ice. Though the ice could also be something else I wasn¡¯t familiar with.


    If it was solid nitrogen it shouldn¡¯t be here, as it would¡¯ve evaporated at earth atmospheric pressure, or we would be dead because it would¡¯ve exploded by now due to a sudden depressurization, due to it not being properly sealed. I decided to simply touch the white ice, to see how cold it felt, it felt the same temperature as the snow, meaning it was the temperature of the air maybe a bit off. Yet I didn¡¯t feel any liquid water on my hand, looking at the spot I touched nothing changed about it.


    I sighed, ¡°oh, lord.¡± I mumbled to myself.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Fish asked.


    I turned to face Fishman and said ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we are alright, I can¡¯t tell if this is just normal water ice, something different or solid nitrogen. Which shouldn¡¯t be forming at these temperatures or pressures. Or I might just be over thinking things.¡± I said.


    ¡°So are you going to shoot the ice block now?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Better than standing around theorizing about the existence of solid nitrogen existing in human conditions.¡± I grabbed my AT rifle from my shoulder, ¡°I suggest y¡¯all close the door, don¡¯t know how it will work, but I¡¯d rather have 1 person injured than a lot of people injured.¡± I said.


    Fishman nodded, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll have a medic on standby to check on you after you¡¯ve fired the gun.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°Everybody get out of the room, digging time is over.¡± I said.


    The engineers quickly got out of the room, and I closed the tunnel door. Though not a good idea, I needed to direct the pressure out of the bunker. I might die, but that''s a risk I am willing to take.


    I got low to the ground, made myself a tiny little snow fort. A simple snow wall will provide some protection.


    I brought out the AT rifle, aimed the iron sights to the center of the door frame, where the weird ice chunk was. I pulled the trigger, and nothing happened, no magic circle or anything really, I pulled and held the trigger, nothing. ¡°Maybe I need something more than pulling the trigger.¡± I looked at the glowing piece that always steamed after firing. It was an over glorified lantern right now, and I needed it to make a magic circle.


    I looked at the trigger and handle, there I saw simple neural receptors, essentially buttons that can receive electrical signals from the brain and nervous system. They are usually used in where directly interfacing with something isn¡¯t advised, or in the usage of brain dances receiving information from someone else essentially telepathically.


    I adjusted my fingers to be on them, and I pulled the trigger. Nothing happened again, ¡°maybe it requires more than just live muscle information.¡± I said to myself, I decided to simply imagine the AT gun charging up and at that moment I heard the recognisable terrifying low drone of an AT gun start. A brand new red light source appeared at the end of the gun''s barrel, a magic circle which spun faster and faster for several seconds then it fired.


    An explosion rang out, my ears rang, my eyes were assaulted with brilliant red light. My ears rang loudly, through over exerted eyes I saw the ice chunk quickly release energy into the surrounding area. I felt warmer than usual, I saw the snow wall melt into water. It was a mistake to shoot that piece of ice with a handheld artillery gun. I thought as I tried to stay awake, but a few breaths later that tiredness went away and my ears though they were still ringing loudly I could hear the thudding of the steel door, I turned around and saw it swing open with several people coming out. It was Major Fish, I think it was.


    ¡°Colonel!¡± I heard someone say through damaged ear drums.


    ¡°She looked like she was suffocating.¡± A medic said, he raised a finger, ¡°Can you track my finger?¡± He said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I mumbled, the medic moved his finger left and right over me.


    ¡°Good, you seem to be awake. How do you feel?¡± The medic asked.


    ¡°I feel like a bomb just set off right next to me. My ears are ringing, I feel like I went through sudden changes in pressure. Along with nitrogen asphyxiation.¡± I mumbled.


    ¡°Well we believe a bomb did set off right next to you. Well your ascertain seems correct, as I see signs of all of that over you, plus second degree burns on your face.¡± The medic said.


    ¡°Fuck¡­ I don¡¯t think you have access to plastic surgery do you?¡± I mumbled to him.


    ¡°No, but I have been curious how the healing syringes work.¡± The medic said.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I feel more tired now.


    The medic brought out a syringe with an alcohol wipe. Disinfected a spot on my left arm, and then put the syringe in. A moment later the ringing stopped, I no longer felt like I was thrown through a vacuum chamber and a bomb went off next to me.


    I shot up, I was in the hallway, the medic was still next to me. ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Less than a minute or so.¡± The medic answered, I looked at his hand, the syringe still in his hand. Then to the door several people were at it.


    ¡°Well that checks out.¡± I said, getting on my feet, I wobbled a bit.


    ¡°Well it looks like the healing solution isn¡¯t perfect and can only deal with injuries but it seems more than good enough. Certainly better than spending weeks recovering in a bed.¡±


    ¡°That''s good.¡± I said, looking at the exit, several dozen others were also waiting in the hallway. I pushed my way past several people back into the Foyer, there I found Fishman also at the front door.


    ¡°So what''s happening right now?¡± I asked. The entire place was a mess, for one the door to the tunnel was slightly bent, two the concrete walls were scorched and cracked with exposed rebar, the incandescent light was just gone and the outer door was lodged into the wall quite literally blown to bits.


    ¡°Well we got out that''s for sure, and also that ice that blocked us in. I ordered the engineers to gather as much as possible, I thought you¡¯d be interested to research it more.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°What do you mean as much as possible, shouldn¡¯t most of it be gone?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No it''s not gone, there is still more on the other entrance and the gun emplacements on the front.¡± Fish said.


    ¡°Alright, tell them to be careful when receiving samples. It''s violently explosive, though not as much as I thought.¡± I turned to the exit, ¡°come on let''s check out the outside.¡± I said.


    We went outside and were met with a trenchline cleared of snow up to about 20 feet, looking up I saw the sky starting to become red at where the horizon was, and all the way up and to the opposite direction was pure black.


    I climbed up out of the trenchline, the snow was up to my knees. Several dead bodies'' hands were sticking out, likely thrown around by the explosion. Looking around at the rest of the surrounding area I wasn¡¯t met with muddy snow mixed with some blood, covered by thousands of dead bodies as I had expected. Instead, it was pure white snow, the only signs that there were trench lines were the height differences that the trench lines made. Like puddles on a street corner.


    The pillboxes that lined the trenchline lower on the hill were still standing, partially cracked.


    There were the tanks that were used on the last offensive before the ceasefire, some were destroyed, and others in working condition. The treads were buried in snow, which was probably up to the knees, while the barrels and turrets were sticking out as snow covered them.


    Artillery, field guns, machine gun nests, were all buried. The barbed wire laid around was barely sticking above the snow.


    Then there was the Broken Wall, or the lack of the Broken Wall in its place was a river. A wide one at that, frozen over with the proper look of water ice.


    ¡°Where''s the Broken Wall.¡± Fish asked.


    I looked around some more, a large green forest was behind the hill the bunker was located on. Several miles away from that, was a circular wall, one that surrounded us.


    ¡°Well I think I found the answer to our question, but I don¡¯t think the implication of the changes is a good sign for us.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, I see the wall. Now what?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Simple we continue the plan.¡±

 Broken Wall: Chapter 3

    Ceo


    07:10 Hours, August 4th


    Banks of the River


    The frozen river was for the time being going to be our lifeline.


    Several dozen engineers were busy hitting the ice with shovels trying to break it up. I looked at the engineers who tried their hardest not to slip, even then I wasn¡¯t exactly sure if fishing would be able to feed us especially in the short term.


    One of the engineers stopped hitting the ice, and approached me. He was clearly tired. ¡°Ma¡¯am this is going to take too long. We are already exhausted from digging ourselves out of the bunkers, could we use a grenade or an AT gun to break the ice like you did to get out.¡± He said.


    ¡°Alright, go ahead.¡± I said.


    The engineer nodded, and called the others, moments later they activated a grenade and placed it on the ice. Quickly ran or really slid away as fast as they could, then the grenade detonated the second explosion of the day.


    There was a hole in the ice, the engineers moved back over the hole. Carefully trying not to slip, they got down and looked into the water. Then the next one got up.


    ¡°Colonel!¡± The engineer yelled to me from the ice.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I responded equally loud from the banks of the river.


    ¡°We see fish in the river!¡± They reported, the engineers came over to the banks and several slipped on the ice.


    ¡°Good, do y¡¯all know how to fish?¡± I asked as they arrived.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never gone fishing for real and I don''t think we have the equipment for it either.¡± The engineer said.


    I gave a big sigh, ¡°Guess it''s time for plan b then.¡± I said.


    ¡°Plan b?¡± The engineer asked.


    ¡°Yes, give me your shovel. You won¡¯t need it if you stick with fishing.¡± I said.


    ¡°Um¡­ sure.¡± The engineer said, handing me his shovel.


    ¡°Alright, you can either get back to figure out how to fish or come with me.¡±


    I looked around, I saw the dips in the snow where the trenches were, following a central trench line led me to the foot of the hill the main bunker was located on. There sat a smaller bunker, and what I was looking for. The spot where a lot of bodies had gathered during my last spell. I passed several fires that were set up in the last hour, and I approached the bunker. Snow had built up against the bunker wall, but it also covered something else.


    Looking around I found the sleeve of a trench coat with a frozen blue hand sticking out with it, snow covered whatever else was below it. I put down the shovel and grabbed the hand, pulling the dead Noxu out of the snow.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am what are you doing?¡± The engineer asked, others were starting to gather around me.


    I didn¡¯t respond, the body was covered in ice, and was frozen. There weren¡¯t any holes in the uniform or body. But the Noxu was dead, moving the body revealed more dead bodies. It was the spot where the bodies had gathered from the shockwave.


    The dead body appeared to be in good condition. Frozen but in edible condition once defrosted and properly prepared, we would have to eat human flesh.


    I finally addressed the growing crowd around me, ¡°We can not catch enough fish, and likely will never be able to in 3 days. So this is what we are all going to eat in the meantime until we can get more.¡± I pulled it over towards a nearby fire and began to remove its clothing. I tore the pants into pieces of cloth. ¡°Dead bodies.¡± I said as I waited for the body to defrost for cutting.


    ¡°Begin gathering dead bodies, cut out the muscles, and crack the bones for the marrow. After that, cut out the organs, except for the brain, do not eat the brain.¡± I said, the body had quickly defrosted next to the fire.


    I got to work cutting the Kidneys out, it was one of the easiest organs to get to when compared to the amount of work it takes for an arm or leg.


    I saw the others looking around uncomfortably, towards each other and then to me.


    I continued talking despite their reactions. ¡°If you wish to take your chances with finding fish or berries, go ahead but I cannot guarantee you¡¯ll be able to find or catch enough for everybody here. But there are around seventy five hundred bodies, enough for the 1000 mouths we have to feed. With each body being enough to feed 25 people with the minimum suggested daily caloric intake of around 2000 calories.¡± I said, placing the knife over the left kidney.


    I cut a tiny hole over where the left kidney should be, I felt for the bean shape and found it. I then cut a larger area and pulled out the bean shaped slab of meat. My hand was covered in guts and blood.


    I then cut out the other kidney, with two kidneys in hand I moved to the river, and began to rinse off the kidneys in the water.


    The water drained out the blood and any potential contaminants, I wrapped the kidney in the cloth and moved back to the fire.


    Everybody still looked at me, in shock. Fishman was the only major here with the crowd, equally as surprised. This isn¡¯t the worst I¡¯ve done, nor would it likely be the last.


    ¡°I am going to need some help, we can¡¯t let this body go to waste.¡± I said, no one had moved just looking at each other.


    Then a Noxu player had stepped forward with an engineer, who I recognised to be the one who was a part of the team that tried to dig us out of the bunker. The player said something in Japanese, in which I knew it was the kid from before. He bowed and pulled out a knife. He was in a Noxu flamethrower''s uniform, heavy fire proof trench coat and clothing although he wasn¡¯t wearing his gas mask or the heavy gas tank on his back.


    ¡°So a foreigner beats you guys in the willingness to feed yourself?¡± I asked the large crowd who all didn¡¯t respond.


    Noxu got down on his knees and began to cut at the hip bone slowly trying to cut through the bones. The female Kyntari engineer with him, talked to him in Japanese.


    ¡°If you are willing to dig up, cut, preserve or cook bodies for food, step forward, if not you can go back to trying to spear fish.¡± Several dozen stepped forward, ¡°but be warned you may not be privileged to eat, unless you help. If you fail to get food then you¡¯ll go hungry.¡± More than half of the crowd stepped forward joining the previous few dozen. Leaving a minority of 30 people who haven¡¯t stepped forward.


    ¡°Good, look for bodies and when you do remove all the clothing, armor, weapons and whatever else that isn¡¯t flesh. Then wait for orders from your majors, we do not want a mess.¡± I brought out my clipboard and sent out orders to the rest of the battalion.


    ¡°Find dead bodies and gather them at the first flag, await for more specific orders from your Major¡¯s.¡± Orders from CEOofMacNCheese.


    I soon got up, leaving the Japanese kid and his friend to cut the body by themself. I then made my way to the first flag with Fishman behind me.


    Fishman didn¡¯t say a thing as he followed me. We arrived at the first flag and I approached the nine men of varying ages, who were all confused at the orders.


    Sharks¡¯ mouth opened, but I didn¡¯t let him talk. ¡°Each of your companies will be assigned a job. Body finding, Butchers, Preservers, builders and cooks. 4 companies will be assigned to body finding, 2 companies will be assigned to butcher the bodies, 1 company will build fireplaces and maintain them, 1 company will preserve the meats and 1 company will cook the butchered body meat.¡± I looked around at the confused Majors. ¡°Any questions?¡± I asked.


    They all spoke at once, but all stopped with Fishman taking the spotlight. ¡°What? Find bodies, butcher them? Preserve them? Cook them? What are we doing exactly?¡±


    ¡°Getting food of course, you haven¡¯t had the desperation to resort to cannibalism. Or is that a thing people off-world do on long term missions, when you run out of supplies?¡± I said, it wasn¡¯t a question despite the way I worded it.


    Fishman remained unresponsive.


    Sharkface then spoke in Fishmans place, ¡°Why?¡±


    I quickly answered. ¡°I realized there''s probably not enough food to go around. Ignoring dead bodies of course, we also have around several million calories to eat, assuming these bodies are healthy adults, and it would take days for us to gather the necessary amount of food for everybody as a non-significant amount of us would¡¯ve starved in several days time. So we resort to cannibalism now, when the bodies are fresh and we have somewhat full stomachs and fat.¡± I explained.


    Shark remained quiet.


    ¡°Any more questions?¡± I asked.


    Punisher stepped forward ¡°Ma¡¯am I thought we were originally assigned to find food.¡±


    ¡°We have found food, now we just need to prepare it for human consumption or preserve it for future consumption.¡± I said.


    Punisher didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Any more questions, if not we are moving onto assignments.¡± I said, no one stepped forward or said anything.


    ¡°Alright then here are the assignments. Lolz, Ripper, Shark, and Silenz your men will search for the bodies and bring them to storage or to the butchers. Village your company will build fireplaces for the food and keep them supplied. Punisher, and Shadow your men will butcher the bodies for meat. Buzz your men will preserve the meat however you can for long term supplies, preferably keep them cold. Memez your men will cook the food you are given. Butchers only will need to give 50 bodies to the cooks to feed everybody here.¡± I said, everybody was nodding now and brought out their clipboards.


    Ten papers appeared in front of me all at once, and they left without further words. The orders were what I expected, with everybody giving out the correct orders. After that I left the flag to check on the kid and the Engineer.


    When I got there they were still cutting the body fats and muscles off. But the limbs were gone and the head was cut off, it was a brutal scene that''s for sure.


    I crouched down next to the kid and the Engineer ¡°So what''s y¡¯alls name?¡± I asked him. He stopped cutting the ankle.


    The Engineer stood up, ¡°Private E3 Crumpet Ma¡¯am.¡± The girl was Kyntari, short about 5 ''1, blonde hair, hazel eyes. Wearing a trench coat, with numerous pouches holding her tools and ammo.


    Crumpet turned to the Japanese kid and likely translated what I said.


    ¡°Ronin.¡± He said.


    ¡°He is Private E2 Ronin. Ma¡¯am.¡± Crumpet added.


    ¡°Colonel Ceo.¡± I responded.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Colonel. If you haven¡¯t noticed, Ronin doesn¡¯t know English very well.¡± Crumpet said.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°I am well aware of the language barrier, Private. I was with him when the game had shut down.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you looking for a progress report ma¡¯am?¡± Crumpet asked.


    ¡°No, I am here to simply finish cooking my breakfast.¡± I said, the two kidneys were still by the fire grabbing it. It felt warm to the touch on one side and the other was cold as hell.


    ¡°Got it, is there anything else you need us to do?¡±


    ¡°Well you could look for something that will allow us to cook these food items. Like an armor plate from a tank.¡± I said.


    ¡°An armor plate that shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find. I think several dozen were blown up right around here throughout the battle.¡± Crumpet said looking around, then she looked at an abandoned blown up tank on its side.


    She said something to Ronin in Japanese and the two began heading towards the abandoned tank. I looked back at the kidneys, careful not to set the cloth on fire while I waited for the two to return.


    Several minutes later the two came back, with a small plate of stainless steel armor from a tank.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am will this work?¡± Crumpet asked.


    I looked at the plate, it was as wide and long as my chest. ¡°Yes, it will but I¡¯ll need some more metal. Similar dimensions to this one, get four more.¡± I said.


    Crumpet nodded and the two left back to the tank, after that they came back with four more metal plates after ten minutes.


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    11:43


    Banks of the river


    After we finished assembling a simple steel stove, it was possibly one of the worst designs I¡¯ve probably ever seen. We were ready to cook our food, and quite a few ingredients were now cut out of the human body.


    I placed the two kidneys on the plate which began to sizzle satisfyingly. Crumpet and Ronin watched me as a lieutenant came by.


    ¡°Crumpet what are you doing?¡± The lieutenant asked.


    ¡°Oh, Lieutenant Raspberry. Just helping the Colonel, that''s all.¡±


    ¡°You helped her build that?¡± Raspberry asked, I flipped the kidneys to the other side with a knife.


    ¡°Yep! Ronin and I gathered the materials. The Colonel put it all together.¡± Crumpet answered.


    ¡°Well you could help make more, if that''s fine with you.¡± Raspberry said.


    ¡°Sure, ma¡¯am.¡± Crumpet said, who then turned to Ronin. Then to me, ¡°I asked Ronin to stay with you, while I go and help the others build more of these.¡± Crumpet said.


    ¡°The kidneys are about to be done, are you sure you want to leave yet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll cook some for myself, even then I think Ronin could use food more than I do.¡± Crumpet said.


    ¡°Alright, get to work.¡± I said.


    Crumpet nodded then left, leaving just the two of us. The sizzling of the kidney stopped, signaling me to take the kidneys off and placed it on two smaller metal plates that Ronin gathered earlier.


    ¡°Here.¡± I handed him the right Kidney which had just cooled off.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ronin said in Japanese, it was one of the few words I understood.


    I responded with the Japanese word for ¡°Your Welcome.¡±


    I took a bite into the Kidney, it wasn¡¯t that hard to bite into. I didn¡¯t think much of the cooked kidney, it was a kidney. Something I had to do over a dozen times on the failed manned Pluto Mission. Traumatizing the first time when I killed someone and turned every single body part into food, then it became almost routine by the third person that died.


    Ronin took a bite into his cooked kidney and his eyes seemed to light up the second he started to chew, and he quickly took another bite into it.


    ¡°Is it that good?¡± I asked him, a little worried he might become a cannibal.


    Ronin ignored me and quickly finished his cooked kidney, despite his ravenous eating there was very little mess left over.


    I quickly finished my kidney, looking around I saw Crumpet and several other engineers busy tearing apart a heavily damaged light tank for scrap and parts.


    ¡°Let''s get going.¡± I told Ronin, I stood up. Ronin seemed to understand what I was saying.


    The two of us got going, I needed to check if every job being done was actually being done. Off at the river bank, the thirty people who refused to help were busily trying to spear fish and I couldn¡¯t tell if they were successful or not. By this point in time more of the ice that covered the river was blown up and the Noxu were on the other side of the river looking at what we were doing and seemingly copying us. As several dead bodies were being scalped, it sounded like someone had spread the word of our plan.


    I started heading towards the main bunker, where people were busily working at butchering the bodies, limbs were cut off from the torso and the bowels were removed, the limbs were cut down into even smaller pieces.


    The Noxu meat looked indistinguishable from other meats like pork and steak. But when you are hungry with no food anywhere, but you are on top of hundreds of bodies you¡¯ll eat the bodies.


    I continued on and it was more of the same, totaled tanks and vehicles being scrapped for metal and parts, camp fires being made and meats were smoked. That''s what we only did, butcher dead bodies, and preserve or cook them.


    The next order of business I had to deal with was the Wall. All I knew was that it surrounded us, I just needed to know where the broken part of it was.


    ¡°Ronin.¡± I said to the kid ¡°get your flamethrower we''re going to find the Broken Wall.¡± I told him.


    He looked at me confused, I brought out my clipboard and sent an order directly to him, hoping it got translated. Ronin looked intently at the invisible piece of paper in front of him and nodded, then pointed to the main bunker.


    I nodded and we went up the hill and we arrived at the west entrance which wasn¡¯t the one I left through but it was unblocked. There was however more snow here, it seemed like they didn¡¯t use explosives to get out this time. However it was cleared of snow, the entrance was open and several engineers were busy clearing out the surrounding trench, though it was very much likely everybody was working on gathering food and not here.


    Ronin went inside the bunker, I followed, he went to the general quarters. Dozens of bunk beds in rows and columns were in this room. He went inside the maze of bunk beds, I went to my room and grabbed a few things for one my SMG, Sword, and spellbook. I left it here when I woke up and I never bothered to grab it till now.


    After making sure all my pouches were secured with their items I quickly headed back to the general quarter area. When I arrived I noticed Ronin wasn¡¯t done yet, a few more minutes had passed and Ronin came out.


    Ronin was in a completed flamethrower uniform weapon and all. Gas mask, connected to an air tank, on his back was a fuel tank, it glowed blue from windows on the side. A hose led from the bottom of the tank towards the back of the gun, several more pieces glowed blue on the side of the flamethrower. His gas mask was lifted up off his face on his hair.


    ¡°Good?¡± I asked, holding up a thumbs up.


    Ronin gave me a thumbs up.


    I nodded, ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said pointing to the exit. Ronin nodded once more and we exited the bunker. After that we headed to the back line, there was the Evergreen forest from before. Off in the distance was the wall, barely visible over the tree line even on the hill.


    Then we made our way down the hill in the opposite direction of the river, it was also in the direction of the sun. So we were headed east. When we arrived at the start of the forest, it felt artificial like someone purposely had cut down the trees to make room for us, or the opposite the trees were planted for us. The trees were somewhat thick, not thin like a new tree, but also not massive like an old one. They were thick enough to where you could climb it, but thin enough to where you couldn¡¯t make a home in it. Likely only a decade or so old.


    We entered the forest, and it was dark in it. Ronin¡¯s equipment provided light for us to see, acting essentially like a lamp. I pulled out my SMG as we entered it, the ground was covered in a deep layer of snow, my legs sunk to their shins in my boots. The trees glowed blue from Ronin, and brightened against due to being reflected by the snow.


    I looked from left to right, seeing only trees and their snow covered branches. There wasn¡¯t a clear path, all except the fact that the trees had a clearing between them, that was straight towards the east.


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    12:48


    We walked for half an hour at a brisk pace, until we reached the wall and the opening that was called the Broken Wall.


    The trenches, sandbags, barbed wire, and grenade boxes that were built over those two hours were still there, moved. The trenches however were shallow, and unmaintained, even then they were filled with snow. Hundreds of buried bodies were thrown to the side, leaning up against the closest pillboxes that flanked at an angle of the opening approaching the pillbox. There were dozens of dead bodies, I saw something odd, there seemed to be bodies missing, clothing laid around torn to shreds not covered by the snow but on top of the snow. I didn¡¯t know what it was but I¡¯ll investigate it later, all I knew was that it could be some wild life.


    Turning from the pillbox I saw hundreds of weapons lying around of varying types. Some were with dead bodies, others on the ground in trench lines barely sticking out. After looking around I found a dead body, a Kyntari Soldier still holding their weapon, a carbine. Pulling the body out I grabbed the carbine and looted the magazine from its pouches, a red light emanated from their left pouch, two grenades. I put up my SMG on my side, I checked the ammo on the carbine, there were three rounds left. I removed the magazine and replaced it.


    Ronin came up to me, he was holding a shotgun with a bayonet attached to the end.


    ¡°A shotgun fits you well.¡± I said giving him a thumbs up.


    Ronin nodded, and I moved my attention to the Broken Wall, after I finished my looting. The Broken Wall was now a gate, no longer just an opening but it had room on the top. The crumbling sides of the rebar concrete wall that was the openings were now straightened out, and a cover was on the top. Though it was a wide open gate.


    I sighed, and turned to Ronin who was also looking at the gate. He muttered something in Japanese, muffled by his mask.


    I approached the gate cautiously with my SMG out, with Ronin getting in front of me. On the other side wasn¡¯t more forest but a lightly forested hills that went on for miles. It was very green for some reason, not covered in snow as one would expect from snow but green grassy hills.


    It was cold that''s for sure, that was the only correlation the inside and outside the walls had. It confused me, so I turned to Ronin and asked him, ¡°are you seeing this?¡±


    Yet Ronin didn¡¯t respond, he took off his gas mask, his blue skin and long ears glistened in the sunlight. He seemed to be awed by the greenery, as he was just staring out towards the hill.


    Although I too was entranced by its beauty, however I shook my head and brought out my Clipboard and sent out a report:


    ¡°Found the Broken Wall, it leads towards lots of greenery with green hills going as far as the eye can see. To get to it, go directly East from the Main Bunker.¡±


    I moved back inside the wall.


    ¡°Come on, let''s go to the top of the forts, we could see more there.¡± I told Ronin, he still didn¡¯t respond so I snapped in his face which seemed to get him out of it. The kid looked at me and I pointed to the forts.


    He nodded, and we entered the forts. It was the same exact layout as a newly generated fort would be. Concrete walls on the inside forming a hexagon giving protection on the inside, with shooting holes, and on the outer wall were holes for shooting out of them.


    To the side were boxes filled with supplies such as ammo, and other items like binoculars.


    I grabbed the binoculars as did Ronin, then I climbed to the top. At that moment I was bombarded with a dozen plus reports all confused from what I meant by that. I could see every single order given by lieutenants and up. Which they took advantage of for communication purposes.


    I ignored them for a short second as I climbed to the top, Ronin also received one of those messages, and just looked at me.


    I sent another message saying ¡°Follow the road you¡¯ll see what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    I then brought out my binoculars and looked around the hills from a different vantage point. All I saw were hills and somewhat jagged terrain that went on for miles. I didn¡¯t look through my binoculars for long as I was being bombarded with 10 different orders telling everyone to continue doing what they are doing. The Majors were going to check it out.


    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if some ignored those orders.


    ¡°Colonel Ceo, where the hell are you?!¡± I heard Shark yell from a distance in the forest.


    ¡°In the fort! Just follow the road!¡± I yelled back, and went back to my binoculars scouting out the surrounding area. I saw what I expected, a lot of greenery, and nothing else. When I looked to the left and right and saw the wall go into a circle, a perfect circle surrounding the entire area almost like a medieval wall.


    It was still made out of concrete like before, just in a perfect circle.


    ¡°Alright!¡± He yelled back, he didn¡¯t yell again as I was looking around.


    Shark yelled again this time his voice was much closer, but not towards me. ¡°So this is where the Broken wall was?¡± He asked.


    Looking behind the fort I saw Shark just arriving being escorted by several more soldiers.


    I jumped down onto the boxes and left the fort, seeing Shark who was surprised by my sudden appearance.


    ¡°Yep, just to the east of us. I think, instead of being the center protecting just Vost Dor. Now it''s protecting Noxuia and Vost Dor.¡± I said, looking at the entrance.


    ¡°The gate being open like that is not good.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Yes it is not, can you get a few dozen of your men over here to guard it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I could, just that they are busy butchering dead bodies to be smoked.¡± Shark said.


    I looked at him, and said, ¡°Get your men over here, your entire company as well. Have them build walls and a gate to block it, place landmines outside it to discourage any intruders assuming we have anything nearby that''s a threat.¡±


    Shark nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll send the order out right now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for your reinforcements to come before we leave.¡± I said.


    Shark nodded ¡°Alright, it¡¯ll be at least an entire hour if not more before my company gets here.¡±

 Broken Wall: Chapter 4

    Ceo


    14:34, August 4th, 2133


    The Broken Wall


    It¡¯s been nearly two hours since we first got to the wall, and Sharks reinforcements weren¡¯t here yet. The only ones that were here were of course the men that Shark had come with, Ronin and me.


    ¡°You said it would take your men an hour or so to get here. What¡¯s taking them so long?¡± I yelled to Shark who was in the other fort on the opposite side of the gate.


    Shark looked at me and seemed to give an exasperated look, ¡°I don¡¯t know, from what I last heard was that some squads got lost.¡± Shark said.


    I sighed, ¡°Well let''s hope nothing happens till they find their way here.¡± I said looking out towards the outside.


    The hills outside were empty grasslands, most of the time nothing was out there, literally nothing, not even an animal for some odd reason. The sun was just past noon right now, shadows facing towards me were starting to form.


    There wasn¡¯t a sound from the forest, it was still cold as ever. My hands were numb, I envied Ronin as he was in a full piece of armor that is insulative.


    I rubbed my hands together to warm them up, I wished I brought a scarf.


    I looked back up and there was movement, I immediately looked at where I thought I saw it, nothing was there, bushes and small mounds were scattered throughout the surrounding area.


    I saw something move from mound to mound using the vegetation as cover. Then again I saw a silhouette.


    The silhouette was small, and far away. I was 20 feet up from the ground with a good vantage point. I brought up my binoculars and focused on the mound. I saw it move behind, there I saw it.


    I placed my elbows on the wall of the fort trying to stabilize the image a bit more, and I saw that it was a green humanoid.


    Which was the only details I could make out at this distance. Then it went behind a small hill.


    I decided to call it out. ¡°I see a figure, probably a quarter mile out.¡± I reported.


    Shark responded, ¡°What do you see?¡± He asked.


    ¡°A green humanoid figure, can¡¯t tell you much more than that.¡± I said, continuing to focus on the last location where I saw the green figure.


    Then I saw another figure, or was that the same one? I couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°I think I see another one, running behind a small tree¡± I reported to Shark.


    ¡°What? Another one?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, there is too much vegetation down there.¡± I pulled my binoculars down.


    ¡°Keep an eye out.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Got it.¡± I said, looking around some more.


    Another ten minutes had passed, and nothing. From neither Sharks reinforcement or the unidentified figures. Nothing except from our forces, the boredom finally got to me and began to get down from the top of the fort.


    The soldiers had left their posts before me, they were currently with Ronin in the central trench line. They were busy cooking food and a nearby decapitated body was butchered, all of the body was left was the bones but several bones were already missing.


    I approached them, ¡±Y¡®all making lunch now?¡± I asked.


    One of the stormtroopers looked at me, ¡°yes we are, there''s been nothing lately, and I doubt our reinforcements are going to arrive.¡± He said.


    ¡±Me too.¡± I said.


    Ronin was holding a skewer with a pair of kidneys on it, and he was slowly turning it. Trying his best to cook it evenly, I sat down in the trench with the other soldiers.


    ¡±So anything new on the ones we spotted?¡± I asked.


    The stormtroopers shook their heads, I gave a sigh.


    ¡±Any good news? I haven¡¯t received much in terms of messages from anybody, barring the occasional message from Major Shark inquiring about the position of our reinforcements.¡±


    ¡±Nope, they still say they are lost. Though it''s only been ten minutes.¡±


    I sighed, ¡°I think today is going to be a long day.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    18:12 Hours


    The Broken Wall


    The sun was starting to set beyond the horizon now, and Sharks reinforcements are still ¡±lost¡± in the forest. I feel like they just don¡¯t want to follow orders.


    I continued looking out at the surrounding landscape, snow that was no longer fresh was still on the ground. I was sure I would have caught a cold when I got back to the bunker.


    It was quiet, nobody had said a thing in the last ten minutes, all that''s left was the rustling of the trees and the falling of snow from them. Nothing was happening out there, I sat down and closed my eyes.


    Then I heard the rustling of the grass, I ignored it then more rustling. I got up and looked over the fort, in the darkness I saw very little of anything. The moon was likely just rising up above the horizon now.


    The rustling hadn¡¯t stopped with the wind, I looked over the edge and the grass at this part of the fort was notably taller than elsewhere. Though I only remembered its height it was pretty much pitch black right there in front of the fort. The only light around was the blue shine of Ronin¡¯s equipment from the gate, and my grenades in my pouch, even then it was dim.


    Curiosity got the best of me, I grabbed a grenade and the bright neon red light emitted blinded me. I quickly held it over the side and dropped it, it wasn¡¯t primed so no noise came from it and the red light dropped lower and lower, then it lit up the surrounding grass in red.


    Then I was hit by something, followed by extreme pain in my right shoulder. Then another arrow flew towards me hitting me in the abdomen before I could realize what was going on. ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelped, stumbling backwards.


    ¡±Ma¡¯am! Are you alright!¡± One of the stormtroopers yelled from below.


    I grabbed my spell book and desperately turned the page to where the healing spell was. Everything was in pain, I felt my breath start to increase.


    ¡±We are¡­ under attack!¡± I yelled, as I found where the healing spell was. ¡±Activate damn it!¡± I said, I put my finger under the lines. I heard Ronin start to yell something in Japanese but it didn¡¯t sound good.


    Gunshots began to go off, then a flash of blue light erupted out of nowhere. I looked at the healing spell line, and read it internally. Then a red light covered the entire place. I heard the low hum of the healing spell with red particles fall from the sky like snow, the pain quickly disappeared and I saw the two arrows fall out of my body.


    The gunshots were loud and consistent. We were under attack, another blue flash of light occurred from the Gate. Things seemed to slow down as I got back up, the gunshots rhythm and the hum of the spell as well. I got down from the top of the fort as I saw another arrow fly right past me.


    On the ground now, I ran out of the fort, bringing up my SMG. My feet sunk into the snow the moment I stepped into them, I turned the corner to be met with another brilliant flash of blue flames from Ronin¡¯s flamethrower. He was slowly stepping backwards, as a large horde of what seemed to be goblins charging his location, they were burned alive.


    I saw an arrow fly through the flames, and hit Ronin in the chest. The flames began to clear up and the goblins began to charge Ronin, I fired my SMG into the horde. It was firing slower than I last remember, but I held down the trigger. The first bullet hit a goblin, that one fell then another one, all shots were hit. I dropped the current magazine, it fell slower than usual, I grabbed another magazine, by the time I reloaded the magazine had hit the ground.


    Ronin stepped back, the flamethrower threw steam around. More gun fire to the left and right of me started, all I could hear was ringing which drowned out the gunfire.


    Dozens if not hundreds of those small green goblins seemed to swarm us through the gate. I grabbed my only grenade left, I regretted using the first one as a light. I pulled the pin, and then threw it into the horde. It slowly flew in an arc as I quickly started firing my SMG once more, then I was grabbed on the shoulder and pulled back. I saw another blue magic circle brighten up the surrounding area, it was Ronin who grabbed me. I nearly fell backwards but I caught myself.


    The grenade finally detonated, and a flash of light briefly blinded me, then green blood everywhere. Followed by bright blue flames, I saw a goblin that got past the gun fire and the club it carried was half way through a swing to his knee caps. I aimed at the goblin and my gun didn¡¯t fire, I couldn¡¯t hear the click but the goblin wasn¡¯t dead and the club had hit his knees. I drew my sword, and did an overhead swing into the goblin, who was about to get another swing in.


    Ronin was midway through his fall, as my sword slammed into the goblins head, and Ronin was now on the ground his knee was all contorted in ways a healthy leg shouldn¡¯t but was quickly snapping back into place. I swung my officers sword into the horde, another grenade flew past me, several in fact. They lit up the goblins in red, I grabbed Ronin and began to pull him backwards with surprising ease.


    I dragged him back into the trench which we had deepened in the last few hours. Several spot lights turned on when I was about to get back up to hold the goblin horde back when four HMGs¡¯ begin to fire at the goblin horde. Ronin pulled me down into the trench out of the way of gun fire, Ronin seemed to have landed uncomfortably on the firing steps.


    I sat down as the gunfire continued on, tracer rounds passing by. The healing spell by this point ended and everything seemed to be going the right speed. I was breathing heavily and I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.


    Ronin sat up and onto the fire boards, I could see he was breathing heavily, he picked up his mask and he too looked like he was about to have a heart attack as well. Ronin looked at the ground, gaining his breath.


    I looked around the trench and I didn¡¯t see anyone else. After a minute the gunfire stopped, and it was eerily quiet, the only noise was the ringing of my ears. I stepped on to the firing board and looked over the top.


    I looked at the gate and there were hundreds of dead goblin bodies, it seemed like none of the goblins got past the gate itself barring a few but they had been quickly gunned down by someone. Blue blood and guts covered the entire gate, making a horrid scene, the smell of charred flesh, gunpowder, and copper wafted through the air. The scene reminded me of something that was familiar, not from the game but from somewhere else and a time that was long ago. I looked at my hands. They were shaking vigorously, the cold no longer bit any more, yet I wasn¡¯t warm either. At least this battle was a slaughter.


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    ¡°Is everybody alive?¡± I yelled out.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Shark responded, along with the rest of the squad that was with us while we waited for reinforcements to come.¡±


    I turned around to see the pillbox spotlights were on, I climbed out of the trench and approached the pillbox.


    ¡°Who the hell is in there?¡± I asked.


    A Stormtrooper, stainless steel armor came out of the pillbox. ¡°One of Sharks reinforcements.¡± A male voice said, I saw the armband they had, which was of First Lieutenant.


    ¡°Took y¡¯all long enough.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, we actually got lost if you want to know.¡±


    I sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t need excuses, nor do I care right now. Just secure this area.¡±


    A male Kyntari medic rushed out of the pillbox, ¡°is anybody injured?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I think so.¡± I said, the other soldiers came out of the various foxholes that were around here. Ronin climbed out of the trench, and he looked no better than before.


    ¡°He does not look good.¡± The Medic said.


    ¡°If you want you can check on him. Though expect a language barrier, he doesn¡¯t know english.¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage.¡± He said approaching Ronin.


    Shark approached me, ¡°how are you holding up?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Alive, and moving.¡± I answered.


    ¡°If you need to get back to the main bunker, and rest up. I doubt this will be the last we¡¯ll see of them.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Yeah, I agree.¡± I nodded at him.


    Shark nodded, ¡°Alright.¡± He then turned to the few engineers that were here, ¡°Start building a barbed wire fence on the gate¡­¡± Shark started, I moved away from him towards the medic and Ronin.


    As I approached the two, I heard the Medic was speaking in Japanese


    ¡°That''s two people here who know Japanese.¡± I said to the Medic.


    ¡°Well I am old enough to have remembered a time when Japan was in a Union with the U.S, and a time when both nations had greatly benefited from it. I am Lieutenant Hans Gunther, nice to meet you Colonel.¡± Gunther held out a hand.


    I shook his hand, ¡°Colonel Ceo, nice to meet you Lieutenant.¡± I turned to Ronin, ¡°So how is he?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing more than the stress of going through a battle, along with the strains of moving so much. Did you know that in Japan sports is something only the wealthy do?¡± Gunther asked.


    ¡°I did not know that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well Ronin, just needs some rest and he¡¯ll be good as new by tomorrow morning.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Good.¡±


    ¡°Now I need to check on you Colonel, you also might be having issues.¡± Gunther said.


    I held up a hand, ¡°I am fine, just the adrenaline running through my veins.¡± I said.


    Gunther looked at my hands, ¡°Even then I need to check for any injuries.¡±


    ¡°I had a healing spell active during most of the fight, any injuries I did attain were gone in a matter of moments.¡± I said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know in an hour if you did attain injuries.¡± Gunther said, ¡°You two are good to go then.¡±


    Gunther then turned to Ronin and began speaking to him in Japanese, probably the same thing as he told me.


    Ronin nodded at Gunther and got up. The two of us began to head into the forest, towards the Main Bunker. I felt exhausted, but I knew that going to bed as soon as possible wouldn¡¯t be a good idea. I brought out my Clipboard and sent a message to the Majors except Shark.


    ¡°Head to the War Room in the Bunker for a meeting in 20 minutes.¡±


    ¡­¡­.


    Ceo


    18:54 Hours


    Outside the Main Bunker


    Ronin and I walked up the hill of the Main Bunker, there were more stoves built around the hill, the snow was now old and there was less of it now. The skies were clear, and the alien moon whose features I did not recognize hung mid way in the sky.


    ¡°Ronin!¡± I heard the voice of Crumpet yell.


    Ronin and I turned to face the Engineer, she looked worried and ran to Ronin quickly checking over him. It wasn¡¯t surprising at her worry, Ronin was covered in the blue blood of the goblins and to make things worse there were tears in his uniform. Ronin was quickly firing off words like he was trying to calm her down.


    I left the two to their own devices and entered the bunker, after that I immediately headed towards the War Room.


    When I entered, I was met with all the Majors waiting for me, and the second I entered questions immediately began being asked.


    ¡°What happened over there?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°What started the gunfire?¡± Punisher asked.


    The questions from everybody kept coming, and every question seemed to blur.


    ¡°Shut up! Give me a moment to breathe and I¡¯ll answer them.¡± I said, ¡°Does anybody have water?¡± I threw my clipboard, and spellbook on the desk and placed my sword to the side of it. After that I sat down in my rolling chair and leaned back.


    ¡°Here.¡± Fish said handing a plastic white flask, I sat up, removed the cap and began to chug it, I was dehydrated for sure. I intermittently took a breath and continued drinking.


    After emptying the whole flask I gave a huge sigh. ¡°All I can answer is that we were attacked.¡±


    ¡°Attacked?¡± Memes asked.


    ¡°Yes we were attacked, which is why I have a dozen holes in my uniform, and covered with blue blood.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°How many attacked you and who?¡± Memes asked.


    ¡°A horde tried to charge the Broken Wall, they were small and green, they seemed to be goblins of some sort¡± I said.


    Village then spoke, ¡°What are we to do, anybody have ideas?¡±


    I answered ¡°for now we hunker down, and we guard the gate, letting no one come in or out until we can confirm it''s safe outside the walls. On top of that we would need to prepare our land for long term habitation. I don''t think it''s safe to be living in the remnants of a warzone.¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest exactly for inside the walls, guarding the gate is something I can already easily guess. But for here?¡± Village asked.


    I started to explain, ¡°Well firstly we are to start picking up the land mines, barbed wire, and other hazards designed to slow the enemy''s advance who is now across the river and is no longer our enemy. We also need to get into consistent contact with the Noxu players. Our food situation still hasn¡¯t been solved yet, the meat is going to last only so long before it decomposes, so we need to continue collecting food.¡±


    Village was the first to speak. ¡°I could have my men deal with the mines, trenches, barbed wire and also getting across the river. While everybody else can deal with the other issues.¡±


    Fish said, ¡°My company could deal with the food issues via fishing. How long will the smoked meat last if we ration it at the minimum of which people can effectively work?¡±


    I didn¡¯t immediately respond and after a few moments I did. ¡°Well assuming the meat doesn¡¯t spoil, which it will, we should have enough supplies to feed everybody 2000 calories a day that¡¯ll last around for six months, give or take a few days. Enough time to make a fishing industry, or a fish farm industry.¡± I said.


    ¡°That is assuming we properly smoked every single body we can get our hands on?¡± Fish asked.


    ¡°Yes, in actuality however we should expect the food to last 3 months. I¡¯m not sure how much we can preserve in a day, but it''s a conservative estimate.¡± I answered.


    ¡°That should be enough time for me to build small fish farms, and fishing boats. Giving us more time.¡± Fish said.


    Silenz spoke, ¡°I could have my company try and start a traditional farm, whether to feed some sort of livestock or to grow edible food to cook with. It won¡¯t be done in the 3 month time limit but it should be started by then.¡±


    I nodded and turned to the remaining Majors, ¡°Y¡¯all have any ideas on what to do?¡±


    Memes, Shadow, Punisher, and Buzz were all that didn¡¯t come up with any ideas yet.


    Buzz answered ¡°I''ll just help with whatever comes up, maybe manage who goes where and does what. I don¡¯t know, I just threw an idea out there, I was in the HR department for the company I worked at before getting fired.¡±


    I cocked my head curiously, ¡°So you want to manage the workforce?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well if we need that kind of management, I would like to volunteer. I am very good at managing numbers to get the desired result of more productivity. Although my boss did disagree with me on that and fired me, so please don¡¯t fire me.¡± Buzz asked meekly.


    I leaned closer towards him, ¡°If you don¡¯t fuck up the numbers game of human resources.¡± I didn¡¯t like treating people like they were another resource, but if the reality is that most of the people here were from Earth I couldn¡¯t expect much to get done without some form of centralized authority ordering things to get done. At least when compared to the expectations of a Venusian Colony.


    Buzz nodded meekly.


    Memes said ¡°Well whatever comes up, I am free to take any position you can give me. But for now I¡¯ll stay as a military commander if you are fine with that.¡±


    Buzz immediately answered Memez. ¡°You could just be a reserve company in which we can move people towards different work wherever they would be needed.¡±


    Fish looked at Buzz, ¡°You really are an HR manager, if you came up with the idea of having people in a reserve.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I wasn''t sure how well it would work in reality other than just having people be employed constantly. For now my job may be useless, and if it is then I¡¯ll just resign to prevent bloat.¡± Buzz said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll keep that in mind but we might need your HR skills one day, or not, who knows.¡± I turned to the remaining Majors who hadn¡¯t volunteered. ¡°For the rest of y¡¯all just donate your men to the cause of Village, Fish or Silenz as they are doing the most important things right now.¡±


    Memes, Shadow, and Punisher nodded.


    ¡°Well I would like to hear y¡¯alls ideas by Noon for the specific issues you guys have volunteered to try and solve. Even if it''s barely 19:00 hours, I am exhausted.¡± I said. Everybody nodded and left the War Room.


    I slumped back into my chair and looked at my uniform. I was covered in Goblin blood and I didn¡¯t look too good.


    But the good news is that there''s a lot of bodies to loot so someone should have my size and or a lot of clothes assuming they all weren¡¯t torn up for fuel. But I also had some role playing clothes in a box beneath my cot. I got up and moved to my quarters in the back, there was a standing closet across from my bed.


    Opening it, I was met with an extra Vost Dor, Noxu, Adushasha, Rostora, and Oskovian uniform with a trench coat, all hanging. There were also more plain laid clothing, mostly just pajamas and a t-shirt along with undergarments. I took off my boots, socks, and pouches, then I moved to the restroom.


    The restroom was filled with some amenities, at the end of the room was a simple standing shower, using a curtain to keep the water in. There was a toilet located right next to it and a sink in front of it. A 12 by 24 inch mirror was above the sink, moving to the sink I saw myself for once.


    I had grey hair that went down to my shoulders, grey cat ears with dirty white fluff in the center. I had copper skin, bushy eyebrows, brown eyes, my nose was big, no more mustache though. I had more feminine features, by all accounts if this wasn¡¯t me I¡¯d say they looked pretty, though if I wasn¡¯t covered in blue blood. There were a few holes in my trench coat. I unbuttoned my trench coat and took it off, throwing it into a corner.


    Both my shirt and pants were damaged, I¡¯d need a complete change. I stripped off the rest of my clothing and it was dirty.


    I opened the faucet and nothing came out, then a bit of water started to drip through, the pressure was low, followed by the pressure increasing by a bit more and more. It was odd, to my knowledge I did not include a dedicated plumbing system, except of course the piping but that ended like a foot below the ground.


    But I decided to take advantage, I rinsed off my hands, and my face. I decided to keep it at that, I moved back to the room, went back to the closet, grabbed under garments, put those on, then blue pajamas and a t-shirt.


    I cleaned the room a bit, I looked around the room a bit more, I found a clock lying in a drawer, the current time was 19:54 hours, did I really spend that much time? At the top of the clock were two bells and a hammer. On the face above the hands was the words AM or PM, a dim led light lit up next to PM.


    I wondered if it worked, turning it over to the back I found several items of note on it. A single button which turned on a light, a place for a battery, opening it revealed old style AA batteries, a small grooved wheel to adjust the time. Then another button, pressing it, had set off the bell.


    ¡±RIIIIING!¡± It loudly announced, I hurriedly pressed the button again and it kept ringing.


    I spun the time wheel by a bit and the ringing stopped, I turned it back to the last time I remembered and it didn¡¯t go off again. I spun the wheel to the time of 7 AM, pushed the button it started to ring, I pushed the time clockwise again to 7:55 PM, the ringing stopped, then clockwise again to 7 AM, the ringing started again. I pushed it back to 7:55 PM once more and placed it on the ground underneath the light switch next to the door.


    I turned off the incandescent light and laid down in my twin sized bed, I closed my eyes and just fell asleep.

 Broken Wall: Chapter 5

    Ceo


    August 5th, 2133


    Colonel¡¯s Quarters


    I shot up out of my bed, the light blanket falling down from my chest. I felt sweaty, and my palms felt constricted. ¡®A nightmare now of all times?¡¯ I wondered to myself.


    The alarm''s high pitched bells ringing hurted my ears, even across the room. I looked at where the door was, the light to the clock face was on, dimly lighting up the floor around it.


    I got up, went over to the clock, picked it up, the time was 07:01 hours. I placed my finger on the hammer, the ringing stopped. I took my finger off and the ringing started again, I just stared at the clock, which kept ringing for an entire another minute which then it stopped. I gave a sigh of relief, flipping the light switch on, the incandescent lights dimly lit up the room


    Moving over to the restroom, I saw it was the same as I left it last night. I  moved to the sink, nothing about me changed at all. Still the same length of hair, face, everything. Opening the water faucet led to water with good pressure, I washed my hands then splashed water on my face. I dried off my hands and face, then moved to the closet, I grabbed an extra Kyntari Officers Uniform, then another trench coat, followed by the yellow officer band with my rank on it. I then grabbed my pouches, ammo was still in them.


    After getting the pouches on I left my quarters into the War Room, I felt for the switch next to my door and I flipped on the lights, no one was here with me. I moved to my desk, grabbed my spellbook, clipboard, and moved to the gun rack and grabbed my SMG, and sword.


    I moved to the door out of the War Room, putting my hand on the round door knob. I didn''t immediately open it. ¡°Let''s hope this is an uneventful day.¡± I mumbled to myself, opening the door I felt cold air come in.


    The central hallway was devoid of people, a soft breeze blew in from the right and both inner and outer bunker doors were open to the outside trench. The smell of cooking wafted in from the outside, a quick walk to the outside and a climb out of the trench. I was met with several stands all with signs of being a food stand. Several metal stoves were behind each of them with a small team cooking food.


    The ground was damp and wet, yet no snow. The stands had empty lines, with only a couple of people at them, the stand''s food was laid out in a buffet style. The food items were placed on a metal plate with no organization to what went where.


    I went into an empty, almost sad buffet line, which was a wooden and steel structure haphazardly thrown together, a wooden sign was at the beginning of the line.


    ¡°Grab only one plate, no seconds.¡±


    I looked for a kidney, and I quickly found one and picked it up. There was no exit register, just a team behind the line managing the food.


    Nobody in the team didn¡¯t address me, just talking to each other or doing something else. I then quickly left the food buffet to the surrounding trench lines. There I saw more people, most were just sitting around mostly in foxholes and trenches that remained.


    Someone tapped me on the shoulder, I looked behind me and saw Ronin. He gave me a big smile and waved.


    He pointed towards a spot near a still unfilled trench, Major Shark, Lieutenant Gunther, Crumpet and several others that were likely a part of Shark''s company were there.


    ¡°Oh you guys want me to sit with y¡¯all?¡± I asked.


    Ronin simply nodded and moved to the trench. I followed him, Ronin sat down next to Crumpet.


    ¡°Good morning Colonel.¡± Shark said.


    I responded ¡°Good morning Major Shark.¡± I responded, I took a bite out of the kidney.


    The others said good morning, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.


    ¡°What are you doing here, I thought you were at the Broken Wall?¡± I asked Shark.


    ¡°Well, my lieutenants told me to get some sleep at around midnight and they said they¡¯ll handle everything there while I rest. I am going to return by 9 AM or so, don¡¯t worry about me ditching my job.¡± Shark said, tearing a chunk of meat. I nodded at his answer.


    I took another bite out of my meat, as everybody talked with Gunther and Shark surprisingly enough, occasionally speaking in Japanese to Ronin.


    ¡°I never knew you could speak Japanese Shark?¡± I asked, taking a bite out of the kidney.


    ¡°Well I was an intelligence officer for the US Army in Japan during the war.¡± Shark said.


    ¡±So a lot of people here are in fact from Earth.¡± I said.


    ¡±From what I¡¯ve heard from my company that holds true. Though there are a couple of Venusians, and Martians here.


    ¡°Martians are here? I thought Mars had worse light lag time than Venus, also isn¡¯tMars on the other side of the system from Earth?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The Martians were on Island 3 when the game had shut down.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Even worse, wealthy Martians.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do Venusians and Martians have a rivalry?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t clear, yes. We pretty much competed for resources from the Federal Government during the early days of each of our colonies, then the break off happened and today we are competing for territory on the moons of Jupiter.¡± I answered.


    ¡°Oh, I thought it would be more like, y¡¯all are blowing up each other''s colonies and not fighting for moons in the Jovian System?¡± Shark said.


    ¡°Terrorism is an Earth thing Shark, and is the least effective warfare tactic in space and in fact will piss off more people than rally to your cause. You blow up one ship and now your home colony is now either a crater or sinking into the atmosphere.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Is that the Inner System Conflict correct?¡± Shark said.


    ¡°The only war to have been fought between Martian and Venusian Colonies, and is the reason why we don¡¯t fight over asteroids or Moons. If someone has control of the core of a known protoplanet that you want, suck it up and find your own cause it isn¡¯t worth the hassle of spending months in space and thousands of tons of propellant only to be blown up by a strike craft carrying a missile designed in 2030 that is printed out of fucking ABS.¡± I explained.


    ¡°If we ever get home I¡¯ll need to consider that a part of the American Space Defense Plan.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°You¡¯re an American General?¡± I asked.


    Shark gave a sigh, ¡°Yes I am Marine Corp Lieutenant General Hammond in the US Marine Corps.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is either going to be a blessing or a curse for me.¡± I said warily, I looked at Gunther and he just simply cocked his head to the side, Crumpet and Ronin weren¡¯t paying attention.


    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking that I am going to usurp you, I have no intentions of doing so. I joined the Marine officer corps to command an army, and I will keep that job.¡± Shark reassured me. ¡°So who are you exactly, I already told you about me.¡± Hammond said.


    ¡°I am James Maldonado IV.¡± I said even more warily than before.


    Gunther just looked at me confused, Hammond didn¡¯t immediately respond. ¡°Oh, the person who is said to have cannibalized half of his crew on a journey to Pluto.¡±


    Gunther finally spoke, ¡°The Great Grandson of the governor of Plymouth Base, first permanent settlement on the moon, planner of the Three Islands Project, and near the end of his life, creator of the first Venusian Colony San Cielo. Along with the person who funded research into the creation of Smart A.I¡¯s, and later wormholes.¡± Gunther said.


    ¡°What? Wormholes?¡± I exclaimed, ¡°To my knowledge my family has never researched Wormholes or to my knowledge funded research into wormholes.¡± I said.


    Gunther didn¡¯t immediately respond, ¡°Schei?e.¡± he exclaimed under his breath.


    ¡°Guess that''s classified then.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Gunther said, seemingly very worried. Hammond looked very confused at Gunther, and leaned over to me.


    ¡°If you wish to know I am not in the loop at all with whatever he is afraid of.¡± He whispered.


    I nodded, and Hammond leaned away, Gunther looked to not be in a talking state as he hurriedly looked around, like he was afraid someone was going to come out of the shadows. ¡°So I''d like to ask how the defenses are going, has anything new happened in the past night?¡± I asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Last I checked we¡¯ve built a wall around the gate on the inside and have set up some trenches alongside landmines and barbed wire, outside the gate in front of the broken wall. There was only one attack at around 9 and after that nothing happened.¡± Hammond answered.


    ¡°That''s either a good sign or a bad sign, keep me updated.¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure either.¡± Hammond said.


    I finished my food and sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave, I¡¯ll be at the river figuring out something to do while I wait for noon to see what Silenz and Fish have planned.¡± I stood up and began to leave.


    ¡°Ronin is asking if he can join you.¡± Crumpet said.


    I turned to the two, Ronin had all of his equipment with him already.


    ¡°Sure, but Ronin needs to learn English.¡± I said, ¡°does he know where I am going?¡±


    ¡°He is starting to understand English, speaking it is another thing entirely.¡± Crumpet added.


    ¡°Alright, good, let''s go.¡± I motioned for Ronin to follow, he stood up and said something to Crumpet who nodded. I climbed out of the trench via a ladder to the top.


    Ronin tapped me on the shoulder, and he pointed towards another booth with nothing but the metal plate we used to eat on.


    ¡°Please place your dishes in this pile here.¡± The sign pointed towards an ever growing pile of plates in a ditch.


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    ¡°Well that''s one way of dealing with items that can simply be cleaned, very wasteful for sure.¡± I mumbled to myself, but I still threw the plate into the growing pile and it''s not like I had any better alternative currently.


    ¡°Come on, let''s go find Major Fish.¡± I said to Ronin, who took a moment to process what I said and then nodded.


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    08:26 Hours


    Banks of the River


    Ronin and I were several dozen yards away from the banks of the river. Where a lot of things were happening, there were logs stacked in a triangle, several squads were splitting logs, others making them smaller, or carving into them. A mile upstream off in the distance I saw a log raft of sorts floating down the river.


    I headed towards the log stack which was the closest thing to me, the logs were large, around 2 meters in diameter stacked on top of eachother like how one would stack a house of cards. The logs were around 4 meters in length. Possibly one of the biggest trees I¡¯ve ever seen, especially ones that were found out in the wild on Earth.


    The logs were stacked together in groups of 10, first layer having 4 logs, second 3, 2, and 1 log respectively. The next closest thing was the squads carving into the wood logs, so I moved there. There were only 12 people carving, but amongst those 12 was Major Fish.


    He was hunched over a log about 3 meters long with 5 other people, the log had several cracks in it that were slowly being scraped open. I approached Fish from the side, getting a good look at what he was doing. He held a metal handax, which he held over himself and then slammed into the bark of the wood, removing it revealed a notable gap between the parts of the log.


    A crude outline of a boat, or canoe was what he seemed to be forming. Though it was only halfway done, that didn¡¯t stop the others from scraping off wood from the outline that was there.


    It looked like they started a while ago, as a notable amount of material had been removed already, revealing the older layers of the tree. Fish brought up his handax once more and slammed it into the wood removing it and another clean indentation into the log was added to the growing outline.


    ¡°Major Fish.¡± I said.


    Fish immediately stopped what he was doing, along with everyone else. He didn¡¯t seem to recognize me immediately but when his eyes scanned my armband. ¡°Colonel? Is it already noon?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No¡­¡± I said unsurely, ¡°I think it''s nearing 8:30 in the morning or so.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only 8:30?¡± Fish said.


    ¡±Yes, it is. Did y¡¯all start working early?¡± I asked.


    ¡±We did, I dragged out my entire platoon from their beds at like 5 in the morning.¡° Fish explained.


    ¡±You¡¯ve been at this for a while then.¡± I said.


    Fish shook his head, ¡°So what are you doing here Colonel?¡± He asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°I am here to hear your plan of action you proposed last night. I feel like it''s going to be a long day, so I might as well get things over with.¡± I said.


    Fish nodded ¡±Oh, alright. Um¡­¡± he stood up, ¡°follow me, I can explain it to you in private.¡± He turned to the rest of the men working on the canoe. ¡°y¡¯all keep working.¡± He ordered. He then led me away from them. ¡±What I am doing right now is making a canoe.¡± I nodded,


    ¡°And what about the actual specifics of your plan?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The plan I came up with calls for 10 canoes and 5 rafts, mainly to transport people and items around. It also calls to make some fishing equipment, like fishing spears, rods, and hopefully nets. So I have around half of my squads cutting down trees for the materials, 3 more to make the canoes. The rest are moving the logs from upstream to here, Village is also here putting his plan into motion.¡± Fish said.


    I nodded, ¡°A relatively simple one, is there anything you need?¡±


    Fish didn¡¯t immediately respond. ¡°Uh¡­ we need more nails, and rope. Especially ropes, the ones from the trenches are good iron nails. I think we¡¯ll be fine for the short term.¡±


    ¡±Alright, I¡¯ll see what I can do about that. I don¡¯t know how to make ropes, but I¡¯ll see if I can find someone here who knows.¡± I said.


    ¡±I know how to make ropes, what I am specifically asking for is more men so that they can make ropes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure Buzz sends you more squads you can work with.¡± I said.


    Fish nodded, ¡°Alight.¡±


    ¡°Anything else you wanna add for your plan?¡± I asked.


    Fish shook his head, ¡°For now that¡¯s the short explanation of everything.¡± Fish said.


    I nodded, ¡°Alright, get back to work I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡± I said.


    ¡°Will do.¡± Fish said, getting back to work on the canoe. I walked away with Ronin following me.


    I turned to Ronin as we passed a squad clearing out a trench of all its items, there was a pile of logs and nails near it. ¡°You understood all of that, Ronin?¡± I asked the kid.


    He looked at me, and just tilted his head not understanding.


    ¡°We really need to work on your english.¡± I gave a sigh, unless of course he was messing with me. Even then I¡¯d have no way of telling if he was.


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    08:54 Hours


    We had walked around half a mile down. I saw Major Village who was giving orders to a group of engineers. They were busy placing logs into the water that was ankle deep, ¡°See if the log will stand if you hit it down.¡± Village ordered.


    The engineers hammered the log down into the ground under the water. I approached the group along the bank of the river, Ronin had stopped to peer into the clear river water.


    The log being placed into the water was the third ong, and was only a meter tall, it seemed to be left over scrap pieces from the canoe logs. It looks like they have just started on building it.


    ¡°Good now get the other one down, 6 feet away from the first log.¡± Village ordered.


    The men did as ordered and brought another log in of equal length, and afterwards began to hit the log into the water. They placed a longer log horizontally on the ground, held it in place and began to nail it into the other log.


    After watching for a few more minutes, and their surprisingly fast work where they were able to set up another set of supports, and with no one noticing me, I approached Village.¡°It looks like y¡¯all just started.¡± I said


    Village turned towards me, ¡°Oh, Colonel. Yeah we only started like 10 minutes ago, we had to wait for the logs and nails to come in.¡± Village calmly said.


    I nodded, ¡°So what is the plan right now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°See if we can build a bridge across the river, simple as that.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how deep the river is?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­ Let me get back to you on that.¡± Village said.


    I gave an exasperated sigh, that wasn¡¯t a good sign. ¡°If your plan is to just hope you can cross the river without any issues, then tell me how the clean up is going.¡± I said, pointing to the trench lines.


    Village looked at the direction I was looking at, ¡°The clean up is going good, we are mostly ignoring individual foxholes, but whatever is on the main lines got to go, we have all the dirt we could possibly need. It''s simply moved up to make the trenches, so just to fill them back in, but we also are taking the wood and nails that are in the trenches.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that''s good we need planks. Anything else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve cleared out several areas free of landmines, and taken apart several HMGs and Artillery guns as well, we aren¡¯t sure what to do with them though.¡± Village said.


    ¡°Send them to Major Shark¡¯s company, he¡¯ll know what to do with them.¡±


    ¡°Alright, anything else you want to know?¡± Village asked.


    ¡°Any plans for a town here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The bunkers aren¡¯t enough?¡± Village asked.


    ¡°They are for now, just that I have a feeling we¡¯ll be here for a long time. Even then we need some heavy and light industry, if we are going to be fighting constantly.¡± I explained.


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡± Village asked.


    ¡°Just being cautious, that''s all.¡± I said.


    Village didn¡¯t immediately respond, but then nodded ¡°Alright I¡¯ll look into building a workshop.¡±


    ¡°If you are going to look into it. Make sure to properly plan out every little detail, this isn''t a sandbox game. Remember that.¡± I scolded him, he seemed to be a poor engineer or one that is in training.


    Village nodded, ¡°I understand ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Get back to work, or maybe start planning before it''s too late, doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I turned and left.


    Next person to find was Silenz.


    I turned to look at Ronin who seemed entranced by the clear water, holding water in his blue hands.


    ¡°Ronin!¡± I yelled to him, and the kid turned to face me. ¡°We¡¯re moving.¡±


    Ronin looked at me and then water. I gave a sigh and turned to leave, may as well leave him to his own devices. I then heard heavy footfalls from steel toed boots, I turned around and I saw Ronin catching up to me.


    ¡­¡­


    Ceo


    09:15 Hours


    We arrived at the main bunker, only a few people were sitting around here, the food vendors were still active, surprisingly enough they were busy with keeping the food from this morning warm, or were washing the plates we had eaten on. There however was a notable amount of food missing meaning people had come in and taken food.


    I was about to enter the main bunker when Robin had tapped on my shoulder.


    I turned to face him, ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    He pointed to an unfilled fox hole, where I saw two people, who I recognized as Major Shark and Major Silenz. I nodded to Ronin.


    I approached the Foxhole. I didn''t hear what they were saying, but there wasn¡¯t any work happening, just talking.


    ¡°I did not expect you two to be here?¡± I said, towering over them.


    Silenz and Shark looked up to face me ¡°Oh, Colonel.¡± Silenz said. ¡°Come join us. I was just talking to Shark over here, about how to procure seeds and food from outsiders.¡± He explained.


    I climbed down into the old shallow foxhole, and I quickly realized what Silenz was getting to, ¡°You think that the Goblins can farm?¡± I asked.


    Silenz said ¡°Yes, I think they can farm.¡± He said.


    ¡°Let me guess.¡± I stopped Silenz from saying anything more, ¡°You want to raid them for food and farming supplies?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Silenz said.


    ¡°Simply that? Anything else I should know?¡± I asked.


    Shark surprisingly was the one to talk. ¡°Yes, there is more Colonel.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡± I said to Shark.


    ¡°I believe the goblins have major cities with a metal industry and more.¡± He stated plainly.


    ¡°What?¡± I said.


    Shark procured a small knife from his pocket, it was burned and slightly warped. ¡°This knife here was recovered from the Broken Wall, the blade is made out of hardened steel.¡± He said.


    ¡°Hardened Steel? That is only produced by a civilization with an advanced understanding of metallurgy. Which means they have lots of food, or have the capability to produce a lot of food.¡± I said.


    ¡±And a whole lot more.¡± Shark said.


    ¡±Yes! That is one of the best news I¡¯ve heard since we got here!¡± I excitedly said.


    Silenz, who was silent during this part of the conversation, finally spoke, ¡°Going off topic, I do want to know why did the goblins attack y¡¯all?¡±


    My excitement at the fact the discovery of a technological civilization died when Silenz said that. ¡°You know that is a good question, one I hadn¡¯t considered until now.¡±


    ¡±It couldn¡¯t¡¯ve been a recon force.¡± Shark said immediately afterwards checking off a mental checkbox.


    ¡±Yeah, if it was a Recon force then they wouldn¡¯t have attacked us.¡± I said.


    ¡°What if they were reinforcements?¡± Silenz said.


    ¡±Reinforcements? For whom exactly?¡± I asked.


    ¡±The question we should be asking is where they were going, because if I was a commander who was in charge of some reinforcements and a walled society suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I would simply go around them or at the least send someone to open a dialogue to get an idea of who they are.¡± Shark said.


    ¡°The more you explain how you would do something, the more it makes it seem like the force that attacked us last night wasn¡¯t just some violent locals.¡± I paused for a second. ¡°But what if instead they are a part of a larger force.¡± I said, a dozen different possibilities racing through my mind.


    ¡±So where is that larger force then?¡± Shark asked.


    ¡±Shark, have we actually bothered to check everywhere inside the walls?¡± I asked.


    Shark eyes grew wide in realization, and he stood up. ¡±Shit!¡±