Tower Defense (Part 2)

Following the soldier's feedback, the whole fort grew noisy with the sounds of hurried footsteps, mixed with shouts as well as the barking of orders from the different sub-leaders.

Or at least that was how I pictured it would turn out.

In reality, besides the woman in charge of the foot soldiers' unit and Richard both giving their respective underlings direction, no other voice could be heard. The soldiers' footsteps sounded dynamic but not flustered or particularly loud. In the end It was so orderly that it almost felt anticlimatic.

"Is twelve kilometers that far on horseback ?" I asked no one in particular as I took a peek out of the stony window.

I didn't know the speed of a horse at full throttle so I was at a loss. Still, I guessed that the reason they seemed so laid-back to me must have been related to the fact that Richard had only stepped away from the battlefield for a short period of time on an emergency. Meaning that most of his men had had to remain on high alert the while.

"Like a well-oiled machine..."

"Your praises are greatly appreciated sir."

It was Nicholas, the second in command and strategist of the second platoon.

"I meant to ask you Nicholas, how many of our men are to form the ambushing unit exactly ?"

"For now sixty of them are scheduled to depart sir."

Sixty...so if we are around two hundred on site, that leaves about a hundred men to hold the front gate and towers. Okay, then the next thing I want to know is..

"And how many do we have with the archery and magic units combined ?"

"Forty in total sir, with thirty-five marksmen and five mages."

"Are magic users rare in the kingdom by any chance ?"

"No sir, it was sir Richard's decision."

"Do you know why ?"

"Yes sir. With our commander being a practitioner of the bow, our soldiers underwent rigorous training in that area you see. As a result, their offensive capabilities are off the charts compared to that of their peers from the other platoons. So then sir Richard elected to limit his picks in the magic department to ones with proficiency in defensive tactics and protective magic."

"I see, that makes sense thank you."

Knowing that, it means that realistically we will only be able to assign a single mage to the unit conducting the ambush.

"Are the mages even in terms of skill or do they also have a figure working as a conductor or leader of sorts ?"

"I salute your keen insight sir Hero; it is as you say, this unit revolves around a man you, I believe, are already acquainted with."

As if prompted by the mention of his role, the magic user in question entered the room after a soft knock on the already opened door. And sure enough, I instantly recognized the man.

"Court Mage Prakia of the mages' unit reporting for duty. Sir Nicholas, sir Hero, I have come to receive your instructions."

"Well met Prakia, we will get to the point once sir Richard and Vineli report back as well."

"Of course."

Vineli was the name of one of the few women of the platoon and most importantly, the leader of the infantry. From the description Richard had given me on the way to the fort, she was a burly and tall woman with copper-colored hair and a large axe. Sounds like a barbarian or a viking. I thought. And to no one's surprise, she was in fact almost exactly how I pictured she would be.

"'Sup Nico, oh and Prakia too I guess.. and is that our hero I spot there ? Must be right ? With such a gaudy outfit there's little doubt." Without missing a beat and with her giant form, she made her way towards me with her hand extended in greeting.

"Nice to meet ya young'un. The name's Vineli and as you must have heard, I'm the captain of the infantry. What's your– wait..oh ho not bad !... Sorry, what's your name ?" 

After feeling my arms and shoulders like a mom making sure her son was ready for his first time on roller skates, making oohs and ahhs in the process, she stepped back with a satisfied grin and waited for my answer.

"Nice to meet you Vineli, you may call me Taiyo. And as you surmised I am the hero called upon by your country."

However it seemed like something I said didn't quite click with her. Because partway through my answer her previously joyful complexion did a one-eighty and turned downright disgusted for some reason.

"Heh, I thought the look in your eyes was fine and full of determination but turns out you're just another overbearing asshole with too much power and a big head. What a downer."

"Enough with that tone Vineli ! I have let it slide since you were in a great mood earlier and meant no harm, but you have overstepped your boundaries here. This will be the last time, you hear ?"

""Aight..." With a bored, down-out sound in place of an answer, she shot me one last sideway glance over her shoulder and went to sit in a chair at the back. Shortly after, Richard finally joined us.

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"Considering the number of magic users at our disposal and their speciality, I suggest we only add one to the ambushing unit, preferably Prakia, and keep the other four here. As for their positions, I figured we'd assign two of them to support the marksmen stationed on top of the structure, while the other two remain inside behind the front gate. What do you say Nicholas ?"

Being officially a hero at last, I had been instructed to remove the use of honorifics in my speech. Obviously. That being said, it still very much felt unbecoming to me. I was an outsider in the broadest sense of the term and, to top it off I had no real life experience in warfare to speak of either. Not to mention that I am a lot younger than most of their armed forces to boot. And yet...

"I cannot think of a better disposition sir. It seems your skills are consistent with your reputation."

As the old strategist said that, he shot a quick glance over in Vineli's direction. Earning a displeased click of her tongue in return.

"Moving on, as always I will leave the dispatch of the archers to you sir Richard. Unless our esteemed hero already has a plan in mind."

"No, and no objection."

"Understood, then onto Vineli's units..."

From there the meeting proceeded without issue. Of the one hundred and sixty soldiers left at our disposal, Nicholas and I decided on our course of action in a matter of minutes.

First of all, we decided to include only a single archer in the group destined to set up the flank. This way, they would be able to launch a preemptive strike and still be able to charge the enemy's units without worrying too much about their backline. In addition, said archer being also the de-facto messenger of their group, meant that all he would have to do would be to launch an arrow or two at the key figures of the enemy's force and then go into hiding and record the battle's proceedings before running back to us.

Then from the ninety-nine men left to defend the fort, ignoring the twenty-four marksmen who would man the top of the building –i.e the bridge on top of the front gate joining the top of both towers– while ten of them would cover the different windows around the structure; twenty-five soldiers would stand inside the building as reinforcement or to replace the wounded. 
As for the remaining seventy-five, they would stand ready before the front gate on the outside.

"That concludes this meeting. The departing unit should move immediately into position, everyone else go to your assigned location and be on the lookout for surprise attacks ! The enemy is expected to be at our gates in about ten minutes ! Now as always, MAY LUCK BE ON OUR SIDE ! "

"MAY LUCK BE ON OUR SIDE !"  The whole room shouted in unison.

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About ten minutes later as predicted, a soldier came at a throttle into the room to announce that the enemy had arrived.

"Move as instructed. Sir Richard will most certainly play the first move and have his unit launch a first volley of arrows, so remain stationed at least until then. The rest is in Vineli's hands."

"Understood !"

Soon after his departure, we heard the sound of dozens of strings being released in unison as well as the sound of their arrows cutting through the air in the enemies' direction.


From then on, multiple soldiers came and went from the room in succession to give positive reports of the proceedings. Until finally...

"Sirs, their vanguard unit is falling back !"

"Good, then have one of the mages launch the aerial signal for Prakia."

"Yes !"

At Nicholas command, the soldier, one of the archers, ran out of the room to relay the order.

"It would seem that everything is working as we planned thus far, sir Hero. What do you think ?"

"It would appear so, but let's not celebrate too early."

In the end, whether I was behind a screen or in person, once I was locked in "strategist mode" my focus was absolute. Enough so that I became a little too informal even, when adressing Nicholas. Which in retrospect must have been one of the reasons why...

"Sirs, the ambush succeeded ! The archer took down the leader of their own unit of marksmen ! The infantry is following up with an assault as we speak !"

Ohhh let's go !!!

As I discreetely clenched a fist in celebration, Nicholas for his part remained stone-faced and barked his next orders.

"Let us not bask into momentary sucess, continue supporting the charge with your arrows and have the mages switch to offensive or boosting magic on top of that !"

"U-understood !"

With part shock and part amazement apparent on his face, the soldier exited the room with even more dexterity than he'd used on his way in.

"While I strived to heed your words and to convey that feeling to our brave fellow earlier, I must confess, sir, I am a little relieved to hear everything has gone so smoothly thus far."

With a subdued smile on his otherwise wrinkled face, Nicholas beamed at me in a bashful manner.

"You did what was necessary in my opinion, most of them are still young, so they could easily be swayed by a false sense of accomplishment which would then give an opening for our enemies to exploit."

As I said that, I watched the state of the battlefield from the window. And when I turned back towards Nicholas thinking it strange that he'd said nothing to me in response, I found him doing breathing exercises in order to, I imagined, wipe this happy expression off his face and return his focus to the battle still in progress.

"That being said, we must also allow ourselves to rejoice over the good pieces of news. If only to release some of the tension in our bodies and mind. Otherwise we might fall into the habit of playing it too safe as we grow overcautious."

At my words, I saw another smile play over his features for a moment.

"I must truly be past my prime if I need a young man such as yourself to cheer me up and guide my thoughts. Hahaha..." Covering his unease with a quiet laughter, Nicholas fetched a chair and beckoned for me to take a seat.

"You may still be young, but your legs have been carrying you since you were but a tenth of your current self, so allow them some rest when you can afford it." Some people do not have this chance, he added softly.


After that the struggle progressed smoothly, our victory appearing nothing if not overwhelming on that first day of battles.

Later on, as the sky turned as red as the blood-soaked ground below, reports of the enemies' force retreating came in, signaling the end of my first day of battlefield experience in real-time.