Rendezvous in the Dark Woods

"...so according to Seer Ogawa, the transport will be leaving in a few days as part of the regular rotation that goes out to the Murshard Isles. Being so remote, the garrison duty at the Isles requires regular rotations of troops along with a regular supply train that goes out monthly to provide supplies to the fort for both the garrison and prisoners," Hiroshige recounted.

"Do we believe him?" Akiko asked dubiously. "This is the same guy who tried sacrificing me when I first arrived, not to mention just being one of the Empire's senior guys we have to assume there's always going to be some kind of motive of loyalty somewhere in that black heart of his."

"I understand your mistrust," Jun nodded, "but it does make sense that any fort needs regular supplies, so that would be the most logical time to transport prisoners, since that would serve the purpose of providing guards to prevent any chance of escape. A separate and dedicated prisoner transport would attract more attention than the Empire would likely want, not to mention would require a lot more troops."

The group moved to the table in the room and pulled up a map of the lands and studied the geography between the central capital city and the northwest part of the continent. "OK, the Murshard Isles are located in the middle of a great loch close to the edge of the continent at the end of the vast forest that spans the coast along the northwest. From what we're told, the Empire runs a ferry from a port hamlet solely for this purpose." Hiroshige explained.

"So, we should attack before they reach that ferry," Akiko nodded. "You've said that most of our allies are among the outer Baronies. "Who's in charge of the lands way up north?"

"That would be Baron Lykaris," Jun answered. "The roads that lead through the forests pass through his territory. Outwardly, he's loyal to the Emperor because he has to be, in large part due to the regular visits from the Empire's troop garrisons. Privately, we've floated some inquires and we know he's not happy with the current regime, but he doesn't dare do anything openly, so unlike Lord Belray and Lord Roark, we're not going to be able to get open assistance from his town guards for any kind of attack nor can we count on any kind of scrying protection in his barony. At best, they'll turn a blind eye on seeing you and ignoring the fact that your face is on every wanted poster in the lands, but even that might be pushing it."

"OK, so we really can't get help in town like we did back in Kalldrun," Keiko added, reading the map, "Still, there's a lot of forest in the area though. Plenty of cover for an ambush."

"Agreed," Akiko pointed out. "If we know the day they're travelling and roughly how many they have and how they're laid out, we should have the advantage. But if Seer Ogawa is screwing with us, we might be walking into a trap."

Hiroshige traced his finger on the map, starting at the capital, counting the grid markers along the road, then made several circles along the route. "OK, these towns and hamlets are along the road. Once they leave the capital, they almost certainly have to pass through them to make it to Murshard. We can have spies stationed at each town to confirm the caravan has actually left and roughly how many men they have. Once they reach the edge of the forest, their formation will be limited by the narrow roads. That will work to our advantage. If our spies give us numbers that don't work to our advantage or tell us the prisoners aren't there, we'll be able to adjust or at worst, break off and abort if we must."

"Where do we fall back to? We're talking about rescuing prisoners, so we might have people with limited mobility, possibly needing medical care," Keiko reminded him. "We're talking about making this attack in the middle of the forest; that makes getting back to town challenging. Also, if they're spending the nights in towns, then ambushing them out in the woods means this is daylight attack, so we don't get the cover of darkness."

"Take them while they're in one of the towns?" Akiko suggested.

"If the fight gets out of control and the townspeople are in danger, we'll be fighting the town's guard along with the Empire's troops," Jun warned. "Not to mention having the battle being in town means our fallback position becomes the forest. Moving through those woods at night will be a challenge. We'll need to have that mapped in advance and we'll need someone who can move through the dark without breaking something."

"With injured people, moving through the forest at night might not be possible," Hiromi pointed out.

There was a long pause, then Akiko spoke. "What if the Empire's troops are the ones that start attacking the townspeople first? Say, a few of them get drunk, abusive or a big fight breaks out and it gets ugly with a lot of people. Would the guards stay neutral then because the Empire's supposed to be in charge, or would they step in to keep the peace?"

Everyone turned and looked at Akiko before Jun spoke up. "Th-that's hard to know for sure. If their own people were at risk... I supposed they probably would. How were you suggesting we make that happen?"

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Sergeant Kenji Takeda grimaced as he sat in the prison wagon, looking out the small, barred window. Their caravan was set to leave the capital in a few days, traveling slowly with mounted soldiers on all sides keeping constant watch. They would be stopping at night, quartering in towns along the road, setting up sentries for night watch. Ever the military man, he had counted the opposition, gauging their strength, even though he obviously wasn't in any position to do anything about their situation.

He had mostly resigned his fate by this point as almost no one ever escaped the Empire's prisons, but Lady Amberbrooke had quietly whispered to him that she still had hope. When he asked for details, she simply had said that the signs were there. Well, that's reassuring, he thought sardonically. Unfortunately, he couldn't base his plans on signs. If there was going to be any kind of rescue, he estimated they would need a force of at least two platoons, or close to forty men. A force that size would be almost impossible to conceal, which meant the fight could get bloody. The Empire's soldiers might even turn on prisoners as hostages if the fight went against them. It might fall on us to resist if it comes to that, he realized.

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Keiko watched with concern as Akiko and Masako finished another sparring session, ending on less than amicable terms. Masako had insisted on running these sessions when the group had settled in for the evening after each day's travel, which didn't leave Akiko much time for physical recovery, as medieval travel was no picnic as they had discovered these past few months. It also struck her as ironic that a total stranger like Sergeant Takeda seemed to be able to teach her more effectively than one of her best friends, so she sat down with Akiko as she took a water break.

"Ouch... " Keiko winced at the sight of the welts that were forming on Akiko's wrists and arms. "Those are going to hurt in the morning. You might want to have Lady Hiromi look at that and see if she can make those less painful with some magical healing or something."

"Maybe if I let it bruise, Masako will take pity on me and let me skip our next couple of sessions," Akiko groused. "I mean, I'm not even sure how much I'm learning having her beating me down every night."

"Come on, that's not fair. You can't expect to hold yourself to the same standard in only a week's training," Keiko interjected. "Masako-chan's been training in Kendo since she was five and has been competing since twelve. Of course she's going to have an advantage."

"Well, then maybe she should be in charge then!" Akiko pouted with frustration as she tossed the water cup aside.

Keiko sighed and refilled the cup. "Do you remember what Sergeant Takeda told you back in Yartin? He said it was going to take more than strength to be a leader. He said the reason everyone looked up to Captain Fujiwara wasn't just his skill in battle, but that he inspired the men around him by example. Masako-chan will probably always be better in straight up swordplay, but right now, everyone looks at her and still sees 'Emperor's daughter'. You're the one who's gotten us this far. You stood up and took charge when the Empire captured the leaders back in Merwindolyn. People don't just forget that, and you shouldn't either."

Akiko sighed then nodded. "Thanks, I... I guess I just needed a reminder not to feel sorry for myself. And I know that even Masako's lessons are eventually supposed to help when the time comes. I just wish... I don't know... it didn't feel so one-sided."

"Well..." Keiko began suggestively, "if you can't beat her head-to-head, how about trying something different?" She pulled a focusing crystal out of her pouch and handed it to Akiko. "You know what they say... if you can't win by the rules, it's time to change the game..."