>>5638500
“Then this is the team for this mission,” you declare. “Myself, Sabela, Salem, Solaris. Serana, Livia, Reika, and Jess will be the backup team. Helen, I leave Scaithness in your hands. If you need help coordinating with the locals, rely on Valentina.”

“... will that be all?” Helen asks coolly.

That stings a little.

>I think so, unless anyone has further thoughts on the matter?
>I’d like your input on how to proceed once we make contact.
>I’m leaving this entire region in your hands then, Helen.
>Other?

>>5638503
>>I’m leaving this entire region in your hands then, Helen.

>>5638503
>I’d like your input on how to proceed once we make contact.

>>5638503
>I’d like your input on how to proceed once we make contact.

>>5638503
>I’m leaving this entire region in your hands then, Helen.

>>5638503
>>I’m leaving this entire region in your hands then, Helen.

>>5638503
“Helen,” you insist quietly. “I’m leaving all of Hazaran in your hands - and if things go badly wrong, our entire corner of the world.”

There’s a particularly long and poignant pause after that pronouncement.

“You’re talking like you’re actually thinking you might not come back,” she observes with a frown.

“There’s always a chance,” you shrug. “This time things are less certain than usual. We have no idea how strong these male awakened beings might be.”

“And if you go off and die on us?” Helen crosses her arms. “How will we know what to expect?”

“If we don’t come back,” you observe, “then you’ll know.”

…

There’s little time for sentimentalities - the sooner you intercept the coming force of awakened soldiers, the sooner you can get a report of your meeting back to your companions here in Scaithness, and the sooner you can get to planning the hard part. You’re not looking forward to an all-out battle like this one, but unfortunately it seems one’s been looking for you for quite some time and now it’s finally caught up.

The smoke carries quite far on the mountain winds, so you know very quickly that you’re on the right track.

“Now we just need to make sure we don’t walk into a trap,” Sabela muses.

… good point, actually.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 10, 4, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>5639540

Rolled 7, 2, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>5639540

Rolled 8, 4, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>5639540

>>5639540
You set out immediately from Scaithness and your pace never falters from there, practically flying up the trails into the mountains overlooking the loch. If this is going to work you’re going to have to intercept the enemy as far from your own strong point as possible, in order to get information and bring it back - or else, to stop the intrusion sooner rather than later, out on the open field of battle instead of near the town.

“Something is odd about this,” you realize along the way, though you don’t stop to ponder.

“You’re wondering why it’s taking them so long to get to Scaithness,” Sabela completes your thought.

“The way I see it there are three possibilities,” you continue. “The first is that Clarice simply doesn’t have full control over the awakened troops below her. The second is that this is some sort of diversion, and she’s leading more awakened troops along a different path.”

“That would be difficult to accomplish in secret,” Salem offers. “Seeing how they’ve behaved so far, at least.”

“I agree,” you tell her honestly. “They hardly seem suitable for anything involving strategy or, goddesses forbid, genuine subtlety.”

“So what is your third possibility?” Solaris asks you curiously.

“That Clarice was never involved,” Sabela guesses your mind. “Her involvement was only ever a speculation - not an unreasonable one mind you, and I still think it likely. But there are other possibilities.”

"You've been thinking about it this whole time," Salem muses. "You do stop thinking at some points during the day, right? Like when you're asleep?"

"Like mother, like daughter," Sabela sighs. "When she was a young girl, before our reunion, I would sometimes go three weeks without rest. Sometimes just spinning ideas in my head, seeing where they would go."

“Those uncertainties have been bothering me,” you confirm. “So here are my thoughts on how to deal with them.”

>I say we split into two groups. Be prepared to shift our attention if we find this is a feint.
>We should observe carefully, then withdraw quickly if Clarice isn’t present with this group.
>I think we should strike fast, especially if Clarice is having trouble controlling her troops.
>Other?

>>5640290
>>I think we should strike fast, especially if Clarice is having trouble controlling her troops.

>>5640290
>>I say we split into two groups. Be prepared to shift our attention if we find this is a feint.

>>5640290
>We should observe carefully, then withdraw quickly if Clarice isn’t present with this group.

>>5640290
>I think we should strike fast, especially if Clarice is having trouble controlling her troops.

Rolled 7, 7, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>5640290
>I think we should strike fast, especially if Clarice is having trouble controlling her troops.

Rolled 8, 1, 6 = 15 (3d10)

Bossman wants 3d10 bo3

Rolled 8, 7, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>5640760

>>5640290
“If it does seem like Clarice is having trouble controlling her troops, we should be ready to strike fast,” you decide.

“We may not get a second chance,” Sabela agrees.

You shake your head. “That, and our sudden appearance may make things worse for her.”

“If she loses control of the situation entirely she’s less of a threat,” Salem muses. “Not bad.”

“Only if it works,” you remind her.

…

It’s morning when you finally intercept your enemy, in a narrow and boulder-strewn pass along the road from where the assault on your Hazari forces occurred yesterday. It’s really a perfect ambush location, and your guesses, almost more like hopes, prove to be well-founded when you see that Clarice is clearly at the back of their loose column shouting orders at them now that she’s sensed your approach.

“This is it!” Solaris exclaims.

>Use the terrain. Collapse some of the larger boulders in a way that works for you.
>Split up and attack each end, limit the number of enemies each pair of warriors must face.
>Hit and run. Concentrate on keeping safe while picking off an awakened being at a time.
>Just let your awakened being cohort run a little wild. Cause some chaos.
>Other?

>>5641097
>Use the terrain. Collapse some of the larger boulders in a way that works for you.

>>5641097
>Just let your awakened being cohort run a little wild. Cause some chaos
Just the environment to make Clarice lose control

>>5641097
>>Use the terrain. Collapse some of the larger boulders in a way that works for you.

>>5641097
>3d10 best of three
DC 19

Rolled 2, 8, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>5641860

Rolled 8, 5, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>5641860

Rolled 5, 3, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>5641860

Nikandros we are not.

>>5641860
You decide on the spot - directing your mother and Solaris in one direction, you take Salem in the other and position yourselves appropriately to collapse some of the larger and a few of the more critical boulders in such a way that it blocks both your enemy’s way forward and their way backward.

Normally this might not be the best strategy, and you know that. Often when you cut off an enemy’s option to retreat it makes them fight harder instead, because they assume (in this case correctly) that the alternative is death. In this case, you’re willing to bet that your enemy will make the mistake of a disorderly movement out of the trap - and when one or two of the awakened soldiers try to make a run for it to save their own skins it will leave them all the more vulnerable.

“Well, would you look at that?” Salem muses as the almost unthinkable happens - the enemy, at Clarice’s shouted orders, not only hold their ground but start to actually form loose ranks. “Seems she regained a little control over them.”

“It’s tenuous at best,” you observe. “There’s no real discipline, they’re just listening to the one who’s shouting the loudest. They have no plan.”

>This may be the only chance you get. Call down to Clarice and demand an explanation.
>Concentrate your attacks on Clarice. Take the head, and the rest will surely scatter.
>Attack the awakened soldiers. Break down what little remains of their discipline.
>Other?

>>5642930
>This may be the only chance you get. Call down to Clarice and demand an explanation.

>>5642930
>Attack the awakened soldiers. Break down what little remains of their discipline.

>>5642930
>>Attack the awakened soldiers. Break down what little remains of their discipline.

>>5642930
Under other circumstances you might want to talk to someone in Clarice’s position before launching into battle. But this isn’t ‘someone’ - it’s a warrior whose notoriety comes from her merciless nature and her brutality towards her fellow warriors. While you feel there’s a good chance she has useful information it’s also likely in your mind that she’d never willingly give it up in conversation, and while you’ll admit you’re curious why she’s doing this you also know that your first priority should be winning.

If you win and she survives, you can ask her all the questions you want. If you win and she dies, then at least you’ve still won. But if you lose then it really ceases to matter to you what she’s doing and why, because you’ll be dead.

So instead you signal across to Sabela, who swiftly awakens her body in preparation for battle. Salem and Solaris both do the same, while you take a moment to awaken your arms and legs. It’s obvious to all concerned that this battle will be brutal, and so there’s no room for you to hold back at the beginning. You know that your enemy won’t extend you the same courtesy.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 7, 9, 5 = 21 (3d10)

>>5643735

Rolled 8, 1, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>5643735

Rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>5643735

>>5643735
The attack is swift, fierce, and well-coordinated.

Salem sidesteps her target at the last second and sweeps his left leg, unbalancing him just an instant before you arrive. Then she moves to tackle into a second awakened being while you bring your sword down against the first one’s right shoulder. The weight of your blow crashes against the arm he raises to defend himself, and as your white strike technique severs his tendons his hasty guard collapses. The edge of your sword then connects with the base of his neck, where an armored plate protects his vitals, and cracks it like a hammer dropped onto a dinnerplate.

The yōki flowing through and around your blade of course doesn’t stop there. It pushes through his body, slicing cleanly through the offal tucked away inside his hardened shell and suddenly filling all of the empty spaces with purple ichor.

At the same time, Sabela and Solaris perform a perfectly-synchronized high-low attack on another awakened being, the opposite forces strong enough that their victim’s torso is pulled apart sending his legs, waist, and stomach one way while the rest of him is carried forward impaled on your mother’s fingertips, before she slings him in a high arc back over her shoulder.

>Fall back immediately, get back to the high ground above the enemy formation.
>Salem has knocked another awakened being down - finish him off before withdrawing.
>Withdraw, but cause some further disruption and break up the formation as you do.
>Other?

>>5644066
>Salem has knocked another awakened being down - finish him off before withdrawing.

>>5644066
>Salem has knocked another awakened being down - finish him off before withdrawing.

>>5644066
>>Salem has knocked another awakened being down - finish him off before withdrawing.

>>5644066
>>Salem has knocked another awakened being down - finish him off before withdrawing.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 10, 8 = 27 (3d10)

>>5645044

Rolled 1, 5, 1 = 7 (3d10)

>>5645044

Rolled 1, 6, 9 = 16 (3d10)

>>5645044

>>5644066
Your movements are swift and precise. Salem has given you a clear opportunity, and so you basically drag your blade behind you, held low at your him. As you step over the awakened being she knocked over the invisible aura around the blade slips through the flesh of the awakened being’s neck, maybe not killing it outright but dealing a crippling injury at the very least.

That will have to suffice.

The other soldiers - or rather, what used to be soldiers - who are nearest launch a counterattack at the last second, as you and Salem are withdrawing. One of them leaves a gash on Salem’s arm that starts to heal almost immediately, while a second tries to tackle you to the ground. Had he succeeded that would’ve been bad, but after awakening it seems like he lost his hands. Those blades that replaced them aren’t exactly good for grabbing, which combined with Salem’s parting shot that rips off one of his arms makes it fairly easy for you to slip past.

Once out of the trap you set for Clarice and her small army of monsters, you find that something unusual happens - Sabela, Salem, and Solaris all start to quickly revert to their human forms, leaving them concealed beneath the cloaks which survived their transformations. Unfortunately, despite the fact that warriors are often issued gear which can stretch and distort with their bodies (within reason) most fully awakened beings exceed the limits of that gear, and many discard them along with their swords.

“When did this happen?” you ask, reining in your own transformation slightly to make it easier to talk.

“Salem and I started working on it together,” Sabela explains, “after we agreed on how to proceed with things. It’s efficient, but a renewed sense of modesty makes it feel odd.”

“That sounds like your problem,” Salem declares. You notice that she’s making much less effort than your mother in that regard.

“Does it surprise anyone else that they’re letting us have a conversation?” Solaris asks with a frown and a quick gesture at your enemy.

… actually, now that she mentions it that [i]is[/i] unusual, isn’t it?
>1/2

>>5646592
It seems that either a threat Clarice issued before even coming here is still holding this unit of awakened soldiers together, or else they still have some discipline from their former lives. It’s also possible that they’re just not sufficiently intimidated by your display so far - a possibility that would incidentally account for the little self-satisfied smirk you see on Clarice’s face.

“So what next?” Solaris wonders.

>Same strategy, different pairs.
>We’ll concentrate force this time. Work together.
>We should pick off one target specifically, like a pack of wolves.
>OTher?

>>5646785
>>We’ll concentrate force this time. Work together.
>>We should pick off one target specifically, like a pack of wolves.
These aren't mutually exclusive.

>>5646785
>We’ll concentrate force this time. Work together.
>We should pick off one target specifically, like a pack of wolves.

>>5646785
“We’ll swarm one like a pack of wolves,” you decide. “Work together, cover for one another, then withdraw after the kill.”

“Agreed,” your mother nods. “What’s our target?”

You look over the group of barely-restrained mass of inhuman soldiers, straining to maintain the semblance of discipline. If you do this right, picking and choosing the right victim could lead to a total loss in unit cohesion - they could very well start eating each other alive, or even turn on Clarice. Either outcome would work for you.

But even if you simply weaken them, and reduce their numbers, your mission will be accomplished. If you don’t get the exact response you’re looking for, you could even simply fall back for the moment.

All this turns on your choice in this moment - which of these monsters do you choose to lay low?
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 1, 3, 2 = 6 (3d10)

>>5647822

Rolled 4, 6, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>5647822

Rolled 4, 10, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>5647822

>>5647822
“That one,” you decide, almost at random, pointing out an awakened foot soldier with a single horn sticking out of the middle of his forehead.

The awakened being seems to recognize that he’s been chosen, and points to himself as well. “Who, me?”

“You,” you declare.

“Hold formation,” Clarice orders.

The awakened soldiers, who had stirred and clamored after you called your attack out, barely remain in a cohesive unit as your own team charges back down into the trap.

“Noel!” your mother calls out. “Step!”

As Solaris and Salem partially awaken to engage some of the awakened soldiers around your target you drop to your knee, facing your mother, with your hands ready and braced to catch her foot. Then, you hurl her weight over your shoulders and towards the target on an arc, and she transforms midair into her awakened form. While not especially large by awakened being standards she is still significantly larger than any human, and the sight of her falling from the sky is understandably intimidating - because by now, the enemy has seen the beginnings of what she’s capable of.

The target sweeps its arm up and strikes at Sabela as she falls, a massive spiny fist racing up to meet her. But just before they meet she forms her right hand into something like a clawed shovel, and launches a counterattack by turning her waist and snapping her arm forward from the shoulder. Her clawed fingertips strike the awakened soldier’s fist and split it open, first through the palm, then the wrist, and eventually down to the elbow before her hand slips out of his arm. The next thing it hits is his throat, which she rips out with her fingertips.

Before he even manages to come up with some way to retaliate she’s finished the deed, pulling both hands back with her fingers aimed forward then driving both hands up into his chest, right under the sternum, with her palms together.

She raises her right leg and withdraws her left hand, using both to leverage herself up again for a renewed effort, before driving her right hand even deeper into the awakened soldier’s chest until you’re certain she’s grasping his spine.

Then you learn for sure that’s exactly what she did, because she pulls a small section of it out.
>1/2

>>5648748
Between you, Solaris, and Salem, it’s easy enough to help cover for Sabela’s withdrawal after that. The awakened soldiers may be monsters now, but you’d hazard a guess that they’ve never seen how a monster can fight - this level of brutality is foreign to them, and few of them are likely to truly understand how best to leverage their new awakened anatomy.

The shock and the inexperience are your best tools where the numbers, and perhaps even the raw balance of power, are against you.

>This time you can beat one to a pulp with your white strikes while the others cover for you.
>Drive through the middle of their group. Fight to injure or maim, then withdraw again.
>Confront Clarice. Maybe you can learn something from her that will help undermine her position.
>Other?

>>5648754
>>This time you can beat one to a pulp with your white strikes while the others cover for you.

>>5648754
>This time you can beat one to a pulp with your white strikes while the others cover for you.

>>5648754
>>This time you can beat one to a pulp with your white strikes while the others cover for you.

>>5648754
“Cover for me this time,” you decide, before leaping into action yet again.

This time your mother, Salem, and Solaris all work to keep nearby awakened soldiers away from you while you focus all your efforts on a single opponent. What follows quickly becomes a brutal boxing match as you leverage your white strikes technique to its fullest effect.

You weave and dance to avoid your intended victim’s attacks, which while powerful and fierce aren’t as wild as one might normally expect. They follow predictable patterns, no doubt drilled into him as part of some basic training program before being half-forgotten due to lack of use. Your own attacks are canny and precise, relying on your own technique designed years ago specifically for use against opponents like this.

The result is that each of your strikes takes a toll on the awakened soldier despite not appearing to be dramatic in any sense of the word. All the while, nearby troops are prevented from interfering by your company, who show remarkable restraint so as not to distract the rest from what you’re doing to one of their own.

After a few moments you find that your opponent is leaving more and more openings, and so you prepare to finish it on the spot. The first blow lands right over his heart, and with a particularly fine bit of footwork you turn under his upraised arm and throw a left hook that connects in the same spot but on the opposite side of his body - two successive punches impacting his heart with the white strike technique. It’s crippling, and he immediately collapses on the spot.

That’s when you effortlessly take his head.

>Withdraw. Make it clear to the remaining awakened soldiers that you’re toying with them.
>Continue fighting, finish off the awakened soldiers Sabela and the others have been fighting.
>Try to leave some wounds behind, see if you can get the soldiers to start to panic.
>Other?

>>5649988
>Try to leave some wounds behind, see if you can get the soldiers to start to panic.

>>5649988
>>Try to leave some wounds behind, see if you can get the soldiers to start to panic.

>>5649988
>Try to leave some wounds behind, see if you can get the soldiers to start to panic.

>>5649988
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 6, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>5651330

Rolled 6, 5, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>5651330

Rolled 3, 8, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>5651330

>>5651330
Right now you have an opportunity, one that you’re not about to let slip by. That opportunity is to leave as much injury and intimidation in your wake as possible, which if you do it right may lead to the sort of destabilization you’ve been hoping for.

As you withdraw you leave a gash in one awakened soldier’s leg, and take off another’s hand. Your companions follow your lead, and leave a trail of broken limbs and blood splatters. While none of them die as a result, you can tell that they’ve begun to panic. One tries to flee, only to be cut down by Clarice herself with a single strike. The sense of tension only grows worse after that, though discipline and order are quickly restored.

“Take the high ground!” Clarice finally orders. “Any of you ignore my orders, you end up like that bastard!”

Finally, it seems that Clarice has decided to take this situation seriously. Either she took until now to figure out what your capabilities are and to weigh them against her awakened soldiers, or she was simply experimenting with them to see how they stack up against an abyssal one.

>Stand your ground, force them back into your trap.
>Withdraw, and regroup with more of your forces.
>Stage a fighting withdrawal - string them along.
>Other?

>>5651682
>>Withdraw, and regroup with more of your forces.

>>5651682
>Stage a fighting withdrawal - string them along.

>>5651682
>Stage a fighting withdrawal - string them along.

>>5651682
>>Stage a fighting withdrawal - string them along.

>>5651682
>3d10 best of four

Rolled 10, 4, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>5652645

Rolled 4, 6, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>5652645

Rolled 10, 8, 10 = 28 (3d10)

>>5652645

>>5652645
This time you decide to change your strategy. Since your enemy has finally started to go on the offensive, there’s a certain strategic perspective from which it makes sense to just let them do that. You don’t expect that their approach to combat is going to be especially sophisticated, and so that makes it easy to use a classic defensive tactic against them.

As they pile out of the trap it becomes obvious that some of them have taken more to their transformations than others, and are noticeably quicker on their feet. Those are the ones which catch up to you first - and the first to fall.

“Turn!” you shout.

In an instant three awakened beings have turned to face your pursuers - the first two awakened beings that catch up with you don’t stand a chance. You tear into them with absolutely no mercy, one after the other in quick succession.

Then you turn and run again, allowing the next awakened soldier to catch up. You ensure that he meets the same fate as the first two.

No more come after you.

“She must’ve realized what we were up to,” Salem sighs. “Still, that lasted longer than you might’ve thought.”

“Her command over them must not be particularly strong,” your mother observes.

…

The sun has already started to dip, and there’s no sign of further pursuit. You honestly can’t be sure what Clarice’s side is doing at the moment, because you’re not sure what she’s going to want her awakened soldiers to do nor are you sure she’ll be able to get them to do it.

>Lay an ambush closer to Scaithness. Thin their numbers more.
>Fall back and regroup at Scaithness. Prepare for the climax.
>Try to creep back and observe Clarice’s soldiers more closely.
>Other?

>>5652788
>>Fall back and regroup at Scaithness. Prepare for the climax.

>>5652788
>Try to creep back and observe Clarice’s soldiers more closely.

>>5652788
>Try to creep back and observe Clarice’s soldiers more closely.

>>5652788
>>Lay an ambush closer to Scaithness. Thin their numbers more.

>>5652788
>>Try to creep back and observe Clarice’s soldiers more closely.

>>5652788
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 2, 8, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>5653645

Rolled 5, 9, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>5653645

Rolled 10, 3, 2 = 15 (3d10)

>>5653645

>>5653645
Unfortunately, it really feels like you need to have some idea what Clarice and her soldiers are going to do next - which, even more unfortunately, requires you to sneak your way back towards them to make that determination. When you explain that to the others, they seem quick to go along with it.

…

You proceed cautiously based on your best guess until you can sense their twisted yōki more clearly, and from there you work to keep yourselves downwind and any obstructions you can between you and their position. Rocks, trees, ridgelines, anything will do just so long as they can’t look straight at you as you approach.

From a slight elevation, where you find a stand of trees, you settle in and try to assess the situation.

The soldiers are still in a reasonably tight formation, having reverted to their human forms - and it seems that Clarice has killed two more since you withdrew. Probably to make an example of them, and that example seems to have stuck in the rest of their minds since they’re actually behaving themselves. At least, to a degree.

Clarice, for her part, separates from the group.

“It looks like she knows we’re here,” Sabela declares. “Or at least that we’re in this direction.”

“Why is she coming out on her own?” Salem wonders.

“... I don’t know,” you admit.

You watch her walk right out into the open, maybe around two-thirds of the way to your position, then stops. As if she’s waiting for something, perhaps.

>Go out and meet her yourself, in person.
>Go out and meet her, but with backup.
>Forget that. You’re not going anywhere.
>Other?

>>5654353
>Go out and meet her yourself, in person.

>>5654353
>Forget that. You’re not going anywhere.

>>5654353
>Go out and meet her yourself, in person.

Rolled 4, 10, 5 = 19 (3d10)

Rolled 6, 9, 3 = 18 (3d10)

king wants two more rolls.

Rolled 4, 5, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>5655048

Still looking for one more roll.

Rolled 10, 10, 6 = 26 (3d10)

>>5655110

>>5655196
damn son

>>5655110
Taking what you realize is a massive, calculated risk, you leave your position. You meet Clarice out in the open, alone, where she stopped.

“I’m surprised,” she admits, her expression carefully neutral.

“So am I,” you agree

There’s a long pause.

“There’s a lot of history here,” you observe, deciding to treat this like a negotiation from the start rather than waiting to see what Clarice says to determine what this is. “I propose that, if we wish to make any progress, it must be set aside for the time being.”

“You’re still talking like you expect a reckoning at some point,” Clarice counters with a slight frown.

“That depends,” you admit.

“On what?”

“On what we can actually prove that you have done in the past,” you clarify, “and what happens in the next few minutes.”

“Understood,” Clarice replies. “So I bet you’re wondering why I’m doing this.”

“That question covers a lot of ground,” you cross your arms. “Why would you do any of the things our sisters understand that you’ve done? Why have you joined the invaders? Why are you helping those bastards manufacture awakened soldiers? Why did you go to the trouble of coming out here to meet with me like this?”

“Well, let’s just take that out of order,” Clarice sighs. “I’m here to bargain, naturally - two abyssal ones, a single-digit awakened being, and a half-awakened weirdo is way more than what those guys back north intended on fighting.”
>1/2

>>5655814
“It’s a hazard of working for men like that,” you insist curtly.

Clarice shrugs. “It’s the risk I took.”

“So, what precisely are you bargaining for?” you ask her.

“The only thing I have,” she tells you. “My life, of course. I just don’t wanna die yet.”

“How many people have thought that, I wonder?” you frown.

“I know damn well what you’re implying there.”

>So I assume you have something to trade for your life?
>So I assume you at very least brought me some kind of plan?
>Fine. Not like all our sisters always had the cleanest records.
>Other?

>>5655932
>>So I assume you have something to trade for your life?

>>5655932
>So I assume you have something to trade for your life?

>>5655932
“I assume you have something to offer in exchange?” you ask, rather pointedly.

“Information and my help in killing these monsters of theirs,” Clarice replies with a wicked-looking smile.

“What information?” you press. “What could you tell us that wouldn’t become irrelevant after your defection?”

“I can tell you how it’s done,” she replies without missing a beat, “and where. It won’t be moved easily. I can also tell you things about the continent."

>And then what will you do after we end this new threat?
>Agreed. We do this, then go our separate ways.
>Or we could simply kill you here. Why shouldn’t we?
>Other?

>>5657303
>Or we could simply kill you here. Why shouldn’t we?

>>5657303
>>Agreed. We do this, then go our separate ways.

>>5657303
>>And then what will you do after we end this new threat?

>>5657303
>And then what will you do after we end this new threat?

>>5657303
3d10 best of two

Rolled 3, 1, 5 = 9 (3d10)

>>5658109

Rolled 9, 8, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>5658109

>>5658109
“Then what?”

“You mean what am I going to do after we deal with this new threat from the continent?”

You nod silently, waiting for an explanation.

“That’s a good question,” she answers. “I haven’t given it a hell of a lot of thought.”

“Try.”

“Well, I can’t say I can think of much I’d rather do than get the hell away from the rest of you,” she decides. “As far as physically possible. Find a little fishing village on the ass end of nowhere, live in a house by myself with a view of the sea, and never leave town.”

“Of all the things I could have guessed you’d say that wasn’t one of them,” you confess.

“Oh, I hate everything to do with the yōma,” she explains. “Passionately. Hell, I’d’ve killed myself for having yōki if I wasn’t so afraid of pain.”

Things begin to make sense now - you’ve heard of warriors whose hatred for the yōma burned almost uncontrollably, and you’ve known warriors who bristled even towards others of your own kind for one reason or another. But this… this is a profound hatred that extends even to herself.

>Is that why you killed them?
>That can be arranged.
>We’ll make a decision later.
>Oter?

>>5659117
>Other?
"I can arrange that establishment, but you must convince the others that such a fate is just."

>>5659117
>Is that why you killed them?

>>5659117
>>5659185
In with this

>>5658109
“I can make arrangements,” you tell her, “but I can’t insist that anyone else not track you down and kill you. I can persuade, depending on how things go, but that’s it.”

“Are you sure that’s all you can offer me?”

You nod silently.

Clarice sighs. “Well I guess that’s gonna have to do, then. You got yourself a little traitor.”

“Well then, your first treasonous act should be to give me your thoughts,” you declare. “What would you do next?”

“So… we’re gonna handle this my way?” she asks.

You shake your head. “Do you know the difference between a leader and a ruler?”

“Same shit really?”

“Leaders may sometimes still have to take orders,” you insist with a frown. “A ruler only ever takes advice. Don’t make me regret asking yours.”

After a moment, she continues. “Those guys back there mainly work on instinct. Their discipline is only left over from their past lives, and it’s only skin-deep.”

“We figured as much,” you observe.

“And I know that,” she nods. “But what you might not’ve thought is that they’ll follow orders pretty much blindly, cause they’re all instinct. They don’t really ever stop to ask questions.”

“So you think you can order them to do something suicidal,” you reason, “something any ordinary soldier would know better than to actually do, except they’ll actually do it?”

“Pretty sure, yeah.”

“What were you thinking?”

“Splitting them up into twos,” Clarice suggests. “A full team of four warriors, or awakened beings who were once single digits, or half-awakened beings… there’s plenty of ways to split up your forces that’ll work. Hell, some pairs of you would be plenty.”
>1/2

>>5660119
“So your plan is to have us do all the work and take all the risks?”

“Not all,” she insists. “If they wise up unexpectedly, I’m in the deepest possible shit with no backup.”

>Okay. I think that plan has a good chance of success, so I’ll take it back to the others.
>I’m modifying your plan. After you split them up, you’ll join us in eliminating them.
>I don’t like it. I’ll keep it in mind, but I’m going to want some other options to weigh.
>Other?

>>5660123
>>I’m modifying your plan. After you split them up, you’ll join us in eliminating them.

>>5660123
>I’m modifying your plan. After you split them up, you’ll join us in eliminating them.

>>5660123
>>Okay. I think that plan has a good chance of success, so I’ll take it back to the others.

Trust is a two way street, even if it does seem kinda dodgy.

>>5660123
“I’ll be modifying that plan a little,” you decide. “After you issue your orders and split them up, you’ll be joining us in eliminating them.”

After a moment, she obviously relents with a sigh. “I’m not gonna get a better deal, am I?”

“Not likely.”

“Then we’ll do it like that,” she decides.

…

You report the plan to your companions, and decide that the next step will be to send Salem and Solaris back to Scaithness to alert your other companions to the plan and to form combat teams that will head out to slay every last one of these awakened soldiers.

True to her word, Clarice eventually orders her subordinates to split off into pairs, and sends them in all directions. Two remain with her, while two head straight for you and Sabela.

“I suppose it’s only natural that we be first,” Sabela smiles. “Let’s make short work of these two, daughter, before moving on to the others.”

>3d10 best of four

Rolled 8, 5, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>5661022

Rolled 4, 4, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>5661040

Rolled 10, 1, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>5661022

Rolled 3, 6, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>5661022

>>5661022
You and your mother are swift and focused, suddenly flanking the two awakened soldiers you were meant to intercept and striking from each side in cooperation. At first things go smoothly - your attacks come in ebbs and flows and unpredictable rhythms that seem to confound the awakened soldiers whose elimination are your responsibility, and very soon you and Sabela are both landing clean, almost unopposed strikes. Under the weight of those successful and maddening attacks, the two awakened soldiers can’t last long.

The problem however is that when Clarice launches her own attack, the two remaining awakened soldiers seem to predict it. Not hard, since she’d already sent off teams of two all morning before sending the two you and Sabela just killed towards the treeline where you’d been hidden. It was just too much evidence to ignore, even for the awakened soldiers. They actually manage to put up a fight this time, which Clarice doesn’t seem to have been ready for.

Not like she’s going to lose, you can’t figure that at all. But it’s suddenly become a tougher fight than you think she had wanted.

>Step in and put those two soldiers down immediately. No messing around from here on out.
>Wait for Clarice to kill one of the soldiers, to see that she truly commits to what she agreed on.
>These two are her problem. Even if they kill her, that’s not that big of a deal to your mind.
>Other?

>>5661780
>Step in and put those two soldiers down immediately. No messing around from here on out.

>>5661780
>Step in and put those two soldiers down immediately. No messing around from here on out

>>5661780
>>Step in and put those two soldiers down immediately. No messing around from here on out.

>>5661780
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 10, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>5662581

Rolled 3, 3, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>5662581

Rolled 8, 9, 9 = 26 (3d10)

>>5662581

>>5662581
You decide not to waste any time or take any risks - as strange as it feels to be running to Clarice’s assistance, it’s also impossible to ignore the fact that as queen you have to protect the value of your word. So run to her you do, and Sabela joins you in spite of what must be similar thoughts in her own mind.

With a cry of shock the first awakened soldier finds one of his arms suddenly unresponsive, after your sword severs all the tissues that made it a functional limb. Clarice quickly takes advantage, driving her own blade into the soldier’s chest by sliding it ‘flat’ between his ribs. Meanwhile Sabela attacks the other, her massive awakened strength letting her make short work of the task and leaving mangled limbs twisted and contorted into odd shapes.

“You actually helped me,” Clarice realizes. “There was a time I would’ve taken the first opportunity that presented itself to kill you, ya know.”

“When was that time?”

“This morning,” she answers. “Now I’m not so sure.”

“Little steps,” Sabela quips.

>Now, time to go help the others.
>We’ll wait for some sign the others need help.
>We’ll secure Scaithness.
>Other?

>>5663615
>We’ll wait for some sign the others need help.

>>5663615
>>We’ll wait for some sign the others need help.

>>5663615
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 4, 3, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>5664211

Rolled 2, 9, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>5664211

Rolled 8, 9, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>5664211

>>5664211
In theory, not only can each of the groups you had organized hold their own against two awakened soldiers like this, but most of them have nearby groups that they can call on for assistance in case things go badly wrong. That’s true for all but two pairings, which are by necessity more isolated due to where their targets have been sent - Zoe with the quiet former trainee Renate, and Nora together with Lunara. So Sabela you send to help Nora and Lunara, while you take Clarice to assist Zoe and Renate.

Your rationale of course being that if Clarice decides to renege on your agreement, Zoe will be more help in taking her down without undue risk to either of you than Lunara would be.

…

You find the duo locked in battle against their targets, having already given worse than they’ve gotten at very least, though Renate is predictably struggling somewhat to keep up. It seems like Renate’s inexperience is making it easier for the two awakened soldiers to serve as a wedge, keeping Zoe from being able to easily help her much younger companion.

“Ah, so you’ve got sisters like this too, then?” Clarice muses loudly. “Jeez, struggling against just two of them? I know one of ‘em’s Zoe but still.”

The awakened soldiers pause for a moment. “Captain? Explain, explain!”

“Yes, why are you with that foul woman? Explain, explain!”

“I’m a little confused too,” Zoe admits.

“I’m here to help, duh,” Clarice proclaims.

>Join Renate, help her take out a target. This can be a learning experience.
>Hold one at bay together with Clarice. Let Zoe and Renate cooperate more easily.
>Wipe them out as quickly as possible.
>Other?

>>5664352
>>Join Renate, help her take out a target. This can be a learning experience.

>>5664352
>Join Renate, help her take out a target. This can be a learning experience.

>>5664352
>Join Renate, help her take out a target. This can be a learning experience.

>>5664366
>3d10 best of four

Rolled 6, 9, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>5665056

Rolled 8, 6, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>5665056

Rolled 3, 3, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>5665056

Rolled 9, 6, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>5665056

>>5665056
You step into the fight, relieving Zoe of the responsibility to look out for Renate so that she can focus on taking down her awakened soldier. Her skill with a sword has hardly diminished over her time of relative inactivity, spent first mostly in training and in serving as a sort of ‘scarecrow’ for the old men at Lavinia, then in training the rookies and spies which came to your faction after the fall of Lavinia. That said, just the fact that she had any trouble dispatching two awakened soldiers while tending to a less-experienced charge tells you it’s been too long since she’s hunted.

“Here,” you insist. “Let’s work together on this one.”

Despite her usually distanced demeanor you can tell that Renate’s concerned by how outmatched she’s been, and so while her agreement is wordless it’s also undeniably quick.

While the awakened soldier stands there awkwardly, trying to decide what he thinks about this change of events, you explain the key concepts to Renate. “Awakened beings’ characteristics are even more pronounced than a yōma’s in its natural form. Most noticeably, in their armor. This much you likely already know.”

“Right.”

“There are two ways to overcome that fact,” you continue the impromptu lecture. “First is to strike through the armor. I use yōki to slice the flesh beneath, others have used massive blunt force. Second is to exploit the fact that any protection needs to be weaker at the joints and the eyes.”

“Which would you suggest?” she asks.

“Either,” you shrug. “Try it.”

You raise your own sword and encourage Renate to take the initiative. “Select your target, but be mindful of openings.”

Renate raises her sword…
>1/2

>>5665968
… but never gets to swing it, because Clarice interrupts her.

“Too slow!” she crows, delivering a circular strike. Her blade arcs around from behind the awakened soldier’s back and finds the front of his throat in a smooth movement - with the edge braced against the back of an armored plate on the monster’s shoulder, the sword behaves like a lever.

The head, now severed, falls to the ground and purple ichor rains down right behind it, some of it getting on Renate’s face. The younger warrior seems taken aback by this sudden change of pace.

“I always liked that one,” Clarice smirks. “That was Nika’s ‘Reverse Beheading’ technique - she used to be ranked number Three.”

>Chew Clarice out for that. Your faction has only grown stronger because you’ve nurtured the younger generations.
>You know what? That gives an opportunity for a lesson you were going to teach anyway, so you’ll overlook it.
>Screw this. You’ll sort it out once the other awakened soldiers are dead, to the last man.
>Other?

>>5666039
>>Chew Clarice out for that. Your faction has only grown stronger because you’ve nurtured the younger generations.
Maybe not chew her out, but definitely chide her for it.

>>5666039
>>Chew Clarice out for that. Your faction has only grown stronger because you’ve nurtured the younger generations.

>>5666039
>Other?
Soft pedal it and just shake your head; look for other game to practice on.

>>5666039
>>Chew Clarice out for that. Your faction has only grown stronger because you’ve nurtured the younger generations.

Rolled 2, 7, 3 = 12 (3d10)

King is momentarily rangebanned, need 3d10 best of 3.

Rolled 8, 2, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>5666849

Rolled 6, 5, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>5666849

>>5666849
>>5666864
>>5666876
Wow, that is definitely something.

>>5666849
>>5666864
>>5666876
... well. That happened.

>>5666039
“Clarice,” you begin, doing your best not to sound as frustrated as you are and in doing so signaling the true depth of your frustration to anyone who knows you with crystal clarity. “Do you know how it is so many of our faction have survived all this - the suicide missions, the fall of Lavinia, the invasion?”

“Luck and having a bunch of strong girls?”

You shake your head. “No, Clarice. If that were all it was, our faction would never grow. Our numbers would dwindle, until there were none of us left.”

“Then spit it out already, I didn’t agree to come here with you to play twenty questions.”

“We’ve survived, and thrived as a group, because the experienced among us nurture the inexperienced,” you explain, planting your sword in front of you as you lecture the woman who was once your superior in the most technical sense. “I intended for Renate to learn by doing.”

“Yeah, well I just showed her something better,” Clarice counters with a shrug. “Saved her the trouble.”

“You already know the basics and have experience,” you reply with a sharp glare. “Encouraging a younger warrior to simply mimic a technique shortcuts an important process.”

“Look, do you want the girl…”

“Renate.”

“Do you want her to live or not?” Clarice continues.

“I do,” you counter, “which brings us back to nurturing growth. If I give Renate the skills to come up with an answer of her own that answer may be better than Nika’s, or at least better suited to Renate.”

“You’re saying I’m a lousy teacher?”

“Yeah, I am!” you insist, your tone perhaps sharper and more confrontational than intended. You ease off. “You could be a real asset to our youngest warriors… you’re a walking library of advanced techniques. But we need to be more dedicated to doing this the right way, we need to help them grow into those techniques.”

In response to that, Clarice simply turns around and walks away a short distance.
>1/2

>>5666973
“She gets it,” Zoe insists quietly. “Just give her time… it’s against her personality to admit anyone else has a point.”

“Yeah, it’s not something we have time to fuss over anyway,” you grumble.

>Withdraw towards Scaithness, make sure to secure a route for your other teams to return.
>There are a few other teams with rookies on them. Head to the nearest.
>Meet with the other team that came out this far, coordinate your efforts.
>Other?

>>5666981
>There are a few other teams with rookies on them. Head to the nearest.

>>5666981
>There are a few other teams with rookies on them. Head to the nearest

>>5666981
>>Meet with the other team that came out this far, coordinate your efforts.

>>5666981
The nearest team with another of your youngest batch of warriors on it would have to be… Aurora and Hanna, you’d figure. They shouldn’t be too far from here.

“Zoe,” you decide, “do me a favor and check on Aurora and Hanna. They’ll be three miles to the south of here - there’s a road-bridge that crosses a creek flowing down from the border-mountains. That’s where Aurora would most likely ambush her targets.”

“Shall I go too?” Renate asks you.

You briefly consider keeping that team together, but then again you also consider that there’s a good chance your mother will be bringing Lunara and Nora in that direction as well. If you head towards a slightly further team, then Sabela and the team she helped can join Aurora and Hanna to coordinate. There you can identify an opportunity - if you send Zoe and Clarice then that will be more than adequate to keep an eye on the latter, while giving the former a chance to coordinate further with Sabela and Aurora.

In the mean time, you could be assisting… you have to pause to think for a moment… Zara and Reika, perhaps. Yes, that makes a certain amount of sense - they’re reasonably close by. The only problem is that it’s increasingly likely that none of the teams you could reach will really have a need for you. Honestly, not even Zoe and Renate did. They’d have been fine in the end, you’d wager.

But, there’s a chance at least that you could put Renate in for another lesson, if Zara and Reika have been taking their time.

“Renate will come with me,” you decide. “Clarice… you should be on your best behavior, or my mother is going to take your head.”

Clarice gives you a quizzical look. “You think after all this I’m gonna stab you all in the back or something?”

“This time last year,” you retort, “would that have been something you might have done?”

“Probably?”

“There you are.”

“Come on, you’ve gotta forgive me at some point.”

“I really don’t,” you counter, “though it might end up happening anyway.”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 5, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>5668751

Rolled 5, 6, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>5668751

Rolled 7, 5, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>5668751

>>5668751
>update tomorrow morning, and another in the evening

>>5668751
You lead Renate as straight as possible towards where you know that Zara and Reika were supposed to be fighting - only to find as you approach that you’re very nearly too late.

“That’s good,” you find Reika telling Zara. “You’re moving a lot better now.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Zara replies cheerfully. “Another couple of fights and I feel like I’ll’ve got what miss Noel and miss Zoe were…”

Then she realizes you’re here with a little ‘eep’ of shock.

The awakened soldier takes the moment to try and escape, only for Reika to cut him off. “Why such a hurry?”

She briefly trades blows with it before knocking it back towards you and Renate.

The awakened soldier considers its options, looking first to Zara, then looking past you at Renate. It seems to be wary of Zara and evidently regards you as death incarnate, and so in its mind it’s probably swiftly drawn designs focusing on Renate.

>Nope. Step in and make it clear that you’re having exactly none of that.
>This could be a good opportunity. Have Renate join Zara for this one.
>Give Renate some observations to work with, and some encouragement.
>Other?

>>5670319
>This could be a good opportunity. Have Renate join Zara for this one.

>>5670319
>This could be a good opportunity. Have Renate join Zara for this one.

>>5670319
>This could be a good opportunity. Have Renate join Zara for this one.

>>5670319
“Join Zara,” you insist curtly. “Zara, coordinate with Renate as a team. Be mindful of one another as you maneuver and strike.”

Reika glances at you. “Are you sure this is wise?”

You glance back at her, saying nothing.

“... I get your point.”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 2, 8, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>5671069

Rolled 5, 5, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>5671069

Rolled 8, 5, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>5671069

>>5671069
You watch as Zara and Renate both try to position themselves, though their coordination seems off - each one is trying to adjust to the other at first, and so when they launch their attack their timing and spacing are completely off.

The awakened soldier takes a swing at Renate as soon as she’s within reach, and she takes shuffling step back, leaving the soldier to swipe at Zara who’s also gotten too deep into his space to easily withdraw. She parries, but gets knocked down and has to roll to her feet.

“Zara!” Renate shouts in alarm, hooking around the awakened soldier to try and close her distance with Zara so that they can cover for each other. The distraction causes the soldier to swing at her this time, delaying his follow-up against Zara just long enough to let her evade.

“Stop trying to adjust to each other!” Reika orders with a snap. “You’re just confusing each other!”

“Then how do we do this?” Zara protests. “If one of us just takes the lead won’t that get too predictable?”

“Which is why if you don’t have a plan ahead of time whoever attacks first is the lead,” you insist. “The other warrior adjusts around the first’s strategy.”

“Then how do we decide who attacks?” Renate asks.

“You don’t,” Reika observes.

“Come again?”

“You don’t decide,” you repeat for clarity. “The situation does.”

The next exchange is much smoother, with Zara taking the lead and Renate adjusting accordingly. First Zara’s attack is blocked, but when the awakened soldier commits to that action it means that Renate can take advantage of the opening he leaves for her. Then, after repositioning, Zara spies an opening as well. Their cuts are powerful by human standards, and fairly quick even by your own kind’s. Their accuracy still leaves a little to be desired as several strikes clip the awakened soldier’s armored chitin rather than striking the joints, but eventually it becomes apparent that the enemy is running out of limbs.

>Polish it off yourself. It’s time to move on and see to the other teams.
>Let Zara and Renate finish what they started, then regroup with the other teams.
>Other?

>>5671680
>Let Zara and Renate finish what they started, then regroup with the other teams.

>>5671680
>Let Zara and Renate finish what they started, then regroup with the other teams.

>>5671680
>>Let Zara and Renate finish what they started, then regroup with the other teams.

>>5671680
>>Let Zara and Renate finish what they started, then regroup with the other teams.

>>5671680
“Finish what you started,” you insist curtly. “The others should be done by now.”

Zara and Renate share a brief glance, and Renate offers a slight nod. Zara seems to intuit that means she should take the lead once more and does so, rushing forward with her blade readied. The awakened soldier tries to counter with its clawed right hand, and so Zara drops low but keeps her sword high, carefully pushing the claw away over her right shoulder and sliding forward against its wrist.

And out of Zara’s shadow emerges Renate, who doesn’t step to their right as Zara pushes the awakened soldier’s limbs out past the centerline. Instead Renate slips around to the left, her sword held low, and pivots her hips. The blade thrust lands under the awakened soldier’s arm, and finds a soft spot.

Pivoting back the other way Renate pulls her sword back out and steps past, while Zara turns and slashes with her sword in a wide arc that slits the awakened soldier’s throat.

Their enemy falls to the ground in a pool of purple ichor and lies still.

“Well done,” you nod, glancing at Reika. “Normally it’d be at least a hunting party of four led by a single digit to face an awakened being.”

“And at that, it would usually be a fair fight,” Reika adds. “These awakened soldiers may not be at that level, but still… it was a job well done. You should carry yourselves with pride.”

>To be continued
>New thread tomorrow

>>5673343
Continued here.