>>5838944
“I doubt it will be too significant a problem,” your mother observes, “but you should be prepared to screen anyone who surrenders under any sort of deal.”

“Our kind could fairly easily discern any rats trying to flee the proverbial ship and cause trouble later,” Laura suggests. “If you wish I can take the lead in that effort.”

“Please do,” you acknowledge.

[Have you given any thought to where you will set up a holding area?]

Serana’s question is particularly important, of course.

>I plan to have them held nearby, where our faction can monitor them directly.
>The mountains in the east of our nation would be suitable to hold prisoners.
>Inner Tarsus is pretty hospitable, if not particularly secure.
>Other?

>>5838946
>>I plan to have them held nearby, where our faction can monitor them directly.

>>5838946
>>The mountains in the east of our nation would be suitable to hold prisoners.

>>5838946
>>The mountains in the east of our nation would be suitable to hold prisoners.

>>5838946
“The mountains of Cuilan would be a good place to hold prisoners,” you realize. “A high valley maybe.”

“Then we should probably clear that with the lord,” your mother suggests. “And there will also be a need for some infrastructure.”

You nod in agreement. “You’re right – and not just defensive measures.”

“I’m sure we can make it work,” Valentina offers optimistically. “But I guess the question is how far we want to go?”

[There’s something to be said for speed and efficiency,] Serana observes.

Justina is quick to agree. “True.”

“But is that really okay?” Helen wonders. “If conditions in the camp are too harsh won’t that encourage unrest?”

“Also true,” Justina agrees.

“Wow,” Jenna grumbles. “You’re just full of help today aintcha?”

“I try.”

>I think sticking to the basics is better, so long as ALL the basics are met.
>It can get cold up there. Something a little more permanent might be better.
>If going further for habitability keeps them compliant, it’s a sound investment.
>Other?

>>5840009
>>If going further for habitability keeps them compliant, it’s a sound investment.

>>5840009
>If going further for habitability keeps them compliant, it’s a sound investment.

>>5840009
“If putting in a little more effort buys us compliance,” you decide, “then that sounds like a sound investment.”

“In any event we’ll need to clear this with the lord over there, right?” Aurora muses.

You nod in agreement. “Thankfully he should be pretty amenable. While we’re on the way there we can take some time to survey likely locations for the encampment – we can mark them on a map of Cuilan before we leave and visit them in order of likelihood.”

>3d10 best of three

Rolled 10, 4, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>5840982

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

>>5840982

Rolled 4, 4, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>5840982

>>5840982
You take the time in advance to study a map of Cuilan, and you start to narrow down the likely candidates for places to build an internment camp. The process is an open discussion between yourself and all your company, including Sabela, Salem, and the other awakened beings, where every single warrior is free to share their thoughts.

Eventually a few key features seem to be agreed upon – natural defenses, proximity to major roads and settlements, the availability of water, and drainage characteristics.

It would be best of course that wherever you select is naturally defensible, so that a minimal investment in walls, towers, and barracks will allow a reasonable number of Hazari soldiers and other volunteers to hold the maximum number of prisoners with the minimum amount of risk. The ideal location should also be close enough to a significant enough road that it won’t be too difficult to get the materials required for those structures to the site. Having a town nearby will make it easier to get food and other supplies to the soldiers, as well as offering them a place to go on leave (however often it makes sense to allow them to do so). The availability of water, in this case from freshwater springs or creeks, is important of course for reasons that should be plainly obvious. And finally, drainage – you don’t want the whole site to turn into a reeking swamp full of wastewater and garbage.

Those requirements really narrow it down to two options – one closer to Scaithness, and one closer to Tarskavaig. The latter has an advantage in terms of defense, sitting within a valley with steep sides, while the former sits near an existing ruined castle. There’s also a question in your mind about how much you can ask the former region and rulers of Cuilan to shoulder.

>Put it to a vote which location to use, then take that to Tarskavaig.
>You really want to use both. It requires more soldiers and resources, but will reduce overcrowding.
>There may be other details to consider that you won’t know without visiting each site.
>Other?

>>5842365
>>Put it to a vote which location to use, then take that to Tarskavaig.

>>5842365
>There may be other details to consider that you won’t know without visiting each site.

>>5842365
>>There may be other details to consider that you won’t know without visiting each site.

I'd like to be thorough.

>>5842365
>>There may be other details to consider that you won’t know without visiting each site.

>>5842365
>3d10 best of three

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

>>5844901

Rolled 7, 4, 4 = 15 (3d10)

>>5844901

Rolled 5, 1, 5 = 11 (3d10)

>>5844901

>>5844901
You decide to visit both sites before approaching the nobility in Taskavaig, and find that the first site is actually rather ideal for your purposes. There are no nasty surprises which would get in the way of you spending the night there with Serana, Reika, and Zara, so that’s precisely what you do to get a feel for the area. Your rest isn’t disturbed by any wild animals, the weather is clear and cool, but not too cold, and you can tell that the area is adequately-drained so that water won’t pool in the areas where you intend to put bunkhouses for the soldiers you’ll shortly be detaining.

The same can’t be said for the second site.

[Even I can tell it’s cold,] Serana observes in the second location, the one you were considering that sits back up within a valley. [It almost feels like it could be colder than it is up in the mountains.]

“It may be,” Reika replies with a frown. “Sometimes the high valleys are like this.”

“There’s no opening to this valley,” you realize, “so cold air settles into it.”

“Can ordinary people even live here?” Zara wonders aloud. “I mean, I don’t even really see any signs that animals stick around long.”

She’s right. You can see now that while there are a few game trails here and there, much of the area around those trails appears to not be heavily grazed and the trails themselves mostly avoid the lower areas of the valley. So even animals are smart enough to know better than stay here… so how can you expect a bunch of prisoners to live here, let alone comfortably enough not to end up in open rebellion?

“We can’t build here,” you acknowledge. “I think we should approach the lord with a proposal to use the first location, and supply it using the roads that run through Scaithness.”

[Agreed,] Serana replies curtly. [Let’s get out of here.]

…

After securing permission to build the detention camp at the site below the ruined castle, near what used to be the Hazari-Cuilani border, you quickly set to work arranging with Noventus for soldiers and expert builders to travel there.

Within the week a professional survey has suggested the best sites to place barracks for the prisoners, and a design for a secure fence as well as shared facilities has been approved.

“That just leaves this,” Reika frowns at the castle ruins.

Serana nods thoughtfully, pondering the situation. [We could reuse the stone.]

“I thought part of the advantage was keeping it here?” Zara asks curiously.

[It’s been slighted badly,] Serana observes. [As a defensive structure it may not be worth rebuilding.]

>I think it’s potentially too useful to ignore. It’s in a commanding position.
>We could have it disassembled and built into something more modern in the same location.
>Its parts would probably be more useful in better securing the camp itself.
>Other?

>>5847366
>>We could have it disassembled and built into something more modern in the same location.

>>5847366
>>We could have it disassembled and built into something more modern in the same location.

Definitely time consuming but very useful in the long-term.

>>5847366
>>>We could have it disassembled and built into something more modern in the same location.

>>5847366
>>We could have it disassembled and built into something more modern in the same location.

>>5847440
>3d10 best of three

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

>>5850146

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

>>5850146

Rolled 7, 5, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>5850146

>>5850146
“Here,” you suggest aloud, having led your group into the ruins in question to examine your options a little more closely. “We can have these sections of walls broken down one at a time, then the blocks can be moved where they’ll be more useful. It should actually be pretty fast, and the blocks themselves are in pretty sound condition.”

…

After some debate, and a thorough examination of the available materials, you decide that the most useful way to reuse the walls of the old ruined castle is to control access to the area round the camp site. The trick is going to be building a set of low walls, four in number, on circular footprints. Since there’s one way into the valley and one way out, placing one low tower on each side of the road at those points, slightly up-slope, will essentially deny any approaching enemies easy access to the area. The lower stone walls will provide protection and a sturdy foundation, while upper floors will be made from wood and serve as living spaces, with the rooftops offering sniper positions where the soldiers stationed there can watch over the area for any escapees.

>This should be sufficient for what you’re planning to use the area for, and will come together quickly.
>Positioning barracks overlooking the site will help by covering all four sides of the encampment.
>The most important thing is securing supply lines.
>Other?

>>5852822
>>The most important thing is securing supply lines.

>>5852822
>The most important thing is securing supply lines.

>>5852822
>>The most important thing is securing supply lines.

>>5852822
>>The most important thing is securing supply lines.
Supplies, motherfucker.

>>5852822
“Supply lines are going to be the most important thing,” you decide on the spot. “I think the chances of being attacked from the outside are basically nonexistent, and that it’s unlikely we’ll see an escape attempt from the inside given how we’ve been approaching the situation.”

“What do we need there?” Helen asks you.

After a moment, you reply. “Well, food and water are the most important,” you point out the obvious, “along with military-related supplies for the soldiers posted there, and materials required for maintaining the encampment, barracks, and so forth.”

Then you also need to consider what’s needed…
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 1, 4, 1 = 6 (3d10)

>>5856183

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

>>5856183

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

>>5856183

>>5856183
“Supply lines are going to be the most important thing,” you decide on the spot. “I think the chances of being attacked from the outside are basically nonexistent, and that it’s unlikely we’ll see an escape attempt from the inside given how we’ve been approaching the situation.”

“What do we need there?” Helen asks you.

After a moment, you reply. “Well, food and water are the most important,” you point out the obvious, “along with military-related supplies for the soldiers posted there, and materials required for maintaining the encampment, barracks, and so forth.”

“That seems sensible,” Aurora agrees. “So where does it go wrong?”

“… excuse me?” you wonder.

“I mean, where does it go wrong?” she repeats. “Like at what point will everything turn out to be a trap? And when do we find out that we’re being attacked from somewhere?”

[That does tend to be how it goes.]

“… not you too?”

…

Little seems to go wrong… at least, until the surrendered soldiers start to trickle in.

“Hey, Noel?” Sabela eventually muses at your side one day. “Isn’t this a bit…”

“Yeah,” you confirm. “It’s more than I expected.”

By about half, in fact.

>Well, we can expand the facilities and just make do.
>We’ll need a larger overflow facility somewhere nearby.
>I guess we’ll have to stop accepting any more of them for now?
>Other?

>>5858736
>>We’ll need a larger overflow facility somewhere nearby.

>>5858736
>>We’ll need a larger overflow facility somewhere nearby.

>>5858736
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 5, 3, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>5859793

Rolled 7, 9, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>>5859793

Rolled 5, 9, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>5859793
You really should announce when you want rolls in the discord instead of waiting and saying 'still need one more roll' four hours after you call for them initially. This is the only thing I visit 4chan for anymore.

>>5859793
“We’ll need an overflow site,” you decide flatly. “We’ll need to carefully select the building location.”

“Where should we even look?” Valentina asks curiously.

“It should be similar to here,” you decide, “but closer to the old borders of Hazaran, more or less along the same roads used to bring supplies out this far.”

The only problem is that once you search that route, there’s really only one strong candidate. It’s a little valley along a road leading up and east from Scaithness, and it’s all too familiar. Because of that familiarity, you’re actually not sure what to think at first.

“Is something wrong?” Aurora muses, having followed you to the location.

“Some of us have been here before,” you recall with a frown. “This is the valley that the Organization sent us to die in.”

Aurora’s expression reveals that she too knows of this place, even though she was not there herself at the time to remember it first-hand. “No shit? I’ve only heard stories.”

“Stories?” Reika asks. “This place… is it where your group fought…”

You nod, gesturing westward and across to the north side of the valley. “That’s right. We buried our dead over that way.”

“Almost everyone who came here lost someone or something – friends, comrades, parts of ourselves.”

>There’s no way we can build a detention camp here, given all that history.
>All we need to do is avoid the burial site. It’s a question of practicality.
>Other?

>>5862914
>>Other?
Relocate the graves closer to Scaithness?
If not practical
>All we need to do is avoid the burial site. It’s a question of practicality.

>>5862914
>>All we need to do is avoid the burial site. It’s a question of practicality.

>>5862914
>>5863060
This

>>5862914
>>All we need to do is avoid the burial site. It’s a question of practicality.

>>5863060
... it's been almost four years since then. I completely forgot that the five killed in that battle against Constanzia and Rafaela were cremated and given a funeral on the loch.

Bugger.

I'm going to need to take a moment to consider how I want to proceed.

>>5862914
You nod, gesturing westward and across to the north side of the valley. “That’s right. Almost everyone who came here lost someone or something – friends, comrades, parts of ourselves.”

There’s silence for a short while as you consider the situation before you. Their bodies may have been burned and buried in accordance with tradition, and their swords may rest somewhere else, but even so this place has been consecrated in blood. In a sense, this is almost like sacred ground to you and those who remain of your kind.

That having been said, you suppose you have a real need to use this area to help solve the problem you and your faction are facing. Ultimately, you don’t think that your fallen comrades would hold it against you to make the pragmatic choice.

“We’ll avoid the area of the fighting,” you decide, “out of respect for what happened here. But we have a real need here.”

“I’ll advance this to the rest of our cohort, and frame it that way.”
>3d10, best of three

>Slight correction here to the previous dialogue

Rolled 6, 8, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>5864756

Rolled 3, 7, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>5864756

Rolled 5, 10, 3 = 18 (3d10)

>>5864756

>>5864756
While some among your number aren’t happy about this, no one objects due to the obvious need to prevent overcrowding where you’ll be holding surrendered prisoners from the Organization faction. And so that facility begins to take shape, while conditions for the captives remain somewhat less than ideal but certainly not unreasonable for the duration.

Whispers begin to reach your ears.

Some insist that your enemy to the north is on the verge of total collapse – that shortages of food, fuel, and other critical supplies have so thoroughly crippled their forces that they cannot mount another offensive. If these stories are true, then they may not even be able to hold the territory they’ve seized from Sakia. This may be the time to finally launch a full-scale counterattack and liberate much of the land they overran initially due to their now-vanished technological superiority.

The alternative is, naturally, the other rumor you’ve heard- that it’s all a trap, and that the last of the enemy’s power has been mustered in preparation for you to do something reckless.

>Now is the time to strike. The people of Sakia have waited long enough.
>Now is a time for scouting, even if the chance that the situation will change in the mean time is high.
>Nah, that’s obviously a trap. The best plan is to keep doing things to weaken them.
>Other?

>>5865863
>Now is the time to strike. The people of Sakia have waited long enough.

>>5865863
>>Now is a time for scouting, even if the chance that the situation will change in the mean time is high.
We need data, we cannot make bricks without clay.t

>>5865863
>>Now is a time for scouting, even if the chance that the situation will change in the mean time is high.

When in doubt, scout. We potentially have them on the ropes, I don't care about getting the perfect moment, if we don't actually know for sure it is in fact the perfect moment.

>>5865863
>Now is a time for scouting, even if the chance that the situation will change in the mean time is high

>>5865863
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 5, 8, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>5867488

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

>>5867488

Rolled 1, 8, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>5867488

>>5867746
Nice rolls!

>>5865863
After giving it your full consideration, you decide that it’s best to do what you can to discern the truth of things north of the Hazari border. Even if it means that you lose an opportunity, that still beats stumbling into a trap – especially considering that you’re at a massive numerical disadvantage. Honestly, it’s also just not worth it to take risks with your life and everyone else’s this late in the proverbial games.

That’s why you end up sending small groups of soldiers northward in plain clothes, along with Carlotta, Vera, and Gina who are to slip into the south of Sakia unnoticed. Their orders are to assess what they see and return as swiftly as possible.

…

“I didn’t see any evidence of a trap,” Vera tells you, the first to have returned after just three days. “The one unit I encountered was in a state of complete unfitness.”

“Thanks, you’ve done great,” you insist with a smile. “Please file your official report with Helen as soon as possible. And remember to be thorough.”

“Of course, Lady Noel.”

…

The next to return is Carlotta. “I only saw deserters, in two separate towns. If it was a ploy to convince us… I can speak for myself, it worked.”

…

Last to return, two full days after Carlotta, is Gina. “Try as I might,” she informs you, “I could find no evidence that we’ve been mistaken.”

>Commit to an all-out counteroffensive. Take as much as possible.
>Thrust towards the harbor, and open up a narrow corridor.
>Forget about “holding” anything, just get to the harbor.

>>5870037
>>Thrust towards the harbor, and open up a narrow corridor.

>>5870037
>Thrust towards the harbor, and open up a narrow corridor

>>5870037
>>Thrust towards the harbor, and open up a narrow corridor.

>>5870037
3d10 best of three

Rolled 2, 9, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>5870816

Rolled 7, 3, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>5870816

Rolled 4, 4, 7 = 15 (3d10)

>>5870816

>>5870816
And here's one more vote to call:
>Go with them in the vanguard of this offensive
>Let others take the vanguard, but come in after them
>OTher?

>>5871898
>>Go with them in the vanguard of this offensive

>>5871898
>>Go with them in the vanguard of this offensive

>>5871898
>>Go with them in the vanguard of this offensive

>>5871898
The offensive force is assembled quickly – your purpose is to secure a corridor into Sakia, driving more or less straight north to seize the port that your enemy has been using to land materiel onto your homeland’s shores. If you can do this, then you can probably end this long war at last. But if you were to rush recklessly ahead then it’s entirely possible that you could find your entire forward force surrounded.

That’s why the corridor is such an important aspect of your emerging plan. If you need to withdraw you can do so through that corridor so long as it’s kept properly open, and if your mission succeeds it also allows for a seamless expansion into the next step of widening your battlefield into the rest of Sakia as a “clean-up”.

Karayel, a handsome Hazari-bred horse with a deep blood-bay coat, has just come out of training to replace Alysheba – who was one of the few animals you’ve ever known that was ever clever enough to be considered a smartass. When you were meeting the new batch of trainees you noted that the brown-bay Liath was unusually calm and personable (and thus a good match for Serana), while the grey Arion and brown Ember are a little livelier but still well-behaved (and have taken a liking to Valentina and Aurora, respectively). But Karayel was the one who stood out most to you – a hot-blooded mare who was giving her handlers quite a hard time until you came over to stare her down yourself.

Here was a horse who wanted to run, and who had her own ideas about when and how to do so. And so unlike most horses, you elected to ride with only a simplified saddle and pad – no stirrups, bridle, or neck rope, any of which particularly headstrong Hazari horses can take as an insult. More typical is a neck rope and stirrups, when needed, which is how Valentina has ridden since she was young and how many in your cohort have learned.

While in the saddle you now wear a cuirass, partly ceremonial but also important to prevent stray gunshots to your vitals, and beneath you Karayel has been clad in a barding of cured leather that should serve to ward off any shrapnel that comes her way. Bizarrely it felt like when you fitted her for that protective coat Karayel understood the point of the exercise, as she didn’t object to it as she did with a bit.

The bulk of the force you selected puts an emphasis on:
>Infantry, who will secure territory as you progress forward while your light cavalry scouts and drives off any opposing infantry.
>Cavalry and horse artillery, who will scout out any enemy positions, set up in superior positions, and force them to surrender
>Balance. After all, you’re walking into the unknown right now and you need to have the ability to adapt to whatever you find.
>Other?

>>5873397
>Balance. After all, you’re walking into the unknown right now and you need to have the ability to adapt to whatever you find.

>>5873397
>>Balance. After all, you’re walking into the unknown right now and you need to have the ability to adapt to whatever you find.

>>5873397
>>Balance. After all, you’re walking into the unknown right now and you need to have the ability to adapt to whatever you find.

>>5873397
>>Cavalry and horse artillery, who will scout out any enemy positions, set up in superior positions, and force them to surrender

>>5873397
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 7, 9, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>5874441

Rolled 8, 5, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>5874441

Rolled 1, 2, 4 = 7 (3d10)

>>5874441

>>5873397
… balance and flexibility. Those are going to be key here, as force is only as good of a tool as how you choose to apply it. If you bring cavalry for example, but no artillery, you might struggle against fortifications more than you really should. Infantry is going to struggle against cavalry and artillery for different reasons, and so on.

So to that end, you’re sure to take not just the traditional Hazari cavalry, but also a column or two of infantry and several horse-drawn artillery pieces.

>tbc tomorrow morning

>>5875414
And it’s a good thing too, because as it turns out while your enemy may not have been ready for you it doesn’t take them long to realize you’ve launched an attack. Once they do, the few scattered groups of five to ten men who put up effectively zero resistance at first start to show a little less surprise and a little more determination.

There are a few casualties here and there from these skirmishers, who take to lying in wait by the roadside to take a few shots before fleeing – assuming your immediate response doesn’t annihilate them, that is.

[They’re determined to be a nuisance,] Serana observes glumly. [And you know what that means.]

“It means they still think they can win?” Aurora muses.

You nod to yourself. “There’s a chance that’s due to arrogance. It’s harder to fight an opponent who genuinely doesn’t know their own strength or weakness.”

[If it were a yōma it would be easier,] Serana muses.

“No kidding,” Valentina grumbles. “Those idiots have no idea how lucky they actually are.”

>In the short term, let’s deploy skirmishers of our own off the road. It’ll slow us down, but also turn the hunters back into the hunted.
>If we make our path less predictable, following smaller, less-used roads, we should be able to avoid some of their ambushes.
>It’s about time to set up a strong point somewhere. Build a spot that’s defensible that can serve as a logistical center behind us.
>You know, we could actually give them a taste of what we could do. Ride ahead at night, soften up the enemy ahead, then have the troops move up during the day.
>Other?

>And yes, a combination of the above is possible - but some combinations may slow the advance down much more than others, giving the enemy more time to prepare

>>5875584
>>If we make our path less predictable, following smaller, less-used roads, we should be able to avoid some of their ambushes.
>>You know, we could actually give them a taste of what we could do. Ride ahead at night, soften up the enemy ahead, then have the troops move up during the day.

Float like a butterfly sting like a bee motherfucker.

>>5875584
>>5875774
sure

>>5875584
>>In the short term, let’s deploy skirmishers of our own off the road. It’ll slow us down, but also turn the hunters back into the hunted.

>>5875774
This please

>>5875584
>3d10 best of four

Rolled 5, 10, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>5876615

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

>>5876615
Here we goooooooooooo

Rolled 4, 1, 5 = 10 (3d10)

>>5876615

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

>>5876615

>>5876615
“Then why not give them a taste?” you muse with a sly smile.

“What are you thinking?” Valentina asks, curious as to your plan.

“It may take a little longer,” you reckon, “but we should follow a less predictable route. We can offset that by riding forward in the night to soften up any enemy positions.”

[That way the Hazari troops can move faster,] Serana nods, [without taking casualties.]

…

After consulting a small map you select a slightly more circuitous pathway, and that night you begin your first combat patrol by riding out with Karayel overland. You have to carefully shadow the roads you’ve chosen, your keen eyes searching out any possible threats within the distance of a long day’s march.

…

It’s the second night of patrols when you find an encampment – several pieces of small artillery, weapons, and troops. There are even horses here, which are a rarity for your enemy who you don’t even think have any sort of standardized kit to use for tack.

>Regroup with the others and launch a concentrated attack to disrupt them and deny them materiel.
>Strike on your own, quickly, from horseback. Do what damage you can and then withdraw.
>Leave Karayel here and sneak in on foot – create a distraction, and use that to cause damage.
>Other?

>>5877646
>Regroup with the others and launch a concentrated attack to disrupt them and deny them materiel.

>>5877646
>>Regroup with the others and launch a concentrated attack to disrupt them and deny them materiel.

>>5877646
>>Strike on your own, quickly, from horseback. Do what damage you can and then withdraw.

>>5877646
>Regroup with the others and launch a concentrated attack to disrupt them and deny them materiel

>>5877646
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 10, 2, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>5878446

Rolled 5, 5, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>5878446

Rolled 1, 10, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>5878446

>>5877646
While it would be tempting to attack all on your own, it would probably be safer and more effective to regroup with your fellow warriors and attack in a more coordinated way. So you take the extra time to do so, eventually deciding that no single way of doing this would be ideal – riding in on horseback would make things a little difficult for Serana, who hasn’t yet learned how to ride without a rope and who can’t do so while still using her sword. But in dismounting and attacking on foot, there’s a logistical question of what to do with the horses.

Should you leave them in a position to withdraw swiftly after the attack? Or should you leave one of the warriors in your party to meet you with them?

Eventually your group concludes that the best plan is to rely on Valentina to handle the horses – an important role to be sure, despite not being on the front line, due to the fact that if anything should go wrong she will be the only one in a position to protect the horses. The rest of you will assault the enemy position, sweep through it, and meet with Valentina to withdraw.

…

“Alright, let’s go.”

“I’ll be right behind you!” Aurora grins confidently.

[Leave your left side to me,] Serana adds before drawing her own blade.

Your charge from a shadowy copse near the enemy encampment across a small starlit clearing comes without any sort of battle-cry – the first anyone in the camp knows of your presence it’s from the sound of your blade cutting through one of their cannons, and then from the aftermath of Serana slicing through the gun-carriage’s iron-shod wheel.

The soldiers rally quickly, though not quickly enough to prevent you and your company from slicing through the three other cannon which have been assembled here. Rifles bark as an officer shouts at his men not to shoot their own horses, which you’ve used as cover. With your swords you quickly begin to free those same horses, now whipped into a panic both by the gunfire and by your abrupt, inhuman presence.

Men dive for cover to avoid being trampled, equipment is scattered, munitions are lost in the dark.
>1/2

>>5879118
Perfectly on cue, the watch-fires begin to go out one at a time.

This was the second phase of your assault, when Valentina gets to join in. Even from a hundred yards or so she’s capable of dropping large stones in pretty tight groupings around the fires, and whenever she lands a direct hit the burning logs and hot coals are scattered in a glowing burst. The dispersed embers cast far less light, helping cover your escape, while also demanding that the defending soldiers scramble to throw water on them before they can catch the nearby grass.

While the grass is certainly wet from the dew, that’s not a guarantee against a bigger problem emerging from your strategy if they simply ignore the potential threat. It’s only when she sees the rational response from a distance that Valentina targets the second watch-fire.

…

“That went well,” you muse as the four of you withdraw on horseback. “Are you feeling better, Aurora?”

“It was just a nick,” she grumbles. It was definitely more than that – she got a bullet through her shoulder, a literal shot in the dark that just happened to find a mark. “Nothing I haven’t felt before.”

“Good to hear,” you reply.

>We’ll continue scouting through the night to find any other potential problems.
>We’ve kicked that hornets’ nest, so let’s find an alternate route in the morning.
>The defenses there are weakened. Best idea now is to punch through before first light.
>Other?

>>5879762
>>We’ll continue scouting through the night to find any other potential problems.

>>5879762

>>5879762
>>We’ll continue scouting through the night to find any other potential problems.

>>5879762
“I think we should continue scouting out any potential problems,” you declare calmly. “Head out overland as far as we can before turning about.”

“Alright, let’s see what we can ferret out!” Aurora grins manically in the moonlight.

“Same general plan, lady Noel?” Valentina asks.

“Same general plan,” you confirm.
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 10, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>5881601

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

>>5881601

Rolled 1, 4, 3 = 8 (3d10)

>>5881601