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The same could not be said for Reforge. Alone with a few military personnel, mainly five riflemen and Jannette, Reinhardt waited. About five to six kilometers away, laid the camp. The wall hadn’t been built yet, there were openings from where monsters could enter.

“Everyone,” Reinhardt spoke, the few members with drowsiness on the faces could but pay attention, “-tonight we shall be alone, expect no help. Tis a risk with the highest probability of ensuring that Azure is built. As we stand now, fighting even against a mere goblin might endanger our base. Therefore, earlier today, I ordered Sergeant Jannette to scatter mines and explosives around key points. They will be utilized only if hordes of ten or more are seen approaching,” the way the words were spoken, the way it reluctantly rolled off the tongue – it was obvious that people were going to die. “With that out of the way, I’ll let the Sergeant take over,” he backed-off, the lady came forth.

“As most have realized by now, the explosives aren’t remote control. Someone will have to remain on stand-by to trigger in case of an attack. Five explosives for five people,” a feeling of dread spread from her outwards. Drowsiness vanished, the riflemen stood, sweat dripped, their fist clenched. Many of them had families and wives waiting back at the mainland. Unable to speak out, all they could was to follow orders, even if it meant to give up their lives. “I shall assign what area to whom,” she walked and handed over notes. “The mission will begin in thirty-minutes, go get prepared – you’re our lasting hope, Good luck soldiers and may the god of war watch over thee,”

“Yes, Mam,” they saluted and left in order.

“A suicide mission,” she mumbled and joined back with the lieutenant.

“Indeed, our comrades are off to their deaths – let’s hope the gamble I wagered on pays off.”

.....

In a similar fashion, the other outposts were ready to fight. Azure’s wall stood fifteen meters high and eight meters wide. Large and robust, there was no way any monster could get past that shell. A sliver of hope, a bold idea to help future generations. Without a secure path to preserve the citizens; measures had to be taken.

“Night is here,” Emma pointed out.

“Yes sister, the hour is at hand,” Emmy added.

“Everyone listen up,” it had been a few hours since dust set-in. “-We’re a few minutes away from Reforge,” Staxius spoke, “-before all this begins,” the tone deep, “-are you ready for a fight?” he referred to the incident, one that caused their defeat.

“...” silence which meant hesitation, obvious was it that the memory from that battle lingered. Behind the tough act laid the uneasiness of not being able to help nor protect people around. Mostly, Achilles was affected, as a hero from another realm – her duty was to always protect the weak. Sadly, that ambush was more than many could have planned for. It wasn’t just monsters that were involved – but another entity, one powerful if not stronger than many.

“I knew it,” the voice unchanging, “-scars, hesitation, and regrets.” those experiences were familiar to him as well. Not being able to help Sprinkles in their time of need, and various others in the past. The regret of not being strong enough to help where it counted. “Nevertheless,” a light in the distance shone, many lights in fact – a place inhabited by people, “-those feelings are precious. Use it to get better, remember the bitter pain of not being strong enough. Mistakes are meant to be learned from and not fret over, I’m saying this as a friend and not the Leader. For better or worse, we’ve got a quest to accomplish and this is the time to do it.”

“Activate number one through three,” inside the command office, Sergeant Jannette whomst was glued to a computer screen gave orders. Reports came from the soldiers on the field, concurrently, Ground-Zero’s area of combat seemed silent.

“We’ve been had,” Reinhardt spoke with regret, “-our foe isn’t as dumb as we thought,” three explosions echoed.

“-There’s more of them coming,” the remaining two spoke, the voice shook and fear present. Staring down a barrel, they hid, “-I’m sorry, but dying without putting up a fight goes against my principle,” from a bush, the man stood. Rifle lined up and aimed, he fired, the shots seemed random but each hit without exception.

“Don’t compromise the situation farther, DO AS YOU’RE TOLD,” Jannette breathed down their neck, the riflemen weren’t going to listen. “Sir,” she turned around, cheeks red from a mixture of emotions. Reinhardt could but shake his head, a message to let the men alone. “Bound by orders, that’s who we are,” he spoke, “-nevertheless, if a man chooses to die, let him die how he wants.”

Far away at the same time, “captain Elmer,” Jen rushed over the wall, “-we’ve been had,” she panted. “The attacks up till today was a diversion to change our focus,” reports came in from Reforge, Reinhardt gave a summary of what he thought.

“That fool,” Elmer shook his head, “-a gamble that didn’t pay out,” he turned around, the battlefield after the wall was as told – empty without a soul. “EVERYONE RET-” *BAM,*

“CAPTAIN,” Jen screamed and held out her hand, everything moved in slow motion. A bolder hit the top without anyone noticing. Around two-parties of four died immediately, “-watch out,” adventurers swooped in, not even a second had passed. “Get the captain and sergeant out of the way,” orders were given by party leaders, some moved as fast as the large fragments, “-we’ll take care of the battle,” hues of light rushed up and down the wall. A surprise attack that cost eight people’s life, one that took the veterans by surprise. Mainly the captain for he was to order a full-scale retreat back to Reforge.

*Bam, bam,* bolder after bolder, the wall was targeted by an unknown entity. The rocks came from beyond the border, inside Totrya – about twenty kilometers. It seemed impossible to be able to launch a barrage of attack from that distance though it just happened.

“Captain...” Jen called, “-captain,” she crawled over, he bled from the head.

“Worry not Sergeant,” a lady dressed in white came, “-I’ll use my talents in healing,” to which a prayer later, a green light emanated from the captain’s wound.

“Any idea of what has happened?” with only a slight concussion, Jen stood. From an emotional wreck to now a lady with authority, the change in mentality was a gift from intense training.

“At 09:35 PM, an unexpected barrage of boulders targeting our location began,” an officer arrived on horseback. People ran around, a makeshift medical bay was erected a few meters from the wall. The impacts went through its body, though it stood without a scratch. The fragments came from the boulders. From peaceful to chaos in a second, both camps were under attack.

“Send orders that the short to mid-range fighters are to not engage,” nobody was on the field yet, “-devote their attention to the spot where the attacks are coming from. Anywho can conjure Earth magic, put them on defense – break up the parties if needed, I want three teams, one spotter, one defense and one back-up. The ones on defense must be magic-users, and no one else, the spotters can be anyone whilst the back-up are people who have skills specialized in quick movements. They will be in charge of saving the magic users in case the defense fails. The rest is self-explanatory.”

“Roger,” the officer saluted and quickly scaled up the wall with the help of a ladder. The adventurers desperately tried to save all who were hit from the initial impact. Once the orders were given, the chaos resorted, the defense team was in charge of stopping the projectiles from touching the walls. The spotters had two tasks, one to spot the origin and the place of impact. The support stood by in case one skipped their watch; a defensive battle.

Back at Reforge, “Damn it,” Jannette slammed her desk, “-Ground-zero is under heavy attack.”

“I see,” Reinhardt spoke, “-this is the turning point. If we manage to survive this night – we can be sure that the next few days will go by smoothly,” he stared outside, “-wishful thinking is what this is.”

“We’re out of ammo,” the riflemen yelled, “-for the future,” two explosions followed, the speakers transmitted the last message. “Put up the signal that Reforge has been taken,” the lieutenant ordered, from blue, the outpost turned to black. A color that displayed across all the maps throughout the network.

“They’ve breached,” the sergeant spoke with a woeful tone.

“Arm up, their next target is us, we’ve got a few minutes to prepare,” he stood, the gaze ready to fight. Mentally, it was a given that tonight would be their death. The blacked-out spot on the map was to only be used if hope was lost. From Blue which meant standby to red, meaning under attack then black that meant defeat, those where the three-color code. In the distance, a few kilometers away, an army approached. Eyes of a reddened color, one of impending doom – the remaining officers at headquarters were those two. The rest of the noncombatants were ordered to evacuate at the break of dusk. Varying in height, length and overall physiology, the monsters approached.

“Can you feel it?” Staxius asked, the RFS came in viewing distance, “-the monsters are here,” the vehicle stopped. It stood in the middle of the courtyard after driving through an empty security gate. A town was what they saw, many buildings around with no inhabitants in sight.

“Silence,” Emma commented,

“Yes sister, a bad omen,” Emmy added.

“Shut up,” Staxius ordered, all obeyed. ‘This area is taken for all we know,’ the mind worked, the party slowly got off.

“Divide into three groups, Achilles and Avon, you take the north. Viola and Deadeyes, you take the west, the Lymsey sisters are to guard the rear, do not engage unless necessary – that applies to the twins only.”

“What about you, master?” Avon asked.

“Isn’t it obvious, I’m going to the east,” orders given, they dispersed. Reforge was a mini-town build for the sole purpose of acting as a resting place for both the military and adventurers. The northern part of the town was were merchants, inns, and taverns rested. Any remote sign of entertainment was there. Tis was also the place where all ate and spoke. The western area was where people would rest. A residential area for all, it reached out to the south where a training ground stood. The middle, also known as the courtyard was where briefing and messages were given. The eastern area was reserved for the military, headquarters where information traveled across the network. A place where weapons and anything related to that were kept.

The camp was surrounded by a wall, one made of bricks of where only two-point of access were seen. One in the south, in the middle, while the other was on the northern wall a bit to the right – directly in front of the military area. That entrance faced Azure, from whence the monsters came.

‘Let’s hope the others can hold their own. I’ve purposefully sent them to areas where there’s less risk of an ambush. The strongest aura I saw whilst scanning the area is here,’ Staxius stood before a metal door. A three-story building rested, completely oblivious to what had happened. *Click,* it opened, a faint beeping was heard, red-light flashed on and off – a battle had taken place here prior, the windows at the end of the hall were broken.