Maxime ◐ and Theodore ◮ waited patiently in the tent at the center of the prospective battlefield. The wind flapping the fabric of the tent was the only noise, any insects or birds having wisely decided to avoid the area between the two opposing armies.
It had been a year since they had been born. As promised, the local commander had made the two leaders of the squad that had been born four weeks after them. And after three months of training, the squad of soldiers had been deployed to the front lines.
Unfortunately for them, the squad—affectionately, “Ted’s Tigers”—were deployed to what the grunts called Hell’s Valley—a hundred kilometer wide-swath of forest and grasslands in a wide gap of the belt of mountains that divided Central Eurial—where the [Oni] and many other members of the GDA were—from South Eurial where the Aer Republic and its early conquests were located. While there were additional battle fronts to the east and west of the Aer Republic, both with GDA members and with non-member affiliates, it was only this patch of cursed land that had earned itself such a moniker. While the intelligence was unclear—the working theory was that the Republic sought access to the nearby inland sea—the fact of the matter was that the Republic’s strongest forces were deployed to the area and often sought to attempt to overrun the GDA there.
Fortunately for them—and unfortunately for the [Gobbertons]—Max and Ted were two of the biggest badasses, dead or alive, and, incidentally, that helped Ted’s Tigers a lot more than anyone knew. After one early death, the seventeen members of the squad quickly leveled and gained experience (in both senses of the word) in battle. Over the next eight months, Ted’s Tigers were now the most-powerful squad on the GDA’s side in Hell’s Valley and—rumor had it—within quite a distance outside it too.
While the two had experienced war before, and innumerable battles, their decision to remain inconspicuously—well, relatively inconspicuous—within the joint forces meant that combat had become a real meat grinder for them. The scents of ozone (from various magical attacks), charred mesquite-wood (from burnt [Oni] flesh), and charred pork (from burnt everything-else flesh) were soon buried deep in their nostrils, and the two foreswore any pork or barbecue for the next several lives.
And there were the battlefield graves. The last words and remembrances. The wounded, the crippled, and the disabled. And while the physical amputations and other severe wounds might be cured if the services of an [Archcleric] or similar could be secured—which they surely could not in this warhell—the mental strains were beyond the ken of magic to restore.
Still, the GDA represented one of the greatest cross-Race alliances ever formed, and the results were showing. Indeed, just two months prior, the local GDA forces—[Humans] from two nations, [Garuda] from several independent villages, and [Wolfkin] from one nation—integrated and reorganized themselves, with Max and Ted serving as the on-field commanders of the total forces, and many members of Ted’s Tigers forming their own mixed-Race squads, with a tighter group of six forming the new Ted’s Claws, an elite special forces group.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
After some early growing pains, the integrated army had marvelously handled the last three engagements.
Which brings us to the tent.
Current GDA military doctrine was to never bother with on-field negotiations with the Republic. The [Gobbertons] had no desire for anything other than the local GDA troops’ surrender and so negotiating with them was fruitless, even in those instances where the GDA had the upper hand.
Fortunately for Max and Ted, anyone who would have prevented it or chastised them wouldn’t find out for hours yet.
If only the damn [Gobberton] commander would show up!
The tent flap parted. “Sorry I’m late,” the meter-tall [Gobberton] commander stated. “But trying to get a regulation latrine dug is harder than I expected in the mountains.”
“Not at all,” Max replied politely as he sat up a little straighter in his earth-brown armor as the [Gobberton] joined him at the table. Ted came from the other tent entrance to stand behind him. “You did not bring a second?”
“There is no need. I can handle this alone. Though, I will admit that I was surprised by your request. It’s been a long time since the GDA asked for one.”
“Our understanding was that none of the meetings had ever averted a battle.”
“Hmm. Well I don’t have the records to confirm, but that wouldn’t surprise me. But if that was your understanding, why are you here? Have you decided to surrender?”
“No, actually, and we won’t demand your surrender either. Rather, we’re…. how would you put it, Ted?”
“Curious.”
“Yes, curious…” Max rubbed his chin, looking contemplative. “We were wondering… why the Aerie Republic is at war with the surrounding Races?”
The [Gobberton] commander raised an eyebrow. “Truly?”
“Well, yes.”
“It’s… a sacred war to my people. Something ordained by our Forefathers as our purpose.”
“See, now that’s the thing,” Max led him on. “I somehow don’t think that Aram and Aerum had that in mind when they founded the Aer Republic.”
“How—” the commander was interrupted as he coughed on his own spit. “How do you know that?!” he squawked out.
“We know a great many things,” Max replied coolly. At that moment, Ted grabbed a slightly more tangible part of empty air, and slammed the [High Gobberton] [Master Assassin] onto the table. “Just as we knew about this [Assassin],” Max continued unbothered even as the [Assassin] squirmed futilely at a being thrice his height. “And we know that the [Gobbertons] acted against [Goblins] for centuries and centuries on this continent. What we don’t know is the recent history; why there was this change in policy. So I have to ask [Army. Captain.] Jain,” Max emphasized, punctuating each word as he pulled it with [Identify]. “Do you have the answers we seek?” A crack splintered the air as Ted broke the [Assassin’s] neck single-handed. “Or do we have to find someone else?”
----------------------------------------