Ronin stood on the town’s outer wall, Owl two and Emil standing beside him. They had gotten here early, having managed to land the drop ship just inside the outer wall, without anyone outside noticing. The collared Kaldarr had been ferrying the crates up the wall since then. They weren’t happy about being collared, but they seemed to understand that there wasn’t anything they could do. So, they were behaving, for now at least.
The tent camp had grown with the arrival of the second wagon. Now over a dozen tents were set up outside the town, with the additional two that were much larger. Ronin knew that one of those belonged to the obnoxious lord fatso. The other must belong to his brother, who Ronin hadn’t seen yet. Their men were getting up and gathering inside the circle of tents though. There were now a solid sixty of them, fatso’s brother having brought forty men with him. The men joked and jeered with each other, making it clear they were planning something that excited them.
That didn’t bode well to Ronin, who hoped for a peaceful resolution today. Still, he could hope for the best. With a sigh, he began climbing down the ladder with Owl two and K3, one of the Kaldarr warriors who had been injected with a drone parasite and nanites just like Guts. Ronin hadn’t wanted to know their names, so he just gave them code names instead. the ladder creaked as the heavily armored giant descended, but the sturdy dinosaur bones held his weight.
The cocky looks on the men’s faces diminished a little bit when Ronin entered their camp with the giant in tow. Those looks were why he had brought one of the Kaldarr with him. Perhaps if he could intimidate the soldiers, they wouldn’t want to attack him. at the same time, he didn’t want to appear like he was actually threatening them, so he’d left K1 and K2 up on the wall. they were there and ready, just in case the deal went sideways.
“H... halt,” said the captain who’d been so aggressive last time. He was still standing in their way, but the towering form of K3 left him looking a little uneasy. Glancing back at his men for reassurance, he turned back around and addressed Ronin. “Our Lord has invited you to his tent, peasant, but he hasn’t invited either of these… people.” he swallowed whatever insult he had been about to say regarding Owl two and K3. “They will have to wait outside.”
This wasn’t outside Ronin’s expectations. So, instead of making a fuss, he just waved them to stop. Owl two could listen in and communicate over his helmet com anyway so it didn’t matter if he was actually standing there. Taking a deep breath, Ronin squared his shoulders, and entered the tent.
The tent was laid out the same as it had been before, with two exceptions. There was now another man seated at the table with ‘my lord’ fatso, and two more young girls stood behind the pair. The girls looked very much like the first two; too young, very pretty, and scared. They were also holding a towel and pitcher of wine. The brothers in stark contrast, looked nothing alike. Where the first was morbidly obese; dressed in opulent robes and ate like it might be his last meal. His brother was heavily muscled, with a buzz cut and was also clean shaven; dressed in ankylosaur armor. ate slowly, using his knife and fork to cut small bites from his steak. He seemed to be around forty, and his sharp brown eyes had the look of a man who’d seen combat, and often.
“Ah, brother.” Fatso said to his breakfast companion, completely ignoring Ronin. “I’ll be interested to see what the men find behind this wall when the peasants fail to pay their taxes.” Ripping into the massive rib bone he was holding, he continued through a mouth full of food. “I wonder if this wretched backwater still has any attractive women, we’ve cleaned out all the other hamlets of them haven’t we brother, ha-ha” he made to slap the other man on the back, but a look from the militant man made him pause. “Yes, well… I suppose they are a tad greasy.” He mumbled, going back to his meal.
A slow churning anger began to bubble up inside of Ronin. he’d suspected that this tax collector was bleeding the town dry on purpose but hadn’t had any proof. Of course, he still didn’t, but it didn’t feel that way.
“Don’t sound so thrilled with yourself Charles,” the armored man said. slowly raising his fork to his lips and chewing a small bite. “The war at the wall isn’t going well you know. And while I’m not above lining my pockets in these backwaters, there is a limit to what we can squeeze out of them. once they’ve been bled dry it will only be a matter of time before the wall collapses, and the whole kingdom with it.”
“Oh, come now Benjamin,” the now named Charles said. “Who cares what happens to this wretched kingdom? We are leaving once we make these last few rounds anyway. just need to gather a few supplies for the road first… and speaking of which, it looks like our local mayor has decided to grace us with his presents.”
The slowly bubbling anger had begun to boil, at the callous way the pair talked about the kingdom falling to this, outside enemy. They’d actually admitted to robbing the towns to line their own pockets during a war. He almost couldn’t believe they were confessing like this. sure, it happened in books all the time, but did real villains actually spill their plans to everyone this way?
“What do you think, Owl two?” Ronin asked over helmet coms. “Should we let this play out or just cut right to the fighting?” Ronin had been against taking preemptive action toward the troop until now but listening to these two talking had changed his mind.
“Sir, the only concern I had regarding taking these men out, was the reaction of the nearby town when they didn’t return. However, from the sounds of it they don’t plan to return anyway. I say let’s carry out the plan now.”
“Agreed, I’ll keep these two busy. Coordinate with Owl five and the Kaldarr warriors to subdue the troops.” He’d set himself a goal to earn credits by building up a goblin settlement, and these… people were standing in his way. it was time to do something about that.
“… Did you hear me peasant? I asked where the meat you promised me was...” Charles the fat had been berating him the whole time he’d been talking with Owl two, but he’d tuned him out. Now that he was paying attention again, he could tell how much his ignoring the pair had angered them.
“So eager to ignore me, yet unable to be ignored… really sad guys.” He thought with a shake of his head. Charles was blustering about the taxes, but Benjamin was sitting calmly. He was still eating his steak, one small bite at a time. Yet his eyes were sharp, focused on Ronin, like he knew what was coming.
“Gentlemen,” he said softly. Interrupting Charles tirade. The fat man looked so shocked that he’d been interrupted he fell silent for a beat. “I can see that negotiations aren’t going to bear fruit, so…”
“Damn peasant!” raged the fat lord, “I warned you. my captain will have your tongue out for this. do you think that a backwater ‘mayor’ can just interrupt me while I’m talking? You worthless piece of…”
“Shut up Charles,” Benjamin said taking another bite. “This man entered our tent fully armored and even has his helmet on. He hasn’t moved or spoken at all until he remarked that negotiations had failed… what does that tell you brother?”
“It tells me he’s a freaking fool,” Charles screamed. “Him and his assistant entered in matching armor last time too, in this jumped-up play pretend armor. look at the cooking pot he’s wearing as a helmet. Pathetic…” his words were cut off in a spray of blood. Benjamin had driven his steak knife into his neck. With a twist, he cut outward opening the wound beyond repair.
He then motioned his towel girl over with a kind smile. she hesitated, but her fear of him seemed to outweigh her fear of the dying Charles. Taking the towel from her hand, he wiped the blood from the knife and gently laid it on the table. Moving his hands away from it, he picked up his wine glass and finally addressed Ronin for the first time. Who had been staring in shock throughout.
“My brother may not have recognized anything from your armor, but I did.” taking a sip, he leaned back in his chair, in an attempt Ronin thought to look non-threatening. “Are you familiar with the situation Mountain’s Embrace kingdom finds itself facing?” at Ronin’s head shake he continued. “We have been beset outside our walls by giant, vaguely humanoid, bug monsters. they’ve been swarming our walls for months now. But recently,” finishing his glass he held his hand out for a refill. The trembling wine girl filled his glass. He nodded to her with a “Thank you,” before he continued.
“We received reinforcements. They came down from the sky in giant metal globes and are armored similarly to you.” He said pointing at Ronin’s gear.
“You getting this Owl two?” Ronin asked, a little thrown by this entire situation.
“I hear it, sir.” Owl two replied, “but I’m a little busy right now. Just hear him out and decide from there.” Easy enough to say, but Ronin was out of his element here.
“Now, I know that you aren’t part of that group. But I have a feeling you have your own group here. I also have the feeling that I won’t be escaping the kingdom like I planned. So, I would like to offer my services.” Having said his peace, Benjamin set his glass down and laid his hands on the table where Ronin could see them.
“What the hell man, what do I do now?” Ronin muttered to himself, trying to decide on the proper course of action. He’d had a little speech prepared and everything, now the fatso was dead, and his killer was trying to change sides…
“Ok,” he said at last.
“Ok?” Benjamin asked, a little taken aback. “Just like that?” he seemed as confused as Ronin felt, but was doing a better job containing himself.
“Ok,” Ronin repeated. Tossing over a Kaldarrian inspired collar that Owl two had made while he was out goblin hunting. “Snap this around your neck.” The new collar was less bulky and more streamlined than the Kaldarrian version, but it did the same job. After inspecting the collar for a moment, Benjamin sighed.
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“I don’t know what this does, but I’ve seen enough of our… savior’s… magic to have an idea.” Without any more hesitation, he raised the collar to his neck and snapped it in place. He’d squinted his eyes as the collar clicked shut, obviously expecting something to happen. when nothing did, he looked up at Ronin in question.
“It’s just a control collar,” he explained. “Do what you are told, and nothing will happen, ignore an order and it will hurt. Pretty simple really.” Turning to the four serving girls he said. “I’m sorry about this, but I don’t know you yet, and… since I only brought two collars…” as he trailed off, he raised his non-lethal II with a smooth motion and shot the four startled girls before they could react. He watched them twitching and writhing on the floor with sympathy but didn’t approach. He couldn’t risk that one or more of them were a secret guard. He thought it unlikely, but Owl two had insisted.
“Well… come on then, I guess.” He said, motioning for Benjamin to follow him from the tent. He was still unsettled by what had just happened, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. still, these ‘saviors’ Benjamin talked about… and the humanoid bug monsters, they were both more than likely races or factions that Ronin had introduced to the world himself. Unlike the Kaldarr, who were only space capable because they stole the tech and had slaves to operate it… some of the races he’d introduced were… dangerous.
“What did I do to this world?” he whispered, the consequences of his actions finally dawning on him. he’d made small bastions of safety surrounded by evil forces, and he’d done it on purpose… “Why didn’t I realized that the bad guys wouldn’t sit idly by in their castles or caves and wait for me to come kill them from the conveniently placed cities?... oh god, oh… oh god.”
“Did you say something my lord?” Benjamin asked from behind him, where he had followed him from the tent.
“Do not call me ‘lord.’ you can address me as sir.” Ronin said, not really listening, but hating the term ‘lord’ immensely at least coming from one of the brothers.
“Understood my lor… Aaahhh” Benjamin screamed in pain and clutched his neck. Staring in shock at Ronin.
“I told you not to call me that.” Ronin said with a shake of his head. “I didn’t shock you on purpose just now either, it was the collar. No one needs to witness you breaking an order for you to be punished.” Spotting Owl two and K3 standing amid a pile of writhing bodies, Ronin walked towards them. “Come on,” he said motioning to Benjamin. The armored man followed quickly, not eager for another lesson in what happened when he disobeyed.
“I see the new weapons worked out.” Ronin said as he arrived, surveying the multitude of downed men. “It was a good idea Owl two… adding a battery to a rod to create a stun baton.” They had discussed different ways to subdue the men last night, but as usual, Owl two had already come up with something. The fabrication unit in the pod was truly impressive, unfortunately it was small and took long hours to make anything complicated. They would never be able to equip a large force using the fabricator.
“Yes, sir.” Owl two said, “my ideas tend to work out flawlessly.” Turning to the group of town’s people who had just arrived he pointed at the downed men. “Collar them please, be sure not to miss any.” That taken care of, he walked over to Ronin. K3 following along behind him. “I heard about the situation at the wall,” he said. “Once we are finished here, let me question Benjamin. We are probably going to have to act on the problem.”
Ronin nodded; he had already decided they would have to help. it was his fault after all, but first he needed to get several things in order. the valley needed secured, and the goblin town started, he needed new weapons and armor, the scout team needed to be trained, he had to figure out what he was going to do with all these soldiers… the list was getting longer by the day.
“First things first,” he said turning to Benjamin. “How long do we have before someone else comes looking for you?” the answer to that question would give them a time line to work from.
“Sir,” Benjamin said smartly. “Charles passed through two towns before he got here, taking everything they had along the way. the goods are in the wagons.” He said pointing, “my late brother made sure that everyone knew what he was doing, the fool. I expect pursuers within a month, but if you play it right, you can just point them down the road. After that, I believe they will cut their losses. The wall will likely fall before they send anyone else.”
“Is the situation really that bad?” Ronin asked, furrowing his eyebrows under his helmet.
“Yes sir,” answered Benjamin. “If it wasn’t for the armored people who dropped from the sky, taking over the defenses, we would have been overrun already. Even now, we can’t hold much longer.”
“Alright, that’s enough for now. We need to get this camp cleaned up and everything brought back to our base camp. Owl two will have more questions for you later. Until then wait here with these men and go where you’re directed.”
“Yes sir,” Benjamin said instantly, snapping off a salute. It was different than the one Ronin’s people used. He brought his left fist up diagonally across his chest before clapping his right hand over it. Nodding at the gesture, Ronin turned and walked away. He had other matters to attend to. Remembering at the last moment, he turned to the town’s person closest to him. surprisingly, he recognized the man.
“Gibbs, there are four young girls stunned inside the command tent. Go over and collar them, would you?” giving a start at being addressed by name, Gibbs nodded his head and stumped off toward the tent. “I’m going to have to stop thinking of them as ‘town’s people’ soon.” Ronin thought as he looked for Owl five. She’d snuck over the wall late in the night with her scout team. They were to make sure no one escaped, in case everything went as it ended up going.
Not seeing her, he decided to go check on the wagons. They had been of interest to him since he saw the first one, and he wanted a closer look. reaching the first wagon, he made to climb the steps to the door. he was stopped by a giant hand on his shoulder. Looking around, he saw that K3 was still shadowing him.
“Sir,” he rumbled out in a voice like boulders clashing together. “This is an unknown area, please allow me to check it out first.” waiting for Ronin to nod, the giant stepped up in his place. His weight caused the wagon to tip down, and Ronin sighed. He had no doubt that Owl two had given K3 a whole list of orders concerning him. it was also likely the Kaldarr warrior had been assigned as his new keeper. The thought didn’t annoy Ronin like it had on his first day. He knew too well how quickly things could go wrong, and having K3 around to help out wouldn’t be so bad. Thinking back to that first day had Ronin narrowing his eyes in remembered pain. Steady aim and Grush had been highly loyal and skilled combatants… and they’d died because he hadn’t been prepared.
“Clear sir,” K3 called out from the doorway. He’d taken a walkthrough of the first wagon while Ronin had been beating himself up. reaching down, he offered a huge hand to help Ronin up the stairs. Ronin smiled at the gesture, he didn’t need the help, but he took the hand anyway. allowing K3 to pull him into the wagon. That was what made the drone parasites so expensive, they didn’t just enforce obedience, they literally made the host loyal. K3 actually wanted to help and protect Ronin.
“Thank you, K3.” He said once inside. The Kaldarr might have been involved in the death of his old team members, but he wasn’t that same person anymore. so, why not be polite? Moving around his bulky form, Ronin took in the wagon. It was easily the size of a shipping crate. A small cabin up front was close to empty but looked like it normally held the things decorating Charles tent. The middle was filled with crates of all sizes. Prying the lid off one, Ronin saw that it was full of salt, another held some kind of root vegetable.
“Looks like not all these towns were set up as dinosaur preserves.” he said as he moved further back. The rear of the wagon was walled off from the front and middle sections. Finding the door locked, he moved back up front to find the key hanging on a hook by the cabin. Unlocking the door, he walked into the back room. the smell hit him hard as he entered the area. once his eyes adjusted to the blackness, he saw the bars. The entire rear compartment was set up as a slave transport.
Grinding his teeth together, Ronin looked at the small cages. A few held animals, like chickens and rabbits, but the majority held humans. Humans, caged up with the animals. They’d whimpered when the door was opened, scurrying to the backs of their cages as if afraid to be beaten. Taking a quick count, Ronin found there were fifteen people locked up back here.
“Don’t worry,” he said gently. “That fat bastard is dead; I will have you out of there shortly. And we’ll get you cleaned up and fed. Just hold tight a little longer until my people get here.” turning to K3 he said, “Let’s go see what kind of livestock Benjamin kept in his wagon. He was already seeing red, what he saw in that wagon, would determine how long Benjamin lived after Owl two had questioned him. Dropping from the wagon’s steps Ronin found Owl five waiting for him. she started speaking, but he waved her to silence.
“Take care of them first,” he said pointing at the wagon. He couldn’t think about anything else until he knew what was in Benjamin’s wagon. Reaching the steps, he once again had to stand aside while K3 checked it out first. he waited impatiently, before jumping the steps and entering without taking K3’s proffered hand. He did pat the Kaldarr on the arm as he passed though.
The layout of this wagon was very similar to the first. walking into the cabin, Ronin found it to be dominated by a large table, with a map spread out across its surface. a quick glance showed him that it must contain the entire Mountain’s Embrace kingdom. He wanted to stop and look it over, but he needed to know what was in this wagon first. the area directly behind the cabin was set up much like the first wagon, filled with crates of various sizes. Unlike the last wagon however, the back door wasn’t locked.
He opened it to light streaming through small windows. Blinking, Ronin took in the scene. It was set up as a barracks. Bunks lined the walls from floor to ceiling, they were small but well kept. There were also a number of chests on the floor and a few empty weapons racks. It looked like Benjamin didn’t have slaves; he’d had his entire wagon set up to accommodate his troops.
Frowning, Ronin moved back outside. Going back to the first wagon, he entered and looked for signs of habitation. He found them in the cargo area, it looked like Charles men slept in here with the goods. “They must just huddle in here while moving and sleep in the tents when the wagon stops.” He mused, looking around the dark and cramped space. He didn’t envy the conditions these men lived in.
“Owl five,” he said seeing her come out of the back room. “Sorry for that, I was just…” he trailed off, looking over her shoulder at the slave pen.
“I understand sir,” she said. “I am having trouble understanding what kind of monster could do that to their own people.” her voice didn’t even quaver, but Ronin could feel that she was shook up all the same.
“Well, that bastard is dead now at least. Though I’m still not sure about his brother. I’ll be asking him some questions when Owl two is done with him, if I don’t like the answers… well, I guess we will see.”
“Agreed,” Owl five said looking at the prisoners as the team of scouts she was training helped them out one by one and handed them off to the towns people at the door. “No one escaped the ambush sir.” She said, moving onto her debrief. “We were able to descend the wall unnoticed and move around behind the camp. Only a few managed to get away from K3 and Owl two, but we took them down before they got very far.”
“Good work, Owl five.” Ronin said clapping her lightly on the shoulder. Despite the layers of armor separating them, he still felt his hand warm from the contact. “Let’s get all the evidence out from in front of the wall, get these people cleaned up and figure out what to do from here.” he looked out over the bustling chaos that had been the tax collector’s camp. He didn’t even know how many goblins, soldiers, slaves, troglodytes and towns people he had to deal with now. If that wasn’t bad enough, it looked like war was headed to his valley, unless he could stop it at the wall Benjamin had mentioned.