Imperial defensive strategy was, all in all, deceptively simple. Since the advent of relatively small-scale shield generators some three hundred years before my unfortunate demise, there had been no need for great walls and fortifications to be built, and we instead relied on impressive shielding. There would be walls, of course, and fences, dotted with surface-to-air missile towers and anti-air batteries, but the walls and fences were more for psychological comfort than anything else, and even they had begun to fall out of favor when I'd taken office.
Trusting in the mighty shields designed by Imperial engineers become second-nature, after all, and why wouldn't it, when soldiers had trained with them, saw their effects first hand for hundreds of years?
The Terran lance may've been mighty beyond equal, but the Terran shield could halt it easily, and we proved it to our soldiers in every live-fire drill.
We poured everything we could into mastery of shielding technology, the power sources necessary to keep them active, and the advanced single-purpose AI – what we called ANI, for how 'narrow' it was in scope – that modulated them in response to attacks, and, as I could recall, one of the Legates had reported a breakthrough in personal-class shields, and hoped it meant we could equip all our soldiers with them soon, rather than just the upper ranks.
I had been wearing mine, of course, when my ship took that fatal blow. It was built into my armor, and I would never be caught in a ship-to-ship battle in the void without my armor.
Not that it helped much.
No shields could keep out the void, much less personal-class generators, even that of a Legate.
All of my military experience in was predicated on the idea that I would have ready access to shielding. I didn't know how much of it could possibly apply to a situation where I had none.
At my request, the witch-hunters had purchased a small wooden box, perhaps eighty centimeters in both length and width, and fifteen in depth, from the local village, as well as a table to set it up on at a height comfortable the soldiers, to fill with dirt, small stones, and other props in order to make a map I could read, and placed it in my Core chamber.
The 'map' was... decently constructed, as far as I could tell with my limited knowledge of the surroundings, and had my territory clearly marked in twine.
"... and where should we put our watchtower?" one of the witch-hunters asked, a man by the name of Bann, as he looked around at our assembled 'war council'. Now that we had a workforce, modest though it was, it was time to truly begin setting up our fortifications in advance of the inevitable assault by the cult.
Callahan, Markus, Bann, Enna, Tesha, and Davyn were in attendance, the witch-hunters and magi crowded around the makeshift map as they argued back and forth about what, exactly, could be done and how quickly.
"No, no, he's right. If we cram our tents there, there won't be another place for the tower," the Archmagus agreed, humming as he stroked at his beard. It was growing longer, more unkempt, as he delayed his return to the capital.
"Yes, and we have no guarantee Lycoris' denizens will be able to carve out enough space for quarters inside the mountain, either, even at the rate they're going."
My children were working quickly, especially with their earth sprite partners, but the young man wasn't wrong. I'd had them quarry stone in bricks of a standardized size to speed construction, and they were tireless, but there were only three of them, for now, and we didn't know when the cult would strike.
Outside, the other magi and witch-hunters were also hard at work cutting suitable trees and clearing the branches from them so they might work as anchoring posts for the stone, but, again, there were only so many of them. The true work would only begin in earnest when the reinforcements the Queen promised arrived, still near a week out, and, with them, a proper siege engineer to direct our efforts.
[I will be summoning two more later today,] I reminded them, finally breaking my half-hour silence. [Along with earth sprites, of course. It's not much, but I can't summon more without a way to feed them.]
"Aye," the Captain nodded, leaning over the table to get a closer look at some of the features. "What if we move our line to make room? It would require Lycoris to expand, of course, but the territory would give them more mana to use in the battle itself, as well."
"It would slow progress, but..." Tesha trailed off, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
[I am willing, if everyone agrees to it. It would give me more to look at, anyway.]
"Will you have enough mana, between summoning and expanding into the mountain itself, my friend?"
[Not if I do it all at once, but over the next few days... Yes, I believe so, but it will be tight.]
"All in favor?" the Archmagus called, casting his gaze across the assembled soldiers and magi.
None protested. Unanimous agreement to allow me to expand a little more.
[Then we'll do as the Captain suggested, and move the line for the walls out to the current edge of my territory.]
The older witch-hunter nodded, worked his jaw, and leaned over to pluck several small twigs, splinters, almost, from the dirt of the map to move them out to the twine that marked my borders. Beside him, Enna withdrew a spool of thread, twine dyed crimson, and marked the map in a semi-circle from the entrance, overlapping some of the trees of the forest.
"Should we clear cut out to here, then, for visibility?" Davyn asked, gesturing with his hand to carve out a section of the wood indicating the area he meant.
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[It would be... tactically advantageous,] I admitted, grimacing internally. I wanted to see the trees, and not as the blurred vagaries I could now.
Enna picked up on it immediately, and nodded, murmuring an apology only I could hear under her breath. She and I had become well acquainted in the time since she acted as my mouthpiece during the audience with the Queen, particularly after I'd startled her during her watch outside three days before I'd summoned the Kobolds, when a few soldiers had left to purchase forestry tools from the villagers.
x-x-x-x-x
[Where are they going?]
"Black stars!" she swore, almost jumping out of her armor. "Don't do that, Lycoris!"
I chuckled at her. [I would have announced myself, but, sadly, I cannot leave this room.]
The young woman, hand clutched to her chest, exhaled sharply. "Apologies, Legate, I didn't mean t-"
[No, I know. So? What are your fellows up to?]
x-x-x-x-x
[There will be opportunity enough for me to see them later,] I whispered to her, and saw her nod just a little in response. I was enjoying my newfound ability to speak to a specific person with no fear of eavesdropping.
"Should we put in a request for those golems in that case? If we're going to be building stone walls and cutting away forest anyway, I mean," Davyn asked, hurriedly explaining himself as his eyes flickered over the higher ranked individuals at the table.
Markus rubbed at his face with one hand, considering the idea for several moments before finally nodding. "Yes, we should, I think. We made that determination before we realized Lycoris is an artificial demonheart, after all."
"Agreed, good Captain," the Archmagus said, tapping one of his fingers on the edge of the box that held the map rhythmically. "Though they likely won't arrive with the main body of reinforcements, so we should make our plans assuming we won't have them available prior to the first attack."
"First attack, Archmagus?" Tesha asked, leaning in.
"There's no way there won't be more than one, Magus," Enna told her, eyes narrowing. "Lycoris is a sapient demonheart, and if they ever get a body, they could be considered a real, in-the-flesh demon. No demon-cult would ever just... give up after one attempt at stealing someone like that away."
[Eventually, Callahan and Markus will need to resume their typical duties, as well, Tesha.] Those two were too important at their individual posts to be away indefinitely. [Preventing the cult from whisking me away is important, of course, but I am quite sure I am not the only minor crisis in the kingdom. This is only one cult we're dealing with here, after all.]
The Captain exhaled sharply and nodded. "Aye, as much as I'd like to stick around for the foreseeable future, I will need to direct the other witch-hunters of Blacklake and read their reports, at least. For now, I can stay here, as most of the others are away on various assignments, but they won't be forever."
[Regardless, where do we put the warmagi? On the walls with the witch-hunters?] I cut in, eager to move on.
"That seems sound to me, my friend. The witch-hunter arts can handle any magical attacks, but they'll still need protection from mundane missiles, and the warmagi can create shields enough to protect them," the Archmagus confirmed, looking over the positions again. "They should be able to cast offensive spells, as well, if the battle doesn't last too long."
Oh? Shields? Ah, that's right... We don't have the numbers to use my standard tactics, but perhaps with an enchanted object, at some point...
"How about we put half on barrier duty, and half on artillery?" Markus asked, and I could see the gears turning in his head. "Three of your magi can supplement the shields with their own. I know they're not as accustomed to battle as warmagi, but they should be able to manage it."
Rather than answer directly, Callahan gave Tesha and Davyn a pointed, questioning look, and Tesha nodded vigorously, though she seemed a little nervous about it. "Yes, Captain. That sounds doable. Will the Archmagus be part of the artillery group, then?"
"Yes, I will, but not immediately. We'll need them to get as close as possible before I start casting, so they can't scatter when they realize what's happening."
[Archmagus,] I called, stopping the conversation for the moment. [We should resume my magic lessons soon. I can't possibly get to the level of a warmagi in time, but if I learn to cast healing or barrier spells near the edge of my territory...]
"Yes, yes, a good idea," he said, his finger tapping resuming as he considered the effect that might have. "Yes, you could cover gaps, and with your arcane senses, react faster to sudden attacks. Ah, but you'll need a good deal of mana to make it work, and if you're practicing all day, every day until we're attacked..."
"What if you return to the capital to retrieve mana crystal for Lycoris' use?" Davyn offered, and Markus straightened a little, realizing something.
"If you do that, we could even make a show of it," he said, a sly smile creeping across his bearded face. "Make them think there won't be an Archmagus here. Return by traditional means, and then, once in your sanctum, crystals in hand, teleport back, directly here, and stay inside until the attack."
The Archmagus' finger stopped its rhythmic drumming on the box. "I'll need to create a teleportation anchor here. It would be too long distance a teleport even for me otherwise, but yes, I think that'll work."
[How soon do you think you can manage it? The faster the better, of course.]
"No more than three days, I think. I'll leave right after the next meeting with her Majesty. Tesha can take over teaching you magic, until I return," he explained, and the young woman nodded. "She's my most skilled apprentice, so you won't find her lacking in that regard, my friend."
That surprised me, a little. From how she'd scrambled to get behind the Archmagus before, I thought the girl a novice, but, then again, that first spell had pulverized all of the furniture in the room and scorched the stone, and she may not have had time to cast her own barrier when she realized what was happening.
She wasn't there when I told Callahan how I'd been invoking magic before, either.
[Very well. That's high praise from you, I think,] I told him, and turned my attention to the younger magus. [I'll be in your care, Magus Tesha.]
She smiled a little and bowed slightly in response.
"I think that's enough for now. Everyone, get some food in you and return to your posts," Captain Markus ordered. "We'll being preparations tomorrow at first light, and reconsider the layout of the fortifications when our reinforcements arrive."
With that, most of the people present left the room, but Enna and Tesha stayed behind as my guards. Callahan told me he'd create his 'anchor' in the other chamber to give me room to practice the spells and witch-hunter arts I'd be learning soon.
Finally, I summoned two more Kobolds along with wind sprite partners, and the first was given the name Carna, and the second Chrys, after the carnation and chrysanthenum from my home. I wanted these two to be able to hunt in the forest with their partners, or else be useful in the siege beyond throwing small rocks, and the wind sprites could apparently create small areas of chaotic wind that could throw arrows off target.
The task 'exhausted' me, however, so Tesha simply taught me the basics of the two spells' construction. The key-rune was important, of course, but when it came to shields and healing, the description runes were just as, if not more important, and would need to be altered every cast to match the situation.