Central Osiris

9:00 AM

Tantalus looked out the window as he drove to the West Gate. The sky was clear, but the air was a bit colder than was comfortable. If Tantalus were to guess, he would say that it was about 55°F outside. While certainly not freezing, it would be uncomfortable to be caught outside without a heat source in such weather. Most wars were waged in the spring and summer for this reason. Large military advances involved sleeping outside, and this was easier to do when the weather was warm.

The red pickup truck came to a stop in the parking lot near the West Gate. Tantalus would have to leave it there while he was gone. He would have liked to bring the truck with him on the long four-hundred-mile trip to New Arcadia, but less than 10% of the Greycloaks knew how to drive a stick shift, so it couldn’t be used by the Logistics Department. It wasn’t big enough to hold a full squad, so it couldn’t be used to transport soldiers.

Tantalus stopped the ignition of his pickup truck and left the parking lot. He swung his Garand over his shoulder, and he began the short walk to the West Gate. The huge car pileup blocking the Gate was gone at that point, and the road was clear. As Tantalus walked, several SUVs passed by him and through the West Gate. He waved at them as they passed. Some of the SUVs bore an “A” and then a number, and others bore a “T” and then a number. Soon, an SUV with the symbol “A1” drove past Tantalus. It continued to coast for about a hundred feet past the Captain before it came to a screeching halt by the sidewalk. Out of the SUV walked the Captain of Alpha Company, Ashcroft the Hero.

Ashcroft came jogging up to Tantalus and began walking next to him. As he did so, Ashcroft slung his Garand over his shoulder. “So, Tantalus, did you talk to the Duke?”

“I did,” Tantalus responded briefly.

“What did he say?” Ashcroft asked. At that point, they had passed by the SUV, and it began ambling along in order to keep up with the two walking men.

“Nothing that concerns you or me,” Tantalus said. “Though,” a sly smile appeared on his lips, “he did say something that I think you’ll get a kick out of. Apparently, the NPCs have started calling you and me ‘heroes.’”

“That doesn’t seem right,” Ashcroft frowned. “I’m pretty sure they still view me as a mass-murderer.”

“Have you ever heard of Thomas Carlyle?” Tantalus asked.

“How could I forget? You mentioned him whenever we talked about Napoleon,” Ashcroft said.

“The NPCs use the word ‘Hero’ in the same way that Thomas Carlyle used the phrase ‘Great Man.’ A man is a Hero because he is great, not because he is good,” Tantalus said.

“Weird,” Ashcroft rubbed his chin. “I’m not complaining, though. I’ve always wanted to be called a Hero.”

“Nice chat,” Tantalus slapped Ashcroft on the back, “but you’re needed at an airport.”

“The boys can handle it without me,” Ashcroft said, beginning to walk toward the SUV with A1 written on the side. “We’ll probably only face slight resistance. I just can’t get excited if we aren’t outnumbered ten-to-one, at least.” At the end of his sentence, Ashcroft stepped inside the SUV.

As the SUV sped away, Tantalus waved at the departing car and said with a dark look on his face, “Trust me, you’ll get your wish.”

Tantalus soon reached the interior of the gatehouse. Within were eleven Revenants Tantalus had never met before, a van with a T1 written on the side, and Redgrave leaning against the van. The unknown Revenants were talking nervously amongst themselves until Tantalus approached. Though these soldiers were nervous, they carried their weapons with obvious familiarity. All of them had achieved a rank of B or higher in Ninth Oasis.

“Soldiers,” Tantalus spoke with a voice that could be heard even over the passing cars, “you’re all here because you’ve been chosen to lead the battle-companies of the Osirian Revenant Division. Each of you is in command of a hundred battle-ready men, and that was no accident. I hereby officially grant all of you the brevet rank of Lieutenant. As far as I’m concerned, however, all of you are captains. You are in full command of your companies, and I will not challenge any orders you give. A hundred soldiers have entrusted their lives to each and every one of you. Are you prepared to bear that burden?”

“Yes, sir,” some of the company commanders responded, and others soon followed suit.

“We’re all company commanders, you don’t have to call me sir,” Tantalus responded with a wave of his hand. “You all know where you need to go. Head out!”

The eleven Revenants dispersed. Some of them saluted before they left, and Tantalus answered with an informal two-finger salute. Half of them went toward the City, and the other half went out of the City. Tantalus shouted one last sentence at their retreating forms, “And remember to get your companies out of Osiris before noon!”

After he was done speaking, Tantalus walked up to the SUV that was carrying his squad. Redgrave was standing outside of the SUV, but the remaining three members of Squad T1 were sitting within the car. Elias was sitting in the passenger seat, Grim was sitting in one of the middle seats, and Synth was in one of the back seats.

“I see you didn’t get into a car crash, Captain,” Redgrave said as Tantalus approached.

“It’s unfortunate, I know. Now you have to deal with me as a commanding officer,” Tantalus responded sarcastically. Without delay, Tantalus got into the SUV in the middle seat. A moment later, Redgrave got into the SUV as the driver.

The car started to move, and it soon passed through the portcullis of the West Gate. After passing through the cinders of burnt houses for a few seconds, the SUV pulled out into the staging area. Dozens of vehicles and hundreds of Revenants had spread out in the area immediately outside of the West Gate.

“Redgrave, do you know how the initial stage of the advance went? Did Mike Company lose any Revenants?” Tantalus asked.

“Oh yeah, I heard some of Mander’s boys talking. Apparently, they combed everything for several miles outside of the West Gate. They didn’t run into anything,” Redgrave responded.

“No Deluvians?” Tantalus asked, his worry increasing.

“Not a single Goblin,” Redgrave responded.

The SUV continued driving past the many soldiers of Mander’s battle-company. Countless vehicles filtered past the window; each one had an “M” and a number written on its side. The numbers went up to 20 to denote the squad that used the vehicle.

“When we left the City every time before this, we ran into Deluvian resistance almost immediately,” Tantalus said, pulling out a cigarette to calm his nerves. “Needless to say, this concerns me.”

“If you’re gonna smoke in the car, at least open a window,” Redgrave said.

Tantalus pressed the button next to his seat, and his window opened. “Drast,” he chanted, and the reassuring smoke hit his lungs. “Before we get to our own staging area, I want a sound-off from everyone.”

“One,” Elias muttered after a long moment. He clutched the shotgun he held between his legs more tightly as he spoke.

“Two,” Redgrave smiled.

“Three,” Grim said.

“Four,” Synth cheered. He tapped his scoped rifle twice.

“Five,” Tantalus finished.

As they drove, a silence overtook the SUV. It was about five miles to Tango Company’s first objective, and the roads leading there were thin and winding. It would take at least ten minutes to reach the staging area. In order to spend the time, Tantalus opened his leatherbound notebook to the first ten pages. Those ten pages held all of the spells Tantalus knew how to cast. Mentally, he called this portion of his notebook his “Spellbook,” but he would never say it out loud. The Spellbook was unnecessary for casting, but Tantalus liked to hold all of his spells in one place so that he would not forget which tools he had at his disposal. The following spells were in his spellbook:

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[Fire Bolt]: Sen (creates a cloud of flammable gas (-2 MP)), drast (creates a spark (-1 MP)), ignis (flings point in space (-2 MP)).

[Wind Wall]: Vento (creates wind centered on self (-3 MP)), thrush (moderately condenses elemental effect (-2 MP)).

[Wind Knife]: Vento (creates wind centered on self (-3 MP)), karth (significantly condenses elemental effect (-4 MP)).

[Lightning Bolt]: Fulgur (creates a highly electrically charged point in space (-3 MP)), nexum (connects elemental effect to another point within thirty feet (-2 MP)).

[Freeze]: Gelum (makes a point in space significantly colder (-3 MP)).

[Earth Pillar]: Terra (moves a five-foot cube of earth (-2 MP)), vivificare (triples effect of earlier incantation (x3 MP)).

[Fog Cloud]: Caligo (creates a fog-like substance (-2 MP per cubic meter of fog)).

[Create Object]: Creo (creates a solid object (-1 MP per 200 grams created), mutat (sculpts a non-living object (-1 MP per kilogram)).

[Lift Object]: Hoc mihi placet leva (lift object of one thousand pounds or less (-1 MP per second)).

[Shield]: Teneo ab omni noxa (completely coats the caster in an impenetrable barrier (-10 mana per four seconds)).

[Antidote]: Perdere int corpus (destroys a single compound within target (-5 MP at least, variable)).

Tantalus had added a few new spells to his Spellbook. He had learned the majority of his spells from Riemann, but he had learned some of the most interesting spells during his fight with the wendigo. Tantalus had also learned three spells from a book given to him by Maria Feldrast.

Technically, the [Shield] and [Lift Object] spells were rituals. The caster would be required to chant the incantation continuously for the spell to be maintained. These spells were very mana intensive, however, and both would completely drain Tantalus’s measly thirty mana within less than a minute.

One last time before they reached the train station, Tantalus opened his Menu.

Character Sheet

Name Tantalus45 Level 13 Blood Points 130/130 Mana Points 37/38 Race Revenant Fortitude 13 Strength 13 Agility 15 Wisdom 14

Attribute Modifiers: Strength Training (3), Mana Training (12)

Talents Dead Magic (s) Holy Blood Rapid Healing

Traditions Known: Source Magic, Elemental Magic

Source Elemental Antidote Earth Pillar Create Object Fire Bolt Lift Object Fog Cloud Shield Freeze Lightning Bolt Wind Knife Wind Wall

Tantalus had just finished going over his Spellbook when the SUV came to a stop. He looked outside his window to see several dozen cloaked individuals hiding in the shadow of a small cliff. One figure was lying prone at the top of the cliff in order to see over it. The figure at the top of the cliff was hiding in the shade of a boulder and looking through a pair of binoculars.

Squad T1 dismounted their vehicle, which had been parked among nineteen other similarly marked SUVs. Tantalus crouched low to the ground and looked around at the Revenants arrayed around him. Seventy soldiers from the militia had been added to their number in order to get them up to full company strength.

“Squads 1 through 6, with me,” Tantalus said at a volume just loud enough to be heard by everyone in the clearing. “Squads 7 through 20, stay back one hundred yards. Line formation.”

Squad 1 began walking around the cliff while squads 2 through 6 followed close after. The figure at the top of the cliff quickly crawled down and approached Tantalus. Under the obscuring hood was the face of FullDan.

“Captain,” FullDan whispered, “I didn’t see any contacts through the binoculars.”

“Either no one’s home or it’s an ambush,” Tantalus whispered back. “Remember my motto?”

“A lucky soldier hasn’t lived long enough,” FullDan responded quickly.

“Exactly, keep your head down,” Tantalus finished the conversation.

The six squads exited the cover of the cliff and saw a large black structure about a thousand feet away. Their target, the Osirian Railyard, was close. Slowly, ever so slowly, they approached in a line formation.

Squads in line formation moved in opposite order to stack formation. The squad leader would be in the front, and the door-knocker would be in the rear. Line formation was used when the squad was likely to engage at long distances. That way, the squad leader could more easily give commands and the door-knocker, who would be unhelpful at such a range any way, could be kept out of the way.

When the squads were less than a hundred feet away from their objective at the center of the railyard, a deafening staccato exploded out from a darkened third-floor window of the central building. Like a bird of prey descending upon a clueless rabbit, machine-gun fire descended upon the Revenants.

Immediately, one of the men from Gator’s squad fell to the ground. An instant later, dirt erupted out of the ground less than twenty feet to Tantalus’s right. The Captain was completely out of cover, and the machine-gun fire raked across the soldiers out in the open. Tantalus had less than three seconds to react before the line of molten death would reach him.

“Terra!” Tantalus frantically chanted, and a mound of earth rose up out of the ground. He dived prone as several arcing lines of molten lead passed over his head. Some of the bullets struck the dirt but did not penetrate through the clump of magically shifted earth. The bullets sounded like loud, angry wasps as they struck the dirt.

Tantalus turned around to see that Elias and Synth had fallen to the ground. Blood had already started to pool beneath their prone bodies.

“Terra vivificare!” Tantalus chanted. A fifteen-foot-long wall of dirt sprang up from the ground and blocked the two Revenants from Tantalus’s view. He only hoped that they had the wherewithal to heal themselves before they went into shock.

The Captain of the West Gate closed his eyes and opened his ears. He listened for the telltale sound of incoming fire. He could hear the zipping sound of bullets flying through the air at high speed and burying themselves in the dirt or unsuspecting bodies. Tantalus could hear as the sound of angry wasps grew quieter, and the angle of fire turned away from his position.

Taking a few terrified breaths to steady his aim and prepare for death, Tantalus jumped out of cover and leveled the sights of his semi-automatic rifle on the source of the gunfire. If the shooter was still aiming at his cover, waiting for him to stick his head out, he would be killed. Tantalus moved anyway; he had no choice. The barrel of a stationary machine gun was just barely sticking out of a darkened window, but Tantalus could not see anything within the window.

Tantalus’s rifle spat two shots into the window, and he heard the sound of bullets striking steel. A faceplate was blocking his shot. Tantalus gritted his teeth and steadied his rifle against the conjured wall of earth. He couldn’t hit his target’s head at the current angle, but he would be able to hit the machine gun’s operator if the machine gun was aimed directly at him.

Sweat dripped from Tantalus’s forehead, and his breathing became ragged as the machine gun slowly turned. The arc of the machine gun got closer and closer and closer, but Tantalus didn’t budge. Then, as a bullet whizzed by less than a foot away from Tantalus’s right shoulder, he saw it, a shade of green against a black backdrop.

He pulled the trigger, his rifle jerked against his shoulder, and the Goblin’s head exploded.

In its death spasm, the goblin pulled down on the machine gun. The bullet that would have struck Tantalus directly in the heart instead flew three feet over his head.

Tantalus collapsed to the ground as the machine gun fire stopped. He hadn’t yet caught his breath when he saw Redgrave come sprinting past his location. When he stuck his head out from cover, more than a dozen of his soldiers were charging toward the main railyard building.

A brief exchange of gunfire sounded from inside the main building, but it went silent after a few seconds. Tantalus crouched down low and cautiously walked over to where Elias and Synth had fallen.

As Tantalus peeked past the dirt mound he had conjured, he saw the barrel of a pistol rise up to meet him. Elias was leaning against the mound with one hand on his gun and the other on his abdomen. Tantalus saw as a tangle of intestines snaked their way back inside of Elias’s stomach. Beside him was Synth who slowly raised his body up to a sitting position. Synth had been hit in the left arm and thigh.

“What a shame,” Elias said, lowering his gun, “you didn’t get hit.”

Tantalus collapsed against the conjured mound of dirt. Within that damaged valley, surrounded by the moans of dying men, he laughed.