Frontier, Fort Whitestone.

Everyone in the Expedition Force was very busy since early morning. Even with only one sun and one moon during the winter season, which significantly shortened the daylight, they lit up the dark morning with torches and barrels of gasoline mixed in with wood spread out in the fort. Having already seen the three Summer sun and three summer moon each go down to two each during Autumn, everyone already had expectations of the long winter nights.

Conducting final load up and checks, the only thing they could not complete was the roofs for the wagons the rescued civilians would be using. The men would have to finish them during their travel.

"What the hell is this?" Spike demanded as he was brought over to load up his gears and extra weapons on a specially made wagon without a top. It had shields attached to the side of the wagon like the Viking ship on cartoons. And sandbags between the two reinforced wooden sides. It also had four wooden pillars on each corner with sturdy beams connected to the pillars. And it was the only wagon with four heavy warhorses assigned to pull all the extra weights.

"Err well, sir. Since your feet and ankles will be in recovery for a while, Lieutenant Davis thought you should slowly get used to riding again, in case you accidentally fall off your horse. And Captain Allen didn't want to put you inside of the Mark VIII. He said he wanted you to be able to get some kills from random targets of opportunities. So it was a bit of compromise, sir. That's why the side walls are high enough for you to shoot while kneeling, and the beams are high enough to support your M99 for you to shot from standing position. Especially when you face forward, so you don't accidentally shoot the horses pulling your wagon, sir." Sergeant Henley from the cavalry platoon politely informed, trying not to damage Spikes pride too much.

Spike cursed in silence as he knew it's his fault. A single fuck up, and it's a chain reaction of pain.

Heavily sighing in defeat. "Fine. Fine. I get it. Wait!" Spike said slowly as if figuring something out. "How come my wagon is so empty? What about the materials to build a roof over me like the other wagons?" Spike demanded an answer.

"Major Jung said that you didn't need one, sir. He said that your S3 armor has an internal heater and that you'll know how to keep yourself warm for the duration, sir." Sergeant Henley quickly answered to pass the blame up the chain of command as he looked at Spike's Armor enviously with his freezing face in the early winter morning.

Noticing the sergeants look, feeling somewhat guilty, Spike quickly changed the subject. "Alright. Fine. So what's with the hold up on the marching order? Where is Captain Allen?"

"The Captain went ahead with the Major, sir. He said they needed to have a chat with the Marquess and put Lieutenant Moore in charge, sir."

"Right. Ok. I guess…" looking at his wagon as he untied his warhorse on it. "I'll be riding the horse, for now, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir."

There was no way in hell he was going to ride in on this Viking ship looking wagon to give a speech. Spike's manly pride couldn't take it.

Shortly after, 1st Lieutenant Moore took command of the convoy, and then they slowly marched towards the town. As the crossroad to take the caravan up north was at the town, the expedition had to move through the town and then head up north. So the plan was for Spike to make a public speech to declare Phoenixian's intent for the frontier to reassure the people. Then move out immediately after.

To be seen and to inspire the confidence of the people, surrounded by his bodyguards, Spike rode at the front of the marching order. As the area was considered safe in friendly territory and full armor, only a team of Demi-humans hunters were screening the march to the town.

As the marching formation slowly moved to Daldia on a snow-covered road, Spike reflected upon the current situation. Mostly about himself and what he needed to do. Having reliable and knowledgeable officers and NCOs running the show, Spike had little to worry about. However, he still wasn't sure what he wanted for himself. He didn't like the prospect of only killing inhumanoids and monsters for the rest of his life in this world. It would grow stale eventually. Spike understood the summoned souls' desire to be freed from the void, and he understood the local frontier folks only wanted security and freedom to live their lives. For now, even though he was okay with his job to hunt, he could not imagine doing this until he buys the farm himself and finally moves on. And thinking about the vast number of souls in the void, as he was their only way out, weighed heavily on him.

The night before, he had a very candid talk with Major Jung when Spike spoke his worries about leaving for a mission longer than a week away. But the Major explicitly explained the need to take this calculated risk, including paying the price if need be for their long term plan to be successful. Even if it meant sacrificing some lives in the short run, Spike felt unhappy about that and immediately order the Major to cross-train two platoons. Two platoons from Alpha and Bravo Company each, to operate the Mark VIII, which added twenty more Mark VIII, leaving two spares. Instead of the four Major had planned for. That cost him 250 RP. And with all the replacement summons left him with 2304.3 RP.

In some ways, he felt resentful to the men. It's all fine for them to buy the farm once they are freed from the void. But he is stuck in this world. With losing most of the original Freelance platoon, even knowing that some of them have finally moved on, Spike felt sad and left behind.

Spike hated the fact that Major valued Resource Point more than the lives of the men, even if it's temporary while they are going through growing pains. He understood the Major's intent to prepare for the port and the airplane to get a better look at the territory from the air come next year. But it would have to wait until they finally get around to freeing up civilian workforce from building the housings and the wall. Plus, the winter weather needs to end before they can clear up an airstrip. There were even talks of sending up balloons. But that was quickly shot down as it was a double-edged sword. Just as they could see the surrounding area, everything in the vast areas would be able to pin down their location. And that was the last thing they wanted right now. If anything, they were hoping to avoid any battles until the walls were up.

While Spike was lost in his thoughts, the expedition company slowly moved up to the southern gate.

As they approached the gate, the sounds of hooting and shouting got louder than the Mark VIII engines alerting Spike to a large group of people on the other side of the gate.

Spike slowly rode his horse up to the gate, wondering what the commotion was all about it. As he entered the gate, the civilians were looking on with interest to the right side. Amid this attraction, he saw three women trying to violently tear each other apart as several Phoenixian men held their arms around their waist to hold them back. And in the middle of this mess, Captain Allen was busy trying to break up the catfight.

One of the Phoenixian men noticing Spike and his bodyguards on horseback coming through the gate and immediately shouted, "Attention!" The voice was so loud and thundering over the hooting and shouting that it even startled Spike for a moment.

"Commander present!" He added, causing everyone to freeze and look over to Spike. Even the three angry women became startled and froze in their spot.

Seeing Spike halt, Lieutenant Moore gave a hand signal for the march to halt.

Looking at the mess. "The hell's going on here?" Spike asked with a frown on his face. He felt somewhat irritated from the minor distraction breaking his train of thought.

Captain Allen stepped up and replied with a fed-up expression. "Morning, sir. I came up to the gate to wait for the convoy. But my women got into a family dispute. These are my women, sir." He said as he gestured with his hand to the three women behind him.

Somehow, Spike wasn't surprised by this. He looked over at the three women and noticed that all three were incredibly attractive. All three looked to be in the late teens to maybe early twenties wrapped up in furs to keep warm. Two of them had olive skin color with a brunette and light brown color hair, with both having bright blue eyes. The third one had a lighter skin tone with red curly hair with green eyes. Besides their beauty, the most striking part was their eyes. If Spike didn't know any better, he could have sworn that their eyes had a touch of instability leaning towards crazed eyes. Which caused Spike to raise one of his eyebrows in surprise as the crazed women looked back at Spike, making eye contact while their heads lowered.

Riiiight! Harems are bad! Serves you right, you damn Captain Harem. You reap what you sow. Spike strongly thought as he processed the scene in front of him. With the most commanding poster, he could summon up while trying to look as dignified as possible. "Well, get it together, Captain. We have people to save in the other settlements." Then quickly controlled his horse forward, signaling the march to continue to the center. He wanted to get the hell away from this drama as soon as possible.

Except for the open path made for the march, many people were clustering around the center as everyone there was expecting Spike to make a speech. As he approached the center, Major Jung and Marquess Daldia came out to greet him.

Soldiers in the vicinity saluted, and Major Jung standing next to the Marquess Daldia hand signaled to Spike, indicating where he should be in front of the mass sitting on his warhorse to give his speech.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Coming up next to both men and after exchanging brief greetings. "Is this all the people? I expected more." Spike asked as he scanned the mass that filled the center, mostly made up of women. On the north side of the center, he saw Rikko with her assigned horse. And next to her were her two children standing in front of her as she had her arms around them.

"Only the nonessential, sir. The defensive constructions need to be worked nonstop. This much is enough to pass your word." Major Jung informed.

"I suppose your right." Spike understood the Major's meaning from his tone. Women loved to gossip, and they'll do a thorough job of spreading the words from his speech. "Understood. Let's do this. Sooner we move out soon. We can save lives." Then Spike put on his helmet in front of the mass and cracked up his external micro-speaker initially designed to communicate with others during combats that were non-unit members, without having to take off their helmet in battle.

"You all listen up." Which immediately cause the massed to shout out in astonishment from the micro speaker. "Settle down, everyone!" Spike shout out to get the people to calm down. Now wasn't the time to let people rampantly spread more rumors. "There are too many unfounded gossips running around about us, Phoenixians. So let me assure you all right now. We are not leaving. We are staying right here. We've already paid in blood for these lands. You all need to stop spreading these garbage rumors about us disappearing. This land belongs to the Phoenixians, and you are all members of Phoenixians now. And yes, we have secrets, but it's not for the commoners to know. They are secrets for a reason, and if you know it, then our enemies will eventually know it too. So stop worrying about things you can't do anything about and do the things that you can by building your self a future here. We will never ask anyone of you to fight for us. So you do not need to worry about being conscripted." Then with all the commanding presence, Spike could muster up. "We are taking all the frontier for ourselves. We have plans for this land. With that intent, we are saving as many frontier people we can reach out too. My greatest wish is for you all to prosper and multiply as there aren't enough humans or Demi-humans to populate the land."

Then Spike noticed the few demi-humans still in slave collars, which reminded him of what Rikko asked of him. Right now, it gave him a spirit of the moment to understanding that he shouldn't be so uninvolved as the leader because inaction and indecisiveness could hurt in the long run.

"Effective immediately, all demi-human slaves will be turned over to the state. Which, enhance forth, they will join the scout group. Based on their contributions and achievement, hopefully, soon, they will all be freed. Marquess! Properly compensate for the owner as needed." Spike commanded. Then without even giving the mass time to react. "Formation! March!" Spike shouted out his command as he gave a hand signal to move out for the Machines, men, and horses.

Spike moved to the side next to the Major and Marquess. Giving the last part of the speech fired him. Maybe it was the conquest of the frontier that gave the manly man kind of feeling or the simple understanding that he had the power to just changed the lives of all the enslaved Demi-humans.

After observing the Mark VIII pass him, Spike took off his helmet to exchange a look with both men. Spike calmly exchanged a look of determination and seriousness, which brought a massive smile to the Major's face. As for the Marquess, he also showed a pleased expression with a touch of excitement after the short speech. Then Spike nodded to both men and put his helmet back on.

Major Jung was pleased to see Spike make a long term critical decision about the Demi-human slaves. In truth, he had already discussed with Hunt Master Maliki about utilizing the slave Demi-humans. But disappointingly, he was informed that it would take more than a few years to use them as they had grown up and lived under captivity without the opportunity to develop their skillset. They would have to be adequately seasoned like the other active hunters even if they have their natural ability. Therefore, Major Jung left it alone, as they currently didn't have enough resources to train them as the Demi-human hunters were all busy. Plus, Captain Allen's Expedition brought more Demi-humans with each of his return mission. But more importantly, he left this decision for Spike to make on his own accord without input from the officers. Major understood that making too many decisions for Spike would impede his growth, and seeing Spike take charge greatly pleased him.

As for Marquess Daldia, just hearing Spike's public declaration to take all the frontier brought great relief to his troubled heart and lifted much of his stress. As long as the current chaos in the lands did not crush the Phoenixians, he believed that the frontier people have a definite hope for the future.

Looking down from his horse. "I'll leave it to you to work out the details if there needs to be compensation for the Demi-human slaves, Marquess." Spike reiterated his command.

"Your command will be done, my lord!" Marquess said he respectfully bowed.

Then Spike inserted himself in the middle of the marching formation, followed by his first platoon. There was no need for any words. It was simply a long term mission and not a goodby. And as for the newly freed and recruited demi-humans. Spike was sure that between Hunt Master Maliki and Captain Wraeth, they would figure something out with the Marquess.

As for the compensation, these people were already receiving so much from the Phoenixians that Spike wasn't sure if it was needed. He felt that everyone should do what they can to make it through these difficult times together.

As Spike and his bodyguards slowly moved passed Rikko, she hugged her children and kissed them on their cheeks. Then quickly joined Spikes formation. Spike couldn't help but notice her love for her two offsprings. He thought those two kids sure won the mom lottery. Spike played with the idea of letting her stay in Daldia to be the den mother to all the other orphan Demi-human children. But having understood their nature since arriving in the frontier, he knew that it would only dishonor and disrespect their way of life. Especially when they need more active scouts. It truly takes a village to raise a child, Spike thought.

As the rearguard finally moved to pass the northern gate, Captain Allen ran his horse to join Spike.

Shaking his head as the Captain brought his horse next to Spike. "You take care of your family problem, Captain?"

"Sorry about that, sir. That was a rather unmilitary manner like scene." Captain Allen said in an apologetic tone.

"Well. Please don't make it a habit." Spike said as he wondered if the Captain was a masochist in choosing three crazy women at the same time. "In any case. I've read your mission reports, so I know the MO, so anything new for this mission?"

"I do, sir. As you know, I have the Demi-humans screen our forward movement with two to three hundred meters lead. They're all equipped with different color flares. White for the incoming enemy, red for when they need help. Then during the return trip, with the extra Demi-humans we pick up, I have teams of our infantry attached to one of the Demi-humans to learn tracking skills. Same for our flanks, except the range is about one to two hundred meters pending terrain. I know the distance is a bit high, but the engine sound from the Mark VIII impair their hearing ability. But with you in the forward position in the march. I've decided only to send out those Demi-humans with exceptional sight and smell forward and those with hearing ability to flank and serve as rear scouts. This way, I hope for you to score some points from targets of opportunity, sir. I'm sure with your 50 Cal. bullets. You shouldn't have any problems. So this time You'll be in the lead, and the Mark VIII will be about 20 meters behind you to give you support in case something bigger than what your M99 can deal with shows up. Not to mention the surviving members of your first platoon standing guard in case of shit happens."

"Yeah. That's true about my under-strength platoon." Spike replied in a low ton. Then he thought about the current composition and task of Lieutenant Davis' Cavalry Platoon that was tasked to drive the wagon and Lieutenant Sheldon's Platoon having to go through an OJT of riding horses.

For this mission, it was decided not to take any volunteer wagoners as they needed the extra workforce for the defensive constructions for the town. They would train any frontier survivors to the task as they join the rescue convoy. As for Lieutenant Sheldon and his infantry platoon, they never had the chance to learn how to ride a horse as they were always sent out to rescue missions since they were summoned. Fortunately for them, only the warhorses that were trained to the gunfire sounds were given to them.

"Also, I've taken Lieutenant Steiner's and three of his flame throwers with us. With heavy snowfall, we don't have to worry about forest fire, so we plan to burn as many trees and dried up thickets of vines as possible next to the road. Since we plan to take all these lands, we want to slow down the forest from reclaiming the roads that we plan to use. Having clear some visibility should allow us to take less casualty when the plant growth returns. Also, sometimes, we just can't put enough bullets in time with some of the larger, faster beasts and monsters when they charge our formation. And since we have you with us, and we don't have to worry about fuel consumption for the flamethrowers, it's a good opportunity to clear out the vegetations for better visibility." Captain Allen chuckled.

"I won't say anything about you treating me like a gas station Captain," Spike complained. "But, wouldn't the fire from the road brings attention to our location?"

Coughing as if clearing his throat as he holds back a laugh. "Sorry, sir. Didn't mean for you to take it the wrong way. It was just my way of expressing how happy we are that you are with us." Captain Allen said solemnly. "As for the fire. We won't start until we pass Farango. Our secondary object is also to attract any nearby inhumanoids and monsters to us. Major was very clear about giving you maximum opportunities to score without putting too much risk to you, sir. And this is a good opportunity. In any case, we don't expect much encounters until we go pass Tri and Banorg town. After multiple trips back and forth, we pretty much cleared out the area for now. Also, with you joining us sir, we will be traveling much faster as the loads are much lighter without having to carry all the supplies needed for the entire trip."

"That's good. Faster we travel, the faster we can save some lives." Spike said with satisfaction in his tone.

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Castle Grannor, Myojhuk Barony.

With all the armors and weapons taken from Antonok and Morrogain's territory, the newest trainees were finally getting fitted with their long-awaited gears. Day by day, more fighters were being sent to increase Lord Caldrun's force to eventually lay active siege to Shator Keep before the Stovkow's expected reinforcement in Spring.

Shortly after hot breakfast, Sir Kajiak come out to inspect the reinforcement being sent to Steward Caldron only to notice Mister Tisco and few of his bodyguards were also preparing to set off to the frontier.

With an amused look on his face, Sir Kajiak walked up to Mister Tisco as he loaded up his travel supplies. "Moving out soo soon!" he commented.

"There is no time like now when it comes to saving the skin off my neck." Mister Tisco declared a bit emotionally has he retorted to Sir Kajiak's mocking look. "The late Baron should be so lucky to have men like you to follow his goal even after his death." Walking up to him as to shake his hand. "In case we don't meet again, I hope you and all your men find a luckier Lord to serve if you survive the battles in the east and escape to the southeast. Should you make it to the city-states, remember the names of my contacts. They won't treat you wrong if you mention my name."

Smiling back. "I'll do that if I live to get there." Sir Kajiak pleasingly replied. Realistically, he knew that even if they destroy Shator Keep, with Count Morrogain controlling the many rivers cutting into the east, the Stovkow reinforcement will finish the surviving troops without Baron Myojhuk powerful magic. And any survivers would be sent to the mines.