Micky returned from his info gathering. There wasn’t much he needed to do in the current battle anyway. It was all forested fighting in quick engagements. Funnily enough the number of rankers was actually hurting the opponents. This was because it forced the troops to gather around the rankers causing points of contention. Micky’s units didn’t travel with the rankers as much though. Instead they simply ran interference for the rankers causing one side or the other to evade capture or be captured by it.

It was ironic that the enemy was very much stuck in its ways and formations then. It was the same reason the legate was having so much trouble with the battlefield earlier. Now it was they that were outmaneuvered by newer tactics. Granted the Stone Cut General of the south east passage was very much stuck in his ways. The woman had been sticking to her tactics going on 300 years now. No less than 5 times had a new general been sent in to replace her with newer more modern tactics. Following which she would then have to clean up the mess using the ‘outdated’ tactics.

But today was not yesterday, and tomorrow is too far away for a common soldier like Micky. So he focused on the know. And the know was a growing headache in solider recruitment. Particularly rankers from the enemy side. None had been as… insistent as that one lady, however, they all seemed fairly eager to switch sides. Micky didn’t trust it. But that wasn’t for him to decide. They would mostly be sent to the baron or the count or other people that could control them.

Micky was content to just run around untethered as it were. After securing supplies for his camp, and ‘entertainment’ for the boys and girls under the trifecta he had more pressing matters to attend too… politics.

A vast majority of the nobles faction was being harassed by the remaining enemy forces. Now the enemy supplies were dwindling but they simply needed to extend that by raiding the supply runs of the allied forces. This was a major problem and flaw in this tactic. It gave Micky time to wheel and deal though. He was currently trying to set up a council again. However this time he wouldn’t be a figurehead puppet, but the advisory council. No need to give up too much power. He would then split the many micro factions into a few smaller leadership entities. This would spread out the power base and allow him much firmer control. To do this he promised everybody and their siblings a seat on the council. Which he totally had the power to do now…

Obviously he gave Maymay a seat as well. In addition he earned brownie points as he wasn’t the only used person left out. The Baron was technically in charge. So by using Micky’s name and the weight of the count it was snubbing the baron and moving counterintuitively to the count’s wishes. This meant it was snubbing the count, a very dangerous proposition for Micky to be in. But Micky was going to reinstate the baron’s chosen representative. This would give Micky the proper authority to act as a shadow puppeteer. He would be the backup and the voice of the count. It meant that he was lofty and away from politics but also able to call on anybody or thing he wished. It was going to be so awesome.

Micky just had to garner support and the proper support. This would be a problem if Prin wasn’t such a good drinking slut. She would proceed to drink them under the table, force them into agreeing into unfavorable terms, and probably go home with somebody… Just not somebody from the reps and instead some poor salor that doesn’t realise he just cuckold everybody above his paygrade…

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Micky looked over the maps again. His new and improved staff was a testament to how useful and important this was to him. He had already sent the report up the food chain but he wanted to make sure there was nothing that he missed. It would be good if he could eek out something good, or a favor.

The battle itself was over. The legat was now gathering a far larger force to ‘take back what is rightfully ours’. Micky wasn’t too sure how that worked since to his knowledge that kingdom had never been theirs and vice versa. But Micky supposed they all needed justification.

There was something more interesting about all of this though. Micky had met his first tribe in the forests. It was a people called the Murloc, and they were a fish like frog-ish warrior race. The females were a much higher rank than the males at birth. Actually the average female was one and a half Micky’s height and the queen was easily double, if not more. While the males barely came up to his knees.

In addition they were known cannibals, but that was only towards the males. This was probably because the males were dumber then intelligent dungeon bricks. They could basically only wave sticks around in war. However, they could reproduce fast. As in fast enough to destroy the environment and cause famine. So they were more than happy to join the war on his side. It also helped that they were already invested in marine work and would add another vector to his battle tactics. Not to mention that they could easily create a massive armor capable of matching a goblin horde. It brought a shiver that was cold and also slightly exciting down Micky’s spine. He couldn’t wait to deploy this inexhaustible resource.

Negotiations went smoothly. Afterall they had a hard time even feeding themselves, and the males were basically useless walking ballsachs for the girls. If they could sacrifice a few males that were doing nothing all day and be rewarded for it? The Queen was all for it. In fact she brought in more queens just to make a council increase their cut.

In addition he was also able to enlist the help of a furry kobold race. They were actually quite nice and friendly and the proper greeting between each other was a head scratch, or if you were feeling particularly intimate, a scratch behind the ear. Unlike their monster cousins these were very friendly, mildly docile, and fiercely loyal. Their entire tribe would die on the battlefield to the last pup for a tribe ‘friend’ or a [Tribe Friend]. Of which Micky apparently became rather quickly, much to his joy. He loved his new [Title] as well as his new allies. These tribale races would make for a great addition to fill out his own soldiers. They also helped turned the tides of battle from stalling tactics to aggressive action.

Micky was aware that the legate couldn’t simply watch from his new seat of power. Eventually he would have to do something about his backyard. Thus it was a waiting game. The legate was trying to replace the units with his own to strengthen the army, and more importantly, strengthen his hold over the army. On the other had if he waited too long then a lot of very bad things for the legate would happen… possibly the entire army.

So that’s what they did, kinda. Many other commanders were doing similarly to Micky himself in collecting information. They would purchase it from the ‘escorts’ who ‘worked’ for their information, which they soon brokered. Just another reason to avoid those women, they were an all new kinds of dangerous. And even Micky knew that the information business was a very dangerous one to be in.

As for the rest of the battle, the legate had all of the siege equipment dismantled. Though even he wasn’t dumb enough to simply destroy it all, he wasn’t about to use it either. On the other hand, he was dismantling his little for, that prize and trophy he just gained. Micky just shook his head at this knews. All that work for nothing really. And it wasn’t even a real victory either. There was definitely no celebrations going around, that was for sure.

Micky kind of wondered what was going on back home in places he couldn’t see or hear about. How the kids were doing, and how the gang was… But that was nothing Micky could really do anything about.