Eastland, TX
It took nearly the entire day for Armistice to approach the men. Danny was waiting out every second. With his father gone to Harehill, a disappearance that had gone entirely unnoticed by everyone with so many people in town, Danny was alone. The townsfolk had become scared and spiteful. Danny had taken the blame for the situation, whether or not that was fair was far past everyone’s minds. There were 3 town leaders at the beginning. Mayor Woodford had been shipped off to a slave camp. Pastor Gabriel had left. Danny was all that remained in Harehill. He was the last man to take the hatred and blame from the surviving locals of the town.
Armistice had walked out onto a rapidly constructed platform in the middle of Eastland. The streets were packed shoulder to shoulder by more than 800 soldiers of the Red Liberty. Each one had at least 4 active skills at their disposal. Danny figured that that was equivalent to 3,200 lethal weapons. The pure show of force was incredible. Armistice was an army all by himself. The black and crimson armor gave off an intimidating aura with every step. Danny had heard that he had never shown his face. Dr. Riley informed Dan that that was an obvious lie, but Armistice had been careful to not show his face to anyone unimportant.
His name in and of itself was questionable. The leaderboards only displayed player’s real names. Even King Perseus was just Percy on the leaderboard. The only name that looked like a fictional call sign was that of Armistice. Dan had never met a kid named Armistice. It was almost certainly a fake. His questions were answered by Riley a short time earlier. The Doctor informed him that, a month into the start, Armistice found a “naming stone” from a rare drop off an elite. He was able to change his name in the game system. Riley compared it to a phoenix rising from the ashes. Apparently, Armistice wasn’t always a warlord. Danny hadn’t been long enough to know that for certain, but Riley was adamant in the redeeming qualities of his liege.
The High Lord himself stood on the wooden platform and spoke with a booming voice. “Greetings, soldiers of the empire!” A raucous applause followed his words.
“It’s been a long time since every man in the regular force has been together. I’m glad to see the growth that has taken place amongst your ranks. Many of you are from Lubbock. I am glad to have been the one to save you from the fate that other cities fell too. The rest come from many places. Some from small villages in the middle of nowhere, where your names were as good as ghosts. Some have come from large towns and cities where you escaped in the nick of time. All of you have one thing in common. You are all killers.” The applause grew louder.
Danny knew from Mayor Woodford’s stories at dinner the affect that military culture could have on the minds of young people. That was one thing Danny noticed. A lot of these ‘soldiers’ were young. Many of them looked like they would be in college right now. It was an odd sight to see. These soldiers seemed almost kind on a day-to-day basis. The last few weeks of hosting 2nd Battalion had been rough, but eye opening to the human nature of the soldiers. The roaring whoops and cheers were slowly changing his mind on that point.
“You all may be wondering…why? Why march 200 miles to a patch of field and dirt to fight some useless excuses for rebels?” The laughs echoed through the crowd. “Hell, many of them are murders who have killed your friends and family...your brothers and sisters. Is that reason enough? Maybe. Still, why risk more? Why risk our immortal lives to handle a rag tag band of miscreants? I’ll tell you...” Armistice leaned forward on the podium. His armor clanked at every movement.
“We seek one thing. We seek safety. We seek protection. Our three core tenants have followed us from the beginning. The pursuit of happiness…life…and liberty. In order to secure that liberty, we have to be willing to fight for it. Give me liberty…” Armistice trailed off and allowed the crowd to echo the answer with a resounding thunder.
“OR GIVE ME DEATH!”
“That death is a cost. The spilled bloodshed…that is a cost. The cost of Liberty is blood. The cost of Liberty is red. We are the recipients of those who have given their lives already for our safety. We are those who live in liberty earned through blood. We are the Red Liberty.”
The cheers sounded through the town as the High Lord continued. “Those in the North have slain hundreds of our own!”
Dan knew the numbers were exaggerated, but that wasn’t the point.
“The rabbit-dwellers seek to destroy our values. They seek to advance. They seek to pursue. If we back down now, how many more hundreds will they kill? Those who do not want liberty….those who do not want life…they are not just a threat to themselves and those around them. They are a threat to you. They are a threat to your families…your children. We have one goal and only one. We MUST defend our home. We cannot allow these terrorists…yes…I do not use that word lightly…we cannot allow these terrorists to destroy what we have worked so hard to build. We must stand now. We must strike now. We are the Red Liberty…and we will prevail!”
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Harehill, Harehill Commonwealth
I spent the morning sitting in the small garden outside of the town hall. Larry’s son Charlie had walked up and thrown me a ball. I threw it back and he ran off. Part of me regretted every decision I had made up until now. Who knows where that kid would be right now without me? He would probably be in a hell of a lot less danger than he was now.
I nipped at a sandwich one of the townsfolk had made and sat back as I looked at the town. The buildings were slowly moving from medieval farm village type structures to late-medieval brick and mortar buildings. I doubted that the system was going to allow us to have sci-fi mag-lev traveling Rabbitfolk, but the increase in technology was noticable and made out lives that much easier.
I walked towards the warehouse meeting hall and gave a nod to the group of people already there. The council was there. Theresa, Nick, Cain, and Graham sat patiently. Nick was messing with something on his fingernail and Graham was busy with another cigar. Cain and Theresa were talking quietly to each other. Additionally, Lincoln, Jackson, Katrina, Elsa, Bailey, and a few of the other wolf-riders and Commonwealth fighters were there as well.
“Morning, everyone.” I gave a half-hearted wave.
“Morning, J.” Graham gave a smile.
“So…Katrina and Gabriel scouted out Eastland this morning. They’re gearing up and will head up here tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big fight. All of the guard-rabbits have arrived and are taking orders from Tallop. Anyone have any last minute ideas?”
“Why aren’t we mining the roads again?” Jackson asked.
“It won’t work. They’ll be watching for it.”
Lincoln looked around the room for a second. “Why don’t we mine the field?”
The entire room turned slightly towards him. I was a bit surprised at the suggestion. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “What do you mean?”
“We mine the field. When they arrive…we set it off.”
Graham and Nick looked at each other. Nick looked back at me. “If we set it off before anyone goes out to fight…we’ll do some damage.”
I nodded, writing it down on the white board behind me. “Okay. Mine the field. Anything else?”
Lincoln raised his hand again. “I was thinking that me and Hunters should be in the treeline before they arrive. When they’re focused on killing all of you guys…we’ll swoop in from behind.”
I agreed and wrote that down as well. “How many fighters Level 15 or higher do we have?”
Nick answered. “14. We have 22 if you want to count the 10-15s.”
“Who are the 14?”
“You, Cain, Theresa, Graham, Me, Jackson, Elsa, Bailey, four from Whispercreek, and two new guys that ran into Junktail Village a few weeks ago.”
I nodded. With 7 villages, we essentially had 7 nets to capture any wandering lost souls and bring them into the fold. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. “I don’t want anyone under 15 on the melee line. They won’t be helpful. Have them in the town hall with the rest of the non-combatants. Tell them to take orders from Larry.”
Nick gave a nod. He had slowly become the lead when it came to new combatants. “Got it. What about ranged?”
I shrugged. “Damage is damage. Those on the wall are going to be safer than those on the line anyways.”
Nick nodded. “Got it. Are you going to be on the wall?”
My lips tensed up along with the rest of the room.
“I meant…uhm…hell, J. I meant who are they taking orders from?”
“They’re taking orders from you, Nick. I’m on the line.”
“Got it.”
Did it make a whole lot of sense to have someone with no armor and no physical melee skills on the front line? Not at all. Still, it’s not like I had much of a choice after that. Besides, maybe the fact that I would be on the line would help somehow.
“So…we’ve all got the plan?”
Jackson raised his hand. “Uhm…what’s…what’s the plan…exactly?”
He had a point. It wasn’t much of a plan. Still, what type of plan could a town under siege really have? “When they arrive, I’ll ride out to meet Armistice with Graham. We’ll come back. Nick sets off the mines. Then the melee combatants and guard-rabbits head out the gate along with myself. We’ll try to keep them occupied while the healers keep us alive and the ranged damage pick them off. While they’re distracted, Lincoln and the cavalry will ride in...just like before.”
Theresa frowned. “Is that going to be enough for 800 people who outlevel us?”
I gave a look to Graham. He gave me a nod. “Yes. Yes it is.” I had to display some level of confidence in us. This wasn’t a suicide mission. This was a fight we had to win.
Following the meeting, we started to plant the mines. Everyone spent most of the gold they had on the market for either on gear for the fight or on explosives. We spent what little was left in the guild reserve after the first set of mines to purchase more for the field. The only things available were small explosive charges and sticks of dynamite. I wasn’t sure where you looted these things, but I knew there was a [Explosive Crafting] Skill.
As we laid out the mines, I laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Our army of less than 30 human players and 50 rabbits was outnumbered more than 10 to 1. This was one of those moments that, if successful, would go down in our history as the major battle for our independence. If we weren’t successful, we wouldn’t have a history to write down the defeat in. We all expected the Liberty to give us no quarter, and we all were set to fight like it. At least, I hoped we were.
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Albany, TX
“Are….tunnels…..ready?” Tikan looked over at his Termites. They all clicked in agreement.
“Good…..good….”