“Greetings, Resilient Spellwrangler,” said Thorebourne as the man climbed the wooden stairs to the side of the inner courtyard.
He had arrived early, to avoid giving the impression he wasn’t ready. Jonas, Alton and Jonathan had been on the balcony, drinking hot tea from the breakfast, and watching the courtyard where a handful of Professionals had already come. The gate opened again, admitting a new pair who looked around, trying to figure out the High Labyrinth Office’s layout.
“And a good day to you, Explicit Observer,” Jonas replied.
“Want some breakfast?” Alton asked.
“I’m always prepared. Got mine an hour ago.”
“So it’s the great day?”
“Not yet. But I have the day and schedule. It will be announced right there, but it’s in two weeks, not one.”
“I wasn’t aware it was next week,” Jonas said.
“Well, I supposed nobody was. The War Office wants everything aligned perfectly. So, when things go wrong, the offensive isn’t crippled because too much depends on everything else being successful.”
He turned toward the Calculating Guardian.
“By the way, Gilbert. Found your new secret power yet?”
Jonathan shrugged.
“Not a hint so far. Whatever it is, it’s obscure or requires specific circumstances to manifest. It’s certainly not a free Core or something.”
“You expected a free Core?”
“Well, fighting a Legend guarantees you a Core, but that assumes you are fighting a Legend. When we started, we got gear from minions, even if they never yield any form of equipment normally. So why not have a Core come from any final guardian of a lair, without it being a major one? But no, once we stopped getting jewellery, no new item.”
“Well, I have confidence you’ll find out. I would have loved getting early gear like that, makes your progression so much easier. Meanwhile, where’s your general manager? I want to see if everything has arrived.”
Jonas pointed to an entrance on the other balcony. Thorebourne acknowledged and went down, crossing the court. The three kept sipping the tea, watching as the gates opened, admitting more Professionals in ones, twos or threes.
“I had not realized there would be that many,” Alton said.
“Me neither. Even with full teams being enabled every nineteen days,” Jonas noted.
“There is also the tier four entrance.”
“This is for the high tier teams, and I think those are all on the main assault, not here.”
Thorebourne came out of the main office, accompanied by Fleming, the manager who gestured toward the company’s store. Jonas noted the acknowledgement from the Observer, who went around the balcony, finally stopping in front. The three came around and joined him.
“You’re good?”
“I’m good. All set. All we need is everyone.”
He pulled the pocket watch from his side, checking the time.
“Hopefully, we don’t get many people late. For many, so much time in the Labyrinth makes them lose track of time, even if they were supposed to be back early.”
“We’ve seen that happen,” Jonas said.
“Lost time is lost time. I got that drilled early as a Professional, by my bosses at the Company.”
“Really?”
“I was doing region clean-up for the Royal Company. Two nearly full tier-four zones for us six. We had the regeneration time for the lairs down to a science. We went in, smashed everything, got out, on to the next lair with crystals while the harvesting teams went in. We just checked if something was an upgrade, and left the rest for them to grab. The experience rolled in steadily if not exceptionally, but Lord it was boring. When the company got disbanded, I was happy to rebuild a team and rush back to the thick. No timetables. If I wanted timetables, I’d have stayed in the army. And look at me, now I’m the one who wants timetables.”
“You were army?”
“Non-commissioned. In 1801, they ran the entire battalion through the Great Gilded Gate, to sort out the potential Professionals. Landed at the Plaza as a Watcher, and then grew up along with the Labyrinth operations' expansion. That’s probably why the War Office put me in charge of this one. Not too many people with former experience at this tier of the Labyrinth.”
The three came down and returned the dishes to the office kitchen, before joining the rest of the team back in the courtyard, trying to see who else was joining. Not everyone from the High Labyrinth Office was in the second assault, half of them were at the Scouts’ headquarters for their own briefing.
Finally, Thorebourne rang a bell twice, to signal for attention.
“Okay, everyone. This is it. The official assault is on November, 2nd. By now, British troops are starting to converge on the ports on the Channel, and ships are getting ready. They will cross and land on October 28th.”
There was a massive cheering from the assembled Professionals.
“There was much debate on the best landing. Calais is out – there is a major garrison stationed there. There were a number of proponents of landing our troops on the beaches of Normandy, but smarter heads have prevailed, and they will land between Dieppe and Rouen. By the time the French can react, they should be well on their way, on the straightest line toward Paris… and Versailles.”
“Now, the French garrisons will try to intervene, but here we got a stroke of luck. The Tyrant is restless again, and he has decided to expand further in the Balkans and try to gobble Bulgaria. He’s sent two of his generals to oversee that, and a full two-thirds of his ground forces are now massed nearly a thousand miles away from Versailles, with the Alps between them and France. The Ottomans are getting very worried about their possession, and are probably massing in response. And, if we are very lucky, the hostilities may have started, and their landcruisers will be unable to disengage any time soon to come back to catch our soldiers.”
Jonas couldn’t stop a smile. The Tyrant caught by surprise would be nice.
“But they are not the vanguard and main assault. We are.”
The assertion brought a new round of cheers.
“The objectives of the Professional forces are two. First, decapitate the French Dominion, by tackling whatever main commanders, governors and then the Tyrant himself. That’s the Chateau. We’ve put all of our tier-six and upper tier-five that we could reasonably count on in this operation. They are numerous enough that the ones present there won’t be able to blunt the attack. And we will make sure they do not get resurrected.”
“As for us… well, we have the second objective.”
On cue, a pair of Professionals came out of the storage room, bearing trestles and large wooden squares with shapes on them.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Half a mile from the Chateau itself lies the Village. Now, we don't have that much information about exactly how it works, but we’ve got good guesses. The Village is basically a set of small pavilions and houses that host the captured royalty of Europe, forcibly “retired”. The father of the Prince-Consort Gustav himself is secured there. Napoleon wanted to make sure no one had legitimate claims to rally people around them.”
He pointed down the models at the side of the courtyard.
“Now, it will come as a surprise for many that half of the people here do not have access to the trunk.”
Jonas was startled, looking at the Observer.
“The War Office has spent most of the year preparing for this, and they’ve found a solution that is… well, unprecedented. We are, so far, the only nation to make significant progress on skyships. Since we commissioned the venerable HMSS Skyforged, nearly four years ago, we’ve been building up the fleet. The sixth one, the first Harriet-class large version, is almost ready to be launched, but it will not be on time this year.”
“So, a lot of you – and you know who you are – will not be coming along with us in the trunk. Instead, on October 31st, the main fleet – the Cloudrunner, Windmaker, Sunbearer and Stormbreaker – which will be ostensibly patrolling the Channel, as usual, will land, grab four full teams, and then dash across the skies toward Versailles, using their massive speed advantage to go ahead of the troops in a surprise move.”
The bushy beard of Thorebourne split into a huge grin.
“You see, Napoleon isn’t the only one to take his inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s old military schemes. He may have used his moving armoured fortresses and turned them into reality, but we’ve innovated as well. The French made a head start at this before the opening of the Gates, but we’ve perfected it since. Using strong, light, resilient Labyrinth cloth, our engineers have created a device called a parachute, that lets people drop from skyships safely without having proper room for a skyship to land.”
There was a massive muttering from the assembly, and the wide grins on a number of Professionals were enough to guess at some of those involved.
“Now, skyships are cramped and there are not enough of them for this to be a valid strategy in general, but it is sufficient to bring significant support to the attack, and make a diversion. On November 2nd, the skyships will reach the Village, and while everyone is watching them, we will pour out of the Great Gate behind. So, the flying Professionals will drop on them as we go in, making an unprecedented pincer move. That will not double our numbers, but it’s a significant addition.”
Thorebourne raised a finger in admonition.
“Now mind you. The Village is guarded. There are lots of Professionals there. They are not high tiers, tier three typically, but that’s powerful enough to make sure that none of the residents in the Village escape. We are there to neutralize all guards, mundane and Professionals, and get out the royals. We have infiltrated agents that will have escape carriages ready to dash across the countryside and join up with the advancing troops. A team of Professionals will escort them. Once we’ve rescued the crowns of Europe, we’ve got our secondary objective complete, and then the rest of us move back to the Chateau and the Gate.”
“While we do that, the skyships will not stay idle, of course. They’ll move to Versailles proper. It’s a garrison town for the French Professionals when they are not in the Labyrinth, which is most of the time. They will do what they’re designed to do. Drop incendiaries and explosives, and create chaos. That should cause mass disruption among the Professionals that are there, and prevent any form of structured counter-attack. Once they’re finished, they’ll head back toward England to resupply.”
Thorebourne raised his fist in salute.
“And that, gentlemen, is how we start the end of the Dominion. With their masters dead, the legitimate sovereigns of Europe free, the confusion will reign, and our troops can secure the area and take the capital once they arrive. The remaining commanders will have to sue for peace, at least for a while as they sort out who’s who and how the regime works without the Tyrant, and we will make sure the peace remains in place.”
“Any questions?”
Dozens of hands rose as one.
“What if we fail?”
“Defeatist already? We’re supposed to hold the Gate until the armies have arrived. Worst case, we retreat in the Labyrinth and evacuate from there by Recall or Fast Travel. Which is why you have two charges, right?”
“What about the Professionals who… parachute to us?”
“The Professionals that came with the skyships can, of course, easily cross back into the Labyrinth, should the need arise. The trunk is only meaningful to advance, not retreat.”
“What if the weather is bad?”
“The skyships will start earlier. Even if there is a massive storm from the Atlantic, the crews are experienced and know how to handle the ships in bad weather.”
“But really bad?”
“Then we do it just with you, you silly bugger. It’s even better for the escaping royals if they have the cover of the storm.”
There were more questions, all boiling down to various and increasingly sillier “what if?”.
“No. Napoleon won’t be tier eight. He’s been tier seven for less than two years. Not everyone here is like our great Lords of the Labyrinth,” Thorebourne said, slamming his hand on Jonas’ shoulders and nearly making him jump.
“Best estimate is twelve to fifteen years to complete tier seven and its side Professions, and that’s assuming you’ve found an optimal Profession Plaza to get to and grind most of the time. Leave that problem to the ones who are doing the main assault.”
Thorebourne finally ended the questions by a last set of orders.
“Now, we will all be at the Gate to Brocarres on October 28th. Until then, I want nobody to brag anything. We’re doing this briefing in the Labyrinth to keep it as discreet as possible, and I want no one going into taverns, London or otherwise, and spilling it out for everyone to hear. Even if it’s too late for French spies to pass a report on any weird rumours they hear.”
He pointed on the models, adding.
“This is as accurate as we can make it. We have some old plans, but unless they have significantly expanded it since, the model should be correct. Get used to it, know your place, and… For King And Country!!!”
“For King and Country!!!”
Jonas was checking the details. Both models were copies of each other, made so that enough Professionals could check. There were even small metal rigid wires with oblong papier-mâché shapes figuring the expected arrival points for the skyships and their reinforcements.
“I guess this beats having to make a copy of the Village to wander about,” Ira said.
“We’ve done quite a few fights in buildings and ruins. Although…”
“It shouldn’t happen in there. The guards won’t be inside the Village housing itself, and certainly not once we arrive,” Thorebourne said from behind Jonas.
“You think so?”
“That’s actually the worst-case scenario. It would mean the guards have instruction to kill the royals in the event of an escape.”
“I know it’s the Tyrant, but would Napoleon really…?” Jonas asked.
The operation commander shrugged.
“Yes, who knows,” Jonathan muttered.
The man moved on, offering some advice to another team whose shieldbearer apparently had questions about the pertinence of some defensive skills in a fight against an intelligent opponent.
“We have a week left, then we’ll head to the trunk,” Alton noted.
“If I spent a charge of Fast Travel there, I will probably not have enough charge to stay within the limit,” Jonas noted after checking his descriptor.
Location
Zone: Grailburg (tier 1)
Locale: Plains of Normarron
Recall: Grailburg, Gate to Earth
Recall: available
Gates: 4/4
Tier 1: Zolferras
Tier 2: Donerkal
Tier 3: Zilbarn
Tier 4: Warsemial
Fast travel: 2 charges, 13 days until next
“Same, of course,” Ira confirmed.
“Too bad, then,” the Abiding Stabber lamented.
“You know what? I have an idea on how to spend the week if we can’t advance to our next Milestones,” Ira said.
“What is it?”
“Let’s see if there’s a pair of lairs in here that aren’t in use right now. I mean, we never ran lairs in Grailburg. So… we don’t have a normal way out except by the Gate we came through a year ago.”
Jonas blinked.
“Makes sense, right? And it will be relaxing, a carriage ride, then slaughtering some poor level 20 elites. No risk of dying a day before heading to the gathering. We don’t even need to Recall early when we can just ride back to Gatepost.”
Jonathan snorted before turning to check Guss and Laura who hadn’t expressed an opinion yet.
“Well, it’s that or staying and drinking in the headquarters’ common room if we’re not even allowed to go to the Frozen Boar,” she finally said.
Jonas had a last look at his team before heading toward Fleming, who was chatting with some High Office members to the side. That was it. Make or break. He wished he could do more. Alas, they were but a single team.
Team
Professions
Health
Mind
Jonas Sims
Resilient Spellwrangler (154/162)
2440/2440
2096/2096
Jonathan Gilbert
Calculating Guardian (171)
4381/4381
2437/2437
Ira Heard
Solid Guardian (156)
5201/5201
2058/2058
Guss Fullmore
Imposing Fixer (155)
2131/2131
1658/1658
Laura Harvey
Light Destroyer (154)
2672/2672
1596/1596
Alton Raby
Abiding Stabber (156)
2215/2215
1725/1725