Squad Goals
At Logan’s urgent request, Anastasia slowed her pace to accommodate Logan’s injuries. She had realized that having someone else to fight with was a much greater benefit than throwing herself needlessly into the battle in a rush to get to her father. Still, he was forced to push himself to keep up with the woman.
That meant that the three of them had to listen to the sounds of battle grow gradually louder, as they gradually drew closer to the battle site. Logan still couldn’t believe he was going back after making a clean get away from the war, but this felt like the right thing to do. Logan had this sense before, and it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
Making their way back over the path they had just tread, Logan and Anastasia could start to make out glimpses of the battle through the trees. Overhead plumes of fire and spouts of water were visible, as sparks and the glint of metal flashed ahead. Logan kept noticing his tentacles fidgeting in his peripherals as they approached, giving away his nerves.
Then, they pushed through the last of the trees and arrived in the artificial clearing surrounding Fort Errstile. The two bipeds gasped and Remy let out a squeak.
Ahead was pure chaos incarnate, men and women diving and scrapping across their entire view, tactics seemingly abandoned in favor of a wild melee in front of the Legion’s base of operations. The Harthians at least managed to hold some sort of formation, moving in roaming bands of three and four, trying to pierce farther towards Errstile.
“I don’t see my father anywhere…” Anastasia said at Logan’s side.
The feeling of pressure from before lingered, but it was hard to locate its source now that it was more subtle. Looking out over the field, Logan didn’t notice anyone who seemed a likely suspect, either. However, on that second pass, he did see some people he recognized. The Greatwood Squadron fought closer to the heart of the field, Larry’s shouts and Aerie’s Divinity recognizable even through this chaotic battle.
However, before Logan could say anything, they were drawn into the battle themselves.
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A Harthian group came barreling at them, moving faster than ordinary humans were capable of.
They must have some Divinity that boosts their speed. Too bad for them, that’s my area of strength too.
Logan let the white lines flood his vision in response, but before he could teleport, Anastasia flashed in front of him. Somehow she had already managed to grab two swords, although they were badly mismatched. One was more than a foot longer than the other, a real beast of a sword, but she hefted each with a single hand just the same.
Even with all that added weight in metal, Anastasia managed to dash into the upcoming enemies before Logan could process anything. Instantly she was attacking, using the quickness of her approach to catch her opponents off guard. Anastasia wove her blades around like Logan used his tentacles, and before he had even really moved to help, she had dispatched the foes.
“Looks like we’ve officially joined the party!” Anastasia shouted over the din of the fighting.
“Yeah, so let’s go try and meet up with our group!” Logan responded.
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“What?” He heard, but Logan had already started wading into the battle at large.
Thankfully he was still wearing an Austenian tabard, so the Legionnaires knew his allegiance, but that just encouraged a trio of Harthian soldiers to come chasing after him. Though they hadn’t realized that Remy was there too.
And that mistake cost them dearly. Remy, in a showcase Logan didn’t know he was capable of, teleported on the leftmost enemy’s shoulder and let out a Void Screech directly in his ear. Although it seemed like Remy’s Blessing wasn’t quite as powerful as Logan’s, the effects were still devastating at such close range, obliterating the initial Harthian’s cranium and knocking the other two back.
Before Logan could move, once again Anastasia was suddenly across the field, capitalizing on the opportunity Remy had provided. Logan let out a slightly nervous chuckle.
Good job, Remy.
-Thanks!-
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Amar was with the Greatwood Squadron, minus their illustrious Captain as they held part of the center against the Harthians. It was almost an hour into the battle, and already some of the other Squads had become diminished, but the undermanned Greatwood Squadron managed to hold up.
A large part of that was Aerie and Jerry, at least in this battle. Before the attack, the Squadron had been briefed on the Harthian’s strengths and weaknesses, and had planned accordingly. The enemy soldiers were reported to often have physical enhancement Divinity, so they had prepared by setting up caches of water and potions for their two long range bombardiers to go all out from the get go, and indeed that's how it had played out.
Puddles of noxious chemicals and rapidly dirtying water were strewn about where the Greatwood Squadron fought, signs of their previously dispatched enemies. The smell of the battlefield assaulted Amar’s nostrils, but she kept fighting despite the distraction. Even with Jerry and Aerie controlling the flow of enemies, some soldiers still managed to push past them and into the melee.
From there, it was up to the rest of the Squad.
Larry, as always, was right in the thick of things, forcing the Harthians who had been forced to traverse the barrage to spread back out, disrupting any possible formation they may have formed with the wide swings of his axe. Then, the rest of the Squad intercepted the enemies once they were alone, everyone quickly taking on their enemies one on one, before moving on.
Gregor’s training had proven extremely effective for them, allowing them to be confident in their strengths against intelligent and malicious opponents. Because although they may not be able to stand toe to toe with the Squadron, the Harthian soldiers were not weak.
She would assume that on average, the Harthians possessed more Divinity than the Legion, although that was made up for by the exceptions. However, none of their Divinity was flashy, all of it centered around making them faster or more durable. Against the Greatwood Squadron’s firepower and finesse, it was lacking, but against the rest of the Legion, it was finding effect.
Just as Amar had stepped back to survey how the Legion was faring, she recognized a familiar face that she definitely should not be seeing here.
“Logan!?”
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Logan had just dealt with another Harthian rushing at him, when he barely managed to hear his name get called. Spinning around to find the source, Logan quickly realized that their targets had noticed them, and were making their way over to convene with Logan, Remy, and Anastasia.
They, too, continued making their way towards the Greatwood Squad, and within a couple minutes they had managed to have their reunion. They had also retreated slightly from the frontlines, making it possible for them to stare awkwardly at each other for a couple seconds.
Just as Logan was considering if he should just apologize and leave, Jerry shattered the tension by walking forwards and wrapping Logan up in a massive hug. The breath left Logan’s lungs even as a smile crossed his face.
“Ca-Can’t- Breathe-” Logan managed to squeak out.
“Oh, sorry, just glad you’re ok, man.” Larry looked unusually sheepish as he set Logan down.
“No, I’m sorry, I’m sure I made things harder for all of you, and I want to apologize for that.”
“Logan, it’s ok.” Amar said. “More importantly, why are you back here on the battlefield?”
At this, Logan looked over at Anastasia. Things were quiet for a couple of seconds, until she realized Logan was waiting for her to speak, and then Anastasia introduced herself.
“Hello there, Legionnaires. I am Anastasia Zeres, First Daughter of the Aegis of Grecia. I felt my father’s Presence here, and therefore all we must do to end this battle is find him. His power would be enough to instantly put an end to the fighting here.”
For another couple of seconds, the Squad managed to stay quiet. Then, the flood gates opened, and a question spilled from everyone’s lips.