Fort Gulrn stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the Askal badlands. Its white stained walls, were made to look as though the entire structure was made of marble, despite its actual construction being that of concrete faced with sandstone. The fort housed a division of soldiers, one that was tasked with the defense of the country’s northern most border. The only weakness being the soldiers that made up the division, as they were all conscripts. Not a single one of the soldiers that manned the battlements were professional soldiers, as all those who were considered up to that level by Tavarian standards were now dead, wounded, or captured after their disastrous loss. Many of the officers that commanded the regiments and companies were also untested, and had bought their commissions recently with the hopes of earning themselves some quick brownie points in society; instead they now defended it. The only veteran was the commander himself, who remained a mystery to all outside the fort.

That fact alone was what bothered Vance as his army came to surround and camp around the fortress, putting it to siege. Standing silently near his command tent, he peered out at the fortress through his spyglass, trying to look for anyone dressed differently than the rest. Someone, anyone, that might stand out as the potential leader. Lowering the glass, he squinted his eyes, straining them against the dying sunlight as if looking at something.

“Annoying.” Vance breathed.

“Hmm? What’s up now?” Queried Horne who sat nearby, sipping tea from his percaline tea cup.

Vance glanced over at the Colonel, still perplexed how he could’ve brought such delicate dishes with him on the march, “Nothing, just—annoyed.” He replied with a sigh.

“Still can’t find the bugger, eh?” He observed, taking another sip.

Vance sighed, nodding his head, “Correct.”

At that, Estrid came walking out from the tent, flanked by Richard and Lara, “Well, from what the wyvern riders reported, there wasn’t anyone who stood out amongst the Askalian officers. It seems there are just orcs. None that have any sort of name or rank that’d be required to command the fort.” Estrid reported as she came to stand beside Vance.

Richard scratched the back of his head, “Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologise for, Richard. I can’t find or see anything either. No Emirs… which is odd.” Vance said.

“I’d say!” Ami chimed in as he came up the hill to join the group, his left hand resting languidly on the handle.

“Colonel.” Vance greeted with a nod.

Ami stepped beside Estrid who in turn swirved away, and went to stand on the opposite side of Vance. Watching the movement, he looked towards his fellow earthling.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing! I swear!”

Looking to Estrid for an answer, she just looked away, letting out a huff. “Alright then? But, what do you mean, when you said that?” He quickly changed the subject back to the pressing matter at hand.

“Just saying it’s odd that no one’s seen which Emir is commanding the defenses. It’s not normal.” Ami answered.

“Why?”

“Orcs are incredibly prideful, and the first thing they do is try to show who’s in command to the enemy. Why? I have no clue, just the way they are. Honour or some shit, I don’t know.” Ami reported, “Either way, it’s weird. It means whoever’s holed up there is either super smart and knows you’ll study who they are, or they’re sick. If they’re sick, the conscripts would be deserting in droves right now, so, that rules that out.”

Acknowledging the situation from Ami, Vance peered back at the wall once more. It didn’t feel right to him. None of this did.

'Maybe this is who they warned me about?' Vance recalled silently, remembering what Tiberius had said before sending him back.

That thought alone was enough to give him pause. Looking back at the walls, he couldn’t help but grumble. If the one commanding the fort was on his level in regards to tactics, it made no sense for the walls to be so guarded. Anyone with tactical knowledge would’ve put up a skeleton crew to watch the siege camp, keeping their main force in reserve to prevent the enemy from learning their real strength. Instead, the full might was out on display as the Askalians continually rotated the regiments off and on the walls. Hell, the wyvern recon wasn’t even needed given how often the defenders were rotated. “Would you count this up to Askal pride?” Vance asked aloud to no one in particular.

Estrid raised a brow, “In regards to what?” She asked.

“The enemy. They’ve consistently rotated the regiments manning the walls. It doesn’t make any sense to give away their numbers like that. I doubt we’d even have needed the aerial recon had I known they were going to do this.” Vance noted, motioning towards the front wall, “It’s just pure stupidity,” it was then a playful smirk soon spread across his visage, “and that stupidity, is what I’m going to capitalize on. If it turns out to be a miscalculation on my part, well then damn me, but if not, I’ll have just won another hand at the game called life.”

Richard tilted his head, “Interesting line.”

Vance shrugged, “Only thing that worked. Either way, I’m making a gamble here, as I intend to storm the fortress. We’ve taken nearly three months to get to this point, the enemy will no doubt have an army ready to attack us, and if we don’t seize that fort, we’re surely going to face a determined Askalian counter force. And that—that is something I’d really like to avoid. It’s one thing fighting a defensive war, but an offensive one? Be prepared to lose three for every one you kill.” Vance explained.

The group went silent, even Horne and Ami who seemed to be all smiles were grim faced at the prospect of such an uphill war. Kendirewen couldn’t afford such a war, not when it was fighting on three other fronts. There was no way the Kingdom could last or make up for the lost soldiers. Even a single wounded man or woman was one less individual to protect the nation. It was all or nothing, and Vance was going all in, pushing all he had won and earned on this one victory. Such was his nature, and such was the way of a military commander. A general always gambled, guessed, and relied heavily on Lady Luck’s blessing. Vance was no different, but there was an actual goddess of luck, and she was someone he had yet to meet.

“Lara, are those guns ready?” Vance asked, swiftly ending the silence.

Lara nodded earnestly, her excitement starting to make its way to the surface as she stepped forward, “They are! I’ve already gave orders for the First Battery of Luna to setup on the hill beside us alongside the Tenth Mage Battery and Twenty-Second Kendirewen Artillery Regiment.” She reported, point over to where the two artillery regiment had set up.

Anderson had loaned Vance two batteries of artillery, one made up of mages and the other a standard artillery regiment. Both had yet to begin firing on the walls, as both had focused on working with the engineers on setting up earthworks to protect from the enemy return artillery that had begun to fire on them the moment they came into view. Most of the enemy ordinance had gone wide or missed completely, but there was bound to be a few lucky strikes on the siege camp in the near future. Meanwhile, sappers from the Third Anceburg Regiment, had begun work on trenches. The process for both projects was going to be costly in time, but both would ensure the safety of the soldiers firing on and assaulting the fort once a breach was made.

“Good, I’m hopeful the charges you’ve developed for them will be enough to punch a hole in the wall before the end of the week.” Vance said.

Lara nodded, “Don’t worry about that, Wolf, I tested the guns myself on the mountains. Tore right through them!” She reported proudly.

“Also caused a major avalanche.” Richard pointed out, brightening the mood of everyone present as a small laugh erupted.

Cheeks red, Lara quickly turned to face her new guns as they were being unlimbered near the earthworks, “Anyways! Once you give the order, they’ll start pounding the walls. Faster too since I used the same method as the Luna Rifles. Explosive shells I made – thanks to your suggestions Wolf – I’m confident we’ll break through with ease.”

Vance nodded, “Good. The faster we can form a breach, the better. I know it’s foolish to want to swiftly end the siege, but, with everyone here, and the skill of our army, there’s little doubt we’ll succeed.” He said to all assembled, “Oh! That reminds me, Lara, did you issue the Luna rifles to the other infantry regiments yet?”

“Yup! Just as you instructed, I made sure to pass around enough to equip at least seventy-five percent of the vanguard army… sadly, I wasn’t able to make enough for everyone, but I did instruct the royal engineers on how to tweak the muskets, so the ones without the Luna’s are able to fight with some degree of confidence.” She replied.

It was then that Horne added his voice to the conversation, “Indeed, and I must say, I was truly impressed by how much more effective the infantry is. Eight to twelve rounds a minute. Truly, the work you’ve done, Lara astounds me.”

Lara blushed, she wasn’t used to getting such compliments from anyone other than Vance, Richard, Estrid, and William. “T-thanks!” She squeaked.

Vance smiled, “Well, so long, as the majority are equipped and ready for battle, that’s all that matters. The more rifles we have firing on the walls when we storm the breach, the fewer casualties we’ll suffer.” He noted, pausing only to look back at the fort, “Saying that though, have our sharp shooters begin harassing the enemy, while those new guns of Lara’s there, pound the walls throughout the night. I know our soldiers won’t much like the sound of cannon fire going off while they try to sleep, but neither will the enemy. In our case at least, we’ll have our troops set up barriers to bloat out some of the sound, and protect them from possible attacks should the enemy have some sort of secret passage way.”

The group of officers assembled nodded in agreement. No one could find fault in the General’s orders, and many agreed that it’d be nice for the troops to have some walls around the main camps, as it’d give each man and woman some peace of mind knowing there was some defense against not only sneak attacks, but stray musket rounds. Given how often the Askalians were starting to rain down musket fire, it stood to reason that there were bound to be a few balls to find flesh. Already a few dozen men had been wounded in the first day, but no deaths – yet.

“But, if no one has any other questions, or suggestions, you’re free to return to your tents. I’m sure you have a throng of officers and NCO’s waiting to ask you all a few dozen questions. No doubt many are curious as to who’ll form the Forlorn Hope.” Vance noted somewhat bitterly.

Everyone went silent for a moment. The Forlorn Hope – a company made up of volunteers that would be given the job of going climbing up the breach first to open a path for the rest of the army. It was a dangerous duty, and one that brought a high likelihood of death with it. Yet, it also brought the most glory for those that survived. For men and women who survived, they were awarded with a promotion and valour medal of some kind, as well as a patch on their sleeve that marked them out as having taken part in the Forlorn. It was as prestigious, as it was deadly. Most of those that commanded the company were commoners or lesser nobles with no hope of advancement beyond extraordinary means. Which is why, many young men and women were lining up at their commander’s tent asking for the opportunity.

Anyone Colonel rank or higher was barred from leading the company, which is why it often fell to the Colonels and other such regimental commanders to pick the most suitable officers and NCO’s for the job. Those names would then in turn be funneled up to the General in command of the siege, who’d then select those they deemed the best. It was a grim job, as they were essentially sending some of the Kingdom’s best and bravest to die. Which made Vance wonder, if Anderson had made the same choice, when she had given him command all those months ago.

Pursing his lips in thought, he wagered it was a question he’d never find the answer to, and part of him was thankful of that. Either way, his skill and those of his regiment had helped win that campaign, and he was hoping such would prove similar this time around as commander of his current force.

“No questions then?” He repeated, giving each another chance.

Just silence, with others shaking their head.

“Alright then. You’re all dismissed.” And with that, the group began to file out and head to their respective units.

Estrid was the only one who remained, as her tent was near his own. Given how she was his executive officer, it made sense her tent was near his own. What’s more, since she was made the de facto commander of the Dragon Marines First Regiment, she had the pick of where to set up the regiment, and she chose beside the Command tent. Vance was happy to approve the choice too, as it made for a far easier time in getting orders relayed to all the other regiments in the army. It seemed she had a special skill in managing a force larger than a division far easier than he did. Even with his new blessings, there were still moments he fumbled, but with Estrid, those struggles were turned into proper cohesive actions. Indeed, he owed a lot to the former Guild receptionist, and he viewed her as one of his closest friends and confidants. Though he did wonder how she felt about him.

He had his suspicions though, as that moment on the hill was rather telling, 'Well, something to think about at a future time.' He thought to himself.

Giving himself a mental shake, he slipped under the tent flap and entered his tent. It was sparsely decorated, much like Anderson’s had been. Yet, if one were to compare the two, they’d have found the Major Generals to have been well-furnished while Vance’s spartan, in comparison. This was due in part to Vance not having many things to decorate his tent. In truth though, he figured it’d be a matter of time before his own would soon fill up with his own assortment of treasures, honours, and other such travel items the more places he fought in. For now, it suited his needs just fine.

Just as he lay down on his cot, the air around the camp erupted in a fury as the Kendirewen guns spewed forth their fury upon the enemy positions. The siege was now truly underway.