《Orc Hunt》Chapter 8: Quandary
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I had a few days to go through the drone footage in lots of detail. The included telemetry was also rather helpful (time, date, latitude/longitude, altitude, etc.) and I was cross-referencing points of footage against the very detailed topographic maps of the area I had obtained. Of particular interest were various landmarks I could use, consisting of a few old homestead sites, an abandoned church, the Factory itself and a few old dirt roads that did not seem to appear on any other maps. To call them roads was perhaps overstating things a bit-- they were little more than footpaths left behind by decades-previous logging activities. However, it gave me new potential ingress and egress points to work with.
The church made for an interesting (albeit somewhat obvious) potential observation point. It stood on a slight rise allowing for a relatively unobstructed view of the Factory and the field between the two facilities-- if I managed to get into the upper areas, anyway. Despite the rather long range (a bit over 1200 yards), a decent telescope should be enough to get eyes on my target. I had also been considering something sneakier involving some covertly placed and somewhat modified trail cams, but I disliked the idea of getting close enough to make that work. Moving the extra equipment into place on foot seemed like a massive amount of work, too. It was still an idea worth further consideration, personal misgivings aside.
After an evening mulling over my options, I was at a complete loss when it came to actually “dealing” with this Orc warren in any meaningful sense of the word. They still appeared too small and ill-equipped to bring in government forces and going at them alone still held a rather high probability of resulting in a strongly negative outcome (like getting myself killed). I've been watching documentaries about the Orcs and their invasion for a couple of months now, and I mostly find myself really wanting to call in an air strike or an artillery bombardment-- except, of course, for the small problem of not actually having a proper military force at my command. Further, I don't have the kind disposable income necessary to bring in professional hunters or mercenaries. It also appears that my crazy friends are still not crazy enough to help me with this (yes, I asked).
This would seem to bring me to asymmetric warfare as an answer, but some immediate problems arise-- most notably that Orcs have no legitimate government to overthrow nor an economy to destabilize, virtually no assets to attack, no communications, intelligence, or supply chains to disrupt and no population that would be receptive to influence or incitement to rebellion. Indeed, the very lack of sophistication in Orc culture effectively insulates them from many of the aspects of modern warfare, as we Humans understand it. In short, I’m back to two far older concepts of warfare: Controlling the largest amount of territory (with lethal consequences for trespass) and/or simply killing them in sufficient numbers that they surrender, retreat or are wiped out. In each case, I find myself completely lacking the resources to conduct warfare in this manner.
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Here’s an idea: Maybe I’m not the one who should be doing the fighting? Indeed, this seems like a good time to put my new law enforcement contact to use.
Using that handy burn-mail address, I sent digital photos and coordinates to the Factory, being certain to emphasize my point by including a snapshot of the severed Orc head. My meaning seemed clear enough—I’m requesting a formal response from local government. I have no idea what their answer will be. But while I wait, I decided to put some effort into mapping out potential ingress and egress routes, just in case. It wasn't difficult to get the topographic maps rendered as basic 3D terrain models. Trickier was getting the various water, road and building features properly represented. When completed, I had a reasonably good idea where I might walk in and out and what places should be avoided. I was acutely aware that this didn't tell me everything-- there are always little chunks of terrain that look fine “on paper” but are troublesome as hell once you face them in person. As this is like any other calculated risk, I'll just has to put on my big boy pants and deal with such annoyances as they arise—assuming I ever go back out there.
After an hour or so, I had planned two routes in and two different routes out (primary and secondary plans). None of them are anywhere near roads that might be under observation by Orcs (they're fully aware of why we build them, right?) and these chosen routes mostly stick to areas between low hills and rises that cut through heavily forested areas, giving me the best chance to stay undetected. Cutting through uncontrolled forest will be slow going and will be made even slower by applying some counter-tracking techniques. Not exactly a leisurely walk in the woods, but tactically sound movement plans.
I still had some “real” work going over security policy recommendations for a new client. A nice dinner seemed like a good idea before diving into a particularly deep sea of policy and compliance paperwork. I was forced to admit that I had been neglecting my “real” job more that was wise and getting caught up was necessary before I could start sending out invoices for my time and services. I can kick off vulnerability scans of another client’s web site tonight and work on more detailed penetration testing tomorrow. Before the end of the week, I also had a to deliver an upgrade plan for yet another client suffering with a significant inventory of badly out-of-date software installations. Cybersecurity isn’t glamorous, but there is always work, and it pays reasonably well.
I must admit to being surprised when I got an email response from my mysterious LEO contact a few weeks later. Apparently, surveillance operations on the Factory had been conducted and proved lucrative for the police. A plan had been formulated. A nighttime raid on the Factory was to be conducted by the tactical team of State Police (with cooperation with the local Sherriff’s Department) to intercept the Orcs in the open forest, catching them out in the open before they returned to a fortified position. This seemed like a wise choice. Apparently, the Orcs had been conducting raids of their own every few days and this unwanted activity (and some prompting from me) ultimately provided sufficient “Official Justification” to put this particular warren out of business permanently.
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Their plan is a straightforward air assault; the primary battle plan was thorough and clearly the product of professionals. Troopers will be inserted by helicopter directly into the Factory complex, presumed to be either empty or inadequately manned to repel this insertion. Choppers which will stay on-station to provide additional thermal imaging and spotlight support, plus communications and combat control. Of special interest were the identified (and presumed) routes used by the Orcs, including various potential escape routes. Their analysts were assuming that the warren’s leadership would quickly abandon their underlings, sacrificing them to buy time for their own escape, presumably with female hostages in tow (if present). Considering my own research, this is a reasonable assumption, as Orc leadership all appear to be graduates of the “run-away-very-fast” school of strategic defense.
However, due to limited manpower, there is no way to effectively both engage the Orcs in the forest and cover all the potential escape routes from the Factory at the same time using ground forces alone, given the short timeframe given for the initial assault. The expectation is that helicopters on-station, with their enhanced view of the battlefield, should be able to provide extra visibility of enemy movements and supervising officers on-site will make dynamic changes, as needed. Armed with radio communications, thermal and night vision hardware, body armor and automatic rifles, deployed personnel were ordered to emphasize the destruction of this warren via maximum body count using rapid, high-mobility action. Sweeping and clearing of the Factory complex itself will follow once tactical control of the entire site has been established. Various movement and deployment plans were included along with detailed (albeit dated) floorplans of various building plus topographic maps of the immediately area. Capture or termination of any leadership present is a secondary objective, but orders are to leave no other survivors. Flight plans for both helicopters and various radio frequencies were thoughtfully included.
Again, the implication seems clear: I’m being asked to get there first and covertly help in whatever way I can. Luckily, being moderately clever, a few ways to help come to mind. The raid takes place in two days and it’s not a party I plan on missing.
Returning to my topo maps, I overlayed the police raid planning and supporting intelligence data, opting to make my best guess regarding the most probable escape routes for a wayward Orc leader on the run. The main gate was too obvious and exposed. One small and discrete fence line breach was determined to be actively in-use and is already targeted by the Trooper’s raid. A more intelligent choice would be to breach the fence directly into deeper forest without crossing any open areas. I suspect that ripping through a section of chain link fence wouldn’t be a significant challenge for one of those big mega-Orcs. Plus, any self-respecting Orc leaders would likely want a personal security detail present to help cover his retreat.
I selected an area near the Factory’s fence line but far enough away from the raid’s primary area of operations. From there, I should be able to cover my target area and remain undetected by all other parties by pushing back at least a hundred yards deeper into the forest. I have a few tricks for hiding from thermal/infrared imaging systems (if needed), and my own use of thermal imaging and suppressed fire should help me continue to go unnoticed once the initial engagement begins. My portable radio scanner will be used to monitor the progress of the battle (the police can’t really afford fancy digitally encrypted comms). I expect the Orc’s leadership won’t wait long to cut-and-run—they’ve learned that getting into a stand-up fight almost always results in a quick defeat. Their best chance for survival is rapid evasion and escape. Not the bravest souls, these Orcs, but their tactics are at least logical.
Obviously, my original movement and mission plans will have to be scrapped and replaced, as these new battlefield variables have come to light. I’ll need to move into position and get setup well before nightfall—a few hours to get on-site, a few more to setup my observation/firing position and get my camouflage right. Being right on top of an Orc lair at night is risky, but the area I have in mind appears to be outside their normal ingress and egress routes. If I maintain appropriate light, sound, and scent discipline, I am confident I can remain unnoticed. The weather shouldn’t add many new variables—it’s not going to be especially cold (just below freezing), with mixed overcast and clear skies, very light winds and maybe some rain/snow.
We’ll see how my luck holds.
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Love Code at the End of the World
Sixteen-year-old Luo Bing makes a playful prayer and ends up crossing time and space to land on Kansas Planet, right when Kansas Planet is experiencing the end of the world. Clueless about this alien world, Luo Bing is terrified. Fortunately, Noah City gives her sanctuary and she eventually gets a chance to explore this new world.The end of the world is marked by extreme scarcity. Ubiquitous radiation has heavily limited the food, water and resources, and danger lies at every turn. As a result of this extreme environment, some humans have evolved and developed superpowers, while others have turned into monsters and even spirits. Humans who naturally possess an anti-radiation constitution are called radiationers. Most of the radiationers have unique superpowers, and they are referred to as metahumans.With no clue on how to return to her own world, Luo Bing is stuck here and must survive against all odds. Armed with the combat skills she has learned from her dad and her newly developed superpowers, as well as help from the guys she has developed feelings for, can Luo Bing save this strange new world?
8 1575Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
8 153Heaven's Grip : Orcs of Iaoue
Pigs can fly, that's a lie. A deep sea diving Horse, yes of course. Fish can climb a tree, yeah cool story. When a certain ******* developed a system where domestic and harmless animals turn into beasts' with intelligence. A chance to evolve and an ability to change their fate have arrived. A fantasy story about the creation of mythical creatures and beast races. How will humanity persist to exist? Live with it and adapt, or wage war and eliminate all threats. No King or Queen can retaliate from the grip of Heavens when the wheel of fate started to change.
8 282The Heart Of Dominance
Power is born through only two things. Blood and the suffering of others. Drakai must bleed and go through unimaginable pain to protect the ones closest to his heart. In his past life, he knew well the feeling of pain. And he also knew that somebody was benefiting from it. The same evil that was In the man that enslaved him also exists within Drakai's heart, will he beat the evil or succumb to the dark feeling that grows stronger every time he falls into his inborn madness?
8 152Tiny heart
So this is where old dungeons go when they retire
8 162Gone Boy
Izuku had taken it badly. He was right back where he started: quirkless. Who knew taking a bullet for someone would be so detrimental.Warning: slight gore and dark themes. Art not mine.The characters belong to Boku No Hero Academia. The plot is mine however.
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