>>6046607
>>Partially awakening should allow us to overturn the carriers, rendering the guns temporarily useless. I like it.

>>6046607
>Partially awakening should allow us to overturn the carriers, rendering the guns temporarily useless. I like it.

>>6046607
>>Partially awakening should allow us to overturn the carriers, rendering the guns temporarily useless. I like it.

>>6046607
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 8, 2, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>6047844

Rolled 5, 10, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>6047844

Rolled 6, 10, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>6047844

>>6047844
“If we partially awakened, that would simplify matters,” you decide. “It would terrify the infantry and make it easier to flip the armored vehicles over. That puts their guns out of action but leaves them recoverable.”

“That sounds like the best option,” Aurora agrees.

[Should we split into pairs?] Serana asks with swift gestures.

“Not a bad idea,” you agree. “Valentina, use your claws to cover my advance. Aurora, use your technique to do the same for Serana.”

[We’ll move around the other side,] Serana decides.

“I’ll signal when we’re ready,” Aurora adds.

…

With the plan and all the relevant players in place, you spot Aurora raising her sword. You begin your charge over the short stretch of open ground just before Aurora releases her technique in a blinding flash, and gunfire erupts from the hilltop. On Aurora and Serana’s side it’s scattered and frantic, with many of the individual shots ending up totally off their marks. But on your side, the only real blessing is that Valentina’s repeated stabs with her claws at such long distances keeps many of the infantry hunkered down in their trenches.

That gives you the opportunity you need to bolt straight up the side of the hill, vault over their trenches, and slam into the side of one armored gun carrier. Letting the yōki flow through your body uninhibited, you briefly gain the strength to dig your feet in, grip the underside of the vehicle, and flip it off its tracks and onto its side with a loud crash. Not too far away you hear a telltale sign that Serana has done the same with the other vehicle.

Valentina and Aurora come in after you, knocking down the men who were supposed to be using the automatic weapons set up at the corners of the trench lines. Once the heavy weapons are silenced, the rebellious soldiers follow in your wake.

The fight doesn’t last but a few minutes, since the defenders quickly realize that they’ve lost every advantage they thought they had. But they do end up surrendering before too many get hurt, which is something you had hoped for.

…

“This place can now serve any role you need it to,” you tell the rebel soldiers once the fight is over, and the surrendered prisoners have been dealt with.

>This is about as much as you could hope for in terms of disruption. Time to withdraw back to Hazaran.
>There are other communities in Sakia where this rebellion could take hold. Let’s see about making that happen.
>It’s time that the Sakians started doing some of the difficult work to free themselves.
>Other?

>>6049284
>It’s time that the Sakians started doing some of the difficult work to free themselves.

>>6049284
>There are other communities in Sakia where this rebellion could take hold. Let’s see about making that happen.

>>6049284
>>It’s time that the Sakians started doing some of the difficult work to free themselves.
>>Other?
I forget if we're taking the gun carriers or if we just tipped them over, if we're leaivng them, maybe flip them back over for the rebels to use?

>>6049284
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 5, 3, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>6049923

Rolled 9, 5, 10 = 24 (3d10)

>>6049923

Rolled 1, 6, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>6049923

>>6049923
By your reckoning, the stage has truly been set as well as you and your cohort can. It’s well past time that the Sakians started doing some of the difficult work of freeing themselves.

You ask Aurora and Valentina to do the honors of flipping the vehicles back over onto their tracks, while you consider your next move. Serana looks at you quizzically.

[Are you okay?]

You nod. “Yes. I’m just considering what it will take to get the Sakians into this fight.”

[If they aren’t really, can we count on them?]

“Maybe not,” you admit. “But I think we do need to push for it.”

[How?]

>There must still be elements of the Sakian military left.
>We captured a lot of weapons today. We just need people to use them.
>They could be rallied around the rebel faction.
>Other?

>>6051959
>>There must still be elements of the Sakian military left.
>>We captured a lot of weapons today. We just need people to use them.

>>6051959
>There must still be elements of the Sakian military left.

>>6051959
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 7, 5, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>6052612

Rolled 6, 1, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>6052612

Rolled 7, 2, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>6052612

>>6052612
“The Sakian military can’t have been wiped out in their entirety,” you muse as you watch Valentina flip the second of the gun carriers back upright. “They must have gone into hiding when it became clear that they couldn’t win.”

[So they lost hope, and in hiding, deprived their people of hope.]

“Exactly,” you nod emphatically. “For Sakia to make it on its own they need to find their national confidence again – and seeing their own military taking up the fight again would go a long way towards that.”

[Then… where?]

>Probably disguised within the civilian population. No other way than to put out a public call.
>If I had to guess… in small groups, hidden in the badlands or caves, or maybe in sea caves.
>You need to show them it can be done, then they’ll start coming out of hiding on their own.
>Other?

>>6054165
>Probably disguised within the civilian population. No other way than to put out a public call.

>>6054165
>If I had to guess… in small groups, hidden in the badlands or caves, or maybe in sea caves.
More likely in a pre-industrial society.

>>6054191
>>6054165
Agreed with this guy

>>6054165
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 6, 5, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>6054577

Rolled 5, 8, 2 = 15 (3d10)

>>6054577

Rolled 9, 1, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>6054577

>>6054577
“If I had to guess,” you muse, “which I do have to, I’d say that there must be little pockets of the former Sakian military still in hiding.”

[You mean in a cave or something?]

You nod. “Yeah, something like that. Plenty of valleys out in the badlands are secluded enough to hide a small group of soldiers, and there must be some caves by the sea.”

[Because they would be ineffective unless they remained in a group.]

“My thoughts exactly. Many probably left and blended in with their communities, but any who wished to fight would have remained with their units.”

[So where do we begin?]

…

After making a few demands, and spending the next several hours searching a seemingly random assortment of locations suggested to you by the various soldiers who have either sided with Hazaran or who have rebelled, you manage to track down a reasonably accurate and detailed map of northern Sakia which covers the coast as well as the edges of the badlands.

“What are we looking for exactly?” Valentina wonders. “Someplace close to the invaders’ positions, or far?”

“I’d imagine far,” Aurora replies, stroking her chin. “I mean you and I might be bold enough to hide right under an enemy’s nose, but we can heal from bullet wounds.”

>The badlands, then. The rough terrain would be a great place to disappear – we should focus around creeks and springs.
>I’d say there’s a lot to be said about a cave near the coast. Easier to watch the enemy’s ships come and go from there.
>They might have decided to stick close to towns and villages that might feed them. Asking locals in the badlands might be the best strategy.
>Other?

>>6055534
>>They might have decided to stick close to towns and villages that might feed them. Asking locals in the badlands might be the best strategy.

>>6055534
>They might have decided to stick close to towns and villages that might feed them. Asking locals in the badlands might be the best strategy.

>>6055534
>They might have decided to stick close to towns and villages that might feed them. Asking locals in the badlands might be the best strategy.

Though the coastwatchers seem interesting.

>>6055534
>>They might have decided to stick close to towns and villages that might feed them. Asking locals in the badlands might be the best strategy.

>>6055534
>1d10, best three of four

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>6056010

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6056010
>>6056010

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>6056010

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6056010

>>6056010
“Thinking about it as a military leader would,” you muse, “their biggest problem would have to be finding the things they need to support even a small unit – food, water, clothes, shelter.”

[So you believe they will have found refuge near a supportive community?]

“That would be my thinking, yes,” you confirm.

“So that would make the next step calling in at villages in the badlands,” Valentina walks through the reasoning. “Any particular emphasis to carry into it?”

“Probably one near a source of water,” Aurora observes. “Can’t share what you don’t have.”

“Here,” you decide, tapping your fingertips lightly against a labeled mark on the map. “Almost due north from the border stronghold of Kraljevo, down the Osamska river, you reach Retizhar – a small farming village. It has everything a small unit of Sakian military survivors could want.”

…

It takes three days to reach the village of Retizhar from the coast, traveling overland on horseback. Your Hazari troops, or at least those without mounts of their own, sometimes have trouble keeping pace, but thankfully the weather is fair and the roads fairly clear of enemy soldiers.

>Go into the village alone, ask around discreetly as possible.
>Go into the village with a small group, ask to meet with the village head.
>Search the area on foot. There aren’t many places to hide a group of soldiers.
>Other?

>>6056844
>Go into the village with a small group, ask to meet with the village head.

>>6056844
>>Search the area on foot. There aren’t many places to hide a group of soldiers.

>>6056844
>>Search the area on foot. There aren’t many places to hide a group of soldiers.

>>6056844
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 2, 9, 4 = 15 (3d10)

>>6058008

Rolled 8, 4, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>6058008

>>6058008
A 19 was good enough.

>>6058245
“There aren’t many places to hide a group of soldiers,” you observe… the vegetation would help a small group of soldiers to stay hidden, that much is certain, but it wouldn’t be enough to hide them indefinitely on its own. The real boon here has to be the terrain itself, the folds of which are enough to wrap up the soldiers you’re looking for like a nice little security blanket. But that boon is only something they can enjoy in a few specific places. “If we search those places we’ll find what we’re looking for.”

[You’re thinking the valleys,] Serana surmises.

“That makes sense,” Valentina agrees. “It’s the only place where the cover is deep enough.”

…

After searching for a few hours, you do manage to find a scraggly-looking group of men in worn uniforms, all sheltering at the bottom of a nearby ravine. Most of them however have kept their hair and their beards in good order however, and carry themselves as though they still have purpose. They’re understandably wary when you reveal yourselves.

“You would be Sakian soldiers, yes?”

One of the bolder men, a man with hard eyes, steps forward. “Who’s asking?”

“The queen of Hazaran,” you tell him.

“Yeah?” he replies. “What of it?”

“I was curious to know whether you wanted to help take your country back.”

At that, there’s laughter in this little camp. “What makes you think that’s a thing that can happen?”

“Our enemy’s forces are dividing themselves,” you inform him. “Join up with the rebels? Help them get home? That’s a real way to put your thumb on the scale, don’t you think?”

“And we’re supposed to just trust you?”

“Nope,” you shrug. “You’re not ‘supposed’ to do anything. You can either do it, or not… but if you’ve been waiting in this little canyon for a chance to take action, I’m here to tell you that this is that chance.”

…

Word spreads throughout Sakia.

Tattered columns of men, emerging from stands of trees, from basements, from deep valleys, basically from any possible hiding spot, appear right across the kingdom. Villagers who haven’t seen a Sakian soldier since the invasion, or even before, have no idea what to do as they suddenly march through their streets. Some even still carry the banners of regiments which, on paper, no longer exist.
>1/2

>>6058246
>Will finish the update in the morning, it's gotten late and I'm too tired to continue

>>6058246
Many lack weapons that would be effective against the invaders, at least in the beginning. But between supplies brought across the border from Hazaran and seized from surrendered or rebelling enemies, that quickly changes. With the groundwork having long since been laid, it doesn’t take long for battles to break out right across the south of Sakia – battles which the rebels and the remnants of Sakia’s once-defeated military actually start to win.

Within one week, control of nearly half of Sakia has shifted back to Sakians.

The decay of your enemy’s forces has clearly reached a critical threshold, beyond which the end has become inevitable. Their ultimate defeat is now just a matter of time, and a question of what lengths their most fervently-devoted will go to now that they have come face to face with this total collapse.

These closing battles, the death-throes of the Organization you once served, see you and your cohort…

>On the front line, serving as advisors and ‘problem-solvers’ for what has become a truly collaborative effort.
>Deep in the territory still held by your enemy, continuing to disrupt their efforts to cling to what they’ve taken.
>Behind closed-doors, already working out the new regional political order that will fill the vacuum left by your enemy.
>Other?

>>6058763
>>Behind closed-doors, already working out the new regional political order that will fill the vacuum left by your enemy.

If the battle is all but won what matters is keeping things going in the long-run.

>>6058763
>>Behind closed-doors, already working out the new regional political order that will fill the vacuum left by your enemy.

>>6058763
>Behind closed-doors, already working out the new regional political order that will fill the vacuum left by your enemy.

>>6058763
… working mostly in the background, as the go-between for what are emerging as the most likely major players in the post-invasion aftermath. The first of these is of course the Hazari government, where Marshal Noventus serves as the chief administrator and where you are the official head of state. There is also now a more cohesive, centralized authority over both the reconstituted Sakian army and the newly formed rebellious mainlander faction. The challenge of course was getting these two people in the same room without anyone trying to murder anyone else, which seems like such a low bar when you think about it in the abstract.

In practice however not only were these men mortal enemies just a few weeks ago, you were someone they’d have considered an existential threat yourself. One for the fact that you and your comrades wreaked havoc on the logistics and morale of their invading army like you just couldn’t stop yourselves, and the other for the fact that your entire government simply exists and hasn’t been annihilated yet.

But after a week of trying, you finally do get these two men and their numerous personal guards in the same place – in the town hall at the border city of Kraljevo, liberated fairly early by the renewed efforts of the Sakians.

…

[What is the sticking point?] Serana asks as you sit in a private room away from the main meeting hall, having called a brief recess. [This time, I mean?]

“I honestly have no idea,” you admit. “It seems so straightforward, one side just wants to go home, the other wants them to go home.”

[You’d think they’d be able to agree on something without being forced to.]

“You’d be forgiven for making that mistake,” you grumble. “Honestly it might be easier to just thrash them around a bit.”

[So what are we going to do about it?] she asks curiously. [Or does there need to be a single, sound resolution?]

You consider the question for a moment.

>The problem is that the rebel faction wants to be certain that they will be allowed to withdraw, which means we need a neutral guarantor.
>The only important outcome is that the rebel faction leaves. That just makes a clean, complete victory over the ‘loyalists’ even more important.
>The Sakian military thinks they’re strong. We should remind them of how they’ve gotten this far, and how far they’d get without continuing support.
>Other?

>>6060489
>The problem is that the rebel faction wants to be certain that they will be allowed to withdraw, which means we need a neutral guarantor.

>>6060489
>>The problem is that the rebel faction wants to be certain that they will be allowed to withdraw, which means we need a neutral guarantor.

>>6060489
>The problem is that the rebel faction wants to be certain that they will be allowed to withdraw, which means we need a neutral guarantor.
>Other?
In combating the loyalists, maybe the two factions should co-mingle their forces as a trust-building exercise.

>>6060489
>>The problem is that the rebel faction wants to be certain that they will be allowed to withdraw, which means we need a neutral guarantor.

>>6060489
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 1, 10 = 14 (3d10)

>>6061042

Rolled 2, 8, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>6061042

Rolled 1, 7, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>6061042

>>6061042
“It would help if we had a truly neutral arbiter,” you sigh wearily. “Which given our positions, Hazaran really can’t be anymore.”

[Because even if defensively, we were formerly a belligerent.]

“Right.”

“So where do we start?” Helen asks you, having overheard the tail end of your conversation. “And how do the rest of us help make it happen?”

…

Two weeks.

It ends up taking two weeks to get a neutral arbiter to join in with the proceedings, because you end up having to go all the way to Petraea to find someone with the qualifications to assist in these negotiations who both sides of the argument will find trustworthy – in part because of Sakia’s long, tense history with Tarsus on your western border and the rebel faction’s refusal to rely on any nation which directly shares a border with Hazaran (and could therefore be threatened by you).

It was the right idea. You’re still certain of that. But the stubbornness of the other parties costs precious time, during which the tension between Sakia and its unwelcome and increasingly unwilling ‘guests’ can only ever increase.

Your shared enemy, though still on the back foot, also has more breathing room than they would have otherwise to adjust their deployments and shore up their weaknesses across the region, slowing what might otherwise have been an overwhelming tide of advances had the rebellion and the reconstituted Sakian military simply cooperated from the start.

And you make sure to tell them that.

“Had you merely cooperated, and focused on the task at hand,” you insist loudly, “this campaign could have been brought to an end by now!”

You take a deep breath. “But this is the agreement currently on the table – once our enemy is defeated, the rebellious army from the Mainland will congregate on the border between Sakia and Petraea. They will, with the efforts of the Petraean police force, the oversight of the established Sakian military governing council, and the presence and advising of the silver-eyed warriors as well as the Hazari military, surrender all issued weapons and equipment intended to be used in offensive combat, and be escorted across the border through Petraea. Ships carrying the surrendered troops will depart from the West End once these can be provided.”

“Can we all, finally, agree on this outline?”
>1/2

>>6062378
The next week is a pivotal one – and one in which, unusually to your mind, your direct presence on the battlefield is not an important factor in the outcome. This is more the wartime experience of other monarchs as you understand it, leading from behind their own lines rather than those of their enemy. But the main difference of course is that while many such monarchs might wish that they had the power to charge valiantly into the fray and lead their troops to victory at the tip of the proverbial spear, you actually do have that sort of power and must for reasons various refrain from doing so.

A steady stream of casualty figures and action reports from the battles in Sakia trickle in from day to day, painting a clear picture for you as you plot them onto the best map you have of the region in color-coded inks. The invaders from the continent are now outnumbered and surrounded, and have ceded most of their ill-gotten gains back into Sakian control. Their strongholds are on the western stretches of the north-facing Sakian coast, where they can resupply from the sea and trade cannon fire from ramparts of earth, wood, and stone.

>Allow this to progress naturally, focus your attention on surveying and rebuilding efforts.
>They’re still being resupplied from Lavinia. End that flow of supplies and it’s all over.
>Other?

>>6062670
>They’re still being resupplied from Lavinia. End that flow of supplies and it’s all over.

>>6062670
>>They’re still being resupplied from Lavinia. End that flow of supplies and it’s all over.

>>6062670
>They’re still being resupplied from Lavinia. End that flow of supplies and it’s all over.

>>6062670
>>Allow this to progress naturally, focus your attention on surveying and rebuilding efforts.

>>6062670
>3d1o best of three

Rolled 10, 4, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>6062993

Rolled 6, 9, 2 = 17 (3d10)

>>6062993

Rolled 4, 2, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>6062993

>>6062670
“The main problem,” you observe, in a room full of silver-eyed warriors and various officers, “is that our enemy is still getting supplies.”

Only the people nearest to you hear you the first time, so this time you raise your voice so that all others are silenced. “I was saying we need to cut off their supply lines.”

“An actual warrior-queen is talking to you,” Valentina speaks up. “Show some respect.”

“Thank you, Valentina,” you reply calmly. “This is how my own faction worked to undermine them before, and now their supply lines have been bottlenecked.”

“They need to land those supplies directly into their coastal strongholds,” Noventus clarifies. “Approaching the coast at those points, given the range of some of the weapons now available, is a risk.”

“So what do you propose?” a representative from the Sakians presses.

>Their staging area is on Lavinia. We should spread the rebellion there.
>Mines are a thing. We should build and set some off the coast.
>We have long-range guns to spare. Point them out to sea and wait.
>Other?

>>6063844
>Mines are a thing. We should build and set some off the coast.
But we need to sweep those mines after the war.

>>6063844
>Mines are a thing. We should build and set some off the coast.

>>6063844
>We have long-range guns to spare. Point them out to sea and wait.
Mines without fire cover are just minesweeper fodder.

>>6063844
>>We have long-range guns to spare. Point them out to sea and wait.

>>6063844
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 6, 2, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>6064364

Rolled 1, 6, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>6064364

Rolled 3, 9, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>6064364

>>6064364
“Mine warfare would be a useful strategy,” you decide aloud. “For all their armor and weaponry our enemy’s ships all share a weakness to strikes from underwater. Specialized cargo ships are also vulnerable to artillery – much of which has been left available for salvage.”

“… the cruiser you stole,” one of the rebel officers realizes.

You nod. “Correct. As well as the one run aground several weeks ago.”

“That’s…” the man pauses, doing the math in his head. “Four six-inch guns and twenty four-inch guns.”

“What’s the range supposed to be for those?” Noventus asks curiously. “Our queen and her cohort haven’t been able to give us a clear answer.”

“We tend to use them at close range,” you admit. “It devolves into close-range brawls pretty quickly every time we steal one.”

“About eight and a half miles at twenty degrees elevation for the six-inch guns,” someone chimes in, “at least at full charge. A bit more than six at fifteen degrees for the four-inch guns.”

“Will there be sufficient shells?” Noventus presses.

“The magazines were flooded in both cases,” an officer recalls, “but that only soaks the powder. The shells don’t really care.”

“Powder, we have,” Noventus observes. “We’ll need to work quickly to secure the guns. In the mean time, infantry attacks should secure the firing positions.”

…

The agreement is quickly struck. Your coalition coordinates to recover as many of the guns from sunken or captured continental warships as possible while a mix of infantry forces – Sakian, rebel continentals, and even a few Sakian specialists, secure the positions where those guns will be positioned to overlook two of the main fortified ports still held by the Organization loyalists.

More difficult is securing adequate fuses of the type that will work for fashioning naval mines. Only some of the rounds designed for the continental-style gun carriages will work, being of a specialized type which is only issued in small numbers.

>A few mines, especially deployed overnight, will serve the role required.
>The mines may work better if affixed directly, thus planting a fear of them.
>The port on Lavinia is still a major problem that must be addressed.
>Other?

>>6065332
>>The mines may work better if affixed directly, thus planting a fear of them.
The French solution.

>>6065332
>The port on Lavinia is still a major problem that must be addressed.
The island already has smokeless powder?

>>6065332
>The mines may work better if affixed directly, thus planting a fear of them.

>>6065332
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 1, 7, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>6066178

Rolled 5, 10, 9 = 24 (3d10)

>>6066178

Rolled 9, 8, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>6066178

>>6066178
“Nothing would take all the effect out of a new strategy than seeing that strategy fail the first time it’s used,” you observe with a slight frown. “So what we should do is ensure that our first mine barrage finds at least one target.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“By placing the mines against the targets directly,” you tell the dissenting voice. “Time the blast with the release of the mines so as to plant the notion that they’ve worked as designed at least once, so that way even if they prove less effective than desired they cannot be ignored.”

“And who would conduct such an operation?”

“Of course there are plenty of possibilities,” you insist. “If we could be certain to avoid casualties those among my own cohort could do so.”

“Still clinging to those old notions, are you?”

“It’s always been a part of our identity,” you counter. “So yes, we’re going to keep to those ‘old notions’, even now. So then, can anyone suggest a solution to make planting that first mine a success?”

“We can ask for volunteer swimmers,” Noventus suggests. “Get as close as we can during the night, perhaps have your own drag the mines partway from there to save energy”

“That would still probably be a one-way trip,” one of the Sakian officers retorts. “You can’t ask men to do that.”

“There must be a few zealots among your numbers who’d still do it,” one of the rebel officers retorts.

"Neither point addresses the fact that, in my mind, this is necessary. So either present me an alternative view that convinces me otherwise, or help me make it happen."

No one speaks up to insist that the mine strategy is suddenly a 'bad idea' - because they know it's not. And none of them try to convince you that hedging your bets is a 'bad idea' - because they know that over the years they've tried more desperate plans than this.

>My cohort will set a mine against one target, under the rudder. Minor damage only. I will lead them.
>My cohort can stand by as rescue swimmers. Nothing in our rules says we SHOULDN’T save others.
>If you want something done, you will have to learn to stop relying on my kind to pull it off for you.
>Other?

>>6067861
>My cohort can stand by as rescue swimmers. Nothing in our rules says we SHOULDN’T save others.
... Does this count as a beach episode?

>>6067861
>>My cohort can stand by as rescue swimmers. Nothing in our rules says we SHOULDN’T save others.

>>6067861
>My cohort can stand by as rescue swimmers. Nothing in our rules says we SHOULDN’T save others.
>Other?
Any pearl divers on this island?

>>6067861
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 1, 10, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>6068902

Rolled 6, 8, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>6068902

Rolled 9, 3, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>6068902

>>6068902
“If you wish to see a lethal attack,” you conclude, “we can still serve as rescue swimmers. Nothing in our self-imposed rules assert that we can’t save one side in a conflict.”

“And how do you intend to get closer?”

>Swim in at night off a wooden ship, as nondescript as possible.
>Rowing from just outside their defenses should work.
>By simply stowing away aboard a ship that’s supposed to be there.
>Other?00vw

>>6069164
>>Swim in at night off a wooden ship, as nondescript as possible.

>>6069164
>Swim in at night off a wooden ship, as nondescript as possible.

>>6069164
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 5, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>6069723

Rolled 7, 9, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>6069723

Rolled 1, 2, 6 = 9 (3d10)

>>6069723

>>6069723
“We’ll sail most of the way, at night,” you suggest. “Utilize the sea fog to get as close as possible, before sending out smaller boats. That way the swimmers will only need to travel the last short distance on their own.”

“My cohort will drag the mine most of that last short stretch,” you finish. “The human swimmers will only be responsible for the final positioning. I will lead the effort personally.”

…

It takes three days to prepare for the mission, which involves getting yourself, Aurora, Justina, and Helen to the coast to meet with the group of soldiers and sailors with whom you will be working as well as the crew that has been assembling the mines from parts. The ships that will be releasing the mines are four small, nondescript square-rigged affairs of slightly different designs each about fifteen meters in length, crewed by perhaps two dozen men and carrying no more than twenty mines apiece. Those four ships will drop the mines near the port town you’ve chosen to target and continue westward along the north Sakian coast until they reach the nearest friendly landing – where another crew assembling mines will be waiting for them.

The mood is generally hushed as final preparations are made and the mines secured for travel, but not overly somber – not as if you’ve asked these men to accompany you on a suicide mission. But they do clearly understand the magnitude of the task facing them, and the possible costs for any serious mistakes. Secure in the knowledge that every man leaving port with you today knows what’s at stake, and is completely committed to seeing this mission through, you actually manage to get a little sleep as the four ships slowly cut across the seas and into position.

…

Nightfall brings good news – the sea-fog you’ve been counting on rolls in, working to obscure somewhat your ships as they pass as close to the occupied port town as their captains dare. But before they begin releasing their deadly cargo into the seas, you board a small boat together with Justina and a crew of swimmers and able seamen.

The seamen row closer in towards the port than their captains ever could, carefully pulling the oars without breaking the surface of the water, their oarlocks well-greased and muffled with rags soaked in oil. The boat carrying your backup in the form of Helen and Aurora holds back, and your boat continues to glide towards the mouth of the harbor.

[We’ll lower it carefully,] you signal to Justina. [Help me haul it out over the back.]

[Understood. Silent.]

[Exactly.]
>1/2

>>6070966
Somehow your boat has managed to very nearly slip into the harbor itself undetected, either by providence or sheer inattentiveness on the part of your enemy. Your luck continues to hold as you spot an obvious transport ship lying at anchor not too far from the harbor entrance.

Not a pretty ship by any definition, you might even entertain an argument that you’d be doing her a favor by sinking her. Her metal hull seems rather low-slung, with three vestigial masts spaced awkwardly along her length and a single smoke-pipe rising from a small superstructure somewhere around her middle. Light shines from glass portholes around the base of that smoke-pipe. Near her bow and stern you can see weapons, seemingly bolted onto the safety railings that run the perimeter of her deck.

None of those guns are manned, and so the crew doesn’t see or hear your allies approaching from out of the cold, dark waters of what they must think of as a literal ‘safe harbor’.

>Instruct the soldiers to position the explosives directly under the hull, as near the keel as they can. Aim to break her spine.
>Tell the soldiers to position the explosives anywhere against the hull, but along the side of the hull facing the harbor entrance.
>Tell the soldiers to help you position the explosives on the ship’s rudder. Even if the ship’s armed, her crew may not be ‘proper’ combatants.
>Other?

>>6070971
>>Instruct the soldiers to position the explosives directly under the hull, as near the keel as they can. Aim to break her spine.

>>6070971
>Instruct the soldiers to position the explosives directly under the hull, as near the keel as they can. Aim to break her spine.

>>6070971
>Instruct the soldiers to position the explosives directly under the hull, as near the keel as they can. Aim to break her spine.

>>6070971
>>Instruct the soldiers to position the explosives directly under the hull, as near the keel as they can. Aim to break her spine.

>>6070971
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 10, 6, 7 = 23 (3d10)

>>6071473

Rolled 3, 4, 4 = 11 (3d10)

>>6071473

Rolled 2, 5, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>6071473

>>6071473
You reason this next decision through.

The gears and shafts that drive a steamship forward are typically located aft of the engine room, which is where the power to turn those gears and shafts is generated. Those involve heavy equipment, and are typically crewed compartments. At the opposite end, towards the bow, the ship has to be ballasted – typically by water-filled compartments. Snapping her proverbial spine anywhere else would blast shrapnel inward throughout the machine spaces, wrecking her engine and drive systems beyond repair, but would also cause casualties.

Blasting the ship forward of the engines however wouldn’t do quite the same amount of damage, though it could definitely cause permanent deformation of the hull and structural bulkheads that might prove impossible to repair. The main advantage, at least to you, is that the shrapnel from the explosion should mostly be caught by the water in the ballast tanks while still lending a bit of a theatrical flair that makes it believable.

A long fuse means you can start the swim back before the blast alerts anyone to your presence – a swim that becomes complicated as the unaugmented soldiers begin to tire forcing you to rescue-carry them the rest of the way to the rowboat that brought you in. That boat rows almost silently towards the ship that brought it so far, and rather than pulling the boat back aboard you scramble up some ropes thrown over the side for you.

“I take it things went well,” Helen muses.

You nod. “Very. The blast should be convincing, and casualties should be minimal if any.”

“Good, very good,” Helen allows herself a slight smile of satisfaction. “How long do you think they’ll hold out under these circumstances?”

“A few weeks perhaps,” you reply as the crew around you resumes setting their mines. “Directly proportional to how many ships…”

Even as you’re explaining your point, the situation changes in an instant when your senses are all but overwhelmed. Something draws near at dizzying speed, something which slices through the surface of the water from below like a line of dark, shadowy knives. Something massive, rippling with an incredible physical power – and more importantly, with an incredible yōki to match.

“An awakened being?” Aurora wonders nervously.

Justina seems doubtful. “Only now?”

“She’s right,” you agree. “It makes no sense, and it feels… different somehow.”

Helen is quick to agree. “It’s a match in strength, but it’s more calm. Stable.”

Then she glances at you. “Like you, but much, much more.”

“Do you think it’s hostile?” Aurora asks.
>1/2

>>6073066
The answer comes immediately as one of the minelayers blossoms into a fireball in the distance. As the sea lights up you catch sight of the monstrous creature responsible – chitinous plates and insectile limbs ending in massive talons, glinting like steel, each wicked finger as long as a grown man is tall. Articulated plates cover a body of some kind, long and sinuous, like a suit of armor crafted for some mad beast the likes of which you’ve never seen before that’s somehow managed to fuse to the flesh and bone beneath. The only thing that humanizes it, that approaches a recognizable feature even, is its face. Even that is less like it ever belonged to a human, and strikes you as being almost more like a twisted mockery of the human form instead. As if it were specifically done to unsettle you.

It can’t have been more than a moment or two, but the scene is seared into your memory such that it may as well have been an eternity.

“What… the hell?” Justina wonders aloud as the bestial creature slips back into the water with an angry – no, perhaps an ‘irritated’ – hiss.

“Asarakam…” Helen realizes. “What in the names of the Goddesses is that thing doing here?”

“… ‘hostile’ it is, then,” Aurora muses, answering her own question as she stares at the flickering debris of what was one of your ships.

>Dump the rest of the mines and get the hell out of here, before it changes its mind and comes back.
>Forget dumping the mines, forget sneaking around. Run if you can, swim if you have to.
>You have mines, which seemed to affect it. It would be easy to turn them into depth charges.
>Other?

>>6073076
>>You have mines, which seemed to affect it. It would be easy to turn them into depth charges.

>>6073076
>>You have mines, which seemed to affect it. It would be easy to turn them into depth charges.

>>6073076
>>You have mines, which seemed to affect it. It would be easy to turn them into depth charges.

>>6073076
>>Dump the rest of the mines and get the hell out of here, before it changes its mind and comes back.

>>6073076
>Dump the rest of the mines and get the hell out of here, before it changes its mind and comes back.

>>6073076
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 10, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>6073735

Rolled 4, 3, 5 = 12 (3d10)

>>6073735

Rolled 4, 6, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>6073735

>>6073735
“We have explosives that seemed to affect it,” you recognize, before raising your voice to issue your order. “Signal the other ships and get to work dropping the mines with heavier weights, make sure they sink deep.”

“To what end?” Helen asks quickly even as the sailors snap out of their horrified stupor and get to work. “Force it back to the surface and throw yourself at it?”

“Of course not,” you correct her. “I want YOU to throw me at it.”

She sighs loudly. “Well, you’re our ‘armor-piercing’ projectile.”

“So this is happening?” Aurora wonders aloud.

Justina shrugs. “Guess so.”

…

The splashes aren’t all followed by booms. You can feel that the asarakam – which you now must assume your new opponent is – maneuvering in the depths seemingly to evade the slow-falling explosives which are likely crushed far below by the pressure of the water surrounding them. But a few of them do explode, causing the surface of the ocean to roil here and there.

After a few hits, or possibly near-misses at very least, you do sense that the asarakam rises swiftly to the surface.

“Here it comes!” you shout. “Helen, you ready!?”

“On it!”

As the asarakam breaks the surface near one of the remaining ships you’re already hurtling through the air towards where you and your cohort all know it will be. Helen’s aim is impeccable, and your blade is ready. But when you land the solid blow, the result is distinctly underwhelming. It’s a loud clang, yes, and you see some blood escape through the asarakam’s eyes and mouth, but it manages to shrug whatever damage you’ve done.

The counterblow is every bit as bad as you’d think.

Many of your bones break instantly and even a few internal organs rupture in places under the weight of the blow, which skips you twice of the ocean’s surface like a stone. Thankfully that’s in the direction of the ship you were just on, and you’ve managed to hold onto your precious blade the whole way despite the series of impacts. That means you can use it to impale the hull and cling to it just to stay above water.
>1/2

>>6074834
“We need to go,” you insist as your companions haul you out of the water. “Now.”

“It feels like it’s retreating,” Aurora updates you. “Did you do any damage?”

“Some,” you reply. “I got the worst of it though.”

“You’ll be fine,” Helen declares, having briefly examined your wounds. “Now, how are we going to beat that thing?”

>We don’t. At least, not now. Not when we know nothing about it except that we can barely even wound it.
>Well, first we let it deal with our bottled-up enemies along the coastline. Then we figure out what to do next.
>I hate to say it, but we’ll need some help to deal with this thing. Treat it like it’s a common enemy to face.
>Other?

>>6075732
>We don’t. At least, not now. Not when we know nothing about it except that we can barely even wound it.

>>6075732
>>We don’t. At least, not now. Not when we know nothing about it except that we can barely even wound it.

>>6075732
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 4, 2, 3 = 9 (3d10)

>>6076340

Rolled 10, 9, 8 = 27 (3d10)

>>6076340

Rolled 3, 3, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>6076340

>>6076340
That wasn’t quite what you’d call your ‘best effort’, but it was close enough to it that you’re not just disappointed to see how little it achieved – you’re actually a little concerned.

“We don’t,” you admit with a frown. “At least not right now, not when we don’t know anything about this enemy aside from how little damage I just did to it.”

“You heard the lady!” Aurora barks sharply. “Let’s get the hell outta here already!”

The remaining ships manage to shift tacks, sails billowing for a few moments before they truly catch the wind and begin to work their way back to port. As the hulls cut through the calm sea-surfaces you can feel the presence of the asarakam sink back into the depths and slink back away from the shore.

Given the most recent developments, the blast you hear in the distance behind you from the mine you had your team set under the keel of your chosen target in port seems like almost an afterthought.

…

“So that’s the size of it,” you sigh wearily, having gathered many of your cohort and the ‘important’ officers of both the rebel faction and reconstituted Sakian military.

“Do you think that it didn’t understand the difference between the factions fighting around the Sakian coast?” Valentina asks curiously. “Or that it didn’t care?”

“What’s the difference?” one of the rebel officers grumbles.

“If it didn’t care, then there’s no chance of reasoning with it,” you observe. “But if didn’t understand…”

“Then either it or another asarakam might be reasoned with,” Helen completes the thought.

You nod. “It had to have known that we had yōki when it attacked.”

“And it attacked anyway,” Sabela nods, understanding your line of reasoning. “You believe it to be incapable of higher thought.”

“That’s what I’m assuming,” you agree.

“Fighting this thing would be a pain,” Salem muses, shutting her eyes. “Even for the two of us. Swimming is one thing, fighting effectively underwater is another entirely.”

>Are there any awakened beings who might be better suited to fighting underwater?
>Then we have to force this thing onto land, take them out as a coordinated group.
>The asarakam is probably here to fight the Organization’s troops. Maybe guide it to Lavinia?
>Other?

>>6077584
>>Are there any awakened beings who might be better suited to fighting underwater?

>>6077584
>>Then we have to force this thing onto land, take them out as a coordinated group.

>>6077584
>The asarakam is probably here to fight the Organization’s troops. Maybe guide it to Lavinia?

>>6077584
I'll give it one hour before I start working on the update.

>>6077584
Okay, give me a 3d10 roll.

Rolled 9, 1, 4 = 14 (3d10)

>>6078508

Rolled 4, 7, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>6078508

Rolled 6, 8, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>6078508

>>6078508
You reject the idea of drawing the asarakam towards Lavinia, since it largely ignored your entire cohort at first despite the fact that it should absolutely have known that you all had yōki. It simply showed no interest in you.

“Do we have any awakened beings who can fight underwater?” you ask.

Salem shakes her head, while Sabela speaks up. “Effectively? Only to a degree. Enough to match something properly adapted to doing so? No.”

“Well, that seems to leave us one option,” Helen sighs wearily.

You nod. “Fight against it on land.”

“Will we need to lure it out of the water first?” Valentina questions.

Serana shakes her head. [Most likely no.]

Valentina frowns. [Why, do you reckon?]

“It came here to attack,” you explain. “So it will probably start doing so again soon.”

>That doesn’t leave us much time. We should conclude our business with the remaining enemy holdouts immediately.
>The enemy of our enemy may not be our friend, but it certainly wouldn’t do to be fighting them. We need the holdouts on our side, at least temporarily.
>The enemy holdouts are a target. We should focus on evacuating any remaining civilians, then dealing with the asarakam after it defeats our other enemies.
>Other?

>>6079774
>>The enemy of our enemy may not be our friend, but it certainly wouldn’t do to be fighting them. We need the holdouts on our side, at least temporarily.

>>6079774
>The enemy holdouts are a target. We should focus on evacuating any remaining civilians, then dealing with the asarakam after it defeats our other enemies.

>>6079774
>>That doesn’t leave us much time. We should conclude our business with the remaining enemy holdouts immediately.

>>6079774
>The enemy of our enemy may not be our friend, but it certainly wouldn’t do to be fighting them. We need the holdouts on our side, at least temporarily.

>>6079774
>>The enemy of our enemy may not be our friend, but it certainly wouldn’t do to be fighting them. We need the holdouts on our side, at least temporarily.

>>6079774
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 1, 3, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>6080509

Rolled 7, 2, 4 = 13 (3d10)

>>6080509

Rolled 6, 7, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>6080509

>>6079774
“If there was ever a time to get those holdouts on-side,” you muse, “now would be it.”

“You mean, after the shelling and the mines?” Aurora questions you with a slight frown. “You really think that’s going to work?”

“It may be worth a try,” you insist.

After giving it some thought, Helen shakes her head. “Perhaps they don’t yet realize our involvement with the mines?”

[Or they may end up quite desperate to be rescued,] Serana observes.

>Then we’ll need to wait until they’ve seen the asarakam in the cold light of day in order for them to feel ‘properly motivated’ for an alliance.
>We need to act quickly. I have no idea how long they’ll be able to hold out once they’ve been attacked for real.
>They'll unwittingly serve as the bait, and will likely accept our proposals for peace AFTER the crisis is averted.
>Other?

>>6081040
>Then we’ll need to wait until they’ve seen the asarakam in the cold light of day in order for them to feel ‘properly motivated’ for an alliance.

>>6081040
>>Then we’ll need to wait until they’ve seen the asarakam in the cold light of day in order for them to feel ‘properly motivated’ for an alliance.

>>6081040
>>Then we’ll need to wait until they’ve seen the asarakam in the cold light of day in order for them to feel ‘properly motivated’ for an alliance.

>>6081040
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 2, 1, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>>6081637
Come on triple ones!

>>6081708
lmfao I was close!

Rolled 3, 10, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>6081637

Rolled 6, 6, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>6081637

>>6081637
“For that to happen requires proper motivation,” you realize. “Otherwise, what do you think the odds are that we can even approach their fortifications without being fired on? All their defensive fire is now concentrated… even for me, it would be difficult to avoid being hit. Possibly multiple times.”

“We’ll have to position ourselves carefully,” Helen muses. “Get close enough to respond when needed but far enough not to be fired on.”

“We also need to consider that we’re going to have to wait on the asarakam to initiate the attack,” Valentina adds. “So how do we avoid the impression that we’re simply waiting around for something?”

[That could cause a problem,] Serana agrees. [In a few potential ways.]

You consider that question carefully for a few moments, weighing the options in your head. Letting the asarakam start attacking before you try to approach your enemy could be seen as capitalizing on catastrophe, which is actually the truth. The difference is in whether that criticism is reasonable – from your perspective not only do you owe your enemy nothing at this point, particularly considering how much damage they’ve done in their invasion. From their perspective they can be as unreasonable as they want, because they’re ‘right’ and you’re ‘wrong’.

…

You settle on staging a trip to the ‘front lines’ – a network of trenches dug into the earth a good distance from the enemy’s positions. In lower areas these trenches are set a bit further from the outskirts of the encircled town, to try to get outside the enemy’s artillery range. In more elevated areas the line inches closer to those outskirts, since those hilltops give the advantage to your own artillery in terms of their range.

Working your way towards the more prominent of the three lightly-fortified hilltops along the siege line is your goal, giving the asarakam time to make its appearance so that you can make yours. The booming of artillery fire isn’t quite what you’d call ‘constant’, but it certainly is regular throughout your entire ‘tour’ of the front lines. When you reach the hilltop you’re treated to a demonstration of the various weapons assembled for the purpose of besieging one of the last bastions held by the invaders from the continent, reviewing their ammunition needs, their ranges, their arcs of fire, and so on.
>1/2

>>6082843
It almost feels like the attack you expect isn’t going to happen after all, but eventually you do feel the distant sensation of a powerful yōki approaching the coast. That means you now have to decide how exactly this is going to go – since unfortunately you couldn’t possibly know in advance when this moment would actually arrive. In one sense however this is a good setup for you since you have time to react, and you’re presently standing right next to the artillery captain best-positioned to fire on your enemy’s fortification line.

Given the presence of the asarakam at their rear and your own batteries and trenches at their front, you can’t say what your enemy from the continent is likely to do

>Order a concentrated barrage to support as many silver-eyed warriors as possible in reaching the opposite line.
>Send out a small group ahead of your full cohort, with no artillery at first. Give the enemy a chance to be reasonable.
>Order the most mobile artillery pieces to be prepared to maneuver. Be ready to move in closer if the enemy line breaks down.
>Other?

>>6083005
>>Send out a small group ahead of your full cohort, with no artillery at first. Give the enemy a chance to be reasonable.

>>6083005
>Send out a small group ahead of your full cohort, with no artillery at first. Give the enemy a chance to be reasonable.

>>6083005
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 9, 10, 8 = 27 (3d10)

>>6084767

Rolled 3, 6, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>6084767

Rolled 3, 8, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>6084767