Thunder Reforged
Copyright© 2026 by FozzieBare
Chapter 6: Elias Gets Strategic Experience, and the “TheKevinExperience”
Elias had actually gotten ahead of the work needed to keep the guild expanding. Reforged had built a second barracks on its home planet, which the guild now nearly controlled outright. That meant bringing in another wave of recruits, and after learning about the problem with one of the people he had already invited, Elias had redoubled his efforts to make sure new members were going to be good fits before issuing an invitation.
He had apologized to Amy, admitting that he probably should have caught the warning sign from the name alone.
She waved it off.
“It turned into a valuable lesson for the guild.”
Elias decided not to bring it up again.
He was watching one of the mock battles the guild now ran regularly, even when Adrian and Amy weren’t commanding. It was a useful way for people to adjust to what Universe at War demanded instead of Arena mode, where all you had to survive was one fight. Elias watched from a top-down view, more as a casual observer than anything else, making notes about who might see action in future expansion and who still needed more work.
They were getting close to the point where expansion would mean bumping into the smaller player guilds on nearby planets. Elias had no intention of simply rolling over them.
This far out on the edge of the map, several were probably nothing more than a few friends who wanted their own little corner of the PvP metagame. Others might belong to groups that had largely drifted away from Universe at War but had never formally abandoned their holdings. He wasn’t interested in turning Reforged’s growth into an excuse to flatten people who were barely in the way.
Then he noticed one unit break away from the main furball. The WarMAC wandered away from the major push point and started moving into the enemy backline.
Seemingly without purpose.
Elias checked the pilot name.
<TheKevinExperience>.
Had the field commander sent him around the flank? Elias checked the comm logs. Nothing. No order from the commander. No acknowledgement. Nothing suggesting the maneuver had been planned at all.
Elias frowned and made a note.
Ask <MRobinsRules> why they allowed one of their units to freelance while the main thrust was under pressure. Did they lose track of what their units were doing?
He finished writing, looked back up at the tactical display...
... and froze.
The wandering WarMAC had somehow found the opposing force’s commander. Red Team’s commander had gone with a C3, Command and Control, build. Elias understood the logic. The machine sacrificed most of its direct combat ability for better battlefield awareness, allowing the commander to track the condition of the force and concentrate on directing the fight instead of participating in it. Which was why the commander had positioned himself well behind the main battle.
Safe.
Or at least, theoretically safe.
<TheKevinExperience> had somehow wandered directly into him. There was no bodyguard attached to the command unit. The resulting “battle” was a foregone conclusion.
Elias took another sip of soda and made a second note.
Ask Kevin why the hell he did that. Because somehow, it worked.
Then he waited for Red Team’s second-in-command to take over and stabilize the battle.
No one did.
Elias watched Red Team dissolve into confusion.
My God. They never established a proper chain of command.
For a moment, he considered letting it happen. It would certainly teach everyone a memorable lesson about making sure the next person in line knew they were the next person in line.
Then Elias leaned forward.
No.
This called for some hands-on experience. Something Elias definitely lacked. But now was as good a time as any.
He hammered away at his keyboard and spawned in another copy of the commander’s MAC under his direct control. He deliberately disabled his C3 modules because well, Kevin had already done what he did, and his team should benefit from his ... Elias decided impetuousness fit the tone. He took three seconds, to go over the mental picture of the battle he had before he had spawned in before he spoke up.
“All Red Team units, this is NumbersGuy. I’m taking over as Red Team Actual.”
So, now he was formally in command.
Now what?
“We’re on the back foot, but first we restore continuity. Then we worry about getting the initiative back because if the center separates from the wings, then Blue can...”
Elias stopped.
I’m talking too much.
He took a breath.
Just give the orders. You’re not giving a...
He clenched his jaw.
FOCUS, Elias.
“Second Platoon, fall back forty meters and reconnect with First. Third, same on the left. First, hold center. Don’t chase.”
A chorus of acknowledgments came back.
Elias blinked.
Right.
That worked better.
“Oh, and Second and Third, detach one WarMAC each for bodyguard duty. There’s a headhunter in our backfield, and I don’t want to be the second commander he has for lunch.”
He threw himself into keeping the mental picture of the battle updated from the reports coming in. Theoretically, turning the C3 systems back on would give him a much cleaner view. But this was supposed to approximate battlefield conditions. Better to trust reports, keep his own eyes moving, and maintain a Mark One Eyeball lookout for that lunatic still roaming around somewhere behind the lines.
His new bodyguards reached him before Kevin could make another headhunter run, but Blue Team was still pressing hard. Elias could hear the stress in the reports coming in now, along with the first confirmations of downed and disabled units under his command.
He checked the scenario conditions again. This was a meeting engagement, not a one-off battle. The surviving force would be expected to salvage what it could, repair, rearm, link up with other units on the planet, and try again.
Learn from the loss.
Elias keyed the command channel.
“Red Team. Tactical withdrawal.”
He caught himself before he started explaining.
“Do not rout. Fighting retreat. Cover each other.”
“If a Blue unit overextends, punish it. Do not chase.”
“We’re leaving the field, but we’re not leaving anyone behind that we don’t have to.”
He looked over the platoon status.
“Platoon leaders, keep your people together. If you need a rear guard, assign one. But don’t spend a WarMAC unless buying that time is worth the cost.”
His team hastened to obey. They still lost roughly a quarter of their remaining force during the withdrawal, but it could have been much worse. They even managed to destroy a couple of overzealous pursuers. Blue Team was disciplined enough not to let enthusiasm turn a victory into a defeat, however. After a few minutes, the pursuit slackened and Red Team successfully broke contact.
Elias finally had a moment to breathe. Then Adrian’s voice came over the channel.
“All right, Reforged. Battle’s over. Time for debrief.”
The battle statistics began appearing across Elias’s screen. He looked over. Adrian was logged in. Apparently Adrian had been watching the end of the battle. Elias frowned.
When the hell did he show up?
Then another thought hit him. And why the hell were my hands shaking now that the battle was over? He reached for a soda and had to concentrate far more than usual just to get the tab open.
Adrian nodded.
“Not bad.”
Elias took a sip and another breath, waiting for his hands to settle.
“How long have you been watching?”
Adrian considered.
“Shortly after I heard you give the withdrawal order. I didn’t think you were commanding, so I logged on to see what happened.”
He glanced toward the battle log.
“Headhunter attack?”
Elias nodded slowly.
“Not sure if it was a smart play or someone doing something crazy that happened to work.”
Adrian smirked.
“You’d be surprised how often one looks like the other. Let’s get into the debrief.”
Elias put his headset back on. Normally, one of these ad-hoc battles would dissolve into general chatter, bragging, and people talking over the coolest moments. But with two members of guild leadership suddenly interested in this one, it had been promoted into a formal debrief.
Adrian led off.
“First thing. What we just saw is exactly why we designate a chain of command. When Red Actual went down, there was a breakdown. Orders from the top stopped, everybody started maneuvering independently, and there wasn’t time for the platoon leaders to consult each other and figure out who was taking over.”
<TheKevinExperience> raised his hand on his webcam’s window.
Adrian nodded. “Go ahead, Kevin. And by the way, that was a hell of a move. How’d it happen?”
Kevin’s voice was almost offensively light and breezy.
“Yeah, uh ... it just seemed like I couldn’t affect the battle where I was. Too much of a furball. Lot of confusing stuff happening. So I figured I’d go look for other opportunities.”
Elias slapped a hand against his forehead.
Tactical genius?
Nope.
Moment of insanity?
Apparently.
Adrian was silent for a moment.
“Okay. Normally, I’d tell you to clear something like that with your platoon leader first.”
Kevin nodded.
“You may have thought you could accomplish more somewhere else, but your platoon leader might have had another use for you. Plugging a breakthrough. Holding you in reserve. Waiting for somebody on Red to overextend so you could pounce on them.”
Adrian paused.
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