Chapter 64

We were greeted by cheers and applause when we emerged from the tunnel into the ‘Athena’ area of the fortress; the Drow looking surprised then pleased at the acclaim they were getting. The badly wounded were put straight under the care of those of our healers who had worked on Fae in the past as well as those Fae who were under the command of Talshish. Also greeting me were my wives and children, except for Brianna. They swiftly clustered round to ensure I was OK and, other than a mild telling off for going without her from a tearful Róisín, it was just good to see them all.

“Report,” Roxanne ordered when the initial greeting and welcomes had been given.

“Pretty bad, we lost three hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and thirty-one on the retreat, the rest trying to hold the ruins, most of them in the final assault,” I sighed. “Just sixty-eight survivors out of the four hundred and ten who formed the rear-guard.”

“You got over six hundred out through your rear-guard action, John. You’ve nothing to be ashamed of,” Arch added gently.

“I’m just trying to think if I could have done anything differently, Arch. Perhaps saved more,” I nodded. “Though it wasn’t quite as bad as that retreat where I lost Thea.”

“Aye, true,” Roxanne nodded. “But some good came of it. We now know the Vultoqi can and do use hand weapons; that they do have some form of ward-breaker and that you’ve given the Drow a massive boost in confidence.”

“This is true, friend John,” Birry added. “Those in our battalion consider ourselves the unbroken now and wish to have it adopted as our name. We will be requesting that Commanders Brinont and Quruth have it written onto the colours Mage Arch insisted we have.”

“And well deserved it is,” Arch agreed.

“Talshish, you will arrange a naming ceremony and I will bless the new colours in my mother’s name,” Arwen stated to Talshish.

“At your command, Cirsan Arwen,” he replied formally.

“How did Crnnch’s people manage?” I asked.

“They lost a vehicle, but were able to grab its crew and bug out OK,” Roxanne replied.

“That’s good,” I nodded.

“The other thing, lady Seers, is that I don’t want the Vultoqi doing the same to us as we did to them in tunnelling underground to get to us,” Roxanne announced.

“We are monitoring the ground and the shields here, Mage Roxanne. Unless they can come up with a cloak, they will not be able to do it as we did,” Jemima replied formally.

“Aye, well, be careful. They can surprise.”

“Well done, Tenklar,” Crnnch congratulated his Senior Land-boss.

“Thank you, Seeker. We were fortunate that the allies of Ar-Thenna had them distracted enough to not notice our approach until we were almost on them. After that we simply fired our weapons and ran, losing one of the platforms, but no Yr’ch,” Tenklar replied with pride in his tones.

“I have been informed you assisted enough to enable the allies to pull their surviving people out, without further loss,” Crnnch acknowledged.

“Such actions give our grunts confidence to face the Vultoqi,” Tenklar nodded before being dismissed.

“So, we can, if the circumstances are right, take to the field against the Vultoqi,” Adept Fumel speculated aloud once Tenklar left the office.

“Yes, and we’ll do it more once we have those shielding strips attached to the platforms,” Crnnch nodded.

“Then there are those Vultoqi guns,” Slaarg added.

“Yes, their recharge rate is far quicker than our own,” Crnnch nodded. “With enough of them we might begin to hold our own in the field. This of course depends on the Vultoqi and what we haven’t seen from them yet.”

“It does seem very odd. Were it us, we’d have used our full array of arms in a conquest,” Fumel mused.

“Our arms aren’t that good. Any problem we ran into we used orbital strikes,” Crnnch pointed out. “On Nansack we didn’t even deploy waargs or eviscerators until Rahksahn’s people showed up, and much good that did us.”

“Yes, I have seen the arms Rahksahn’s people have, as well as the images of their ‘heavy weapons’. They put ours to shame,” Kurl agreed. “Though technology-wise they agree we are ahead of them in most areas.”

“The TechnoYr’ch that is,” Slaarg added with a chuckle. “I rather expect they view a standard grunt the way we do.”

“Probably true, however I must now go and report to Archimandrite Brnnt as to the situation so he can lie to the Council about our alliance with Rahksahn’s people,” Crnnch concluded the meeting.

“So, all’s well that ends well,” Brnnt nodded after Crnnch’s report.

“Indeed so, revered Archimandrite, though Rahksahn’s people in the ruins took a bit of a mauling until the rescue could be made,” Crnnch replied, getting a nod off Karkol.

“At least they were capable of mounting one, as well as holding the Vultoqi off when they did attack,” Karkol added.

“True, though I hope one day soon we will be in a similar position,” Brnnt agreed.

“That very much depends on the Senior TechnoYr’ch,” Karkol almost spat. “I have the feeling he somehow knows about Beog and our loss of power, though I may just introduce him to the alternative power we have in Ar-Thenna.”

“Just do not let the Council find out; though I suspect one of them, perhaps Ambost, is the leak there,” Brnnt replied with a frown.

“If you would attend with me Seeker, I may just use you as the excuse necessary when the Council finds out what I’m going to do to the senior TechnoYr’ch,” Karkol chuckled.

“A pleasure, revered Archimandrite,” Crnnch replied as he rose to his feet.

“Why did you feel the need to threaten the senior TechnoYr’ch, Archimandrite Karkol?” Takkas asked at the later Council meeting.

“It needed doing. The TechnoYr’ch are again failing in their duty to support our conflict against the Vultoqi, preferring to provide the so-called elite of Draenoric with trinkets and baubles,” Karkol replied with a sneer.

“A bluff?” Ambost asked with interest.

“I was not bluffing. If the TechnoYr’ch does not assist then he will die a most painful and gruesome death.”

“Fool, don’t you know we would not dare as it would show Beog no longer empowers us?” Ambost burst out.

“I do not need Beog to threaten. I, and indeed we, have Seekers to do our bidding in that regard,” Karkol stated, though did not mention he had requested Athena to infuse utter fear into the senior.

“Pah! The Seekers are a tool that could now turn in our hands, should they realise we can no longer rely on Beog ... for the moment,” came the sneering reply.

“Indeed they could, which is why I have always cultivated their good will, rather than treat them as slaves to do my bidding, same with the militaryYr’ch,” Karkol replied, making several of the Council look thoughtful.

“Yet you threaten the TechnoYr’ch?”

“Only for not supporting this war for our survival.”

“The Vultoqi are contained, we are not under threat!”

“Yet you were the one that proposed we rebuild Grmmar and attempted to have the Seeker building the fortress censured for requisitioning the materiel necessary for doing so,” Karkol hit back.

“I had confidence in Beog finding a solution ... I presume we all did,” Ambost replied defensively.

“For a god who was supposedly all powerful, all seeing and all knowing he certainly appeared to have an issue with defeating the Vultoqi,” Karkol stated baldly, making several of the Council start in shock, though a small minority nodded thoughtfully.

“Blasphemy!” Ambost yelled.

“If it’s blasphemy, let Beog strike me down,” Karkol riposted.

“He has no need to, for I shall,” Ambost snarled and drew a wickedly barbed dagger only to pale as Karkol slipped one of Athena’s modified pistols from his robe.

“Councillors!” Takkas yelled. “Ambost, sheath the dagger, you fool! Karkol, the gun! We need unity, not a bloodbath and, much as it pains me to admit it, Archimandrite Karkol has a valid point. Without Beog we are nothing, hence must use what allies we have to ensure we remain at the top.”

“Agreed,” Brnnt replied. “If we are to ensure our people’s survival, we need unity. If Beog returns in power, he will deal with Archimandrite Karkol. In the meantime, we have to deal with the here and now.”

There were several murmurs of assent from the assembled Council and although Ambost sat, he did not look happy or mollified. That, however, concluded the meeting and the two Archimandrites retired to Brnnt’s chambers.

“You risked much, brother,” Brnnt chided his friend.

“We needed to know who our potential allies are ... as well as our enemies,” Karkol chuckled by way of reply.

“True, but you painted a broad target on your back in doing so.”

“Yes, but now we know of four potential allies who have considered the probability of Beog being gone from our lives.”

“As opposed to the ten who clearly hoped Ambost would gut you?” Brnnt chuckled. “Then there are the ambivalent or those just good at concealing their views, another twelve to be cautious of.”

“It is a dangerous game we play in the service of our goddess, though admittedly not as dangerous as our Seeker plays.”

“Yes, I have my fears that sooner or later the Vultoqi will either breach the fortress or find a means to escape its confinement.”

“Yes, brother, I too feel it is inevitable,” Karkol sighed. “In the meantime I will ride herd upon the TechnoYr’ch to give our troops the weapons they so desperately need.”

“Give a few to Mage Rahksahn. It may be that our allies can improve them for those of our people loyal to Ar-Thenna,” Brnnt requested.

“A good idea, brother.”

“In the meantime, I will tentatively approach those whose ... loyalty to Beog now looks decidedly suspect and see if we can open negotiations. I will also summon the surviving Seekers and place them as bodyguards to the Beoghra for when they have to deal with those in positions of real power.”

“And keep an open ear as to who says what,” Karkol chuckled.

“That too, brother, that too.”

“Again this enemy eluded our attempts to extirpate them,” the senior Patripure stated to the assembled caveatra.

“Yet we know our weapons are effective against them,” a member replied.

“Indeed so, the lesser of our hand weapons caused several casualties and the modified troichin eggs even more,” the senior acknowledged.

“We must breach or escape the confinement of the walls; we are better suited to a war of manoeuvre than a siege.”

“Are we agreed?” the senior asked, feeling consensus amongst the group.

“We are agreed,” came the reply.

“Then let us begin with constructing a ring of travel to take us beyond the walls and attack them from the other side.”

“Agreed. Shall we also instruct the adelshaut to concentrate on the walls in such a manner as to make the old and new enemy assume we intend to breach them from inside?” another member posited.