NOVEL NEXT Chapter 246: Splitting Up
"You won't be able to solve this one, Adam," said Colonel Davian. "They have five floating bases ready to move in. Each is too distant for you to move between them during an attack. Whichever direction you head, we can only assume the rest will attack."
"Then do you have a plan?" questioned Adam as he looked at the map.
On the round table in front of him, with an almost twenty-foot diameter, was a 3D holographic display of their territory, a perfectly circular area with the center in Jackson. It spread past all but the easternmost part of Tennessee, covered much of Kentucky, and spread into Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and a small amount of Missouri. The total area was a nightmare to defend.
"There are currently eight locations where we're fighting," explained Rick from the intelligence group. "Each individual invader army is smaller than the number of people we send out. Though we haven't lost many people permanently, it's whittling down the numbers we can send out, and pretty much the entirety of our forces are rotating through defensive battles with little time to recuperate between campaigns."
"Fortunately, most of our fighters are above Tier 3," continued Davian. "The supports and healers aren't all there yet, since army clashes don't really allow them to get their hits in until we've already minimized the number of enemy combatants. If the invader armies are doing anything, it is feeding our soldiers' levels."
"That is neither here nor there," said General Carmichael gruffly. "He asked the plan."
"Yes, general," acknowledged Davian, before turning back to Adam. "There are a few problems this time. Obviously, the different locations, but also that each Drathan group is sitting on a floating base. We only have one, and while its maneuverability has improved, it isn't as fast as theirs. We've requested all your friends to return from their current deployments, since they're the strongest among us. We've split them into six groups."
"Six?" asked Adam. "I thought the Drathan had five bases."
"It's always good to have a group in reserve, to move where necessary to prevent extra losses. Or to wait for a surprise attack," responded Carmichael.
"Quite," agreed Davian. "We've assigned as many troops as we can to each of them, expecting that your friends will need to lead the charge. Having the soldiers behind them will help crack open the enemy forces, preserving your friends to focus on facing any strong enemies. Unfortunately, deploying so many troops is really tapping our reserves. We can't allow any of these fights to drag out."
"How will the troops get to the floating bases?" asked Adam.
Rick answered with more enthusiasm than the situation warranted.
"The crafters figured out how to apply the floating runes. They made some transport skiffs. Garrett ripped out the floor and bleachers from some school auditoriums, reinforced them with stronger materials, and then floated them with the runes. There are two trucks attached to each to use as both an anchor and tow lines. Though not sophisticated, it will allow us to board the Drathan bases if we can get close enough."
"We'll need to pull some of our gunmen from other assignments to make sure those flying lizards and defenders don't take down the skiffs before our troops can board their bases," added Carmichael.
"Then we have transportation and numbers to try assaulting each base or holding them back. Will I be part of the reserves in case we get breached?" asked Adam.
"Unfortunately, not," answered Carmichael with no small amount of disgust. "You are the king in this game of chess. Losing you will lose us everything."
Davian gave the general a critical look before continuing.
"We don't want to risk you, but we also need to admit that you're both the end game and our most powerful piece. The easternmost Drathan base has three Tier 4 fighters waiting below it. They're unwilling to enter our territory and have made it clear that they're waiting for you. We'll need you to go and confront them along with the forces we send to watch their base."
"If they aren't willing to enter the territory then shouldn't we just wait?" asked Adam.
"Heavens no, boy," snapped Carmichael. "Do you know how wearing it is on the soldiers to stay alert for a long time? We're already depleting our forces by covering so much land and so many conflict points. You'll need to go out there and put an end to those Drathan bosses as quickly as possible."
With surprise, Adam looked over at Davian for confirmation. Davian nodded.
"He's correct, Adam. We'll need you to engage them. We haven't noticed any traps being set. They are just waiting, and honestly, they don't seem very patient. Can you take out three of them at once?"
With a shrug, Adam said, "I fought seven Juungii Archbishops at the same time."
"And I heard they cucked you up pretty badly," responded Carmichael, "and then it required some bizarre impossible magic for you to turn things over."
"That was only because they could absorb more strength from their followers," said Adam defensively. "No one else can do what the Juungii did. It was just a one-time trick."
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"And still, the Juungii aren't one of the strongest races," said Carmichael while meeting Adam's eyes. "You don't know what tricks the other races have. I'm serious about us needing you. Be cautious in this fight."
"Of course," nodded Adam with youthful confidence, "I'm always as cautious as possible."
Everyone in the room had a good laugh at those words.
***
While looking through a magnification display, Adam frowned. Three miles from the edge of his territory where he currently stood was the Drathan base. It was positioned over a meeting place of highways and overpasses. That gave it plenty of distance from him, and few natural retreat points.
The Drathan floating base had a spherical territory, so even though the center of the base was in the air, the space they could control included the land that they floated over. That made it even more likely that the Drathan could have set traps or obstructions that his people hadn't noticed.
It also meant that since they kept a solid distance from Adam's territory, they weren't currently restricted from building or portaling. That was obvious due to what Adam was watching.
When Adam arrived, slightly after a floating and crowded skiff pulled by a tow truck and firetruck had, movement began underneath the Drathan base. A portal had opened and one Drathan came through it. They had pointed at him and then gestured with what he assumed was a wave. Then a trapezoidal table with four chairs, similar to stools without backs, rose from the road materials.
Afterwards, several more Drathan who looked like support staff instead of fighters came through the portal with trays of large hunks of bloody raw meat. When those staff passed back into the portal to leave, two more came out from it. The first Drathan and the two latest arrivals sat on the shorter sides of the table and began to chat.
They were waiting. For Adam.
The first Drathan had had arrived, Adam assumed was a female. Her facial features were a bit rounder, her eyes more angular, and a single line of what looked like light blue hair in a braided mohawk ran down her scalp and below her neck. The robe she wore covered more of her body and the cracks in her charcoal skin had a light blue tint to them. The tag that Adam saw showed "Blizzard Mistress [7]."
The other two around the table looked similar to how Kolrath had. However, the first one, "Aerial Bombadeer [12]," was significantly shorter and thinner than Kolrath had been. The color of his cracked skin was light green, almost yellow. The "Blaze Scion [9]," was nearly as tall as Kolrath had been, and looked strong, though he wasn't as thick as the defender Adam had faced. On his back was a large sword, the tip wider than the rest of the blade, and large serration on both edges of the length. His skin cracks were red.
Adam continued to watch for fifteen minutes. The three interacted politely at first, but then Adam noticed the Blaze Scion getting impatient. While keeping one eye on the Blizzard Mistress and the other on the food, he gestured emphatically while yelling at her.
Both the Blizzard Mistress and Aerial Bombadeer seemed content to watch, one eye each on their companions and the other watched Adam through personal displays. However, after the Blaze Scion became agitated, the Blizzard Mistress stood, turned both eyes towards Adam's direction, and then made a gesture towards him that seemed to say he should come quickly.
"As cautious as possible," whispered Adam to himself with an exhale. Then he addressed a man that was on top of the firetruck and wearing a bulky communication array. "I think I need to go talk to them."
"Are you sure that's safe, sir?" asked the man, his hands on the array to give out orders quickly.
"Probably not, but I think it's less safe for everyone else if I don't go."
"Be careful, sir," pleaded the man. "We know what your presence means to the rest of us. We would lay down our lives to keep you safe."
"Thanks for the sentiment, but I don't think the trade off is quite that understandable. If I'm kept safe, then there is no one to do my job," expressed Adam.
"General, sir, I can understand that, but you need to stay alive. We'll just keep the faith. You haven't let us down yet."
The communications man then turned away from Adam and began coordinating with the drivers, skiff personnel, and headquarters. For his part, Adam walked a few feet to his motorcycle and then got on it.
It only took a couple of minutes for him to pass through the territory edge of the Drathan base. He was about 500 feet from the table and the three he had observed when he got off the motorcycle. The large sword was pulled from its harness on the bike and placed on Adam's back. Then he pulled out the war hammer. His one-handed sword and combat knife were always at his belt.
The three Drathan sat, two patiently, and the third looking ready to explode, as Adam took his time walking towards them. He looked around as he shuffled forward, using his feet to check the ground for any traps or abnormalities. Nothing was obvious to him, but with how long it took him, even the more patient Drathans seemed to have a disapproving look on.
"Are you the aberration?" demanded the Blaze Scion when Adam reached the table.
Adam looked at him, once more slowing while taking time to check his sides and soul map for an ambush. Only the three invaders in front of him were apparent on it.
"Only invaders call me that," stated Adam sourly. "I do have a name."
"Is that possible for natives?" asked the Blaze Scion, seemingly more confused than belligerent with the question. "And what do you mean by invaders?"
Adam glared at him and then turned to the Blizzard Mistress.
"How is this going to go down?"
"I don't understand your phrasing," she said, "but from the context I assume you mean why we have the table. We wish to dine with you and discuss a few things."
"Not me," said the Blaze Scion, standing from his seat and placing a hand near his sword's hilt. "If I had my way, you'd be dead by now."
Adam shrugged. "And if I had my way, you three would be dead. Or never came to my world."
Before sitting, Adam squatted down and checked the underside of the stool for any runes or unusual markings. When he found none, he sat. Both the Blizzard Mistress and the Aerial Bombadeer pulled back their cracked lips to reveal their jagged teeth. Hardly a smile to put Adam at ease.
Then they each picked up a haunch of meat. They watched Adam warily with one eye each and seemed almost surprised when Adam picked up his own chuck of raw meat and smelled it. The blood was quite pungent, and he could smell no other spices or seasonings on it, so he took a bite.
Upon seeing Adam rip off a chunk with his teeth, the Blaze Scion sat and gave one of the threatening smiles.
"Finally! Someone cultured," he declared as he picked up his own meat and began ripping it to shreds.
Adam knew most humans would have been put off by the scene, but he was already used to ingesting blood of all kinds, and he had watched the captive Drathan eat many times.
"Is this supposed to be my last meal before we fight to the death?" asked Adam after he chewed a few bites. The Drathan all seemed to be enjoying their food, even if they never removed one eye from him.
"Maybe," answered the Aerial Bombadeer. "However, your actions up until now have confused us, and we were hoping to discuss some of them with you before deciding our own actions."
"Huh," grunted Adam, surprised by the discourse. Especially since the heat was pulsing and the riving was raging, demanding he remove these invaders from his world.