[130 / 2 / 21]
You are Noel Tiberius di Hazaran, a warrior-queen with the blood of monsters coursing through your veins, and you are currently locked into a long-running battle against invaders from a far-off continent.
These are what your companions have recently taken to calling the “witching hours” - when silver-eyed slayers move like fleeting shadows under the cover of night to sow the seeds of havoc among the men who by all rights shouldn’t even be here. The last day of battle saw some losses among your Hazari forces, but in exchange key territorial gains have created an endgame scenario for the defenders.
The gap between your fortifications and the artillery positions of Tarsus to the west is now closed by two fortified hilltops on which field guns and mortars have been positioned, to cover the whole valley floor in overlapping fields of fire. Successive nights of bombardment and covert sabotage missions have taken a toll on the enemy’s armored forces and their remaining supplies are dwindling. Resupply is all but impossible without a new offensive by the enemy, and movement along this stretch of the border is no longer free.
What you do in these “witching hours” has the potential to break the enemy’s offensive in Hazaran once and for all, opening the way to push their forces all the way back to the north coast of Sakia where they first landed.
“Helen,” you muse, approaching your long-time comrade for advice as you have countless times in the years since your former patrons in the “Organization” first betrayed you all. “What do you think we should do tonight?”
After thinking about it for a moment, she answers. “What do you want to achieve?”
“I want these people to go home,” you frown. “To leave our island and mind their own damn business instead of experimenting on our people.”
“Then despite the fact that you must already know this,” she replies, “I’ll remind you that sometimes people fight based on anger rather than sense.”
“And so if we press the advantage too hard it may leave them more stubborn than demoralized,” you nod in agreement. “You would suggest an objective that makes their position even more untenable without risking undue casualties… or even necessarily any increased misery?”
“A little misery is unavoidable when you’re demoralized,” Helen shrugs. “But certainly I would be particularly wary of giving them any reason to continue fighting by accident.”
>1/2
These are what your companions have recently taken to calling the “witching hours” - when silver-eyed slayers move like fleeting shadows under the cover of night to sow the seeds of havoc among the men who by all rights shouldn’t even be here. The last day of battle saw some losses among your Hazari forces, but in exchange key territorial gains have created an endgame scenario for the defenders.
The gap between your fortifications and the artillery positions of Tarsus to the west is now closed by two fortified hilltops on which field guns and mortars have been positioned, to cover the whole valley floor in overlapping fields of fire. Successive nights of bombardment and covert sabotage missions have taken a toll on the enemy’s armored forces and their remaining supplies are dwindling. Resupply is all but impossible without a new offensive by the enemy, and movement along this stretch of the border is no longer free.
What you do in these “witching hours” has the potential to break the enemy’s offensive in Hazaran once and for all, opening the way to push their forces all the way back to the north coast of Sakia where they first landed.
“Helen,” you muse, approaching your long-time comrade for advice as you have countless times in the years since your former patrons in the “Organization” first betrayed you all. “What do you think we should do tonight?”
After thinking about it for a moment, she answers. “What do you want to achieve?”
“I want these people to go home,” you frown. “To leave our island and mind their own damn business instead of experimenting on our people.”
“Then despite the fact that you must already know this,” she replies, “I’ll remind you that sometimes people fight based on anger rather than sense.”
“And so if we press the advantage too hard it may leave them more stubborn than demoralized,” you nod in agreement. “You would suggest an objective that makes their position even more untenable without risking undue casualties… or even necessarily any increased misery?”
“A little misery is unavoidable when you’re demoralized,” Helen shrugs. “But certainly I would be particularly wary of giving them any reason to continue fighting by accident.”
>1/2
