Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.73 (188) (Patreon)

Glancing up from the hologram displaying the real-time scrying feed from the Tower of Magic, Commander Dahl watched Captain Angleton leave the tent. The man was more impressive than he remembered him being. Even his presence was considerably stronger than he recalled.

He’d heard word days ago that the captain had somehow earned the ire of the general. And while he hadn’t been ‘ordered’ to dispose of the man, his superiors had it made very clear that preventing Captain Angleton’s return to Dorchester would see him rewarded.

Ever since he’d joined the military, he’d always struggled to keep politics out of his command. However, sometimes there wasn’t much he could do about it. When faced with a man like the general, he didn’t have much choice but to turn his head and pretend he didn’t see anything. And for the most part, it had worked.

He’d risen through the ranks quickly. From his beginnings on the road crews, he’d served in almost every department of Dorchester’s army. At one point, he’d even been in nominal command of the captain. Though, that was years ago.

Thinking back, he remembered the young man’s much smaller frame standing in front of his desk at Gate 7 command. The young man’s youthful exuberance was barely contained behind that stoic expression of his. He quite clearly remembered the young man demanding more support for the little reaction squad he’d just been put in charge of.

Frowning at the memory, Commander Dahl recalled how that little meeting had turned out. The captain had indeed gotten his support, but as a result, Central Command had thrown him and his troops into the worst situations they could find in retaliation for his audacity.

Yet, here he was, still alive. Despite everything he’d been through, he’d just grown stronger in spite of it. It was commendable and inspiring in a way.

Sighing, he returned his attention to the hologram in front of him. ‘You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it,’ he reminded himself grimly.

—--

Nero and his wackos departed the Verena estate without issue. Nick had given Vera a quick kiss goodbye, and Nero was seen off with a firm nod and demand for him to bring her Nicholas home. There was no marching or semblance of formality involved at all.

Their trip took advantage of the asta-platforms to save time and brought them directly to the command center nearest to the fighting. Nero wasn’t sure if they were allowed to use the private military teleporters as a result of Cathleen’s careful planning, or Vera’s abuse of this system on his behalf. Either way, he wasn’t about to complain about it.

On the way, Cathleen made use of the Thought-hub to connect the entire party… all 35 of them. While she was using it to give everyone a briefing about what they’d be walking into, Nero was struggling to contain the amount of information he was receiving.

While the entire party made its way through the streets, Nero was stuck in the middle of the pack feeling everyone’s mind through the link. But what made it even worse was the feeling of all their essence fields bearing down on him with their emotions. It was like he was being assaulted on two fronts, through both his mind and his perception field. It was more than a little annoying.

He could tell that no one else was having a problem with it, so he could only chalk it up to another one of his idiosyncrasies. As it wasn’t completely debilitating, he just grit his teeth and kept his mouth shut. After all, he had more important things he should be worrying about. Namely, Cathleen’s briefing which he’d been ignoring.

Shaking off his discomfort, Nero listened in on the plan. Apparently, Cathleen had done her due diligence after being given command, and her plans were surprisingly thorough. She’d already contacted the commander of the battle, Commander Dahl, and arranged for them to join in with the daily reinforcements coming in from the supply camp.

She covered their likely deployment orders. How they’d be fighting under shield generators. The unit breakdowns and team assignments. Both methods for quickly eliminating koblads, and how to deal with surprises. She kept her voice firm and professional, and Nero could feel the entire party synching up their emotions as if they were slowly becoming a single field.

For Nero, it was an impressive thing to witness. The manifestation of everyone coming together spiritually for a singular purpose was something he hadn’t noticed before. In a way, it resembled the mobs he and the others had fought in the wilds. However, the resulting essence fields working in coordination were drastically weaker than what he’d seen with the actual mobs.

While Nero was distracted with his observations, Cathleen made it clear that the five-man team leaders should keep an active connection with her. She referred to it as the command connection, and Nero could tell that everyone seemed to already understand what she was talking about. As it seemed rather self-explanatory, he didn’t bother to interrupt the briefing to ask for clarification.

Looking around, he could see the citizenry of Dorchester watching them pass. He couldn’t help but think how weird it was for a group of well-armed people in various types of armor to walk down the street without anyone feeling threatened or calling the police. With the party all paying attention to the briefing, there was utter silence in their gaggle of mercenaries. They weren’t marching, or bothering with any sort of formation. It was just a large group of grim-faced people stomping down the road with their weapons on display for everyone to see.

Shaking his head at the mental imagery of what they must look like, he refocused on what Cathleen was saying.

In quick and simple terms, she reminded everyone to stay in formation, watch out for each other, and that they shouldn’t wait to call out for healing when needed. Nero found himself marveling at how incredibly easy she was making everything sound. Compared to what he’d dealt with while serving with the elites, Cathleen was doing an amazing job of making it sound like they were heading out for a fun activity under the sun, rather than a perilous fight against the horde of kobalds they were actually looking forward to.

Yet, like all things, her briefing eventually came to an end.

After making their way through the same gate they’d used the last time he’d gone out into the mountains, they picked up their pace and made their way through the outer city to where the army’s tents were set up. For Nero, the drastic difference in what he was seeing was enough to give him chills.

He remembered when they’d come through the outer town before, there were people everywhere going about their business without a care in the world. Now, everything was evacuated, and the streets were completely empty. And when they made it past the edges of the outer city, Nero had no problem identifying where the fighting had begun.

There was a distinct line of destruction stretching out across the base of the mountain. On one side there was some grass and the typical weeds he’d come to expect with the wilds. On the other, there was ripped-up ground and blood-stained dirt. Despite the bodies having been dragged off somewhere, Nero’s imagination was more than up to the task of filling in the blanks.

It looked like the army had fought tooth and nail for every inch of ground between here and where they were currently fighting. It was both impressive and more than a little intimidating. He could still smell the blood in the air, and the remnants of the magic in the ether.

He could feel the entire party’s resolve strengthen in response to the grim tableau they were seeing. It was like the communal feeling of determination was being refined the closer to the battlefield they got.

Before long, they arrived at the temporary encampment that was in the process of moving up from behind the forward lines. Nero could see hundreds of people running around delivering supplies, or doing whatever they were ordered to do by the people running the show. It was a controlled chaos that made his heartbeat accelerate in harmony with the atmosphere.

Off in the distance, he could see the front line further up the mountain. From one side of his sight line to the other, there were thousands of humans beating back the kobalds under what looked like hovering dome-like shields. He could see berms of dirt set up in equidistant intervals, along with mudlike structures that he assumed had to be some time of defensive rallying point.

Between the shoulders of the much taller mercenaries in front of him, he drank it all in. It was both terrifying and amazing. It was like watching a movie come to life. All along the lines, he could see spells exploding against the shields, and flickers of color painting the mountain in a sparkling display of death and destruction. He could feel his excitement rising. Soon, he’d be up there in the thick of it, fighting the good fight against the forces of evil, saving humanity, and getting paid well do it. It was a dream come true.

“Lord Walker!” snapped Cathleen from the front of their poorly organized mob.

The wackos parted, letting Nero see that Cathleen was standing next to a few mantle-wearing military folks. Seeing as they were all staring at him, he figured he should step up and say hello.

Jogging up while sliding his trusty satchel behind his hip, he waved and greeted them. “A beautiful day for some kobald killing, wouldn’t you say?”

Unsurprisingly, Nero received nothing but confused stares in return for his enthusiasm. Granted the situation was rather serious, but he couldn’t stop himself from grinning with excitement at what he was doing. ‘Traipsing up to the front lines with my trusty minions behind me. I truly am a fantasy-level badass in the making,’ he thought to himself proudly.

When he arrived at the little meeting, he immediately identified the woman in charge. Although the three other soldiers were all just as intimidating, there was a subtle presence to the woman that demanded respect and obedience from everyone around her.

Without even offering a smile or a greeting, the woman started talking. “You and your forces are to be deployed with the 31st Strikers under Captain Neelan. You can locate your immediate commander through the battle hub.” Gesturing to both Cathleen and him, she continued, “As you both have been given command authority, your signatures have already been registered. Commander Dahl wanted me to tell you that regardless of your status, you do not have operational control. While Captain Neelan can’t stop you from doing what you want, Commander Dahl asks that you try not to get yourself or anyone else killed. Good luck.”

Without another word, the woman who hadn’t even bothered to give her name turned on her heel and stomped off. Based on the tone she’d been using, Nero had no idea if the woman was unhappy with him and the W.A.C. being here, or if that was just how she was.

Either way, he turned to Cathleen with a grin and said, “You heard the lady. Let’s go find our temporary leader and get into some action.”

Cathleen’s face broke into what Nero could only describe as a bloodthirsty grin. As she usually kept her face rather stoic, seeing her smile like that was enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck.

“As you command, my lord,” she replied, before turning to the rest of the wackos and shouting, “Focus up everyone! We’re heading to the front lines, so get your heads in the game and remember your briefing. Do yourselves and Lord Walker proud. This is the first action of House Walker, and it will be remembered in song and legend long after you’re dead. Fight hard, kill swiftly, and earn your place among Walker’s Wackos!”

Nero felt his blood boil, as her short but sweet pre-battle speech shook the ground under his feet. From what he could tell from their essence fields, everyone else was equally moved by what she had said. Almost as if it were magic, they split into lines and formed up without anyone uttering a word. From his position in the front, he could see them all grinning like mad men and women ready to throw themselves at the enemy the moment they saw them. It was like a switch had been flipped, and they were all now completely on war footing.

Although he didn’t feel entirely ‘linked’ with them, he did feel it was only natural for him to take his place in one of the lines in the formation.

As the group marched off, he felt the connection they were sharing through the link vanish. It was almost like getting dunked in water as his mind cleared. But, before he could give it much thought, he felt another connection reach out to him through his link. It wasn’t exactly like a ping, instead, it was closer to the feeling he had when Nick contacted him directly.

Accepting the connection, he heard Cathleen say, “Alright little lord. Stay with your assigned team, and don’t get bogged down in the front. Stay near the back and rely on your magic. Don’t use this connection unless you need to. I’m bringing in the other team leaders, and you sure as hell don’t want them questioning why they signed up to follow you. Just stay focused on what you’re doing, and let me do my job.”

Nero barely managed to get out, “You got it!” before several other connections sprang up. He could feel the team leaders over the link well enough to point them out without issue. Surprisingly, they were all in the front of their lines. And the man directly behind him must be his team leader. Thinking back to the briefing, he tried to keep everything Cathleen had said in the forefront of his mind. It wouldn’t do to make a fool of himself in front of his new followers, now would it?

As a group, they jogged through the camp, making their way through tents and supply huts without issue. That was until they finally got to the front lines.

When they arrived around 100 ft from the active battle, they were approached by a rough-looking soldier who’d clearly been in the thick of the fighting.

Cathleen, who was alone at the front of the formation exchanged a few words with the man before leading them all forward. With every step they took, the tension ratcheted up another notch. Without completely understanding what they were supposed to do, Nero’s eyes darted around like he was trying to spot Waldo.

The moment they stepped under the shields, Nero felt like the sky had been cut off from his senses. Whatever these shields were, they were completely different than what he’d gotten used to seeing. Forcing himself away from trying to figure them out, he kept up his jog and watched his footing.

Cathleen exchanged a few words with another group of soldiers, this time taking a few minutes to get through the conversation.

The moment she was done, they all exchanged nods, and she looked over her shoulder and waved everyone forward.

Over the command connection she’d established, she said, “We’re relieving a section that has been fighting since dawn. We’ll be rotating out with them and two other teams. As they have more people than we do, we’ll be a little spread out. However, I expect each and every one of you to keep your teams in line and get the job done. If you notice a problem, fix it and report it. We’re figuring this out as we go, so don’t let your battle lust overwhelm you. Keep it calm. Keep it organized. Any questions?”

Receiving only silence in return, Nero watched her nod from around 20 feet away. For him, it was still a weird feeling to be having a conversation at such a spread-out distance. But, he didn’t have time to worry about it, as Cathleen was already marching off to find the position they’d be taking over.

Keeping his head on a swivel, Nero was able to see a lot more now that he was in the front of the formation. He could see the fighting going on barely 50 or 60 feet from where they were jogging. He could see the mud walls being raised and lowered by mages as they pushed the frontline of the battle ever forward. The sights and sounds were all equally pulling, and he was having trouble forcing himself not to focus on anything in particular.

Almost abruptly, Cathleen stopped and turned to stare at the front lines. Hefting her spear in one hand while facing away from the formation, Nero heard her voice over the command connection, “I’ve just received confirmation from Sergeant Moss. In two minutes, they’ll pull back and we’ll take over. Get your teams ready.”

Nero almost jumped as the man behind him put his hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Nero was surprised to see the man smiling. “Alright, my lord. You just stay in the back and let us do you proud. Thank you for this. I’ve always dreamed about fighting in a battle that meant something.” Looking over Nero’s head, the man’s eyes scanned the scene with a look of bone-deep gratitude in his eyes. “Fighting bandits and monsters are nothing when compared to this. One day, I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I was here… fighting hordes of goblins and defending the walls like a champion.”

Nero had no response to that, so he just offered the man a pat on the arm and a smile. ‘Holy shit, these people keep talking about this like it’s some kind of epic or something. I’m really going to have to step up my indoctrination game to keep up with their weird interpretation of events. Otherwise, if they realize I’m just a guy who likes this type of shit, their disappointment is going to end up with me burning at the stake or something,’ he warned himself.

While being stared at by the wackos, all with ready eyes full of excitement, he made his way to the back of his team. He saw everyone around him prepping their weapons and shields, veritably shaking with anticipation of joining the battle. In the back, he could see the evaluators all wearing their combat robes, staying well away from the formation, but close enough to keep watch. When he met the eyes of Academian Quincy, he could swear the man was trying to keep his grin from showing.

Drawing his sword, he hesitated to pull his shield out of his personal space. He decided he wouldn’t need it, as his role in the coming battle was going to rely on his magic. Healing and ranged fire was what he was going to be doing, and that was what he was going to focus on.

Over the command connection, and through ether, he felt the moment everyone was waiting for.

Cathleen’s strong voice shouted, “Now!” and as one… they surged.

They moved in unison, as the soldiers in front of them opened up and allowed them to take over. It wasn’t nearly as smooth as Nero would have thought it would be, but then again, most of these wackos had probably never done anything like this before. He could see his followers spreading out in a line in front of him, while a few stayed back and started firing arrows and magic over their heads.

Looking left and right, Nero felt completely out of place. He took a moment to understand the positioning, then another to watch as the wackos began engaging the chest-high kobalds. They weren’t coming in tight packs like he’d been expecting. If anything, the kobalds were charging the lines as if they were trying to bog them down and stop them from advancing… and it was working.

He stood there like an idiot, doing nothing, as he tried to do the mental math of how long it must have taken for the army to advance this far if this was the pace they’d been moving. It was a LONG game of inches to get this far away from where the battle had started.

Over the connection, he heard Cathleen’s voice harshly interrupt his musings, “Is everything all right, my lord?”

Nero whipped his head around to see Cathleen. She was a few sections over almost lazily killing kobalds with her spear. He could see her occasionally glancing over at him with a stern look on her face.

Immediately feeling sheepish for having let himself once again get distracted, he replied, “Just taking a minute to drink it all in. No worries.”

Looking over to his right he saw one of the wackos who had some magical training. Her name was Lisa… or Lita… maybe Janet? Something like that. Reaching out with his perception field, he watched her cast some type of exploding ball of green light that after being thrown over the lines would explode and coat the kobalds in sticky acid. ‘That looks easy enough,’ he thought with a smile.

After switching his sword to his off-hand, he delicately reached into his center and pulled out some essence, carefully copying the spell form she was using. Ignoring everything going on around him, his entire focus was on putting the simple spell together. When he was done, he smiled like an idiot and let it fill itself from the surrounding essence in the ether. Amazingly, he was left with a blob of glowing green light in his hand.

Idly letting it bounce up and down a few times, he could feel the potential destruction waiting to be unleashed. It was like an overlay into reality currently feeding off his determination that it actually existed. With his smile from ear to ear, he looked up and threw it like a baseball into the kobald lines making their way forward. He made sure to impart a little center into making sure it wouldn’t just vanish without him holding on to it.

Like a disproportionately large water balloon going off, he watched several kobalds stagger under the smoking acid explosion. He could see them gritting their teeth and forcing themselves forward despite the pain making them almost useless in combat. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the front lines would have no problem finishing them off.

With one hand on his hip, and the other using his sword as something for him to lean on, Nero stared at what he had wrought with appreciation clear on his face. ‘I wonder if I can somehow combine it with one of the targeting spells so I don’t have to actually throw it?’ he wondered, clearly embracing the idea that he needed to work smarter, not harder.