Divide & Conquer 6 (Patreon)

[quote]So, I know this is short, but I wanted to get something out on the 1st, and honestly I covered everything I wanted to a lot faster than I'd anticipated.[/quote]

Winter is Coming: Ramsey 1

It was surprising, the dogs normally didn’t start acting like this on a hunt. The last time I remembered them acting this confused was when there were a dozen new perfumes that a rather foolish merchant had been carrying through last year. Perhaps I could have some new prey, after I got the dogs focused.

“Track!” I snapped, getting the dogs focused back on the hunt, despite their confusion at whatever new scents they were picking up. The hunt had alread…

A heavy force battered my chest, sending me flying from my horse moments before a burning sensation radiated out from the center of my chest. My back hit the ground, knocking what little breath I still had from my lungs. Looking down at my chest, I stared in confusion at the arrow shaft embedded in it.

Some part of my mind was trying to calculate the draw strength that would be needed for an arrow to bury itself nearly to the fletches while I was wearing a gambeson in addition to the layers of fur for warmth, and still have enough force to dismount me. The rest of my mind was feeling outrage that anyone had the gall to shoot me, the son of Lord Bo…

“A fine shot, Wenduag, but we do need him alive for the moment,” a woman's voice interrupted my thoughts, moments before the sounds of combat and my dogs dying filled the air.

The darkness creeping in from the edge of my vision made it hard to focus, but none of the stories I remember said anything about there being a blue goat footed thing when you die. A hand, encased in plate, wrapped around the arrow shaft before snapping it off. I was then rolled over, just as the darkness completely enveloped me.

Tina Schmitt 1

I carefully kept an eye on the other man in the clearing, the one Wenduag didn't shoot. He was doing the same thing to me as our waifus dealt with the kill-happy dogs.

“So… name's Malcolm Soule. What's yours?” he said after a minute of silence, the kind I’d been told most found awkward.

“Tina,” was all I said, feeling my new biotics under my skin.

“Guessing you got a race lift from our mutual benefactors? Or is Tina a common name for a race of tall, blue, and sexy?”

“The former,” his flirting was very much undesired,

"Not one for conversation are you? That's okay, I'm sure I'll do enough talking for the both of us. I'm assuming that we're partners in this Gauntlet trial, and we should get a notice about our competition shortly. In the meantime, we should probably share our builds, though I have a hunch I can guess most of yours.

"I got a few Lures, but the overwhelming majority of my points went into my retinue: Ororo can control the weather,” he gestured to a woman of African complexion, “Leah has innate demonic magic,” a young woman with a bow nodded, “and Lust can both regenerate and turn her fingernails into blades of whatever length she desires. How about you?"

… this man was very chatty, but he wasn't entirely wrong, “Turned myself into an asari from Mass Effect. Pocket Space, Body, Martial, Wild, and Science talents. Stress and Body Defense. Wenduag from Pathfinder, Charsi from Diablo 2, Garona and Yrel from Warcraft, and Tali from Mass Effect.”

“Cool beans. Not gonna lie, I have no idea what most of those franchises are, but details can wait until later. Now we need to figure out where we are, and…”

He was interrupted when both our phones went off. Pulling them out, I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise at the notification.

[Center][B][I]OPPOSING TEAMS: Beau Boucher/Darryl Jameson, Draugur/Revenant[/I][/B][/Center]

[Center] [B] [I] RIVAL TEAM ELIMINATED: Beau Boucher/Darryl Jameson[/I][/B][/Center]

[Center] [B]NEW COMPANY MISSION

New Mission Title:[/B] Divide & Conquer

[B]Scope:[/b] Standard

[B]Objective:[/b] Conquer the continent of Westeros, one kingdom at a time.

[I]Sub-Objective #1:[/i] Add at least one member of each ruling house to your retinue.

[I]Sub-Objective #2:[/i] Orchestrate the death/disappearance of King Robert Baratheon.

[I]Sub-Objective #3:[/i] ???

[B]Condition #1:[/b] You may not leave Planetos until the end of the Long Night or until ten years have passed (whichever comes last).

[B]Condition #2:[/b] Your Rival Contractors will be given this same mission. You must either kill/bind them or have them swear allegiance to you.

[B]Mission Reward:[/b] 500 Company Credits divided amongst the members of the victorious team

[I]Sub-Objective #1 Reward:[/i] One free Tier 5 waifu from our Catalog.

[I]Sub-Objective #2 Reward:[/I] Covert/Communication Talent for free.

[I]Sub-Objective #3 Reward:[/I] ???

[B][Accept][s][Decline][/s][/b][/center]

“I have two questions: how has our opposition already managed to off themselves in the span of half an hour, and have you ever heard of Westeros?” Malcolm asked.

“No, I haven’t,” I answered as I considered his first question. From the clothes and equipment of the prisoner, this appeared to be a medieval region, meaning that Tali’s skillset was going to be of limited use, while Charsi’s would be highly valuable despite having purchased her out of nostalgia.

Pulling up the images of the remaining team, I took a moment to inspect their faces. Draugur looked to be the same sort of misogynistic meat-head I’d seen all the time back home, I’d feel no guilt about shoving a warp field or a singularity down his throat. Revenant, on the other hand… she might be worth binding instead of killing. It would depend on her build and what she offered, as I had no nostalgic fondness to make up for lack of ability. I looked up at my… “partner’s” retinue. The ebony one, Ororo he called her, had potential. Once this gauntlet was over, I’d deal with him and add her to my own harem.

Turning back to where Yrel was treating the local, I walked over to her and asked, “Will he live?”

“He went into shock, but yes, Mistress, he will live,” my draenei healer said as she used her magic to heal his wound.

Charsi remained off to the side, shivering as her smith apron did little to ward off the cold, while I had the rest of my women flank me. Wenduag kept an arrow knocked, the spider legs protruding from her back twitching with restless energy, while Tali had her shotgun out and Garona kept her two daggers at the ready.

Once it looked like he was out of the danger zone, I stepped up, “I do not need him awake for this.”

“Yes Mistress,” Yrel said meekly, backing away with her head bowed, as was proper.

Physical contact wasn’t necessary, and as I had no desire to sully myself by touching primitive filth I simply closed my eyes before reaching out and melding with his mind. Liara was able to use the meld to witness Shepard’s memories of the beacon, so I should be able to…

Hmm… this primitive was even more sadistic than me. Stupidly so. Still, I got the information I required.

Stepping back and letting the meld end, I turned to my “partner” and shared some of what I learned, “The continent of Westeros is divided into seven kingdoms, we are currently in the northernmost one. The technology level is comparable to late medieval, extremely early Renaissance at best. My retinue and myself will be extremely noticeable, as there are only humans in this world. Nothing he has seen or heard has given any indications as to where our remaining competitors are.”

He checked his phone as I finished, “And we’ve got a hundred sixty seven hours, fifty three minutes, and twenty two seconds until the next team arrives. Shall we start hunting?”

I grunted in agreement, before turning to Charsi, “Take his clothes. They’ll do better at keeping you warm than that.”

“Y-y-yes-s, Mis-stre-ss,” the blonde smith acknowledged through chattering teeth.

Tali and Yrel both moved to aid her, and I turned to face Wenduag and Garona, “See if you can find a place we can set up a base at. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but find something to keep the elements off us.”

“Hey, Ororo, while they’re doing that, can you take a look around from the air?” my “partner” asked his harem member, making me hide a sneer. She was his slave, he should be ordering her, not asking like a henpecked simp!

This challenge was going to be very frustrating, unless I could find some way to replace him with someone much more agreeable and far less aggravating. If they understood their proper place, all the better. Either way, there was nothing that was going to stop me from taking that which was rightfully mine.