Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

developed these tactics, or was Lucien the mastermind?” Suri held up a hand as the Count’s face reddened, and he swelled with an excess of ‘civility.’

She inclined her head. “As far as we know, the general strategy was developed by Hyland and his advisors at the highest levels, but the implementation seems to have been left to Commander Hart.”

“Then Lucien’s gotten smarter,” I said grimly. “Much smarter. And he’s been studying warfare.

“Power-leveling his mental stats?” Suri asked.

“He must be.” I sighed and sat back. “Baldr Hyland served as Powered Armor Infantry in the War, and Ororgael got his memories when he possessed Baldr’s body. So that’s where the PAUs are coming from.”

“P.A.Us?” Ignas asked.

“Powered Armor Units,” I replied. “Think of them as like mini Warsingers. You stick a pilot in a big metal suit that is larger, stronger, and more resilient than a normal infantryman. They can field bigger weapons and soak the kind of fire that would send normal soldiers flying across the battlefield in chunks. They’re not immortal, so the Army and Marines usually fielded one PAU with a fireteam of two rifles, one marksman, one grenadier or machine gunner. Same strategy as protecting tanks, but the powered armor squads were much smaller and a hell of a lot more maneuverable. Incidentally, that’s the tactic I’d use with the Warsinger, too.”

“Squads? Fireteams?” Ignas laced his hands, regarding me curiously. “The army in the world you came from, the world of the Architects, deployed soldiers in small groups of four or five?”

“Sure did,” I said.

“Hmm.” The Volod nodded slowly. “A tactic also used to great effect by the barbarian raiders of the Sathbar Plains.”

“That makes sense only if the soldiers are Starborn and can return from the dead,” Count Lanz said stiffly. “Barbarian tactics break against fortress walls. We fight in disciplined formations in Vlachia.”

“Right, and your disciplined formations lost two-thirds of a country in a month,” I quipped back. “We just used maneuver warfare tactics to retake Bas County and execute the robber baron occupying Solonovka in a single night. Less than two hundred of my soldiers reclaimed the castle and capital from an occupying force of over two thousand.”

General Kovacs looked to Ignas in disbelief. A wry smile played over Ignas’ thin lips, his grey eyes calculating and bright with interest.

“And how many did you lose in this mad gambit?” Count Lanz asked.

“Eighteen,” Suri answered.

“Did I mishear you? Eighteen men?” Lanz scoffed. “My liege, do you believe this nonsense?”

“I do. Because I can verify their story,” Ignas replied, resting his face against the tips of his fingers. “The Royal Kingdom Management System does not lie, Voivode Lanz. The Lord and Lady of Myszno did indeed stage and succeed in their operation against the deserter, Zoltan Gallo. They deployed barely two hundred souls, drawing from elite Yanik native forces and a Meewfolk mercenary company. They suffered eighteen fatalities, but they slew just under four hundred of Zoltan’s men as well as Zoltan himself. The rest surrendered after a brief battle in the city.”

At mention of the cat people, the other men at the table grimaced.

“To be honest, I don’t think we should assume Ororgael’s goals at this stage. We need a solid idea of why he’s doing what he’s doing,” Suri said, after a tense pause. “The fact he has us on the defensive proves there’s something we’re not seeing.”

“Right.” I nodded. “He’s shown us again and again that he’s capable of putting us in a position where we have to try and figure him out, and when we think we’ve worked out what he wants, he rips the rug out from under us.”

Rin glanced nervously at us both, then to Ignas and General Kovacs. “What does Vlachia plan to do?”

“We plan nothing short than a total assault,” the general said. “We have overwhelming numbers compared to Ilia. Our soldiers outnumber Ilian forces three to one, which is an ideal situation for a counter-invasion. Our airships are considerably more advanced than Revala’s or Ilia’s. We have developed defenses against their dragons, and weapons to destroy them.”

“DESTROY them?” Karalti rose in alarm, her pupils pinning. “You can’t destroy them! Those are my people!”

Lanz and the two officers flinched as the telepathic broadcast suddenly intruded into their minds—and then they looked to Karalti, as it dawned on them who and what she was.

“Oh, ehh... apologies, your Holiness. I was not aware you were here.” The Admiral cleared his throat.

“They’re innocent! Baldr is enslaving my kin with powerful magic, compelling them to fight in this war,” Karalti continued, pleading. “You can’t kill them! W-We need to capture them, or... or SOMETHING.”

“My lady, as someone who lost his father to the violent machine of politics, I understand your distress.” Ignas’ long, lean face was even more graven than usual. “It is neither fair nor just that your people are being used as slaves to fight a despot’s war. But we cannot change the fact that the dragons crushed Queen Aslan’s supply lines, her garrisons, and her villages and farmland. They will destroy us if given the chance. We must face them without flinching—and we will. It is the cold mathematics of war.”

I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Karalti. He’s right.”

“But...” Karalti searched our faces, her own expression crumpling. “There isn’t any way?”

“There has to be some way to stun dragons without killing them,” Rin said. “A sonic weapon could do it.”

“We have no such technology, and no time to develop it,” Ignas replied. “The knowledge that we must battle the children of the Nine pains me more than words can express. Your people are sacred to us, and I can only hope that you and the gods can forgive us once all is said and done. If you cannot bear to continue this conversation, you may leave the meeting without shame.”

I reached