The Foolhardies 161 The Tomorrow War

"And I'm expected to mind this spot like some lowly watchman?" she complained in protest.  

"Well… you did claim victory over it, right?" I reminded her, a smile playing on my lips as I did.

"Yeah, yeah… the responsibilities of the victor," Al said in a voice that dripped suppressed humor.

The truth, with the revelation of another war coming very soon, neither of us wanted the responsibility of babysitting the oasis while there were four to five more oases nearby that needed conquering.

For me and Al, the successful capture of more oases would allow us to increase our reputation and standing in the western army right before the war started. After all, just like in the Olympic games where only the best athletes get to compete, in a war between fairy clans, only the best units are called to the front.

"See you later, Verania," I teased.

Now, despite Verania's prissy att.i.tude, Al and I felt compelled to at least help her manage her prisoners who would outnumber her unit once we left. So, we each took seven hundred enemy troops with us when we marched away from this central oasis and its fairy fort—Al to the north and me to the south.

I let my prisoners loose outside Foolhardies territory without weapons or rations of any kind, hoping this would encourage them to run back to Dominion territory without thinking of reinforcing the oases I was planning to take over.

Also, you might be wondering why our three independent units were in charge of reclaiming such an important oasis with its high strategic value. That's because we weren't a.s.signed to it by Garm who held the bulk of the western army under his control. In fact, those reinforcements heading toward Verania were supposed to be the ones conquering the oasis we'd just left behind. But as we were independent units under Grimthorn, we decided to steal this glory from the other army after we learned that the Dominion troops stationed in the oasis only numbered two thousand. In short, it was the enemy's fault for making it such an easy steal.

After marching to the south, my nearly five-hundred-man unit pitched tents on a location that was just north and between two of the Dominion-controlled oases previously mentioned. Both oases were currently under siege by Garm's troops but haven't been conquered yet.

Once the unit was settled for the rest of the night, I hung out at the command tent, sitting on my chair and browsing over the eastern desert map which was laid out on my war table. Azuma and Edo were there with me.

"Here and here," I pointed toward the two oases to the southeast and southwest of us. "Let's choose which of these we should tackle first with the possibility of conquering both oases within the week."

"One week seems kind of rus.h.i.+ng it," Edo commented.

"We don't have a choice… the war might begin anytime and we need to solidify our position with the western army before it begins," I reminded him.

Azuma read from the unfurled scroll in his hand. "Intel reports show both oasis carry roughly five-thousand enemy troops each… more than half the number of the central oasis in this region."

Edo's eyebrow rose at Azuma's words. "Why did they leave fewer troops in the most important location on this region of the map?"

For answer, I pointed to the other four oases surrounding the one we'd already taken over. All of them, including the two we were considering formed around the conquered oasis in a loose circle.

"Common war tactics would a.s.sume these outlying oases would manage to protect the central one from invaders. That's why there were fewer troops there," I answered.

"They moved the bulk of their forces to defend the others with the a.s.sumption it would s.h.i.+eld the middle one," Azuma agreed.

I nodded.

"However," I pointed at the larger s.p.a.ce between the oases on the northeast and direct east where the gap between them was much larger than the others. "They failed to take into account this s.p.a.ce here."

"And with these two oases already under a.s.sault from Garm's troops, it would leave them little room to maneuver and close the gap," Azuma continued.

"Leaving a smaller unit like ours ease of access into the central area… It's the exact exploit we used," I finished.

I raised my hand to Azuma for a high-five but it took the much older man to recognize the gesture. Still, there was a satisfying slap at the end of the wait.

"I fail to understand why the enemy didn't notice this tactic?" Edo pressed as he glowered over the points in the map I showed him.

Azuma spared each other a knowing glance before I answered Edo's question. "That's easy… the Dominion has no visere commanders on their roster."

"And that's relevant?" Edo asked, his eyebrow rising once more.

"Possibly because of your longer lifespans, fairies are rigid in their thinking… they tend not to think outside the box and therefore can't come up with tactics that make use of revolving situations, and you rarely take the choice with obvious risks," Azuma explained.

"Isn't that why Aura hired me in the first place?" I added wryly.

"Don't remind me," Edo sighed heavily. "You're arrival was the beginning of my headaches…"

I laughed.

"That wasn't a joke, Dean," Edo growled.

"It's still funny," I countered.

The last six months have made me immune to Edo's smoldering gaze. Plus, as tonight was my sixteenth birthday, I just feel manlier because of it.

"We're getting off-topic here," Azuma reminded us.

He pointed to the two southern oases again.

"Which one do we tackle first?" he asked once more.

I picked up another roll of parchment from the makes.h.i.+ft war table and unfurled it. Then I read parts of its content out loud to my advisors.

"Two three-thousand-man commanders from Garm's army are currently in siege operations in the right oasis," I read. "General Red Bull, one of Garm's satyr aides, and four-thousand soldiers from his personal unit, the Bull's Barragers, have taken the task of conquering the left oasis."

"I've met the Red Bull… nice guy. Easy to work with," Edo revealed. He scratched his head afterward. "Don't know why he's working for a b.a.s.t.a.r.d like Garm though."

"Is he competent?" I asked as I put the scroll down on the table.

"Very," Edo answered as he sat back on the wooden chair that seemed to groan in protest at his weight. "Even with only four thousand men. He won't need us to conquer that oasis."

I grinned mischievously.

"We can't have that… don't think he'll mind a team-up, do you?" I wondered aloud.

"Not if we let him know we're coming… he won't mind it at all. Won't even mind if you steal the glory… he's got enough of it," Edo chuckled.

"That's our first target then…" I said, leaning forward in my seat. "If he's as competent as you say, he'll pair well with whatever we plan to do."

I looked over to the scroll again and reread its contents. I frowned after I noticed one key point in the report.

"These units attacking the oasis to the right won't win the right oasis so we'll have time," I reasoned.

"Why do you say that?" Azuma asked curiously.

I referred to the report on the table.

"The enemy commander's pretty famous… the Knight of Morning himself," I answered.

"The Dawn Breaker?" Edo sat up suddenly. He whistled. "Well, that's going to be trouble for us."

I nodded in agreement. Then I pointed back to the left oasis.

"So here's what I'm thinking… we a.s.sist the Red Bull in conquering the left oasis then gain his help in taking over the right one," I explained. "No matter how famous the warrior, we just need to come at them with overwhelming force."

Both Edo and Azuma sat back almost reflexively like they were suddenly at ease.

"More and more I'm beginning to realize why an annoying boy like you defeated me," Azuma smirked.

"The little commander should be at least this useful after all," Edo added, a similar smile playing on his lips.

"You guys really know how to b.u.t.ter up a dude, don't you," I said with a shake of my head.

It was at this point when Aura and the rest of my officers walked into the command tent. While the rest of them carried what was arguably a bamboo-type shot gla.s.s in their hands, Luca was carrying what was obviously a birthday cake in her arms.

My eyes went wide with surprise as I didn't expect a cake until the morning back in Mudgard. Aunt Lena had planned a breakfast with Ty and Arah.

"Celebrating the day you were born, I like this tradition," Varda admitted as she sat on the chair next to Edo.

"Sounds like a bother to me," Qwipps countered as he took his seat on her other side, "Having to remember dates for all your acquaintances…"

"Don't worry, Qwipps," Ashley added as she sat next to Azuma. "No one expects you to remember anything. We're used to it."

Qwipps' sent Ashley the Fayne's version of the finger and she sent him back a flying kiss.

"Ah, revelries, this is the stuff I like about you guys," Shanks looked around for a chair that could fit him, but finding none, he opted to stand behind Ashley and lean on the tent's central pole. He raised the very tiny wooden cup in his hand. "You didn't scrimp on the good stuff too."

As he said this, Luca placed the birthday cake down on the table in front of me while Aura put a cup down beside it. Then they each took their respective seats on opposite sides of me with Pike claiming the seat next to Luca and Ty sitting on Aura's other side.

Thom and his cousin, Enna, took their seats next to Qwipps and Ashley respectively, with Thor and Xanthor rounding out the full roster of officers opting to stand at the other end of the table from me.

"You're going to enjoy the gift I got you, dude," Ty told me. "Left it in your house before we ported."

"Sweet," I said, still feeling overwhelmed by this unexpected gesture from my team.

"We've distributed most of the mana to the soldiers who performed well during tonight's mission," Aura explained.

"The rest were promised a slight increase in pay like you wanted, Commander," Varda added.

I nodded gratefully at them for handling the task for me. It was appropriate I think, that everyone gets rewarded for their efforts which over the last few months showed a vast improvement from the last war.

 "So, shall we begin?" Thom asked. "I believe our Commander," that smirk of his didn't annoy me as much tonight, "requires we sing him a… what was that, Luca?"

"A birthday song," Luca reminded them before turning to me with a grin and saying, "They actually practiced it first."

"Extra points to Varda for hitting those high notes," Ashley laughed.

There were a few more jeering at everyone's expense, and as I paid attention to their fooling around, I wondered if this warm feeling I felt in my chest wasn't similar to those good old days when the family table was set for four when my dad wasn't just a memory and my mom hadn't gone cuckoo yet.

And I never really imagined that I would feel this way again in a battlefield of all places while surrounded by such an eclectic cast of weirdoes, who, despite my bias against fairies, have become as close to family as Luca and I have ever had.

I blinked away the tears that would have fallen from my eyes and earned me a new wave of jokes at my expense, and just sat there, waiting for the others to finish so we could get down to the business of eating cake.

Eventually, Aura, as our proverbial matriarch, clapped her hands together for quiet. Once all noise had died down, she ordered the others to sing. And together, in a variety of tones that were a horror to my ears, they sang me a happy birthday.