08-23-2017, 07:27 AM
Blood pooled onto the floor staining the carpeted tent. All sounds of combat were muffled by his magic. No one else knew what had occurred here, and in Dane's mind, they didn't need to know. This was a good thing after all, for him, the soldiers, and even the village. If he acted quickly he could secure leadership for himself, take to the field, and organise the defence swiftly and efficiently enough to gain a victory. Sure he hadn't done that before, but it wasn't like Ishmir was a renowned commander himself. No, victory here was assured providing the troops followed Dane's orders, his strategy. Of that, Dane was certain. The only problem was trying to prevent the men from running around like headless chickens at the loss of their previous leader and one of their existing men. As well as actually gaining his place at the top of the command chain.
Scenarios ran through Dane's mind. He could come clean, say he killed Ishmir and Drake because they were planning to order everyone to abandon the village. Death as a 'punishment' for that would be seen as extreme and disobeying anyone higher up than you in the leadership chain was usually a death sentence. The sudden loss also would make it hard for him to obtain leadership, there would surely be others who would capitalise on it. Alternatively, he could clean up, hide the bodies, and say they deserted, but that had similar risks to before. There would also surely be a large drop in morale, and while he could possibly take command as the one giving the news, it would be unlikely that the soldiers would actually function well. These people were mostly militia, and none of them had fought any full fledged demons before, just the odd captive weakling used for soldier training.
Which was why Dane supposed the possibility that Ishmir and Drake were not dead, and he was merely giving their orders to the men. At least until it was too late for that to matter. That would be the truth, as far as his men knew. And once the fight started, the lack of Ishmir would have no impact - they'd be accustomed to his orders by then. Some people would initially be sceptical, but forging or faking paperwork to support his claims would be easy. He already had all the supplies, and after looking through Ishmir's pocket he also had the man's insignia. Just a few scribbles and a stamp. Most people here didn't even know what made the paperwork valid in the first place, and Ishmir was known to be lazy, so even if Dane's "proof" looked to be half-arsed, that could add to the authenticity somewhat.
He still had to consider what would actually happen if someone asked to see Ishmir as proof, or wondered where Drake was. For that Dane decided he'd quietly tell the asker that it was classified information, but that it'd help secure them the battle. It was dumb, but so were quite a lot of the soldiers here. Dane had a fairly good reputation for himself, so he was confident that if he acted confident he'd succeed here.
Swiftly, he began cleaning up the tent. The carpeted floor was simple, he could actually get away with simply flipping it upside down. Beyond that, he just had to clean up his swords and clothing, and quickly hide some bodies. It was night, so outside of those on watch at the edge of the camp, no one should notice him. He was good at being quiet and stealthy, anyway - sticking to the shadows had always been a talent of his. Annoyingly, he had tended to simply blend in during other events, likely resulting in his lack of official support for putting him on the commander training regime.
Somewhat surprisingly, the initial part of his plan went off without a hitch. He prepared the materials he needed and got a short rest, waiting for sunrise. The only had so long to prepare, and while barricades were typically useless against such monsters, they could serve as a short delay and to allow for slight final adjustments in troop positioning. The core problem in strategising against demons was accounting for their sheer suicidal lust for blood, for killing. If they were smart, they would flank and surround the town, then engulf. But then, they weren't intelligent, so they'd likely mob together and just charge in at one point. Except there was no guarantee to at least some wouldn't break off and take to the weaker flanks, should one side solely be reinforced.
Ishmir's plan had been to fall back so they could reliably fight the demons in a straight narrower area, preventing flanking opportunities. It was fair, but it risked the village, and that could not be allowed. Dane's idea revolved around how the many lingering human scents in a village could confuse the monsters. While they didn't seem to prioritise weaker targets, happily charging into a line of soldiers, some would stray hoping to get their own kills. It was almost competitive for them, who can slaughter the most people before dying. Disgusting.
"James, follow me. We're scouting out the town. There's a day at most before we'll be balls deep in a mob of demons, so let's see about setting up some defences and getting a good idea of the area." Raising a wad of papers, Dane continued, "Ishmir's orders."
James followed with little resistance while Dane barked out another selection of commands. He had a pair rotation system set up for the far hill, just in case the demons appeared early. Besides that, he had a couple of other groups scouting the town, although their purpose was to organise the residents and get them all organised in the town centre. Lastly, he ordered everyone else to transport their supplies inwards to one of the wider alleys. The fight could be over quickly, but having food and meds wasn't a bad thing. It was possible for the townspeople to find a cellar to barricade themselves in, for example.
So, overall, ignoring the two potentially unnecessary deaths and the possibility of impending doom, things were looking good for Dane and his objective.
Scenarios ran through Dane's mind. He could come clean, say he killed Ishmir and Drake because they were planning to order everyone to abandon the village. Death as a 'punishment' for that would be seen as extreme and disobeying anyone higher up than you in the leadership chain was usually a death sentence. The sudden loss also would make it hard for him to obtain leadership, there would surely be others who would capitalise on it. Alternatively, he could clean up, hide the bodies, and say they deserted, but that had similar risks to before. There would also surely be a large drop in morale, and while he could possibly take command as the one giving the news, it would be unlikely that the soldiers would actually function well. These people were mostly militia, and none of them had fought any full fledged demons before, just the odd captive weakling used for soldier training.
Which was why Dane supposed the possibility that Ishmir and Drake were not dead, and he was merely giving their orders to the men. At least until it was too late for that to matter. That would be the truth, as far as his men knew. And once the fight started, the lack of Ishmir would have no impact - they'd be accustomed to his orders by then. Some people would initially be sceptical, but forging or faking paperwork to support his claims would be easy. He already had all the supplies, and after looking through Ishmir's pocket he also had the man's insignia. Just a few scribbles and a stamp. Most people here didn't even know what made the paperwork valid in the first place, and Ishmir was known to be lazy, so even if Dane's "proof" looked to be half-arsed, that could add to the authenticity somewhat.
He still had to consider what would actually happen if someone asked to see Ishmir as proof, or wondered where Drake was. For that Dane decided he'd quietly tell the asker that it was classified information, but that it'd help secure them the battle. It was dumb, but so were quite a lot of the soldiers here. Dane had a fairly good reputation for himself, so he was confident that if he acted confident he'd succeed here.
Swiftly, he began cleaning up the tent. The carpeted floor was simple, he could actually get away with simply flipping it upside down. Beyond that, he just had to clean up his swords and clothing, and quickly hide some bodies. It was night, so outside of those on watch at the edge of the camp, no one should notice him. He was good at being quiet and stealthy, anyway - sticking to the shadows had always been a talent of his. Annoyingly, he had tended to simply blend in during other events, likely resulting in his lack of official support for putting him on the commander training regime.
Somewhat surprisingly, the initial part of his plan went off without a hitch. He prepared the materials he needed and got a short rest, waiting for sunrise. The only had so long to prepare, and while barricades were typically useless against such monsters, they could serve as a short delay and to allow for slight final adjustments in troop positioning. The core problem in strategising against demons was accounting for their sheer suicidal lust for blood, for killing. If they were smart, they would flank and surround the town, then engulf. But then, they weren't intelligent, so they'd likely mob together and just charge in at one point. Except there was no guarantee to at least some wouldn't break off and take to the weaker flanks, should one side solely be reinforced.
Ishmir's plan had been to fall back so they could reliably fight the demons in a straight narrower area, preventing flanking opportunities. It was fair, but it risked the village, and that could not be allowed. Dane's idea revolved around how the many lingering human scents in a village could confuse the monsters. While they didn't seem to prioritise weaker targets, happily charging into a line of soldiers, some would stray hoping to get their own kills. It was almost competitive for them, who can slaughter the most people before dying. Disgusting.
"James, follow me. We're scouting out the town. There's a day at most before we'll be balls deep in a mob of demons, so let's see about setting up some defences and getting a good idea of the area." Raising a wad of papers, Dane continued, "Ishmir's orders."
James followed with little resistance while Dane barked out another selection of commands. He had a pair rotation system set up for the far hill, just in case the demons appeared early. Besides that, he had a couple of other groups scouting the town, although their purpose was to organise the residents and get them all organised in the town centre. Lastly, he ordered everyone else to transport their supplies inwards to one of the wider alleys. The fight could be over quickly, but having food and meds wasn't a bad thing. It was possible for the townspeople to find a cellar to barricade themselves in, for example.
So, overall, ignoring the two potentially unnecessary deaths and the possibility of impending doom, things were looking good for Dane and his objective.