OP duck sick

>>6165384
Each mortar-team sets up somewhere on the hillside, in whatever position they can find that offers both a little cover as well as some degree of line of sight towards where they will be firing. You stop at each turn, offering a direction and range for them that targets a flash in the darkness. One by one the artillery that’s managed to start firing back at the two armed corvettes in the harbor are hit, some after a few tries, and you hear the callouts in turn.

“No hit!” one team calls out. A second team makes a similar call – a mis-fired round forces them to stop firing early.

You can see from the top of the hill that the enemy has begun relocating, with some of the artillery realizing that the explosions around them were targeting them from another angle.

>Rely on the few remaining mortar rounds to eliminate the remaining artillery that you can see and target from here.
>This will require a combined effort – infantry will withdraw from covering the mortars and advance into the port.
>Everyone will need to move forward – that means this is a job mainly for the infantry now.
>Other?

>>6165390
>>Rely on the few remaining mortar rounds to eliminate the remaining artillery that you can see and target from here.

>>6165390
>This will require a combined effort – infantry will withdraw from covering the mortars and advance into the port.
But keep a small infantry reserve to deal with infiltrators.

>>6165390
>>This will require a combined effort – infantry will withdraw from covering the mortars and advance into the port.

>>6165390
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 10, 6, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>6165991

Rolled 8, 7, 2 = 17 (3d10)

>>6165991

Rolled 9, 8, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>6165991

>>6165991
“Cameron,” you decide, “I want infantry to pursue those targets the mortars missed. What do you need to make that happen?”

“The remaining mortars would have to offer a rolling barrage,” Cameron tells you, “such as they can with what rounds we have left. At least a token force of infantry should stay with the mortar crews to secure our rear.”

“Anything else?” you press.

He nods. “I’ll stay with the mortar crews. When they’ve finished I’ll have them move up as well.”

“Then we’ll be going,” you declare. “Catch up when you can.”

Cameron responds with a salute.

…

It’s a downhill charge over rough terrain, through sparse trees, and then suddenly out into the open at the base of the hill. The barrage is fairly well-timed, so that the mortars fall not long after the soldiers break their cover and make for the nearest buildings. There are a few isolated shots fired before explosions drive the few would-be defenders into their own cover, and by the time the mortars are through you and your fellow warriors have already crossed. Several soldiers stop and crouch, firing at windows as the last of their comrades continue the charge. The maneuver cost few enough lives to be counted on one hand, and once completed it allows you to break down the infantry into groups small enough to canvass the roadways and alleyways, systematically chasing down and flanking the remaining artillery.

…

By sunrise your charging infantry have become de facto occupiers.

There was some damage to each of the corvettes which came with some casualties, and the barge was a total loss. You also lost plenty of soldiers – including, in the end, Major Cameron. He fell as the mortar-crews and the infantry left with them brought up the rear of the charge down into the port facility, which he must have known would be a maneuver bound to produce casualties. Indeed, half the men who stayed with him were either killed or wounded.
>1/2

>>6168001
Your own cohort only suffered wounds, and while the only one that came close to being a problem was a stray bullet that creased Serana’s skull from behind there was plenty of less dramatic blood shed among your number.

In exchange for those losses, the garrison here was utterly defeated. Even the men who Cameron’s unit ran into in the night lost much of their will to fight when they realized how badly the battle overall had gone in their absence. Weapons now lie abandoned in piles, and men along with a few women here and there sit in neatly-ordered rows with varying degrees of despondence evident in their expressions.

[So what now?] Serana asks you silently – convenient, as you wouldn’t wish to speak aloud in front of the prisoners. Not at this precise moment, not when you’re strategizing with your most trusted companion.

[Hard to say,] you admit. [There’s always a question of appearances of course.]

[Of course,] Serana repeats. [Have you decided how you wish to be seen?]

That certainly is the question, seeing as even now this interminable conflict is just drawing to a close – not actually ‘finished’.

>I think it would make sense to let them stew a while. Make them eager to settle accounts.
>I want them all gone as soon as possible, and that means putting them on civilian boats.
>We’ll gather their highest-ranking officers for a more formal, permanent arrangement.
>Other?

>>6170742
>>We’ll gather their highest-ranking officers for a more formal, permanent arrangement.

>>6170742
>We’ll gather their highest-ranking officers for a more formal, permanent arrangement.

>>6170742
>>We’ll gather their highest-ranking officers for a more formal, permanent arrangement.

>>6170742
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 1, 1, 4 = 6 (3d10)

>>6171659

Rolled 8, 6, 18 = 32 (3d20)

>>6171666

Rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>6171731
Oops, I thought is was 3d20

Rolled 4, 2, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>6171659

>>6171659
[Gather the seniormost officers,] you decide. [Let’s make this formal.]

…

A colonel, along with a handful of majors and lieutenants, are the soldiers which your allies (and in honesty, your temporary collaborators) identify as being relevant to the conversation which must take place next.

“Let me begin by making this abundantly clear,” you growl. “This war is now over. Within our homeland the largest of your forces has surrendered, the Asarakam now know of this place and your presence here. And now, your main logistical port has fallen. If you would like to rebut any of these points now would be the time.”

There’s a prominent pause.

“Well then,” you continue. “I’m going to take some input on a topic where you may have superior experience.”

The colonel, highest-ranking among the survivors, speaks for the whole. “And why should we cooperate?”

“There won’t be any reprisals,” you shrug. “But neither will we be be inclined to do you any favors. Imperfect information may also lead to problems down the line that, our own intents aside, might cause problems for you and your subordinates too.”

Another pause.

“Then what, might I ask, is your aim?”

“My aim?”

“Your endgame,” the colonel clarifies. “You must want something more than simply shipping us off like so much unwanted luggage, otherwise why would we all be sitting here like this? Well, tell us what it is so we can know whether or not to help you get it.”

Straight to the point, then.

>I intend to establish normalized political and economic ties with the mainland.
>I want to make sure that no mainlanders ever, under any circumstance, return here again.
>Justice. For myself, my comrades and friends, my kingdom. Everyone your organization used.
>Other?

>>6174222
>I intend to establish normalized political and economic ties with the mainland.
Isolation will only lead to the mainland gobbling us up further in the future once they invent bombers

>>6174222
>>I intend to establish normalized political and economic ties with the mainland.

>>6174222
>I intend to establish normalized political and economic ties with the mainland.

>>6174222
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 6, 2, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>6175028

Rolled 10, 9, 6 = 25 (3d10)

>>6175028

Rolled 1, 7, 2 = 10 (3d10)

>>6175028

>>6175028
“I intend to establish normalized political and economic ties with the mainland,” you declare.

[You do not believe isolation has served us in the past,] Serana guesses your mind.

You nod. “To translate for you, colonel – isolation has not served to protect us in the past. In fact if anything it has allowed our exploitation to continue for far too long.”

“A bold declaration,” the colonel replies curtly. “You almost seem confident it can be achieved.”

“I am.”

He didn’t expect so immediate and firm an answer. “Where does this unbelievable confidence come from?”

“From the fact that we’ve demonstrated one important truth,” you observe, narrowing your eyes in threat. “That we’re much too far away from the continent to be administered. Not when a more powerful and centralized state begins to emerge – your Organization got into our regional politics for precisely that reason.”

“And what do you do from there?” the colonel demands, still evidently struggling to make some kind of point. “You plan to drag this backwater region into modernity single-handedly?”

“Until I feel Hazaran is prepared to self-govern, yes,” you shrug. “And after that, we’ll still be around.”

“For a time,” the colonel admits. “What do you think will happen after the last of your kind dies?”

“I have no idea when that’ll be,” you shrug. “We’re longer-lived than ordinary humans, and we age far more slowly. No warrior has been allowed to die of old age before.”

“Surely you don’t think yourselves immortal?”

“Certainly not,” you snort, suppressing a laugh. “But you’ve shown your ignorance of our kind.”

“How so?”

“My mother was an awakened being,” you observe. “And I inherited an affinity for yōki. With a transfusion of the mother’s blood, the daughter can carry on her line.”

“… that’s not possible,” the colonel insists. His tone however is hardly one of confidence.
>1/2

>>6178426
“It’s not only possible, it’s happened,” you counter. “Aside from getting blood from my mother, that is. We were separated not long after my birth.”

“So what, that makes you some kind of born hybrid?”

You nod. “I’m glad you understood the concept.”

The man seems distinctly less than pleased with this idea.

“Alright then, let’s set that aside,” he declares, trying desperately now to assert some degree of control over the discussion. “How do you expect any of us to help you achieve that goal?”

>Your officers’ surrender to the mainland authorities will serve as a sign of goodwill.
>You will stop interfering with our region, and provide safe passage for a delegation.
>We were created to end a ‘war’. The way we’ll do it just isn’t what you had in mind.
>Other?

>>6180631
>>You will stop interfering with our region, and provide safe passage for a delegation.

>>6180631
>>You will stop interfering with our region, and provide safe passage for a delegation.

>>6180631
>You will stop interfering with our region, and provide safe passage for a delegation.

>>6180631
“Here is what will happen,” you declare. “First, you will stop interfering with our region and begin a permanent withdrawal to the continent. Second, you will arrange for safe passage of a small delegation to the continent.”

The colonel considers your demands for a few moments. “And how are we to go about doing that?”

“At the same time,” you propose. “I’ve seen no troop or passenger ships, so your withdrawal will take some time and probably multiple round trips. We can facilitate the start of this process. We will also be occupying Lavinia – permanently. Its territory will be folded back into the jurisdiction of one of the nations in our northeast region.”

[Not by your own nation?] Serana signs.

You shake your head. “I doubt that Hazaran as it is could extend its administrative control that far, at least not in the long term. I would rather not create a situation that another state could see as an opportunity for aggression.”

[Fair,] Serana muses. [It does seem like the same problem the continent would have, at smaller scale.]

“True enough,” you allow. “That having been said Hazaran’s relations here tend to be cordial, where they exist at all.”

“Your state ‘as it is’, you said,” the colonel observes.

You nod. “Under my guidance, yes. What happens when I eventually relinquish that position of custody I admit I cannot say for certain what course Hazaran might chart.”

“That being admitted, we’ve strayed from the topic,” you change tack. “If we supply the vessels and the crews, would you be willing to facilitate our delegation in reaching the mainland?”

“We can probably do that yes,” the colonel decides. “What no officer in the field right now can do is get you into the seats of power.”

“Ideally that won’t be an issue,” you answer. “We sent a volunteer some time ago. Assuming she made it to the continent, she’ll have been busy.”

There’s a heavy silence for a few moments.
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 3, 9, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>6185454

Rolled 3, 6, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>6185454

Rolled 5, 1, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>6185454

>>6185454
The proverbial dam does, eventually, break. Not all at once but slowly, the colonel who’s taken it upon himself to speak for the remainder of the Organization loyalists in your region comes to a realization.

“… you’ll likely get what you want regardless of what I decide,” he grumbles. “At least that’s true for this point in time.”

“Then you’ll agree?”

“… I will.”

“Then we’ll handle the details later tonight.”

…

Lavinia is now an occupied region.

The first objective had to be contacting the civilian port town to inform the mayor there of developments, and to arrange for a few things to happen. Most important in that regard is the delivery of expert builders – an important inclusion if you want something much more significant than a bunch of holes in the ground – to build a proper facility to hold all these new prisoners in one place so that they can be monitored by the occupying Hazari troops. In the mean time those troops dig in, rapidly collecting any remaining heavy weapons or other useful equipment and arranging it according to major avenues of approach to the center of the Organization’s own harbor.

It takes a major rush to prepare even basic long-term shelter for the prisoners before any of them fall ill due to exposure, but it does get done. It certainly helps that the engineers could raid various nearby buildings for materials. Within two days they’re all housed in newly constructed barracks, though those barracks aren’t exactly comfortable and could stand to see some further improvements, and armed Hazari troops have established a constant vigil.

“Have you gotten the volunteers ready?” you ask the colonel.

This is the task you have had him focusing on since the surrender. “I do.”

“Have you made them aware of the rules?”

Essentially, you plan to run what many military-types would refer to as a “tight ship” – with no tolerance of disobedience whatsoever. To that end, the list of things that will earn anyone coming with you a one-way trip over the side of the ship is a lot longer than most sailors would be comfortable with. By making them aware of that, you hope that the only people to volunteer will be those who have no intention of creating trouble and those who just want to go home.
>1/2

>>6187212
“They understand,” the colonel confirms.

“Alright,” you nod, before turning to your companions and walking straight up to Valentina, placing your hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been giving this some thought. If I don’t come back… I’ve sent word to Noventus that you are to take my place.”

She stares at you, gobsmacked. “Me? Really?”

“Yes, you,” you confirm. “You’re Hazari, and you have no competing loyalties – I’ve trusted you with my life since our first mission together, and I think you’re the right person to pick things up if this ends up being where I leave off.”

“… that means,” she eventually replies, “that I won’t be going with you.”

“Yes. It does.”

It’s a rare moment that one of your number seems as though she’s moments away from tears, but that’s the impression you get from Valentina in this one. And it’s only for a moment – in the very next, she’s already back in complete control. Mostly.

“Alright,” she nods. “If it’s a job you want me to do, then I accept.”

“Thank you.”

“I think six is appropriate,” you continue. “Salem, Sabela. Serana, myself. Vanessa, Aurora. Two awakened beings, two half-awakened and two unawakened wariors.”

“It hardly makes sense to stop now,” Salem sighs, almost feigning reluctance. “Count me in.”

Sabela is also quick to agree. “You are my daughter… and you are the reason I will be able to live out my days as your mother. Of course I would follow you to hell if you needed me to.”

[You helped me find my voice,] Serana joins in.

“You saved our lives,” Vanessa bows her head respectfully. “I’m with you.”

Aurora simply shrugs. “Yeah, I get it. You can count on my technique if we end up needing it.”

…

It proves to be a good thing that the surrendered men and women of the Organization’s former occupation force were self-selected from among the most genuinely desperate to get home, because the ocean journey proves to be arduous. A mutiny out in the vast swathes of empty sea could have proven disastrous.
>2/3

>>6188091
All the things you predicted as possible threats come to pass along the way. That includes two powerful storms, either of which could have easily caused two ships to lose each other – that being the reason why having to take a ‘tender-ship’ along for the trip would have been less than ideal. Each of these storms was followed by a day or two of becalmed seas, as were a few spots on the open ocean where winds were shockingly calm. That would have made any craft reliant entirely on canvas sails a risky choice. And since a hybrid craft was not available on short notice, that left one realistic possibility.

The sole remaining cruiser afloat and in good condition was therefore stripped of its weapons and ammunition for the purpose. Gun mounts were cut away or un-bolted and landed, torpedo launchers were removed and simply tossed over the sides, and any other piece of equipment that no longer served a purpose met with a similar fate. The magazines were filled with coal taken from elsewhere throughout the port, and unused quarters for the gun-crews were filled with dry provisions. Some space was also allotted to storage of fresh water, in case the normal process of boiling seawater proved insufficient or else broke down somehow. Treated fabric for collecting rainwater was also stowed aboard ship with the same potential problems in mind.

At ‘economical’ cruising speeds, you were told before setting out that your cruise would take eighteen days’ time to reach land assuming you held a straight course. The storms threw your cruiser off and delayed progress for seven days in total, and with an additional two days due to a margin of error in your navigation your first sighting of the mainland comes twenty-seven days – a day shy of one full month – after your departure.

…

“It isn’t the port we were aiming for,” the lieutenant in charge of your temporary ‘crew’ confesses. “But right now I think you can agree that any port will do?”

Food and freshwater aren’t immediate problems, and thankfully there are only a few among your numbers that are ill. One sailor unfortunately died of an unrelated condition while in-transit, necessitating a burial at sea. No, the main problem now is that now that you can see land, there will almost certainly be some among the crew unwilling to wait to reach it.

>We’ll beach at the soonest convenience. It may benefit us to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.
>I’ll make an announcement. As soon as we figure out where we are, we’ll make for the nearest harbor.
>I say we anchor off the coast here and send in a boat. Make initial contact, announce our intentions.
>Other?

>>6188167
>>I’ll make an announcement. As soon as we figure out where we are, we’ll make for the nearest harbor.

>>6188167
>I’ll make an announcement. As soon as we figure out where we are, we’ll make for the nearest harbor.

>>6188167
>I’ll make an announcement. As soon as we figure out where we are, we’ll make for the nearest harbor.

>>6188167
3d10 best of 3

Rolled 1, 1, 8 = 10 (3d10)

>>6191856

Rolled 7, 3, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>6191856

Rolled 8, 1, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>6191856