Somnium Online

Regrouping

Anne gazed out over the assembled soldiers. Tall of her square were arrayed in formation on the front lawn of the command center.

They stood in perfect rows, uniforms crisp, backs stiff, eyes filled with anticipation.

The sun was low in the sky, but slowly beginning to rise, painting the grass orange and red with early morning light.

There were a few gaps in their ranks where soldiers had been wounded, but she still had yet to suffer a single casualty. Unfortunately, she had a bad feeling that her perfect record was about to be stained red.

"Soldiers, we have a new assignment." Anne announced, he voice echoing over the ranks of gathered soldiers.

"The enemy have constructed a new fortress, and it will be much harder to destroy than last time.

I don't think I need to remind you how dangerous our enemy can be. They fight without honor, and have no sense of justice or mercy.

They are a threat to our glorious city, and have openly declared their hostility time and again, and now they dare construct a fortress right outside our walls.

The structure itself is unique, our enemy has secured massive amounts of float stone, and have built a ship that can sail through the skies."

This sent hushed murmurs throughout the crowd, and she saw a few men shift anxiously.

"However, we have a sound strategy to annihilate this threat, and destroy our enemy once and for all."

This seemed to reassure the soldiers, and Anne could feel the tension ease slightly.

"Squads A, B, and C, you will participate in the first phase of the mission. The enemy has constructed a temporary base on the ground for the purpose of storing supplies. Your job will be to burn it to the ground."

Anne turned her attention to the remaining squad. "Squad E, you've got the hard part of the mission, but with your record I'm confident you can manage."

Lin gave a stiff nod, with Eric unable to so much as open his eyes, Lin had stepped up as the leader.

"You four will be attacking the main fortress directly. Your objective is to render the enemy unable to launch air to ground attacks. If you succeed, the enemy will have no choice but to watch helplessly as their allies on the ground are destroyed."

Anne went on laying out every detail of the plan for her soldiers, and by the time she was done, the sun was well past it's zenith.

Finally, Anne saluted sharply, and returned to the command center to finalize the details of the plan.

"This has to work." She muttered, "an aerial fortress that can be moved at any time? It's too dangerous to be left alone."

Eric felt heavy, every muscle in his body felt weak as a newborn kitten, and he had the distinct impression that if he moved an inch, it would cause unbearable agony.

Despite his instincts, he managed to crack an eyelid open to scan his surroundings.

A ceiling, gold leaf trim, definitely not the forest. He ruled out the possibility of a hallucination since he had considered the possibility in the first place, which mean he had been moved.

As he slowly regained his senses, he realized he couldn't have moved even if he wanted to, his entire body had been smothered in bandages. He could see his dark coat folded neatly and hanging off a chair at the foot of the bed.

"Hey N, how hard would it be to heal completely?" Eric thought.

"After what you just pulled? The best I can do is get you string enough to speak, but even that would probably knock you out. We'll have to wait for someone with some serious healing skills." N replied glumky. "Still, turning your speed up that high was pretty cool, maybe don't send yourself into shock next time though."