READ NOVEL FREE Chapter 465: Weird all around
"It's really weird, don't you think?" I asked from behind the controls of the Maglev while we leisurely cruised a safe distance away from the ground but not high enough to put a strain on the damaged systems of our ship.
"I'm from the forest, so I can't really relate to all of the politics included, but…" Fay thought for a second, "But from the books I studied, I would have to say no, I don't think it is weird."
Fay heaved an exhausted sigh, still tired after our leisurely excursion.
As it turned out, orgasming our brains out put quite the strain on our bodies, even after we reached a stage beyond supreme.
"How could throwing thousands upon thousands of your own men into a senseless and ultimately pointless slaughter not be weird?" I asked.
When Claudy called us over on the radio to hurry it up back to the fortress, my first thought was that the empire of the north came up with some sort of a clever ploy to overcome both the static defenses of the massive fortress and the weapons that we supplied the defenders with.
Yet, after listening in to his report while we hurried to turn the maglev around and hurry it back… I ended up in the current limbo of being weirded out.
As it turned out, the empire, in fact, did come up with a plan. Yet, all those precious officers of the imperial legions managed to think off…
Was throwing more and more soldiers at the problem in hopes they would saturate its limits and overcome it with sheer numbers.
A foolish tactic to use against someone with a single, well-positioned, and well-supplied machine gun nest, all the more so when the structure of the fortress funneled most of the attackers through a relatively narrow, rising path.
"You are making the mistake of assuming their commanders know what you know," Fay pointed out a flaw in my logic. "And we won't know what their real plan is until the whole thing blows over."
Hearing Fay's sweet voice and the specific selection of words she used, I just couldn't help myself and allowed my childish side to take over, giving her a short, playful look. Find more chapters on empire
"What?" Fay asked, easily catching my momentary stare. Yet, seeing how I nigh instantly avoided her curious glare, she took a moment to think…. Only to shake her head and heave an exasperated sigh. "Didn't we just do it already?"
A second sigh escaped from her lips.
"Personally, I wouldn't mind but we are nearly there already."
"Oh, come on," I rolled my eyes a little, "I wasn't trying to get some more, just smirking at your wording," I said with a grin before shaking my head and turning my attention back to the massive structure of the fortress that was quickly coming into our view.
"Then, again, even though we've seen it already…" I paused for a moment as I took in the overwhelming sight of the concrete-like barrier that blocked what would be otherwise a massive ravine in a mountain chain so big, that it was nearly as large as the mountains we witnessed back in the starlight plain.
"It remains as astounding as when we saw it for the first time," Fay finished my sentence for me, sharing in the feeling of awe that this massive construction inspired in those who got to witness it.
We didn't have much time to adore the magnificent structure, though. While we were far from pushing our hovercraft to its limits, the speed of our travel was still something to be amazed by. And so, as massive of a fortress as this might be, it lost a small part of its charm when we approached it as quickly and as easily as we did.
"Prepare for the climb," I called out, right as we approached the mountains for the terrain below to turn from hills into a proper incline of a mountain's base.
Back during our first visit to this place, we climbed up the mountainside quite a bit away from the fortress, allowing us to rapidly descent on its other side. But now?
"Wait," Fay suddenly called out. "Wouldn't it be better to park on this side?"
I turned my eyes to the girl, staring at her face as I thought.
'In theory…'
In theory, if we were to park on the other side, we could access the ship at any time we wanted. But, at the same time, if the northern empire actually found a way to overcome the fortress defenses, we would also put the ship at risk of further damage if not outright capture.
On the other hand, if we left it on the inner side of the fortress, the enemy would be unlikely to ever reach it…
"What if the defenders get overwhelmed, though?" I asked, already imagining the scenario despite my lack of faith in the imperial ability to overcome their current challenge. "We might end up stuck on the other side, with a huge crowd of people desperate to cross the few accessible tunnels. And unless we will be willing to cut them down to pass ourselves…"
As great of a defense as using the dam's sluice tunnels for the only passage between the dam's two sides, it also put a great limit on how many people could pass through at the same time. And in the chaos inevitable in a falling fortress, we would literally have to cut ourselves a path through the mob of the panicked defenders unless we would be willing to fully abandon our ambitions on this side of the nigh impassable starlight plain…
It was a truly troubling question, with both possible answers bearing some level of risk and inconvenience. Still, the loss of a maglev was something I really didn't want to accept if possible, given how not even Makary could obtain more of them easily.
"You know what, I think you are right," I finally came to a conclusion, turning the steering stick of the ship to bring it to a steady stop. "It would be…"
The ringing of the radio stopped me from finishing my sentence.
"Claudy to Maglev, Claudy to Maglev," the monotone, flattened voice produced by the radio filled the insides of the hovercraft.
"We are here, what's wrong?" Fay asked as soon as she picked up the remote microphone and brought it up to her lips.
"Guys, I need you to hurry it up. As weird as it might be… The invaders are doing something… weird."