//------------------------------// // 3. Arrival // Story: A Double-Edged Sword // by sjasogun //------------------------------// At long last, they had arrived in Baltimare. Or, more specifically, in the massive army base a few kilometers further ahead. It was immense – they had been able to spot it before they had even reached the city itself. The colonel had been greeted by another colonel who had taken him and the five majors with him, while another pony, a bright orange pegasus, had showed them the spot where they could set up their tents for now. Double hadn’t actually seen the frontlines yet, which meant that this was just a central hub for all of the high-ranking officers to gather and direct everything from. That was to be expected – Bridelington, the town that had been the starting place of this entire mess was another half-day journey away. Despite this, Double was anxious. You didn’t have to be a genius to know what the colonel and the majors were getting briefed on. It was a bit strange, though. They had hardly heard anything concerning the war while on their journey, even though they did ask whether there was any news from the front any time they passed a settlement, but the locals seemed to know just as little as them. The only thing they knew for sure was that there had been fights already. Hopefully Major Chevalier would be able to shed some light on the matter once he got back. To have something on his hooves, Double decided to check up on the progress on the camp. Everything was going just fine, and the glum mood from a couple of days earlier seemed to have largely passed, being replaced with the expected anxiety of now actually being here, where everything was happening. Double specifically avoided thinking about the word 'war', because it'd just bring up all the issues connected to that, which was something he didn't need right now. It delighted Double to see Flash and Chariot cheerfully working together to set up a tent. So that was under control, at least for now. By the time Double got back to his tent the Major was already there, drinking a cup of coffee along with Razor and Hawk. Predictably, Hawk just had some ginseng tea. He claimed that it helped calm the mind, but after tasting it Double had thought that if you had a mind calm enough to withstand that taste, you wouldn't need the tea at all. Double sat down, happily took a sip from the hot coffee Razor had handed him and waited for the major to start talking. “The griffons are serious this time.” he said before pausing to take another sip of his coffee. He remained silent for a moment, looking at them as if to give them a chance to ask him a question. None of them did. He sighed, took another sip and continued, “The Third Regiment was the first to arrive here, about an hour after the incident. The griffons in Bridelington fled when they approached, but Colonel Brimstone ordered them to set up a defense perimeter around the town anyway. It was good that he did, since barely two hours later the rest of the Triclaw clan showed up, a group of about two thousand griffon soldiers.” An audible gasp from Razor interrupted him, while Hawk just frowned, as if somepony had just told him in all earnest that flowers could fly. Double just stared at him, dumbfounded. “Even though the Third Regiment had them outnumbered Colonel Brimstone had ordered a tactical retreat, since the town would inevitably have been destroyed if a battle between two groups that large were to happen. The griffons were content with occupying the town, too. Colonel Brimstone then sent out messengers to inform the generals of the situation.” The major paused again to give them an opportunity to ask a question, and this time somepony did. “So you mean to say,” Razor started angrily, “that they knew that the situation was like this before they sent out the letters to the colonels?” Major Chevalier uneasily moved around a bit on the spot, his coffee standing next to him, completely forgotten. “Well, yes. The colonel isn't happy about it either. He ordered us to leave, but we had only barely left before he started shouting at Brigadier Iliad.” The major coughed before continuing. "Anyway, after Bridelington had been occupied by the Triclaw clan, things worsened. By the time the Seventh and Twelfth regiment had arrived the Triclaw clan had been joined by three more clans that had taken over a stretch of coast spanning seven kilometers. Since then that area has grown by an order of magnitude." Razor slumped down, a defeated look etched into his face. "How?" he just asked. The major rubbed his temples with his hooves for a bit before he continued. "Consider this: the griffons have likely been planning this invasion for months. They were able to get their troops to the front faster than us. Only now, two weeks after the conflict started have we assembled our entire army, while they have had their full war-force here for much longer. There was not much else we could do besides retreating and setting up a line of defense. And that's not even the worst of it." "What could possibly be worse than that?" Razor asked, now not even bothering anymore to try and keep the dread out of his voice. "Although the intelligence division is still busy trying to figure out why, their army is much larger than we expected. In fact, their numbers rival ours and more reinforcements keep arriving every day. If they keep this up it'll be only a matter of time before they can simply overrun us." "What I would like to know," Hawk interjected as Razor opened his mouth to say something again, "is why they withheld crucial information from a senior officer such as the colonel in a crisis like this." "That's not important right now." Double said coolly before anypony else could say anything. He opened his mouth to continue, but shut it again. Had that hoarse, rasping sound been his voice? He cleared his throat and swallowed as well for good measure and continued. "What's important right now is what we are going to do about this threat. Doubting each other is counterproductive – nothing more, nothing less. Besides, we wouldn't have had any use for that information on the road here. We know it now, don't we? Then what's the problem? Let's just forget about that for now and focus our attention and strength on this war. So, major, what are our orders?" The major looked at Double, surprised at his outburst. "Well," he started, looking at Double, unsure, "we will be headed for the front ASAP. Too bad that you already set up camp, but we'll have to break it down again and get a move on. They desperately need the reinforcements right now." The group went quiet, none of them sure of what to say. The major noticed his – now cold – coffee and downed the rest in a single gulp. A few more uneasy minutes passed as they finished the rest of their drinks. Then Hawk got up. "I'll be getting my troops ready, then." The major waved his hoof at him to signify that he was dismissed. Hawk saluted and walked off. "You two should get going, too." the major said in a low voice. "Sir." Double and Razor saluted, and left, leaving the major behind, rubbing his temples. *** A couple of hours later they had arrived at the front. Compared to the communication and command camp they'd come from, this place was far more unorganized. Even though the tents were set up in orderly rows, that was about the only thing that could be considered orderly about the place. Ponies were running around everywhere, some pulling huge carts loaded with crates, huge stacks of blankets or even massive piles of sand and rocks. At one point they passed a huge tent marked with a red cross. The pegasus that was hastily carried in by two earth ponies in white suits, covered in bloodstained bandages satiated his curiosity about that place – the unfortunate soul had missed a wing. They were led to their campsite by a large, cobalt earth pony with thick bags under his eyes. The major opened his mouth to ask him something, but was interrupted by a loud, wailing noise. The cobalt pony cringed, but continued walking. "WHAT IS THAT TERRIBLE NOISE?" the major asked, barely able to make himself audible. "IT'S THE ALARM," the cobalt pony responded, "WHICH MEANS THAT THE GRIFFONS ARE ATTACKING AGAIN." That statement captured everypony's attention – all of them looked worriedly to their right, where the palisades that were quickly being filled up with ponies carrying bows were. As the archers withdrew their arrows, readying them for firing, Double could have sworn that he heard another sound through the alarm – a terrible, high-pitched shrieking sound. The noise of the alarm dimmed as they moved further away from it. By the time they had arrived at a clearing where they stopped it was below normal speaking voice in volume "This is where you may set up camp." the cobalt pony said. "And if you'll excuse me, I'm needed elsewhere." He saluted to the major and quickly galloped off. The major turned around to face his troops, his face completely devoid of the desperation that had been there at the command center. "Now, listen up you scumbags!" he thundered, surprisingly loud for such a small and – ahem – rounded pony. Everypony immediately jumped to attention. "When that alarm goes off again I want all of you to be ready for battle with this camp in ship-shape condition! If I spot anypony who isn't COM-PLETE-LY ready by then I will personally tie him to the outside of the palisades to catch the griffon's spears! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" "YES SIR, MAJOR SIR!" was the uniform response, even from the three captains, who knew better than anypony else when the Chevalier the Tightflank was to be taken completely seriously. The camp was set up in no time at all, and hopefully for the last time, too. Double had gotten pretty sick of setting up and breaking down the camp every day. But he also suspected that he'd soon have lots of things he'd be sick of, probably literally, too. He chuckled, quickly raising his hoof to his face to hide it. It was rare for him to make jokes like that. He should accustom himself to making jokes every once in a while, to alleviate his gloomy mood sometimes. After all, everything ought either to move us to tears or to laughter. And out of those two, laughter was the preferable one by far. The major called them and their lieutenants to him. Double had three lieutenants under him, each in charge of a platoon of sixty to seventy men. Sharpness the pegasus, Rasputin the earth pony, and Starry Skies the unicorn. All three had their own strengths that made them exceptional on their own, but Double mostly prided himself in their ability when they worked together as a team – they complimented each other perfectly. If only they would be able to work together for more than three minutes without bickering. The major cleared his throat and addressed the gathering before him. "Our battalion has been assigned to section F-3. This means that we will be defending a stretch of wall about one hundred meters wide. The setup is as follows." He turned the chalk board around, showing a diagram of some sort. He gestured at it while giving them the instructions. "Our battalion will be divided into three groups, different from the normal companies we use. First, there is the archery division. They will be behind the wall with bows, shooting the attacking griffons before they get to the wall." Double repressed a shiver – this was real. This was happening. If not today, then tomorrow – it was inevitable that he would have to lead one of those divisions into combat, responsible for the lives of everypony in it. "The second division will be the lancer division. They will form a tight wall to catch the first griffon attacks. Because the griffons can fly this division will consist solely of pegasi. Their job is mainly to drive the griffons to the ground so the others can attack them." the major paused to look at his subordinates. "I can't stress the importance of this division. Their ability to fly gives the griffons a major edge over us. If they can fight unhindered from the sky we will have lost the battle already. "The third and final division will be the combat division. Their duty will be to attack the griffons as soon as the lancer division has driven them to the ground. Now, I have already decided which division each of you will be leading. Hawk, you will be in charge of the archer division." Hawk nodded, but didn't say anything. "That means you will have to lead the lancer division, Razor." "Yes sir!" Razor said energetically. "And that leaves the combat division to you, Double." Like Hawk, he only nodded. He had expected this division arrangement as soon as the major had finished explaining the last one. Naturally, Hawk would lead the archer division. Razor had once jokingly remarked that he was the reincarnation of Robin Hoof because of his skills with the bow and arrow. Besides being the only other pegasus captain – which pretty much defaulted him to the lancer division – Razor was the perfect man for a task that required great coordination. His men not only obeyed his every order unconditionally but he also had the ability to oversee large and complex situations and deconstruct them until only the bare bones were left, allowing him to solve the problem quickly and efficiently. As for himself... Well, Double didn't like bragging about himself, but he knew very well that the combat division suited him perfectly too. While Razor's job would be the most risky, they didn't actually have to fight any griffons seriously. Being driven back and not winning any ground on their opponents – while being the equivalent of losing in a normal fight – was of no concern for them. This meant they could – mostly – hide behind the safety of their shields. The combat division, however, would be all about timing. It was crucial to take the griffons off the hands of the lancers quickly. Otherwise the lancers would be unnecessarily endangered and the griffons might escape. And that timing, acting not when it was the easiest to do but when it was first possible to do it, that was Double's forte. Others often found him to be impatient, but that was beside the truth – he would never act so early that the chance of failure would outweigh the benefit of acting sooner. While that benefit was pretty low in everyday activities, it was considerably higher on the battlefield. His impeccable timing made Double a great commander. He couldn't suppress a grin – captains of the Royal Equestrian Army didn't get that title with a pack of oatmeal, that was for sure. While the griffons might have the advantage of flight, size, strength and inbuilt weapons and, if the current trend persisted, of numbers, they had the best of the best leading their troops. "No," Double thought, "there's no way a well-oiled machine like the Royal Equestrian Army can be overcome. And besides, they probably don't even have a very good organization anyway." He was wrong on both points.