North Winds Fall (Xianxia - Survive the Protagonist)

Autumn said to Kazumi, "Would you help me with finding appropriate families to speak to? I realize I don't actually know many families beyond the established ones in the capital."

"Lord Magistrate?" Kazumi asked of him, "Have you heard of our West Winds practice of random sampling, and polling?"

"I have seen it in a few different forms. What of it?" asked the Magistrate.

"If you can perceive matters as plainly as I hoped for, maybe you would be able to randomly choose a dozen families from North winds for us? Could you write out directions on how to find them?" Kazumi said carefully.

The Magistrate seemed to ponder the matter. "This is an interesting puzzle you have proposed.. I should need to be in my own kingdom to access the fullness of my powers. Indeed, these kind of puzzles are ones my master is quite fond of as well."

While they waited for the Magistrate to return, Autumn asked "How do you pick people randomly in the West Winds?"

"We have a census, sometimes it misses people, but it's pretty accurate. There's a list of veterans that they poll. You can write names on little stripes of paper and put them in some tall hat and pick from them."

Autumn pondered the thought, "I'm sure there has to be some kind of list of people for the taxes, but that was always my brothers' work. I'm not sure where Xue Son's papers ended up."

Chau said, "I saw Son's papers. There's a lot of them, it would take a long time to go through them, but if we didn't have the Magistrate's help we could do it."

When the Magistrate returned he seemed to be amused as he carried a paper scroll.

"The vast majority of the families in this world are small farmers. Ten of the twelve random families are farmers. One is a guardsman's family. One is a hightown merchant family."

Not only did the Magistrate have directions to each family's residence, but he had drawn them as points on the map of the North Winds. They were scattered about the country, with two points in the capital.

"I should probably go with you, or you would spend all week traveling about the countryside," the Magistrate said.

Kazumi insisted that the Magistrate teleport them near the family residence, and not right to it. It would make Autumn seem altogether too alien and unfamiliar otherwise.

He happily returned to his palace while they visited with each family, but he was ready to take them to the next when they moved on.

Despite rice's reputation as the poor family's food, Kazumi remarked how it was much more common in the West Winds.

Many farmers grow millet and wheat. Apparently millet was used for creating a porridge and wheat for flour and eventually bread.

The short growing season in the Northern parts of the Empire meant rice wasn't a good local crop, but it was a common trade from the West Winds. Apparently, the North Winds was more suitable for apples, and cherry orchards were common in some places also, but none of the ten families were orchardists.

Aside from the Hightown family, which was surprisingly the same Wynn family she had spoken to once before, there were three families they visited which were of particular note in her mind.

The Shi family home was humble, but it was on the shore of a local lake of considerable size. She could see across the lake to the other side but it was probably half a mile wide and significantly longer.

There were several boats in various states of falling apart along the waterfront. Autumn was wearing traveling clothes, and not the fancy things of the capital. She was more comfortable in simple clothes, although she knew she wouldn't have that luxury often.

The only sign of her identity was the signet ring she still wore. Knocking on the door of the house, she got a response from a woman carrying a baby to the door.

"What is it?" the woman asked. Her baby was surely less than a year old and nearly asleep.

Making the initial address to each family was the hardest and most awkward part.

"I am Princess Xue Thu, and soon to be your new Empress. We are trying to make a fresh start. In fact, you will get to vote and choose who will represent you in the new legislature of the North Winds. I have been visiting families across the country to get to know you one on one."

She was sure responding to such a statement was almost as awkward.

The woman immediately started speaking about something which obviously disturbed her, "A young man came here two days ago and said he represented the Chan family's claim on Reed lake, and he expected accommodation and payment immediately. How are we supposed to know if he's right or just conning us?"

"Is he still with you," Autumn asked.

"He went out in the boat with my husband and the boys," Miss Shi said.

Looking at Kazumi, Autumn was greatly concerned. Lightning was shooting out from her hands and even from the top of her head.

"Uh. who is that with you, Princess?" Miss Shi was shocked.

The expression on Kazumi's face was fierce, but when the lightning sparking from within her released, her face became calm.

A tremendous thunder echoed deep and crackling as lightning sparked out in the sky above the middle of the lake.

"That's one way to bring in the fishermen," Kazumit6 said.

"We're supposed to be helping them, Kazumi. Not scaring them away," Autumn said.

"This goon is more expensive to them than a few hours fishing," Kazumi said.

It was with great speed that the men on two wooden boats hurried back to shore, rowing fiercely.

Kazumi's outburst across the sky had not yet calmed down, and it wasn't until the men and boys approached the house that she relented.

"Which of you is the Chan family representative?" Autumn asked.

The man in question was barely more than a well-fed teenager. Portly, but something seemed shifty about him.

"That's me," he said. "Who asks of it?"

She didn't immediately answer, "What is the nature of the Chan family claim over the lake's fishing?"

"We own the lake, and all the fish in it! The Emperor himself lent it to us. Well, to my masters, the Chan family. I could have you arrested for trespassing on Chan property," he said.

Mrs. Shi was reacting worriedly to the boy's outburst while Mr. Shi and his boys seemed to take it in stride.

"Miss, this man truly is a Chan representative. It would be best if you left us to the task of attending to him," said Mr. Shi.

Autumn pondered how to handle the whole situation. The bounds of her authority were extremely fuzzy at the current time. In some future time, land ownership would no longer be the matter of the Emperor's statements and promises.

"Effective immediately, as the primary holder of Imperial property and possessions, I am suspending the Chan family's claim upon Reed lake and it's fishing. I, Princess Xue Thu, do so declare," she said in a workmanlike voice, like she was dictating to someone writing down these words.

"Besides, I do not think the right over lake and fishing proceeds to any subsequent right to occupy a family's home."

The Shi family all, were stunned and standing stock still as the boy representative had let his feet do the talking. Maybe she find out this claim was legitimate, and this boy was sent to enforce it, but the whole thing was fishy to her.. She would repay the Chan family as needed, but temporarily, the Shi family would be saved from the menace.

The Shi family was jittery and overly respectful after that, and she didn't get much out of them, but they thanked her and Kazumi for freeing them of the boy.

<<<----]---

In the very southern edge, along the curving border between the North and West winds, only twenty some miles from the Great Sea which can't be accessed from the North, they found the Feng family.

An old man organized his sons and grandsons efforts. The three generations lived on the large property in a few houses and there were outbuildings and a great storagehouse.

Autumn didn't know the first thing about tobacco. Xue Son was as prickly about that amongst the Imperial daughters as he was about alcohol. She was never interested in the leaf anyway.

She didn't know anyone in her family smoked, but Feng Sr. informed her differently.

"There's a greater portion that travels up from the South, changing by many hands, but it's not as good as what we grow. Your father was apt to come and take a collection of tobacco for his own use whenever he came through, which was regular enough," Feng Ye said.
"How much do you think the value of all that he took would be?" she asked. Maybe not immediately, but he should be compensated and eventually she would have the funds to repay those her father or other family members took from.

"It's hard to say. My leaf fetches a higher price than the import. Perhaps 1700 coin?"

"Right now I don't have access to my father's money, but I would like to pay for what was taken, when I can."

The tobacco grower's story was confirmed when the Magistrate realized that her father the Emperor had mentioned Feng Ye's name before.

Through the many hours of serving him, the Emperor would smoke whenever possible.

Autumn had the feeling of a remembered smell. On the rare occasion that she was close enough to him, she noted the odd mixture of flavors and scents in his presence.

<<<----]---

The Ren family was the second of the two living in the Capital.

The Ren matriarch was a widow, raising her two boys as Ren family men, despite marrying into the Ren name.

"My husband was killed in the fighting around the arena. I refused to let my boys go with him on patrol then, and I surely aren't letting them become guards now."

Both boys were nearly adults of their own regard, but they seemed to respect their mother's decision. It was hard to say for sure, but Autumn thought they might have been twices.

"Mom, remember we told you we wanted to go visit our friends that day. Bohai told us he was headed to watch the arena fight. No one knew what it was really like then. We never expected to see dad there."

The sadness in the two boys was still quite fresh and raw.

Autumn glumly agreed. "I would never ask your boys to go out again. That is your family matter. I'm afraid I was not myself that day. No one was, with the unusual powers being used around the arena. I wish I could have protected Mr. Ren myself."

For all that this speaking trip had truly opened her eyes and began revealing to her that the North Winds was much bigger than she had thought before, she hadn't really gained anything of use for the upcoming fight.

If they survived these next few weeks, this kind of house to house visiting was something she wanted to do regularly.

"You were amazing Princess! Mom, Princess Thu was the best fighting out there until the end. She tried to save everyone. We've never seen something like that. We couldn't even tell where she was, just her blade's working never stopped."

The other brother spoke up, "I would risk ten more arenas, if I could learn to fight like that!"

"Hush," said their mother.

"It took me a few weeks to recover after that. If the Snow family hadn't risked their own, we wouldn't have made it."

"I hope for all the fighting to be done and gone soon," Mrs. Ren said.

After speaking their goodbyes, Autumn decided to walk back to the palace in the refreshing evening, with Kazumi.

Spring was slipping into Summer, and she had hope that the harvest of some friend and vegetables in early summer would help the food situation.

"Whatever it is like here, my people are going through the same and more," Kazumi said. The occupation of the West Winds was the unpleasant subtext hanging over Kazumi constantly.

Having experienced a snapshot of the West, she felt compassionate, but it seemed like there was so much to do in the North that she should let Kazumi worry about the West. When she had the worry-room for West winds problems, she would start considering them.

People were generally unaware of the what and how of democracy here, so it would be a strange process even without the looming invasion and food crisis.

Autumn was surprised to look behind her and see the two Ren boys running towards them. Stopping she turned to greet them.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

They paused for a moment out of breath, and then the first brother said, "If we convince our mother to let us help, where do we apply to be guardsmen."

"Ms. Snow is in charge, ask for her," she told them.

"Yes your highness. Thank you," they both mumbled.

"Make sure you actually get your mom's approval. I don't want to be responsible for more of her grief."

<<<----]---


After the family tour was over, it was time for last minute preparation, and meeting with the commander of the Quartet army.

With all of that army reporting, they had a quartet army of 3200 regulars, 500 of the magistrate's Cloud army, in addition to Jacob's 50 some special forces and Chau's eighty raiders.

Kazumi's girls were few in number, and she agreed to place them under Chau's command.

General Park was the 3nd son of the Park elder, and he had served as the highest officer of Prince Xue Lee Palace guards (the first being Lee himself) before joining the Quartet army.

Park was a Command-focused cultivator of the mid 3rd step. His presence elevated their army command ability significantly.

"Our weak point is the Capital and the Palace. The people have already gone through so much, they won't endure a long subjugation for a second time. We can't avoid contact with the bulk of their lines, then," General Park was saying.

Gen. Park, Snow Chau, the Magistrate, Kazumi, Jacob and Autumn herself were encamped in a ring of sitting chairs in the main palace.

The palace had been thoroughly searched, and they had found a detailed map of the North Winds, which were placed on a large round table.

"We have the advantage of superior top-tier fighters, but we cannot waste such at an early point in the war. Let them be surprised and drawn further into our land. Let them spread out, and grew comfortable, and then we should strike for maximum disorientation. We must take out their operation command center. Any communications equipment must be destroyed, and the power of fear employed. This is a fools war, we will only win it if we can produce bigger fools in our foe."

The Magistrate had a few things to say to those gathered, "I would not be here if I did not expect the South Winds to take more than they could chew. I would prefer to go right away and strike together with all of your potentencies. Between Dragons of fire and earth, heavenly lightning of great intensity, and my own designs, we should unleash what has never before been experienced by these soldiers.

They will bow down and surrender before our collective might. You have not yet see me battle from a position of greater strength, but I am prepared to expend considerable resources, if we may began immediately, and end soon."

Vote:

[ ] General Park's plan: Attack with cultivator strike team after the South Winds army has advanced and spread out for some time. Drive desertion among the South regulars and surgical strikes against the officers.

[ ] Magistrate's plan: Attack immediate with Incredible Might. Impress on the South Winds the nature of their enemy, and the elemental and divine forces arrayed against them. Magistrate will bring a significant boost to his power.

"We should deal with this army, right away. General Park, prepare your army to move out. If we are successful, the South Winds army will be scattered, but once they reform, we'll need to keep them scattered," Autumn said.

The Magistrate spoke up, "You should make the acquaintance of my commander of the Cloud army. He will lead them in my stead. Your Highness, you and the other heroes should begin your planning now. I will need four hours to get prepared. After this Alpha strike, I must return to my throne to recover and repay debts to my people. Be ready to use all of your strength when I return."

<<<----]---

Eternus looked around the room once more. But for their lack of a large enough army to pursue and rout the hot-headed South Winds invaders, they had a nearly perfect strike force.

It was only a small expense to return to his throne room. The man who had hoped to be Emperor was a good servant after Eternus had dealt with his problematic attitude.

"Chan," he spoke out.

"I'm here sir. Your resources are running low sir."

"The army detachment will be in service for a short while longer, but I am returning tonight. My adventures will be at an end. This will be my last effort. Give me your data. I hope you remember your units properly this time," he said.

Chan was learning to access the limited calculational ability present in this throne room. It was an interface to the tiniest portion of his master's vast thinking power.

After hearing his servant's data, he concluded: there was a great deal of wealth still available, but his calculation allottment and spiritual energy were low.

"I'm going to the Vault Marketplace," he said.

With his essence and calculation not abundantly available, he decided to walk amongst the clouds over to the old Vault market place. Most of his subjects would have to save up for generations to purchase one of these precious items. He was thinking about buying several.

While he could technically claim all of the Vault's contents as his own, it was easier to rule if he kept his own separate accounts. It made the Vaultkeeper happy to think on all that was stored within.

Each cloud, except the largest three, had a single residence or other building. His own cloud was the largest of them all, but there was a large park cloud where his citizens had gathered before.

It was a sunny white cloud day. Eternus walked across the golden stairway bridge, and there was the third largest cloud containing the Vault. The vault was suspended above and below the cloudline, fifty-seven stories from highest to lowest.

The top story was the highest point in the kingdom, and the highest safe place to be. The air rapidly turned inhospitable for even him above that height.

Entering on the lobby level, he was surprised to see the Vaultkeeper standing there. Eternus would have expected the man to be somewhere in the heights or bowels of the vaults.

"Honored Firstborn, how can I help you?" said the Vaultkeeper. He was one of the oldest of the immortal men of Eternus' kingdom. One who remembered when there was not yet any mortal kingdoms.

"We go to war with the Southern men who are near to succeeding in conquering all of Mortality. I have gathered an impressive collection of heroes, but my own spiritual resources are diminishing. I have need to purchase some artifacts from the vault."

The Vaultkeeper chose to appear like an old mortal man: wrinkles and all. The wrinkles were creased upon his forhead, and then he spoke again.

"The Scythe, you came for?" he asked.

Eternus shook his head, "Perhaps the greatcoat with which it arrived. But my thoughts went to the gyros. I understand you have a collection of three hundred."

"Three thousand bar each. The greatcoat is fair at twenty-five thousand."

After haggling with the Vaultkeeper for nearly an hour, he obtained 200 of the gyros, the scythe and black greatcoat, draconic essence of Earth/Fire type and another of Frost/Wind type, and a lightning-type amplifier, which was the most expensive of the items for his three mortal battle companions. It cost him 900,000 bar, which was an incredible sum, to be sure.

He would sell the scythe and greatcoat back after their use.

<<<----]---

Autumn had no clue what plans the Magistrate had, they could only plan to coordinate their own methods while they waited.

"Every time their hope rises, we strike. Every leader or coordinator needs to be stopped. Autumn, you should be on mobile response, since you can teleport on your own. The Magistrate can keep us together and move us to make the bigger strikes," Jacob was saying.

"Plus, we don't know how our dragons would interact if they were both present," she said.

Kazumi spoke less than she and Jacob, but she spoke up then, "I want to actually defeat this army, not just drive them off. The more we can split them up, and scatter them, the easier it will be to pick them off. I don't want to deal with all of these men back in the West. We need that army support, but they will still be seven hours away."

An hour after the Magistrate left, she had ordered the main army to begin marching towards the border so they could come in and accomplish some good while the South Winds forces were still in disarray, at least that was the hope.

It was an antsy four hours before the Magistrate reappeared. Autumn at first thought she was having a nightmare, as the man appeared wearing a black greatcoat, with black marks on his face, a belt with many bags and containers tied to it, and a truly massive scythe.

Was he a little taller? His voice was more deep and menacing as he spoke: "I have a few gifts."

He handed these little spongy balls to Jacob and her. "Don't do it yet, but you will find the dragons more fully-embodied and fearsome when you do cause these to burst."

"As for you, lightning rod," the Magistrate spoke and tossed a powdery substance in Kazumi's face. She sneezed. "A good hour of exceeding the bounds in your heavenly lightning. Your bolts will be beyond intensity, and your thunder as well."

"What's the plan?" Jacob said.

"I will go first. You will appear a few hundred feet behind the Command detachment. If you wish to follow along with me, I recommend rushing in so you are close by. Empress, you may find your swift movement allows you to respond in any necessary way to their own responses.

The Command detachment is marching only a hundred or so yards behind the main advancing front. Once we thoroughly destroy command, it will be important to strike fear throughout the rest of the line.

Remember, it's a delay timed teleport. You will appear in fifteen seconds.. Starting -- now!"

Autumn watched as the Magistrate reached for his belt as he teleported. And she drew out her Dao blade, and prepared herself for a gigantic battle.

"One West Winds, Two West Winds, Three West Winds ---" counted Kazumi. Tracking seconds.

When they appeared, they saw the Magistrate standing amid the enemy commander and his guards. All of them were dead.

Autumn looked and saw these golden flying objects darting forward towards the closest South Winds survivors.

What was left of the command detachment was a few people running madly, screaming.

Some of the front line soldiers were turning to look, but it felt like everything was happening very slowly, as Jacob rushed up to join the Magistrate, and Kazumi stood back, causing tremendous writhing lightning to form around her. It was like a serpent of lightning, and when it was launched towards the enemy, four consecutive thunderclaps also joined it.

The golden objects pierced straight through their targets, and many soldiers at the back of the advancing line immediately slumped over or started bleeding horribly.

Autumn waited and watched for her opportunity.

One of the South Winds front line unit leaders, was some distance to the east. His unit was unaffected by the gold objects, but the thunder and lightning did have an effect.

"Get UP! Rise up! They're here, it's time to fight!" shouted the man.

Autumn squeezed the spongy ball the magistrate gave to her, and looking away from the center of the line where the others were destroying lives and causing chaos, she teleported once and then twice to approach him.

The man in fine-crafted armor must have been someone of significance. And as he started to encourage his people again, Autumn cut him down.

He tried to stand up, despite his wounds, but she stomped on his sword hand and cut downward. Against a superior foe, and reliant on fear as they were, she needed to be the same Death manifestation as the other were.

But the man's unit was ready, and her strike took a neighboring soldier by surprise, and the sudden appearance of a weighty, life-like dragon with frosty scales and a howling gale breath took them all by surprise.

Autumn was surprised too.

The frost dragon batted at soldiers with it's wings, breathed horrible cold North Winds in front, and bit and chewed up in between it's frost breath.

As long as the dragon remained there, she didn't want to teleport away, but she faced the enemy line beginning to turn towards it's center.

First the dead leader's unit fought her and the dragon, and then the next unit over. The South Winds army had planned for a large unit war, however, and their line stretched for several miles.

Continuously she fought the South Wind soldiers together with her dragon. It was insane that the enemy continued to rush towards her after so many had died. Finally, the Frost dragon become shadowy like she had seen it before, and with one last effort, it shook its head back and forth breathing water that froze on contact with skin. A mound of ice and snow appeared as the dragon vanished and those soldiers nearby bleached by the extreme cold.

Autumn felt like there was a cool breeze but was otherwise unaffected. At last, the morale of the enemy in the East was shaking and they ran from her.

The sign of where her allies were was the crackling thunderclouds. She ran inward, only teleporting once, cutting down those few survivors who were closer to the middle of the army line than she was.

Kazumi and the Magistrate were fighting special forces, likely those who hadn't joined Jacob.

Jacob was struggling to hold off a personal adversary. She teleported next to him.

The army nearby had fled, but the west flank would undoubtedly gather them up again.

"I didn't expect your Dragon craft to be so menacing, but you faced three of us, and you will pay for their deaths," said the man opposing Jacob.

The fierce dance of sword play was exquisite, but when she joined her sword to the battle, their foe said, "What can you do, whelp?"

Autumn started by deflecting the strikes of one she realized was a true sword expert. He was exhausted, and weary, but probably closer in power to Jacob than herself.

Deflecting the strike of his hooked blade, she found her Dao blade was snatched away by the hook. The man swished the blade to deposit hers on the ground, and he followed up by striking at her swung at her, but she teleported behind him, using her sword return ability to force him to respond.. When he turned to strike her, he overreacted and she teleported again behind him, scoring a brutal gouging strike.

She took a large step back, as the fierce strike of an enraged fourth step wasn't safe to encounter.

Jacob had left to help Kazumi and the Magistrate, who seemed to the facing the rest of the special forces combined.

He still didn't know about her Blade teleport or Emperor's blood, but she didn't want to summon the dragon again because she wasn't sure if she had the essence for it, and if she did, she wanted to save the dragon for emergencies.

It was a close fight, but the tremendous thunderclaps in the distance seemed to unsettle her opponent. She had barely weaved out of the way of the hook blade twice, and lost her Dao blade once more before she figured out how to properly defend against it.

Looking once more at the Thunder echoing and lightning swirling overhead, her foe decided to run. "I won't forget your treachery Jacob!"

With his back to her, he was completely exposed. Swinging her Dao blade with extreme ferocity, she teleported the blade to his back, where it became a skewer.

Teleporting once more to her blade, she struck a finishing blow against who was likely the last of the South Winds Emperor blooded other than Jacob.

She ran towards the loud and fearsome sight of Kazumi and the Magistrate together annihilating the last of the enemy special forces.

Kazumi's lightning was less than it's initial ferocity, but she used her two-hand sword with great effect, using her first power, arc light, to dazzle her foe. The Magistrate acted as cleanup, sweeping the massive scythe like a fan of death. Their coordination was impressive for two who had never fought before.

"It's been weeks since I've felt exhausted like this, but I am," Kazumi said.

"Agreed," the Magistrate said.

"His pride goeth before a fall I see," Jacob said to her. "I apologize for testing you, but I knew these two needed help and I wanted to see how you withstood him."

"I took out quite a few enemies East of here," she said.

The magistrate concluded, "We've slain a thousand here beside these so-called special forces. The center is shattered. High Command and special forces dead. They will have to reorganize, and there will be quarrels between the lieutenants about who takes charge. Also, they won't have that much time before your army and my commander's forces arrive. They been exposed to a terrifying ordeal, and who knows how many still have the will to fight.

I trust you will shepherd the lives of my soldiers with utmost care, Empress," the Magistrate said.

"I will, Lord Magistrate. And Wei will come visit as you asked," Autumn said.

Autumn looked at the ground, where horrific wounds from lightning, sword and scythe were all around. Even the ground itself was scarred from Kazumi's lightning. Ears had bled from the sound of her thunder.

The Magistrate made one last teleport, bringing them before General Park.

"I wish you much success," he said, and he was gone.

The flurry of action and chaos had left them feeling hungry, thirsty and tired, but the army was still marching swiftly towards it's fateful encounter.

"I will not be able to explode with such force again for a long time. The powder the Magistrate splashed me with consumed my essence rapidly while it also amplified my strength. I can still strike with lightning blade and dazzle with arc," she told Autumn.

"I still feel strong, although I know I should be exhausted from all of the teleporting and summoning such a fully-embodied dragon," she said.

"I have used techniques that are still untested to face the three Emperor blooded of the Emperor's friend faction. I am recovering as well," Jacob said.

"You were helpful to handle their special forces leaders like that," Kazumi said. "I am still confused by you Jacob, but I appreciate the assist."

<<<----]---

Autumn had gathered General Park and the Magistrate's commander, who was a slender, tall man, silver-haired and who spoke little.

By her estimate, they were only a few miles off from the enemy army.

"We've had help from above, and now we need to resolve this on our own. Of course, we still have assistance from you commander, and from those sympathetic in West and South.

My thought would be to have Chau's raiders scout in front of us in the East and Jacob's forces towards the West. Find out how things fare. How has the South Winds army responded. Are they unified or scattered. How much desertion have they faced. Retreat before you run into any significant contact, and we will decide whether to retreat or advance. What are your thoughts, General Park, Commander?"

"We can't swallow their entire army, even with what's been done already and the experts here," General Park said. "We should swing east and around so we face their line side-on."

Vote for what's next:

[ ] Send Jacob and Chau's groups out to scout the enemy's situation and then retreat. They can decide whether their foe is a soft target, or too fierce to take on at that point.

[ ] Maneuver around the South Winds forces to face their line side-on

Chau spoke to her and General Park after her raiders returned from scouting the enemy situation.

"They've taken heavy losses, but still they are more than a match in a straight on fight. I imagine they will be able to work to recover some of the troops that fled and strengthen themselves before they decide to push forward."

"They've lost high command, but also I see the Central division is gone. Some of the best remaining commanders were likely to be there. In addition, they haven't balanced their line. The west is their strongest point, and the east-center is weaker, the east is strong but will be cut off if we can split their army in two," Jacob said.

"What will you do if we retreat, Kazumi?" Autumn asked her friend.

"I'm most concerned about my own country, as you are with yours. If you conduct a long fighting retreat, I will harass them from behind their lines, but my heart cries out to return home and find out what has happened to my people. I will fight here and now, if you are willing. At least when can strike when fear and disorientation is still at its highest."

Autumn said, "The magistrate is going to kill me. We should use a box formation: put Kazumi and some of the Magistrate's spearmen on the West side of our line, I will take the East side with some of his men, and then our regular army can strike first followed by the spearmen and hopefully push straight through at the weakest point."

"It's always risky when you are talking about these kinds of odds. We're walking right into being surrounded if we aren't careful. We have to break through and swing around to form East West lines," General Park said.

<<<----]---

Autumn was with about 50 magistrate spearmen, holding the eastern end of their salient. Another 100 were behind her protecting them from a flanking manuever from the enemy's Eastern division.

Jacob's special forces were integrated with the marching columns of the regular army just to her west. Behind each of the four sections of hundreds of regular army units was about 50 magistrate soldiers to follow up the attack. Their own effectiveness was still undetermined, but the Magistrate's own opinion about their potential loss spoke a lot.

On the far western side of their salient, Chau and Kazumi were backed up with about 100 magistrate soldiers protecting that flank.

Jacob's group was the tip of the spear, which included both special forces as and 50 magistrate soldiers. When Autumn saw him moving in front of her own line of soldiers, she asked the magistrate soldiers to start moving eastwardly to meet the western most part of the East division's front line.

They were technically under the command of the man the magistrate appointed, so she encouraged and asked with these people. Some of them might have been women but she couldn't tell with their visored helmets.

They had spears and shields, and a sheath on their backs containing a sword when group tactics were no longer prudent.

The fifty soldiers were arranged in three lines of fifteen, twenty and fifteen. Autumn stood behind the last line, but she was ready to teleport in and help where needed.

She took one last look at Jacob's force as they crashed into the surprised enemy position, and she readied herself to encounter the edge of Eastern division.

They would face the brunt of the East along with the hundred magistrate soldiers behind her. The enemy had 8 times as many soldiers, but how could they compare to the magistrate's men.

Marching in unison, they didn't fear the arrow volley because of their shields. Autumn instead, had to cut two arrows in mid-flight, but she was able to do it just in time.

As they made contact, the enemy unit flanked around the spearmen on the east side. The third line responded. The second line coordinated with the first to continue spearing South Wind soldiers.

Autumn stepped in teleporting behind a mob of soldiers. After her first kill, she distracted a few soldiers, and then a few more as she faced six of the enemy's own straight swords.

With footwork, she positioned herself and the enemy so that they could not bunch up on her, and they couldn't meet her own Dao blade as it knocked away, shattered or battered out of position each straight it met.

The frantic defense left her breathing heavily but not hurt as the third line of spearmen formed up like the corner of a square.

The superior numbers still had some advantages and the enemy tried to flow around even that corner, but Autumn took up the end spot.

Some soldiers had even flanked the westernmost point of the line, but she had enough to do in the eastern end.

The spearmen gradually drew out their swords instead as the neat line was overrun and the South Winds force was spent.

The spearmen behind her were approaching to provide support, but more units of East division soldiers were also approaching.

Autumn teleported to the arriving teams of spearmen. They barely needed a word as fifty continued to hold the rear, covering her flank, while the other fifty joined, and they together turned to meet the eastern response.

Autumn tried to stay back to watch the overall battle as two spearmen units and soon even the last flank guards were forced to join in frantic fighting against a force almost three times larger than they already faced.

She reserved her strength for where the might of almost 150 superior fighting men could not hold. Teleporting around, she helped out mostly in the flanks, and reserved the idea of summoning the dragon for desperate times.

Jacob's group arrived soon after they had dealt with that second wave.

Looking west, she saw that the regular army had cleared the center, and the enemy was regrouping in the distance there.

She couldn't see the west and Kazumi and Chau's forces, but she was most worried there. Her group had a breather as the rest of the East division forces were further off.

Jacob conferred with her briefly. "I'll take the flank now," he said and he rushed forward, working together with the rest of the eastern flank to face the East division line on line.

The Commander of the Magistrate's spearmen had told her he picked the fastest soldiers for her fifty, so they were speedy enough to rejoin the center and aid the regulars as they met the reforming Mideast division foes.

Some of the regulars had actually advanced forward and were south of her so they were able to strike the enemy from two directions.

Further west, the regular army had an advantage in numbers, but still faced a lot of loses. Lacking the cohesion of the spearmen, they had to fight number on number.

Across the center of the battle line, however, they were successfully defeating anyone who stood in their way. Autumn found time to observe what she could of the nearby unit battles, as they decided what to do next.

The Commander's unit formed up next to her and she was able to meet with him briefly.

"General Park is leading the western forces. I'll lead the east. Join the new line facing East, and we will try to rout every man east of us until we can turn and aid Park."

Autumn led her spearman to take the southernmost part of the new east facing line, but along the way, there was one stray group of East division troops they had to defeat. To their east was regular army and spearman forces extending the line to some considerable distance already.

The Commander's unit supported her unit's attack from the west. Autumn found herself in a command position rather than getting directly involved in most of the fights. After her heavy involvement in the first of the fighting she found it easier to let the spearmen coordinate, and in situations where they seemed surrounded and troubled, they were actually fine.

She stuck to coordinating with the Commander, and cutting down individual enemies that were trying to push past their line into the other allied back areas.

With the Commanders assistance, their spearmen easily defeated the out of position West division unit.

Her unit and the commander's forces were now behind the new East line, and they approached the fight. Here there was less resistance than expected, as the South wind's East division began to scatter and flee. Some of what they thought was Mideast division forces must been East forces out of position.

"We have to reinforce General Park and Kazumi," the Commander said.

His own armor was a unique piece, likely an off-world artificat. It looked like it was made from pure silver, but surely was harder than iron.

The spearmen rushed west, especially Autumn's unit which the commander swore was filled with the fleetest of immortal soldiers. Autumn saw first that West line was moving east to meet them.

General Park spoke up: "They've paused to form up again, we didn't have the strength to press them, so both sides are regrouping. We can't let them totally regroup."

"Kazumi's recovering her strength, she might be our only hope to truly win the day," he said.

The commander joined them just a few minutes later. "My own men can press the charge, along with the raiders, and I recommend the Heavenly one detach from her unit and join us so we can make a powerful strike a second time. The Empress can detach as well. I will coordinate with our junior leaders."

"Honestly, they fought well without my input, but at least I still am rested for a hard fight," she said. "Once Jacob catches up, have him join us."

"Indeed" said the commander.

"This enemy line is much more prepared and they have much reserves. There will be no gap in their line this time," Park said.

Autumn met Kazumi as they rushed West, mixed in the bulk of the Commander's spearmen.

The spearmen around her and Kazumi acted like they could take on an entire enemy unit on their own. Maybe Kazumi could.

Staring down four hundred South Winds soldiers that had designs destroying them and the neighboring soldiers on both sides, that was unnerving. Autumn felt the strangeness of being next to an incredible heavenly hero like Kazumi.

She had to do her best, if she was to look at Kazumi the same way ever again.

Tremendous lightning once more coiled from Kazumi, and it actually affected the air causing a strange breeze to blow past her. She was inspired as men with straight swords rushed towards her. Suddenly a new type of Dragon rushed from her sword, rising into the sky.

The late afternoon sun scattered upon the fluttering wings of the Wind dragon, it's very being as penetrated by the wind as could be. It was as affected by the Wind as a willow tree, but it also affected the wind.

The dragon soared high in the sky, chimerical and translucent before it dove down into the middle of a horrible thunderstorm.

If the soldiers on the ground didn't face enough, they had to deal with the tremendous gale of wind as the dragon swooped, roaring and taking another pass.

Men lost their blades, and some without good boots found themselves carried away. Those who survived lightning and thunder and wind couldn't meet the swords of an Empress and a Heavenly hero.

After her second type of dragon summoning faded away, she found herself helping Kazumi as the girl stood back and continued to spool out lightning.

Though she had no choice but to continue to teleport to move and continuously avoid the enemy, she knew she was drained, and she didn't have the kind of recovery like Kazumi did.

"We need more, Kazumi, the North flank is collapsing!" yelled the General from some distance.

Kazumi nodded, but spoke to Autumn, "After this, we have to pull back and hope it's enough for the army to win through."

There was no way she could produce a third dragon that day, so instead, Autumn acted as Kazumi's protector as she charged up something Autumn hadn't every seen or heard before.

A black cloud descended, as menacing as a hundred-year storm. It covered the South Winds forces for three minutes during which Autumn saw nothing but fog, wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

Though the South Winds army still came on, some had fled, and some had died, and the beleaguered spearmen had a chance.

After the massive demonstration of Kazumi's, Autumn helped her get away from the line and spearmen formed up in their place.

Jacob was almost to the battle after all this time.

Autumn could see there was a momentary pause as the South army weighed it's options.
The Magistrate's mighty 500 was impressive, but they had gone through many battles while heavily outnumbered, The losses would mount for the magistrate, if the enemy didn't turn away now, but the overall course of battle had changed, now the North Winds side had reinforcements: the special forces and spearmen that had worked with Jacob were just behind him, and he was fresh-faced and ready to fight as well.

Of course, if he had an earth / earthquake dragon, and a smoke dragon, there would be fire, and the roaring flames of his dragon's fire breath caused the center of the West divisions to run, though many were dead.

The North and South part of their line still fought and reaped some more damage to the spearmen.

There were still ordinary men and women fighting in the battle, although they had played their biggest role at the beginning of the battle.

After fighting for only a moment longer, the rest of the South Winds forces fled back West.

They would have a big job hunting down those who had fled, and Kazumi would have an even bigger job as many of them probably were headed back to the West Winds.


<<<----]---

"Of 500 I've given her, 340 of them are dead or badly wounded. Just 160 ready to resume their stations here," said the Eternus said to Rieff, angry at the price he had paid.

"Certainly they won't forget about you sir. Everything they've done has your name stamped on it," said his good servant Rieff.

"There's still plenty for them to do. Having lost Kazumi's heavensent power, now the Empress will have to spend some time honing her own fighting ability."

He looked at the map he'd built of the ongoing situation. Remnants of the Samsarran army were still in the North Winds, while the Anattanists held the West Winds. The South Winds remained the most stable and healthy of the three despite it's divisions. Would his master activate the Eastern kingdom seed early, or would he wait for this conflict to settle down. Kazumi was leaving the North with only a dozen girls and her own strength, which was abundant. She would need to gather a lot more soldiers to attempt to retake her own country.

Eternus considered the matter irrelevant to him. This whole intervening in mortal affairs was a costly business. His power and access to master's calculation power was spent for the time being. Money could only buy him so much.

He had avoided master making a second trip to the Heavenly healer. They did not need a third heavenly cultivator shaking things up.

While there were many ways in which Ho Junko surpassed Kazumi, the latter girl had a much stronger control over lightning itself. Ho Junko was a master of 5th step judo, while Kazumi was flirting with danger.

Eternus had no control over the ejection protocols, and if too much power was concentrated in too small an area, Kazumi might find herself suddenly facing a surprise entry into True cultivation.

<<<----]---

"I'm so glad you don't have to go with me, this time," Kazumi was telling Wei.

Autumn sat in the nearby room, but couldn't help but listen as the two friends spoke before Kazumi head for the West.

At first Kazumi wanted to leave immediately, but she didn't want to go without telling Wei goodbye.

She couldn't hear Wei's end of the conversation.

"Don't. I wanted you to be able to grow up … a bit more normally. Not being a soldier from 10 to 22. It's going to be dangerous, Wei. I don't know if it'll work out or not, but I have to try to bring back the West Winds I knew, the parts I loved, the people, all of them."




With the Magistrate, his soldiers and Kazumi gone, your 'Empire' has only 1500 soldiers, as well as your special forces and the few survivors.

Another impact hit hard for the reeling North Winds: Snow Chau's raiders were heaviest hit on the Western battle line, and she was killed in the battle. Only five of the 80 person raider group survived the battle.

There's a lot of priorities to cover, more than you can handle. Choose one to focus on and get completed first.

[ ] Working with farmers to bring food into the Capital City and hard-pressed areas. Some vegetables and berries are coming into season (early summer)

[ ] Authorize and Encourage local militias to fill the gap until your own army can protect the nation.

[ ] Establishing and legitimizing the Elected half of Diarchy. Ending the Quartet, beginning the Legislature.

[ ] Getting access to the Family bank funds.