Chapter 346 - 339 — Before the Assault

Demon headquarters,Avarran

The door struck the wall as Kharos entered.

He crossed the command chamber and slapped his palm onto the map table hard enough to scatter several markers.

"Why am I being held back?"

The officers beside Varekh went as silent as cicadas in winter.

"My reserve force was ready to move," Kharos continued. "Then your messenger arrived with an order to remain in camp."

Varekh set down his pen and turned to the sub lord around the table.

"Leave us."

The Sub-Lord gathered the waiting reports and ushered the others out. Kharos kept his hand on the map until the door closed.

"Two belts have fallen. We have taken twelve miles in three days. Their ward engines are still being installed behind the third line." He leaned across the table. "I should be attacking it."

"The number of soldiers dying is decreasing."

Kharos stared at him.

"We are winning."

Varekh pushed the casualty returns beneath his hand.

Alliance deaths were estimated at less than half the figure recorded during the fighting at the second belt. Demon losses had declined alongside them.

"They are retreating before our columns reach them," Varekh said.

"Then let me reach them faster."

"Your advance may break their army before it commits to another sustained defense."

"That is the intention!"

Kharos’s voice carried through the closed door.

Varekh waited until the sound faded before placing a record beside the casualty returns.

The array’s intake had fallen with the fighting. Brief surges marked evacuation and abandoned wards being destroyed; afterward, the readings dropped again.

"Their mages are covering withdrawals," Varekh said. "They no longer hold the same fields through hours of bombardment. Fewer soldiers fight, fewer die, and less power reaches the anchor core."

Kharos glanced down the figures.

"The spells still provide more than the dead."

"And both sources are diminishing."

He knew what the array required. That did nothing to improve his temper.

"So you will let them rebuild the line. More soldiers, more ward engines, more positions for my formations to assault."

"They must believe they can hold it."

"I told you to stop wasting the troops. Giving that army time to recover will cost us troops we should be using when the shield opens."

Varekh’s expression hardened.

"This is an Abyssal Sovereign’s command, Kharos. Do you intend to question him?"

Kharos’s fingers tightened against the table.

For several breaths, neither moved.

"I am questioning your methods," he said, more quietly. "His command does not make every order you give correct."

"Then keep your objections to the methods. The war continues as i say."

A knock interrupted them.

Kharos turned toward the door.

"What?"

The Sub-Lord entered carrying a narrow dispatch case.

"A Veilshadow report from the Central Continent. It concerns new Alliance armaments."

Kharos looked back at Varekh.

"Bring it here."

The case contained a written account and extracts copied from transport requests.

Varekh examined the seal before breaking it.

"Which source?"

"A contact attached to the Alliance’s military freight administration. The account was checked against reports from outside the participating works."

"Read it," Kharos ordered.

The Sub-Lord unfolded the first sheet.

"Several arsenals have received sealed orders for new infantry weapons. Production involves human, dwarven, elven and goblin facilities. Inspection parties have returned from High Forge, and the works have begun requesting additional labor and material."

Kharos held out his hand.

The officer passed him the account.

"New weapons," he read. "How new?"

"The report does not include the designs."

"Then what does it include?"

"Restricted production areas. Separate ammunition orders. Transport priority requested for finished consignments. Several ordinary contracts have been delayed to release workers for this program."

Varekh studied the copied test.

"Where are the consignments going?"

"Southwestern rear depots are named in the priority requests."

Kharos dropped the sheet onto the map.

For a moment, the only sound came from the artillery beyond the tower.

"Have they departed?" Varekh asked.

"Not confirmed. The source has seen the requests, not the completed dispatch records."

"And their capabilities?"

"Unknown."

Kharos looked at the officer.

"Rifles? Siege weapons? Another ward engine?"

"The available descriptions place them with infantry armaments. Access to the finished weapons is restricted. The source cannot confirm their effects."

Varekh read the account again, concentrating on the passages concerning inspection and ammunition.

It was more than a workshop rumor. Different facilities had changed their schedules, military inspectors had completed visits, and the transport offices were preparing to carry the results.

The missing details were what those results could do.

"Who supplied the designs?" he asked.

"No reliable answer, my lord."

Kharos pushed the report toward him.

"Now you have something else to consider while their ward engines are being installed."

Varekh dismissed the Sub-Lord with instructions to remain outside.

As soon as the door closed, Kharos moved the reserve marker back onto the approach to the third belt.

"We attack before those consignments arrive."

Varekh looked at the marker without touching it.

"A production program does not tell us whether the weapons can change this front."

"It tells us they are trying."

"The Alliance is always trying."

"And we should interrupt it when we have the opportunity."

Kharos bent over the transport texts.

"They are assigning scarce transport, delaying other work and directing the first consignments toward the army in front of us. Their command expects these weapons to be useful. I would prefer to discover how useful after we have taken their depots."

Varekh drew the report closer.

He did not dismiss the warning. The weapons might prove unreliable, too costly to produce in sufficient numbers, or poorly suited to the troops receiving them or they might also work.

"What would satisfy you?" he asked.

"Release the reserve. Keep pressure on the third belt while their reinforcements are still arriving. Make their commander choose where to send his troops before he has time to equip and get familiar with them."

"And if that ends in a rout?"

"We pursue it."

Varekh lifted his gaze.

Kharos knew the objection. This time he answered it before it was spoken.

"There are other Alliance armies in Avarran. Defeating one does not end the war."

"It interrupts a source we have already established. Preparing another front to replace it takes time."

"So does replacing the formations we lose because we allowed the enemy to improve its weapons."

Varekh stood.

"The reserve remains behind the forward army. Their attacks continue, and the junction remains threatened. The intelligence will be investigated before I authorize the main breakthrough."

Kharos straightened sharply.

"Investigated for how long?"

"Until we have something more useful than sealed crates and transport requests."

"You cannot wait for our dead to provide the specifications."

The words left Varekh silent for a moment.

He glanced at the report.

"We will obtain a specimen if possible. Failing that, a reliable description of a weapon in use."

"And while your agents work?"

"The forward commanders receive a warning. Any unfamiliar weapon is reported immediately."

Kharos pulled his advance plan from beneath the casualty returns.

"The reserve stays assembled. No formations reassigned, no ammunition returned to the depots. If the situation changes, it moves without another day of preparation."

Varekh considered him, then nodded.

"Agreed."

Kharos left the reserve marker where he had placed it.

The Sub-Lord returned to receive the revised orders.

Varekh gave him the intelligence account first.

"Veilshadow is to establish the weapon types, the expected quantities and the departure dates. A captured example would be preferable. The source must distinguish what has been observed from what has merely been requested."

"Yes, my lord."

"Send the warning to Southwestern command. The forward operations continue under the existing limits."

The officer glanced at the advance plan in Kharos’s hand.

"And the reserve?"

"Ready to move," Kharos said. "You will inspect its readiness yourself."

The Sub-Lord bowed.

"If the Alliance abandons another position?" he asked.

"Occupy it," Kharos answered. "These orders do not require you to wait outside an empty trench."

Varekh offered no objection.

The officer gathered the documents and withdrew.

Kharos watched him leave, then took a copy of the spy report.

"You expect new troops to make them stand and fight," he said. "You are now giving them time to bring new weapons as well."

"The report is being acted upon."

"The advance is being stopped. Make certain both decisions appear in your records."

Varekh looked up.

Kharos folded the report and placed it inside his advance plan.

"If those weapons reach the third belt before we do, I will attach this warning to the casualty returns and you better be ready."

He turned toward the door.

"The Sovereign can decide how well his command was carried out."