"Battles are more than just the big picture."
"More than just the strategies of the general or the glory that comes with winning a war.
"For even the smallest of acts of valour can change its course."
"Potentially changing the course of a nation."
"For something as small as a messenger getting through or a general fighting for one more hour even when his muscles cry out for him to surrender, believing until the end that reinforcements were coming."
"Or even a heroic soldier sacrificing himself to warn his endangered comrades of terrible danger."
"A good general never forgets about such things."
"And he does his all to ensure that his men are inspired to commit these deeds, which are forgotten by the ebbing flow of time."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
….
Stator marched towards the army camp's southern gate, a rough wooden construction with a small gatehouse at the top for soldiers to patrol and protect themselves from the rain. Behind him, thousands of players loomed in the darkness, ready to strike at a moment's notice as the streamer looked at the men guarding the gate only to frown.
There were a lot more there than he expected as around 50 men guarded these gates, which in a non-wartime situation was far more than novel, showing the vigilance that The Black Death had when it came to unexpected situations and that he got to his exalted position through merit and nothing else even if it helped that he had control over one of the goblin tribes giving him a status that helped to keep all his men under control even those not associated with his tribe. These soldiers were also not the recruits or normal soldiers that would usually be here wearing their poorly crafted armour and weapons but elites wearing a complete set of black iron armour that, unlike the armour for the normal goblins that primarily protects the chest and legs, these soldiers were much better protected wearing suits of armour that protected the whole body.
While this armour may not be as good as the plate the knights and veteran soldiers the human kingdoms use, their armaments were far superior to that of his players, who all received Basic Soldier Starting Kits from the system that, like all starting kits in Dynasties Online once opened will tell you where to get the rewards from for these soldiers it was from the armoury and quartermaster of the army who gave them their money in the form of army pay.
These were most likely the trusted veterans under the goblin army commanders, not a force that could be easily beaten. Each of these soldiers could take down 5-10 of the untrained and poorly equipped players, no matter how many they outnumbered them. That was the huge gap between the elite NPC soldiers and the players who had likely only recently picked up medieval weaponry for the first time.
Even if there were a few professional soldiers within his players, they would mostly be skilled in unarmed combat or with knives compared to the crude swords, axes, maces and spears they were typically given.
The only difference is that players would receive the weapon they were most skilled with from the starter kits to ensure they could quickly pick up active skills and deal more damage when they land a hit.
That is, if they could land a hit in the first place without being hurt themselves in the process.
Luckily, Stator, who had to train and spar daily as part of his duties as a soldier, quickly found that active skills could be learned easily as long as you trained enough and told the other players with you. This allowed them to at least have a small chance against these veterans. However, how well they could do against these expert-level elites remains to be seen, as these men before him were as good as any of the elites that other nations and even marital noble houses could field.
Apart from the need to have a few days to gather his forces, Stator also used this time to have the players who could get as many active skills as they could, hoping that they would help them in some ways, conveniently forgetting that players were not the only ones who had these skills and unlike the young students as Leon's dojo who may be caught off guard by skills like these the elites that Stator would have to fight were completely different.
These were men who had been on the battlefield for years, having seen all kinds of differing fighting techniques, yet despite this, they had survived. So, pulling a surprise victory against them using these skills, like Railius did while awakening his abilities in Leon's dojos tournament, was something that would not happen.
The only advantage that Stator and his fellow players had was that these elites did not see them as enemies. If they could get close enough and kill them before too many of them could draw their weapons, they might be able to keep the gates open for the hundreds of thousands of players eagerly waiting outside to storm in and fend off the nearby NPC goblin soldiers, who would attack them the moment they saw what they were planning.
As Stator approached, the captain went down from the gatehouse to meet him with a friendly smile on his face as he went to greet a perceived threat and, despite repeated warnings from his general to watch out for the movements of the travellers outside, said nothing about being on guard from those within their own ranks not realising the danger and killing intent that emanated from the player before him.
"Hail friend, where might you b- Ugh!"
Stator quickly used a skill to draw his sword in an instant and cut the loyal captain's throat open, managing to find one of the few weak spots within his armour as the captain chocked on the blood that streamed out from his throat, his eyes wide in surprise as his body hit the ground with a thud as the captain tried in vain to warn his fellow comrades of the imminent danger and call for help from nearby allies. He only saw many other ambushes taking place, killing many of the soldiers who may have been able to help, their death throes drowned out by the rain that began to beat down on the army camp, striking the treetops and fauna that covered the army camp like a canopy.
His eyes screamed at Stator to tell him why he would take such actions that would put the entire kingdom at risk but was ignored by the player, who was busy with other matters and mopping up the last resistance around the gate as the lifeforce left the goblin captains body and its twitching stopped.
The captain was not the only one to go down. Many of the other goblin players who approached other elite soldiers in a friendly matter also suddenly turned, some using knives to slit some of the NPC's throats while others just used their maces to smash the green-skinned soldiers, either killing them outright or disorientating them enough, to deal the final death blow using the first to send their helmets that protected their heads flying before bringing their crude weapon once more down and crushing the skulls of their enemies.
Even all around the gatehouse, the NPC soldiers who were sitting around campfires or napping in their beds were quickly ambushed and killed by other players who were waiting in ambush, descending that part of the camp into chaos.
A few of the NPC soldiers managed to dodge the first unexpected attack. Their instincts took over to momentarily save their lives as they drew their weapons to defend themselves, cutting down players left and right with their superior skill, forcing Stator, even with his well-planned ambush, to take casualties, hoping their other brothers in arms who were still alive would be able to kill these dastardly traitors.
20 of the elite soldiers survived the player's ambush, quickly coming together. Their leader, the vice-captain of the group, ever a suspicious man, feeling like things were not adding up around camp and even suspected his own comrades in arms, allowing him to react to his ambushes and quickly kill them, drawing his two swords to cut their stomachs as the players unfamiliar with such pain screamed helping to alert the other loyal NPC soldiers that something was wrong.
As Stator picked up a torch and waved it from the camp gates, a signal for the players outside to charge as figures began to stream out from the dark recesses of the shadowy forest, charging towards the camp with a roar.
If the battle at the gatehouse had not gotten the attention of the entire army camp, this roar would have been as a goblin soldier loyal to his kingdom would have searched for his general and informed them of the attack so they could take measures against this rebellious peasant mob.
"Kill them all!"
Stator roared, keeping himself from the fighting. He did not want to die, as it would have led to the eradication of his Dynasty and everyone else who lost their dynasties or willingly gave them up; he would have to wait two months before creating a new character.
This is to prevent players from continually creating new Dynasties while also making them treasure each and every family member, as having even one will allow the dynasty to survive and potentially come back in the future. Essentially, once you lose your dynasty, it is game over, and you would have to start again from scratch, something that is not easy as the game goes on for longer as the established player guilds, alliances, and real-life business interests do everything in their power to gain influence in the game as by that time the built-up strength and the power of these top players would be hard to shake.
Businesses were likely to hire players to play the game professionally using real-world benefits and contracts to secure their loyalty, continually give these players positions of power, and create a stable power base that would be hard to shake.
After all, it was usually internal power struggles between nobles, princes, or tyranny that destroyed medieval countries, weakening their power and allowing an ambitious rebel or foreign power to conquer them.
This, or the death of talented individuals, which destabilises a nation or leaves a hole in a nation's military strength, such as the execution of a loyal general who helped to protect the border.
However, because of the Dynasty Inheritance System, the same talented person can be king or a general, again stopping the death of an influential king from affecting the nation too much as the next one will be just as good as the last, helping to break one of the biggest problems with monarchic government types which is that there was no guarantee that a kings son will be as good at ruling as the father.
And if, in addition to this, internal conflict from succession crisis' can be kept to a minimum, then it will be almost impossible for the nation to fall as long as it is run well, meaning that newer dynasties will be at a considerable disadvantage having to face this almost unshakeable power while making the consequences of dynasty eradication dire to the point that many players in the future being willing to do nearly anything to prevent it from happening.
The biggest threat to these companies will then come from within their ranks in real life, as no organisation has ever managed to prevent itself from internal strife. The conflict within the companies may then be transferred into the game as executives and shareholders fight over the company's in-game assets.
This is because of the ever-present unfairness within society, the only difference being that talented players from commoner backgrounds who can build a strong foundation through the past Dynasty History System or in the early game before these companies invest will have the opportunity to become powerhouses within the game taking important positions and even creating countries.
It was impossible to eradicate this unfairness completely, but James tried his best to give people hope by making it seem like he was making a mistake and giving the worst off in society the opportunity to join his game and raise their status and wealth.
The hope of social mobility is what James Larant promises, not equality of outcome.
As such, as long as you had played the game since before it started, you can only blame yourself for your incompetence or for not joining the game early enough to build up a powerful enough foundation to make the most of and compete with the businesses that would be forced by circumstance to the event.
It is just lucky that most of the business world is still unaware of the great waves Dynasties Online would make. Otherwise, they would not have left James Larant unmolested, not that they could get through the businessman's tight security that had been put in place the moment his parents died.
This external reality and the profound effects that the game would have on reality was the furthest thing from Stator's mind, or he heard something that made his heart turn cold as an alarm bell began ringing.
"Enemy attack!"
"We have traitors amongst us!"
"Protect the general and the camp."
The goblin vice captain roared from a watchtower. His armour was bloodied as more of the crimson liquid dripped from his sword, staining the tower's floor blood red. Below him, five elite goblin soldiers remained panting hard as they swung their swords again and again, killing player after player and securing the watchtower for the vice-captain, who ran up its stairs.
These men knew their duty.
If they could not defend the gatehouse, they at least had to warn their comrades of the danger and their beloved general, who did his best to keep them alive through the crucible of war.
They may die, blood pouring from a thousand different wounds as they stubbornly fight to their last breath.
However, their sacrifice would lay a foundation that would crush this rebellion once and for all.
"Elsia, Klax, forgive me. I cannot keep my promise and return to you anymore."
"But the duty to my country and to keep you safe is more important."
The vice-captain muttered to himself, thinking in this small moment of peace to think of the family that he would leave behind unafraid of death, for he knew his comrades and the general would look after them even after his inevitable demise, knowing that it would not be long before he was sent to the underworld as he looked at the last two remaining men he led.
He could see one block strike from a sword with his shield, smacking the shield's iron rim into his assailant's face while disarming another with a flourish of his blade, turning it to cut the man down while kicking another attacking player whose lifeless body fell to the bloodstained forest floor. Everyone else in their 50-man elite team had died, but he could still see the two fighting to the end, the word surrender seeming to be a foreign concept to the loyal soldiers.
"Vice Captain, serving the kingdom with you has been an honour! Now we return to the embrace of Trulk, our beloved creator!"
"Never surrender! Fight to death!"
One of the two soldiers shouted, cutting down another player as a spear pierced through his armour from the back. The elite soldier let out a groan of pain and roared with defiance, dodging the second sloppy thrust and slitting the player's throat, spitting blood as he knelt on the ground, exhausted sweat pouring down his forehead, surrounded by the bodies of his opponents his helmet had long been lost and part of his ear cut off.
Trulk was the goblin god, a man of cunning whose legendary story inspires goblins everywhere.
To reach this place had taken many casualties, but seeing how many enemies there were around the gate and knowing that holding it was a lost cause that would only lead to their meaningless deaths, the veteran vice-captain immediately fought his way out of Stator's ambush that had become an encirclement his two swords flashing one way then the other at least 20 players already had died to his blades alone as he cut through the inexperienced players like a knife through butter while the players looked on the steadfast yellow skinned goblin with fear not wanting to be the next to fall to the war veterans blade that had killed so many of them. He fought towards a watchtower where a bell would warn the whole camp of the attack as he watched shadowy figures begin to stream into the torchlit camp.
It did not help the players that many of them had lowered their sensitiveness for this battle, not wanting to feel too much pain from their wounds. This lowered their reaction times and already abysmal combat strength.
Despite fighting valiantly, the last two soldiers eventually succumbed to the player's vast numbers, defending from attacks from all sides for 5 minutes before dying at the foot of the tower, fulfilling their duty till their last breath. The players then charged up the tower only to be killed one by one, not being able to bring their numbers to bear against the skilled vice-captain who protected the steps up to the vital watchtower, backing away after seeing 20 more of their number fall to the vice captains wickedly sharp steel swords.
"Archers, kill that man!"
Stator roared in rage, saying that taking this gatehouse had already cost them a lot of time. It was worse now that the rest of the camp would be on guard against their ambush, being unable to keep it a secret. Ordering some players who chose to be archers to fire on the goblin as arrows shot out at the watchtower. The heroic vice-captain started swinging his blood-stained sword, cutting them down one after the other but was soon overwhelmed, dying full of arrows that peppered his body relentlessly, a smile on his face, his blood-red sword still clutched tightly in his hand.
It took 10 arrows to finally felled the loyal goblin, a smile on his face as he died coughing out mouthfuls of blood.
He smiled because he had fulfilled his duty and completed his mission.
As the Black Death, a man feared by the surrounding countries could now make preparations against the rebels.
Yet, it was just another heroic soldier's vital contribution that would not be included in the history books but made enough impact to change the course of an entire battle.