15 Spying – 2

(Andrei's POV)

These documents are giving me a headache already. I sigh as I rub my aching eyes, the flame of the candle waning as all that is left of it is a short stump. Since last week, I have been receiving a lot of documents and orders from the kingdom in order to get everything ready for the brats of the academy to arrive.

Since those fucking animals escaped I didn't have a wink of sleep. I'm definitely going to kill as much of them as I can get my hands on. I'll need to that without being noticed though, since His Majesty wants most of the beastman alive. I guess "accidental deaths" should do the trick.

In about three to four weeks we will be receiving the children of the academy as a front for our attack on the Beastman city. Unfortunately, even though it's a façade, we still need to take it seriously. This IS an event that the kingdom makes annually, to genuinely train our young mages and warriors, we still need to go through the appropriate logistics.

Camping, food, security and classes. This year is a hard one to plan, however, since the excuse we did to make the search on the forest possible without creating tense relationships with the surrounding countries is worth it. Politics is a pain in the ass, however, if the surrounding countries have a legitimate excuse to shift the political balance it will be troublesome.

Let me see… the clean up of the ruins is going well, the remnants of the monster stampede are almost completely wiped out. Since the town was destroyed, the rabid monsters dispersed in the surrounding forest, therefore there is a lot more of them around here. We will have to do something about it. I just hope our merchandise didn't just got eaten by them.

I lean back on my chair, feeling my neck hurting. It's been a while since I had any sleep, I should hit the bed. There's no officers here to bother me about it after all.

(Vladmir's POV)

- These are the documents that I requested? – I ask to the male ghost, Argos. He nods.

- Yes sir, I have infiltrated into their main camp as requested and have taken pictures of their documents.

I nod at him, taking the papers from his hand.

- Good job Argos, you may return to your usual duties. – He nods, and goes out of my personal room. I look back at the screen of my personal pc, with Total War Warhammer 2 paused mid battle. – Guess I'll have to wait to play today.

I take a better look at the documents. Very detailed, the amount of soldiers, their progress into cleaning the ruins of monsters as well repairing the walls. Also the information on the coming academy apprentice mages for training. As I read the documents, Lexa's voice warns me.

- Sir, Doctor Lyssa requests to enter your quarters.

- Permission granted. – I say, still reading the papers. The soft sound of the doors opening is soon followed by the footsteps of Lyssa's hard sole footwear against the metal floor.

- Sir.

- What is it doctor?

- I have some results of testing with the crystals for you to look over sir. I believe we have found some practical use for them, but everything is too basic for now. Our technology isn't advanced enough to delve too deep with them.

I nod, still looking at the papers. Argos did an insanely detailed job, there's even some calculations of future troops in the ruins, as well planned routes that they will use to search for the beastman.

- Are those the reports on the troops stationed on the ruins?

- Yes. Evokes caution, for sure. We are not ready for warfare against the enemy. – I say, looking at her and takin the tablet from her hands with the information on the crystals while handing over the papers to her. As she looks at it, she frowns lightly.

- Why the caution sir? The technology here is primitive at best, even if our numbers are limited, we should be able to win any conflicts.

I nod while looking at the data.

- I agree with you on that. However, underestimating your enemy is a grave mistake. You remember what I told you about my original world, right?

- Yes sir. – She nods. – You made all of us aware of it.

- Something I did not tell you is about human ingenuity and determination. There are innumerous stories of soldiers in a bad situation that seemed impossible and managed to pull through by sheer cunning and unwillingness to die silently. There are weak points in the armor of a marine that a sword could do a lot of damage. The marines, after all, are human. Tactics are what is important. The opponent also has access to magic, of which we do not know anything about.

Our numbers are limited after all. We have a pretty good magic crystal mining operation and a good gas gathering one too, but there is a limit of how much it can supply our army, ammunition is something we have to produce, as well fuel and energy to power up everything.

However, that doesn't mean I don't field a powerful force at the moment. I have tow thousand marines, one thousand doctors, five hundred fire bats and five hundred marauders, two hundred reapers and one hundred ghosts for infantry.

As for vehicles, I can only field two hundred siege tanks, although actively I only have fifty, with no hellions. I have, however, a decent air force, with three hundred medivacs on field, one hundred ravens to be fielded, with twenty of them being active currently, two hundred Vikings on duty, same number of banshees and unfortunately no battlecruisers.

However good news is that we can research units exclusive for the campaign of StarCraft, which I'm extremely grateful to God for. Some of those troops will eventually be life savers.

- What's the plan then sir? – Lyssa takes me out of my thoughts.

- For now we will remain in incognito. According to their plans they will do the searches during the night with the help of mages. Most of their planned routes won't get near the beastman area or ours. Me and the ghosts will lead them on a wild goose chase, by either altering their minds to confuse them or making the forest seem haunted.

- Haunted? – Lyssa says, confused. – Will that work?

- Yes. – I say, smiling maliciously. – After all, I can influence their minds, and with telekinesis not being magic, their mages will, most likely, not be able to detect it. It will be also a good way to see how we perform against magic users. But for now, we patiently wait and spy.

Lyssa nods, putting the papers on my table.

- By the way, good job with the crystals.

- I don't feel too great about it. – She confesses after hearing my words, making a slightly sad face. – All that we managed to make from it is very inefficient batteries. Even with your suit, we couldn't do much. The crystals show promise, but with our currently technology…

I nod.

- No problem. We have time, for now we should concentrate on the occupation of the ruins, the beastman and our own protection. – I extend the tablet to her. – You can return to your duties doctor.

She nods, completely in professional mode. I turn back to my pc, save my game and close it, opening the coms to the SCVs.

- Attention, SCVs, prepare for duty. You will be relayed with the area for construction of the following structures: twenty Sensor Towers, thirty bunkers and protective walls, as well platforms for the construction of the bunkers. The location will be relayed to you shortly. – Then, I close the coms.

Alright, time to plan the next defenses of the base.