8.6 Pressure

"It's not that simple..." I rationalized, ignoring the way my two... charges looked at me with hopeful doubt. "This could be a tactical retreat, one meant to get us to lower our guard."

It held logical sense, especially since we were slaughtering them by the dozens with every salvo. Our front hadn't broken in the face of enemy halberds, and every body thrown at us in vain meant one less body to stop us once we broke their blockade. For all intents and purposes, it was a sound strategy that I'd probably do if I was playing this like a strategy game.

But if that was the case, why did it look like they had no plans on ever re-engaging our wall?

"But I don't think they're planning on fighting us anymore, Brother," Lise voiced out the exact same thought that I was thinking. "They looked very scared."

"I agree, Master," Emeraud chimed in with her own two cents on the matter. "They seemed to be staying behind the blockade. I couldn't see their faces much, but I'm pretty sure they're all cowering behind their halberds!"

"Yeah..."

Even as I replied, I just couldn't shake off the doubt in my head. There was really something that I was missing here. This was a siege. We're hunkered down, ready to fight to the last man. Hell, I was just about to tell Lise to follow me into the front lines and try to trim out some of the Dezimals still out of range of our rifles.

"What will be our next move, young Rouge?"

Huh?

Raising my head up, I faced Baccus's waiting expression as he relayed our fellow Nenner's general state of readiness. "The people are getting restless," he advised. "We have defended our position, but we're still blockaded by the Dezimals. They're all waiting for your next plan. As am I."

I absently nodded as I once more faced the blockade that was situated quite a ways away from the Central Hub's only passageway. The line of Dezimals beyond our reach stood resolute at the end of the proverbial hallway of blazing death, their halberds at the ready as they parted slightly to let their retreating allies through. We could probably move up and entrench ourselves in increments all caterpillar-like. It would be a slog, what with the vats of boiling metal radiating with blistering heat all around us as we did so, but it was probably the only step that I could-

"We should charge at them!"

What?

"Yeah!"

My eyes widened at the cries that were starting to spread among the rank and file. Why would they want to charge such a heavily defended position?! Did they not see what we did to the enemy when it was us who were entrenched deep into our defenses? That would simply be a slaughter!

"Guys!" I shouted from atop the platform, trying to grab everyone's attention. "For the love of all that is good, DO NOT CHARGE THE ENEMY!"

"But why?!" a gung-ho shieldman from the front asked me as if I just grew a second head. "We have them in the retreat! Now's the time to strike!"

"No, we do not!" I rebutted, pointing at the distant blockade barring our path. "They have a defensive position that's probably harder to pierce than ours! We need to think through this!"

Now was not the time to squabble like this! Why was being a leader so hard?!

"I agree with young Rouge," Baccus stepped forward, his rifle resting at his side as he addressed the crowd. "He has seen us through this battle admirably so far. Let's wait for his decision before continuing."

I fought the urge to stare at the old man in surprise as I held my gaze toward the group of Nenners below me. They were visibly chomping at the bit for some payback. After years, possibly even decades of abuse all coming to a head for the first time in their lives, they- rather, we, held the upper hand. It would be so satisfying to break the skulls of the same Dezimals that treated you like dirt for your whole life, especially if freedom was the next step afterward. Even I had to admit that I'd like to stomp on some of these guards for not giving us enough rations and-

Wait... Shvt!

"Guys!" I yelled with as much as my throat could manage. "Get ready! We're moving forward!"

"Yeah!"

A battle cry echoed through my chest as the Nenners fell into their previous line, having gotten the idea to stay the course probably after realizing the fact that it worked. I refused to let that go to my head just yet though. I still had to get us out of here.

"Shieldmen! Never break formation!" I instructed. "Move forward!"

Like a well-oiled machine, our wall of muscle and metal cautiously went forward, crossing the line of soot that I previously told them not to cross as they held their guard. Behind them, the unarmed braced up against each other, ready for any form of resistance that might suddenly require them to clench and dig deep.

"What about us?" one of the riflemen asked.

"We're leaving the platform, Rouge?" Bernstein quipped, a rifle hoisted on his shoulder as he turned to Emeraud. "What's your so-called master thinking now, huh?"

"Shut up, Bernstein."

"Hey, just saying-"

"Yes, we're leaving the platform, Bernstein," I interjected before their argument could even start. "Thought if you can dismantle this thing in record time, I wouldn't mind it."

"Dismantle this thing? What do you take us for?" the blonde prick huffed with pride and annoyance. "We'll be done in ten minutes flat, 'Master'~"

I sighed as I then beckoned for Lise to follow me back down onto the ground. We still had to be ready as the only actual combatants in this ragtag resistance group. It might just be the two of us, but-

"Young Rouge."

"Yes?" I paused in my step as I addressed Baccus. "What's wrong?"

"What is your plan?"

I fully turned to face the elder. It wasn't something too major, but he had to know the precarious position that we found ourselves in. "How much food do we have left?"

It was easy to realize in retrospect. The blockade wasn't meant for them to have some kind of forward operating base to retreat to. It was meant to keep us trapped here. To starve us out until we had no other choice than surrender.

"We have enough to last us a few days, young Rouge," the old man answered as if he already knew what I was thinking about. "I take it you finally realized our current predicament?"

"Yeah..."

It was a basic sieging tactic. As far as I knew, if you had a heavily-fortified enemy surrounded, you could easily just wait it out and win the war through attrition. Eventually, the besieged will run out of food and supplies and will be forced to act on your terms, thus guaranteeing that you'll win the exchange if they didn't outright surrender out of hunger.

"We have to break that blockade," I sighed before turning my back on the elder in favor of directing our forces more intimately. "I know, Baccus, I know..."

"As expected of you, young Rouge..."

I shook my head as I let Lise walk in front of me as we followed our inching front line. I thought the hardest part was already done after we broke their attack. Now, we had to punch a hole through the Dezimals' defenses.

Because if not, we'd all tear each other apart as we starved to death.

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