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"Makes sense," Uthar agreed, running his hand through his long, shaggy hair, making me marvel that his fingers didn't get stuck in the mass of tangles, braids, and curls.
"We will double our scouts," Vandor asserted.
"We'll need more than that," Kendryx cautioned, probably remembering the soldiers' advanced weapons, which would function even without the power and even after Kendryx and I destroyed most of the arms and ammunition.
Most soldiers were heavily armed the night Kendryx and I blew up the armory, and I doubted any of them had used any of their ammunition yet. They would run out eventually, but until that happened, they would still make formidable foes.
Bullets flew faster, a longer distance, and were more accurate than arrows, giving them an advantage.
I counseled, "The warriors should stay hidden in the forest, within arrow's range, but only shoot a first volley and then retreat. Make the soldiers choose to either return to the base or risk entering the forest where our warriors will have the advantage as long as they don't make themselves a target." And then, with a sigh, cringing inwardly, I added, "Aim for their heads. The arrows won't pierce their uniforms."
I hated myself for saying this, but I didn't want any Thyres or Vandalls to die either. They were the innocent ones here. The soldiers, like me, came here, even though it was under false pretenses, prepared to fight and die.
This was a harsh world, and the people under the Terran Confederation would learn that soon enough.
Kendryx gave me an encouraging nod, understanding what it cost me to say these words, before he, Vandor, and King Uthar agreed and chose groups of the best archers to be sent into the forest with a few of Uthar's warriors, who knew the terrain the best.
"Take as many prisoners as you can," Kendryx advised, and after giving me a sideways glance, added, "but we won't send the prisoners back this time."
"What will you do with them?" I asked worriedly.
"We will collect them and send them back to Thyre on boats. Brogan will break them up and find homes in outposts and cities for them," Kendryx said while Vandor nodded.
"Until we rebuild our towns, I can't take anybody in," Uthar pointed out, and we agreed with him. It was a big step for him to even be open to the possibility of taking humans in later.
Witheverypassingday,my impatience to return to Dokkymburg and show my territory to Chrissy grew. I was a warrior, I battled, I didn't like this waiting game. My patience had been already sorely tested when we chased Fionbyr and Grobhan thru Thyre. This new game of war was not to my liking at all.
Unfortunately, we had to play the waiting game, ever so slowly depleting the Terran Confederation's base of soldiers. It was as slow as raindrops putting a dent into a rock, and I feared this campaign might take years.
As it turned out, it took months before the gates to the FOB opened again.
The night before they opened, we heard sporadic gunfire and the shouting of angry men and women inside.
Finally, it looked like Chrissy's plan of setting unrest inside the Terran Confederation's walls paid off, and I regretted not having listened to her and Rae and allowing more of our prisoners to return to their base.
The human delegation exiting the base was larger than the first, but included the same players, although all three of them were bound and the general I spoke to before bore blood-soaked bandages on his right arm and leg. He limped slightly but looked just as arrogant as he had during our first meeting.
It wasn't him that I spoke to, but a man identifying himself as Sergeant Bannister. A man who had served with Chrissy before.
"We surrender these prisoners to you and ask for your conditions for a peaceful settlement on your planet," Bannister said, looking from Vandor to me and Uthar before he addressed Chrissy. "I have to apologize to you, Colonel McGuire, I found proof that everything you said was true. The Terran Confederation has played us wrong just like you said. They came here to harvest human DNA for their gene banks and to take Thyre over as an outpost."
He turned back to Vandor, Uthar, and me. "I understand that the bloodshed we cost you can never be repaid, but I assure you that we didn't know. We hired on for an honorable mission, and these bastards deceived us." For good measure, he pushed Svelvick forward.
Uthar released a loud breath. His pain had to be immeasurable after having lost so many of his tribes, but at last this part was finally over. He would be able to not only rebuild his towns, but would be looking at a very different future on Thyre, for which, in an ironic twist of fate, he had humans to thank.
"We offer you the same conditions we offered the general months ago," Vandor said, and I tuned him out as Chrissy placed her hand on my arm. It was over. Finally.
When I looked down at her, she beamed up at me, as ready to leave the land of the Vandalls as I was.
Chrissy translated Vandor's words and terms were hashed out.
Groups of a hundred each day would leave the FOB and be taken on boats to Thyre, where Brogan and Gryck would divide them up to join our towns and outposts. They were to exit weaponless and only with minimal baggage. Once the base was emptied, we would burn it and all that remained of their technological gadgets.
Chrissy objected to this decision, pointing out that if the first human settlers had been allowed to bring their technology with them, we would have stood a much better chance against the invaders, and they might not have been able to overrun the Vandalls the way they did.
But Gryck's orders on that were irrefutable, and King Uthar, on whose lands the objects in question stood, agreed. If this kind of technology brought greed and mercilessness with it, we didn't want any part of it.
That night, we celebrated with a small feast at our camp while Svelvick, Sue Luigi, and Harald Garcia sat bound against trees, watching. I wasn't sure what would happen to them yet, but I assumed Gryck would find a place in his deepest dungeon for them.
