Chapter 17-453: The Russian Shroudzone (2/2)

-There’s more to it than just that, of course...- I /went on, and she just sighed again.

-Isn’t there always? Do I want to hear the bad news?-

-Bad news before bad things is actually really good news. It saves a lot of lives.- I /waited for her to grimly acknowledge that before going on, -That’s a full Dead March with over a hundred million undead bound to it. It is totally capable of blanketing negative energy through the March, and cancelling out all ambient magic and higher chi. Combine that with a horrific amount of necrotech reserves, and what do you think you have?-

She swallowed as she watched a replay of the Greyfields coming down from my memory, and how much it had nerfed magic-heavy attacking forces. -It’s a slaughter waiting to happen...-

-And your response to them is?-

Her golden eyes sharpened instantly. -We should find the hidden reserves and destroy them!-

-It’s got actual Construct anti-aircraft guns designed solely to keep you from deep scouting its territory. I can’t imagine why it would invest in so many thousands of the things all around itself.-

It was true. No matter what direction the aerial scouts came from, they ran into a literal wall of ack-ack fire. None had ever successfully returned from a scouting trip to the inner areas of the Shroud during the day.

She took a deep breath. -So there was a reason you saved all those extra nukes.-

-It’s a very disciplined, dominating micromanager. That’s apparent just by the design of its walls, the deployment patterns, patrols, and this long-term planning. It will be storing those reserves in centralized areas, because that way they are easy to deploy to expected combat zones. While it could certainly manage decentralized storage, all that would do is make them slower and farther away from any fighting which is going to come up.-

-How do you propose to locate them, then?- Flame had to /ask. -Flying in, even invisible, doesn’t work! We’ve tried!-

-And naturally no mortal would be insane enough to attempt a ground incursion into a Shroudzone.-

Flame found herself grinning hard. -You actually know people who would do that?- She could barely believe it.

-The Brothers of the Bone and the Scythe walk among the dead all the time. They aren’t afraid of Shroudzones at all.-

She blinked, processing that, and not having much experience with the Void Brothers. -But... won’t they seem out of place? Not... fitting in?-

-Bonescythes fit in among the dead. Even if they aren’t part of the great pattern, individual unintelligent undead will just think they are where they are supposed to be. It would take a suspicious Congregant, something told to look for them, to actually recognize that they are out of place... and they have to see them first, and be looking.

-More to the point, they are the subtle hand. If we do something more, erm, pointed, like, oh, send a Sama Rantha in there with her own brand of violent stealth, we will have a fine distraction.-

Morningflame had seen Sama Rantha fighting, and knew how fast she could move. Moreover, she didn’t rely on magic, and great numbers simply meant great rampaging.

“She’ll probably enjoy the chance to stretch her legs,” she mused, despite herself.

-She’s a Cleave Train, rolling down the track.

Rolling, rolling, never looking back.

Oiled with blood across the field of war,

Spreading a crimson spray of gore,

Tremble, oh ohhhh oh, Tremble, she comes...-

-Is someone looking for me?- Sama /popped in, smiling mentally. Killing intent spread through the local Markspace, and Colonel Brigette Morningflame suppressed a twitch despite herself. She had seen for herself what happened when those too-blue eyes lit up and Sama smiled widely.

There was nothing Sama liked to do better than slaughter things that needed to die in a Good Cause without worry or restraint.

-We’d like you to put down a new Train Line through the Moscow Shroudzone as a big ol’ diversion for a bunch of Bonescythes scouting out the military assets it is hiding,- I /said shamelessly. -You ready to lay some fresh red rails?-

-Oh! OH. Ohhhhhhh...- Sama’s mental eyes glazed over. -Can Mah Fuzzy come? We can compete for who makes the longest track.-

-Well, it’s better than a race to completion, so, sure.-

-YES!!! FUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZYYYYYY!...- Sama’s /voice trailed off in the Markspace, and Flame just shook her head.