Adam Drake - Blackout

“Of course, Commander.”

“Good. Please assign half your men to guard the workers over there at the trees.”

“Yes, Commander!” the leader then barked orders at his unit. One row of six men broke rank and marched quickly over to stand near the woodyard.

I then pointed at the banner’s skeletal altar. “Place the others there. They are to prevent anyone from touching the banner at all costs.”

“Yes, Commander!” he said, followed be more barking of orders. With a nod, the leader trailed after his men and they formed a circle around the altar.

I tried not to get too depressed looking at my twelve footmen. This was all I had, and I knew it would not even be close to enough once Amara came calling again. And she would.

Scout Unit training complete.

The Scout jogged over to stand next to the barracks building. He leaned against his bow almost casually and gave me a slight nod. “Commander,” he said. “What do you need of me?”

The cool loner type, I thought. “We need gold,” I said and swung a hand to indicate the forest to the south. “I need you to go in there and find a vein of gold and report it to me immediately. In fact, report anything you find in there that might be useful.”

I assumed that gold would be placed close to each opponent’s starting area. But mine was not out in the open, so it must be in the trees somewhere. Or so I hoped.

No gold, no chance at victory.

The scout nodded again and skulked off toward the tree line. Within moments he vanished from view.

I surveyed my little empire. Few men, and even fewer resources did not bode well for a good start. And until there was actual gold to use there was little else for me to do here.

With a single leap I was back in Smoke’s saddle. I pointed him northwest, the direction Amara and her grunts had appeared from, and kicked at his sides.

The footmen leader called out to me in alarm. “Commander! Where are you going?”

“Look after things while I’m gone,” I shouted over me shoulder. “I think it’s time I gave my opponent a little visit.”

Then I broke into a gallop.

I followed the open plains to the northwest until my base vanished from view behind the trees.

The terrain changed little; flat ground buttressed by tall trees on either side. The map began to fill out with these details and eventually showed that the plains curved around toward the north.

Other than the occasional flock of birds, and a mother boar with piglets which scampered through the forest, I encountered nothing else.

I’d assumed that Amara would have perhaps tried to send another grunt unit to attack again. No doubt, her resources were just as depleted as mine.

After investigating several blank patches of ground with exposed rock along the way, but finding no gold, I came to the conclusion any potential gold veins would be hidden. Or placed in strategic spots around the map.

Lost in thought, I almost didn’t notice a slight change in the tree line to the east. There was a distinct gap with the beginnings of a narrow path.

Curious, I trotted over, wary of an ambush.

It was definitely a path, well worn. But it was far to narrow to ride Smoke through.

Where did this path lead and did Amara notice it when she passed this way before? Based on how fast she grunt-rushed me, I doubted she had time to investigate it herself.

I considered my options. Keep exploring north, or follow the path. A glance at the map, with icons representing each building and units, showed nothing had changed. The scout had traveled due south until he came upon the sheer barrier cliffs and turned northeastward. No indications of him discovering a gold vein.

Gold could be here though.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I dismounted. With a snap of my fingers Smoke popped out of existence and the mount icon on my view-screen went on a two-minute re-summoning timer.

I didn’t think I’d need to run off in a hurry within the next two minutes. At least I hoped not.

Sword in hand, I entered the forest along the path. The air cooled around me so much I had to go into my game settings and reduce my simulation suit’s temperature controls. I liked a good virtual reality experience as much as the next person, but I didn’t need to freeze to death while doing so.

A few paces along, the gap behind me disappeared from view. Somewhere, deep within the crowd of dark trees came the ululating cries of some animal.

I paused, waiting. The cry came again, but further away. Without a clue as to what it was, I decided to take a precaution and slipped into Shadow Form. I effectively became invisible to a casual observer. And provided I stayed within shadows and did not engage in combat, my pseudo-invisibility would not negate. A unique ability given to the Shadow class.

I moved further inward following the path’s twists and turns through the foliage. After several minutes I started to worry it may go on forever, or at least cut across the entire width of the map. There was no time for such folly.

I’d almost convinced myself to turn and go back when a chat request appeared on my view-screen. But unlike a player requesting a chat with their name attached to it, this one simply said, ‘SCOUT’.

I selected the request, and a screen opened up before me. The cool gaze of the scout greeted me.

“Uh, hello, Scout,” I said with hesitation. I’d never once received a chat request from a NPC before. And, to be quite honest, didn’t know they even had the capability. Perhaps it was a feature only found in Battle Field sessions?

The scout nodded once, his hood pulled down low to almost cover his eyes. “Found you some gold, Commander.” The screen angled away from him to show a wall of sheer rock. A wide spot along its dark surface glittered with gold, its veined pattern spreading outward like roots.

I felt a rush of relief at the sight. “Oh, thank the Gaming Gods!” I said.

The scout put the screen on him. “Gaming Gods, or Y’godda,” he said with a shrug. “Who’s to know which?”

I actually laughed at his odd humor. “Well, I thank them both. Can you lead some workers to that spot?”

“Not needed,” the scout said. “It’s marked on the map.”

And so it was, a gold nugget icon at the very bottom of my map against the cliff line.

“Okay, please continue scouting the forest and see what else you can find. When you’re finished with the east forest, scout out the western one, too.”

The scout nodded and was about to turn away when I said. “Oh, and Mr. Scout.”

He looked at me expectantly.

“Good job!” I said with smile.

One corner of the scout’s mouth raised a little which I took for his version of a grin, then he closed the chat screen.

I looked to my status screen to see where things stood.

The wood situation was fine, so I opted to pull the worker unit from their chopping duties. I selected their icon from the map then tapped the gold vein icon, and a system message appeared

Build a Gold Mine at this location? Cost: 200 gold, 150 wood – Yes/No?

“Heck, yeah!” I said.

Immediately, the worker unit’s icon moved through the trees in the direction of the gold vein. It really annoyed me that I didn’t even have the 100 gold to hire my third worker unit to help out. But such are things when you are just starting out. Later, I hoped to have dozens of these units toiling away on buildings, mines, and defenses.

A worry tickled the back of my brain. I selected the half unit of footmen which had been guarding the woodyard. Then I assigned them to the gold vein. They moved as well, a short distance behind the worker unit.

This meager defense of the gold mine would have to do for now. I was just grateful the thing actually existed.