Without Question

Without Question

Chapter Eighteen – Curiosity’s Call

Silus awoke early in the morning.  Much had to be done; today would be an important day.  After performing his morning routine and adorning his uniform, he left his chambers.  He needed to meet with the other officers in the war room.  But first…he remembered the note that the sages had left him.

The human walked through the halls until he saw the sages’ room.  Though he had been there when receiving treatment for his wounds, he was never lucid enough to remember how the room looked.  Silus approached the room’s metal double-doors and entered.

Immediately, Silus was overwhelmed by the sights in the large room before him.  Beakers and vials of all shapes and sizes, filled with liquids of various colors, covered the top of nearly every table.  Tubes carried liquids from beaker to beaker and vial to vial, mixing into solutions.  Smoke and steam rose out of a few containers as different liquids made contact.

“Now strike it with magical energy.  We have yet to record that effect.”

Silus heard a raspy, old voice near the back of the room.  He walked over to the source of the voice to see nine hooded Changelings hovering over a round table.  They had not noticed his entry.  The human took advantage of this and leaned over them to see what they were experimenting with.  In the center of the table sat a shiny, brown rock with blue specks all over it.  As Silus watched, one of the sages blasted the strange rock with a light blue beam from his horn.  Small sparks flew initially, but then a few thin bolts of electricity fluttered around the rock before dissipating.  The sages excitedly murmured and scribbled notes onto papers.

“Ahem.”

The sages slowly turned around to see Silus standing behind them with his arms crossed and his brow raised.  One of the older-looking sages stepped forward.  It had a slight hunch in its back, and thus wasn’t as tall as the other Changelings.  The old sage raised a hoof up to Silus to shake the human’s hand.

“Lord Silus!” the sage said in a raspy, though happy tone, “It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance without extreme medical aid involved!”

The human chuckled and shook the elderly sage’s hoof.

“And you are Sagemaster Macabre, I presume?”

“Aye, that I am.  And these are my assistants.”

The sages behind Macabre remained silent under their hoods but nodded in acknowledgment.

“So then, what exactly did you wish to discuss?” Silus inquired.

“Ah yes, the business at hoof.  I am sure you recall the burns that the victims of the Ebony Coast massacre had received?”

Silus nodded sadly.

“I sent a sage to investigate the burns on the massacre victims, and I was disturbed by what I saw…”

The human’s expression became one of puzzlement.

“Were they not burned with fire?” he asked.

“No…they received chemical burns.”

Silus’ confusion grew; Macabre saw this and went on.

“We discovered shards of glass buried slightly under the sand, probably due to the tides.  Combined with the evidence regarding the victims’ chemical burns, this likely means that the Equestrians have made advances in the field of alchemy warfare.  Evidence suggests that containers were filled with this flammable solution and thrown at the victims.  Upon impact, the glass would shatter and spark the fluid, thus igniting everything unfortunate enough to be doused in the chemical.”

“By the Queen…this is terrible news…” Silus muttered as he hung his head.

“This shames both my assistants and myself.  You see, we Changelings have magic.  But, it is nothing compared to that of unicorn magic.  To compensate for this fact, we Changelings have always prided ourselves in our scientific, technological, and engineering advances.  Never before have the Equestrians managed to outperform us in any field of science.  That brings me to my next point.  I believe you may be able to help us gain the advantage in this war…”

Silus looked up, perplexed but intrigued.

“Oh?”

“Indeed.  I was curious about how war was waged…where you came from.  After the first time we healed you, I noticed a particular injury that you had received.  It could not have been caused by a blade.  As if that were not strange enough, I also found traces of some kind of black powder on the wound.  There was not enough to experiment with, so I desired to ask you about it.”

Silus furrowed his brows in confusion before understanding what the Sagemaster was asking.  He had forgotten that the Changelings knew nothing of gunpowder.

“Ah…you wish to know about gunpowder…” Silus grinned.

The sages looked at each other and whispered.  Silus could not see their faces, but he could tell they were deeply interested.  He smirked and explained.

“You see, when combined, several ingredients would create an explosive powder.  This was called gunpowder.  We ignited it to create a force that would be strong enough to propel a projectile out of a tube and into an enemy.  This projectile weapon was generally dubbed a ‘gun.’  Also, the weapon was not just a simple tube.  Of course, there were a few small mechanisms involved that allowed relative safety and proper use of the weapon.  There was also a piece on the rear of the tube that allowed the gun to rest against the user’s shoulder.”

The sages murmured excitedly as they took notes.  Sagemaster Macabre scratched at his chin.

“And what ingredients did this…’gunpowder’…consist of?” he asked.

Silus placed a hand to his chin as he tried to remember the specifics.

“I believe…it was composed of sulfur…charcoal…and saltpeter.  The first two serve as fuels while the third ingredient serves as an oxidizer.”

The Sagemaster furrowed his brows and frowned a bit.

“I see…and can you explain the properties and appearance of these ingredients?”

The human nodded and informed the Sagemaster.  It did little to help the situation.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything like those in this world…”

“That’s quite a shame.  The use of gunpowder revolutionized warfare at my old world.  One nation, the Xianzhou Dynasty, was the first to incorporate it into their armies.  We quickly adapted the technology ourselves after defeating them in battle, though we suffered staggering losses.”

“A shame, indeed,” the disappointed Macabre spoke softly, “Thank you for your time, Lord Silus.  It has been a pleasure to finally meet you.  I wish you luck on your campaign.”

“I appreciate it, Sagemaster.  Farewell to you all,” Silus waved to the group of sages and left the room.

After Silus left the room, the sages glanced at each other before finally holding their collective gazes on their Sagemaster, who remained staring at the door.

“I wonder…” he whispered to himself.

Silus entered the war room and shook hands/hooves with the patiently-waiting officers and Grimsoul.  They all quietly waited for Silus to begin the discussion.

“Gentlechangelings, I thank you for gathering here today to prepare for the hardships ahead.  This will be, by far, our most difficult campaign yet.  The snow and cold will be blistering.  I can safely say that the weather will be as fearsome an opponent as the Equestrians.  That being said, we need to keep the troops warm and well-fed.  Grimsoul, do you have any information that could help us in that area?”

Grimsoul nodded and cleared his throat.

“The heavy rainfall prior to winter’s coming allowed our farmers to collect a surplus of grains and other staples.  This also means that our livestock were well-raised and that we have plenty of meat and hide to go around.  The hide will be important when I explain the rest of the information.  Local Changeling hunters and trappers found new grounds on which to do their work.  That being said, we have a lot of furs available.  The clothiers of the capital can fashion simple coats out of the hide and fur for our soldiers.”

Silus smiled at this fortune.

“Excellent.  We have about a week to prepare before we march.  I don’t want the Equestrians gaining any more ground than we can allow.  Have the clothiers do their best to produce as many coats as they can by week’s end.  Also, collect the surplus food and supplies and crate them.  We’ll need to transport as much as we can to the frontlines.  I fear this will be a slow campaign…a war of attrition.  How many troops do we have available for this campaign?”

A female officer spoke up.

“For this particular campaign, we have about five Millennii available, Lord Silus.  More and more refugees are arriving, especially from our more distant fallen cities.  They volunteer shortly after arriving, likely due to a lack of any other source of income.”

“Or out of hope and pride…” another officer muttered.

The female glared over her shoulder at the Changeling that spoke before returning her focus to Silus.

“Estimates from our scouts suggest that the main Equestrian invasion force still outnumbers us by about a thousand and a half.”

Silus scratched his chin.

“Any special forces?”

“Yes, milord.  Another Century of Colossi have arrived from Fort Ash.”

“Excellent.  Each of those Colossi are the equivalent of at least ten ponies.  Plus, the shock factor is enough to keep them at bay.  Let’s see here…”

Silus ran his fingers across the map on the table.  He stopped and pointed at a location several dozen miles north of Fort Storm and northwest of Fort Ash.

“Those plains there.  That is where we shall stop them.  If we are defeated, then we will have Fort Storm to fall back to.  However, I do not plan on suffering a defeat.  Do any of you?”

Grimsoul and the officers smirked and shook their heads.

“Splendid.  Once our forces arrive on site, have them prepare basic defenses.”

Silus’ company all looked to each other as if wondering what Silus meant.  He caught on and took a deep breath.

“Trenches.  Bunkers.  You know?”

The group shook their heads at the human.

“By the Queen…the battle has yet to begin and I’m already in a hole…” he rubbed his temples, “I will instruct our soldiers on how to build defenses when we arrive.  Just get the other preparations ready.  Understood?”

Grimsoul and the other officers raised their hooves in understanding.

“That’s what I like to see.  We will have one final meeting at the end of the week before we ship out.  Dismissed.”

The group left the war room, leaving Silus to record his plans and examine the map further.

“If I may ask, where are we traveling to, Sagemaster Macabre?”

“Hush, young understudy.  You will know soon enough.  I just need to figure something out…”

Sagemaster Macabre had told all but two of his fellow sages to continue their work back at the castle’s lab.  He and his two youngest sages stood in front of the ticket booth at the capital’s train station.  Few Changelings other than they were at the station; there really wasn’t anywhere for civilians to go and the weather was freezing anyway.

“Three tickets to Fort Storm,” Macabre stated to the ticket booth worker.

“That’s a military post.  Credentials, please,” the worker requested.

The Sagemaster held out various papers which the worker quickly skimmed over.

“I see this is all in order.  Here are your tickets, sir,” the worker dryly spoke as he gave three tickets to the sages.

“ALLL ABOARRRD!” the conductor yelled from the front of the train.

The trio of sages approached and boarded one of the closest cars.  Shortly after they were seated, the train began slowly moving forward.

“You lads might want to get some sleep.  It’s going to be a while before we get there.”

The young sages nodded and closed their eyes before leaning back in their seats.  Macabre smiled and looked out the window as the capital slowly fell away from the train.  He had a feeling, and it wouldn’t go away until he did his duty as Sagemaster and do whatever it took to make sure he confirmed his suspicion.