The two Generals gave each other a silent look, and then sat down at the table with Karl and Morgana, making it clear that they were going to be here for a while.
“What about tactics? It has become painfully obvious to some of us that the way that the Elites fight the Giants, and the way that the Church’s Armies fight the Giants, is not the same. Too many of us had gotten comfortable in our thinking long before the mass injections, and now that there is a new way of fighting, we’re not adapting fast enough.” General Jackson announced as the cook brought them coffee.
Morgana turned to Karl, as he had the most high-level combat experience in the room at the moment.
Karl nodded. “Basically, you want three things. You want someone with the defensive skills and damage reduction abilities to keep the target occupied. Then you want someone who can slow them or weaken them, and finally, you want burst damage, a skill that can deal a massive amount of damage at once to swing the battle even if it doesn’t outright kill the target.
If you try to grind them down, you’re going to take casualties. So, you need the first two to be strong enough that the third one can set up for the kill.
In the last battle, we split into pairs, and I started out grabbing the target’s attention, while the other Commander went for the Giant’s more vulnerable back, hampering the Giant’s movement.
Then we drew it back away from its reinforcements, and traded roles, so I could take out one of its knees while he had the Giant’s attention.
Finally, I called in the Spider Shaped Golems to attack its back and face, so I could land the killing blow. The burst damage to end the fight quickly.”
General Stonewall sighed. “It sounds so easy when you put it that way, but how do we even plan that? We have the skill sets of the various Elites, but being able to tell how they’ll work together is too unpredictable.
For example, look at this one.”
He put a folder on the table, and Karl looked it over. 26-year-old Commander Rank warrior, with the usual cleave, shield slam, guard and slash skills. He also knew Holy Blade, which gave Karl the idea that he might be part of the Church Guard.
“Looks like a bog-standard warrior, except for that last skill. I take it that he’s a Commander of the Church Guard?” Karl asked.
General Stonewall shook his head. “He’s the assistant Attorney General, and he’s managed to find loopholes to avoid combat deployment since he left the Academy eight years ago. He’s never swung a blade in anger in his life, and he’s currently being detained as a deserter.”
Karl frowned. “Well, I have to say, I didn’t see that answer coming, and you’ve got a damned fine point. If all you have to go on is their rank and skills, it’s nearly impossible to effectively plan a combat deployment.
For example, Morgana and I are both Commanders, but when we go into combat, we would want very different people with us, and a list of skills isn’t going to tell us who that is. There’s too much that goes into building a solid team to build it from a list of dossiers in an office somewhere in the Capital.”
Both Generals nodded. “Team building works best on this sort of scale, where we have hundreds of Elites in one spot, and they can pick their teams on their own. But that’s never going to fly for most assignments.”
Karl frowned. “But why couldn’t it? I mean, there are some like that lawyer, the ones who are just slackers or cowards, but letting the Elites submit team compositions that they’ve worked with in the past that they know work shouldn’t be that much harder to work with. Then, if you do have to requisition their services, you can do it in a way that they agree should be feasible.”
General Jackson sighed and tapped the assistant Attorney General’s file. “He suggested that as well, but the team that he recommended always had him with four Royal Rank Elites to take on Ascended Rank challenges, with the excuse that he was too valuable to the nation to be lost in combat.”
Karl and Morgana both laughed, before Karl answered the General. “Funny how money makes people think that they’re more important to society, isn’t it? If he got laid off from his job, he would just be some guy with a law degree, but the money he has saved would still make him believe that he was important.”
Morgana smirked at him. “You know, you’ve likely got more money than he does. The rewards for higher ranked combat kills are quite significant, and the pay for government employees isn’t all that great. It’s the political power that they enjoy the most.”
General Jackson laughed along with them. “He’s actually quite wealthy, or at least his family is. His father owns and operates three coal mines in the south. It was his father’s influence that got him the job, and it’s his father’s influence that kept him out of prison for dodging his duties.
There are a number like that who we would prefer to delete from the official rolls, demoting them from Elite status and simply marking them as dangers to society, but there are too many in the government who are afraid they would be on that list.”
“So, you’re on a tour of the front lines, looking for real answers that might help increase military efficiency?” Karl asked.
Both Generals nodded. “Yes, that is our job. In theory, it is the duty of every member of the Command Staff, but a lot of them seem to have forgotten that. The presence of the Elites has shaken everything up, and thousands of years of practice became largely irrelevant once fighters who could solo dangerous monsters like the Hill Giants became so common.”
Karl chuckled. “For me, it has been most of my life, but you’re both what fifty? It’s quite recent for you.”
General Stonewall smiled indulgently at him. “I am sixty-four years old. I was over fifty when the first class graduated, and I was in my mid-fifties when the injections became a nationwide practice. I doubt your generation quite understands how controversial that measure was.”
“It was controversial to give everyone the chance to become Elites? Like some sort of class warfare thing?” Karl asked.
General Stonewall shook his head. “One in a hundred dies from the injection. Now, most of them can be revived by the clerics, but a good portion of their souls detach from the body, and resurrection doesn’t work on them. Do you know how many parents we have to send letters to every year, telling them that their child was the unlucky one who passed during the attempt to become an Elite?”
Quick math said… a lot. He just hadn’t noticed because the school in his hometown only had a few dozen students per year, and they hadn’t personally lost anyone.
“I guess you have a point. Plenty of Elites meet a tragic end, but they at least got a chance.” Karl agreed reluctantly.
“Are you one of those that believes it’s the divine will of the World Dragon that not everyone survives the injections?” The aging General asked.
Morgana looked a bit nervous, but Karl just chuckled. “I’m not the sort to get all philosophical, General. I will leave matters of theology and divine favour for the Clergy to interpret. For all I know, it could just be a manufacturing error on our side. There are people who die to a peanut butter sandwich, so whatever we made the injection out of might well be toxic to some of the recipients.” He explained.
The General was a bit startled at that, and was about to retort before he thought about it. “You know, you might be right. I remember many years ago, there was a child in my class who got incredibly sick after taking a healing potion. The potion was fine, but his body reacted to it like poison.” Morgana sighed. “Do none of you know what an allergic reaction is?”
“Like with cats or pollen? I don’t think that applies to medicine.” General Stonewall replied.
“You can be allergic to nearly anything. Even medicine. Trust me, I’m a Witch Doctor.” She added.
“Well, I won’t argue with an expert.” The General shrugged, while Karl did his best not to laugh.
As she had said the day they met: She was a Witch Doctor, not a Witch and a Doctor.
“Now, while we have you both here, and with two such unusual classes, we have a few more questions we hope to get answers to during our routine inspection.” General Jackson informed them with a smile that said he realized the knowledge gap was because she was more educated than any of the others, not her Class Marking.