Wargames of the Shellworld by Andrew McGregor

Author:Andrew McGregor [McGregor, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-27T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Did you sleep at all in the last two days?" Peter asked Georgy as the Inveigled Ambassador and its small flotilla of black shuttles descended towards the waiting battlefield, "I swear you were drilling the poor devils non-stop."

Georgy snorted, "How could I have slept with such snoring from yourself? Besides, I'm a sailor, an officer of the Russian Navy; I can do without sleep for quite some time."

"Still, you sure you won't fall asleep while tanks are rolling towards us?" Peter asked with a grin."Should we have one of the shield-bearers pull a coffee cart around behind you? You're looking a little dark under those eyes."

"Ha, I'm old and fat, Dorn, not tired."

Jessica ignored them and looked over the equipment their team would be bringing to the battle. Most of the soldiers and equipment were in the shuttles, assigned to land in different areas instead of all together as they did in the first battle, but there was still plenty to gawk at in the Inveigled Ambassador's main hall.

They had a sea-going warship. Taking up half the hall's length, the 115-metre vessel was immense inside Hubunker's ship. It had been delivered by the Game Masters mere hours earlier, matching specifications chosen by Georgy a day ago. The warship would be used in the opening stages of the battle. Once the sea battle took place, a land invasion by the victor would follow. The bow of the destroyer-class ship towered above her and she felt claustrophobic underneath the metallic weight.

Jessica was concerned about Georgy's choice of weapons. Arrayed along the walls of the hall were row upon row of incendiary grenades and Molotov cocktails. The battleship was mostly loaded with incendiary shells, and she'd seen primitive flame throwers being carried onto the shuttles alongside small tanks and basic rockets. What is he doing, pissing off the Plinth like this? she thought to herself. Ammon had not been happy to hear of Georgy's choice of weaponry but had been overruled by Hubunker.

"We are almost there, commanders," Ammon said. "Remember this: the Plinth are ruthless masters of battle. They have won more games than all the wars ever fought on Earth. You defeated the wasp-men, our Trustee’s allies, and by defeating you, the Plinth seek to humiliate our allies. Fight well, for even in defeat there is honour and points to be won."

***

The arena was far larger this time.

The opposing forces were fighting for control of two separate islands at each end of the rectangular arena. The arena stretched a hundred kilometres from one end to the other, yet, using binoculars, Jessica could still see the enemy fleet approaching from the other side of the vast area.

The ‘ocean’ was flat, not curved over the horizon like on Earth, and the water lapped softly against the edges of the ship like a calm spring day. A light mist gathered above while two starships, themselves the size of small cities, floated above the arena, keeping a respectful distance from each other. Hubunker’s Inveigled Ambassador

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