Chapter 30 - Strategic Thinking
Medoferro and Simon sat in the Mullinix office, waiting for Insegniferro to show up for the morning lessons. Simon was being his usual laid back self, kicking back in a chair and smiling, having had his first experience with the house staff the night before. Medo was sitting behind his desk moving stuff around to a more comfortable place for him.
"Now I see why you took to this place," Simon told him, rocking back in his chair, "I think I can get used to this quickly."
"Who did you end up with?" Medo asked him, not looking up from his organizing.
"Trecia," Simon said, "You know the blonde…"
"Sounds like you had fun," Medo chuckled, looking up at his friend, "See, there are benefits to government service."
"Thanks for choosing me," Simon said, tossing a piece of paper into a trash can, "So what are we waiting for today?"
"Iggy said to meet him here this morning," Medo said, "I guess we’re early though."
"Not too early," Massimaferro said as he walked into the room, "Iggy will be here in a few minutes, he is just yelling at Colonel LaPorte in Cirrus."
"I thought that was your job now," Medo chuckled, "What happened?"
"I don't like Colonel LaPorte very much," Massy explained, "After his last batch of excuses I was ready to tear his head off. Iggy has a better feel for diplomacy than I do, so he’s doing the talking."
"I guess that is a good thing," Simon said, "So this is the type of thing I’ll be doing, huh?"
"Yep," Massy agreed, "Welcome to the team, Simon. Looks like I lost my five coins on you."
"Funny," Simon said.
"I offered Iggy a chance at the pot," Medo grinned, "I was going to have him bet on who had the best odds and choose that person."
"Really nice," Simon laughed, "I’m sure that Miranda would have loved that."
"It’s all right," Massy said, sitting down, "This part of the training I’m better at than Iggy anyway, so if anything comes in he can handle it for a while."
"So what are we doing?" Medo asked him.
"Strategy," Massy smiled, "In addition to being the civilian leaders of the empire, we also control the military. We don’t fight wars often, but we do often enough that you need to know how to think strategically."
"Also," Simon said, remembering the papers, "With Cirrus and the Mavelan border heating up as much as it is he is going to need to know what the military is doing."
"Not just him," Massy said, "You as well. If something happens and decisions need to be made before you can reach us you will be responsible for it. You are going to be an extension of Medoferro, Simon. The times will be few and further between, but you need to know what he does."
"So how do we learn?" Medo asked, "Another series of boring books and lectures?"
"Nope," Massy grinned, "This is the fun part of the training. We get to play war games."
"War games huh?" Simon said, "What type?"
"One that was developed by Marcus Mullinix himself, nearly two millennia ago," Massimaferro said, a twinkle coming into his eye, "Come with me, boys, and we’ll go play a game."
The three of them went up a set of stone stairs to a room that neither Medo nor Simon had entered yet. Medo had seen the door and thought about questioning someone about what was there, but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Massimaferro opened the door and the three of them went into a small gray room. Massimaferro secured the outside door and let them into the larger room beyond. What was inside nearly boggled the mind of both Simon and Medoferro.
"Good gods," Simon said, "What the…"
"This is amazing," Medo said, "How… what…"
Massimaferro chuckled as they looked around. This was the usual thought of anyone who first came in to see this room. He had been much the same way when he first walked in many years ago. He watched the boys as they looked around in wonder at the gadgets and widgets that made up the strategy room.
It was certainly a sight to behold, as the room took most of the third floor over the chambers, which was not an inconsiderable area. In the room was a whole legion of toy soldiers, most measuring somewhere around a foot tall. They had all been painstakingly crafted to look human and they looked almost alive. They were all holding swords and some of them were on horses, to simulate the most common means of warfare. Mechanical units were too slow and took too much energy to use on the battlefield with the technology they had still in use.
"Welcome to the battle room," Massimaferro said, "This room will let you test battle theories and learn how to plot strategy without having to do it when it could cost you real lives."
"How is this possible?" Medo asked, "I mean this looks so complicated. So much metal and technologies that I’ve just read about…"
"This room is shielded with nearly two feet of bauxite," Massimaferro explained, "It allows the components in this room to work properly. It took Marcus Mullinix and some of the last pre-cataclysmic people who knew the old technology nearly twenty years to get all of this working."
"You mean this equipment has been working for 2000 years?" Simon said, seriously impressed, "Most things don’t last anywhere near that long."
"I don’t pretend to understand how this works," Massimaferro said, "But it was built in a way that has very few moving parts, so there is little to wear out. It runs on electrical fields of some sort, the type you read about existing before the wars happened and turned the global magnetic fields upside down."
"So how do we use it?" Medo asked him, "I’ve never even seen anything like this."
"You probably never will outside of this room," Massy told him, "They built this out of components that would fry outside of this room. If it weren’t for the tons upon tons of bauxite in the walls this would all be a huge paperweight. This is too expensive to do normally, and more trouble than it is worth."
"We get that," Simon said as he walked around a little, "How do we use it though?"
"That is easy," Massy said, "See the three pods up over the battlefield?"
The boys looked up and saw a pod on three sides of the battlefield, wondering how those were used to control things. They were each big enough for at least three people and had a ladder allowing access from the floor.
"Come on up to the first one," Massy said, "I will show you the controls and then we will play a game."
Massimaferro, with speed and grace you wouldn’t expect from a man of his size, climbed up the nearest ladder up into the pod. The pods were a dizzying sight to the boys, who had only read about this sort of thing in books that dated from before the wars that caused the changes in the planet.
"How are we expected to control this?" Medo exclaimed, "I mean, what is it?"
"It is easy," Massimaferro said, "The designers knew that people in the future would have a hard time with this sort of thing, as it doesn’t work outside this room now. So they designed it to be simple."
There were a number of status lights, but none of them really seemed to have much meaning. Massimaferro pulled up a chair over to the control window and looked out over the "battlefield", getting a bird’s eye view.
"It is very simple," Massimaferro explained, "There are three armies and thousands of scenarios with each army. Everything is voice commanded."
"This is like fiction, man," Simon said, awed.
"This is the way things were before the cataclysmic wars," Medoferro said, "I read about this stuff in books."
"Exactly," Massy nodded, "You start it by pressing this button."
Massimaferro pressed a button on the console, a large red button that was marked with the Mullinix word for start. The figures down on the field looked like they almost stood up and moved without assistance to the edge of the field. A whirring began and the boys looked at each other wondering what was next.
"Welcome to war game simulation version 3.26," a voice said from the console, "How many players?"
"Three players," Massimaferro said to t
he system, "Generic war game scenario, beginner level please."
"Do you need instructions?" the disembodied voice asked.
Both boys were stunned by the fact that the system was talking. Computers were unheard of in this world, as the changes in the magnetic field of the planet had made it virtually impossible for them to work. A lot of time and effort were spent building the components inside this room and making them so they would work for the long term.
"Yes," Massimaferro said, "We need instructions."
"To play the game with three players," the voice said, "Each player will take a control pod. The tactical situation will be explained as intelligence briefings to each player. All players will have different views of the situation, as it is in real life. The goal of the game is to win, but the victory conditions will be different for each player."
"Just like real life," Medoferro noted.
"Quite," Simon grunted.
"Shhh," Massimaferro said.
"Much like a real army," the voice continued, "You can only give them orders. If you give orders that aren’t possible they will not carry them out. Enough bad orders and you may endure a mutiny. The winner will be determined at the end of the scenario."
"So this is a simulation of being a general," Simon said, "Sounds simple enough."
"Yes," Massimaferro agreed, "But there are so many variations that things tend to get complicated really quick. It takes a quick mind and a lot of strategy to get through one of these games."
"How long do they last?" Medo wondered.
"Anywhere from five minutes to four hours," Massy said, "Taliaferro and I went against each other for nearly six hours once, but that was because we set up a nasty scenario that nobody could really win and neither of us really wanted to give up on. We finally called it a draw when Marianna and Julia came in and pretty much forced us out with promises of a long and lonely night if we didn’t call it a draw."
"Gotta love the house staff," Medo chuckled, "I hope this one isn’t going to take that long."
"I doubt it," Massy said, "Three player scenarios tend to go faster and this one is a basic one just to get you used to playing."
"Why do I get the feeling he is going to wipe the floor with us?" Simon asked Medo.
"Because he’s played before and Iggy said he was a strategic whiz," Medo laughed, "Ok, let’s do it."
Medo and Simon climbed down and went over to their respective pods, climbing the ladder to go up and receive their directions. Medoferro and Simon both met with the same voice in the pod, a voice that sounded realistic despite being created by a machine in front of them.
"You have control of the orange army," the computer told Medoferro, "Your mission will be to move your army in for a defeat of the blue army. The Red army is currently neutral, but holds a key piece of territory. The blue army must be destroyed for you to win this scenario."
Simon climbed into his pod and began to receive his instructions, "You are in control of the Red army. It is of no consequence to you which army wins, so long as you stay out of the conflict and keep over ninety percent of your troops and territory. The Orange and Blue armies are in conflict and will not stop until one is gone. You can either stay out and go defensive or assist one of the armies, though if you get into the fight be sure not to lose more than ten percent."
Massimaferro received much the same instructions Medoferro did. The three-pronged battle was ready to begin. It was a sticky situation, with Simon being a neutral holding the best ground. Medoferro and Massimaferro went to work trying to see where everything was located.
"What would you like to do first?" the voice asked Medoferro.
"Scout the enemy," Medoferro said, "How many scouts do I have?"
"Four," the computer said, "Do you want to send the scout through the neutral territory or slip him through the lines?"
"Neutral territory," Medoferro said, not wanting to test the lines yet.
Simon was looking at the tactical situation around him. It didn’t look good on any side. His back was clear, but both of his flanks were lined with either Medoferro’s troops or with Massimaferro’s. The line was bigger with Massimaferro’s troops, but Medoferro appeared to have a slightly superior force.
Massimaferro was looking at the situation and sending scouts out himself. He suspected that Medoferro had more troops than he could see from his position. The pods were made from a special glass that would only show areas lit with a special light, giving him the effect of only being able to see the parts of the field that he would know about. Unlike Medoferro, he scooted his scout across the line, hoping that he would be able to do it without Medo noticing.
"Nice try, Massimaferro," Medo said to himself, "Troops, eliminate the scout that crossed the lines."
The machinery moved the closest unit to the scout and did a few weighted random rolls to simulate the combat. Noise was played and the scout was scooted off the field in defeat.
"Good one, Medo," Massimaferro grunted, "Perhaps this will be a good game after all…"
Simon kept watching, but kept his troops close to home. He deployed his best troops on each border to give Medo and Massy something to think about, hopefully to keep them off his piece of territory. He had fewer troops than either one, so he didn’t want to antagonize either yet.
Medoferro’s scout did a bit better than Massimaferro’s did. The scout got behind Massimaferro’s army and showed Medo that the other Mullinix didn’t have quite as big an army as he did. Thing was, if he went in full out Massimaferro might pull out a few tricks that he didn’t know about.
"Can we negotiate with other players?" Medoferro asked the system.
"Yes," the machine said, "I can make parley offers to other players, though with this scenario you cannot talk to the Blue army."
"I’d like to speak to the Red army chief," Medo said, deciding to try to make an ally out of Simon.
"What’s up, Medo?" Simon asked him, "Need help before the fighting even starts?"
"I don’t particularly want to go full out," Medo said, "Massy has a large force and I was hoping to work a deal with you."
"I’m not getting into this fight," Simon said, remembering the instructions, "I can’t."
"I figured as much," Medo said, "But I would like to offer you a deal."
"Sure," Simon said, "I’ll see if I can accommodate you."
"I want to move troops across your territory," Medo said, "To hit Massimaferro from behind with a surprise move."
"How do I know you won’t attack me?" Simon asked him, "And if I do that, will I come under Massimaferro’s attack?
"You have my word that I won’t attack you," Medo said, "And I’ll start a fight with Massimaferro on the front line first, sending my fast attackers through your rear territory to hit his backside."
"I want some sort of guarantee," Simon said, looking at what he could see of Massimaferro’s troops, "A group of defenders to take my front line to make sure that I don’t get hit personally."
"I can spare a set of defenders," Medo said, looking out on his field, "I’ll park them behind your line and have them push forward to the defense when my rear flank crosses the border and takes Massimaferro from behind."
"That works," Simon agreed, "I’ll leave my forces at both of your borders. Cross me and I’ll help him break you."
"Understood," Medo chuckled, "Thanks Simon."
Massimaferro massed his troops at the border, figuring that Simon would not be joining this fracas. He saw few options, as Simon had a decent size set of troops by his border. He pondered going after both of them and considered trying to get Simon in on the fight, though he knew that it wasn’t likely. Since the system had set Simon in as a neutral, he probably wasn’t going to be inclined to do much of anything.
"Ok," Massimaferro said, "Since Simon’s area is defended, the only way for him to go is straight down. So let’s get the party started early. System, send a blitz attack forward against orange."
br /> His plan was to catch Medoferro by surprise. Medoferro wasn’t surprised at all, however, as his scout picked up the movements. The young man countered by sending his remaining defenders to the front and having them do a fighting retreat, the better to thin out Massimaferro’s backside.
Simon sat back and watched, ordering his troops to stand aside and let Medo’s force through. He saw the attack and knew that Massimaferro had made a fatal error. Medo’s defenders got in position behind Simon’s troops and his fast attackers crossed the border to start hitting at Massimaferro’s rear flank.
Massimaferro cursed at that ploy, as he didn’t expect Simon to let anyone through. He now knew that Medo was playing him, leading him into a trap. He directed his main force to give up heading north and to plow east through Simon’s troops. Simon countered by getting out of the way and letting Medo’s defenders take the lead.
Medoferro’s defenders fought a harsh battle at the line, slowing Massimaferro’s eastern advance. With the pressure off his own line, he used the defenders up there to keep pushing and closing in on Massimaferro from all sides. Massimaferro’s army quickly began to fall apart, losing people and eventually entire units. Simon waited until the end to get in to the fight at all, pushing Massimaferro’s routed troops out of his land and even taking a little bit of Massimaferro’s in the bargain.
Medoferro lost the defenders he put in to keep Massy out of Simon’s area, but it was worth the loss as the two front war this created pretty well crushed Massimaferro’s army, to the tune of a massive victory for Medoferro. Massimaferro could just watch as the two newbies destroyed his little army. It was the first game of this he had lost in many years.
"Scenario over," the voice said in all three pods at once, "Red army exceeds their goals, losses four percent, land gained, eight percent. Orange army meets goal of destroying Blue army. Blue army loses the scenario, losing both land and army."
The voice went silent and Massimaferro climbed out of the booth, shaking his head. Simon and Medo came down and grinned, looking at the machinery that was grinding to put the pieces back to a starting position. Massimaferro shook both boys hands.
"I wasn’t expecting that," Massimaferro said, "I figured Simon would stay neutral to meet his part of the Scenario."
"I met mine in spades," Simon grinned, "I figured that one of you would end up going through me if I didn’t ally with one of you. Medo made the offer and I let his troops take the beating in return for right of passage."
"I took some serious losses," Medo said, "But I got the job done."
"Not bad for a first time," Massimaferro grinned, "It will be interesting to see how you two do when playing against each other. Either that or in a scenario that is more of an even match."
"You chose it," Medo grinned, "Not us."
Simon was about ready to retort when they heard some noise from the entrance chamber. The door opened a few seconds later to show Insegniferro entering the room. He looked a bit tired, but not really any worse for wear.
"What’s up, Iggy?" Massy said, "Other than my loss score?"
"They beat you?" Iggy said, surprised, "This is the first time in years that you’ve lost!"
"They worked together and I made a bad judgment call," Massy shrugged, "I deserved it, as I should have seen it coming."
"Paulus just reported from Cirrus," Iggy said, "Seems that our suspicion was right. The Colonel down there is probably making things worse."
"Just what I needed to hear," Massy frowned, "Is that what you came to get me for?"
"No," Iggy said, "Not much we can do about that yet. Paulus wanted instructions, so you need to go talk on the wire."
"No rest for the weary, eh?" Massy said, "Ok, I’ll go talk to him. I probably should get a status report for myself anyway."
"So you beat Massy huh?" Iggy said, impressed, "Good for you two. Now lets see how you two do against each other."
"You’re not going to play?" Simon asked him.
"Not my job," Iggy grinned, "I’m terrible at this, always was. Massimaferro was beating the pants off me within a week. He and Tali were the masters at this. I’m going to just referee matches between the two of you and talk about what you’ve done wrong."
"I guess it is back up to the pods," Simon said, grinning, "The loser buys the ale tonight?"
"You’ve got a deal," Medo grinned.
"The ale here is free," Iggy reminded them.
"Then whoever loses has to serve it," Simon grinned, "That work?"
"I’ll remember that when you’re serving tonight," Medo grinned and headed towards a pod.
Iggy shook his head and went up to start the game.