The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (113 page)

“We will not announce or even decide upon the placing of the teams that do not place in the top twelve.  We know that every team will do their best for Kellaran, and none of them deserve to be ranked last.  It will be enough for them to know that they were not in the top twelve.

“After the tournament is over they will all be free to discuss their performances, and will be provided with a detailed Revealing of their play in the tournament.  Since such a Revealing may well require several years to review in its entirety in real time, they will be provided with a sub-spell that allows the content to be easily advanced to any reference point the viewer might request.

“Please be ready to take your places in the circle promptly when called.

“Good fortune to you all.”

“We’re going forty-sixth.” Val noted as she checked her list.

“I’ll be fifty-seventh.” Mark stated as he did the same.

Soon the leaders of the first team to play were called to the circle; led by the gnome King Wosea of Enj and the giant Emperor Baltar of the Empire of Eskangir in Felion.  In four and a half seconds their play was finished, and they left the stage as the leaders of the next team were called.

The placing of the team leaders in the center of a circle of gods was purely symbolic.  Every member of each team was cast upon by the tournament’s organizers as their leaders were cast upon, no matter where they were.  As it turned out, some supporting team members weren’t even present in the hall, but it mattered not.

They joined the scenarios of the teams they’d been asked to participate in as subordinate members, and the psionics of the gods were so sophisticated that none felt mentally fatigued by the end, not even Yazadril, who experienced many decades of simulated warfare.

In less than half an hour the call came; “The forty-sixth team to play; the Governors of Hiliani, please take your places in the circle.”

They took their places on the center of the stage and joined hands, though it was a bit awkward since Karz was his full-sized self, and they Linked deeply.

The elder gods cast upon them.

“…And so, with these scepters of office, we declare you the Governors of Kellaran, fully empowered to command every mortal and every god among us in our struggle against the demons.” Somonik respectfully intoned as he handed each of the four a gleaming gold scepter, then bowed to them.

“Thank you.” Six said for the four of them as they gave a deep bow to the Assembly.

“We’ll waste no more time.” he stated decisively as they straightened.  “We’ll attack the demons as soon as possible, and begin planning for it right now.  Mobilize our forces and have the civilian populations move to their defensive positions.  Inform The Triax, and ask their commanders to join us here immediately.”

In less than an hour they were ready, and launched an all-out assault on the demons’ distant vessel with all of their gods, all the gods of The Triax, and all the available power of the mortals of Kellaran wielded by fifty-two of their finest Strike Wizards, including The Governors and most of their team.

The demons defended their colossal irregular rocky vessel with hellacious energy and refused to yield any of it.  Whenever the Gate-to-the-sun attack was cast on their stone void ship, they Translocated it forward in its path almost immediately by a little more than its length, just enough to escape the attack.  They also responded by vastly increasing their speed toward Kellaran.  After six hours half the mortals were relieved, both the Strike Wizards and those in the Command Link with them who supplied their power and defenses, and the fight continued thereafter in two overlapping shifts.  Other than that, the running battle continued continuously without letup or pause for almost two full years.  As it came within the orbits of the inner planets early in the second year, the forces of the mortal Triax and the Kellarani void-vessels joined the fight.

Still the demons fought on, and as they approached the orbits of Kellaran’s moons they began Translocating millions of greater and lesser demons to the surface of the world to raise havoc among the defenders, while DemonLords began attacking the mother-ships of The Triax.  However, none of those vessels were completely lost before the demons were finally exterminated.

As all of The Kellaran-Triax Alliance began celebrating the final victory, reality shifted and the four stood again within the circle of gods, their play in the tournament at an end.

The time it took for each team’s play was noted by some in attendance, and they ranged from three to twelve seconds, with one exception;  When Mark was called, he stood on the stage for almost sixteen minutes.

Though they were forbidden to discuss their play, it was often apparent from a team leader’s expression and bearing whether they thought they had done well or poorly.  Many were obviously displeased with their result.  The duration of their play seemed to bear no relation to their opinion of their performance.  Mark seemed satisfied but no more than that, despite the extraordinary duration of his turn.

The most interesting turn for those observing was that of Zarkog, who played seventy-first.  About halfway through the nine-second duration of his turn, every god in attendance, whether old or new, suddenly became aware that he had joined them in divinity.

He and the organizers refused to discuss it, and he seemed to show no emotional reaction at all after his turn.

In just less than an hour the tournament was complete, and thousands began arriving in the hall to spectate the announcement of the winners.

“You think you did well?” Fire asked her father as servers began circulating among the contestants with trays of snacks and beverages.

“I think so.  And you?” he responded with a smile and an affectionate squeeze of her shoulder.

“We did okay.  The demons…  Sorry.  Can’t talk about it yet.” she finished in irritation, and flew off in search of a server with snacks that she liked.

Karz assumed his elven Simulacrum and took off after her.

Six and Val stood holding hands, thinking over their turn, as Mark stood with his wives in his arms and waited patiently.

Finally Pakdag took to the stage again, and a huge Revealing of him was cast above him.  He had everyone’s attention almost immediately.

“This has been a great and momentous occasion, as you will soon see.  In many ways, the play of each team in The Tournament of Governors was very similar to the full-participation military exercises that have been held recently.  The crucial difference being that everyone in the tournament scenarios were convinced that it was reality.

“The behavior of many people in a given situation in an exercise was essentially the same as their behavior in a similar situation that they thought was real.  But many other people behaved quite differently.  Some had less true courage than they’d shown in exercises.  Almost everyone was less willing to sacrifice for victory, and less willing to sacrifice the safety of their families and friends in particular, when they thought the danger was real.

“But in some cases, those who were faced with all the horror and intensity of true warfare transcended themselves.  They exhibited new levels of valor and honor and compassion and ability, even beyond the best they had shown in the exercises.  This is true of the members of the twelve teams who were most successful today.”

He paused for a moment to indulge in a slight smile of deep satisfaction, then continued.  “The challenge posed in this tournament was a worthy one, and not easy.  Every team who took part was composed of brilliant individuals, yet only twenty-seven teams achieved complete victory while also limiting our losses to acceptable levels.  Two out of every three teams suffered complete defeat, which in this case entails the loss of every Kellarani and Triax life without exception.  The remainder, some eight teams, defeated the demons but lost the majority of our populations and property, including the destruction of most of the surface and seas of Kellaran.

“Though we will assign no numerical ranking to the result of any but the best twelve, the records of each team’s performance will be publicly available.  By making comparisons between the various records, which will be studied in detail in the coming days, we will be able to identify specific practices as being more or less effective, and our overall ability will be greatly increased thereby.

“Now, to the results.

“Thus far the tournament has been spectacular to those who have participated as organizers and contestants, while being quite uninteresting to those who have been spectating.  Now all will see some of what has occurred.

The giant Revealing above him split into two, with the top half showing a diagram of the void around their sun out to as far as the demons’ rock, with Kellaran and the demons’ rock highlighted, and the bottom half showing various views of what he was describing.

“In twelfth place, the team led by Overlord Senchasi of Kletiuk and composed of twenty-six of the elite of his race, including his father Senchak of the new gods who consulted without commanding, and fourteen members from other races.”

Pakdag waited a few moments while every dwarf in attendance cheered and congratulated each other with fierce back-slapping hugs amidst enthusiastic applause from everyone else, and Senchasi made his way to the stage with a huge grin on his bearded face, waving his ornate battle-axe in the air and pumping his fist in triumph.  Above him the Revealing showed Senchasi making speeches to vast gatherings, then other vast gatherings celebrating victory over the demons.

“Let it be known;” Pakdag stated to Senchasi as the dwarf joined him on the stage.  “Though your team placed twelfth, yours was still a valiant and victorious effort, and we know that even if every other leader on Kellaran were to perish, you and your team would still provide us with admirable and effective leadership.  The fact that your magnificent play only gave you the twelfth place is a tribute to the depth of our leadership resources on Kellaran.

Pakdag turned back to the audience as he continued speaking.  “The play of Senchasi’s team was an interesting experiment in what Kellaran would be like if dwarves ran the world.  Their race’s inherent exuberance was infective throughout the populace under their leadership, and contributed to a high state of morale in trying times.

“Their team’s military aggression was rated as moderate.”

Above him the diagram of the void showed the travel of the demons toward Kellaran as the planets revolved around the sun, then the locations of battles, while personal views of those battles were shown below it.

“They waited almost two years, until the demons were well within the inner planets, before they attacked.  They made good use of the time.  Most significantly, by the time they attacked the demons, most of those who have received The Transformation of Hilsith had completed Valentia’s Magic Education, and were qualified Journeyman class wizards at least.  This provided them some advantage in the later stages of the war when demons were attacking Kellaran, over those teams who were more aggressive.”

Pakdag spent ten minutes in total in presenting and discussing Senchasi’s team’s performance, and allowing Senchasi a few moments to acknowledge and thank his team members for their contribution to their achievement.  He spent the same amount of time with each of the other top-twelve teams, so the entire presentation of the results of the tournament lasted a few minutes more than two hours. 

“In eleventh place; the team led by King Wosea of the gnome kingdom of Enj and Emperor Baltar of the giant Empire of Eskangir!” Pakdag announced, and when those worthies had made their way to the stage, he said; “King Wosea, though your team was officially led by yourself and Emperor Baltar, I think you would both agree that at every important moment of your contest, you were the true leader of your team.  And, though there were other teams led by both gnomes and giants, as well as a team led by gnomes exclusively, we who have judged this tournament agree that you displayed the best of gnomen leadership, and showed the rest of us what is great about your race.  The gnomes have always been secretive and opaque to the other races, but you showed the world their true nature, and even some of us of the old gods learned much of value of the fundamentals of gnomen character and behavior from your performance.

“Because of your small size and meager physical strength as individuals, yours is a race that only succeeds through complete co-operation, and through a fierce solidarity.  You inspired all of Kellaran with those qualities, and it stood us in good stead under your leadership.

“Your team was judged to be the second-least aggressive in the tournament...”

Pakdag went on to discuss and display their showing in more detail, then announced the next placing.

“In tenth place; the team led by Empress Emeroth of Verzaclon!” Pakdag declared.

His comments to her were; “As was the case with the last team, your performance largely defined the best of your race to the rest of us.  Though your team was not composed of giants exclusively, and yours was not the only team with giants among their leaders, we consider your performance to exemplify the epitome of Shiganzhu leadership.  You also prove the worth of meritocracy, and of deciding leadership by tournament, which you have faced on numerous occasions.  As you said at the first Assembly of The Just Alliance, there are others who have placed higher, but you have proved that you could lead us to victory, and do it well.”

Much to the surprise of almost everyone there, the ninth place was taken by a team led by Most Respected Grandfather, of the Southernmost.

“Yours is a race that is still almost completely unknown to the rest of Kellaran,” Pakdag told the great, sleek, many-tentacled mollusk.  “It is therefore somewhat surprising that they would follow you as fervently as they did during your test.  But yours was by far the most transparent leadership in the tournament; you became known for making calm, well-reasoned decisions, and for explaining to everyone at every opportunity exactly what was going on in the war, in every way.  You explained every decision to the public, and they all felt that they understood what was going on with the war, and what was being asked of them, and why, at every stage of the conflict.  This led to good morale and exceptional confidence in your leadership.”