“Come on, come on you fools! Load the goods faster!” The brigand boss ordered his lackeys.
“I’m goin’ as fast as I can, alright?” The man lugging a huge sack of stolen items griped.
“I know you can go faster than that!” The boss shouted, booting his underling on the backside.
“Jeez, calm down boss!” Another of his minions complained. “Those fancy folk are busy on the other side of that forest. They’ll never reach us before we clear out!”
“Was a stroke of genius, leaving those other blokes behind to stall them.” The other mook marvelled.
“They will be missed. But that just means a bigger cut for the rest of us!” The boss cheered.
“Too right.” The first bandit agreed. “I swear boss, you’re some kind of tactical genius…”
The battle had taken a turn for the chaotic. The blonde-haired bruiser Vaike cut down a brigand, grinning to himself. To the West, the dark mage Tharja dispatched an enemy with her chilling magic. Due North of her, the wyvern-rider Cherche descended on her foes, the veteran archer Virion supporting from the flank. Their formation was scattered, but this was all part of the plan. To the East of what would be the center of their formation, the skilled tactician Robin surveyed the field, watching the battle play out as well as actively participating in thinning the numbers of their foes.
She had enjoyed a meteoric rise in power, and responsibility since she had been found by Chrom on that fateful day. Once a woman with nothing to her name, now a master strategist leading the battle against an entire continent. Even with such weighty responsibilities, that didn’t mean her company didn’t stop to help the smallfolk every now and again. On this day they helped such citizens, fighting to reclaim stolen goods.
But the clock was against them. The convoy of crooks was nearly ready to move out, preventing the Shepherds from recovering the stolen cargo. If they made it down the road, a pursuit would be required, a sacrifice of time they could not afford during the war they fought.
What to do… Robin wondered, scratching at her chin as she schemed. The forest ahead blocked swift access to the fleeing thieves. Only the Pegasus knight Cordelia stood a chance of reaching them before it was too late. Yet sending her in alone would be too reckless. If Robin herself accompanied the red-haired rider, she would be much more confident in their success. But she was too far away to reach her friend on foot.
To her left was Stahl, the cavalier defending himself against one of the stragglers the thieves had ditched. His horse would not make it through the forest easily, but grassland was another matter. With the speed of his steed, he would make it to Cordelia with time to spare.
Robin’s entire plan had been formulated in seconds. Now she just needed to carry it out.
“Stahl! Give me a ride!” She called out.
“Roger that!” He broke off from his fight without hesitation, such was his faith in the Ylissean tactician. The bonds they shared would carry the day, as they had so often in the past.
“Take me over to Cordelia, quickly!” Robin ordered as she pulled herself up onto his horse.
“Right!” He set off immediately, spying the Pegasus flapping in the distance.
“Go around that enemy!” Robin pointed, noticing the hand axe the bandit carried. He was not much of an issue alone, but she could ill afford any delays.
“Cordelia!” Robin shouted, waving at her friend. “I need a lift!”
“You got it!” Cordelia’s Pegasus landed quickly. She waited as Robin jumped off Stahl’s mount, then onto her own.
“Let’s go! Over the forest!” The tactician instructed.
“At once!” With a flap of its wings, the Pegasus took to the sky. As she soared over the trees, Cordelia spied a number of archers with her keen eyes. She would have hesitated to fly over men with such weapons in the past, but she believed her friend Robin knew what she was doing. She had proven herself time and again, after all. She had no reason to doubt the tactician now.
“There they are! Approach from the West!” Robin indicated the shady wagon to her friend. The leader and his three henchmen were the only targets they needed to remove. Working together, she knew that she and Cordelia could prevail. The remaining bandits would not last long against the rest of their allies.
“All right! Get ready!” Her lance at the ready, Cordelia signalled her Pegasus to dive.
“Come on, come on! Hurry it up!” The bandit boss urged.
“I don’t see you loading any boxes, boss.” One of the men grumbled. “We’ve only got a couple left, anyhow.”
“I told you already! I have to keep a watch on how things are going!” The leader snarled.
“Yeah!” One of the bandits eagerly jumped to the defence of his boss. “Without him, we’d have no idea what’s-“
“Hah!” Cordelia shouted as her lance plunged into the back of the bandit. Her Pegasus swooped down so quick it was as if she’d appeared from thin air. The man gargled, dropping his box as the others dived for their weapons. Meanwhile, Robin jumped down from the Pegasus, thrusting her palm towards one of their foes while holding her thunder tome in the other.
“Take this!” She sent a bolt of magic towards one of the bandits, electrocuting him. He dropped while Cordelia pulled her lance out of her own target, both men collapsing to the ground in sync.
“N-no!” The sole surviving lackey whimpered. “Davey! Siebold!”
Siebold? Strange name for a bandit… Robin thought as she took up her position beside Cordelia.
“You had best surrender.” Cordelia said to the bandits.
“We’ve already taken out two of your friends. Do you really want to fight us two-on-two?” Robin taunted.
The leader grit his teeth in frustration, drawing his sword.
“I told those fools to hurry it up…” He muttered to himself.
“No! No! I don’t want to die!” The bandit threw down his axe, fleeing down the road.
“… Now it’s two against one. Still want to fight?” Cordelia asked.
Huh. I guess Cordelia could have handled this on her own. Robin thought, not expecting such an easy win.
“Damn it…” The leading bandit growled, slowly backing away from the two women. Both were obviously skilled fighters. He doubted he could take on even one of them. He needed to retreat somehow. While he edged away, the white-haired woman creeped ever closer, sword drawn and tome buzzing with electricity. Something conventional wasn’t going to cut it this time. He needed a surprise…
The back of his foot tapped against one of the boxes. He had a brainwave, granting him one of the best ideas he’d ever had. A risky move, but he could only gamble at this stage.
Robin was surprised when the man suddenly turned. Having your back to the enemy was ill advised in any encounter. However, she wasn’t about to let an opportunity like this pass.
He’s the last one, and the boss. If I take him out, we win!
The thief searched through the wagon in the little time he had. His original plan was to find a strong weapon, a fancy sword that could turn the tides. When he didn’t find any such thing, he instead just grabbed a small, hand-sized red ball from one of the open boxes, hoping surprise would be enough to save his skin.
In one quick motion, he turned and threw the ball towards the tactician. Robin only registered it an instant before it collided into her forehead.
She let out a startled cry. The bandit thought he had saved himself, moving to escape. But the end of Cordelia’s lance found him, inflicting a mortal wound. At the exact same moment, the ball exploded into a red mist.
“What the?!” Robin breathed, inadvertently inhaling the strange gas. She coughed, covering her mouth to prevent any more of the vapour seeping in. She could only see red, and worried that her opponent had escaped. Hearing the man scream reassured her that he did not make it however, her friend having stepped in.
“Robin!” Cordelia shouted, seemingly from ahead.
What is this stuff? Robin wondered, waving her hand to try and disperse the gas. It seemed to dissipate mere seconds later, the surrounding world slowly revealing itself to her once more.
The first thing she noticed was the thief, lying motionless on the ground. The chest wound he bore was no doubt fatal. She then saw Cordelia stood nearby. Robin deduced that the Pegasus knight must have dived from her mount, in an effort to save her friend.
“There you are! Are you all right?” Cordelia asked, worry abundant in her tone.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Robin reassured her. “There was some sort of smoke, but it seems like it’s gone now.”
“That sure surprised me. I’ve never seen anything like that before!” Cordelia noted.
“Me neither. Whatever it was, I can think of a few tactical applications…” Robin mused. “But let’s not worry about that right now. Thank you for stepping in, Cordelia.”
“No problem. It’s not like you to be caught off-guard like that.” She commented.
“I was careless. Overconfident from how easily we dealt with the others, I guess.” Robin looked to her feet, embarrassed.
Cordelia raised a finger, poised to lecture her friend, but thought better of it.
“You’re safe, and that’s what matters.” She sighed deeply. “Come on, let’s meet up with the others.”
Robin nodded. As she followed her friend, she wondered what exactly that strange object was…
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