“Weird,” Torma said as we entered the large, square classroom.

  “What is?” I asked, scanning the plain room for something of note. There were around twelve tables, each with a stack of paper in the center, and a pot of pencils.

  “Desks are normally lined up facing the front,” he explained.

  Ressa passed us, heading to the back of the room. “Must be group-work. At least we won’t have to listen to Kathar drone on all lesson.”

  She led us to a table in the corner, and the five of us took our seats and waited for the rest of the class to file in to the Military Strategy class.

  The lesson would round out my first cycle at the academy, and mandatory or not, I was rather looking forward to this one. If I could gain an insight into how these people thought, beyond their own greatness, it might help with my escape. And just as importantly, I wanted Earth to be able to protect itself the next time the portal opened. I’d be an old man then, but hopefully I’d could help our military prepare.

  “He’s a bullish fool,” I heard Ressa say.

  Torma laughed. “That’s because you’re crap at Military Strategy. Siladris is a total prick, but you lap his shit up because you’re a good healer and he compliments you.”

  I chuckled at the observation, but apart from a warning glare from Ressa, the conversation ended there as Master Kathar began speaking. He was an imposing figure, wearing, in my opinion, completely unnecessary armor for a classroom. It was polished to such a high sheen that it was hard to look at him when the light caught it at a certain angle.

  Name: Harat Kathar

  Title: Master of Military Strategy, Irala Academy. Marshal of Union forces(Honorary)

  Level: 42

  Class: Warrior/Tradesman

  “How are we today, my worms?” He tapped at his silver-haired temple. “Are your brains working? Are we ready to think outside of the box? Are we ready to move and plan and react?”

  He gestured across the class with a sweeping gesture. “I see strong warriors, muscles twitching, eager to get to the battlefield! Eager to prove your prowess in single combat! But war is not won by strength alone. Strategy is the crucible in which battles are tempered and true victories forged.”

  For some reason, his gaze lingered on our table, and he paused. “Ah that’s right! We have a new addition to our first-year class. I acknowledge our new member, Adam Henshaw. And of a race we have never welcomed to the academy before. How progressive we have become.”

  I kept my face neutral, but I groaned internally. Here we go again. Still, it was better than the alternatives. So I nodded and waved a hand in greeting. “Thank you for having me. I hope not to be too much of a disappointment.”

  A look of surprise with a hint of revulsion crossed his fine features, crystal-clear, gray eyes seemed to cut through me as if looking for something.

  He held that stare for a long moment before he spoke. “We do not have time to retreat on our learning so that you can catch up.” He gestured to the rest of the table. “Your fellow… friends will have to bring you up to speed. If you care about your future here, use your free days to narrow the distance.”

  I would have rolled my eyes at him if I thought his ego could handle it, but I suspected not. So I settled for a slight nod and maintained a stoic expression.

  He moved on, and I relaxed.

  “Today, my students, we will put into practice what you have learned so far. A good opportunity for our new member to witness everything in fluid motion. This will be a common theme for most of our lessons going forward. Situational practice beats learning by rote, and it is not long until the Inter-Academy tournament begins!”

  There was a murmur of excitement from the class. For me, it signaled an approximation of the time I had left here. The time I had to prepare for my escape.

  “Needless to say!” he continued. “I expect you to win, and win comfortably.”

  “We will,” the massive Arun said, thumping the desk in eagerness.

  Kathar gave a satisfied smile. “As you will no doubt have observed, I have arranged the desks into small teams. Each team will all be tasked with addressing the same scenario: planning and executing an ambush against a superior enemy force. There is a map on each table showing the operational environment.

  “What you have is a wide-floored, forested valley characterized by limited visibility and challenging, unpredictable terrain. Your unit is outnumbered four to one and has minimal time to prepare. The opposing force has a thousand soldiers, and they are advancing toward your position with the intent to engage. Their approach will be deliberate and calculated, employing scouts, organized infantry lines equating to approximately six hundred of their force, and support elements, including two hundred each of ranged units and combat mages. Your force of two hundred and fifty will have a similar balance of troop types.

  “Your objective is to devise an effective ambush strategy that leverages the terrain, maximizes the strengths of your smaller force, and mitigates the enemy’s numerical and tactical advantages. Coordination, ingenuity, and discipline will be critical to your success. Now begin!”

  Ressa leaned back in her chair, seeming entirely uninterested with the subject while Ellaazi laid out the map, the most eager I’d seen her. She laid it flat so that we could all see it, and Torma placed his palms down once it covered the table.

  “Right, guys. This is an easy one. It’s a forest, so bigger numbers don’t mean jack shit. I say we pivot to one side of the valley, hide until they come within range, and then rush the bastards. That way, we only encounter one set of scouts. We’ll have the higher ground, and if we if we hit them hard and fast, and get behind them, by the time they know what’s happening, it’ll be too late.”

  “Stupid,” Ellaazi grumbled. “Why risk lives? Just burn the forest.”

  Yoru rubbed worriedly at his temples as if working through some terribly complex equation. In the end, he pointed at Ellaazi. “Your plan will force the enemy to retreat and possibly reduce their numbers if we do it fast enough. I say we do that and then follow in to mop up whoever is left once the fire dies down.”

  “Agreed,” Ressa said, yawning. “Every life we can save on our side is a body to fight another day. Why overcomplicate it.”

  They didn’t even look at me as they chatted among themselves. I studied the map and grabbed a piece of paper. I didn’t need to be involved in whatever plan they presented, but I loved this sort of thing and wanted to create what I would do all the same.

  They ignored me for a while until the fire of their terrible plan died out and there was nothing to do but wait for the teacher to call an end of planning time.

  Torma nudged me with a grin on his face. “You’re taking a lot of notes for a burn out, Adam.”

  I laughed back. “Good one, Torma. But no. I’m planning what I would do. Obviously, I don’t have your wealth of experience from this class, but I love military history, tactics, and strategy. It’s one of the reasons I joined the army once I quit boxing.”

  For the first time since I’d met her, Ellaazi laughed. “Dross portal runt with a mind for strategy. How did that work out for you when you were caught like vermin?”

  Her outburst took the entire table by surprise.

  Ressa was first to my defense. “Ellaazi! That’s so rude. You don’t know anything about Adam’s world.”

  “I know they are weak,” she pointed out.

  I smiled at the continued attack and nodded. “You’re right, Ellaazi. Compared to the Union and its most powerful races, we are weak. For some reason, we don’t have magic, and that makes a huge difference. But that doesn’t mean we don’t understand how to fight, nor how to strategize. In fact, from what I’ve seen at this table, it might make us better.”

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  Torma pointed at me. “Well, I fought you in Martial class, and I saw you against Aeloria, and I think we can all agree you’re not without skills. Whatcha got for us, Adam?”

  “There’s good in both of your plans, but massive flaws too. For a start, how do we start a fire strong enough to burn a wet forest down to the last tree? On Earth, you’d have to use an accelerant for something like this.”

  “See!” Ellaazi snapped, gesturing at me. “He is an idiot. He doesn’t understand magic at all.”

  “So with magic then?”

  Ressa nodded. “It would seem prudent to use magic. Like you say. Fire probably won’t take hold otherwise.”

  “So we have fifty mages creating fire. And they have two hundred mages standing there watching the fires burn. You all know more than me. Can mages put fires out? Could a vastly superior force reverse the flow of fire and burn our people out of the forest?”

  That gave them pause. Ellaazi fell silent.

  Ressa chuckled. “Yeah, you really should have thought about that.”

  “You agreed!” Ellaazi shouted, drawing looks from all around the classroom.

  Ressa whispered back once the heads had turned back. “But I don’t care if I pass Military Strategy.”

  Ellaazi threw a thumb at Torma. “What about his plan?”

  The Grunir was quick to speak. “No, don’t worry about it. I can already see problems with my plan. It was meant to be a starting point, but then everyone ran with hellfire, and it didn’t seem like such a bad plan. Let’s hear what you’ve got Adam.”

  I started by pointing out a few different features in the forest between ours and the enemy’s position. “A smaller force in forest terrain is perfect for guerrilla tactics. If we charge in full-blooded, even from a high point on the side of the valley, they’ll be able to wrap us up quickly enough assuming they don’t send a force along the valley sides as well. Any direct engagement is an absolute no-no. We need to get to work setting traps immediately. Create ambushes at chokeholds.”

  I pointed out ridges and streams that fed the main body of water that cut through the valley. Calling it a river would have been a stretch, but it would come in handy. “We need fall back positions for each engagement we plan. I’m working on the assumption that the enemy will know that they have the greater numbers, and therefore, they’ll be overconfident. And while it’s never safe to assume, in this case, the opposite won’t hurt us.”

  I looked at Torma. “We could use your idea, but with a smaller force of our people as if to attack. If they can give the impression of a larger attack, it will break the enemy formations. If we can use that to get people behind the enemy, then we’re in a better position.”

  I pointed to the head of the valley. “If we can poison the main stream and make sure all of our soldier know only to drink from tributaries, then we might be able to reduce their numbers with that. Preferably something a mage can’t detect or clean when water is purified. Is there anything like that?”

  Ressa shook her head. “Purify water is pretty foolproof. But it’s still not a bad idea as not all mages can do it, and you’ll still get a lot of soldiers who’d drink from the streams without bothering a mage.”

  “True,” Yoru agreed. “That is a very good plan, Adam.”

  “I’m glad we can use it. Then there is obviously the traps I mentioned earlier. This is where we could use Ellaazi’s idea. Burning a whole forest is hard, but if we can lure some of their force into this tributary valley, we can compress their numbers, and then we’ll use Ellaazi’s plan to torch the area. If we have access to accelerants, then it would be worth spiking the area beforehand, and it will make it easier for out mages to get it going and keep it going. There’s also no danger to our people unless it gets out of hand, which is still a possibility.”

  “Is it worth risking then?” Yoru asked.

  “All war is risk. But I’d say yes, because an out-of-control fire is more dangerous for our enemy than us if they don’t know where we are. What we really need to get in our minds is that we are not pinned to this side of their force. We want to set up traps at our end of the valley, but we need to be looking at getting behind them. Doing so makes it harder for them in every possible way. They will have to adopt siege formations to combat us, which reduces their mobility and makes them so much easier to target. It may take five cycles to win, but we haven’t been given a deadline, only a desired result.”

  “That is a dastardly plan,” Torma said. “The boys who are in the decoy force will need some backbone. But I like it. And dividing them and condensing them into small spaces to make use of the fire magic is perfect. We could possibly use a few other tricks as well once they are in that valley.”

  Ressa sat up for the first time and leaned forward on the table. “Well, I have to say, after listening to all three plans, I’m going to change my vote for Adam’s plan.”

  “Me too,” Yoru said.

  “Me three,” Torma added.

  Ellaazi shrugged. “You don’t need me to agree.”

  “Be nice if you did, though,” Torma said, nudging the taciturn nyvren in the ribs.

  “We should set up into twenty-five individual strike units. Same balance so each group has cover in all areas. Six infantry and two each ranged and combat mage. They can come together when it’s time for a decoy force, and split up like sand on the wind when they do their job. Other than that, let’s keep it simple. Hit, run, and use the land.”

  We ironed out some finer details as the lesson wore on, and Yoru took it upon himself to rewrite the plan in neat flowing script with stages and individual actions. It ended up being an impressive document.

  It didn’t take a genius to work out that our group would go last, and I felt oddly tense as the others went to the front of the classroom and presented their plans. I expected a number of the groups to come up with similar ideas and remove the impact of ours. Yet most of them clearly hadn’t spent a lot of time playing strategy games.

  To some extent, both Ellaazi’s and Torma’s plans were laid out by other groups. Some went a little further with ambushes and blockades to make it awkward for the army to pass through the forest. But they all forgot the most important thing, which was to come up with a plan to deal with thinking, re-active enemies. I began to wonder exactly what the hell they’d been taught in this class.

  When our time closed in, Yoru tried to slide the notes to me.

  I stopped him. “Give me a cycle to settle in before I start doing presentations in front of eighty odd Archons who despise me.”

  Yoru nodded. “I understand. It is not easy, and you are still very new. I will do this, but it is your plan and I will give you credit.”

  I patted him on his big shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not here for accolades.”

  The last student sat down, and Master Kathar gestured to our table “And lastly, our eclectic table at the back.”

  Yoru stood, but the teacher shook his head and beckoned him to sit down. “Our new addition can speak. He may learn more by presenting your table’s plans, even if he had no part in their creation.”

  I frowned at him as I took the papers from Yoru. What an absolutely shitty thing to say.

  “If you wish,” I replied and stood, straight-backed, head held high and walked to the front of the room with Yoru’s notes. I scanned the room before I spoke so that they all knew I wasn’t cowed by them, then I set about detailing everything we had written down over the last two hours.

  “Part one: Our troops will set a number of ambushes and traps in these locations.” I highlighted them on the map the Master had stuck to the wall.

  He had asked the other groups questions, but hadn’t interrupted any of them so early. “You have not created a very wide field of ambush or traps, nor are they very advanced from your starting position.”

  I looked over the paper and met his eyes. “I’m not finished my plan yet, Master Kathar.”

  What followed was a constant back and forth, with the Master doing his best to find a flaw in the plan, to trick me and to make me look stupid. The class lapped it up of course with regular snickering and whispering.

  About halfway through my presentation, and with nothing to show for his efforts but to look foolish himself, the questions slowed. The snickering stopped. And by the time I finished our presentation, the class was silent. The Master looked constipated as he tried to come up with something smart that I couldn’t answer.

  “What about prisoners?” he finally blustered out. “Within the parameters of the... scenarios.”

  “There was no requirement in the given scenario to capture people. As a smaller force being hunted, it’s not feasible to capture and store prisoners as a whole. I would of course concede the point that capturing one or two high-value hostages would certainly serve a purpose, but that changes the scenario and the expected outcome.”

  Finally, he gave up trying to trip me up. He looked to the back of the class where my roommates sat, just as wide-eyed as the rest of the class after my comprehensive dismantling of Kathar. “You have done well this lesson. Congratulations on bringing together a high-level plan. It seems our newcomer is in good hands with your group.”

  “It was Adam’s plan,” Ressa replied immediately. “That’s why he could answer all of your questions.”

  Ellaazi sat up straight. “Not just Adam’s plan,” she snapped at Ressa.

  There was an awkward moment between the two women that spread across the room. Torma and Yoru were about to intervene, but Ellaazi continued.

  “He dismantled both Torma and my own plan, and then used what he could from our ideas to make sure we felt included.”

  The pressure eased, and my jaw hung low for the unexpected compliment from Ellaazi.

  Kathar turned back to me. “This was your plan?”

  “As Ellaazi just said, it was a team effort.”

  “That’s not what she said.” Kathar said, a darkening of color in his golden complexion. “Do not play games with me.”

  “I still say it was a team effort. I may have had most of the ideas, but they all helped with the details, and a good plan is only as good as the people around you, listening and agreeing when things make sense. In my experience, most military blunders are brought around not necessarily by the quality of the plan but by the commanders charged with following their plan disagreeing and thinking they know better. We are a group, and it was our plan.”

  He stood for a minute working through my words. No anger was visible anymore. Finally, he seemed to relax. A slight drop in his shoulders, a small crease at the corner of his mouth.

  “Well said, well said, Adam Henshaw. It appears I may have been wrong about you. Where did you learn strategy?”

  Now that was a question that would be hard to answer. In the end, I just went with as simple an explanation as I could. “Books, movies, and games.”

  That answer brought a lot of confused looks with it.

  I tried to elaborate. “I used to consume a lot of information on my planet. We had ways to watch a lot of examples of military strategy, and… I was able to practice in a virtual environment.”

  “I would like to see some of these methods, but for now… well done. I look forward to seeing what you come up with for my next battle plan. I may increase the difficulty!”

  To say I was surprised by the genuine positivity of the man after his initial hostility and rudeness would be an understatement.

  My new friends all felt the same as we left the classroom, with Torma thumping me on the back and very nearly knocking me over. “That was a joy to be part of.”

  “It was,” Ellaazi said, slapping me on the shoulder, far too hard as well. “Just don’t let it go to your head.”

  “I enjoyed that very much,” Yoru boomed from behind me.

  Ressa remained silent, but she smiled at me when I caught her eye. That was enough. I’d proven myself to all of them in the last class, and while I hadn’t come here to make friends, other than to use them to get me home, I found a warmth spreading in me at the moment.