Tales of Soweiland: Sowei Revolution

Final Day

Upon the hill across the castle, where Kewmed's  camp once stood, now stands another. 

Leo's revolutionary force now consisted of over a thousand men and women, ready to fight for their destiny, but among their ranks was a spy of the King.

Hidden, away from the rest of the revolutionaries, Tomas Gaspar, under the alias Thomas Gardner, had just now gotten on the line with his father, all the way back in Vienna.

"The situation is dire, father. The revolutionary force is far bigger than we anticipated."

"And you waited until now to tell me? You are lucky I am still at home."

"They only amassed this many people yesterday, father. Even this police chief you appointed has joined them."

The king let out a long sigh from the other end of the line.

"Have you any good news, at least?"

"All other members of the police force have been assimilated into the royal guard division stationed here, but two who were killed. We are numbering around 650 manpower. But, we will need more. bring at least 1000 more men with you, we should at least have the numerical superiority that way."

"Very well. I trust you will do whatever you can to sabotage them. Don't disappoint."

Before Tomas could reply, the call was terminated. He put the device in his shirt pocket and walked back to camp.
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Inside the camp, in the officers' tent, Leo was panicking. He was walking laps around the roundtable, his hands behind his back, head looking at the dirt.

AJ and Tom were also in the room. AJ was tiredly looking at Leo, practically asleep on the table.

"What's up your arse, mate? Isn't everythin' going according to plan?" He asked Leo, then yawned.

"No, everything is NOT going according to plan! In fact, we have no plan! I'm supposed to give a speech in two hours and I have no idea what to say!"

"Then just call the other idiots here so we can do a meeting."

"I can't! Banner is still doing inventory, Roufail is off doing something with Renée, and O'Lop ... wait a minute..."

There was an awkward pause. Tom and AJ exchanged glances.

"Why exactly aren't you doing inventory with Banner?" Leo turned to AJ and asked. 

AJ had passed out from exhaustion on the table.

"Useless." Leo muttered. He then picked up a walkie-talkie. "Can the senior officers report to the tent already?  And someone bring a bucket!"

A couple minutes later, everyone had gathered around the roundtable. Leo emptied the contents of the bucket on AJ's head and then hit him with it, waking him up.

"Oh what? Can't a guy get a nap around 'ere?"

"No. So... Renée, why are you here? You're not a senior officer." 

"Can you just tell us what you want instead of asking pointless questions?"

"Fine. We need a battle plan. Yesterday."

"I've got a plan." Banner quietly said. Everyone looked at him.
___________________________________________

 The time for Leo's announcement had come. Everyone had gathered at the big tent. Thomas Gardner, standing at the back of the tent, had enabled a voice recorder on his device.

"Alright everyone listen up. The time has come to take matters into our own hands! Tomorrow, you'll all be separated into four groups!" Leo began. Banner whispered something in his ear. "Divisions? Oh what's the difference? Fine. You'll be separated into four divisions. Happy?" Banner nodded.

"You'll be lead by these four gentlemen." Leo pointed towards the four veterans of the old rebellion. "And here's how this will go. Since some idiot we won't name really wanted to try and talk to the King, he'll go inside, and when he gives the signal, from four different directions, we attack! You guys will have to kill as many of the king's guys as possible. I suspect we also have the numbers advantage, so this should be easy." He went on. "Meanwhile, me and some elite fighters will go in and face the king. Once he goes down, so does his army!"  

"WE'LL CUT THAT WANKER'S FACE OFF!" AJ yelled from behind Leo, and the whole crowd started cheering. "WE'LL RIP OUT HIS MUSTACHE HAIR BY HAIR!"

Leo pushed AJ away. "Any questions?" he asked the crowd.

Steve raised his hand. 

"What is it now, Steve?" 

"What about the King's superpowers?"

"Yeah of course YOU believed that, Steve. He has no powers."  Leo told Steve. 

'Hopefully, if he does have powers, immunity to stab wounds isn't one of them' Leo thought to himself.
___________________________________________

After the speech, the senior officers regrouped at their tent, and AJ fell asleep again.

"Oh, by the way." Leo turned to Roufail and Renée. "What were you two doing earlier?"

"Nothing really." Renée said. "Just about how we're going to face the king together. He's too weak to go alone."

Lucius overheard this. "What? You will not, young lady! It is too dangerous."

"I know that, pops! But that monster killed my mom, alright? I'm going, and you can't stop me!"

"Vey well." Lucius said. "Be careful."

"Psh, don't worry Mr. Pascal. I'll be there too!" Roufail said.

"That's...reassuring."  

In another corner of the tent, Tom and Banner were talking.

"Great job with the plan, bro. Didn't know you had it in you." Tom told Banner, who nodded, accepting the praise.

"We'll show these punks what we're made of, ey?"

"Precisely!" Said O'Lop, joining the conversation.  "I have been training my hammer skills!" He announced, swinging his hammer around. "They will regret the day the joined the king's ranks!"

"It's good to see you are excited for tomorrow." Robert said. "But this isn't a fun excursion, it's war. Many people will die. So make sure you give your best out there."

"Yes, sir!" O'Lop and Tom said in unison, prompting Robert to chuckle.

Meanwhile, Leo had drifted into thought again. He was approached by General Starman.

"It is very admirable of you, to take the responsibility of leading a revolution." He said. 

"Thanks." Leo said.

"Are you ready for tomorrow, son?"

"I still can't believe it. This really is it. It's now or never. It's all going so fast! What will I do when all this is done?"

"You will find your calling. But it's best not to dwell on it too much. You should get rest, clear your head. Leading an army requires the leader to be ready both physically and mentally."

"Thanks you, General." 

Leo said, and then proceeded to follow the advice, and went to get a good night's sleep.
___________________________________________

The king arrived at the castle of Sowei City late at night, flanked by his assistant and 1000 armored men. He glared at the camp atop the hill. 

As he entered the castle doors, his eyes started glowing dark purple.

"Assistant, go brief my armies on the defense plan. It's time these ants learned their place."