The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 198

Part 27

“Your leadership was unshakably positive and optimistic, you endeared yourselves to the people of every race to a surprising degree, and you inspired them. Unsurprisingly, the youth of Kellaran were your strongest supporters.

“Your command was characterized by very quick and inventive thinking, wise delegation of duties, and one of the most aggressive military strategies of any team.

“You attacked almost immediately with gods and Strike Wizards. You correctly evaluated the enemy’s strength within a few hours, and knew that a quick and sudden victory was not in the offering. By carefully and gradually deploying, you fought a tenacious and continuous battle with the demons almost all the way to Kellaran. Doing so denied your people as much time to develop their capabilities as they had under some of the more patient teams, but that was balanced because you fought an effective war of attrition, and by the time the demons were close enough to attack Kellaran, there were fewer of them than in any other team’s scenario. Another fact is worth noting; until the demons reached the inner worlds and you attacked them with the warships of Kellaran and the Triax, not one single life was lost among our alliance.”

He went on to outline their war in greater detail as the Revealing above displayed it, then concluded their presentation.

“Know that the placing of the final teams was largely decided by how many of our people were killed, how much of Kellaran’s surface and oceans were destroyed, and how much destruction of The Triax’s major vessels occurred.

“All of the top five teams, including yours, had very similar results. All of you lost less than one in two thousand persons in achieving victory. The differences in the second through fifth placed teams’ results were so slight that they might justifiably be attributed to random chance.

“You came very, very close to achieving outright victory in this tournament. The teams who placed ahead of you include many members of long-lived races with many millennia of experience, and you have almost matched them.

“You should take great pride in your achievement, for it is incredible in the estimation of any thinking being.”

“Thank you.” Six said for his team, and they were given an enthusiastic ovation by everyone there as they bowed first to Pakdag, and then to the gathering.

Fourth place was won by the team led by Prince Jaromer of Thon and composed of the elite of the elven race, along with select members from other races. Third place was taken by a team led by Tithian and others of the Senate of The People of Morning, and included the elite of the other Xervian races from The Grand Council of Xervia, and a few from other races. Second place went to the team of Somonik and some of The Ninety-Nine, with a few members from every other race.

Despite their diversity, each of those teams was dominated by the character of their leader, and of their leader’s race. All three enjoyed strong support and good morale. All three of their races were well-known to be devastating in warfare, which helped their popularity. The elves and the unicorns were also globally popular and trusted due to their consistent records of just behavior and non-intervention with other races. While dragons weren’t nearly as well-liked as those two races, Somonik’s personal appeal as a great leader with a record of many millions of years of just behavior, self-sacrifice, and wise decision-making overcame his team’s lesser overall popularity.

The close similarity in those three teams’ results were unsurprising once it was realized that they had played with very similar tactics and strategies. All three had been among the most conservative and least aggressive teams, patiently building their capabilities and biding their time until the most opportune moments to strike. In point of fact, they had all used the same strategy that The Kellaran-Triax Alliance actually planned to use against the demons in reality. The differences in their command styles and abilities, and the differences in peoples’ response to them, were not great enough to make a significant difference to the outcome.

“Now, regarding the winning team; I do believe that a bit of suspense is in order.” Pakdag finally said with an uncharacteristically mischievous little chuckle as the great Revealing began diagramming and showing highlights of the best performance.