Chapter 4: Strategy
Yugi and his friends have reached the Gannet Plains; now they need to find the base where Tea is suppose to lead them. They walk for a few moments until Tea spots what they have been searching for.
"Their it is," she says.
Tea points to a small camp near the shore of the ocean, where man soldiers and equipment reside under a few tents put up.
"Come," Tea continues. "We have to report to Freed right away."
"Who's Freed," asks Yugi.
"General of this outpost he'll give you instructions for your assignment."
The group travels down to the front of the camp site where four warriors of the Exiled Forces stand guard. Tea suggested to the group to stay behind for this official greeting. One of the four soldiers steps forward to greet Tea as they both engage in conversation
"Who goes there," says one of the soldiers.
"Tea and company," she says. "I'm here to meet Freed, the Matchless General."
"Is he expecting you?"
"Yes."
"What's the password?"
Tea gets close to the soldier's ear and whispers something to him, all the while the soldier shakes his head in agreement as if confirming what she says.
"Come with me," says the soldier.
Tea gives the okay for her companions to follow her into the camp of the rebel forces.
As the group proceeds into the camp, they could not help but noticing the equipment in the camp. A few emergency provisions, some Exiled Forces on guard of the camp, and some Ground Attacker Bugroths. The group began to imagine just how small this resistance was. Finally, the group is escorted to a tent where the soldiers opens the curtain and announces there arrival. A warrior with golden hair and armor turns around from his plans of battle on the table and notices Tea arriving though the door. Freed smiles at Tea and proceeds toward him.
"Tea," he says. "You're back."
"Yes," she responds. "And I've brought some company with me."
Tea signals her friends to come in so one by one the three enter the tent. Freed examines the trio and comes over to Yugi.
"So, you're Yugi, the Dark Magician."
"Yes sir," he responds. "I am."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. You have just almost as many tales as I do. Youngest apprentice to ascend awarded for several successful missions during the Omega Wars, voted best battle strategist by the Faithful Guards."
"I've see you've done your research."
"Yes, I make it my business to know my allies or possible enemies."
Freed walks over to Joey and Tristan and continues saying," Yet, I'm not to certain about these two, Tea may I ask you these gentlemen are?"
"Oh," says Tea. "This is Joey, the Flaming Swordsmen, and his partner Tristan, the Cyber Commander."
"Really, what brings you boys here?" he asks the duo.
"Where here to take down Kaiba sir."
Whispering to Joey Tristan say," Not to mention his treasure too."
Joey slightly jabs Tristan in the ribs to not give away there true purpose for their quest.
"I see," says Freed. "Tea must have thought you two would be a big help to this crusade, I just hope she was not mistaken. Yet, we have bigger worries to think about, come let me show you."
Freed leads them to the table where he begins to his explanations.
"I believe it's time to explain just what's going on, but in order to explain that I need to know if you're familiar with the legend of Exodia."
"The Forbidden One," says Yugi. "Yes, who hasn't heard the tale of the unstoppable beast of ages past? He served the gods in the carrying of there wrath, until the Gods decided to go toward a more passive movement. Exodia was then separated into five pieces and then scattered across the world."
"Unfortunately, Kaiba has discovered there locations."
"What?"
"Until now, the pieces had been guarded by the temple guardians of the faith, but Kaiba has waged an assault on the temples and they are weakening. If Kaiba gets a hold of all five pieces he can have the ultimate power at his disposal or even worse the release of Exodia could trigger the next apocalypse."
Freed gives the group a minute to take in the gravity of the situation. While Tea and Yugi took this news pretty well, Joey and Tristan were scared stiff.
"Our only hope," continues Freed. "Is to gather the pieces and keep them safe."
"Why do we have to gather them? Why not take down Kaiba himself?" asks Tea.
"That would prove foolish at this point, he has more power than you could image. Not only does he have knowledge of great and terrible spells, but he controls a force like no other. I speak of, the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
"What?" says Yugi. "A Blue Eyes, I thought they were a myth, not many people have lived to tell of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, let only control one."
"Believe it, Kaiba has it and he uses its power to terrible lengths. I once saw the Blue Eyes in combat, half of my forces were wiped out like nothing to it. That is why we must obtain Exodia."
"Will you try to use its power for yourself?"
"Our resistance is uncertain of anything at this point. For now let's concentrate on getting the pieces. Now, the temples have agreed that they no longer have the necessary power to protect the pieces, which is why we have been asked to seek them out and protect them. Yugi, we are strong, but compared to the Forces of Kaiba, we have little chance to combat them. That is why you must lead a team to recover the pieces and keep them safe, and then we can come up with some way to take down Seto Kaiba. Yugi, will you do it, for the world's sake."
"…Alright, but I get to chose my team."
"Done, I'll show you my best men and you can-"
"That wouldn't be necessary; I have already selected Tea, Joey, and Tristan to continue with me on my quest."
"What?" respond all three of Yugi's companions.
"Yugi, are you certain?" asks Freed.
"Yes, a bond of trust must exist between the team and I trust all three of them with my life."
Yugi trusts me with his life? Joey thinks to himself
"Very well. Now that your team has been selected, I wish to give you this.
Freed hands Yugi a map and continues.
"This map will reveal the location of the temple we have located so far, though for security reasons we have not pinpointed the exact locations. As for transportation, I have arranged Ground Attackers to be used for the long trip ahead."
At that moment, a nearby explosion is heard from the tent. All the tent's occupants vacate then survey the terrain. The Exiled Forces have scrabbled in an uproar as the camp is being bombarded by fire from the sky. A soldier races to Freed and reports to him what has perspired.
"Sir," the soldier begins. "Dragons have begun an assault on the base. They've taken out Ground Attackers and equipment with dragon fire."
"What are we dealing with?" ask the General.
"So far we've spotted Dragon Troops, Lizard Warriors, and Blackland Fire Dragons; I would say about seven hundred strong."
"…Take the Throwstone Units and create a defensive barrier, then gather the remaining Exiled Forces and make ready for a counter assault with what ever we got left."
"Yes sir."
As soon as the soldier leaves Freed turns to Yugi and says," I want you and your team to deploy immediately."
"But your forces are barely a hundred and you plan to take down seven times that many. I know you're strong, but you can't take all of them on. We'll say and fight."
Yugi grabs his side remembering the slight pain that still existed. Tea come to Yugi's side and reminds him of the wound that he endured in the forest of Shad. Tea also cautioned him that if he were to fight now, it might worsen the wound even more.
"You have not choice, you must leave now. Here, I summon forth the winged beasts, Niwatori."
Two slightly cubby bird-like creature with green feathers on there spines and tails appeared to the group in full riding gear.
"These are my best Niwatoris; they'll get you to first temple almost as fast as the Ground Attackers, now go."
"But-"
"Go!"
"…Guys, let's move out."
"Yugi," Joey asks. "We can't leave them here, like you said they can't win this."
"I can't change his mind Joey, we have to go. The more time we waste the more Kaiba is closer to gathering the pieces of Exodia. We have a mission to accomplish just as Freed has his own to finish here."
Yugi passes Joey and heads for the Niwatoris. Joey noticed as Yugi passed by the remorse of that was felt in his eyes. After Joey sees that hint of remorse, he realizes that he must trust Yugi and decides to ride out with him. Both Joey and Yugi select a Niwatori and mount it, Tea rides with Yugi, while Tristan rides with Joey.
"Why do you get to be the driver?" asks Tristan.
"Because I called it first," answers Joey.
"Guys!" says Tea.
"Freed," Yugi says to the General. "These dragons seem too organized to be a random attack. More than likely they have a leader that is manipulating there actions in the heart of the group. If you take the leader out the rest will disperse."
"Thank you."
"One more thing, hold out your hand."
Freed does as he's told and extends his hand. Yugi's hand has a green aura that transfers to Freed the instant he touches Yugi's.
"Use this gift only when you need to," says Yugi. "It can only be used once. I believe it will come in handy when the time comes. Good-bye Freed."
The group of Yugi and friends ride off in the opposite direction of the enemy forces, leaving the battlefield. Freed contemplates on Yugi's gift for a second, but then decides to meet with his troops and stay focused on the battle ahead. Freed rushed to the front line where the last of his forces have assembled to take down the dragon forces who still bombard the camp with dragon fire. Freed gets to the front of his group and assemble the rest of his forces behind him.
"Men," he began. "You are the Exiled Forces, banished from your land by the tyrant Seto Kaiba, but now it is time to show the world just how powerful you really are. As we go into the heat of battle, remember the words of the Gods when they said,' Trust in yourself and in the heart of the power, and good will triumph over the wicked.'"
Freed draws his weapon and watches as the dragon forces begin to draw closer to the camp. Rows of Lizard Warriors begin to make a front, as Dragon Troops take flight; the Blackland Fire Dragons begin to act as artillery cannons, firing out blast after blast. Freed advances his sword and signaling to attack.
"Charge!" Freed says as his troops begin there counter assault.
Freed charges forth as the Lizard Warrior and the Dragon Troops charge as well. Before the blades of either force collide, Freed leaps into the air and lands in the heart of the first row knock the forces down to the ground as the Exiled Forces attack the dragons not in attack mode. As the Exiled Forces clash with the forces of land and air, Freed cuts through line after line trying to reach to heart of the army. A squad of Dragon Troops ties to swoop down upon the General, but is met with another arsenal as Exiled Forces are thrown into the air the Throwstone Units. Line by line, creature by creature, Freed cuts through to find the leader as has forces are weakening quickly.
Suddenly he spots a foreign figure to this group, a Dragon Manipulator riding a gray dragon at the heart of the army, commanding the forces from behind the forces. At the first sight of this warrior Freed proceeds toward the man and his dragon. Watching his forces take on the weakened force, the Manipulator spots the general fighting through his force, getting closer to him. The Manipulator signals his reserve bands to destroy the General, but one by one the General makes quick work of them. Before he gets within five feet of the Manipulator, the General is halted by the arrival of a creature that rivals the power of the Blue Eyes White Dragon himself. The creature was of immense size and its scales glimmered at bright red, its name was the Tyrant Dragon. The manipulator abandoned his gray dragon and rode atop the Tyrant dragon instead. The manipulator commanded it to fire its dragon breath on the field. The General really avoided the fire blast, but its fire swept across the field and continues to destroy countless minions of both factors in its path. Realizing its destructive capability of the Tyrant Dragon, Freed knew that he had no option left, but to hope that Yugi's gift would help. Holding his weapon and hoping to the Gods, Freed charged through the field ready for one last assault. The Tyrant Dragon readied his breath and let loose a flame of immense heat. Freed did not halt, but met the flame head on.
With a great empowerment overcoming the General, the flame's heat seemed minimal. Charging though the flame he felt the power of the bore aiding in his strength, giving him the boost he needed to withstand the flame and cut through the hide of the mighty beast. As the beast fell back dead, the manipulator was thrown off his beast and landed on the hard ground. Before the manipulator could escape, Freed felt enough strength to hold his weapon his neck. With a threatening tone, Freed commanded his captive to surrender. No sooner had he surrendered the remaining forces retreated and left the remaining rebel forces alone. No done with his captive Freed picks up the Manipulator from the ground and hold him up to his face.
"Who sent you?" Freed says to the Manipulator.
"Why should I tell you!" the Manipulator responded.
"If you don't, I make you wish you were dead like your dragon friend there."
"You don't have the strength to finish me off."
Drawing his weapon at eh manipulator's face again he says," Are you certain."
The manipulator did not know if the magic that took down the Tyrant dragon had worn off or if it was still in effect, either way he did not want to take the chance.
"Alright," he says. "I was sent her by Lord Kaiba. His orders were to search and destroy a Dark Magician and anyone else associated with him. That is all I was told, I swear."
Freed saw a small rabble of his remaining forces gathering at his side. He through the Manipulator into the custody of his men and ordered them to take him away.
One of the soldiers came by his side to aid the General in anyway possible.
"Sir," the soldier says." Sir how bad is your injuries."
"Pretty bad," says the general. "I can barely move my body."
"What? I over heard you says you could have destroyed him."
"I was bluffing; I barely had enough strength to take down that dragon."
"I saw that too. What was that power?"
"I never experienced it before, but from what I can tell it was a spell called, Rush Recklessly. It's supposed to increase the user's power exponentially for a limited time."
"How did you get such a power?"
"A gift, that's all I can say. Now, how do we stand so far?"
"We have lost more than eighty percent of our armed forces, provisions have been wiped out, and our transportation stands low at several Niwatori's, in short we're devastated."
"I see…We have to move out immediately, if I know Kaiba, now that he's discovered our ware bouts he'll sent in reinforcement to finish the job. Gather are remaining supplies and the wounded, we head north for reinforcements.
"What about the prisoner?"
"Bring him too. They'll want him for interrogation. Now go!""
"Yes, sir."
Freed yields his sword and surveys the battle scared land. As he watches he thinks, Yugi, you are indeed worthy of your reputation. I'm glad your on our side, but I can't help wondering how they knew you where here.
A shadowy Armed Ninja reveals himself on the opposite side of the field, surveying the path that Yugi went down. After a quick gander on both sides of the field the ninja vanishes into the shadows.
**********
Later, at the grand throne room of Lord Kaiba's castle, the Armed Ninja returns to report his progress to his master.
"So, it seems little Yugi is headed for the Tentil region, they must have sent him to recover the pieces of Exodia, no before I do. Ninja, inform all my forces to be on guard for Yugi, tell them to no under estimate this mage."
The Ninja departs into the night as the Lord of Dragons sits on his throne and contemplates the threat of Yugi.
Yugi, Kiaba thinks to himself. You have survived the review, but now it's time for the real test. I have assembled at great deal of time and effort to gather the pieces, and it will not be destroyed by some mage who thinks he can stop me. I will have Exodia and when I do, all will bow down before the name Kaiba.