Chương 100: 3.25 For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield (2:33)

DataDatum Dayum Zeke… GG. TwoGirlsOneCuphead Zeke's about to be told to hold onto some dood's pocket. BlueFish191 HAAA. I love that we'd just spent a bunch of time arguing about whether Zeke secretly has Luck 11, and then the universe immediately responded by dropping a Black Teeth convoy right on top of him.

The Pale guys just fended off an attack, they've got their wounded sprawled about the place, they burned through god knows how much ammo, their defenses are broke to shit, and now the Mad Max cosplayers are rolling over the horizon. RWN Ha, it's funny that luck discourse came up. After reading the last update, I decided that the reason behind Zeke's apparent luck is actually because the Fracture-verse is the sort of grimdark dystopia where everyone effectively has negative luck.

Then Zeke wanders his happy ass in, with his bog standard Earth luck of like zero or one, and suddenly he's the bad thing that happens to everyone else. It's not that Zeke is especially lucky, he's actually got regular amounts of luck - it's just that the rest of the world is cursed towards a bad end and he just isn't. Craaazzzzy The timing is a bitch, isn't it? If the Black Teeth had shown up before the attack, maybe Zeke and the Pale Boys could have organized a better defense and laid down some traps.

If they'd shown up tomorrow, maybe everyone would have had time to reorganize themselves and gotten people fixed up. But NOPE. They showed up exactly when Zeke and friends were at their weakest. HandsWithoutArms | The timing is a bitch, isn't it? | It makes perfect sense if both groups are cooperating. The guy who was screaming at Zeke and knew his name literally said his friends were coming. The porcelain bros got rocked and now they've got people showing up with baseball bats, ready to take a swing.

PaperSnakes Give our boy some credit. He's survived worse situations. You're all acting like this is the end. Need I remind you that Zeke was able to kill the Reclaimer? That's got to be harder than taking out a single Black Teeth convoy. 7Spirals He managed to kill the Reclaimer because he went into it with a plan. He had the glyphs and Milicent working for him. Plus, Crush, Mushroom and I planned the whole thing out. He doesn't have those things now. KnightsWHOsay-NIN-NIN ^7. Zeke is so screwed.

Maybe if he'd been at a different Pale Regiment base or if he had time to prep some glyphs he'd be able to survive. But he's in a logistics hub. Lorem pointed out that it's an important base but it's not where the Pale Regiment put their elite units. What we've got here is a zombie movie where our MC found shelter in a truck stop and he's on the roof and spotted an army of shamblers surrounding him.

All that stands between Zeke and certain death are a bunch of pogues, not the laser-rifle murder squads we all associate with the Pale Regiment. MushroomCleric | The guy who was screaming at Zeke and knew his name | We all skipped over this part. Who was that guy? It was all a bit odd. Yo Zeke, you got any more info on him? He called you out by name which makes me think that you've definitely met him before.

Inkwell He obviously knew Zeke, but Zeke's been making such a nuisance of himself in The MIZ that the list of people who hate him is ridiculously long at this point. There's Corva, the Black Teeth, the Shard Choir, that one guy he flare gunned, a bunch of the Under-MIZ scavengers, and possibly the mayor of the Holdfast. Man… writing all that out makes me realize that Zeke has done a lot in a short amount of time. I'm kind of proud of him. Archer(Diver) The list isn't that long.

We can cut out a few of those names right now. The guy obviously isn't with the Pale Regiment because he wasn't wearing a mask AND he was attacking the base. If the PR wanted Zeke dead, they could have just popped him as soon as he showed up at their logistics hub. It's also most likely not the Shard Choir. He hasn't had the misfortune of meeting them yet. He's heard stories and lore about them, and got warnings from Null, but he hasn't talked about wandering into their territory yet.

Plus, if it was the Shard Choir attacking, we'd see signs of it. It's not like they're subtle. Caboodle | It's also most likely not the Shard Choir. | You sure about that? You sure about that? Zeke did kill their god. I'm just saying. StoryLeech Yea he did… but the Shard Choir wouldn't have sent a guy to stand outside the gates and complain that Zeke should have minded his own business. That's not their M. O. Footballish How would they even know that he killed their god?

It's not like Zeke is shouting it from the mountaintops. StoryLeech There's a couple ways. Scrying. Pathfinding. Psychomancy. A number of other skills that they could have used. If they showed up at where the Janus Storm and the pod were, they might be able to get glimpses of who messed everything up, and then tracked Zeke down that way. Deatstroke It is the gangster from The MIZ isn't he? Gotta love how petty he is. Guy has a one sided nemesis relationship with Zeke.

"When Bison graced your pitiful village it was the most important day of your life, but for me? It was Tuesday." PaperSnakes | It is the gangster from The MIZ isn't he? | Oh dayum. I wasn't even thinking about him, but not that you brought him up I think you're right. Riley was warning Zeke about how crime was getting worse in The MIZ right before he got kidnapped. She was talking about the gangs getting bolder and more organized and active.

Then Zeke basically shrugged and was like "wow, that's crazy," and got distracted by his belly button or something. PocketMonarch Ooo. I remember that. Riley was waving enough flags to start a parade and Zeke ignored it. You think the Alderman has been building up his forces since then? DeconstructedAntlers How petty do you have to be? If it is the Alderman and he's pissed at Zeke, that's totally ridiculous. What I remember from it was Zeke at the shop and the Alderman coming in and talking with Riley.

Then, when the Alderman told him to leave, Zeke went all Rosa Parks and was like "nah." That was it. That was the extent of their interactions. That's what drove this dood to start an eternal grudge against Zeke. Man… our boy's got the shittiest luck around. MushroomCleric Hmm, there's a bigger question here. If it is the Alderman - and we won't know until Zeke comes back and answers all our questions - then how did he pull all this off? Running a small-time gang in The MIZ is one thing.

Building up an army to attack the Pale Regiment is something else entirely. The Deadlands are filled with dangerous and powerful people, but the Alderman is seemingly taking a step further. He hired enough mercs to assault a fortified military installation, and that would require A LOT. We're talking vehicles, weapons, intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, logistics, fuel, communications, and enough manpower to not immediately get sent packing. Hambones Not to mention the tunnel.

It's established that he knew about the tunnel before he planned the attack. He knew where the hidden entrance was and where it let out. He's got to have a spy inside the Pale Regiment and that's not really something you can put together within a month. TVEye I for one hope it's not the Alderman.

If some no-named local MIZ crime boss somehow managed to recruit an army, infiltrate the Pale Regiment, organized a massive attack, AND brought the Black Teeth into the mix, then Zeke's got an even bigger problem then Corva. Plethora We should all focus on how we can help Zeke survive this. Everyone is talking about who ordered the attack and who Zeke pissed off enough for them to gather an army out in the Deadlands, but it frankly doesn't really matter.

What matters right now is that Zeke is stuck in a Pale Regiment base with a convoy breathing down his neck and no plan on how to live to see tomorrow. IridiumSky There's exactly two ways out of this. Pray for regiment reinforcements, or Rockstar magic. I don't know what flavor. But it's gotta be Rockstar. There's not enough time for truly crazy siege grade glyph arrays. InnerMarrow Nah Plethora.

Figuring out the who and why of the attack is incredibly helpful to Zeke, especially since IMHO having mercs attacking the Pale Regiment is a pretty dumb idea. Seriously, think about it for a moment. The Alderman walked up to the gate and practically held up a sign that said "we planned this all along," and he was bragging about it to Zeke. Why would he do that? That's classic villain monologuing. It's the kind of thing Binary would do. What does it serve to do that?

More to the point, why attack the Pale Regiment at all? If his goal was to capture and kill Zeke, then that's an incredibly inefficient way to go about it. It's way too complicated and stupid. If it was me and I wanted to kill Zeke, I'd just wait for him to leave the base. I'd put some vehicles out on the roads, set up an ambush somewhere out in the Deadlands, and grab him when he was trying to make his way back to The MIZ. The Alderman's got mercs and vehicles and intelligence assets.

Surely kidnapping a single bartender out on the road is easier than storming a military base. ShivSays | If his goal was to capture and kill Zeke | I'm thinking that's not his only goal. The timeline doesn't support it. Remember when Zeke was talking with the two PR officers and they mentioned they'd been out in the Deadlands for a while looking at cult activities and hijackings? They were already getting targeted in the region before Zeke even arrived at the base.

That means Zeke was more a target of opportunity rather than the main objective. The Alderman might hate him enough to kill him if given a chance, but it doesn't mean the whole plan revolves around him. CrushDaddyXx | We should all focus on how we can help Zeke survive this. | Zeke needs to Leonidas this bitch up. Get everyone armed, put Jackie and Elnor up on the walls, and make a heroic stand that people will be talking about for generations.

Hopefully the Pale Regiment come through with some reinforcements when they hear a base of theirs has gone dark. SignalLoss I'm thinking the situation is more like Starship Troopers. You remember the scene at the base where they find out that the brain bug was inside the soldiers and it made them call for reinforcement? That's what this feels like. The Alderman laid out a trap and caught both Zeke and the Pale Regiment in it.

The only difference is that instead of giant alien bugs, we've got a convoy filled with lunatics with trucks and machine guns. SteelResolve OOO YES ZEKE! This is exactly what I've been asking for. Sorry I doubted you. Gimmie the action. The defenders are exhausted, the wounded are piling up, the perimeter is broken. Everyone can see the next wave coming over the horizon and they don't know if they'll survive. This is the time that makes heroes. I'm picturing Zeke standing on the battlements with his guitar.

Jackie and Elnor are unloading on the enemy. Zeke is belting out Dad Rock while we get the biggest battle in the story so far. YESSSSS!!!! GIVE THEM THE RIFF ZEKE! You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. SoluneX Man, Null and Binary really dropped the ball here. They told Zeke to head to the Pale Boys which was basically covering him in honey and dropping him in a bear's den. Every bad thing that's happened since Zeke got to the base is their fault. NullSigil??

Uh, excuse me, but I'd like the record to reflect that I was NOT pushing for Zeke to head to the Pale Regiment. Pretty sure it was only Binary who was giving him that advice. Looking back on it, that should have been giving off immediate red flags. Binary has a long and distinguished history of providing advice that results in Zeke nearly dying. StoryLeech That's how I remember it too. Dammit Binary, why are you up to your old tricks again? ReCoil44 Indubitably. JimothyTheBarber I am SHOCKED at the slander Solune.

How dare you misdirect your anger at Null. We all saw the thread. We all saw the posts. The evidence is right there in front of you. It was Binary who got Zeke into this mess. Inkwell | I'm thinking that's not his only goal. | I'm with Shiv on this. Nobody commits that many resources to kill one man. Zeke getting caught in the middle of the fight is just a bonus for the Alderman. Castellan_Mike (Primary) I'm keen to agree with you. Let's assume for a moment that the guy outside the gate really is the Alderman.

We don't know that for sure, but it's the best theory we've got so far. If he is involved, it would be stupid of us to treat him as merely a small-time criminal. Everything we've heard about him in the story so far suggests that he was building influence in The MIZ in the background. Riley warned Zeke and there was talk of the Alderman gaining some power and influence.

If he really is building an army - and building relationships with the Black Teeth - then it's logical to assume his ambitions extend a bit beyond just being a local warlord. The Pale Regiment is one of the largest organized powers in Frontiers. They protect trade routes and settlements, operate logistics networks, and project military force throughout the region. Anyone trying to build a rival power structure eventually runs smack dab into the middle of them.

It's impossible to try to gain power without dealing with the one group that has all of it in Frontiers. While I think that people are right in that revenge does play a part in the Alderman going after Zeke - the man was certainly angry enough when he was yelling at him - revenge alone doesn't explain the scale of his ambitions. Hiring mercenaries, teaming up with the Black Teeth, and attacking the Pale Regiment doesn't make sense if you're purely focused on a single bartender.

ClickWhirr You're thinking that he's making a play to be the big swinging dick of the Deadlands? Castellan_Mike (Primary) Essentially, yes. If you're trying to establish yourself as the major player in the region, then you're going to have to go after the Pale Regiment. The smart play isn't to challenge them to a single decisive battle. No matter how many mercs the Alderman has hired, and no matter how long he's been planning this, he can't expect to match up to the Pale Regiment in terms of resources and guns.

It would be smarter to stretch them thin. Force the Pale Regiment to spend resources on defending everywhere, and then attack their isolated patrols and bases. Spread rumors about cult activity, hijackings, and violence throughout the Deadlands, and force them to send investigation teams out that you then are able to attack and kill. Eventually, they lose enough soldiers that their influence weakens and gaps appear, and you can start picking away at them.

MinMaxMike Okay, that's cool and all, but how does it help Zeke? I'm with Plethora in that we should all be talking about how to get Zeke out of the danger zone. Saying the Alderman is challenging the Pale Regiment is good lore dropping and worldbuilding for Zeke's fic, but it doesn't really help him defend himself. Castellan_Mike (Primary) True. But I've got a plan to help Zeke. I will ask for advice in helping iron out the details. I'm not like some people who think they've got everything worked out perfectly.

ZEKE, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, START HERE. You are currently in the middle of a Pale Regiment base with a massive convoy headed your way. Anyone pushing for you to stay inside the base and make a glorious last stand is advocating for you to die. Under normal circumstances, I might agree with the idea of trying to hold the base. One of the oldest rules in war is that walls multiply the strength of the defenders.

Depending on the terrain and the walls and the quality of defenders, attackers should expect to need 3 people for every defender if they're pushing to overrun a fortified base. Every strategy game ever made teaches that less. You put your units behind cover and they become much harder to kill. The problem you face is two fold. First, the Black Teeth have much more than 3 attackers for every defender in the base. Second, that advice only applies when the defenders are fresh, organized, and well-armed.

You are none of those things. The Pale Regiment has already fought one battle and they took some damage. They don't have a bunch of weapons, the walls have been damaged, and the leaders just found out that someone might have sold information to the enemy. So, what do you do? The first thing you need to do is to understand the Black Teeth as more than just a collection of vehicles. Don't look at the convoy and think of it only as a few motorcycles, trucks, and technicals.

The convoy system is a weapon system, and you need to treat it as such. It's more than the sum of its parts because all those individual vehicles combine together to create something truly dangerous. Back when Null was your primary and he was telling you about the dangers of the Deadlands, he rightfully emphasized the Black Teeth. Their people live and die on the convoy. They organize their entire society around their vehicles.

The easiest comparison to make is that they are Mad Max villains, but even that doesn't quite capture what they are. They are a migratory war machine moving through the Deadlands in the same way that a locust swarm moves through a farm. They arrive, consume, destroy, and move on. What makes them dangerous is not the individual vehicles, but that they work together. Their convoy gives them speed, flexibility, and initiative.

If you have ever played any RTS ever made - Company of Heroes, Steel Division, Total War etc - then you might know what I'm talking about. Initiative is the most overpowered thing in a battle. It is all about controlling the pace of the battle and making the enemy react to you. Someone with initiative gets to decide where and when the fighting happens. But more than that, they can also disengage and reposition faster than an opponent can react. The Black Teeth are masters of initiative.

If you and the Pale Regiment decide to stay inside the Devro base, then you're voluntarily surrendering the initiative to the Black Teeth. You're betting your entire survival on the assumption that the base can withstand whatever the Black Teeth throw at you, and that is NOT a bet that I would be willing to make, especially since the base has already demonstrated numerous vulnerabilities. The tunnel was compromised, the perimeter was breached, the defenders were stretched across multiple fronts.

And all that happened against the Alderman's mercenaries. I can guarantee you that the Alderman's people are both less armed and less numerous than what is coming your way. Even if the Black Teeth never launch a direct assault against the base, simply surrounding it is going to cause a problem. The Pale Regiment has wounded they need to care for, damaged infrastructure they need to repair, a finite supply of ammunition, fuel, food, and medicine to work with.

A siege favors the side that prepares for it, and nothing you've said suggests that the Pale Regiment is prepared. So, what am I suggesting you do? A few people on here (Crush and Steel) have brought up famous last stands and pushed for you to reenact them. That's stupid. While a last stand is certainly inspiring and I'm sure there are posters here who would love to see you conduct one, when they are pushing for them they leave out two important details.

The first is that famous last stands are famous because they are exceptional. Being surrounded by superior numbers is NOT an inspiring story about heroism and overcoming long odds. It's a story about losing. Second, people seem to forget that they are called last stands because they are LAST STANDS and they end up with everyone dying. Patton famously said: you don't win a war by dying for your country. You win it by making the other poor bastard die for his. You DON'T need a famous last stand.

You and the Pale Regiment need to preserve your combat power, maintain unit cohesion, and ensure that enough soldiers survive today to win tomorrow's battle. So how do you do that? It's simple, you retreat. You fight a withdrawal through the Deadlands and you run away. If you want a historical example of what you should be doing, look at Xenophon's Anabasis.

10, 000 Greek mercenaries were stranded deep in hostile territory and were forced to fight their way home through a series of withdrawals, skirmishes, and desperate marches. They weren't trying to conquer Persia so much as they were running back to Greece. If you don't like history, try a more pop-culture friendly reference: The Warriors - also based on Xenophon's Anabasis.

It's an old movie about a small gang that finds themselves deep in hostile territory (Manhattan) and they're forced to fight their way back to Coney Island (why anyone would want to go there is beyond me) while dodging every gang in the city. In short, I'm telling you that you need to get your ass out of the base and on the road. That's what both you and the Pale Regiment need to be doing right now. In fact, you should have left a long time ago.

Once you saw the Black Teeth convoy racing your way, your goal should have been to escape from Devro with enough people, vehicles, supplies, and ammunition to reach a stronger position elsewhere. Every minute you spend not leaving, is a minute more that the convoy gets to use to come closer to you. Your first priority right now should be casualty evacuation.

That might now sound important, but the wounded members of the Pale Regiment represent trained manpower, and trained manpower is the single most valuable resource in a war. A truck can be replaced. A rifle can be replaced. A radio can be replaced. But a soldier who knows how to keep a convoy moving through hostile territory at night? A medic who has treated hundreds of casualties? The squad leader who keeps people calm while the bullets are flying and the enemy is charging? That's so much more difficult to replace.

Every wounded Pale Regiment soldier represents experience, institutional knowledge, and skills that took months or years to develop. If I were Vicks or Haynes, my first priority is getting the wounded personnel loaded onto the vehicles and keeping them alive. The second priority should be ammunition, fuel, and medical supplies. Fuel decides how long you travel, ammunition decides how many fights you can survive, and medical supplies decide whether wounded soldiers remain combat-effective or become casualties.

Everything else is background noise at this point. You need to ask yourself a single question: what will help me survive the next hundred miles? Now, I know there will be posters on this forum - and maybe even yourself - who will read this and wonder why I've spent so much time and effort getting you to help out the Pale Regiment. Why am I having you risk yourself and escape with them? Why am I suggesting you make sure they are stronger for the next battle? The answer to that is: I'm not.

I'm not telling you that you need to escape WITH the Pale Regiment. I'm telling you to escape ALONGSIDE the Pale Regiment. Those are two completely different concepts. Your responsibility is not to a bunch of weirdos wearing porcelain masks. You don't have a responsibility to Devro or to preserve the balance of power in the Deadlands or help Haynes solve his spy problem or to defeat the Black Teeth. Your ONLY responsibility is to you. And, to a lesser degree, to Jackie and Elnor.

You are currently involved in a strategic retreat, and throughout history those have always required ruthless prioritization. Every commander who has ever conducted a fighting retreat has reached a point where they've had to do the calculus on what matters and what doesn't. Right now, what matters is you and your team. What doesn't matter is everything else. You don't need to defeat the Black Teeth or uncover the spy or protect the Pale Regiment. You need to survive.

And if the Pale Regiment wants to put itself between you and thousands of screaming lunatics, and if they are strong enough to do so, then that's wonderful. Accept the gift and move on. The good news is that the Pale Regiment - and by extension you - don't need to outrun the Black Teeth forever. You only need to survive long enough to get to where you're going, which should be another Pale Regiment base. This fighting withdrawal is NOT an endless chase scene, it's a race towards reinforcements.

The Black Teeth convoy is currently the most dangerous thing in your small patch the Deadlands, and they're dangerous because of their numbers, mobility, and aggression. But that's not to say they're the most dangerous thing out there. The Pale Regiment is VASTLY more powerful. The reason you're running now instead of staying safe behind some impenetrable walls is because the Pale Regiment that you're currently stuck with are the logistics experts and not the soldiers.

You're not surrounded by elite shock troops with prototype weapons. You're hunkered down with the drivers, mechanics, quartermasters, warehouse personnel, and support staff. That's why staying and fighting is such a terrible idea. If you were in a major Pale Regiment fortress, I'd be telling you to stay there. I'd talk about layered defenses, overlapping fields of fire, and force multiplies. But you're not. You're stuck in a logistics hub.

So you need to get out of there and head to the closest major Pale Regiment base. Everything that you and the porcelain bros do from now on should be focused on reaching somewhere safe. Oh, most important piece of advice. Whatever you do, don't split up. I know that running away in a large convoy might seem stupid. You're wondering why everyone is racing off in a single direction and, wouldn't it be better if we split our forces and went in all sorts of different directions to confuse the enemy? No. That's stupid.

It just creates opportunities for the enemy to defeat you in detail. What that means is that instead of fighting a single large fighting force, the enemy gets to focus on smaller forces one after another. Imagine you're fighting a raid boss. Nobody is going to talk about splitting a forty-player raid into eight separate groups and then sending them after the boss one at a time. That stupidity is exactly what you should be thinking if someone tries to split the group. The Black Teeth would love it if you split up.

Instead of dealing with a single convoy, they get to take out smaller units. Instead of fighting a single coordinated force, they target isolated units. Stay together, stay organized, and stay moving. You need a single convoy and you need to maintain it at all costs. But most importantly, you need to worm your way into its center and stay there. The front vehicles hit danger first, the rear vehicles get isolated, but the middle is where you'll be safe.

You talked about Haynes, the Operations Officers for the base, and everything you said about him suggests that he's at least halfway competent. Thus, he has probably already seen what I'm telling you and is planning a convoy. The wounded will be put in the center along with the command vehicles, and the security elements will race around the perimeter to respond to threats. Everyone will have a role and they'll know their job.

Unfortunately for you, you're with the shit Pale Regiment soldiers and the Black Teeth practically invented convoy tactics. They won't immediately smash into the Pale Regiment and recreate Fury Road. That's not how experienced mobile forces operate. They'll probe, harass, and pressure. Their motorcycles and smaller, lighter vehicles will rush ahead of the main force and check you for weaknesses.

They'll be testing reactions, identifying the weak spots, and passing all that info back to the heavier elements coming from behind. Think of them like wolves nipping at the herd. They won't immediately try to take down the strongest animal in the herd. They'll circle, pressure, create confusion, and wait for you all to make mistakes. They'll weave in and out and try to take potshots.

A handful of fast-moving vehicles are excellent for causing panic and confusion and making the convoy feel surrounded even when a majority of the enemy is miles away. You need to make sure that you don't overreact. And the absolute worst thing you can do - and I can't stress this enough - is to stop the convoy, circle the wagons, and try to fight the Black Teeth. DO NOT STOP MOVING. Let the security elements do their jobs and just keep racing forward. Remember: momentum is life. Initiative is life.

Movement is life. I'll also say right now that the most dangerous thing that's coming up won't be the start of your retreat. It'll be hours later when you've been out on the road and everyone is exhausted. The drivers will be running on fumes, the commanders will be tired, the soldiers will be exhausted, and the convoy will be disorganized. That's the moment the Black Teeth are waiting for. They won't need a single catastrophic error to pounce.

They're goal will be to try and force you all into making mistakes which will accumulate and stack on top of each other. Then, when you're tired and can't go further, that's when they'll attack. Plethora Holy hell Castellan. That's WAY too much information for him to be reading while trying to escape. ZEKE: TL; DR - try to run away. Stick yourself in the middle of the convoy and sacrifice the Pale Regiment if you can. Don't split up and don't try to be a hero. Just try to make it to the closest Pale Regiment base.

NullSigil Oooo… potentially catastrophic news here. I just looked up the geography on the Deadlands map for the Devro base. The closest Pale Regiment base is to the southeast of you Zeke… kinda near the Glens. Uh… good luck. Send us a postcard. Samspeeds Nah dude, Corva is THERE and he will try to kill Zeke. Yapez_Astora I honestly think Zeke should point the Porcelain Faces to Corva's direction, but also that he should go with them. The safe thing to do?

No, but safer than going without backup and there's a lot going on with the Eaters and Corva that we still don't know about. There is potential for Zeke to come out of this little adventure with a lot of precious loot and info that could help him get closer to returning to our world. Saltmines Jeezus. Luck 11.