originally posted in:The New Dojo
"Xander, good to see you again." [i]Alric smiled brightly, walking toward the table as the dojo warriors spread out through the room. They took positions here and there, hands on their weapons and ready if anything were to go wrong. [/i]
"You must excuse the... Precautions that my men are taking. You can never be too certain of something." [i]Alric gestured around, before extending a hand to Xander himself. [/i]
English
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"I trust that they still have good intentions. I know that you do, though." [i]Xander gripped Alric's hand after removing his glove, as Knight-Commander Sirius would take a seat at the end of the council's stone table. Elina would only nod her head towards Xander, who after breaking his handshake with Alric, would bow his head towards her.[/i] "Elina. I never thought.." "[i]Yep[/i]." [i]She blushed a little, only to smile.[/i] "Alric, didn't mention this, but.. served under Xander. Xander the Slayer." "Ugh, that stupid nickname.."
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"You two have some sort of... history?" [i]Alric asked with a soft chuckle, looking between the two of them.[/i] "Ah no matter, I'm more concerned about what you slew. What did you kill that earned you the name?"
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"Men." [i]Both spoke at the same time, while Xander said it in a nonchalant, almost saddened manner. He understood war's loss, it seemed.[/i] "Not my proudest achievement," [i]He murmured.[/i]
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"I understand where you're coming from, Xander. I earned the name of Bloody Witcher for killing my fellow Witchers..." [i]Alric shook his head sadly, spacing out. [/i]
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[i]Understanding that sort of trouble, Xander would bow his head towards Alric yet, sighing a little.[/i] "No matter. The past is left within the past. Come, we should sit down, so that the Knight-Commander may begin."
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"Oh, he's beginning is he?" [i]Alric chuckled, taking a seat in one of the chairs around the table.[/i] "I meant no offense, of course." [i]Alric nodded his head at the Knight Commander apologetically. [/i]
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"Don't think he heard you still," [i]Xander would then murmur, though he would sit down as the commanding officer at the end of the table would continue to stand, waiting for a few others to sit as well.[/i]
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[i]Alric drummed his fingers against the table, whistling a tune. How often did he do that? It seemed as though when whenever he could, he drummed his fingers against something... [/i]
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[i]Sirius would direct his attention to Alric, then, to start off.[/i] "Sir Alric, before we begin - if you had any operations set, in order to counter the enemy.. please, speak now."
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"Indeed, I did have an idea. It would require the bulk of your forces to draw the Sand Warriors attention. While the Trayvern forces, and my own dojo forces, ride around from their flank and assault from behind." [i]The maneuver was a rather simple one, though it would certainly be a costly one if the Sand Warriors became entrenched in the Tribune lines. [/i]
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"A scissor. Very well." [i]Sirius manually moved the Tribune pieces of the map, representing the host of the Tribune, into a large canyon.[/i] "This is where we believe their forces to be meeting. The Black Valley. Their encampment appears to be underground, but you will have enough time to circle around, once the enemy's scouts are safely eliminated."
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"Are there any side entrances into these caves? Perhaps an area where we could dispatch a small amount of troops to assault through the tunnels?" [i]Alric traced his finger across the map of the Black Valley. [/i]
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"There are, though the tunnels are rather deep. We haven't planned to infiltrate the tunnels for that sole reason: whatever lies underneath, should remain undisturbed." "Whatever lies underneath?" [i]Elina murmured, in a slightly confused manner.[/i]
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"You mean to tell me that there is some kind of beast in those tunnels?" [i]Alric looked to Sirius, clearly stunned by what the man had said. [/i] "Perhaps... Perhaps it would be best if we drew them away from the Black Valley entirely. So as not to rile up whatever this beast is."
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"...There are labyrinths. Dark tunnels that lead into the corrupted past of Rivelria's people. Witchcraft, sacrifices, and worse still. I would not send you to your graves." [i]Sirius stated, in a clearly stern manner. Yet a fearing one, too. Alric could offer to take the chance, still..[/i]
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"No, no. Do not misunderstood me, ser. I realize what you are saying, and what I wish to say is perhaps we should not fight them in the Valley at all. We draw them away from the valley, and those caves entirely. [i]Alric defended himself, closing his hand into a fist and looking at the Knight Commander. [/i] "If we have any reason to be concerned for witchcraft that could tip the battle into their favour, we should not give them that advantage."
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"This witchcraft would create chaos amongst both forces, if anything. We cannot allow our alliance to crumble so easily, though we cannot drive out the enemy so easily either. Unless they thought that we were sieging.. or attacking.." [i]Sirius clenched his fist then, as he moved the fists of the Tribune and the lions of Trayve over to the right of the Valley, to a plain with another fortress.[/i] "A supply train runs from the valley to here. This is where their loot goes, we presume.. slaves, gold, weapons.. we could siege and perform a rescue operation, perhaps? Though we'd end up killing our own troops if it went wrong.. Nonetheless, we would easily draw them out if we cut off supplies."
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"If it went wrong..." [i]Alric thought of the potential losses of a large scale operation such as this going wrong. Sirius was right of course, it would be extremely costly to all parties involved. But it had to be done. [/i] "I doubt it will. We have some of the greatest commanders I know of leading the charge." [i]Alric nodded at Sirius and Elina, clearly referring to the two of them for their respective sides. [/i]
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[i]While Sirius seemed to respect the compliment, Elina would only nod, seeming a little more concerned about her military expertise than usually.[/i] "We should be able to succeed.. should." [i]She muttered, sighing to herself.[/i]
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"We will." [i]Alric looked to Elina, smiling sadly.[/i] "But this is war, and in war you must expect the unexpected. In this battle, we must be prepared for anything that these Sand Warriors might do... WHICH... Include their winning."
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[i]Sirius nodded at that.[/i] "Indeed. We're too imbedded in this desert.. yet stockpiled with black powder. Destroying the whole fortress, endangering the lives that would choose, intentionally or not to stay.. and such usage of a limited resource.. yet better than allowing the warriors of the sand to take the fortress as their own." [i]He sighed, while Elina was studying him silently, alongside Xander. They seemed.. heavily focused, upon the knight.[/i]
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"Do you have any solution?" [i]Alric noticed Elina and Xander's looks, but for the most part ignored them.[/i] "Or do we simply defend so well that they never enter our fortress in the first place?"
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"That would be the initial plan. There are escape tunnels, as well.." [i]Sirius sighed.[/i] "The tunnels would be our best bet, unfortunately. Tragic, to rely on cowardice if we were the losers, yet.."
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"There is no cowardice in living to fight another day." [i]Alric shot a look at the Knight Commander, his fingers coming to a sudden halt from their drumming. [/i] "It may dishonourable, but it is not cowardly. Do not mistake the two. Tactical retreats are sometimes necessary for a battle. Especially in war times such as these."
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"Very well. We escape through the tunnels. Then.. detonation." [i]Sirius's left fist would tighten a little, the gloved fingers digging into his palm. It was more than clear that he was determined to be victorious - that he would die, for this cause. The Tribune were rather passionate.[/i]