199 Exit Strategy (1/2)
Crazily enough, Chris Pint gave me this information right at the crack of dawn which left me little time to gather my most trusted officers in order to drop this bomb onto their laps too.
”Are we sure the intel is accurate?” Luca asked.
”The Lord of Stars is our ally now, Luca, so why would he feed us bad information?” Aura reminded him.
”Why though?” Ashley asked. ”He doesn't strike me as the helpful type…”
”Perhaps he just wants to mess with you, Commander?” Thom offered.
”Only you would be that unpleasant, Thom,” Thor countered.
”Then let's assume the intel is good, what should we do, Commander?” Varda asked.
”Muddamnit, I hate those Scarlet Moon bastards… why do they always want to complicate things,” Qwipps added.
”And the Lord of Stars is sure it was Ardeen Spellweaver's scent?” Edo confirmed.
”So, my former contractor is back to cause even more chaos,” Azuma chuckled.
I raised a hand to quiet all the voices that, sadly, weren't just in my head.
”Calm down, people,” I ordered. ”We always assumed Garm would try something shady… so let's figure out a strategy before I poof out of the Fayne in…”
I looked down at the timepiece lying on the table we all sat around.
”…ten minutes,” I finished.
Reminding everyone we were on the clock shut them all up.
Varda raised a hand, and I nodded to her to let her know she could speak up.
”Shouldn't we verify the intel, Commander?” she considered.
”Yeah, that's the first thing we're doing, I pointed a finger approvingly at her. ”As much as I like and trust Chris Pint, game-breaking intel like this needs to be investigated… Thom and Thor, you're it.”
The two fairies — who I realized only recently really didn't like each other — sent each other a steely-eyed glare. It was fine by me as I could just encourage them by making this a competition.
”Your two squads are the best we have at gathering information… so I want you both to gather as much of it by the time I get back tonight,” I explained. ”To make it fun, the one who provides the best intel gets a bonus of Leprechauns for their squad when we distribute the rewards from last night's battle.”
This lit a fire in their torches, for sure.
”We should contact the McCords too,” Aura suggested.
”Maybe inform our allies in this army as well,” Edo suggested. ”I'm not sure about Verania Folkor but Albert Sheridan and Dain Hammerhand are in the same boat as us.”
”I can understand Sheridan since he was with Darah's camp too, but why Hammerhand?” Ashley asked.
”Because Grimthorn's loyalty lies with my brother and his council,” Aura explained.
”They don't call him the Hound of Shärleden for nothing,” Edo agreed.
I nodded in agreement. ”Varda, send Fila out to find the McCord twins asap. Then send Nike and Puma out to Al and Dain first. Afterward, Puma can head to Verania and warn her about a possible third party coming to play in this war…”
”Roger, Commander… be back in a jiffy,” Varda said right before she stood from her chair and hurried out the tent.
Luca's eyes trailed after her. ”Are we sure we want to send them unverified info?”
”It may be unverified but there is precedence… the Scarlet Moon interfered in our last war as well using a similar tactic,” Azuma reminded Luca. ”It's not a stretch to consider they might try something similar again if there was someone willing to assist them in their endeavor…”
”It won't be Lord Rah either,” I said. ”That dude's got the pride to match his title. He won't accept help from a third party… no, if there will be a betrayal, it'll come from our own side.”
”Well, muddamn, don't we all know a disgruntled great general who is slowly being ostracized by the ruling council?” Qwipps asked, rolling his eyes as he did.
None of us bothered to answer him although we all agreed. If anyone would betray anyone, it would certainly be Garm.
”Declaring himself against the council and Patriarch is a big risk,” Aura mused out loud. ”He would lose everything in this gamble… his title, his lands, the years of trust and honor he's built…”