The Achievement Junkie

Though time passed Jack was still unable to decide what was right and what was wrong. Eventually, the first girl poked her head out of the tent, curious about the tired looking Jack.

Whenever she asked him what was wrong he only said that once all the girls were up they would call Rydel and everyone would discuss the plan.

With that being said, Eliza took the initiative to make a wake-up call and bring everyone to the camp's center. Once Rydel joined them, all eyes were on Jack.

"Just so you guys know, we're going to have to delay this army for five days while Trodar tries to put an army together. If we can't do that, then Trodar's in trouble."

"Are we getting any help from Tralon?" asked Keela.

Jack shook his head. "Sadly, he can't. If he was caught doing that then Trodat would break the war pact and that could lead to who knows how much chaos. We'll have to work without him for the most part but we don't have to fight the army directly. We'll just use delaying tactics in order to waste their time and hopefully give Tralon enough time.."

"And what tactics would those be?" Daliea stared curiously at Jack.

During all this Rydel remained quiet but his passionate stare gave the girls a sense of disapproval.

"Since all we have to do is delay the army, that's all we're going to do. Our first course of action will be to destroy any food or supplies that we can, forcing them to wait longer for the next shipment to arrive. Then, we'll target those shipments instead of targeting the army directly. By doing that we should be able to buy at least five days if not a week. Also, it'll be much easier to deal with smaller groups than the entire army."

"Or we could just kill the general and escape."

Again Jack shook his head. "Rydel, we talked about this. Were not going to use sacrificial tactics when we don't have to. If there's a way for every one of us to come out of this, then that's what we're going to do."

As Keela and Eliza nodded, Daliea squinted. "Well… With my illusion magic an assassination might be very possible… We might even be able to--"

"I've already decided that there's no assassination. Just stick to the plan and we'll be able to hold out," refuted Jack. "But like you suggested, you and Rydel will be key to this plan, Daliea. You two will be the ones to infiltrate and destroy all supplies you can before escaping. Then we can just monitor the situation and target any incoming companies of soldiers with the new supplies."

"It's not like that can't work, but wouldn't assassinating the general be faster?" She tried to sound considerate toward Jack but Daliea's experience made her feel that Rydel's idea would be far better. "Both plans would work and I'll go along with whatever you decide, but I do agree with Rydel that killing the general would just be better."

Frowning, Jack looked to the others at the table. "What do you two think?"

Keela shook her head. "I don't know what to think because I'm new to this. I've never been in this kind of situation and I honestly don't know which would be better."

"Same. Both ideas sound possible, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice anybody so I think we should go the safer route," added Eliza.

"I feel the same way," sighed Jack. "You two may not think it's the best idea but it will get the job done and I stand by it. "

With a shrug of his shoulders, Rydel chuckled a little bit, defeated. "Since you're finally standing up for yourself and your ideas than I guess I'll go along with it."

"Just tell me what to do and I'll try to make it happen," said Daliea with a smile.

Feeling a bit better about himself Jack sat a little bit straighter. "Rydel already knows the layout of the camp and he'll talk with you about which paths you should and shouldn't take. What I want you to do is be in charge of the escape, ensuring that both you and Rydel can get out of their alive. Most soldiers won't be a problem but it would be best if you can leave without any fighting involved. What do you think would be best given the layout of the camp, Rydel?"

"If she can make a distraction of some kind, then I know I'll be able to get inside and destroy all the rations. As for their supplies, I can destroy the extras they have laying around but most of the soldiers keep their equipment on them or inside their shared tents," replied Rydel.

"And… What if we found a way to set fire to said tents?" asked Daliea.

Everyone paid close attention to the beautiful goblin's strange smile. They started to think about the idea as Rydel asked, "Wouldn't they be able to stop the fire before it got out of hand? Or do you know a spell that they can't trace back to you?"

"It wouldn't be too hard if we recruited Bowzer as well," added Daliea. "If you guys can pull off the same stunt you did at the goblin city, then wouldn't he be able to ravage the tents and set everything ablaze?"

"Maybe… but I don't want to give away that we're the ones doing this if we don't have to. And if they recognized him as a Hell-flame Fox, that would be the same as admitting I was here," argued Jack.

"Maybe, but what if Bowzer controlled his size and stayed small like he did when he was testing his fire back in the courtyard? Wouldn't he be mistaken for some other kind of fire-related fox?"

Before Jack could reply, Rydel stood up in excitement. "That would be perfect! While I destroy the rations Bowzer can destroy the barracks, then they'll be left even more miserable than we had thought possible."

"But what if they decide to invade early because of that?" Jack slowly stood up to meet Rydel's gaze. "If that happened, then their invasion would be on our hands and our fault. And we all know that we can't stop that big of an army, so why should we risk that?"

"Jack, I know it sounds risky but it's worth it," stated Daliea. "What if we did that but we only burned the Sandros army and not the Limneer army?"

"What do you mean? Why not the other way around?" asked Rydel. "If we can burn the Limneer army and blame Sandros for it, then Sandros wouldn't involve themselves any further in the war."

Rydel reasoned, "If we really tried we might even be able to convince Limneer that Sandros has partnered with Trodar. Then they would never team up again…"

Suddenly, the new riskier plan started to sound more attractive to Jack. "Okay, then let's think this through a little bit more. How exactly are we going to blame Sandros for burning down and destroying all the tents that Limneer has? And how will we give off the idea that Sandros was teaming up with Trodar?"

"That's the hard part… We would have to plant evidence somewhere where Limneer officials could find it, but it also has to be somewhere believable enough to convince them," stated Rydel.

Keela also added, "And don't forget that we have to leave evidence behind of how Sandros burned down the tents. If we can't do that, then there's no way they can be blamed."

"True… But it would be the best plan and it would definitely stop them from invading." Though not everything added up Rydel still wanted to push for the destruction of the Limneer army in some way.

"Rydel, I know you want to destroy this army but I don't think that's in our best interest at the moment. There are only five of us and they have over five thousand soldiers. We only need to slow them down so that's what we're going to do. Unless you can think of a reasonable way to blame Sandros for burning down those tents, then I don't think that's a good option."

Brainstorming together the party tried to piece together the means to blame Sandros for this plan; even Jack was trying his best to find a reason for such a plan.

A couple of minutes passed before Rydel stepped back and started to pace. Then, he started to whisper out loud to himself, speaking his thoughts. In no time everyone could hear him as he pitched an altered idea of the same plan, the only logical way he thought they could blame Sandros and get away with it.

At first Jack was against it, but then Daliea, as well as Keela, agreed with the idea. And once Eliza was convinced, then Jack was the last to agree, albeit reluctantly.