"Well I know you will do your best" Fox smiled. "You have that touch" He then winked

He then turned to the nobleman and shook his head

"Be that as it may Sir, I highly doubt that your words are good for morale. And to further kick a man when he is down when we are all fightning for our lives isnt gonna fill them with puppy dogs and sunshine feelings"

He then looked back at Nightingale, not even waiting for the noblemans reaction

"Perhaps we should visit the more seriously wounded together?" He spoke to her. "We could perhaps raise morale" He added again with a wink

Quick question, how many Kai are there at this point in time? The entire Order I mean

At this point in time, there are between 70 and 80 Kai Lords - the starting five, plus the full second batch. About half of the second batch will be dead by the end of the wars, since in the present time the second batch is only 34 people. Anyway, that means that a six-people teams like the one you're into is a considerable deploy of forces - close to 1/10th of the entire Order.

Why do you ask?

The nobleman muttered, in a dark tone:

"Raising the morale of such incompetents is a waste of your valuable time, Kai Lord; I can't understand why you care about these failures."

He shook his head, but before he could add anything else, Sun Nightingale smiled to Sabre Fox and said, in a cheery tone:

"Even if they can't fight, at least being happier will help them survive - laughter is a great medicine, after all!"

Ser Abhenar grunted, clearly not persuaded, but Sun Nightingale was already moving, putting her hand under Sabre Fox's arm and dragging him toward another group of soldiers.

As soon as they were a reasonable distance from the nobleman, though, she slowed down her stride and asked in a whisper that carried all of her curiosity:

"So? What did the blacksmith really told you?"

"He is planning a counter attack with the best men. But he is worried he will be thrown in chains for it" Fox said bluntly.

"And ive agreed to help" He added with a dark tone. "Im gonna try and pitch it to Sparrow. He must have a plan to get in with a small force to retake the base. And you know how much i like a good fight"

"You in?" He said with a cheeky wink.

Just for that really, since its only a small amount of Kai sent, it transfers into a considerable force, so they are serious about man power in retaking this base

Plus it puts into perspective what Fox went through to survive such times and such with all the harsh battles coming after this.

Well, yeah, of course they want to retake the fortress for real - that's what the six-hundred reinforcements are for. :)

I'm not sure if I say it anywhere else, but I would consider Holmgard, as the more popolous city in Sommerlund, to have about twenty-thousand people; with Toran numbering fifteen thousands, and the other three Baronies (Anskaven, Tyso and Ruanon) having ten-thousands each, they would account for about two thirds of the entire Sommerlending population - which would thus be nearly one hundred thousand people. In our times, a standing army is usually a tenth of the population, but in medieval times, the percentage was a bit higher, so let's say one eight; that would make Sommerlund's army at about twelve thousands people, so six-hundred is a pretty big strike force, one twentieth of the entire Sommerlending Army.

Sun Nightingale was clearly surprised at the comment, and seemed to think it over before answering, with a smile:

"Well, if Golden Sparrow does decides to go along with this plan, I don't think he'll leave the team's medic behind, don't you agree?"

She chuckled, then continued, in a more thougtful tone:

"However, that blacksmith's prudence is not unwarranted - thet Abhenar guy is clearly not so keen on these soldiers, and he seems to have quite the strong handle over the sergeant. And we failed to make nice with him, too... I don't think Golden Sparrow will be happy about that."

"Well I can make Sparrow be like a friendly little budgie if I want" Fox chuckled. "If we get Sparrow on board, no doubt the force will be better off with the Kai behind it. Hopefully the blacksmith is banking on a multi pronged strike since reinforcements are coming soon"

Yea, im just getting it into my head the kind of attack force they have on the whole so I know the setting. Since Fox is battle orientated, he does think of stuff like this, even if he is hot headed ;)

Yeah, I understand. :)

Sun Nightingale laughed.

"I don't think Golden Sparrow would suscribe to that so easily as you say!"

She shook her head in soft amusment, then nudged with her head in the direction where the commander of the Kai force was now moving away from the sergeant and walking to a raised platform of rock, clearly to survey the force.

"Perhaps you should just go and ask him now? He seems to have ordered his puppy not to follow."

And she pointed to Green Rabbit with a wink, showing how the older girl was stitting on a rock at the feet of the rocky platform, a disgruntled expression on her face.

"Yea, I think I will. Catch you later" Fox said with a wink before heading off towards Sparrow

Once Sabre Fox reched the raised platfrom, he found that Golden Sparrow was standing near the edge, studying the small fort with a very critical view. At first, it didn't seemed like he'd noticed Sabre's presence, but then he spoke, his voice dark:

"It's so sad, isn't it? One of the symbols of Sommerlund's resistance against the darkness, now corrupted by them, standing as an insult to everything we fight for."

He pointed to the black flag carrying the symbol of an hammer smashing a burning skull, the emblem of Darklord Taaktal, that was stadning almost proudly on the higher tower of the fort, where only four day earlier had been the Sommerlending flag. Sparrow let out a long, pained breath, clearly thinking over what the flag really meant: the first real attack that had struck against Sommerlund directly, rather than one of its many allies - the first battle to bring the war to their homeland's soil.

"Then lets take it back and send them back to Naar then" Fox said moving to stand by his friend to observe the view

"I take it your meeting didnt go well by that look on your face" Fox said glancing  his friend. "But I have news you might be interested in"

Golden Sparrow shrugged in a tired manner.

"According to the Sergeant, the force that conquered the fortress is quite strong; at least two hundred giaks with an appropriate contigent of doomwolves, as well as a Vordak leader mounted on a kraan. And his men, according to Loval, are in no condition to fight - especially not on what will likely be a siege."

The young Kai let out a pained breath and concluded, turning toward Sabre Fox:

"At least we know that, when captain Agamor divisions arrives tomorrow, taking the fort will be easy enough, if bloody. What did you learned from Abhenar?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Tue 19 Mar 2013.

"Apart from the fact he wouldnt spit on half of them if they were on fire? Nothing" Fox said all cheerly like.

"However, the blacksmith was more forthcoming. He has a plan to retake the fort tonight with a small force. But he needs help and fears bein clapped in irons for so much as suggesting it, due to thier attitute. Kai assistance would be helpful......." Fox trailed off, studying Sparrow's reaction
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Golden Sparrow seemed to consider Sabre Fox words for a moment, then asked, his tone very neutral:

"How small a force are we talking about here?"

"Ten of his best men who are still willing, and able to fight. I think they planning on infiltrating the fort through secret means with such a small squad"

Im hoping for the purposes of this, sparrow doesn't have Sixth Sense!

Well, he has eight Kai disciplines out of ten, remember? If it was you, which two would you have let for last? ^_^

Don't know! Haha. I'll try have to extra sneaky to avoid his Senses sniffing me out!

:) To help you in that, remember that Sixth Sense is not Divination - he can tell when he's lied to and if a danger is upon him, but he can't really sense much of your emotions with it.

So... be careful on how you word your questions! ^_^

Golden Sparrow took some time to think everything over, and eventually he shook his head, saying:

"That's not a good move, tactically speaking. Even if all six of us go along with him, those wouls still be sixteen against two-hundred; really not good odds. It's better to just wait for dawn - then, we'll have six-hundred soldiers to work with, enough to mount a real assault while also sending a truly consistent force through this secret passage for a pincer attack. Go tell the blacksmith to wait until the reinforcments arrive, it's the smartest way to go about it."

He paused, then offered a smile and added, in a thankful tone:

"And thanks for telling me, Sabre Fox - having a secret way in will be a great tactical advantage; as always, your friendliness is a perfect way to collect information."

That said, Sparrow turned back to look at the fort, apparently in deep contemplation and thought.
This message was last updated by the player at 20:58, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Fox didn't know what to say for a moment until finally he spoke

"You can't be serious Sparrow" he said. "He clearly thinks he can do it without us as it is. So there must be more to it. We could take that for without further loss of life!"

The young Kai let out a long sigh and answered, in an annoyed tone:

"Sabre Fox, we're talking of men who saw friends and colleagues getting slaughtered and want revenge on the ones who did it - that's not the kind of peple who thinks straight or can craft a working plan for the liberation of an occupied fort. You don't really think they can be thinking clearly at this juncture, do you?"

"Sparrow, I saw them. I know they are not wanting to throw thier lives away for revenge. They want to retake the fort, not simply die in vain. They must know they can do it"

Sparrow shook his head.

"No, they believe they can succeed - that's quite different from knowing they can. I'm not saying they don't have a plan - I'm saying that no plan is going to succeed if it's carried on in a situation with a twenty to one odds. Is there any reason you're even arguing about this? You can't honestly believe that these soldiers have a clearer tactical view of the situation than I do, right?"

There was a slight notice of arrogance in Sparrow's tone - although it wasn't all that offensive, and more similar to the kind of matter-of-fact tone Sabre Fox himself might have used when bragging about his own fighting skills.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

"Oh Sparrow, dont even start with that line of bull shit. Thats not a fair question and you know it. I only wanted you to consider it, and besides, these men have been here. They know the surroundings and may know things you dont. Dont just dismiss it immediately"

Sparrow's eyes narrowed at Sabre Fox's insult, and he answered, his tone starting to carry a hint of clear irritation:

"I can see you're not going to listen to reason, are you? We're not going in, Sabre Fox, not until the reinforcements get here, and that's final. If those men want to go, I won't stop them - far from me stopping grieving people from making their attempt at revenge - but I want you to get the information about how they're going in from them before they go, and that's an order. There's a reason I'm in charge of this group and you not, and since that's the way things are, I'm the one taking decisions, are we clear? I'm not going to just go along with this reckless idea of you just because we're friends, and if you think I'm going to skirt my command duties just because you asked me to, then you don't know me well enough."

While Sabre Fox had witnessed displays of Sparrow's explosive temper before, this was the first time he was on the receiving end of one, and being chewed out. And the fact that the older Kai was not shouting, but actually speaking in a very mild - if clearly enraged - voice made it all, somehow, even more hurtful.

After a moment, Sparrow turned back to look at the fort and the hill it was built upon as he added, in the same tone:

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to memorize tomorrow's battlefield and plan our battle strategy... as well as attempting to calm my mind before the assault, something which you completely ruined. I don't want to be disturbed, especially not if you're going to carry on with your pointless arguments, Sabre Fox. Leave. Now."

"Fine" he said simply. "But out of respect for those men, I ask you not to inform thier commander. They fear reprisal as it is for this more than death, so at least give them that courtesy"

His own anger rising at being treated in such a way, Fox said no more he simply descended back towards the camp where Nightingale was.