PLEROMA - a few days after the raid

[leicesters]

[Despite Claude's best efforts to shut his emotions out of this communion, it's impossible to fully avoid muted feelings of anger and bitterness leaking across the connection. Still, he addresses his thoughts in a calm, measured way, even if he's noticeably more downbeat than usual.]

Hiya. This is Claude, one of the new guys. I know most of us are still licking our wounds after what happened in Achamoth, but I wanted to discuss a few things.

What was the point of invading Achamoth, really? We attacked an enemy's stronghold, took back two of our own like we planned, sure-- but we lost two more in the process, and at least one smaller dragon lost its life trying to save us. And what else did we get out of it? A single prisoner? Some superficial damage to the city, which mostly would've just hurt civilians?

I don't want to act like war is just a game of numbers, when so many of you cared about the prisoners to go to these lengths for them, but strategically, the whole idea was insane. Personally, I was reassured a plan was being worked on, and that I just had to trust it was in hand. Sure, the big dragon that helped us was great, but it had to give its life for us. Both lives, even. And our escape route only came in the nick of time! If the forest dragons hadn't sympathised with our cause, we would have all been screwed.

If we mount any coordinated attacks in future, can we actually think about it at length? You know, plot it out from start to finish, try and account for as many variables as we can, not just talk about what enemies we might face and how they fight. And if we're going to walk into obvious traps, can we actually think about what the trap might be and how to mitigate it?

[He pauses. He's angry, if only because for a sect so supposedly dedicated to defending life, so many of them are too reckless about throwing lives away just to save a handful of others. Some casualties are inevitable in war, but these losses didn't have to be. That's what bothers him about all this more than anything.]

Anyway... I don't want to just gripe, so I also wanted to consider our long-term goals. I spoke to the dragon -- Estinien and the other thing? -- before the fighting started, and they made it sound like a direct assault on the Regent is nigh impossible. The Regent's corruption in that part of Horos is too powerful, the Citadel especially.

So, I think if we want to make them vulnerable at all, we have to figure out a way to purify the land. I don't know how yet, and the dragon wasn't sure either, but I want to believe it's possible. If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Comments

[goldendeceiver]

[ A presence can be felt through the shards before Ernesto actually says anything in reply to what Claude is saying here, turning this over in his head how best to address this, because at the end of the day...

Claude isn't wrong. ]

You're asking a lot from a group that by and large doesn't have much military training, Chamo. The plan was always held together with duct tape and spit, and I'm sorry you were dragged into the whole mess when you didn't have any personal stakes. Most of us were willing to deal with the consequences of what might happen though, rather than risk those two dying.

[ His laugh is strained, but still out of place for the topic at hand. ]

Which might give you a better idea of the group you've found yourself in the middle of, but we've got the odds stacked against us in a pretty awful way too, and if we want to get anything done we have to take some equally awful gambles.

Not that I'm disagreeing with your game plan here, but it's a good idea to go into this planning session with a realistic idea of what you're working with.

[ And to get to the crux of what Claude really wants to talk about... ]

Not sure what you mean by purifying either. Most of the people of this land outside of Achamoth don't have much love for the Regent. Them having an oppressive grip on people's actions isn't the same as them having the heart and minds of the citizens of Horos.

[pyojeol]

[these are all salient points but first of all]

-- Look, I tried. It's hard to go further than superficial damage when you're just one woman.

[she COULD have burned that church down if KAEYA hadn't gotten in the way, tch]

[superbshot]

[Caitlyn had been assuming there would have been more of a plan as well. Estinien and Akua both had spoken to her about planning something, but the execution had forced their hand as she'd understood it.]

What would you have done differently, Claude?

[She's not happy either, but something about this doesn't sit well with her. She's not angry or anything, but there's a muted sense to her emotions in the communion. Contemplative, thoughtful.]

Estinien would have gone by himself, and he wouldn't have been able to get to our comrades alone. The Regent announcing the execution forced us to attack when we did, however I believe it was a trap to deal with the Innocence Entity. Based upon the behavior of the enemy destroying it was the real goal, but it was still a tactical error on our part. There's no denying that, but what would you have done? It's clear from the way that you speak you're more familiar with battlefield strategy than most of us.

[She'll address the other thing later, because she's curious, but this feels more important. If he's good at this then he should be able to voice himself.]

[undertheweight]

We need to talk. But preferably in person.

[Yes, Wrathion is secretive by nature, but there are a few things he would prefer not to share amongst an audience. There's also a sense of...agitation, to judge by what emotions he allows through communion.]

If it helps, I think I understand your frustration.