A Daring Stratagem

"Plans may be useless, but planning is indispensable," stated Katherine, looking over their battle-plans. "What my father once said. Nothing ever goes according to plan, but the process of planning enlightens us to how we can adapt to a changing situation."

"Here, catch!" said Isaac, lobbing sandwiches to them all.

It was just past noon, and the battle would commence in a few hours' time. Everyone's senses stood as sharp as a leopard's, and with their adrenaline-fueled wit, each rehearsed the fundamentals of the upcoming battle. Despite there being only six armonion machines, everyone was taught how to use them, just in case.

"...Through these bell-cones, you will hear our voices without having to touch anything. If you want to talk, you must take out this talkie-cone here," elaborated Mirai. "Because we can't use other frequencies, our voices can overlap – well, distort really – if more than two machines are delivering speech. So always remember to holster the talkie-cone back when you're not speaking."

"Also," added Robert, "rules of communication are just as important as the machine itself. There's no guarantee that the person on the other end has heard you clearly, due to static and battle-noise. So when speaking into the talkie-cone, always state your name first, then follow-up. That's how my brother in the Order used to do it."

"Makes sense," the crowd hummed.

"Likewise," Robert continued, holding up his hand, "if you hear and understand somebody's transmission, make sure to say the name of the person, followed by 'I copy,' like 'Lucian, I copy.' That way everyone knows you heard their message. If you're going to carry out an order, say their name and follow it with 'will-do,' like 'Lucian, will-do.'"

Multiple hands erupted from the crowd.

"What if you couldn't hear them?"

"Then state their name, followed by 'SAY AGAIN,' loud and clearly."

Katherine added. "Keep every message short and to the point. Don't use words like 'please' or 'thanks.' We don't need your life story in there."

"What if you can't do something that was ordered to you? How should we express that?"

"Then you say, 'negative,'" clarified Robert.

None of them surmised why, but the prospect of such communication tactics bubbled in them a charged giddiness; they were creating a secretive language of their own, their own nation.

"Stop," interrupted Lucian, putting up his hand. "Who gets to decide how and where to attack and defend? We can't have six people all suggesting where to go. It'll be a veritable nightmare," warned Lucian.

"I guess we have to choose someone who can hear all of us and relay orders, like a commander," remarked Mirai.

"I'll do it!" 

Both Elwin and Lucian leaned in at the same time.

They shot an incredulous glance at each other, staring down their rival like a sort of contest.

"How dare you, you bast –" muttered Lucian, striding over to Elwin –

"Wait! Please," pleaded Isaac, throwing himself into the middle of them, "We can't have any more arguments right now. How about me? I'll do it."

"You?" remarked Lucian, coldly.

"Hear me out. I had a lot of experience working at a busy hospital back in Lumière. I was tasked with taking in patients' names, bringing them to their rooms, fetching medications and treatments, and alerting doctors and nurses to trouble. Most of the time, I had to do all of those things simultaneously."

"So what's your point?" chimed Rayo, stepping close, when Lucian held up his hand to stop him. "Let him speak. Go on."

Isaac replied readily. "My point is – I'm familiar with absorbing lots of information and delivering them to the right people. I'd worked at the hospital for a good three-and-a-half years. I can paint a picture of everything that's happening without too much challenge."

Katherine relaxed her arms, and so did Elwin and Mirai.

"Does anyone have any complaint about Isaac being our armonion commander?" Lucian asked, turning to the crowd.

Not a single hand went up in objection. Isaac seemed to be the most fair and stable voice among them.

"Okay, guess that's settled. You are to be our commander. But you better live up to your word. I will very much dislike you if we lose," threatened Lucian.

"We won't. Not if we all work together," assured Isaac.

You sure have confidence for someone who got knocked out so easily by Ursus, thought Lucian. 

Elwin could feel what he was thinking. There was no doubt Lucian would make mincemeat of Isaac's reputation if he failed to be their guiding torch. The rivals met each other's glance briefly, only to look away.

"Glad to have you as our commander, Isaac," declared Elwin. Though he wanted to be commander himself, Lucian was sure to complain, and that would mean the end of their endeavors. Isaac was most suited for their condition. "Where will you be leading us from?"

Isaac replied without much hesitation. "I need to be where the armonion signals reach me the best. At the same time, I should be relatively protected from enemy attacks."

"The top of the ziggurat fits the bill," answered Robert.

"Yeah, I was thinking along the same line," replied Isaac. "I'll stay next to our grand banner standard at the roof of the Temple of TERA and SERA, on the cap of the ziggurat. Does that sound fair?"

"You're the commander now, so you should make the call," clarified Robert.

"Okay, the top of the ziggurat for me, then. Now we need to decide where everyone goes. Do we have an idea?" quizzed Isaac.

Katherine shot up her hand. "Oh! Yes, I've given it good thought. Our strategic goal is to capture and return all 3 flags from the Padishahs, right?"

"Yup."

"And we previously said that we were going to strike each of the 3 flags at the same time. Yeah?"

"Yup."

"So that means we need at least 3 primary attacking forces. What should we call them as a whole?"

"Strike Force Trident," suggested Lucian. "Three prongs. You're not the only one to have considered this through, Heriz," he sneered.

"Strike Force Trident it is," stated Isaac, before the two could have a chance to feud yet again. He unfurled a giant piece of the academy map they drew two evenings before. "Okay, to remind once again, their flags are here: one – floating among the villas in House MANASURA in the west, two – on the summit of the hill in the north, and three – by the Oracle of Aeternitas in the northeast. Mostly east."

"So we're going to be attacking West, North, and East, then," commented Khan. 

"I know a thing or two about naming," chimed Robert, taking a pencil and drawing arrows on the targets. "How does Trident West, Trident North, and Trident East sound for labeling our specific forces?"

"That sounds practical to me!" praised Isaac. "Okay. So Strike Force Trident will be our main attacking force, and they will be divided into three pieces – Trident West for capturing the flag from House MANASURA, Trident North for capturing the flag from the summit of the giant hill, and Trident East for capturing the flag from the Oracle of Aeternitas. Who's going to lead the –"

Lucian smacked his hand on the table.

"I'll lead Trident North."

"What?" protested Elwin. "Have you ever been there? Do you know how hard it is to climb those stairs?"

"It's the most difficult objective, yeah," replied Lucian, shooting Elwin a glance of disdain. "That's precisely the reason why I'm going there. I don't think anyone else is cut out for it, especially –"

"Wait, wait, wait –" cajoled Isaac, knowing full well that Lucian was going to say something to incense Elwin. "Elwin told me that he had lots of experience climbing the steps to the summit. Why don't we let him take the role?"

"What?" sputtered Lucian. "Climbing the summit? Since when?"

"Since last winter, during the winter vacation."

So that's what you did? Climb the summit? That's just training for physical endurance and stamina. How in the world did you improve in the Mahamastra, then? Lucian thought, a cacophony of thoughts flying through his head.

"How many times?" Lucian interrogated, arms folded.

"Two-hundred-and-ninety-seven times," Elwin replied with casual airs.

"MAHA forbid, you freak of nature," mumbled Lucian. "Fine. You take the summit, then. I'll lead Trident West to take the flag from House MANASURA instead. If you fail –"

"I won't."

Both went silent.

"Okay. Leadership of Trident West goes to Lucian, and Trident North to Elwin. What about Trident East?"

"Can I lead it?" asked Robert, putting up his hand. "I'm familiar with stealth. The Oracle of Aeternitas takes us close to several points where the Padishahs could've set up defenses. We're going to have to sneak there undetected, and I can lead my squadra and that of others without too much difficulty. Plus, I can fight well with my Tahamastra."

"That sounds good to me," answered Isaac. "Elwin, Lucian, and Robert will each get one armonion machine. So that's three armonion machines in total for Strike Force Trident."

The crowd nodded.

"Meanwhile, I'll have one armonion machine on top of the ziggurat. That's a total of 4 out of 6 so far. This leaves us with 2 machines left."

"Who's going to get them?"

"I've been thinking of that," said Daphne, emerging to his side. "I think just the communication from Strike Force Trident won't be enough. We are currently missing surveillance over the central portion of campus, directly south of House ARTAIA. Moreover, in case of emergencies, or if our armonion machines break, we need people who can run really fast to deliver information, right?"

"What do you recommend?"

"I recommend we make a reconnaissance team!"

Lucian nodded in agreement. "That's solid. The more eyes we have in more places, the better."

Without waiting for Isaac, Lucian questioned the crowd. 

"Who here has done one full lap around the campus in under an hour?"

About eight shot up their hands, including Daphne.

"Can you all run quietly, too?"

The runners nodded their heads.

"Are all of you in the same squadras?"

"Almost all of us," replied Daphne, "with the exception of Robert."

"Isaac, make these eight the recon team. If they can, they should also intercept flags that the Padishahs have captured and are bringing to the Tree."

"Perfect, thanks," said Isaac. "Can we call you guys the Recon team?"

"Of course!"

"Nice. Now, the last armonion machine goes to –"

"It should go to the teams defending one of our small flags in the southern quartier. Our flag on the 7th floor up the spiral staircase, next to the headmaster's office," chimed Claudia. "Who's going to defend this one?"

At that question, a tough looking brown-haired girl shot up her hand from next to Robert. Robert looked to her in dismay.

"Rafia? You're part of our squadra! Aren't you going to be part of Trident East?"

Rafia held up a single finger.

"That single flag on the 7th floor can cost us the match. I'm going to entrust other squadras in Trident East to you. You can still fight without me, right?"

"I mean, yes, but –"

"Spare your concern. There's no one better in Gurunmastra here in the Celendirs than me, with the exception of Khan. I will take care of our southern quartier flag. Just you do you."

"Got it," said Robert, without much complaint. It was evident that they already held enormous trust for each other.

"Okay, Rafia," elucidated Isaac, "you will have the last armonion machine. Do you have an idea for a name?"