Tactics

"Right now we have a dragon that wants us dead, an city of nobles that wants us dead, and an entire horde of monsters to boot. We don't have time for your shit. I personally enjoy breathing, so how about we deal with those matters first."

Bastian considered himself to be a laid back, and he was. So him becoming so serious had an odd effect, even Tyson was moved by Bastian's words, not to mention Sula. Kenshin could not help but nod in approval.

Tyson put his hand on his sister's shoulder. Calming her town. He squeezed tightly, making her come back to her senses. She stepped back and crossed her arms in front of her ample chest.

"Our family does not have enough soldiers to deal with the aquatic daemons, and the support given by the Oxlade and York families is non existent. They just said that to force me into a position with no excuse."

Bastian grinned and started moving his hands in a way that one does when they are washing their hands in water. In looked quite devious. 

"Listen guys. Lets list the dangers. One, we have a massive horde outside that wants to kill us and we have been assigned the southern wall, which happens to be the most dangerous and understaffed wall. It is most likely where the dragon will attack from as well."

Tyson could not help but wipe his forehead with his hand, even though there was no sweat. Bastian continued.

"Problem two, there is a fucking dragon, a two star dragon. I don't think I need to expand on that."

Sula snorted in acknowledgement to his words.

"Problem three, due to the fact that we are understaffed, this place will be unprotected, which means what is below us could be exposed." 

Bastian pointed his finger downward, making Tyson's already grim face even more grim.

"Problem four, as our forces will be spread thin between this place and the south wall, its safe to assume that the Dwight, York and Oxlade families will use this opportunity to attack us. If everything goes according to their plan, there won't be a Cole family after this battle."

Sula flared up once more, "They wouldn't dare-"

"Sister!" Tyson's shout made her stop mid sentence. His grim face made sure that there was no room for discussion. It was clear he agreed. Tyson gestured for Bastian to continue.

"Problem five, the only opportunity we had of taking over this city any time soon hinged on the occurrence of the horde, now that the horde is attacking in a bit, we have no choice but to move up our plans, leaving us unprepared."

Tyson could not help but be Impressed by Bastian's foresight. These five issues were exactly what was weighing in on his mind. He looked at Bastian and wondered what kind of background one should have to produce someone so smart at such an age. He looked at his sister and signed in disappointment. She was intelligent, but not wise. They were only two words but the difference between them was a massive chasm.

"I have a proposal, one that guarantees success." Said Bastian as he started pacing about the room with his hands behind his back. 

Sula could not help but raise a brow at his words. Tyson kept quiet, which was an indication for Bastian to continue.

"This will essentially be a battle on four fronts. One battle is to protect the southern wall. One battle is to annihilate the opposing forces within the city. One battle is to do the same to the forces outside the city, in other words the fusion realm experts. The last battle is against the dragon. That means we have one defensive battle and three offensive ones" Bastian stopped and showed four fingers raised.

"Wait, hold on. We are supposed to protect our home and the southern wall, not to mention the dragon. It should be three defensive battles right? And how on earth will we take on the fusion experts?" Sula had a lot of questions, but time was not on their side, thus she condensed her queries as best as she could. 

Bastian smiled, "The best defense is always offense. We will strike them before they strike us. Regarding the wall, we have the wall as an advantage so that battle will be defensive for us to preserve our numbers. As for your home, it's only in danger if forces get it. We will systematically destroy them one by one before they get to us. As for the experts, we don't really need to do much. All you have to do is not provide a fusion realm expert."

"Won't that be putting the city at risk? If the dragon wins then we all die. If the experts win then they will come down and hunt our family. Not to mention we don't have the manpower to spare to allow us to go on an offensive, are you insane?" Sula did her best to restrain her anger, but a little ended up spilling out.

"Hold on sister. Regarding the lack of soldiers we have a solution for that, what I am curious about is the issue of the experts and the dragon."

Tyson had a rough idea of what Bastian had in mind, but he wanted the former to say it himself.

"Its simple really. First regarding the forces, Tyson, I assume you have managed to transport General Moto's army and Sula's army here as I requested? "

"Indeed I have."

Sula was gobsmacked. She was not aware that her former nemesis was already in the city! Not to mention her own troops. She had no idea why her brother had kept such information from her. According to their plans the armies were supposed to be brought in weeks later. Just where were they hidden? How did they get into the city? She had so many questions and not enough time to have them answered.

"Good, regarding the experts and the dragon, we have an ace in the hole. Something far more dangerous than all of them combined. My master!"