[CLOSED | COMPLETE]
Characters: Tenjin (ghoulishly) & Daphne (daphnis) Date/Time: Prior to the beginnings of the fights Location: Babylon Rating: PG-13 Warnings: War talks?? Summary: Discussing battle tactics.
Daphne was thrilled with the announcement of war, of course she wasn't going to go in too close to the front just yet, watching as the heavy artillery guns were set out. She liked to supervise these herself, make sure the positions of the canons was right. There was a gun, a large one which could bypass easily into enemy lines, probably out into unrestricted land in Camelot or Babylon - that was the impressive range of that gun. Of course to keep it from being found, it was placed among the others, so when fired it would create an 'echo' that would hide the distinct blast sound of it.
Yes, Daphne was like that. Scary lady.
She turned to Tenjin, waiting for some sort of input on her tactics.
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Tenjin was just as excited with the war. He was prepared to shed blood. Call it...taking out his annoyance on a group of people he didn't really care about. This way he could pretend it was Ryujin every time he killed someone. He didn't really care about how it was set up entirely. He had a few ideas, but it was Daphne, in the end, who knew better than he did about fighting. She dealt with the soldiers. She even knew their names. He knew...none, actually. The pup and Big Nose had names...and he knew that, but he couldn't figure out exactly what they were again...Unimportant.
He looked around, smiling slightly before turning his attention on Daphne. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around." There were many reasons. Some she knew, others she didn't. He didn't care to get into the more sentimental ones. He enjoyed her friendship and liked having her around. Still, that wasn't the point. "Utterly dangerous." And he preferred her that way.
"Have you sent any scouts out to see what we're facing?"
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Daphne looked over at him, "Three, I'm waiting to hear back. Either way, these guns have enough range to hit... well, they can hit a comfortable distance into Babylon or Camelot and outside the designated zone." She turned her head to Tenjin, "You won't be marching at the front, you know that, yes? We can't have them trying to bag off our chancellor quickly." Even she had to take care of that, not get too carried away at the front, making sure clear strategies were left in case someone did manage to shoot her.
"It shouldn't be long." She pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time, "Not long at all, the Iriyians are probably securing a line, entrenching themselves in nicely, we can shell them hard, break their defenses, and attack straight on. They don't have the technology to stop that." Of course she'd be so wrong.
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There was a nod. Three people were scouting. That was sufficient enough. Certainly. There was a laugh at her next statement. Not many people made him laugh, but that wasn't really important. "Mmm..Well, I didn't figure you'd put me there. You want all the glory for yourself." It was teasing, but he was glad not to be up front. He had little intention of actually dying. That would make Ryujin too happy.
"Good." He offered her a small, polite smile while he listened to the rest of her sentence. "You're sure about that?" Because if she wasn't, he would suggest that she be sure before they went off head-first into the shitter. He had faith in her and her knowledge - she was the Marshall - he just wanted to make absolutely certain. It was a habit.
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Daphne tossed him a grin at his laugh, she knew that and all-in-all appreciated the friendship that she had with Tenjin (because both would swear up and down that they were not friends, but they were). "Yes, you caught me, I wanted to keep the spotlight on me." She shifted one hand upwards to double-check that her hair was still braided tightly and out of the way.
"I'm pretty sure." Daphne replied, "But I cannot be certain, it has been a while since we've engaged Iriy- almost sixty years, their weaponry surely has changed. Like ours. But going front-first allows us to test their defenses." Test them. "Until we find a weakness or make a new strategy."
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Tenjin smiled, almost laughing again. He managed to restrain himself. There was no need for an abundance of laughter. (He would ignore the fact that he was overthinking how much he should laugh) "That's what I thought. You are the kind to steal the limelight. Just want all the war glory." Another thing that would give away the fact that he liked having Daphne around: he was teasing her. Even his sister rarely saw this side of him.
"Ah." Which wasn't helpful. "Then we exploit their weakness? If we must, I'm assuming we'll go around?" There was plenty of Babylon to go into. Were they supposed to go? No. They were supposed to stay in the lands assigned, but Tenjin knew how well that would work. If the Sultan didn't, then that was his problem, not theirs. "Promises and all...but..." He waved it off. "We have to do what we have to do to win." Which is what he'd done against Ryujin, too. Whatever he thought needed to be done...but then they were interrupted.
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Daphne leaned on the desk and smiled back at him, wide and open (and it wasn't often that Daphne was genuine enough to smile like that, but she figured that in this place, when everything was done, Tenjin was probably her only friend). The only person who'd be there at the end of the day, and the only person who might miss her if she kicked the bucket during the war. Not like others might, but really miss her. If that made sense. "GUilty as charged."
The marshal gave a little hum, considering, "We could go around yes, cut them off, but I'm not so keen to go into Babylon." She shifted, turning to point at the map, where there were pins and outlines and figurings. "Set has put some defenses here, it could slow us down, Camelot, however... they haven't." Her finger traced the border at several points, "They have fortified, but they aren't watching closely."
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Tenjin would never admit it, but he would miss Daphne should she end up dead. It wasn't that he was entirely unable to do anything without her, but he didn't like having to deal with new people when he didn't have to. Once he got used to someone and didn't hate them for being a moron, he was happy enough to have them around. It was just that people more often got his disdain instead of anything pleasant. "I'll make sure to have you arrested once this is all over." It would require both of them to be alive at the end which wasn't promised. There was also the fact that he didn't give enough of a shit to arrest her for it.
His eyes followed where she pointed. "Camelot won't be expecting this." Which worked in their favor. Less people to slow their progress. "So it would be easier to nip into Camelot and come around." Hopefully. He moved to look at the map a little more closely, grabbing his glasses and putting them on. "Mmm. It wouldn't be much of Camelot so it shouldn't alarm them too much." And if it did? So what?
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"Yeah, exactly." She moved her finger demarcating the line where the area Babylon had lent them ended. "I'm pretty sure Iriy will entrenched themselves all the way." It wouldn't be an easy task for most to smash through well done Iriyian trenches, they were resistent bastards, all that cold weather clearly. "But, if we go around this way," She took a pencil, and drew a line, just where the border met- Niflheim, Babylon and Camelot, "It will take a little longer, but our armed force can move fast, if we enter there- there there are bound to nice, but here-" She moved the pencil to the Babylon/Camelot border, "Up here, not high enough where we are, but there-" A little x, "Then they can move sideways, and come back up here-" She did another x, motioning behind Iriyian lines. "It won't be a mission most come back from though."
She looked over at Tenjin to see what he thought on that matter.
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Tenjin was watching closely. He nodded as he followed along, eyes narrowing in focus. His finger lightly traced along the line. "We knew it wouldn't be," he commented with a shurg of his shoulder. "War brings casualties. Whatever ensures that we win is what will be done." He didn't have any attachment to the people in the army. If they fought and died, it happened. If not, whatever.
"It isn't like they don't know it either." His gaze raised to look at her. "So they will deal with whatever happens." He smiled at her a little. "I'm glad to see you've thought it out, however."
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"I play to win." Daphne rested one hand lightly on Tenjin's shoulder, "There is no other way to approach this war." Even if it wouldn't be quite as easy as they thought to win. Or if the cost would be more than they expect. "I will send a team down this line-" She tapped the pencil again to where the first cross was. "Send a scout ahead and wait."
Daphne smiled, "And then, I want to test Set's perimeter a little." The pencil moved to the other side of the map, marking the other border, "Test it for weakness in case we need it." A large circle was drawn over an area, "That is all, the main gun will be set up by Monday, but the smaller range ones are in place. Your orders, chancellor?"
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There was a moment of quiet as he considered the options, unworried by the hand on his shoulder. Another sign of his comfort with Daphne. "You seem to have your plan set out," he noted softly. "All I can say is to carry on and be sure to make it count." His gaze dropped to the map for a brief moment. "And try not to be too obvious about testing Set's defenses for weaknesses. We wouldn't want anyone to get their undergarments in a twist."
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"Of course not." Daphne replied coyly. "I wouldn't dream of it, but even if they did, Babylon's defenses cannot match ours. Not by a long shot, smashing them wouldn't be particularly taxing." Time-consuming considering it would spread them out a bit too much, but not impossible.
"Besides, what kind if idiot let's two warring nations into theirs to use it as their playground?" Apparently Babylon but... Daphne shrugged and dropped her hand. "I'll get to it, chancellor."