Worlds Apart

Cadence

"And why is this relevant?" Njal asks, stepping forward to get a better look of the documents himself.

"She's got a plan." Maaike notes, perceptive as always.

"Something like that." I state, returning her smirk. "As we all discovered only hours ago, their technological advantage, superior fire power, and occupation of higher ground makes this enemy difficult to access. They have the potential to mow us down with bullets alone before we can even get near them."

"That's what forced our retreat." The Ambassador of Lignum Cantavit confirms.

"It is." I nod. "But bullets alone aren't the only form of offense they utilize."

The Ambassador of Glacies Cantavit is already shaking his head towards the thought of the pulverizers capable of shredding men to pieces when I glance to him. "Those cannons make getting near them impossible." He insists.

"But they also provide our enemy with a great disadvantage if we plan out our next attack carefully," I counter, "give them a target."

"A target?" The same Ambassador asks, his expression growing uneasy. "If you're suggesting we throw more men towards those horrific contraptions-"

"That's suicide." The Ambassador of Nix Cantavit critiques, causing Eerika to bristle a bit beside him.

"No, I'm not about to ask any of you to risk your men at the front lines again until those pulverizes are dealt with."

"Dealt with?" The Ambassador of Aqua Cantavit echoes. "How will they be dealt with?"

"With our help."

All of our attention is drawn to the entrance of the tent where the others, Carter, Alice, Brian, John, and Ukaleq are armed to the teeth with more than their signature weapons and suited up in light and heavy variations of crimson and ebony and armor. Iolana, I note, is absent from the group. Jackie, at the head of the group, leads them over to the Ambassador's with an explanation already on her lips.

"We've already heard an inkling of this plan you have, Aurora, and we want in."

I nod, sparing a glance towards Eadric who steps forward to offer the others reassuring grips over their shoulders. "Good, because we could do with your intelligence."

"As I assumed." Jackie smirks before turning towards the Ambassadors. "I'm assuming none of you know much about these pulverizers or got too good a look at them?"

"Are you claiming you did?" The Ambassador of Nix Cantavit questions.

"Not a close look, but I got a glimpse of how they operate when I acted as a man on the inside." Jackie explains. "The fire power on those cannons is fragile, but more importantly it is time consuming. To load up a pulse of that power, it takes time to charge that power up. This slot, though narrow and only lasting of a few seconds, is the window we'll have to act."

"Think of these cannons as a ticking time bomb," Alice explain after noting the confused glances exchanged between the Ambassadors. "Before they fire, their internals heat up to a temperature making them susceptible to considerable damage via gunfire, which we have, or through long distance weaponry alone. If we land precision shots into the mouths of the cannons just before they fire, we can apply enough pressure to cause them to combust on sight."

"Combust?" One of the Ambassador ventures.

"Explode." Jackie clarifies.

The mood of the room experiences a subtle shift from its skeptical state as the Ambassadors expressions begin to lighten, their shoulders lifting and chins rising against their sunken cheeks and the bags under their eyes. What I see in their eyes now, past the dulled exhaustion and despair, for the first time in days, perhaps, is hope.