"Eternal Blossom sect, Serpentine Artifacts, Godnet Overdrive…that's pretty much it. These are the only cards that we are holding close to our chest…but unlike in the case of Arnold, all of these are elements whose impact we can calculate accurately. Just like it was with Arnold, the scenario of the Eternal Blossom Sect appearing suddenly to help us is fraught with uncertainty, and I wish that I could see the same about their power…but that is simply not true. Taking this into account… I have to say that it doesn't look too good for us if your suspicion turns out to be true."
With his shoulders hunched and his lips set into a thin line, Daneel nodded as the Emperor gave the verdict that he, too, had reached.
A few hours had passed since Arnold's return, during which all of them had taken the time to relax their minds which had been incredibly taxed during the assault of the second wave. His sovereigns had needed it the most, as it was no easy thing to use their power to empower the Domination Corps so that they could cut through the ranks of the Church.
Now, everyone had gathered around the projection of Angaria in the center of the continent again. Dressed in those same crimson robes from before, Arnold was a new addition who was silent, at the moment.
He stood near Arafell at the back, and surprisingly enough, he had not put on the cocky grin that he had been known for when he was still on Angaria. When asked about this, the Emperor had told him that that side of him was just something he used to fit into his perceived persona perfectly. Now that everyone knew the truth, he had reverted to his former self of a silent commander who was used to standing pensively, instead of blasting around and painting a target on himself.
This had apparently been the quality that had also let him distinguish himself when he had established his own group of mercenaries, and it was only with the Emperor's urging that he had changed himself so that he could become the legendary Arnold of old. Even in the records of the Order, there were many tales of his ferocious cruelty, and when Daneel had been reminded of them after the man's return, he had been truly impressed as it certainly took true talent to even convince the Church that that was all he was.
At the present, though, Daneel didn't have the luxury to think casual thoughts like these. He ran through the calculations again after asking the system to run the simulations one more time, and sadly, he did not like the results at all.
If he were an outsider to the continent who had simply been hired to do the best that he could, he might actually have been satisfied. According to the system, they would be able to survive with around 20% of the population left, but as each and every individual that would be dying was a part of his family, it was simply impossible to be content with such an outcome.
Again and again, he looked at all of the card-shaped objects that were floating around Angaria. Due to him, everyone had begun calling them trump cards, too, so he had decided that they would be represented in the same manner.
A few meters away from this projection stood the army that all of them had been trying to ignore ever since they had arrived. It wasn't because it was something they hadn't seen before. No, the data given by the assassins had made it so that they had been able to create versions of the army of the Church every time they sat down to plan, but now, the change that unsettled them so much…was that the numbers had doubled.
There was also a large card-shaped object flying above them, and no one wanted to look at it, too, but for different reasons.
"Are you sure, Daneel? The assassins say that it was no simple feat to double the numbers of the first and second wave, and that it should be nigh impossible to do the same for the third…when you think about it, it was inconceivable for her to even strengthen her forces by this much! By all means, she must have expected that we would be wiped out by now...so isn't it very likely that she didn't bother to mess with the last wave?"
Eloise seemed to have spoken the thought that was on the minds of a lot of people present. Of the sovereigns, four nodded when she said this, but after noticing that none of them were commanders who had been in charge of an army before, Daneel saw once again that he was right.
"When two birds fly out of a bush, it is foolish to bet that a third won't. The assassins didn't know that the first and second wave would be doubled, so how can we be sure that they will be right about the third? Lives are at stake, here, so we must move with the assumption that the worst is waiting for us. Hell, even if she hadn't done it before, after seeing what has happened so far, what's to say that she might not have moved to get more strength now?"
As Aran gave this answer, Daneel nodded approvingly. He couldn't have put it better, and as Eloise and the others who had agreed with her all got expressions of deep thought, a small smile came on the corner of his lips as they were all learning quickly.
It was always good to find moments of delight when the situation was so dire that lesser men would be running around losing their heads, but turning his own head back to the image of Angaria, Daneel said, "We have another problem. You all saw how the people broke their ranks and were rendered ineffective when the battle did not go our way… It is not easy for me to say this, but we have to assume that the same will happen again. They might hold for a while longer, but eventually…they will break again."
Hearing him, the Emperor sighed and replied, "Indeed. I wanted to approach this topic too, but I did not know how to. I know how much effort all of you put into training them, but a few months of working together cannot compare to years of gaining experience as a soldier. Soldiers know how to compose themselves even when things start going the other way, but these are common people whose biggest concern until just a few months ago was whether they would have meat or fish for lunch the next day. We cannot expect them to have grown so quickly… so this is a card that has to be removed from the table."
They all saw the truth of it, but that did not stop the commanders who had spent the most time training them from gnashing their teeth and looked down.
Daneel did not have the words or the time to console them. More and more cards were being swept away, and with every second, the danger they were in seemed to be growing as they got closer and closer to the assault of the third wave.
Seeing that everyone had crestfallen looks on their faces, he decided that he should change the track for a moment, at least.
Raising his finger, he made a golden card appear over Angaria, and seeing it, everyone leaned forward as he said, "We have Arnold to thank for this new card. The weapons that he has brought with him can all be used for the duration of the final assault. By being a strong threat, we made it so that they were fearful enough to stuff each and every weapon with as much Energy as possible. The power of just a few weapons more than makes up for any weakness that might occur due to the people not being able to perform as expected. With so many on our side…the Church will have to move gingerly if they don't want to be bombarded by the very attacks that they sought to destroy us with."
A broad, evil grin came on Arnold's face as he was commended, but when he shook his head and changed it into a normal one, Daneel and a few others chuckled as they realized that the first had come out of force of habit.
"Ah, screw it. I've put up this farce for so long that it has become a part of me. Pardon me, brothers and sisters, but I'm going to continue to be my villainous self…"
With that, the grin from before came back, and after a moment, he continued.
"I really wish I had been able to kill that Bishop. She is the reason behind all of our difficulties. No one knew that the size of each wave would be increased. Even the commanders who were supposed to take care of each wave had no idea that the numbers had been inflated…when I saw it, I almost cursed out loud and gave myself away! The third wave is always the strongest so that it can sweep away any and all opposition that might still be present, and frankly, right now, I don't see how we can stop them from doing so without sacrificing a few million Angarians like I did."
And that was it. As Arnold laid bare the situation that Daneel had been thinking about until now, he saw that it was time to make a decision.
He had gotten an idea a long time ago, but he had discarded it as it was even riskier than going into that unknown drop of blood when the battle was so near.
Yet, when Daneel saw that this was the only way to assure that Angaria, as they knew it, would not be vanquished, he knew what he had to do.
"So far, we have managed to win because we were willing to take risks. If something works, why change it? Let us take one last gambit. If it succeeds, we will be able to weather the third wave with no difficulty…and if it fails, we will at least know that we had tried our best. I've decided that I'm going ahead with this…and we don't have the time to argue, so listen. Tomorrow…"
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