(that's okay ^^)
The other two nodded and they started back towards the village.
"You know," Mike said quietly as they walked. "It occurred to me that saving all those kids might not be as easy as telling them we're there to save them. Ryker could be spinning all sorts of stories about us right now. If anything, we're likely to have them attack us."
"Oh yeah," Bernon said. "I forgot about that possibility. We'll have to be careful."
“We know two of them won’t but the others… yeah, we’ll have to be careful. If we win, convincing them is going to be the hard part that we did it for them, and not just out of spite or something.” Tanrial said, biting her lip.
(sorry, was having supper)
"That's why, even though we're amassing a major fighting force, I want us to try to minimize the combat," Mike said. "It would also be nice if we could figure out a way to expose Ryker's plan to all his kids, so they can see how twisted he really is."
(oops, dang it, gotta leave early again T.T Sorry!)
(All g, seeya!)
“We could always sneak in and talk to them but that would be virtually impossible.” Tanrial frowned, “I’m not sure what else there is…”
"I think you and me and Bernon will have to be the first ones into Ryker's base. If we can draw out his soldiers and distract them with our little army, then that'll buy us some time to find the kids and try to talk to them."
“That makes sense. But what if they don’t believe us? They’ll fight us in the base and that’ll do more harm then good.”
(sorry I'm late, unexpected shopping trip T.T)
"They're still only kids," Bernon said. "I don't think they'd be able to really hurt anyone. They don't seem that brainwashed. But it would be nice if we could find Wren and Casper first so they can vouch for us, and maybe try to keep Ryker and those older two kids out of the area while we talk to them."
"We could bring in one or two extra good fighters to distract them," Mike suggested. "Although I think we should give Eric and that girl Jackie an honest chance before we treat them like enemies."
"Never thought I'd hear you say that, bro," Bernon remarked with a grin. "You're getting soft."
Mike rolled his eyes, but smiled back. "Says you."
Tanrial smiled, “Aww, look at you two, not biting each others heads off and Mike smiled for once. I’d photograph this if I had a camera on me.”
Mike snorted. "Funny. Next thing you know we'll be singing campfire songs and making each other friendship bracelets."
He was about to say more when suddenly there was a faint rumble from back in Ryker's property. It sounded like it was coming closer. Mike froze, the looked up. "Chopper. Get under the trees."
(gotta go to bed, seeya tomorrow ^^)
Tanrial nodded and ducked behind a nearby tree, hoping she and the other two were hidden from view, “Do you think they’ve seen us?”
(Seeya ^^)
"Not yet." Mike kept his eyes trained warily upwards.
The sound got closer and louder, until the bug-like black shape of the helicopter finally looked overhead. It seemed to be heading west, and steadily gaining altitude as it flew. It gave no indication of landing any time soon.
Once it was out of sight and the noise started slowly receding, Mike let out a breath. "Guess they aren't searching for anything on the ground. We should keep moving though."
Bernon joined them cautiously. "It's been a long time since I've seen one of those things. They're bigger than I remembered."
(fair warning, I won't have much time to be on tonight or tomorrow probably)
(Okay, I finish school for the term today so I’ll have more time the next two weeks)
Tanrial let out a small laugh, “They look the same to me, I just forgot how noise those things were. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t get out that often anymore.”
(nice! to elaborate on what I said earlier, my fam and I are going on a trip over the weekend so I may not get much chance to be here for a couple days–but I'll be back to normal after that!)
"Yeah, I'm actually surprised there's even helicopters left. I mean, I know Ryker's got some advanced stuff, but still."
Mike grumbled ominously. "Let's just hope it's not built for combat. If it is, that could be a real issue on battle day."
(off to bed, seeya tomorrow ^^)
Tanrial nodded, “That’s true, let’s pray they’re not. I doubt it, it didn’t look built for combat from down here but I could be wrong.”
(Seeya ^^)
Bernon found the path they'd been on before and led them into the valley. "It reminded me more of this search-and-rescue chopper I saw crashed in a field a while ago, except this one's painted black. Maybe when we invade we can hijack or sabotage it so we won't have to worry.
Tanrial hummed in acknowledgment, “That sounds like a plan, if we have time for that, that is…”
"We need to keep in mind that in a couple days we'll have more than just the three of us to organize and make use of," Mike said. "For specific, pinpoint attacks like the one on the chopper, we'll need to single out the best fighters and tacticians. Other less important roles can be filled by the fisherman as a large group, or the People's Army. If they come."
“I know I know, I was just saying that… what if Ryder has a bigger army then we have anticipated? What if he’s called in extra forces and somehow knows we’re going to attack? If that happened then attacks on things like the chopped might not be possible.” Tanrial crossed her arms.
"You're right," Mike conceded. "That would be bad, and definitely a time to prioritize. There will come a point when, if we're overwhelmingly outnumbered, we'll have to cut our losses and pull out. But let's do everything we can to avoid that since we won't really get another chance on this."
"I wonder where they park it," Bernon wondered aloud. "The chopper, I mean. I didn't see it just now when we were scouting, and they can't have built an underground hangar for it, right….?"
(gotta go, seeya later ^^)
(Seeya later ^^)
Tanrial shrugged, “Maybe they do, who knows really. If they did it would be like Batman then, with his bat cave and all that.”