Colonel Jim shook hands with the strange masked man who had docked on Hawaiian shores half an hour back. He made no attempt to mask his contempt as he spoke.
"I noticed the way you negotiated with the Governor. You should know that I won't be pushed around so easily."
The masked man with the hidden name tag and level replied.
"There would be no pushing around necessary, as long as you stick to what I had stipulated earlier - 800 civilians and 200 military personnel. Civilians above level 10 and military personnel between levels 20 and 24. I pick the civilians, you pick the troops."
The colonel replied.
"I know my orders. I'll meet you with my men at the harbor in two hours."
The masked man replied.
"And I'll meet you with mine."
Then he took off.
The colonel started jogging to the Infantry Brigade headquarters. It was by no means walking distance, but in the absence of post-industrial transport, or in simpler words, cars, walking was the only viable option.
Unless you fancied riding a mutated and blood-thirsty Iron Hooved Horse, which the colonel didn't.
Thankfully, at level 34, he could jog and make better time to his headquarters than he could with his car until a month ago.
When he reached, the Brigadier General in charge of the entire Hawaiian National Guard was already there.
Jim saluted his superior, who spoke.
"Do you have enough men in your Brigade above level 20 or should I ask Colonel Matt to pitch in with some of his?"
Jim replied succinctly.
"I have enough, sir."
The Brigadier General looked into his eyes for a few long seconds.
"Don't forget your orders, Colonel."
Then he simply walked off.
Jim had been telling the truth when he said that he had enough troops. He had enough, but only barely.
Meaning I'll have to take some hotheaded men who really don't belong in such a tricky mission.
The masked man had offered 6 hours in the dungeon in exchange for helping them defend Laysan Island for the next week. The governor, who had seen the levels on the islands stagnate after the beast bastions were dealt with, had taken the offer with both hands and committed to sending an entire brigade of more than 3000 troops.
An entire brigade of the Hawaiian National Guard was clearly not what that masked man had in mind, and Jim didn't blame him. With that kind of military presence, coupled with the level gain across the board after 6 hours in the dungeon, Laysan Settlement would basically become a Hawaiian protectorate.
The strange man negotiated the deal down to 200 troops and 800 civilians. A markedly less threatening situation, for sure, but the Colonel still wasn't sure that after 6 hours leveling up in the dungeon, the 1000 Hawaiians would not be able to take over the small island of Laysan.
Whatever the case may be, his orders were to honestly protect the island against the enemy forces, while ensuring they don't directly fight against any attacker representing the American Administration itself.
The governor wants to hedge his bets, meaning I'll have to walk a tightrope where the distinction between friend and foe might change any second, while commanding my troops in an unconventional battle we never trained for.
As usual, it'll be the boys who'll be risking their lives.
Putting these thoughts aside, Jim got to the task of putting together the 200 men and letting them know what they were going to be doing for the next 1 week.
An hour later, he was at the harbor, thirty minutes before he was supposed to meet the strange man there.
To his surprise, the man was already there, with 800 civilians.
Well shit...
Jim thought when he noticed the flowery and tacky clothes those 'civilians' were wearing.
He has put together a motley of 800 bloody tourists.
The colonel couldn't see beneath the mask, but he could swear that the prick was smiling.
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A nervous Neha greeted the to-be defenders of Laysan as they landed on the island's shore.
"Before anything else, I want to apologize for Shahid's conduct. Despite the shaky start, I really hope to maintain a good diplomatic relationship with Hawaii. Please feel free to let me know of any way we can make your lives here better."
The colonel shook his head.
"Water under the bridge. We have already created squads of five for the dungeon, and are ready to send them in. I'll talk with the dungeon masters and tailor the challenge level to ensure minimal fatality. The sooner we go in, the more time the troops and the civilians will have to level."
Neha did not miss the emphasis the colonel had laid on civilians, or the way he tried to get more time in the dungeon than they had agreed upon.
The agreement Shahid had with the governor was for them to have 6 hours of access to the dungeon, with teams consisting of one soldier and four civilians going in and grinding levels. The soldiers were free to level up as much as they could, so long as they got the 4 civilians as close to level 25 as possible and defeated at least one of the bosses and secured an exit early.
The colonel had failed to get any concessions from Shahid, who had first bullied the governor and then, based on the distinction between the words civilian and citizen, managed to get 800 tourists as part of the 1000 men force.
Neha decided that being civil would be better in the long run.
And then there's the fact that 6 hours is too short a time to actually get even close to level 25 for someone starting in early tens. Which was the average level of the tourists.
Neha thought and replied.
"Of course. The next wave of attack is nearly 14 hours away. As long as your squad is out of the dungeon 2 hours before the attack begins, we should have enough time to get them into position."
Colonel Jim smiled.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Splendid. Now where can I find those dungeon masters?"
Neha gave him the directions, and he promptly excused himself.
Shahid joined her next, accompanied by Charlie, Helena, Alex, and two of his elites.
"Get these guys in the dungeon. They are all level 24."
He said, without prelude.
Neha nodded.
"Go talk to the dungeon masters and ask them to activate the time dilation before you go in. Ivan had poured enough intent into the dungeon to allow 2 teams to spend 120 hours in there while only 4 hours passed outside. The rest of your team already entered about three hours back and should be coming out any time now. You guys can go in now or wait an hour for them to return."
Before anyone could make up their mind on whether or not to wait, Shahid signaled with his arms, and the two elites left.
"That time dilation changes things. Neha, can you find two promising elites from your college and get them to join Rahul's friends? 22 and 23 can join some other team and go as part of a regular dungeon dive."
That again? 22 and 23?
Neha thought, thinking of the many times she had argued with him about calling his squad members by their names.
She took a deep breath.
This is not the time to argue. He's seen thousands of those female warriors die. Giving them numbers is just his way of coping.
She told herself.
"Sure."
She simply replied, contempt creeping into her voice despite her best efforts.
If Shahid noticed that, he didn't let it show.
"What else is new?"
He casually asked, and Neha proceeded to explain the series of events that happened since he had left the island.
Charlie, Helena, and Alex also decided to catch up on the events and wait until later to enter the dungeon.
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"Does she really have to be here? Didn't she try to kill you guys and take over the island?"
Shahid asked, not at all comfortable with the presence of Kelly in their discussion.
The grandmaster opened her mouth to protest, but Neha beat her to it.
"Not exactly. The game was non-lethal. She just wanted to take us all prisoners and carry a bloodless coup. Isn't that right, Kelly?"
Deciding that this was as generous an assessment as she was going to get from anyone in this room, Kelly nodded.
"Besides, we all know the weakness of her attack. She's no threat to anyone here."
Neha added.
"She's a high-level mage, that makes her enough of a threat if she decides to betray us at a critical juncture."
Shahid protested, but he knew Neha was right.
The first time Kelly attacked Maya, the sudden turn of events and the 1 minute deadline had thrown the otherwise astute young woman off.
Maya had failed to notice what was a very strong flaw in the chess game attack.
All she had to do was play the game without any pieces except herself and lost. That'd have rendered Maya unconscious, but given how overpowered the attack was, Kelly likely didn't have enough intent accumulated to repeat it. That'd have meant that she'd exhausted her trump card and only managed to incapacitate one person, leaving everyone else on the island unharmed and ready to defend it.
All in all, the threat would have ended before it even began, and Maya would have been fine an hour later.
Then there was Shahid, who was so far above her in levels that he could simply refuse her chess invitation.
All in all, the only legitimate concern was the fact that no one knew where Kelly's loyalties lay, and that the sly grandmaster could reveal the secrets discussed in this room to her faction.
Which is why the battle planning was happening on two levels.
One out loud, for not just Kelly, but also the three invisible spies to witness. Those shrewd spies would smell a fake discussion from a mile away, which is why the group was going to have a genuine discussion here. They would work out the plan on how to deal with the enemies that were listed in the missive that the Order of Illumination had so kindly dropped on their laps.
A plan they fully intended to follow.
They would also have a second, quieter discussion, which would have two purposes.
The first would be to have contingencies in place to handle the threats that have been intentionally omitted in the missive.
The second would be to discuss what they were really going to do about the 10 million SP quest.
Of course, omitting these key topics in the open discussion would be a dead giveaway. So they would discuss it openly, but the decisions made in the telepathic discussion would be the ones Neha and her trusted circle would act upon.
Neha got the ball rolling.
"Rahul and the others should be back in half an hour, and then we can together answer that million-dollar question. Until then, why don't we go over our enemies and try to come up with the best counters for them."
Charlie, Alex, Helene, Mr. Singh, Ajay, Shahid, Kelly, and Daniel's wife were all in attendance, but the many stewards that were a hallmark of Jafrabad council meetings were noticeably missing.
Bloody cost cutting. Even with everything about the world that has changed, some things remain the same.
Neha cursed the need for having to conserve SPs as she unfurled the lengthy scroll.
Final Report Organization Strength Silk Road Syndicate 1 level 35+ rogue, 10-20 specialists (primarily melee) Shinobi Society 1 level 35+ rogue, 10-20 specialists (primarily melee) Texan Oil Cartel 1 level 35+ elementalist mage, 10-20 specialists (primarily mage) Mumbai Mafia 1 level 35+ sniper, 10-20 specialists (primarily melee) Niger Delta Pirates 1 level 35+ pirate, 10-20 specialists (primarily pirates) Cossack Coalition 1 level 35+ horseman, 5-10 specialists (primarily mounted) Favela Federation 1 level 35+ rogue, 5-10 specialists (primarily rogue) Sands Sultanate 1 level 30+ rogue, 10-20 specialists (primarily rogue) Gangnam Gamblers 1 level 30+ rogue, 10-20 specialists (primarily rogue) Crowned Cabal 1 level 30+ marksman, 10-20 specialists (primarily rogue) Bensen Burner 1 level 30+ tank, 5-10 specialists (primarily rogue) Ganja Gang 1 level 30+ yogi, 5-10 specialists (primarily rogue) Bavarian Brawlers 1 level 30+ brawler, 5-10 specialists (primarily brawlers) Diamond Dominion 5-10 specialists (primarily rogue) .... .....
The list went on and on, and when the scroll was finally fully laid out on the table, Charlie chuckled.
Immediately drawing looks from everyone.
"What? Did you see the title? It's like they are turning in their homework."
No one could argue that, and Alex chimed in.
"The organizations seem to be sorted in decreasing order of threat too."
Kelly tried to blend in and hesitantly added a point of her own.
"If I were grading for alliteration, they would get full marks."
Not everyone was comfortable with her presence and drew some glares, but after going through the list of names, her point was reluctantly acknowledged.
Neha cleared her throat.
"Okay, if we're all done poking fun at this document, let's get to the matchups. The ones after the Bavarian Brawlers don't have anyone above level 30, so they can be left to the Hawaain and Jafrabadian armies that we are leveling in the dungeon as we talk. That leaves 13 enemy squads, for which we'll need our elites. And let's not forget about having at least some strength in reserve for any new enemies that make the last-minute decision to show up."
Maya had vouched for Kelly's excellent tactics during the chess game they had played, which is why Neha had decided to bring her in as a tactician.
The grandmaster had made her way here by manipulating not just her husband, but also the director of the big tech alliance.
They would have put things together by now, and even if they hadn't, they would after finding out about the insurrection I tried to pull off here.
Kelly thought.
This time, she had burned all her bridges, and getting accepted here was her only path to achieving any manner of success in this new world. To outdo her husband once and for all.
So when Kelly spoke, she did it with the intention of ensuring a resounding victory for the islanders tomorrow.
"Simply Counting Shahid, your original eight Laysians, and a few other elites among us, we will barely have enough firepower to match their elites with ours 1 for 1. The scroll also has the tentative angle of approach for each of the enemies, so we could intercept them and can arrange optimal matchups. Despite all our planning, we can't expect to win 100% of the engagements. Even if we win 4 out of 5 battles, three of your friends will end up captured or dead. I can plan this like chess, not caring about how many pieces I lose so long as I win the game, but I doubt that's what you'd want. You can definitely survive tomorrow, but if you want to come out of this battle with minimal losses, you need to give me something more to work with."
Neha nodded.
"We do have a few aces up our sleeves. Let's start with the Immutability synergy perks."
Then she projected her screen.
Kelly's smile as she went over the details was disturbing.
"Time to see what it feels like to play with the overpowered and unbalanced pieces on my side."