[X] Plan First Offensive
"I don't mind if we have to harm them in the course of battle, but unless it's absolutely necessary I would prefer we not have to kill them."
"I agree with Tomoe-san. Harm coming to our enemies is unavoidable if they have chosen to fight us; but I refuse to kill any of them, and I refuse to put myself in a position where killing one of them is the only way out."
"Fuck that. You think those bitches would give killing us a second thought? If we're in a position ta take one'a those bitches out permanently, you better believe I'm fucking taking it. 'Specially if it's that pink bitch or the master'a their Archer."
"I just want that pink bitch and the monocle chick dead for hurting Oriko. I don't care one way or another about what happens to any of the rest."
You probably didn't need to ask that question to guess the answers you would receive; and hell, you could probably close your ears and correctly guess what each of your teammates' answers would be without ever hearing them give it. To no one's surprise, their answers are exactly what you expected them to be. The problem, then , is that their votes create a tie between letting the masters live, or killing them along with their servants. If you throw your hat into the ring for killing them, you know Oriko will continue to refuse, to the point that her refusal may even harm the team cohesion. But if you throw your hat into the ring for sparing the enemy masters, you also know there's very little that will stop Kyouko from wanting Wakaba Mirai or Usagi Satomi dead, just as there's very little that will stop Kirika from wanting Wakaba Mirai or Asami Saki dead.
No matter how you look at it, there isn't an option you can take where the whole team will feel good about taking it. "I'm glad we got that out of the way first," you say. "It's not going to make this any easier going forward, but at least I know where we all stand without having to guess."
"Don't be so modest Akemi-san." Tomoe-san waves your words off, saying "I'm sure you know us all well enough that you didn't need to ask."
"True. I suppose it goes without saying that we need to defeat their servants in order to stand a chance of winning, but I guess I was foolish enough to hope we might be able to reach a consensus on dealing with the enemy puella magi," you say. "Unfortunately we haven't, and unfortunately I knew we wouldn't." You glance around the Tomoe living room; Hitomi isn't present, but she said as much to you when you texted everyone for a meeting. She'll be along later, after her boyfriend goes back to Chigasaki. So that just leaves one more member of the team to try and break the tie.
"Don't look at me," Nurse Ortensia says as you do just that. "I'm just the Overseer. I don't have any particular preference for whether those girls die or not. Only their servants need to be defeated in order for you to win."
"Oh, don't give us that 'neutrality' crap," Kirika spits. "Even if you don't wanna admit it, deep down I know you care what happens to Oriko, so just admit that you've got thoughts one way or another about these girls."
"So we're still tied without Hitomi here to break it," you say. "That's fine. We can work that out once she gets here. For now, we need to talk about how we plan to proceed over the course of the next few days. Oriko, would you care to take things from here?"
"Of course, Akemi-san." Oriko assumes your position as you sit back down at the table. "Last night, Archer dealt a seemingly fatal blow to the enemy's Archer. If she's alive, then the Saints are doing an excellent job of hiding her, because I don't see her at all in our future. While I hate to get our hopes up in the event that she isn't dead, we can assume that we'll have the next few days free of any fire support from the enemy, at least. Tomoe-san and I have been talking about how best to take advantage of our good fortune, and we think that, while we have the initiative, we should take this opportunity to launch some probing strikes into the enemy's territory. We're presently at a loss for critical information like the quality of their defenses or their daily movements, and now that their Archer is out of the picture we believe the time is right to obtain that information."
So far, it appears that everyone is on board with Oriko's suggestion, based solely on their faces as they listen to her. "Now, assuming we leave the construction team to their duties, we will be left with Saber, Archer, Rider, and Berserker comprising our primary strike team, along with the five of us, assuming we all decide to participate." Oriko turns to Nurse Ortensia, saying "I won't force you to participate, Caren-san. I know your magecraft isn't well-suited for fighting something like a puella magi; and I won't force Shizuki-san to join, either."
You nod. "I'd like for her to one day be comfortable enough with her magecraft, as well as with some basic combat and survival techniques, that she's able to join us in some capacity; but until she's ready it's probably best if she stays behind and commands Saber through her master's vision."
"So, we're leaving out the ones still working on our base?" Kyouko asks. "How convenient that you two-" Her eyes dart back and forth between Tomoe-san and Oriko "-would be the ones coming up with this, when it's yer servants who are hanging back."
Kirika leans over, smacking Kyouko in the back of her head. "Don't talk about Oriko like that!" she shouts. "Come on now! You know Oriko better than that."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Kyouko winces as she rubs the back of her head. "Christ, couldn't ya go a little easier on me, though? That almost hurt."
Oriko's gaze bores a pair of holes into Kyouko's face; at least, that's what you would expect from the intensity with which she stares at the redhead. "If you take the Lord's name in vain in my presence one more time, Sakura-san, I will be the one to slap you."
"All right, I get it. Geez." Kyouko rolls her eyes. "How the hell'd you end up caring more about this stuff than me? You weren't even brought up in the faith."
Tomoe-san coughs into her hand. "Perhaps we should get back to discussing our plan of attack?" she suggests. "If we're all on board with the idea Mikuni-san has proposed, can I assume you each have your own thoughts about how we should proceed with our attack? We've got a number of options, as I see it. Without the enemy's Archer to stop us, we could bombard their base of operations, for example; or perhaps we could catch them off-guard while they're out on patrol? Or perhaps we'd prefer to take the chivalrous route and announce our intentions to their face, similar to how they announced their intentions to us a few nights ago?"
"I would prefer not to attack their base directly," Oriko says. "They've already set a bad precedent by attacking us on neutral territory. If we choose to lower ourselves to their level and attack their base, we might inadvertently incite them to attack our own base in return. With construction still slated to take another few days, I would prefer we not give them that incentive, at least not until our own base is set up with sufficient defensive capabilities." Tomoe-san nods in agreement with Oriko, who then adds "Also, I'd feel bad for the museum if we attacked their base. It didn't ask to be used by them in that fashion, and we'd be destroying a possibly priceless collection of vintage bears if we launched our attacks carelessly."
"So?" Kyouko asks. "You think they cared what the church felt when they had Archer level it? Don't get me wrong, I think you've got a good idea about not provoking'em ta attack our base until we're all set up ta counter'em, but why the fuck d'ya think I should care about their building when they didn't care about mine?"
"I think a sneak attack would be best," Kirika says. "I hate to admit it, but they've got stronger servants than we do, so if we go and announce our intentions to fight them, we're just gonna get clobbered. But if we pull a fast one on'em, then maybe we'll get lucky and take one out before they know what's going on. If everythign goes well, we swoop in and take the rest down, easy-peasy; and if it doesn't work, then we fall back and try again later. Either way, we're in a much better position if we don't announce ourselves like a bunch of stupid shounen anime villains."
Tomoe-san smiles. "That's... Surprisingly thoughtful of you, Kure-san," she says. Kirika's face reads something to the effect of "Come on, Tomoe, I'm single-minded, but I'm not stupid," or something like that. But she remains quiet, allowing Tomoe-san to continue. "I agree with Kure-san, then. Even though we've taken out the enemy's Archer, they still have their own Saber, Lancer, Rider, and Berserker to contend with. If Lancer and Berserker are anywhere near as strong as their Saber and Rider, we won't be able to defeat them in a head-on confrontation while we're still limiting our forces. But if we attack them when they aren't expecting, we might be able to catch them off-guard before they have a chance to bring the brunt of their servant force to bear against us."
"And kill'em, right?"
"I would prefer if we didn't kill them," Tomoe-san says to Kyouko. "If we could make allies of Mikuni-san and Kure-san, then I want to believe we could do the same for at least some of these girls, if it's at all possible."
Oriko nods along with Tomoe-san's words. "Even if their actions are... Disturbing, they are not beyond redemption. If we can defeat them without killing them, I have to believe it would be possible to turn them back into good people, the same as you and Akemi-san did for Kirika and I."
Nurse Ortensia stares at Oriko as she speaks, nodding occasionally as a sly smirk crosses her lips. When you look to her, she responds with another "Don't look at me," before saying "I don't particularly care how you girls choose to defeat them. Just make sure you aren't doing anything that would compromise your position on the world stage, and you won't have any problems from me, the Church, or the Mage's Association."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," you say.
What do you think should be the rules of engagement should be?
[ ] Only their servants have to be defeated; go out of your way to avoid killing any of the Saints
[ ] Only their servants have to be defeated; but you won't avoid killing if you have to
[ ] Kill them all; let God sort them out
[ ]Other (write-in)
What do you think the best plan of attack would be?
[ ] Bombard their base
[ ] Sneak attack
[ ] Declare your intentions and fight them openly
[ ] Other (write-in)
Do you have anything else to add?
[ ] Yes (before Hitomi arrives) (write-in)
[ ] Yes (after Hitomi arrives) (write-in)
[ ] No
[ ] Wat do?
BONUS
Do you want to see Oriko's tattoo?
[ ] Yes; before you leave, if she's okay with showing you
[ ] Yes; after you return, if she's okay with showing you
[ ] No; it's none of your business that Oriko got a tattoo
