Snippet #2637367

Allan

For the most part the trip was something he couldn't say he hated but wouldn't do all over again either.

The scenery was eclectic, a wide mixture of natural scenery distorted through a fantastical lens. His ordinary world never prepared him for any of this but by this point he had started becoming desensitized towards seeing things which defied all sense of reality as he was accustomed, his standards for what he actually expects finding new bottom limits to drop to.

In all truth he did not really mind the supposed shortcuts though he had some suspicion that River was lying about the purpose of the detours. While he walked he simply kept to himself, watching the scenery around him as he considered things of a more philosophical matter. Even when the whole group was brought to a halt for someone he didn't really care he had kept a slight distance between him and everyone else, remaining close enough to follow but detached so he could be more alone as he took in the environment. All in all the walking alone was no issue and the view was admittedly nice, he wouldn't admit to any higher praise than that though. What detracted from it all was the company.

The sound of their chatter was a bother. It kept him from enjoying himself, the noise acting as an intrusive element in his thoughts. Anytime anyone addressed him he was stern and laconic, answering just enough to get the point across without spurring further conversation. Dealing with the people's company was a chore and he only really accepted it in begrudging silence as he'd rather not raise a fuss over something he can't change.


Soon enough their journey came to a halt before what appeared to be a massive wall of obelisks. Al was ready for pretty much any sight no matter how dark or grave so he wasn't quite as interested in the massive structures the others seemed transfixed by. River channeled some lights while drawing on the apparently holographic obelisks, scanning for something from what he could gather.

River confirmed there were no lords present behind the wall, good news from what he'd heard. As he stepped through he tossed a rectangular golden crystal of some sort to someone. After sixty seconds like told he stepped through the wall into the zone beyond.

---

A barren wasteland, black ash painted the ground and choked the air. It was breathable but by no means clean, sort of like New York city. He noted there was an animal trapped under a bit of old wood but before he could really remark on it something that demanded more attention came up. Specifically his card beeped in his pocket. When he pulled it out it projected a screen from it's face out in front of him as a flat holographic screen.

Rules. Of course things weren't going to be as simple as going from point A to point B, nothing ever was. Still, what was weirdest for him was the fact that he was given a clear outline of what to do. In his line of work what needed to be done was rarely ever clear. It was only towards the later part of his time before the Garden that he even had so much as an objective outside of 'hit all the things'. This game was going to take more than that if he wanted to succeed.

It was going to require thought and lots of it. The tin man had already started barking orders, trying to get their group organized and lead them. For the most part his advice was sound, optimizing safety for the squishies was fair enough. Without saying so much as a word of acknowledgement he went over to his presumed place in this arrangement, standing to the left of the party and leaving the right open for whoever wanted to take the spot.


"This good with everyone?" Wayland asked them. Al was deep in thought, reading over the rules in his head and considering the implications. While Wayland had given them all positions what he had failed to come up with or at least share was a plan. While sticking together was the safer option the goal of the game wasn't to visit as many buildings as possible, it was to hold the most buildings by the end of the timer. The rules didn't specify if buildings could be changed into a point for the enemy team after already being captured by their team so he assumed from the semantics of the third rule that they could. With that in mind if they traveled in a tightly knit group there was little to stop the opposing team from following them, taking back the buildings they captured and effectively undoing any effort they'd make towards winning this thing. They needed a way to keep the buildings they were going to take.

Doing the math in his head he calculated that with thirty one buildings, the cathedral counting for five points, they would need to capture and keep eighteen buildings or thirteen buildings and the cathedral in order to win. There were only seven of them. In order for them to hold eighteen buildings four of them would each need to look after three buildings while the remaining three would each have to look after two. This would spread them out over a dangerously vast distance between each other and they still had no idea what their enemies were capable of.

If they took the cathedral at the very least they could capture the surrounding buildings with five people watching over two buildings, one person guarding three and one person left to defend the cathedral. They would still be spread out but at the very least they could hear each other and be able to respond if any one of them got jumped.


There was almost no math that would net them any modicum of safety save for the shelter of the buildings themselves. If they were going to survive this game taking the cathedral would be necessary if only to help scout out the enemy team. They needed to know where their enemies lurked and the cathedral was the best place to find them. Al had some suspicion that if they didn't race straight for the cathedral they were likely to see their enemies there anyways.

"There's just seven of us. We can't keep these buildings and win." He finally broke his silence, addressing Wayland.
"We need to head to the cathedral. If our enemy is anywhere they're likely on their way there. We can figure the rest out when we get there."

His tone was cold but not harsh. His intent wasn't to oppose Wayland's leadership but to relay tactical information, no more, no less. He was fine following orders but he also had no intention of losing this. None of the enemies daunted him more than the possibility of the repercussions for failing this game. As Vinn had previously stated the games usually carried with it a reward. The award wasn't announced when they entered, leaving Al's mind to wander about the possibilities. It could be an item, a boon to the winning team or worse, a toll on the losing team. In this zone he was fairly sure if they were going to be paying anything the only currency it was likely to accept would be their lives.