Twelfth Dispatch - [written]

[captainhornblower]

Sunday, February 5th

[It's cold and it's snowing... but Captain Hornblower is still on his ship, in the captain's cabin. The best place to think.]

There is a constant war going on. People are fighting and dying every day.

We get no reports, we don't know their names, we don't know anything about the tide of war. We don't even really know much about the combatants. Not on either side.

But there is a war.

We are kept from it, most of the time. Protected from even the news of it.

Has anyone given it thought: What would you do if the heart of the Third Party army was upon us tomorrow?

Hornblower

Comments

[voice]

[makeitquick]

You fig we'd get no warning?

[voice]

[captainhornblower]

We don't know where the fighting is or how it's going. We only get warning when they want to send us somewhere. Send random people who may or may not be the best for the tasks.

If it's coming to us--

Do you trust them enough to warn us?

[voice | decent attempt at a private filter]

[all7seas]

When it happens, you mean? I shall find the breach they entered in by and see that we make use of it.

[voice | decent attempt at a private filter]

[captainhornblower]

When, yes.

And that would be your first and main objective, Captain Sparrow? I mean this genuinely. There will be non-combatants to contend with and enemies to fight. Collecting that sort of information and knowing how to use it might take time. Which someone would have to devote, of course.

It would be you, at once?

[voice]

[simplestgift]

[He didn't even see when you left, Horatio. Well, since you're on board the ship roughly any time you're not in the house, whatever.]

If they come by sea, well. That is the purpose of our Britannia, isn't it?

[Sort of. The purpose of Britannia is to give Horatio a home, but he may or may not know that.]

[voice]

[captainhornblower]

[Quiet makes him restless, but the ship at least feels like home. Better than the Peace with no ship to be aboard.]

If she's armed.

And at least by sea, we'd see them coming and could prepare by at least a day.

[Really, of all the ways he can imagine them coming... Coming by sea is the most comforting possibility.]

[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

Evacuate non-combatants to a safe location. Stem the flow of the Third Party forces, begin building up defensive positions. Neutralize shift hunters and shifters as quickly as possible.

[Written]

[captainhornblower]

Where would that safe location be?

[voice.]

[folklorist]

Try to protect everyone as much as possible. [ He's already died once from the third party. He doesn't want anyone he cares about to face the same. ]

[voice.]

[captainhornblower]

By what means?

[inabook]

This has happened before, in the past. It was our first encounter with the Third Party. We were given prior warning enough to prepare... They can't easily breach the barrier.

[captainhornblower]

As of now, they can't. And then, you were given warning.

Both conditions could change, I'm afraid.

[rather_be_surfing]

You fight.

Perhaps this is a concern to bring to the town meeting, rather than hoping enough are listening.

Ginia has the most comprehensive plan so far; asking those of us who have been in the drafts already is likely your best bet for information.

[captainhornblower]

And hope enough people are at the town meeting, despite the snow we have seen already today.

Information from those in the village who have fought is valuable, but I'm also interested in the information of the battles we don't see. The war is not just the "drafts" we are accustomed to. They continue fighting even when we are not called on. That is what I find disconcerting not to know about.

[Written]

[tsuntrader]

Fight. [Plain and simple.]

[Written]

[captainhornblower]

And leave those who cannot fight to their own devices? Or expect others to see to them?

[Written]

[eyesofstrength]

Having survived a battle where there was no warning, I can say this place has far more of a chance than the village I lived most of my life in.

The barrier is a deterrent. Even if they can break it, that takes time. Even if the Malnosso don't warn us, we will know if the barrier goes down because it is what affects our powers and those with them will know the difference and can provide warning. It is at least a day's trip to the barrier from any point by foot. Even if they have flight, it still takes more time to move a large force than it does to move a single person.

But I would do what I did then. Help ensure the non-combatants are evacuated to a safe haven, likely the tunnels, and then fight to the best of my ability to defend them. Despite the dangers of the tunnels, the fact that the Third Party is removed of their advantage of flight there makes it an ideal shelter. That we know from the battle in the mines. A group can be set in place there to act as a last line of defense, the rest remain above ground and fight.

That would be my own suggestion for a defense. I do disagree that we would get no warning, because the barrier itself serves as one even if the Malnosso do nothing.

[Written]

[captainhornblower]

Presuming they do not find a way to pass through the barrier without disrupting it-- I know little of how it works and less of them, so I cannot say the likelihood of that with any certainty.

I'm in agreement that the tunnels are likely the most defensible location in this town. There are only two points of entry, and, as you said, a great many of the advantages the Third Party soldiers seem to have would be at least lessened there. But the question of how to divide the groups comes, who of the combatants to choose as guards for the non-combatants and who to send to the front lines.

A volunteer-basis selection might weight one side or the other, making the odds unfair should one group be overwhelmed or surprised.

I know these aren't questions to all be answered over one conversation over the Journals, but I fear many people here are of the mindset to take care of themselves and their own without realising that those sorts of fractures are what will weaken our defences, not enhance them.

written

[weaponry]

What would I do? I'd pick up my scrolls, head outside, and start kicking ass and aiming for wings. They probably can't live without them either.

[ Oh, the simple things in life! Tenten's philosophy for this is surprisingly simple. She doesn't even think twice before writing this down. ]

I mean, they come here with killing intent? What else are we going to do? Throw a party?

written

[captainhornblower]

And the non-combatants are someone else's responsibility, I take it.

Whose?

[herotypical]

The same thing I did last time.

[captainhornblower]

What is that?

[Voice] | I apologize beforehand if this breaks his mind :'D

[talontrot]

[As a cartoon, Kazooie's response is short and simple.]

Kick their butts back to wherever they dragged themselves in from!

[Voice]

[captainhornblower]

Alone? Or would you enlist aid from others? What of those who cannot fight?

[audio]

[hohenheim]

[ The last few writings Hohenheim has read so far has poked his interest but Hornblower's words seemed to spike more than just intrigue on his part. What is all this about a "war"? Edward never mentioned such a thing to him. The old alchemist figured that Luceti was a safe haven for the most part, that until he read this. ]

...A war?

[ He paused for a long while. ]

Do you mean that situation with the "draft" or whichever they call it?

[audio]

[captainhornblower]

We are sent into the draft when the Malnosso's numbers need our help fighting. That is what we see of the war.

However, the Malnosso are always fighting the Third Party. It is a constant war. They simply do not tell us about it until we are needed to be dragged off somewhere. Somewhere, might I add, that we do not know the location of.

The battles fought might be on the other side of the world... or they might be just miles outside the barrier. We don't know.

[Voice]

[roboredom]

[What would he do if the Third Party were just up in their grills out of nowhere? That's a simple question! Robo-Ky will reply, specifically with the audio function to show off his superior robotic voice.

And because he can't be loud with writing.] I'D BREAK THEIR DEFECTIVE BODIES OVER MY KNEE! AND UNLIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL!

[Voice]

[captainhornblower]

[So many independent types. It makes Horatio's head hurt-- or maybe that's the volume and strangeness of the voice.]

Entirely by yourself?

[Voice]

[notshadowfever]

No doubt if the Third Party was heading this way, those Malnosso would expect us to fight them to the death as always! Ho ho ho! But this place, I assume, is far from the main combat zones. So what do you think a Third Party assault on this enclosure would mean? Perhaps it will only happen when the Malnosso are too weak to keep us in this filthy cage!

[written]

[screwthegods]

Fight.

There are very few options aside from that, when it comes to war.