"They are all very high on karmic imbalances, so there won't be too much thinking going on there, most of them are too spaced out to realize that anything is happening around them."
"Still you are talking about an army of cultivators and constructs, of which everyone is more powerful than us. How in all the seven realms are we supposed to win?"
Bin Ji's complaints resonated well with the rest of the team. It seemed they fit the stereotype of righteous cultivators very well, one minor setback, and suddenly they were all." let's escape with our lives intact to fight another day." Stupidity is all it is if you ask me.
I had to get them to face their challenges in a new way.
"We just have to find the mass control crystal to take them over, it is easy really, once we get that, then we will have the forces to take the fight to the Demon Hair Sect."
Neither Bin Ji and Yurt were particularly taken with the idea. They were a bit more comfortable sticking to the known, getting in contact with the sect, calling for reinforcements.
"It is the only way we have a shot against those forces if what you say is true. There is no way we could battle our way out of here alive. If they get one inkling, we are here."
"They won't, they are too busy preparing for the battle that is coming up, they can barely spare any forces to tackle us. Only normal cultivators who are all too high off karma to be any real use in a fight. More powerful than usual certainly, but with all the control of a child. There is no danger from them."
Bin ji's pacing continued with fervor; she weighed up what to do in her head. Yurt was staring at me, tacitly agreeing to go along with whatever I had planned. Knowing returning with half the troops due to a risk I took would not reflect well on the plan, I had tried to pull him over with.
"Even if they can barely fight, they still have far greater numbers in purely human assets. There is no way we can fight that."
She slumped over the map, looking at our options, the burden of her leadership beginning in such a fashion was really weighing down on her.
"That's the only way out at this point. There is no way for us to fight our way back into the tower, If we can strike first, get to a position to contact them from the base in the town, they can then send a force of Golden cores through the tower, defeat the construct easily, saving us in turn."
Striking fast before she could reach her own conclusion, she still seemed unconvinced, still not fully sure of her capabilities against what would be weak foes. Karmic Inbalance was a truly dangerous thing. The sudden rush of power made even the most seasoned fighters resort to the tactics of toddlers.
That was our only chance to strike; we would have to hit hard and fast. Bin Ji was obviously still too worried about the rest of the troop to resort to making any major decisions, far happier to wait for the inevitable, trying to get in contact with any member of our Sect or the Flowing stream sect.
"There has to be another way. We can't risk everyone's lives by committing to a possible suicide attack, If you or Yurt could break through to core formation within the next week, we would have time, after the ambush. Then one of you could distract the construct long enough for one of us to reach the top, signal for help, and complete our mission."
Yurt decided it was finally his turn to step forward and give his opinion.
"With far fewer merits, however, If we succeed with Byren's plan, than the whole sect would be rewarding us for our deeds. Instead of giving that glory to someone else, we could grasp it for ourselves."
Finally, he showed some of the character I had seen in him when I was picking out another member of the team. I had a little worry that he was a yes man. No matter my status, he would value his own goals more, He had little care about who I truly was.
Bin Ji did seem stumped by Yurt dropping in with his opinion, used to him being the voice of reason, a conservative mind that would not take needless risks. So the fact that he was backing me and my decision spoke to the fact that It may actually be the right one, at least in Bin Ji's mind.
"Okay, so where do we go from here, there is no way we can attack a full camp of cultivators with the squad we have now. Even the most powerful formation of joint construct we have access to wouldn't be able to take on an operation at the scale you are speaking of"
She was coming around, at last. Still, she was thinking about it too much like a righteous cultivator, coming in with ultimate power, if It is not a definite result of overwhelming victory then It was not worth taking.
"We will not be facing them head-on. Or at least some of us won't."
She looked between Yurt and me, become increasingly frustrated, after a few seconds of looking, she sighed before calling the rest of the team into the meeting.
They couldn't have reacted any better to the enemy camp's reveal, immediately shouting for vengeance, justice, and all manner of hurt to be brought down on the people who would bring innocent mortals to such a state.
Any of Bin Ji's interruptions were drowned out by the calls to action of the other members.
Her sister was the first to get in some words that silenced the rest for a brief time.
"So what is the plan, how are we going to attack them?"