บท 57: The Cook
It wasn't long until the first news arrived, Octavian entered the tent and explained that the two new cooks had be pointed out by Zanug and were being monitored. They were now waiting for the second part of the plan to come to fruition. There was nothing obvious about the two of them, so they needed them to make the move first. Who ever had orchestrated the infiltration had thought hard before coming up with the plan.
"Can we not just bring them both in and question them?" Chief Banas asked, "Would that not solve the issue?"
"It would." Gan Ning replied, who was sat beside Dom. "But sometimes when fishing, you have to allow the small fry to bite first, to lull the bigger fish in to a false sense of security. Maybe you catch a few small fish in the day, but that is a wasted day. What you want to do is eventually you use that time and patience to strike for the big one. The big fish is what we all want"
"I haven't fished before." Chief Banas replied, "But I think I understand."
Dom and Tomyris however looked at each other in confusion, thinking that Gan Ning's explanation didn't make that much sense at all, and there were plenty of easier ways to explain that they were using the cooks as bait to catch the real enemy.
"When you get better, I can show you?" Gan Ning asked with a grin.
"We shall see." She replied non committal, "Let's hope the plan works, or my people may start to get disgruntled with your presence."
"It's a risk." Dom agreed, "But if it works, we'll remove any future problems for you."
"The people will still trust in us." Tomyris said, "There has been a slight improvement in some of the victims health since we took over the cooking and Hua Tou and the others have started feeding them some herb water to remove toxins from them. I have high hopes that you shouldn't lose many more people and hopefully they will be back to normal soon."
"I am very grateful for everything." Chief Banas said seriously, "I just worry. I worry about what could go wrong, I didn't choose to be the Chief and it just feels to much. I am a Warrior, my brief husband was the Chief."
"There is reason to worry." Dom reluctantly agreed, wondering if he had made the right move. "Chief Banas, please signal your trusted Warriors to start acting disgruntled with both you and us. My Warriors have been briefed and will play along. You may not have chosen this path, but it is what we are on now."
She nodded her head in agreement and informed her guard who headed outside to spread word and follow the plan.
Time passed, with some messages being sent between the senior Warriors from Riverside. Eventually Octavian reappeared with another update.
"One of the Cooks has left with the Shepherds to help them, as they have little to do whilst we have taken their jobs." Octavian said, "Zanug has one of his trusted men watching them, we think this could be a message drop."
"Good." Dom replied, "When they return, keep an eye on the situation, we need to keep in conversation with Zanug and see what happens. Has a messenger been dispatched to Riverside?"
"They have." Tomyris responded, "With some speed they should be there by nightfall."
Chief Banas nodded to her guard that was stood beside her, who left the tent to pass on secret messages again.
"How soon will we know when to act?" Chief Banas asked, preparing her side of the plan.
"It depends on what they do next." Gan Ning commented, "If they reach out to Zanug then we can work out the timeline ourselves and go for either Plan A or Plan B. If they do not reach out to Zanug, then we either go for Plan C or Plan D."
"Which is the most ideal situation?" She asked.
"Always Plan A." Gan Ning replied, "However I learnt a long time ago that things never go to plan, and to use them as an outline instead."
"We'll know soon enough." Dom said, stepping outside the tent for some fresh air.
Another couple hours had passed and the sun was now high in the sky, the heat blasting down and causing the Warriors and Tribesmen to sweat. Dom himself was feeling the heat and wished that the game had a setting to reduce the realism in situations like this, he looked at Gan Ning and Tomyris and saw that they were coping well, but they were both from locations within history that had warmer climates.
One of the Horse Archers appeared inside the tent after being allowed in by the guards stationed at the door, she headed past the Riverside contingent and whispered something in Chief Banas's ear.
"Thank you." Chief Banas said, before the Horse Archer bowed lightly and headed back outside.
"What was the news?" Dom asked, sweat dripping down his back.
"They are back and the cook has made contact with Zanug." She stated, "If all goes to plan, we should get an update from Zanug shortly."
"This is good." Gan Ning replied, "Hopefully we are on for Plan A or Plan B then, this should allow us to be in control of the timelines."
Dom was really impressed with the plans that they had come up with together. Initially Dom had wanted to use Zanug to draw out the enemy from within and get an understanding of their numbers and the overall situation. Together however, Dom, Gan Ning and Tomyris had worked on some different plans on how they could use this situation to their advantage, and hopefully complete some of their quests on the way.
They had all left the Chief's hut at different parts of the day, checking in on Hoplite and Legionnaires. They also checked in with the Doctors and the ill Tribesmen that were still sick but had some colour returning to them. The Chief had recovered the most and had made sure she sat up and showed a strong front, but inside she was ready to collapse and fall asleep.
It wasn't long until Zanug himself arrived at the Hut, he had arrived under the pretence of complaining to Chief Banas about the arrival of those from Riverside, but really he was here to pass on the information they needed.
"Welcome Zanug." Chief Banas said, grateful at his help, but still distant from him with a bit of distrust.
"Thank you Banas." He replied, "I hope today shows that we can work together for the better of our Tribe."
"How has it gone?" Dom said interrupting them.
"It's definitely the male cook." Zanug started, "He has informed me that he knows some people outside of the Tribe that could help me become the new leader. All I have to do is cause a split between the temporary alliance between Riverside and our Tribe."
"How will you do that?" Gan Ning asked seriously.
"His idea was that I should come in here and threaten that we will leave and create our own Tribe if she does not remove you." Zanug replied, "By doing this, we are leaving a very small amount of healthy tribesmen to defend themselves."
"Why would we leave, how can they guarantee that we will not return?" Dom asked.
"They want to have you leave towards the south, which is where they believe you are from." Zanug stated, "When you go, they want me to persuade Banas to ambush you with the Horse Archers, they stated that at that point they will arrive and help with the ambush."
"How will that make you the new Chief?" Dom queried.
"During the battle, they will make sure that Banas is removed from the Tribe." Zanug said, "That way, I will be the most obvious new leader."
"Plan B." Gan Ning commented.
"Plan B it is." Dom agreed.
Zanug was unaware of the plans, so stayed silent whilst they quickly agreed on which option they would go for.
"When are they wanting this to happen?" Dom asked Zanug.
"He said that he is waiting for his contact to come back to him." Zanug replied, "but that I should start moving now."
"We need to control the time of the attack." Dom stated. "Zanug, we need this to be in the evening. We will make it clear that we will return to a camp we had set up on the bank of the River which is directly south of here."
"I shall see what I can do." Zanug agreed, nodding his head.
"Try and find out their numbers and plan it for tomorrow evening. State something like we often let our guard down at night so then would be the best time." Gan Ning added.
"Am I trying to do this for tomorrow evening?" Zanug asked.
"If possible." Dom agreed, "But you can feed this back to the team tomorrow morning when you get a response."
Zanug nodded his head before leaving, shouting a few words as he left about how the Chief was a whore who was selling her self to Riverside and that she needed to have a look at herself and how her husband would feel.
"What next?" Banas asked.
"I need to go for a while." Dom replied, "To make some more plans. I will leave you in the safe hands of Gan Ning and Tomyris who can work out the finer details, we should have some reinforcements to give them a nasty surprise. What I must add though, is that we need your Horse Archers to work alongside us on this until the last minute."
"I understand." She replied, "I'll work alongside Tomyris so that we are in place. Hopefully I can join from the front."
"Possibly." Dom said, "However I would like to use you as bait back here if possible."
"What ever is needed." She commented.
Dom left the hut and headed towards his tent with Gan Ning behind him, they had worked out the smaller details of the plan between them earlier and were confident on what they needed to do. All they had to do now was wait until the following evening to enact their plan.
"How long will you be gone?" Gan Ning asked.
"If I leave now, I should be back just before the sun starts to drop." Dom said, "which will give us plenty of time before we need to move out."
"Very good then." Gan Ning said. "I'll say that you are unwell and are staying in your tent for the day, if any of the Tribesmen ask."
"Thank you Gan Ning." Dom replied, "Good luck!"
"We don't need it." He smiled mischievously, "When you are back tomorrow, just make sure that you are ready to fight, it shall be lots of fun!"
With that Dom logged out of the game a couple hours earlier than usual, he logged out early so that he could return to the game earlier and not be caught out by the eighteen hour max play time. He also wanted to get up early and get the morning over with, as today they should be getting the initial results from their exams.
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