Waking to Another Sky Ch5 bit – Planning

A/N: When I originally wrote this, we didn’t have the canon version of the LC takedown available. So… I came up with something I thought was reasonable. 🙂 Meaning yes, the environment and tactics are different from the bits the anime showed.

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Axe over his shoulder, dark green armor dulled and muted, Agil scanned the room, making eye contact with everyone. “Laughing Coffin’s killed over three hundred people that we know about. Some of us have driven them off their victims a few times, but that was mostly getting lucky. They pick their targets, they plan their attacks, and they know when we’re focused on the boss fights.” He grimaced. “If everything worked out right with the messaging, that’s what they think we’re planning, right now.” A flicker of a grin. “Boy, are they going to get a surprise.”

That sparked a few smiles. But none of them lasted long.

Schmidt took a deep breath, and tapped the map. “You all have the map data. The stealth team will go in first.” He glanced at Kirito and Argo, among others. “You’ll take positions to block their lines of retreat.”

Sober nods. Sam felt something congeal in her gut. It can’t be what it sounds like. So many of them are kids….

Schmidt turned to a group in heavier armor. “After they signal, the front team will go in to confront the Coffins head on. We need them to think you’re a small raid, poking around for an undisclosed boss-”

“Hey, we’re tanks, not actors!” someone called from the crowd. Trying to make a joke out of it, from the nervous laughs that followed.

“It doesn’t have to last long,” Schmidt allowed. “You just need to get their attention.” His smile turned grim. “Then the fast fighters go in. And we keep it simple. Laughing Coffin surrenders. Or they don’t.”

That chilled the room again.

Asuna straightened, drawing all eyes to her. “Remember. From the information our sources have gathered, no one gets into Laughing Coffin unless they can PK at least three players, and prove it, without getting caught or flagged. That means they have green members.” She paused, letting that sink in. “That’s going to make this tricky. And they’ll know that. First, anyone green will be able to teleport out. Town guards won’t stop them. Second – they’ll try to force us to flag, so we start fighting each other. We will not let that happen. Anyone forced to go orange – pull out. Show your guild colors, and retreat to the designated locations. We can wait a few days to get you back on the front lines. Don’t….” She swallowed dryly. “Don’t give them a win by being stupid.”