59 Farewells

(XD) "What? The Vespers have actually decided to contract those three? This will be an extremely troublesome hurdle." Xu Da commented. Baron had returned back to his HQ and had just delivered the bad news to Xu Da and the rest.

(BM) "Unfortunately this is the reality of the situation. The only thing we can do is get as much about the three of these aerial masters and try to find a weakness that we can exploit when the faction selection tournament."

(YF) "These three are fairly well known within the Chinese community so getting information about them shouldn't be too difficult. What I'm more concerned about is whether or not we can even beat them." Yue Fei said with a stern face.

(HX) "No need to worry about that just yet. I think I may have a plan to destabilize their relationship with some help from another community." Han Xin said wickedly.

(BM) "What might this plan of yours be?"

(HX) "This plan will involve a few tactics that are deemed unsavory by a strategists standard. However, we need the highest possible chance to win this tournament."

(BC) "Just skip to the part where you tell us your plan please." Ban Chao said a bit impatiently.

(HX) "Well, throughout my travels throughout the other communities, I have actually stopped by the Australian community where one of the trio is from."

(BM) "William Bridges? He should be the one that has been here on planet 4 for the shortest amount of time out of all three of them. What are you planning on doing then?"

(HX) "If I bring a few fairly high ranking members of our community then I believe that I can actually make this Australian fellow be unable to participate in the upcoming tournament. Though I must admit that I am not too confident in my chances."

(BM) "You will be manipulating things from the shadows? Isn't that exactly what got you and your clan executed when you were back on Earth? I'm surprised that you would even consider this type of action."

(HX) "It's because our chances are low that I would even consider such a cowardly move. Though this kind of situation is quite common here on Planet 4."

(MT) "If I may just add, I think that this is actually the best way to go about this situation. Me and Meng Yi may be semi masters in this field. However, we have gone up against a few masters ourselves and the outcome was that we were completely outclassed in terms of blueprints and tactics." Meng Tian said with a pained expression on his face.

(MY) "My brother is correct. We must resort to these measures if we are to have any chance of winning the tournament now. Perhaps with these new blueprints we have shrunk down the gap, but we aren't anywhere near close to bridging it. We will need to do our utmost best in our practices to do that. I know for a fact that most of the aerial masters residing within the Chinese community have become lazy and have stopped training since it has been a long time since there was anyone that was able to challenge their position." Meng Yi chimed out.

(BM) "Have you ever faced any of these three?"

(MY) "Not these three specifically but we have seen them battle before. They are no less amazing in their incredible execution and timing of attacks in conjunction with each other. Perhaps even better than me and my brother."

(BM) "That is quite distressing to hear. Han Xin, you said you needed to bring a few people with you?"

(HX) "Yes, I can influence a bit of the Australian scene since they are relatively new to Planet 4 in general. I'm thinking of bringing Xu Da and Ban Chao with me. The three of us are after all unlikely going to participate in the tournament after all. You only need 5 for that and the three of us are the worst three in this regard."

(BM) "I see so you had already thought that far ahead. Are the two of you alright with this?"

(XD) "Honestly no I'm not, but being a strategist I can see that this is definitely for the best."

(BC) "As much as I would like to get better at aerial warfare, I don't think I could surpass Han Xin within this short period of time much less you, Baron. So yes I am willing to go through with it as unwilling as I am."

(BM) "Wow, you two sure? You would have to go to the Australian community for an unknown period of time."

(BC) "It is worth it if we manage to win the tournament."

(HX) "I'm glad you two understand what this trip entails. We will leave in three days, and steel your hearts for the outside. The outside is not a friendly place. So make sure that you don't talk to anyone for any reason. It is an uncivilized world out there. More than you could ever imagine."

(YF) "It breaks my heart to hear of all the bad things going on outside of our borders."

(HX) "It's best to not think about such depressing matters. I'll be going to pack my things first. You two should take care of any unfinished business before you two leave." Han Xin said and immediately left.

(BC) "Oh thanks for reminding me. There are actually a couple of things that I have to get done before we leave. I'll be leaving then as well." Ban Chao said and walked out of the HQ."

(XD) "Roger. I think I would rather spend a day in sims though."

(GY) "Of course you do." Guan Yu said while stifling a laugh.

(XD) "Let the six of us go on a quick sim. I call being on the Meng Duo's team!"

That is what the six of them did. Xu Da partnered with Meng Yi and Meng Tian to go against Baron, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu. The sim they had gone on was an aerial battlefield that didn't last very long. With the special ability that the sim time was slower than the time on planet 4, Xu Da wasn't worried about being late to leave with Han Xin and Ban Chao.

The six of them had a sim on the dogfight over Guadalcanal. After they finished, Xu Da left to pack his things while the rest of them went into another simulation that lasted a month in the simulation. By the time they came out, Xu Da, Ban Chao, and Han Xin had already departed to go to the Australian community. They decided that it was time for them to get serious in their practice and began a sim with the five of them with the setting of the Battle of Kursk.

The battle of Kursk involved aerial warfare as well as what some people refer to as the largest tank battle in history. This battle was between Germany and Russia that went toe to toe in this war. Ultimately, the victors were the defending Russians since the Germans gave them ample time to prepare their defenses.

The 5 of them chose this map because they realized that although they were individually pretty well versed in aerial warfare, they were a bit lacking on the side of aerial + land battles compared to masters. The other reason was that they had to work on their teamwork since 5 great individual strategists do not equal a solid team, they had to work for it. The Meng Duo was already very familiar with each other and therefore needed less time together.

For this battle, the teams were as follows: Meng Tian and Baron against Meng Yi, Yue Fei and Guan Yu. Meng Tian was chosen to be allied with only one other person since he was considered to be the better of the duo. The 5 of them chose this map because they realized that although they were individually pretty well versed in aerial warfare, they were a bit lacking on the side of aerial + land battles compared to masters.

The other reason was that they had to work on their teamwork since 5 great individual strategists do not equal a solid team, they had to work for it. The Meng Duo was already very familiar with each other and therefore needed less time together.

The preparation time for this sim was revealed to be 4 months. For setting up supply lines, organizing everything, and building blueprints this was not much time at all. Despite this, they all took this time crunch as a personal challenge to use their time as effectively as possible. The time passed by and the 4 months that had been used as a truce was shattered by the German's led by Baron and Meng Tian.

This was supposed to be a surprise attack on their part as Baron had advised Meng Tian that letting the other side have more time to prepare was not the best course of action. The battle begins.