The cafe above Rowena's House of Splendors was a relatively new addition to the ever-expanding mass that was Revenant's Toll. Yet, it had garnered plenty of attention in its short existence - though whether this was a concerted effort by Rowena herself or just a happenstance was anyone's guess - and already touted a not insignificant number of patrons who came either for the food or the exquisite view of the fledgling town and the crystalline structures beyond its walls. The din of the customers, mixed with the ever-present background noise of the continued construction on the Toll, allowed much conversation to easily go unnoticed even from one's neighboring table.
Even so, Gogonji was never one to be content with such mundane and questionable precautions. He had ensured that his table was separated from the rest, tucked away in a corner away from the prying eyes and burning ears that had no place intruding on his dealings. A place meant purely for private conversation, to discuss matters of personal import that were not intended to be put on display in front of the unwashed masses. And, considering the dark expression painted clearly on the Doman's features as he eyed his Commanders, he considered these matters quite important indeed.
"We are short on time, so I will be equally brief," the Dunesfolk stated flatly, laying his map out flat on the table and revealing the litany of shorthand and marks that decorated its worn surface. Numbers and calculations and notes all vying for position over topography symbols and place names, making the whole thing an almost indecipherable mess of pen-strokes. Amongst all the conflicting scribblings, however, were four symbols placed on four specific points on the map that stood out in solid relief amongst the rest of the chaos.
On the edge of Gyr Albania - the Eorzean symbol for flame.
Deep within the Twelveswood - the symbol for earth.
Near the Garlean seaboard - water.
And the final location, the Castrum nestled just west of the Toll itself, was marked with the symbol of wind.
"How long until your cells are amassed and ready to move?" Gogonji demanded in a low yet insistent tone, his violet gaze turning to the Highlander first. "Erwin?"
"Gatherin' at Lil' Ala Mihgo as we speak, like ya wanted," Erwin responded with a broad grin, leaning forward over the table with his lone arm to get a better look at the map. His inability to decipher any of it was briefly displayed on his battle-ravaged features, his limited grasp of the written word being sorely tested in handling such a mess of shorthand from such a suboptimal angle. He ultimately decided to deal with it by simply ignoring it entirely and turning his full attentions back on the leader of Khamja. "If we wait fer all th' stragglers? A week, tops."
Gogonji frowned as the Highlander settled back more comfortably into his seat. With no clue how close the Garlean spies were on his heels, the Lalafell was of mind to set things in motion as quickly as possible to prevent any chance of interception or interference. And yet rushing things overly much would only serve to further hinder the plans, so - as much as he would like all his people moving in a sun's time - he was left with little choice but to settle for a slightly more lenient time frame.
"Three suns."
Though not much more lenient.
"Three suns!?" Aerygoeya repeated in alarm, looking up from idly checking his flintlock.
"You will wait three suns time, then on the fourth you will gear up your men and move out by sundown at the absolute latest," Gogonji clarified in the bluntest of tones, drawing a line from Little Ala Mihgo to the fire symbol with one Lalafellan finger and tapping on it twice. "Those who cannot be there in that stretch of time are not worth waiting for." His violet eyes snapped to the Roegadyn. "Is there a problem?"
"What?" the Sea Wolf was immediately taken aback, as expected, nearly tipping his creaking chair over backward in the process. "No! 'Course not. Could do it in two. In my sleep!"
"I will hold you to that, then," the Lalafell responded curtly, garnering a nervous swallow from the ship's captain as he tapped impatiently on the water symbol. "Gather what crew and ships you can here, and on the fourth day you will set sail and assault both ship and stronghold along the coast. Flying the colors I have given you. Understood?"
"Y-yeah. S'fine. Clear as crystal."
His gaze flitted to the last of the three Commanders sitting at the table, his finger sliding across the map to rest atop the symbol of earth. "And you, Pa'Nito? Will you and yours be able to strike here in four sun's time?"
The Miqo'te peered across the table at the map and the position the Lalafell had marked, before responding with a sigh and a grandiose shrug of his shoulders.
"I don't like it, but I can manage it," he stated succinctly. "At least a decent number will already be wearing the proper colors, so that won't be a problem. And the information gathered by your..." His feline eyes glanced to the form of Annunu, who stood vigilantly at Gogonji's flank. "... little Nymeian Lily over there should make dealing with that particular location simple enough."
"Her name..." Gogonji snapped, causing the Seeker's tail to puff up in alarm at the sudden harshness. "Is Annunu. And she is as much a Commander as the rest of you. And, as such, will receive the same level of respect. Is that clear?"
"Aw, don't be shy now, Oan," Erwin guffawed, grinning over his tankard that he had somehow obtained in the interim. "Ain't nothing wrong if'n ya fancy--" The look Gogonji shot him to shut down that line of thinking could've melted Darksteel. Suddenly his tankard of ale was quite a bit more interesting a focus for his attentions. "Aha... ha... hum."
"She will assault the final position, here," the eldest Gegenji child continued, pressing a finger firmly into the wind symbol. "Also by end of the fourth sun," he emphasized as he looked over his shoulder towards the female Lalafell in question, who gave a stoic nod. If any of the jabs from Pa'Nito and Erwin had bothered her, her doll-like expression gave no hintings of it. As unreadable as ever. "Any questions?"
"I... I have one," Aerygoeya offered, almost timidly in tone before his ego quickly hardened it. "I mean, I'm sure I can guess why easily 'nuff, but I wanna make sure the others know and--"
"Out with it."
"What's with th' dressin' up?" the Sea Wolf queried. "Flyin' the Maelstrom's colors, wearin' their uniforms. Seems unnecessary t'me. I mean, I'll do it no problem but..."
"Oh, but it is absolutely necessary," Gogonji corrected. "For it won't seem as if it was just a series of coincidental raids, but instead a coordinated assault to recover lost or tactically vital territory by the Eorzean Alliance and the Crystal Braves."
"And passing the blame onto them as well," Pa'Nito conjectured, looking a mite worried. He was obviously in it for personal glory, to taste what had been stolen from him twice before. The magitek incident had whet his appetite somewhat, and he didn't seem too keen on losing that gained ground so shortly after obtaining it. His fears needed assuaging.
"Yes, but also the glory," the green-haired Lalafell stated as he started rolling up the map once more, its role in the meeting completed. "The Order of the Twin Adder ousting the Garleans out of the Twelveswood. The Immortal Flames finally pushing in to reclaim Ala Mihgo. The Maelstrom further putting a stranglehold on Garlean shipping. It will empower the common folk, show that the Eorzean Alliance truly can push Garlemald out of their lands once and for all. Do it well enough, and you might even inspire the Grand Companies to bring the fight straight to the Garlean homeland itself in retaliation for all the wrongs they have committed."
"'n really show'em what happens when they push Eorzeans too far," Erwin finished for him, slamming his tankard down onto the table. "Gyahaha. I like it."
"And what riches and glory will be piled on those who led the charge? To whom opened the doors to an Eorzea truly freed from Garlemald's grasp?" Gogonji continued, turning back towards Pa'Nito and Aerygoeya to further drive the point home. The concern in the Seeker's eyes had faded, the Lalafell noted quickly, likely replaced with eager dreams of adoration and many a Miqo'te female seeking his attentions - of a respect he obviously felt long overdue. "All it requires that first, crucial step. A step that should have been made already, but has been hindered by politics and squabbling."
"And we..." He punctuated his point by slapping the rolled up map into an upturned palm. "Khamja will be the ones that push them into making it. Whether they like it or not."
~*~
"I still do not trust them," Annunu finally spoke after the other Commanders had departed. She had spoken of her concerns before, when she had returned with the information on Aerygoeya's main targets. She had been weary and sullen then, and had since been ordered to rest in preparation for the upcoming operation. And yet this issue continued to gnaw at her, much to Gogonji's annoyance. He had hoped his words and a night's rest would have have also put such concerns to rest as well.
"As I said before, they are but tools," the green-haired Dunesfolk intoned. He considered her a tool as well, of course - he had told her as such and she seemed content enough with it. She was a tool that knew and understood that she was a tool, and made sure to make herself useful to keep from being discarded. Which was perhaps why he felt just that little more comfortable speaking with her. "Screws to be put to Garlemald to bring forth the results I desire."
She gave a simple nod, though how satisfied she was by the answer was hard to tell. Just as when she had first appeared before him at the Bobbing Cork, Annunu remained a difficult individual to read - a trait that continued to vex Gogonji. The one time she had showed anything resembling honest concern and emotion was when speaking of his own well-being, but he would be a fool not to think it possibly a way in which to endear herself to him. And yet, his "eyes" had confirmed her stealthy assaults on the Castrums beyond the first, his contacts had revealed the truth in her estrangement with Chuta and the death of her father. If this was a Garlean bluff, then the rabbit hole of her deception was quite deep indeed.
And yet, some small part of him genuinely wanted to believe that it wasn't a bluff; that there was another whose situation somewhat mirrored his own. She had said that, like him, all she had left to live for was the goal Khamja was striving for. That she would serve and protect him, aid him in achieving this vengeance on the nation that so brazenly took his family and home from him. And he wanted to believe it.
"After all," he continued, "remember that I spoke only of the 'positives.' I spoke naught of the conflict that will arise from sinking Eorzea and Garlemald back into bitter war. Of the true likelihood of a ramshackle 'organization' like the Eorzean Alliance to actually withstand a concerted Garlean effort, should one be fully brought to bear."
What the Alliance had managed before, when the Warrior of Light and his hodgepodge band had overcome Gaius, had been little more than dealing with a mere fraction of Garlemald's power. A single hound that had escaped its leash. There were many more hounds that awaited in their pen, ready to pounce should they too be loosed from their cages. How many that might be roused by this act, however, was the real question. And yet, at the same time, it was a question whose answer mattered little - as long as attention was drawn.
For, after all, what better way to bypass the hounds than to bait them with fresh meat?
"Not only that, but where I would be in all this was also kept from them." A lie, at least somewhat. Despite his hotheadedness and brash behavior, Gogonji felt it prudent to at least let Erwin in on his hand in things. Which was perhaps why he had been so quick to back Pa'Nito's claims about the nature of his relationship with Annunu. At least the Highlander still had enough wherewithal to drown out any potential chance at leaking information with alcohol.
His Eyes, too, were at least vaguely aware that he would be going to the same Castrum as Annunu. The one overseeing it would be joining them personally, in fact, while the rest tailed the other Commanders to ensure they did as they were ordered. A shadowy second set of Doman sub-Commanders ready to make up for any faults, and violently so if needed. For it would be foolish to put overmuch trust in any one of them given the scope of his plans.
... As much as that niggling little bit of him told him it would be nice to believe in them. If even for just a little bit. A tiny mote in his mind that spoke in a voice that seemed almost familiar.
~
