Kaldalis caught up to Garyung before he got back to his office. But only because Garyung had apparently just received some unpleasant news right before walking in the door, and was experiencing a little bit of a freakout over it. He wasn’t having a total meltdown, but he was pacing back and forth furiously, wringing his hands.

“What’s going on?” Kaldalis asked as soon as he got on the scene.

“The Council of Councils will be meeting again,” the shifty-looking Suyon on Garyung’s council said. “Panbu and Kayore were also attacked, and they did not fare as well as we did.”

“No matter how much I hope they’ll surprise us, they just keep ignoring our warnings,” Kaldalis said with a grimace. “So what’s with the freakout?”

“They’re coming here,” Garyung snapped, stopping his pacing just long enough to give Kaldalis a glare. “We need to be ready to receive them in about two hours!”

“What?” Kaldalis blurted. Garyung went back to his pacing, so Kaldalis turned back to the shifty Suyon. “Why here? I thought we were never going to get them to meet here.”

“The severity of the attacks,” the Suyon said. He made a hand gesture that implied destruction. “Kayore lost most of its dock, and so will be unable to receive a boat suitable for Cerh’s retinue, and Panbu’s town hall got completely leveled. Their choices are either for Cerh to show weakness or to meet here. So…” He gestured at Garyung.

“All right, we can work with this,” Kaldalis said, quickly stepping up alongside Garyung to pace with him. “We need to make a plan and start working on it, and we need it right now.”

“I know,” Garyung said.

Kaldalis waited for him to elaborate, but he just kept pacing.

“This isn’t making a plan,” Kaldalis observed after a moment. “Nor is it working on one.”

“I know,” Garyung said again.

“Oh-kay,” Kaldalis said slowly, before stepping out of step with Garyung and looking for someone who could be more useful. “Ikzoz, can you get Garyung up to his office? I think he needs to sit down for a minute with someone who can talk sense into him.”

“Sure,” Ikzoz said, though he visibly bristled at being made to play nursemaid. Despite the agitation, he still moved to guide Garyung into the town hall.

Kaldalis needed to form a plan, and he needed it quick. Improvisation was quickly becoming his specialty, but it usually involved more violence and less talking.

This was just a little bit outside of his comfort zone.

“Okay. Filomena,” Kaldalis said, turning on the oft-ignored ship captain. “Head down to the pier. Survey the damage and see what needs to be done to make ready for the arrival of the council heads. Sardol, go with her, get her report on what we need, and run it back here. The sooner those repairs can get underway, the better.”

Filomena looked somewhere between delighted to be treated like a member of the group and chagrined to be given an actual task. She split the difference and gave him a surly smirk before rushing towards the beach-side gate with a swoosh of her dramatically long coat. The administrator Sardol sputtered for a moment, but hurried to follow instead of disputing the task.

“The council chambers are probably fine,” Kaldalis said, tapping his chin, “but we need the guards on high alert. I don’t think there’s any risk of real danger, but they’re so concerned with appearances, they’ll make fun of us all afternoon if we don’t look strong. Who’s in charge of the guards?”

The shifty-looking Suyon nudged Kaldalis on the hip - a gesture he was more used to seeing between Balrim and Myrin.

“I thought you were the…” Kaldalis searched for the word for a moment. “Intelligence minister?”

“Hm,” the Suyon grunted with a sudden smile. “I suppose that’s accurate. But I was going to say that when it comes to Cotanaku’s defense, I believe no one is in charge as much as you are.”

Kaldalis looked around briefly, hoping to see some objection somewhere. But it was, in a way, true. In the absence of Gavinkim, Kaldalis had stepped up. Even when Gavinkim was around, his duties had been more about internal policing rather than external defenses. Kaldalis had been something of a frontline general since the beginning.

“All right,” Kaldalis said with a grimace. “Stupid question then. I guess the rest of you should get back to your usual duties. We did just get sieged. I’m not worried about how the damage looks to Cerh and Jetmorpan, I’m worried about how it’ll look when the next siege shows up.”

With that, about half of the group dispersed into the town, while the other half returned into the town hall.

Kaldalis figured they knew what they were doing.

He just wished that he could say the same.

The best he could manage was to head towards the jungle-side gate. He could find some guards regrouping there and ask them either whose orders they were following so he could delegate, or he could just ask a handful of them to station themselves where he needed as a favor.

To Kaldalis’s surprise, the jungle-side gate was still a flurry of activity. Even though the siege had ended, Dalgaard was perched on top of the gate, shouting orders at guards and adventurers alike. With their authoritative tone and fearsome scowl, Kaldalis couldn’t blame people for scrambling to obey even now that there were no enemies to fight.

“Better,” Dalgaard barked. “But still amateur at best! I won’t let you all clumsy your ways to your deaths! From the top!” They pointed back and forth between the squads of adventurers and then squads of guards. “Team A-1 and G-1! Trade off! A-3 and G-4 to the front as one, with A-2 and A-5 retreating! G-5 and G-6 rotate! G-2 and G-3 hold fast! Go! Go! Go!”

The scrambling continued. Guards on the walls scrambled for the stairs, while adventurers swarmed back up the walls, with both groups struggling to stay out of each other’s way. Others were running around in the courtyard, or changing places with groups stationed in the killbox. Kaldalis could almost figure out what was going on. Dalgaard was leading the assembled groups in some sort of drill, presumably to make them more prepared for any subsequent attacks.

Kaldalis skipped the line, activating his Jump ability and launching himself to the top of the gate where Dalgaard stood.

“How did the defense go?” Kaldalis asked. He looked around, and was pleased that he didn’t see any corpses.

“Satisfactory,” Dalgaard said, their tone loud and sharp. “But only barely. A high C at best.”

“Hence the drills, I guess?” Kaldalis said, looking down at the scrambling groups. “Any casualties?”

“Courbois fell in the second wave. Went down gallantly. And half her squad gave their lives to hold the line until reinforcements could fill. Hence the practice to try and avoid such heroics being necessary.” Dalgaard pointed down to where Courbois, Balrim, and Myrin were running around at the drill. There were a handful of Dalgaard’s own people there beside them. “I was worried for Janeyin’s mental state, since the last time she died was at Ara’s hands, but it feels good to see her bounce back so fast. You have good people on your team, and they’ve made her feel like an asset that they can depend on.”

Kaldalis nodded. “No permanent deaths? All the NPCs survived?”

“As per your orders,” Dalgaard confirmed with a smirk. “I hope you don’t mind that I kept them on hand in case of an emergency. And to prepare for next time.”

“You ought to wrap this up soon,” Kaldalis said, “we’re going to need these adventurers out and about for repair quests.”

Dalgaard gave a firm nod, raising their voice and barking down at the assembled squads. “Alright, at ease! Kaldalis has decided to make me go soft on you all and let you get back to your duties! But I’m not going to let him get us all killed if I see this kind of disgraceful performance next time! Dismissed!”

Most of the group dispersed with a grumble, but more than a few of them seemed to display the discipline that Dalgaard wanted, standing tall and dispersing without agitation. For their parts, most of the guards started clambering back up the wall, proceeding to the archery towers along its length, or heading back towards other areas of the town.

“Can I count on you to get some guards stationed for show?” Kaldalis asked Dalgaard. “Cerh, Jetmorpan, and the Contender are going to arrive before the top of the hour. We need to make them feel safe being here. I just need more than usual stationed on the beachside gate, and patrolling where they’re likely to be seen between there and the town hall.”

“All right, maggots!” Dalgaard barked. “Kaldalis isn’t going easy on you lot! Squads G-1 and G-3 stay here, all the rest of you, with me!”

The healer leaped from the gate top, landing in a smooth roll that absorbed most of the impact, and stood right up into a quick march. A few members of their crew fell in step beside them immediately. Meanwhile, guards scrambled to change directions in response to the orders, following them towards the other end of town.

“Okay,” Kaldalis said to himself. “Delegation achieved. Also, maybe someone who is supposed to be having this job instead of me?”

“Are you coming down here,” Myrin shouted from the courtyard beneath the gate, “or are you just gonna keep mumbling to yourself until we come up there?”

Kaldalis looked down to see his friends waiting. Not only Balrim, Myrin, and Courbois, but Reno and Ess had caught up as well.

With a smirk, Kaldalis jumped down, his Jump ability letting him absorb the impact as he joined them.

“I don’t have time to horse around,” Kaldalis said, “Cerh and Jetmorpan are already on their way, and I can only assume the Contender is as well.”

“That’s good news,” Balrim said. “You’re going to get your chance to turn the tables on that jerk.”

“Sure,” Kaldalis said, remembering what Garyung’s ‘Intelligence Minister’ had said about how the fights had gone. “But at what cost?”

“Well then, don’t fail,” Ess offered. “Make sure everything that was lost wasn’t lost for nothing.”

Kaldalis nodded. It seemed the best plan was the most obvious.

Just win.