Chapter 6: Meeting Cao Cao
As the 5 females are led by the guard escorted so they can see Cao Cao, they have other thoughts racing through their minds besides the future Wei leader not least of which for Uni in how more and more tired she is becoming.
They couldn't help but wonder what conditions the troops in the camp they have to face. How well fed they are? As well as how well equipped and trained they are? Not to mention what is the morale of the overall base?
They are able to find their answers to these questions, as they pass through various sections. They notices various weapon racks, basic benches as well as different huts and tents that have been used and are a bit worn down. They see a few camp fires without the fire, full of burnt wood and sticks as well as various pots of the time.
Though what they see appears to be used and bleak, they do see a few useful facilities like stables, black smiths and a make shift hospital. They're all full of busy people that are working hard at their jobs.
The people they see stationed in the camp share a similar story. Their clothes are worn and have been used, some even seeing the wears and tears of combat. Despite this they are of better quality than any they've seen since arriving here. A few even have armour, their weapons appear to be well maintained and a few of them are even bows and arrows.
As for the emotions and appearance of the troops themselves. Again they find it to be mixed. Some of them appear to have seen war themselves, others have not and appear to have mixed feelings from excitement and looking forward to an adventure, to being nervous and scared. While some of them appear exhausted and tired, others are full of energy and appear ready to go.
They conclude that this place overall is better compared to the village, but they still need more ways to go. Though considering the circumstances they're temporarily resigned to the fact that right now there's nothing they can do for them, to make them better. But they at least remain hopeful in their meeting with the man himself, so that then they can make a positive difference to this land.
After their tour of the camp they reach the tent where Cao Cao is in and it's now Uni is starting to struggle to stay awake from the fatigue of last night.
They look to see the tent being quite big and looking pretty clean, as well as having a few blue patterns on the fabric. The tent is guarded by a few flag poles bearing blue flags with different patterns on it as well.
After a brief few moments of marvelling at Cao Cao's tent that stands out in this camp, they are led in.
They look inside to find a few ornaments of the era, as well as various pottery and even a few books. There are a couple of tables with chairs surrounding them as well as a map on the table.
The man himself is at that table studying the very map.
The Cao Cao the heroines see before them is a young man, though already they can tell he is destined for greatness.
He is a man with mid length hair with two strands draping over his cheeks on his shoulders, and two strands that stick out on top like wings. He has a moustache and goatee almost resembling a cat with regards his face.
As for his clothing he is dressed like a leader. He wears what appears to be a long tunic which covers his chest and much of his upper legs, consisting of silver and even gold patterns on them. On top of his tunic he wears blue robes, which fade into a purple colour on his sleeves and at his knees. These robes appear to be fastened by a broach at the centre with gold chains. On top of his robes is a long blue cape as well as gold armlets that go over his upper arms. The rest of his outfit consists of what looks like black trousers with patterns on the side, black gloves and black shoes and a small hat that royalty of the era wear.
All 5 of them are in awe of his presence, even if he's yet to have accomplished any of his goals at this point. They know immediately how great of a man he truly is or at least he will become. And now they will have the chance to work with him, into making this land a better place to live in. They can only hope that they can convince this man they admire to let them join him.
The future leader finishes studying the map and looks up to them with a welcoming smile.
"Ah you must be the visitors the guard have told me about, I am Cao Cao. Would you ladies care for a drink?" He offered sounding friendly.
"Thank you for the offer, but no thank you. I am Noire Black Heart this is my sister Uni, and this my friend Blanc White Heart and her sisters Rom and Ram." Noire said gesturing with her hands the various people she introduces.
The rest of the heroine's wave to him as they're introduced to him.
"If you don't mind me saying you don't seem to be from this parts, and I certainly don't recognise either your names or even your clothes. Yet you appear to be well off and there is something special about the five of you. Why are you here? What brings you here?" He asked showing genuine signs that what he sees in the heroines is quite unusual.
Though Cao Cao appears friendly which helps relieve the situation, thoughts of concern crop up with regards convincing him to let them work with him. There are also thoughts of worry that Uni looking exhausted and tired may put the leader off. But in the end all they can do is just be honest with him, and hope that their honesty will be enough, as well as anything that he would look for in a potential employee of his.
"We're here because we know the land is in chaos. We know that there are people all over this land that are starving and suffering. And a rebellion has risen because of it. We wish to join you so that together we can put an end to this chaos." Blanc speaking with emotion, as she speaks of how the land is in poor shape and how she wishes to fix this with her friends.
"If you don't me asking, why do you wish to join me in this noble quest? Why me of all the warlords in the land?" Cao Cao asked.
The heroines sense that he's impressed with them, though he's still cautious as he would like to know about them. And for the 5 of them to approach this leader, they know for sure it's quite odd for him.
It's then that it hits home, that they wonder whether to tell him that they're from the future. They've already told the guard but even if it was successful, they're still unsure as to whether to tell Cao Cao. But even then what else could they say? It is then that the heroine with the black pig tails starts to speak up. They then realise as she starts to speak that whether the future leader of Wei will allow them to join him or not, will depend on what they say to convince him. Not to mention whether he will be convinced with what they have to say.
"As far-fetched as this seems to be honest we are all from the future, which perhaps explains our clothes, our names and what not.
We know what will happen in your land in the years and decades to come, and we know what will happen to you. We know that you will be a leader of a kingdom called Wei and you start of successfully in defeating Lu Bu, though you'll be forced to defeat your dear friend Yuan Shao. After which though you'll be the kingdom with the most momentum chasing down your nemesis Liu Bei only for him to join with Wu.
You then have a naval battle with Wu, but sadly due to a fire attack and not having a talented strategist called Guo Jia, you'll lose very badly. Although Wei does not fall after this, it will just be battles after battles between Wu and Shu which is led by Liu Bei. Unfortunately you will eventually die but not in battle. Though despite making Wei prosperous, you will not be able to live to see China united under Wei. As a matter of fact the battles will continue long after you have died and it's not until one of your strategists Sima Yi, betrays the Cao family and takes control forming the Jin kingdom. They eventually conquer the other 2 kingdoms and unite the land, but even then the land falls into chaos again and it will be in chaos for centuries to come.
You'll even be portrayed as a villain in history, and it will be a long time before your reputation is restored.
We wish to help you end this chaos and help you in correcting what went wrong in history. It's important for the sake of this land, and the people that you win and unite the land as soon as possible." Noire explains with passion.
The man is in admiration of the speech and despite the idea of them being from the future does indeed sound far-fetched. His instincts tell him that they're honest and he does sense something special about them.
"Hmmm. It is interesting to hear this, and I must indeed be blessed to be visited by five women from the future. Who know of what will happen and is offering their services? But please tell me besides your knowledge; what else would you have to offer? And what ambitions do you have?" Cao Cao asked with a friendly smile.
"That is a good question, again as far-fetched as it seems we're also successful leaders from the future. As a matter of fact in the future I am the ruler of an empire that covers all the lands around here, including all of China. While my good friend Noire is ruler of a an empire so vast that the sun never sets on it. In fact we've learned from various leaders like yourself on how to rule successfully. We're also very good warriors and we even know some strategy.
We don't mind in what way we serve you, as long as you do what we say with regards certain events in history, because we must stop history from repeating itself at all costs.
As for ambitions, our ambitions have always been making the world a better place, by helping the people living here. Besides we also believe that when we helped China in this time of chaos, we feel we'll be able to return home. In which we'll be able to continue our work and hopefully make an even bigger difference." Blanc explained.
An even bigger smile forms on the man's lips.
"Very well, I will allow you to serve me and I admire your noble ambitions as well as your talents for leadership, strategy and combat. We're preparing ourselves to attack one of the leader's brothers of the Yellow Turban Rebellion: Zhang Bao in Xiaquyang. And me and my cousins Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan will be attacking with you." He explained.
This news brought happiness and joy to the heroines, as now their path to ending the chaos has begun, even Uni's sense of fatigued vanished even if it lasted for a few moments. Now they've successfully joined the leader they wanted despite their concerns, all they have to do now is to change history for the better.
"Cao Cao, I can't thank you enough for allowing us to join you. We appreciate you accepting us and we will do our best in serving you." Noire said smiling.
They all bowed in appreciation doing their gestures of the era, by placing their right fist into their open left hands.
"Thank you for finding me. I am honoured to have talented individuals like yourselves join me. I can't begin to imagine that you'd perhaps be the most talented and ambitious people to ever serve me, I look forward to working together with you." He smiled responding with the same gesture.
"When will we be attacking them?" Uni asked with much curiosity vainly trying to conceal how tired she is.
"That's a good question, we intend to attack today. Though now that you have just joined I believe our chances of success are even more certain than before." The future leader explained.
The five of them then think about how they are even more pleased, now that they're about to fight a battle against the rebellion with Cao Cao himself.
"If you don't me asking, would you mind if we were to look at your strategy? Because while we know that you will no doubt win this, we wish to see if we can save lives or at least make this conflict easier for ourselves?" Blanc asked, though she sounds as though she is concerned with offending their new lord with her suggestion.
The other 4 heroines exchange glances with each other. Though they know that she's trying to help in any way she can, they're worried about whether she's potentially stepped out of line. Or whether she may have upset him.
Meanwhile Cao Cao notices this and smiles in return.
"Do not worry; I welcome someone else's opinion as regards my strategy. As you said you're from the future and so we must use that to our advantage. Very well I will show you my strategies and feel free to offer any suggestions or improvements to it.
"Thank you." The short brown haired older sister smiled in return.
The wise man then reveals his strategies using the map of the area as a guide. As he tells them his plan while the heroines offer suggestions during the discussion, various thoughts race through the heroines minds giving mixed opinions from the female group.
For Blanc's younger sisters they do indeed feel nervous about going to battle for the first time. They've never been in a battle before, and they're really worried about getting lost or worse being killed or captured in battle. Despite this they are good with their weapons and they remember from their training to remain calm and focused, as well as sticking together. For Rom being here for about a day has already boosted her confidence, especially when they fought off the bandits. They end up coming to the conclusion that if they stick together they'll be fine, though even then they do feel nervous due to having to put their skills to the test. They just hope that they won't end up letting Cao Cao or their older sister down. As they don't want their lord's faith in them to be misplaced.
For Uni she has similar feelings as despite receiving some training, she's never been in battle before and has the same concerns as Rom and Ram. She has extra concerns of whether her chu ko nu will be able to mow down enemy troops, or will it only be a few and her having to reload will make her vulnerable. She also feels a lot of pressure as she wants to make her older sister proud and not to disappoint her. But she realises that all she can do is her best and just remember her own training, and perhaps her being here is one huge gigantic test.
As for the older sisters they have had more training, but no experience in battle. Unlike their younger sisters they fear neither death or capture as much, but they still feel as stressed. They're responsible for their siblings, and they'll be the ones to be held accountable if they screw their first battle up. They can't help but worry about anything bad happening to any of them, as they'll be fighting with them. They can't help but feel the pressure as there is a lot riding on this: Their trust in their abilities for Cao Cao, their trust in their skills and that they win the battle or at least that they all survive and are together in one piece.
As for all of them all they can do is cast their worries and concerns aside and only worry about them, if and when it does happen. All they can think of now is their training as well as remembering to stick together as much as possible, as they review the plans with Cao Cao.
