"WE'VE LOST TOO MANY PLAYERS TO THOSE MURDERERS, WE NEED TO TAKE THEM OUT AND WE'VE GOT TO DO IT QUICK!" Heathcliff shouted in complete rage, angrier than anyone had ever seen him throughout the entire course of this virtual game as he sat back in his white marble chair, protected by his full suit of red armour. We, all of the Knights of the Blood Oath, the leaders of the Divine Dragon Alliance, a large number of representative players from smaller guilds Including Andrew solo players all sat around a huge polished malachite table which stood in the centre of a large, high ceilinged, hall located within the great manor of Granzam. This was the main head quarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath located within the city of Granzam on the 55th floor. The building was an old and grand establishment which boasted masterful architecture and beauty of stone and metal.
The Knights had called the meeting in response to the constant threat and reality of the openly player killing guild, Laughing Coffin, by now this small guild of approximately 30 players had killed hundreds of players without mercy, a large number of those killed being valuable high level Clearers. Various attempts had been made to negotiate with the murderers but each of the 5 messengers, all well armed and experienced fighters, had dissapeared without a word or trace, presumed dead. We had yet to truly find out where their main base was set-up and as for members half of the people present in the room could be part of the guild and we wouldn't know.
"I'm sure that you are all aware of the threat these killers pose to anyone and everyone, low level or high, protected by guilds or solo, they have so far been able to kill anyone without loosing any of their members and avoiding every attempt at tracking them. It is damn well time that we put a stop to this mindless killing of innocent players and players of great value to clearing this game." Heathcliff's composed yet furious voice echoed slightly around the great hall for a few seconds, letting what he said sink in to the present players.
"But as you say no one knows where they are located and every attempt to find their hideout ends in the death of the searching players. Do you think that we will have more success just based on the number of players that you can muster? As so far all I can predict is the death of more of our main high level Clearers in a feeble attempt at trying to end the killings of a small number of people in comparison to the overall population of Aincrad." Schmitt, the Sub leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance, quickly commented picking up on the fact that even in numbers we had a little advantage and openly expressing the recognised opinion of the Divine Dragon Alliance that if it didn't prosper them in some way then they were against it.
"We may not be at an advantage in terms of superiority, that is the truth about it, however I have recently... to put it one way, obtained information on the location of the base from a former member of the guild. We now know that they are located within a cave on the second floor within one of the mountain range dungeons, we also have found out that the guild consists of 30 high level players who are in the possession of some exceedingly rare and powerful weapons, some of which we never even knew existed." He addressed the audience with his answer only giving Scmitt a brief look after he had finished speaking.
Asuna who had been standing back behind Heathcliff moved forward and began to speak, in her usual authoritative voice, quickly after he had finished. "Now that we are in possession of this information we want to do something with it. We propose a large scale surprise attack on their base, hitting them hard and fast before they are able to put up any defence against us. To achieve such an attack we need a number of high level and battle tested fighters to join us in this crusade of sorts against the Laughing Coffin guild. As a Guild the Knights of the Blood Oath have too few members to pull off an attack and therefore this is why we have called you here, to join us or leave us in this fight." She stated, with her last comment very much directed at the representatives Divine Dragon Alliance who were already looking bored with what was being said.
"Well I see no real point trying to drag this out any longer. Those who are willing to fight with us, I ask you to stay so that we know our numbers and strengths. As for those who are against the notion of fighting back, you may leave with the knowledge of how many lives you could have saved through the killing of this guild, but will have forsaken by not taking up arms." Were the simple but decisive words that Heathcliff preceded to speak after Asuna had finished what she wished to say, he then gave a swift hand gesture inviting people once more to leave as they wished. At this the 3 representatives of the Divine Dragon Alliance left the hall, closely followed by representatives from the smaller guilds an a number of solo players who didn't wish to get involved in such an ambitious and daring raid. However me, Sky and Andrew stayed in the hall, un-fazed by those who had left.
After a minute we could clearly see who was left, ready and willing to fight back against one of the only player guilds that threatened any one from the Frontline while being extremely active in killing lower levelled players. 47 players were left standing or sitting in the room around the malachite table, 31 of them were Heathcliff's knights while the other 16 players consisted of, in large, solo fighters including Kirito and Agil with Andrew being the only other representative from a guild. This left us at an overall 50 high level fighters, if the rest of the Golden Oak Rangers joined the fight, against 30 brutal and merciless murderers who were skilled in the arts of paralysis and torture.
Heatcliff looked around at those remaining, "Firstly I thank you for courage and willingness to fight. But the fact that we are left with so few people, considering the current size of the Frontline, is quite disheartening. However seeing those of you who have stayed, I can safely say we are in safe hands and the operation is likely to go more smoothly with this number than if we had an excessive amount of fighters alongside us." Heathcliff made his quick observations before getting up from his chair passing the meeting over to Asuna with a quick hand gesture and leaving the room without another word.
"So then Asuna what's your magnificent plan for this excursion then?" Kirito said in a somewhat sarcastic tone but with a smile the the Sub leader who returned it equally.
"Simple, we find the exact location of the base and then during dawn or dusk we attack in two separate groups, one head on, one waiting for the main bulk of the guild to be drawn out from the caves in order to flank them or attack from the rear. They don't know that we are coming, they don't know that we know where to find them and most importantly they don't know the sort of strength we posses in force. With all of this in our favour there's not much need for a long drawn plan and as for a backup plan, if we need to use it its likely that we've already lost the battle." She answered Kirito's sarcastic question with simplicity and some arrogance.
"For once I actually agree with you." Kirito quickly remarked surprisingly.
"Well if even Kirito agrees and none of the rest of you have any other ideas or objections. I suppose we meet at the second floor's floor portal in two days time at noon, from then we'll carry out this operation." She looked around at the nodding heads and murmurs of approval before swiftly closing the meeting, "Meeting adjourned."