Meanwhile in Vorpiax Helvella had called an emergency meeting. Albella, Latispora, Rivularis, Anya, Kolia, Veigar, and Hegani were present among the summoned.
There were several representatives of each of the native races of Lhimkio: Lepiots, Ents, Ubax, Endurs, Pikmis, and Krisylls. The office they were in had been specially set up for this situation. The place looked like a banquet hall where the plates had been replaced by documents. The table and chairs of the place had been specially designed so that when everyone present sat down, their faces were on the same level.
A large window with crystal edges illuminated the place, the only decoration was a huge map of Lhimkio that hung on the wall opposite the window. Large double doors were at the other two ends of the office.
This hall was only used as a general military boardroom.
“As most of you know the Jinshu, Musset, and Beura barons seem to have allied to take our lands,” Helvella said, rising from his seat.
“None of them reaches our heels individually.” the baron started walking around the table.
His footsteps generated the only noise in the place.
" But together they are a great nuisance, " Helvella stressed, stopping behind Veigar's seat.
“How long do we have before they discover that the teams they sent will never return?” asked the lepiot placing his hands on the back of the seat.
The quinoids from Madame Dembe's team that had remained in Vorpiax had been captured and executed in silence. The moment Helvella left for the cranial peaks, he instructed Latispora to carry out his orders to the letter.
None of them could escape.
" According to my calculations: a week at least and three at most, " replied Veigar. His voice showed that he was not saying it with optimism.
His enemies must have been preparing for a long time to invade Lhimkio. Everything that happened with the third magnitude energy waves was just a good excuse to start executing their plans and the perfect coincidence that allowed them to know the intention of their enemies to invade them. Thanks to this they would not be attacked by surprise.
“That means that in one or two months we will be at war,” said Helvella starting to walk again.
“Rivularis! Why is it a problem, the three of them attacking us at the same time?” Asked the baron looking at the youngest of his children.
" Because the number of troops that the enemy will send will be much larger, " replied the ten-year-old lepiot.
" A good answer, but a very superficial one, " said Helvella.
All the officers present nodded. Each of them had brought one or two of their children, since the way a real battle was analyzed meant much more valuable experience than any knowledge learned in class.
“Does any other young one have a better answer?”
All the teens began to think about what answers they could give. Latispora raised her hand, but her father asked her to wait a moment. Helvella knew how smart his daughter was, so he wanted to give others time to think for themselves.
“They are going to have many more resources than us?” A young ent answered with oranges hanging from its branches. She spoke with so little confidence that it seemed that she was asking a question.
“Another very good point, we always have to be aware of our resources and those of our enemies. However, Lhimkio is much richer in resources than its three islands combined,” Helvella said continuing his walk around the office.
Once he realized that no one else dared to speak, he gave the word to Latispora.
“The main problem we have to deal with the three is that the inhabitants of each island are of different natures,” said Latispora in a robotic voice.
“Bravo!” Helvella congratulated her.
" Explain that idea better to us, " said the Baron, staring at his daughter.
“Yes sir,” answered Latispora.
“Baron Beura's island, Jangalee, is mostly inhabited by mammalian Quinoids which means that the most efficient weapons to deal with them have to be metallic. Fire, poisons, and other types of sharps arms are also helpful. Their weapons are made of the same materials, so they are not a great threat to our defenses, as long as we are careful with their magicians. Quinoids are known for their skilled magicians.”
Latispora paused for a moment to take a deep breath.
“Baron Musset's island, Enplua, is mostly inhabited by Multrows, with a large number of mollusk and crustacean quinoids. The most efficient weapons against multrows are the ones that contain salt. Although the weapons that serve against quinoids can also be used against them, the main problem is the nature of their weapons is that imbued with energy they easily pierce almost all wood materials. They are not capable of using magic, but they are skilled in the use of technomagical gadgets, so we must be careful with the possible appearance of firearms.”
The young lepiota paused again to breathe. For some reason, she felt she had to say everything quickly and concisely. Unlike her father, she did not know how to control the nerves caused by the short time they had to prepare for war.
“And finally, the island of Baron Jinshu, Kinzoku, does not have a species that outnumbers the others that inhabit it. Although Voidmaws occupy the largest number of positions with power, the same number of dwarves, canogons, and yintrecks can be found on the island. Voidmaws and canogons are mineral beings, making metal weapons useless against them. The only poisons that would work are those with large amounts of calcium. Voidmaws are strong at close range so there are no problems if we keep them at a distance. Conversely, canogons specialize in long-range attacks, so the only safe place to deal with them is within a radius of fewer than 5 meters or more than 100. The most effective weapons to deal with these races are those of energy or crystal. Dwarves and yintrecks are similar to quinoids in their weaknesses. The dwarves' strength is their ease in handling technomagic, so we can also expect firearms from them. Yintrecks are beings that can fly and use their internal energy to perform magic and techniques that specialize in speed and stealth.”
Latispora finished speaking, running out of air.
“In short,” Helvella said, taking everyone out of the trance her daughter put them in with her long explanation.
“Due to the multitude of species that are part of their troops we need to protect ourselves from different types of attacks for which we must plan accordingly, and not only that, we need different strategies and weapons to deal with each of the defenses of our enemies.”
Helvella's words echoed in the minds of everyone present. The situation now looked much worse than they thought.
" Don't make those faces, " said Helvella, reaching his seat.
“Do always remember these words: Our ancestors chose this island voluntarily.”
Helvella sat down at his place.
“The ancestors of our enemies were relegated to the low islands for being weak or stupid.”
The baron smiled sadistically placing his legs on the table.
“This war will end the moment we remind them how weak and stupid they are.”
