"Ambush."

Nate gets right to the point

"We fortify your inner courtyard into a killbox, so they can't breach into the castle, then we line it with directional explosives. Sir Ulath will be able to tell you about those. The attackers will be expecting to be let in, and will likely storm in as soon as the gate is open. Once they're in, we drop the portcullas and trap them inside, then call for their surrender. If they comply, great. If not, well, I appologize in advance for the mess. We should be able to round up anyone left outside easy enough, you know how fast we can travel. There isn't a horse alive that can match our vehicles for speed and endurance, and a well trained marksman can hit a target at a thousand yards with little trouble."

Nate's expression becomes one of distaste.

"It's a messy brutal business, they way we fight war, but it is effective."

Arkady adds, deadpan: "We can do the same with explosives that stun and blind instead of killing as well. Or we can do all this outside, though the risks are different." He sighs and then finishes "Taking them alive is the tricky part, really. Simply killing cavalry is much too easy."

"Or we can nail them with the stun grenades, then Nate and I pick them off from high positions while they're still getting their wits about them," Felix replies. "Less messy and we get to take out pick of the prisoners, though there's a little bit more risk in that maneuver."

Arkady comments: "Stun grenades is what we call the explosives that stun and blind, by the by. Oh, and if you do want to do this outside then you're going to need to get rid of some trees. There's entirely too much cover out there for someone approaching the wall."

Vanire nods. "A thousand yards is an incredible range," he admits. "But I have some questions regarding your methods. If you are letting the mercenaries into the castle, then where would you have the Count and his family during the battle? A good shot from a crossbow, loosed from inside the castle, could easily injure them. As to the trees, how would you propose to remove them without alerting an incoming force? We would rather not have them turn back before falling into our trap, after all."

Arkady thinks for a second, then says "Well, if you cut down every other tree as if you were just looking for lumber, we can drop the rest on them when they're out on the road. In the courtyard, well, everyone would have to be under cover. If they can see the courtyard when we spring our trap it might kill them. Though they could duck behind something very solid at the last second."

Vanire shakes his head. "Martel is smart, and more than a little paranoid," he says. "He's not some dumb thug. If he sees something odd, he'll hang back and let the mercenaries go first, and then he's almost sure to get away. After the safety of the Count, our secondary aim is the capture or death of Martel, or whatever lieutenant he sends in his place. And I know for a fact that he's familiar with the appearance of Castle Radun. I'm not saying we can't take down a few trees, but any significant percentage of the trees will look suspicious."

"As for the courtyard, it's visible from near anywhere in the castle, and the my youngest daughters are younger than this little Styric lady," adds the Count. (Piper plays a little trill on her pipes in acknowledgement). "I am not comfortable with the idea that they could be killed by looking towards the courtyard at the wrong moment."

"Simple fix. We don't have them in the castle at the time. If needed we could get them halfway across the contenent and still be back in time. The weapons we'd be using are also directional, so the odds of someone getting hurt who isn't in the direct line of fire is small."

Nate leans back.

"And as for any leaders trying to give us the slip? Well, as it happens, I'm a pretty decent tracker, and a better shot. If I can get a clear line of sight of this Martel fellow, I can use the big rifle to hit him, or at least his horse at a maximum range of a mile and a half. It wouldn't be an easy shot, but it is possible. Or we could just chase him down on the road with a truck. I doubt Martel knows what we're capable of, and what he doesn't know will come back to bite him in the ass."

"Then would this Martel have riders out on his flanks as scouts while he is playing an innocent troop in peaceful territory? If not, we can use the trees and stage an ambush out on the road." Arkady shrugs. "We have a lot of ideas, but we need more information. How many men are coming? How many you will have? How badly are you wanting captives?"

"We could also start the trap off with a bunch of carefully hidden stun grenades on the sides of the road," Felix says. "Should be more than enough to disorient the riders and cause the horses to bolt, and with three weeks time we can get them all kinds hidden."

"Might not be a bad idea. Drive them from one trap to another, and round up the stragglers. I might be able to mix up a little something that might add to the confusion and panic, but I'll have to have a look around and see if I can find the right plants first."

"Your trucks are fast, but hardly stealthy," says Vanire. "Taking the Count, his family, his servants, and all the inhabitants of his castle back to the Pandion chapterhouse could work... but it increases the chance that Martel will be able to figure out that the trucks have been busy almost exclusively on the road between here and there. We don't know which direction he'll be coming from, so we don't know which rumours he'll hear. I'm just hoping that our one trip so far was brief enough that even if he hears anything, he'll discredit it."

"I would not expect him to put out scouts while playing an innocent group of Knights in peaceful territory." He nods approvingly at Arkady. "An ambush is what I would do - while they're waiting outside the castle, requesting entrance. Then the castle itself will cut off most of their options for retreat."

"Wouldn't it look a bit odd if I refused to lower the drawbridge?" asks the Count.

"Tell them your windlass is broken," suggests Sir Ulath. "Tell them you can't lower it."

Count Radun shifts uncomfortably. "While I see the reason," he says, "I'm not really comfortable telling a direct lie, not even -"

"Don't worry about that," says Sir Ulath, shifting his axe slightly. "I'll break your windlass myself."

Count Radun stares at him for a moment, then bursts into laughter. "I like that!" he proclaims.

Preceptor Vanire clears his throat. "As to the contents of the ambush," he continues. He nods at Nathan. "I like the idea of increasing the confusion of our enemies, though I'm not entirely sure how you intend to do that." He turns to face Felix. "But I'm not sure I like the idea of making their horses bolt. Yes, it'll keep the false Knights from causing any trouble, but after the number of times he's given us the slip in the past, I'm imagining Martel's horse bolting right out of the ambush and carrying him to safety."

"Flashbangs aren't just distractions," Felix replies. "They're lots of light and sound, sure, but they upset vital balances in the body, causing temporary blindness and the inability to stand. The horses will bolt, sure, but they'll also act like they just drank their body weight in mead. Stumbling, tripping. What horses do manage to stay upright would almost certainly run headlong into a tree."

"Belladonna, concentrated and released as smoke or as a mist. Cut it with some opium to negate the more toxic effects. Those who breath it in will begin to hallucinate, and it won't be the happy fun kind of hallucinate. Their pupils will dialate, making them more suceptable to light, and their muscle control will be greatly reduced, as will be their combat effectiveness. Some may pass out alltogether, and they'll wake up remembering very little, if anything of what happened. They'll be the lucky ones. As you can imagine, between all of these effects, anyone on the recieving end will have the very unpleasant experience of living a waking nightmare, especialy if we put some effort into a bit of theatrics to make it nightmareish."

"Martel's infernally lucky," says Vanire. "I'd far rather have a way to kill his horse than disorientate it, if that's at all possible." He nods at Nathan. "I'm not familiar with the substances you describe, but wouldn't that affect anyone close enough to get in melee range of the fakes as well? I was considering having the genuine Knights simply cut down the mercenaries."