Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 114 - A Wrench is Thrown

Hisui wound her hands around the railing of the control deck of the bridge. The airship continued at its steady pace as they moved away from the fireworks in Hargeon. She'd dropped her friends like a bomb onto the port and held a desperate hope they'd catch up to her and torch across the country, obliterating whatever Twilight Empire cronies stood in their way.

She left so few defenses in the airship itself. But they were always meant to be hidden. Always meant to stealthily move into the clouds and stay out of sight and mind of others as the fighting began all around.

"Status?" Hisui called to distract herself. She raised her head. "Mest? Makarov?"

"No word," Mest said. "Obviously, they haven't established anything in Hargeon. I'm having a difficult time tracking the others; they're moving fast in their operations."

"Fast is good," Sherria said. She was sitting next to Hisui. "Fast means they haven't hit any speed bumps."

"This is too easy," Hisui said. "Where in Bosco did you last hear from Jellal?"

"They're about a hundred miles out from the Fiore border. No sign of Sonya just yet."

"Alright. And Erza?"

"Haven't been able to check in with them."

"No need," Makarov said. He was at the front of the bridge, sitting with his legs crossed and arms folded. "Erza will have that bunch straightened out and staying on task...or, if there are deviations, they will be for a noble cause."

"We didn't anticipate them having much slowing them down, anyway," Sherria said.

"No, not at the start," Hisui said. "But as the fighting intensifies, I don't think August or Invel will want just to stay back and let it all go down. One of them will make a move."

"You think August will get involved with the fighting?"

"No. But that doesn't mean he won't plan some sort of counteroffensive. He already knows that Hargeon is in the middle of a battle and has to know about what Erza and the others have done. The fact that he's stayed silent this far is worrying me."

"Could they just not have enough people to go around?" Sherria asked.

"Larcade, Dimaria, Neinhart, Ajeel, Bloodman, and Invel are all still off the board, and any one of them making a move would be enough to halt one of our strike squads." Hisui stepped back and moved further into the bridge. "My real concern is that August is going to decide the widespread approach isn't fitting for him. If August takes those five and throws them at a single group, they're doomed. None of them has the defenses for that level of attack."

"We've hit them at critical points for the Empire to function," Makarov said. "He has to address them quickly."

"August doesn't have to do anything quickly," Mest said. "But I do agree with what Master Makarov is saying, Hisui. August's ego won't let us have multiple victories. Sure, launching the remains of the Tartaros Division and might of the Twilight Division would leave him a win, but then what? Let's say he takes out the strike team in Hargeon. Natsu and Jellal would still be converging on an empty Crocus."

"Where he'd remain," Hisui said.

"Sure," Mest said. "But can he handle all of those wizards? You think he's that strong?"

"No," Hisui said. "I don't think so."

"You're overthinking things a bit," Sherria said. "Trust in the plan."

"It's not going to work for long," Hisui said.

"The wizards down there are good at improvisation," Mest said. "For better or worse."