Gods, she's so young. 

Alexa gently places one hand on Epistia's shoulder and turns her away from the Coherent, away from the image of Vasilia in chains. "There is more to war than attacking and defending. We are fewer than ten, and they number a thousand. If we fight, the brig gains some prisoners and we gain nothing. We can only help the captain later if we retreat and regroup now."

She takes a deep breath, fingers tapping restlessly. How to explain?

"Did..." She frowns. "Do the Ceronians tell the story of how Thriss stole Tharao from Molech?"

Molech was not the type to take prisoners. If he was going to take the time to house and feed you after a battle, it was because you had something he wanted. He might need to pick your brain, or maybe he wanted to give you a chance to finally see the light and join him.

It had taken a full season of skirmishing to take Hippolyta. And now that he had one of the Ceronian generals in hand, he wanted the other. Place the bait in a fort somewhere, let the Ceronians swarm in, and make a quick sweep.

That's what was supposed to happen. It would be simple, easy, and he'd have both birds in hand.

A season later, Tharao still languished in the trap, the bait untaken. And Thriss continued her guerilla opposition, which was entirely [i]unheard[/i] of for a Ceronian.

Alexa does her best to skim over the details--Isty doesn't need to hear about all the mud in all the unpleasant places--and she's not the best storyteller. But surely Isty can see the point? By the end, both Tharao and the planet had been taken back, and none of that could have happened if Thriss had simply rushed the fort on day one. Right? You get that? So we need to go, now, while nobody is watching us, and come back once we understand what we are facing.

(5 on Talk Sense)