Swamped

As they draw nearer, you can see that the last two figures are Stacey and Tom Tenth. Tom seems to have an unusually large wooden shield strapped to his arm.

"What's that?" Dean asks, staring at it.

"I'm not authorized for weapon use," Tom grumbles. "They said I'd need to retrain in combat before I could pick anything. So I've got this thing instead - it's not technically a weapon, so I don't have to return it to the armory each night. Doubles as a raft in a pinch, though it won't fit all of us. Maybe two at best."

"Right, um," you begin. "How much did Lisa tell you?"

"We're going to head over to the Marsh Fortress, get caught, and hopefully throw them off enough that they won't attack the base tonight," Jackson says. "Something like that. I've got a quick route planned already, so follow me."

"We'll need to get our story straight on why we're doing this, too," Dean says. "You know, the one we tell our interrogators, and the officers when we get back home. But we can work that out on the way."

As you follow Jackson, you start whispering to each other about the cover story.

Dean thinks it's best if he assumes responsibility. But everyone points out they don't know him that well, so it doesn't seem like a group he's likely to assemble. What you settle on is that Dean planned to infiltrate the fortress himself, and the rest of you were only responsible for helping him get close enough. He decided to ask newer recruits along because they wouldn't face harsh punishments if the plan were discovered. That leaves Walter, who Dean asked because he needed someone experienced with the patrols in order to lead the group around them.

As it turns out, Walter is actually quite good at doing that, warning Jackson as they approach patrolled areas.

After a while, you get to the meeting grounds.

"We're halfway there," Jackson says. "Don't need to go too much further before we get ourselves caught, since anywhere they find us will be closer to their base. So let's focus on making it look like our route was more complicated than it really was. I recommend a quick dip in the muck, for a start."

Meanwhile, the rest of you finish working out your individual stories about being asked along. Your own excuse is that you happened to overhear Dean asking Mary, and you decided that you wanted to help out. Dean was skeptical, but decided it was better than letting you reveal the plan before he was ready. You also explain Mudviper's involvement, though perhaps downplaying the parts that might get you in trouble, and that her story will involve escaping from your group.

"She didn't give you details?" Dean asks. "Well, given her position in the Marshguards, and her military background, she's smart enough to keep it vague if she didn't tell you what to say. So, let's go with this: we ran into her as she was escaping, because we were trying to hide in the same spot. We surprised her, argued for a bit about whether to press on or take her back, she slipped away. Probably because she wanted to report that we weren't using poison, and didn't have time to worry about us, but during the argument she probably overheard us talking about our planned route. Maybe we even say that we changed it after she left, once we realized she might have heard it."

"Right," Jackson says, climbing out of the muck. "We'll say we tried going through the western bog after she escaped. I'll try to figure out where she got them looking, since I'm navigator; everyone else can pretend they just forgot the original plan, since it was changed."

"I'm supposed to be leader, so I should know that too," Dean says. "Everyone else can pass it off as not remembering."

"We'll worry about that once we're caught. I doubt she'd guide them through the western bog, it's one of the more dangerous areas of the swamp."

"Why would we go through it, then?" Stacey asks. It's a good question, though you're not sure how much she's been paying attention.

"Because Jackson thought he had a safe route," Dean says, apparently starting to really get into it. "He pushed for us to go that way, but I was skeptical. When Mudviper escaped, though, I decided to risk it, since she might have overheard us mentioning the original route."

"Sounds good," Jackson says. "Of course, I won't reveal the route because they might use it to sneak up on us. Speaking of, this is as far as I've been into the swamp. We'll have to be more careful from here, because we don't want to get caught by a regular patrol. We want to wait for the bulk of their forces to arrive. However, if we just get a mile or so into their territory, they'll likely be tired enough to opt for heading back, prisoners in tow, rather than running off for an all-out attack."

"And even if they do go back... they'll be worn out, and we'll be expecting them," Dean concludes. "So this is it. We've got our story, we'll get ourselves covered in muck... and then we have to make sure that we're found at the right time."

"Right," Jackson says. "Shouldn't be too hard if we're careful - but the closer we get to the fortress, the better. So, does anyone have a plan for how we should approach it?"