... "--you think he might do something that risky a week after you tried to kill someone else?"

“No, it’s already been a week or two, I think he might do something that risky, like, three or four weeks after we’ve tried to kill someone else. Maybe we can propose it if we get a good streak going on the Days Since Last War Crime sign.”

... "You're the expert here."

Shrug. “We can wait longer but it didn’t seem like you wanted to wait. We don’t exactly have a ton of good options here, if Technoblade goes after us in retaliation we’ll need Dream as an ally. 

Look, Jingyan. You said you made the same decision, about whether to exile Tommy, right? We’re in about the same position now as we were then. We have better gear, but we’re down our best two fighters. And Dream is, is actively looking for Tommy. I’m—I’m not happy about it either, but.”

"I understand, our situation is far from ideal. --I did get a little bit killed the last time I faced Dream. Who have we lost?"

“Tommy and Phil. —I recognize that Tommy is a bit my fault but I also don’t think we can plan for him wanting to fight on our side.”

Of course Philza was one their best fighters. "I wouldn't want to try and convince him, no."

“And Big Q’s down a life from the stunt with Technoblade. Not exactly the most encouraging way it could go. I mean, I’m not giving up, just…”

"We will find a way to regroup."

“…Yeah. I, I like your optimism, Jingyan.”

Is it optimism, or is it sheer bloody-mindedness? "Would you say our weaknesses are mostly in equipment, or in skill, compared to Dream?"

“Skill. Quackity had fully maxed out netherite and Techno killed him with iron armor and a pickaxe. Dream’s… I mean, he lost the duel against Technoblade, but it was close.”

Jingyan has spent just long enough in a world similar to this to have an idea of the scale of that. "--We may be able to get a terrain advantage."

“Oh?”

... He had not been given a chance to think this one through. "It might be easier to lure him somewhere than try and get him to remove his armour. Though I don't know quite enough about--here, to know a good way to create a situation where we can hit him but he can't hit us."

“I’m pretty decent at traps, yeah. Runs the risk of him turning it back on us if he realizes what we’re doing, but it’s a damn good idea.”

"Could we design it so it can't do that?"

“…Probably? Depends on what specifically he does, to be totally honest. I can probably make it so that I can disable it remotely, I reckon that would help. I wonder if Sam would help, he’s good at this stuff and he helped with the guardian farm but he’s also working on the prison for Dream. Maybe if we tell him it’s for a prank.”

More people he hasn't met yet; very convenient. "How reliable is Sam."

"He helped a lot with the guardian farm."

They are so short of allies right now that it's worth a shot. "It sounds like we may need to talk to him."

"Sure, yeah, I can make that happen." Pause for Tubbo to type out a message to Sam. "He's kinda busy with the prison but I bet we can get him interested in this."

"Do you have any ideas?" It would be good for all of them to be on the same page.

"Piston trap disguised as a game, maybe? Or make a game that'll kill you a bunch, and do a bed trap for when he respawns?"

"Does this Sam like... games?"