Help! I'm being attacked!!

Introduction
So you're being attacked, right? Or you were attacked after you last came on? You must be worrying about it. But follow these steps, and you will be hit less hard by an enemy. I like to think of this article as what to do immediately, like the band-aid as opposed to the surgery. This is not what you do a few days after the attack or a few days after the first plunder.

Immediate (1 second after an attacking wave is coming)
These actions are like blotting out a cut. These steps are for protecting mainly against plunders. A red flashing "reports" icon means somebody is attacking.

1: See what the goal of the attack is, if your Beacon tower 's level is high enough. If their mission is to colonize, they will not be able to take your resources. If it is to plunder, then follow the next steps.

2: Hide resources in your Marketplace. To do this, go to the market and sell every 4 of your resources for high prices(you need a level 4 market or higher), high enough so that nobody will buy them. Once the attack is done, you can cancel the offers and get the resources back instantly. You can also reinforce valleys with troops carrying the resources, but they will take a few minutes to return and you cannot get the resources back instantly. Reinforcing is the only way to save gold.

3: Go to the Rally spot and uncheck the option "Open gates to fight". If you have significantly more troops than them, open the gates so they get killed. If you have less, close the gates.

Secondary (as soon as all Immediate actions are done)
These options are like putting a band-aid on an injury.

1: Go to your alliance chat and tell everybody you're being attacked. Or send a group message saying so, and you can put your coordinates in the mail (not recommended becasue of spies for other alliances). Having mutiple members help you may deter the attacker.

2: Upgrade your beacon tower and marketplace levels, so you can get more info about an attacker, and hide more resources in the market.

3: Upgrade your embassy so more troops can garrison in your city.

Long-term (once all Secondary actions are done)
These actions are like going to the doctor and having some gauze tape and ointment put on your cut, and possibly even surgery. 1: Build more barracks in your city to recruit more troops.

2: Build fortifications on your walls, and research techs that you need to build those.

3: Train more soldiers, and if you have been attacked for a long time, build defensive units such as warriors, pikemen, swordsmen, and rams.