Chapter 2: Allied for Hope

It hadn't taken long for Ollie and Jimmy to erase the logs containing Manchent's plan. In fact, both commented on it seeming like they had always been meant to be deleted... He always had been planning ahead... With them gone, the edited video was played for the Shadows while the critical plans were saved to a storage device Jimmy and Ollie rigged together from blueprints left in said plans.

"This...will likely be the last message I give on this. If there is another, it will be right before I leave and, most likely, was the first video you saw. I...I hope that you are confused by that...that I was there to skip that first video and am still there to help you, but...but if not..." Manchent paused as he looked back up to the camera.

"Then please, don't let mine and Henry's deaths be in vain. Stop the Society, use our work to free everyone and end this madness! The insurance has everything you need. Make good use of it and keep the spark of hope alive," Manchent said with a pleading look before the screen went dark.

Despite having seen it twice now, William still had to fight not to let tears run down his face. Gregor... He had given everything just for this tiny glimmer of hope. William fervently hoped that his friend’s sacrifice would not be in vain and that he would receive the memorial he deserved. But the sadness would have to wait, William still had work to do.

The Shadows reaction to the end of the video was surprisingly...subdued. Most of them whispered a few words between themselves while others ran their hands through their hair or just sat in silence. There was no flurries of rage, no cursing, no demands of justice. It was less a sea of rage and more like a pond of sad acceptance.

"Not exactly the kind of reaction I expected," William admitted to Malcolm, who was sitting next to him. Malcolm had sworn and tightened his fists after the reveal, but the rage had, quickly, faded into something more like... More like someone accepting a cruel truth they already knew.

"Don't let the lack of reaction fool you. We're just as furious and ready to exact revenge as your people. But most of us have already experienced, first hand, how demented and twisted the Society is. Finding out those monsters were behind the Shrink Disaster... well, it just seems like a matter of course," Malcolm said as his eyes got a far off look. William wasn't sure what horrors he had faced at the hands of the giantesses, but considering that thousand yard stare... William nodded and tried to move the conversation along.

"Well, we have held up our end of our alliance. Let's head back to Darius and we can work on your side," William suggested. Malcolm shook of his memories and nodded before following after William.

They found Darius nearby in the small makeshift "base" that had been set up inside the house. Base, though, might be the wrong word as it was nothing more than a few tents scattered about, but it was the better than having to stay on Pyrrha 24/7. Darius was talking to Ollie when the two approached him. Darius sent Ollie off on whatever errand he had been discussing before turning toward them.

"Satisfied?" Darius asked Malcolm as he motioned for them to follow him to the map table.

"No and I won't be till every fucking bitch in the Society is burning in hell. But, I am ready to lend whatever aid we can in helping you do just that," Malcolm said, with a vicious smile. Darius returned the smile before stopping at the table. The map on it was very rough and had only the barest of bare bones information. Having been forced to flee the Middle School in such haste had made scouting a practice in eyeballing and the Phoenixes knew little about the area save for what they had seen. Which hadn’t been much.

"Then let us get to work on that. William will you bring Malcolm up to speed on our plans?" Darius asked as he tucked his arms behind him. William nodded.

"Of course. Our original plan was to hunker down up here for a few days to gather supplies, let our wounded rest, give some time for the heat from the Society to die down, and to recon the area. However, since your forces have already done the recon, we think it might be wise to move our timetable up to the next phase," William reported to Malcolm. Malcolm nodded before glancing over at the map.

"And what does that next phase involve?" he asked, making a few corrections on the map with some charcoal that was nearby.

"Bring Rome into the fold," Darius said as if he hadn't just suggested sheer madness. Malcolm stopped his corrections and gave Darius a quizzical look. Once it became clear he wasn't joking, Malcolm straitened up and gave a low whistle.

"That's one way to go big or go home. I like it, and with that," he paused to point back to where Jimmy was packing up the computer, "it might not be suicidal. Assuming they bother to listen to us." William sighed at that last sentence as it was the very issue they had been hung up on before the Shadow's arrival.

"Which is our current dilemma. The Romans will not let us talk to them. If we go near their border, they'll open up on us before we even get within shouting range of them and that fire will draw the Society right to us. We'll be the metal to the Roman's anvil and the Society's hammer," William said, using a military saying he had picked up in his old line of work. Malcolm grimaced a bit at the image, but Darius keep his mask firmly on.

"It is a concern, but I was hoping you might have a way around it. A hidden entrance into Rome or something else," Darius said, hiding his desperation very well. In fact, the only reason WIlliam knew it was there was because both of them had been agonizing over this issue for the last few days with no sign of a solution in sight.

Malcolm gave a weary sigh before rubbing his chin. He lost himself in thought for a moment before letting another sigh escape.

"Wish I could help, but we haven't really been scouting Rome. In fact, we've been trying to avoid them completely, so," he paused and shrugged, "Sorry, no hidden entrances or miracles from us. Yet."

William felt his bit of hope plummet as Malcolm answered. Even Darius couldn't hide the slump in his shoulders as their gamble came up snake-eyes. But then there was that yet...

"Roan!" Malcolm yelled out as he turned from the table. A second later, the blonde haired boy who had been their first contact came running up. He gave a crisp salute before coming to a well dressed rest. Seemed Malcolm had brought some of his military training to his soldiers as well.

"Get our runners heading out to the Spectres. Tell them to get as much information on Rome as they can get, places to sneak in chief among them," Malcolm ordered. Roan gave a crisp yes, sir and was about to leave when Darius spoke up.

"And patrols as well," he added, getting a confused look from Roan.

"Patrols, scouts, any groups of Romans outside their borders. Actually, those would be even better," Darius said getting a confused look from both William and Malcolm. What was- Ahhh, of course.

"Why patrols? You think they are going to betray their comrades to help us get in?" Malcolm asked, sounding incredulous of that idea even as he voiced it.

"No, to let THEM see Manchent's legacy. A patrol isn't going to be near as trigger happy since they would be in just as much danger if the Society showed up, plus even the Romans are going to be nervous about such a large force being on their doorstep. They'll be sending people out, and we can show them the truth without risking getting blown to pieces," William explained to Malcolm. Darius nodded in agreement while Malcolm thought that over. He smiled before nodding as well and turned back to Roan.

"You heard him, Roan, spread the word," Malcolm said. Roan gave another salute before taking off.

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It hadn't taken Roan long to find the other runners and give them a copy of the new orders. Radio definitely would have been quicker and, probably, safer but the Shadows simply didn't have the equipment to give every Spectre a radio. Not to mention that radios could be very dangerous if not used correctly. Which was why runners had been a key part of the Elves' information web and were just as important to the Shadows.

Roan gave the new orders to the last runner and  the two started off toward the porch of the house together. Both Roan and the other runner gave the Phoenixes catmonster a wide berth as they headed to the ropes set up on the edges of the porch. Despite assurances from  the Phoenixes, the Shadows were still wary of the massive creature. Just cause it talked didn't mean it wasn't dangerous.

Just as Roan was about to head down the rope, a familiar and welcome voice called out to him.

"Roan!" Gabby yelled as she and Sanders moved around the catmonster. Roan waved and debated on heading out... but decided a minute or two stop wouldn't make too much of a difference. He let the other runner go on ahead of him as he walked back to meet the two.

"Hey pipsqueak, you heading off on a mission?" Gabby asked as she ruffled Roan's hair a bit. Roan grumbled under his breath and shoved her hand away before answering.

"Y-Yes, I need to deliver new orders to the Spectres, our scouts," he added after seeing the confusion on both their faces.

"Ahh, well we won't keep you long, then. We just wanted to know if you knew anything about Alice," Sanders said with a worried look on his face. Sanders knew Alice? Oh right, Sanders was one of the scouts for Gabby's friend, Isabella. It made sense he would have known Alice as well. Roan wished he had better news for him...

"Not much. Our last report was that she was heading north-west into the wilderness with a squad of giantesses in pursuit," Roan admitted. Sanders worried look only grew, but Gabby seemed to brighten at the news.

"Yes, she got out of there. Well, she'll be fine then. No way in hell those idiots are going to be able to track her down once she gets out into the boonies. Hell, she'll probably lead them on a wild goose chase for weeks before they realize she is long gone," Gabby said laughing a bit. Sanders' worried look faded and Roan felt better about the news as well. Jeez, what was he worrying about, this was Alice! Even if the squad caught her she could take them down... probably. And they had to actually CATCH her first.

"Yeah, you are probably right. Thanks for the information, Roan," Sanders said with a smile. Roan nodded and returned the smile before turning to head off on his mission.

"Keep up the good work, pipsqueak," Gabby yelled after him, making Roan's spirits soar. He gave one last wave before starting his climb down.  He wished he could tell her the whole truth on everything… She would be so, SO proud! No...no he couldn’t do that. It was secret for a reason.

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The medical tent was nearly silent as Samantha sat next to Jacob. Derek was still unconscious and showed no signs of improving. Kimberly had done everything she could, and more, but the damage had just been too great. All they could do was watch as Jacob's last family member slipped away...

Samantha looked up at Jacob and felt her heart breaking from his look. He stared as his father with despair coating his face, his eyes drifting in and out of focus. She tried to put her arm around him, trying to offer him some kind of comfort, but he didn't even seem aware she was there.

"Jacob, I..." Samantha started to say, but stopped when he still didn't react. She didn't begrudge him for ignoring her. If it had been her own parents or Jessica lying there... Maybe he needed more time alone to say his goodbyes. Samantha gave him a light hug before moving to stand up. But she stopped mid push as Jacob, suddenly, took her hand.

"Samantha..." he said, tearing his eyes away from his dad to look at her. Samantha let herself fall back down and nodded for him to continue. He glanced away for a second and his grip tightened.

"I want to be angry...I want...I want to lose myself, to let the hate just take me and," he stopped as his gripped tightened enough to make her wince. His grip loosened again as he turned back to face her, the heralds of tears clear in his eyes.

"But I can't....I can't..." he whispered before lowering his head and beginning to shake. Samantha had to fight not to let her shock appear on her face. She was so taken off-guard that she did nothing but stare as Jacob sucked in another breathe.

"If I do...then I can't be worthy of him. I can't take his place...I can't take...I can’t inherit his strength," Jacob said as his head shifted to look at the laser cannon propped up nearby. Samantha, finally, managed to recover from her surprise and turned to fully face him straight on. She took hold of his shoulders and raised him up, getting his tearful face to look at her.

"You don't have anything to prove, Jacob. Derek would have wanted you to have his gun. You don't have to be "worthy" of-"

"I DO!" Jacob suddenly yelled, interrupting Samantha mid sentence, and breaking away from her. He turned away and buried his head in his hands for a moment. Samantha tried to turn him back to face her, but he shrugged her off.

"I'm not stupid, Samantha. I know why no one ever questioned why my dad got to use the laser cannon. It was because they all trusted him, relied on him, knew he was always capable... but they don't trust me, they don’t want to rely on me... and they shouldn't." Jacob paused as he let out a long sigh. He turned back to Samantha with a look she had never seen before on his face. One of begging.

"Please, Samantha, help me. I want to let my anger take over so FUCKING bad. I WANT to hate, I WANT to tell everyone to fuck off, I WANT TO DO NOTHING BUT KILL!” Jacob said as his face twisted into a look so full of anger that Samantha couldn’t help but be afraid. But then Jacob glanced over at his dad and the look crumbled away back into one of sadness and begging.

“But if I do... I don't want to be Jack-off anymore. I don’t want to be a disappointment, I don't...I don’t want to fail him!” Jacob said as tears begin to fall from his face. He turned back to face her as his eyes began to swell and turn red.

“Please, Samantha, help me keep Jack-off away. Help me make my dad proud and be worthy to keep his weapon. Don’t let my anger take it away..." Jacob asked with tears beginning to roll down his face.

Samantha felt tears of her own starting to form. Oh Jacob... he had finally realized his mistake, finally learned what was holding him back. But the price to learn it... Samantha didn't bother fighting it anymore as she let her own tears free and pulled Jacob into a hug. Jacob returned the hug and cried into her shoulder as Samantha did the same. After a second of crying, she opened her eyes and had to fight off a gasp as she looked at Derek.

"You already had my help, Jacob. You have always had it. But you're wrong about one thing. You don't need my help to make your dad proud. He already is," Samantha said before turning Jacob to look at his father. A small smile that hadn't been there had appeared on his face. Jacob's face went from shock to uncontained grief as he whirled back to Samantha. He buried his head in her chest and, finally, let out all of his sadness. Samantha hugged him close and let her own grief join with his.

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Kimberly turned away from the flap leading into Derek's section of the tent. She hadn't heard everything, but she had heard enough. It was a struggle to keep her composure, but she managed to keep it together long enough to get to her "office".  Once there, though, she couldn't hold back the tears and gasps of loss.

It had been hard to put up the facade of uncaring, to create a wall of anger and annoyance to ward off the pain, the lose, the...failure. It had pushed a lot of people away, but it been to better serve her charges. At least, that was what she told herself. But every wall could be broken and hearing that exchange... Oh Derek, if only you could see your son, see him finally growing into a man... But now... now....

Kimberly flopped down into her chair as another wave of sadness crashed into her. The latest tests had proven what Kimberly had feared. Derek was dying and there was nothing she could do. She had thought she had gotten used to that feeling, of being helpless as another life ebbs away in her care, of being utterly useless at her job… And yet it came time and time again… and it was so much worse this time. But not because she couldn't save Derek. No...it was because she had been too afraid to let him in.

She had loved the commander, loved him almost as much as she had Jason. But she had resisted his attempts to be more than just comrades. The fear of going through Jason all over again keep her away. And now...now she was losing him anyway and it felt so much worse. Dammit...DAMMIT!

With nothing else to focus her rage on, Kimberly slapped her medical bag across her desk, not carrying as bits of it began to spill out. It was useless anyway... nothing in there could save Derek...or her. Kimberly didn't even try to fight as tears began to stream down her face. She raised her hands and went to bury her face when something caught her eye.

A syringe? Odd... they had needles used as such, but they were nowhere near as well made. When had that gotten into her bag? It must have been buried under her other supplies or she would have noticed it before now. It almost looked...

Picking the syringe up, Kimberly dried her eyes and looked it over. There was some writing on the bottle and Kimberly had to blink a few times to get her eyes to adjust right to read it. But when she did, her eyes shot wide open and her tears stopped dead.

Society Report 204-885

Location: Lindale, GA

Renegade Society member has been identified. Subject is Alice Mathews, Wilderness Ranger who was presumed KIA by a Resistance attack. Death report has been revised to traitor and automatic termination orders have been sent. Squad 14 in pursuit.

Alpha-Level Objective was spotted but has been taken by Resistance forces. Reports confirm group has Traitor 015 among them and have Prototype Catgirl assisting their efforts. Recommend Protocol 2 be lifted for future engagements.

Reply:

Protocol 2 is lifted. Terminate anyone who comes into contact with Objective. No exceptions.

-Command