Prologue:

January 8, 2024 11:21 PM

Romy felt himself shiver as another gust of cold wind blew into his face. Winter was still going strong and the wind stabbed into him even through his large coat. For once, Romy could not wait to get down from Christa's shoulder and on the ground. At least down there the bare trees would provide some wind breaks. Up here, the only thing between him and the biting wind was the cage's bars.

Far below, the ground was covered in naked trees and dead grass. A few clumps of snow were still scattered about here and there, but most of it had melted in the midday sun. Off to Christa's right and left were a few other giantesses moving through the area, all of them Swords. Seemed they were doing more and more operations with the Swords lately.

"Dammit it is colder than an polar bear's ass! Are we almost there?" Kian asked before sneezing. Romy looked over to Kian's cage resting beside his own. Kian was bundled up completely leaving his tanned Hispanic skin hidden behind his hoodie. He was shivered even more than Romy was and Romy felt bad for the skinny guy. Kian was just not built for cold weather.

"Its just over this next rise, Kian," Christa said as she keep moving toward the hill just ahead. Kian grumbled out his annoyance, but didn't push the issue.

"Shouldn't be out here. We're urban Rangers not rural. If them damn politicians and news people would stop stirring shit up about that attack..." Ian said as he grumbled on Christa's other shoulder. Romy couldn't see him past Christa's massive neck and head, but could imagine he was just as miserable as the rest. His bald head and constant scowl would be freezing right about now.

"Since most of Five got killed during that attack, someone had to pick up the slack. We just happened to be the lucky ones today," Romy said sighing a bit as he remembered the attack. They had lost more than just Patrol 5 that day. Three Shields and two Swords giantesses had been killed along with about twenty normal-sized security guards. Resistance bastards almost got into the base itself. That was almost a month ago, though.

"And you might not care enough to want to pay the Resistance back for that attack, but some of us do. Even if it means freezing my balls off," Kian added with slight anger in his voice.

"Hey! I ain't minding killing nor paying the Resistance back. Just ain't no reason to be out 'ere. As cold as it is, them terrorists are probably all 'old up and bundled up waiting for it to get warm. Ye know it, I know it, Christa knows it, the Matriarchs know it, but the politicians and those idgit news people don't know or just don't care," Ian said.

"Leave me out of this and stop arguing. We are almost there," Christa said as she began to head up the hill to their destination. Romy didn't like Ian too much, he swore Ian still looked down on him just because he was black, but he did have a point. Ever since the attack happened the people of Atlanta had been putting a lot of pressure on the Matriarchs to take the fight to the Resistance. A lot of their missions had gone from just simply patrols to these types of search and destroy. Well, more like they search and then the Swords destroy. It wouldn't be so bad if it hadn't been the dead of winter when the Resistance, usually, laid low. They had been on more than one of these missions that ended with nothing being found save a cold and Ian was not the type to keep his annoyance of that to himself.

Finally, Christa climbed to the top of the ridge and their search area came into view. The place looked to have once been a grazing area for cows or horses. Now it was, from this vantage point, a tiny little forest laid bare by the winter. A few bits of garbage and other junk were scattered about the area. The remains of an old barbed wire fence lined the area, though most of its wire had rotted away. A rusted to the point of uselessness tractor sat out in the middle of the area looking about to fall apart if someone so much as breathed on it wrong.

Christa knelt down and pressed a button on her wristpad. Their cages shifted and pulled away from her shoulders before slowly lowering down to the ground. Romy began to flex his fingers and arms, trying to get some blood back into his limbs. He would have done his legs too, but they were secured to the cage.

A minute later saw all three cages on the ground and the three Rangers piled out, stretching their legs and getting ready. Christa got the cages to start heading back up as she went over their mission again.

"OK, the mission is the same as the last one. Head into the area, look for any signs of Resistance, and report back any sightings. If you find any Resistance, don't engage them. Let the Swords do their job and you stick to yours, understood?" she whispered to them. They all nodded and said yes ma'am. She got back to her feet and began to head back down the ridge, leaving them to their task.

"Alright, radio silence from here on out. Normal spread or we going to split up for this?" Romy asked as he turned off his radio. Kian and Ian did the same. Romy would rather have split up, but didn't want to voice his opinion. Ian would probably disagree with it just to disagree.

"Lot of area to cover together. Vote we split, get this done quick," Kian said rubbing his arms and biting back a shiver.

"Yeah better split up 'fore Kian here turns into a Mexican popsicle," Ian said with his annoying grin.

"I'm not Mex- you know what its too damn cold for this shit. Hope a feral catgirl uses you for a scratching post," Kian said before storming off. Romy gave Ian a nasty look before turning and heading off on his own as well. Damn bastard would have had an "accident" a long time ago if he wasn't damn good at his job. Racist redneck to be sure, but a damn good Ranger and Romy would want no one else beside him if shit hit the fan.

Now alone, Romy took out his axe and headed deeper into the pasture, turned forest. The wind had died down now that he was on the ground and the sun helped make it at little warmer. The ground crunched under his footsteps thanks to all the dead leaves and branches everywhere and made it nigh impossible for him to move about with causing some noise. Ian might be an asshole, but he was right in them not being the best choice for this.

Romy searched through the forest for about an hour or so finding nothing but dead trees and the occasional random junk. Most of the parts and other stuff he found did look like the kinds of things the Resistance would use, but were so old and rusted as to be useless now. The Resistance had been here, that was sure. But Romy was beginning to think HAD was the keyword.

He sighed to himself, getting annoyed by yet another wild goose chase of a mission. He agreed with Kian that it was good they were taking the fight to the Resistance, but also agreed with Ian that doing such in the winter was rather stupid. He was tired of being cold all the damn time and really tired of catching colds and nothing else. Demanding war and revenge was all well and good, but not if you couldn't find the enemy.

Grumbling to himself, Romy climbed to the top of a small ridge and found himself staring down at a Resistance base. He swore in his mind before scrambling back down out of sight. He gripped his axe tighter as he waited for the yell of alarm he was sure to come, but none came. Romy let out his held breath and slowly inched his way back to the top of the hill, flat on his stomach.

He crested the hill and looked down into a small valley where a number of wooden crates and cardboard boxes had fallen, the old farm logo that had been on them nearly faded completely. Beneath the boxes, hidden from sight from above, were a number of tents and a few larger wooden structures. The base would a good ways away, at least a hundred scale yards, so he took out his binoculars to get a better look.

He could make out a few people in the torn rags and furs of the Resistance moving about the area, ten or so at most. Most of them were just lazing about, cooking, moving stuff, cleaning weapons, etc... None of them looked to be on alert or ready for an attack, though. The buildings were shut tight and none had windows so Romy had no idea what was inside. Looked like Commands intel had been good after all. He inched back out of sight before using his wrist computer to mark down the location. With that done, he slowly creep away from the base. Once he was confident he was out of ear shot of it, he took off running.

After running a few minutes he stopped to catch his breath and looked at his wrist computer again. He activated his beacon for a split second before turning it off. He waited a few seconds before tuning it back on for another second and switching it off again. The first blip should have gotten his squadmates attention, the other would have shown them where he was.

The Resistance didn't usually have any tech capable of tracking their beacons, but it still paid to be prepared. Ranger Patrol 1 had assumed they couldn't listen to radio signals and had tipped a Resistance base off a year back. By the time the Sword got there the base was cleared out and the Resistance long gone, leaving a few traps to greet them, though. Romy wasn't about to let that happen to them.

A few minutes passed as he waited for his squadmates to show. He wished he could start a fire, but that would tip off the Resistance faster than anything. So he suffered the cold and paced about to try and keep warm. Finally, Kian showed up, still shivering, followed by Ian.

"Find something?" Kian asked as he walked over to a tree to use it to break the wind.

"Yeah. Resistance base in some crates and cardboard. Marked it down on my computer," Romy answered.

"Well, what ya what'in fer? Tell the Swords so we can get outta 'ere," Ian said as he put his hands into his pits. Romy thought of telling him he was waiting to make sure his sorry ass didn't get stepped on by the Swords, but decided he was not in the mood. Instead, he turned on his radio and brought up his map.

"Christa, Resistance base found. Location: 245,781. Confirm?" he said giving the grid location of the base.

"Confirmed. Good job, you three. Turn on your beacons and sit tight till I can get to you," Christa said getting a smile from Kian and a nod from Ian. The all turned their beacons on as they waited for the inevitable earthquakes.

"Hey, there is a hill back that way that might be high enough for us to watch the base get trashed. Want to go check?" Kian suggested.

"Beats just standin 'ere," Ian said and Romy nodded his agreement. They hurried over to the  hill and scrambled up it. While their beacons would warn any Swords they were close to them, it was still better to sit tight and stay put when they were moving through an area just to be sure. Easy to avoid an unmoving spot rather than three mobile spots.

The three of them managed to get to the top of the hill just as the first rumbles began to shake the ground. Kian had been right that the hill had been tall enough for them to see the base. It was a good ways away and they couldn't see the actual base, but they could see the boxes that hid it. Ian motioned over to their left as three Swords leap the fallen barbed fence and began to rush toward where the boxes were, their footsteps shaking the ground. Two more came from the right and front along with four catgirls on leashes. They held back from the boxes and keep a tight grip on the catgirls, a clean up crew meant to mope up any Resistance the first three missed.

By then, the three attacking Swords had circled the boxes. They kicked the boxes away with ease and were greeted with a volley of five missiles. The missiles detonated on their shields, but were too spread out to take down any of the Swords' shields. The Swords began to stomp their feet through the area where the boxes had been, sending huge shockwaves through the ground. Romy and his two comrades had to brace against the trees to not lose their footing as the ground shook under the Swords' titanic stomps.

"Jesus! Glad I am not over there!" Kian yelled to be heard over the booms.

"No kidding! Don't know why those idiots even try to fight!" Romy yelled back as the carnage continued. They couldn't see any of the Resistance being crushed thanks to the trees, but Romy was sure he didn't want to.

Two more missiles came flying up, missing their targets, but they looked to be the last as the Swords began to slow their stomping. One chuckled as she stomped one last time and the three stopped.

"Don't see anymore, do you?" one asked, her voice reaching them even from this far away.

"No, might be more in these buildings though. Let's see if they want to come out and PLAY!" another yelled before stomping down, assumedly onto one of the buildings. Suddenly a loud crunch and wet splat came echoing over as a strange brown liquid slashed up and out from where the Sword and stomped. The stuff covered her leg and splattered onto the other two.

"Wha- oh GROSS! What the hell is this?!" the Sword who had stomped said as she started to try and wipe it off. Romy looked at Kian in confusion and saw the same look on his face. He turned to Ian just as a wiff of something odd, yet familiar came to his nose. Ian, however, seemed to recognize it and his eyes went wide.

"Oh sweet Jesus, RUN!" he yelled into the radio. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! THAT'S GASOLINE!" Romy's eyes went wide too as he realized the implications and he saw the Swords doing the same.

"Wh- OH SHIT!" was all one of them had time to say before a massive explosion rocked the area and sent Romy falling to the ground. Romy swore as he picked himself up, his ears ringing from the explosion. He turned toward where the Resistance base had been as the ringing in his ears died down.

Where the base had been was now a virtual fire storm that was spreading outward at incredible speeds. The three Swords that had been next to it were now covered in flames. They were screaming in agony and pain as they trashed around trying to put the flames out. Their own stumbles and wreathing were putting more places in the field on fire and spreading the fire like a flaming plague. The radio came alive with alarm, surprise, confusion, and general chaos. Romy stumbled back and heard the same crunch that he had been hearing all through his trip. he looked down and looked the leaves. The leaves...it had been a trap, the whole thing, this whole pasture, it was all one big trap!

"Kian, Ian, we've got to get out of here!" he yelled at his buddies as they stumbled back to their feet. They looked at him in confusion before a voice cut through the radio's chatter.

"Fuck! They set the outer edges of the pasture on fire too! They were in the damn fence posts waiting for us!" another giantess, who Romy didn't know, yelled causing even more chaos to erupt on the radio. He had been right, this was a trap and they had taken the bait. A trap they were smack in the middle of.

"Damn Resistance fuckers, can't fight like men so th-" Ian was saying before the ground began to rumble and shake like crazy. Romy turned just in time to see a catgirl, her fur on fire, running in complete terror straight for them. Romy dived to the side, hoping to avoid her foot, and watched in terror as her foot smashed down barely inches from his face. The blast sent him flying back and blasted his hearing away, but he was still alive. Unlike Kian.

Romy watched as Kian tried to run only for the catgirl's other foot to come crashing down on top of him. The noise, thankfully, drowned out the crunch, but did nothing for the sight of Kian flattened into a red mess onto the catgirl's foot. His corpse vanished from sight as the catgirl keep running, fire spreading off her to the trees nearby. Romy yelled out in lose as he tried to go after him, but two arms wrapped around him. His hearing slowly came back to let him hear Ian yelling at him.

"Goddammit, he is dead, Romy! Come on, we're gonna be too if we don't find Christa! COME ON YA DAMN BLACK SON OF A BITCH!" Ian said as he began to drag Romy away. Romy cursed under his breath as he finally let Ian drag him away and into the forest.

By now, screams and cries of alarm were filling the air and the radio was utterly useless. Yells of "Put her out!" "Get some water!" "HELP ME, HELP ME!" and all sorts of other sounds were all around them and the rumbling of footsteps seemed to always been far too close. Ian was yelling into the radio, trying to get heard through the chaos. Romy swore he heard Christa every so often, but never clear enough to understand her.

Finally, they crested another hill and came into sight of Christa. Christa was looked around like mad for them as fire was spreading behind her. Romy let out a gasp of relieve as Christa's eyes locked on them. Ian turned and smiled back at him before his smile turned to panic. Romy saw Christa's look turn the same as he turned to look. About halfway down the hill, the area was a literal wall of flames. The fire was spreading insanely fast and coming right for them.

"Oh fuck, RUN!" Romy yelled as he and Ian took off toward Christa. Christa did the same rushing toward them as fast as her massive legs could take her. The two of them huffed and scrambled through the brush, trying to reach their salvation as Christa loomed larger and larger ahead. They were a few feet away when Christa looked to her side and was knocked off balance by another giantess bathed in flames. Christa stumbled and then fell down, her body mostly hidden by the trees and smoke. When she reappeared, fire had lept onto her hair and clothing and she was screaming in pain and agony. Romy watched in muted horror as the flames began to consume their only way out and his friend was cooked alive.

Both he and Ian stumbled to a stop as Christa gave one last gasp of pain before falling to the ground. Ahead of them the wall of flames was advancing and behind them another was coming. There was nowhere to go and the radio was still so full of noise that no one was going to hear them. Romy was wondering if slitting his throat would be better than burning alive when a massive tree branch above him snapped. He never even felt it hit.

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11:26 PM

Derek couldn't help but smile as he watched the fire slowly spread over the old pasture. The Society had fallen right into the trap just like Darius had planned. Now five of their number were on the ground, burned to a crisp, along with four catmonsters. Three more of the giant bitches were still on fire, though had gotten out of pasture. Their friends were trying to put them out with the water in their canteens or with blankets. Even if they succeeded the three would be so badly burned that it would be months before they recovered, if they did at all. While Derek was smiling at the sight, Darius simply looked on without a hint of emotion.

Darius was a good foot shorter than Derek, or had been when their height could be measured in feet. His black hair still looked well kept, despite not having been washed in a few days, and his green eyes stared out toward the pasture. He wore a simple bear skin coat over some resown scraps of cloth and a large cloak made out of a wolf's fur. The wind had picked up thanks to the fire, though now it was a bit warmer too.  He stared at the sight, his face a mask, before looking over toward Ollie.

"Tally?" he asked getting a held up finger from Ollie. He keep his eyes on the blinking light off in the distance and was writing down the message it spelled out in morse code. Finally, the blinks stopped and Ollie raised a piece of glass to send a confirmation signal. Ollie stood up reading over the message he wrote. His scrawny form was well protected from the cold by a massive coat of various animals and he had to push his long brown hair out of his face a few times thanks to the wind.

"Ok. For confirmed dead, five giantesses, five catmonsters, and a Ranger patrol. Injured: six giantesses three severely,  five catmonsters three severely," Ollie reported as he put down the  message. Darius nodded in satisfaction and looked back at the slowly dying inferno.

"More than we thought we would get. That's at least eight giantesses out of action and a Ranger patrol. If those rumors are true, they are down two Ranger squads now," Derek said, satisfaction in his voice.

"Yes. And this will make the Society assume their foes are here in Roswell. They will not be disappointed," Darius said getting the barest hint of a smirk on his face.

"No, but the Snakes will," Derek said returned the smile. Damn bastards had it coming after they hit one of their outposts. Attacking and stealing supplies was one thing. Doing that AND murdering everyone there AND leaving it on fire so as to attract the Society's attention...well that was outright war. A war that the Snakes had just lost.

"It was nice of the Snakes to let us use their fuel to kill all these Society fuckers. They can freeze now knowing it was for a good cause," Jacob, Derek's son, said as he walked up to the top of the hill to join them. Jacob was nowhere near as tall as Derek, but did has his dad's hair and eyes. He wore a simple fur coat over his patchwork clothing and had a large cobbled together rifle over his shoulder.  Darius nodded his agreement, but didn't look at Jacob.

"Too bad we couldn't take it with us. All that gas would have helped us," Ollie added as he started to send another message off in another direction.

"It would have slowed us too much. Any word from the fire teams?" Darius asked, going straight back to business. Jacob's smile faded as he looked down at his feet.

"Some of them. Gerard, Maybelle, Tim, Colin, and Amber's groups have all signaled that they got out and are falling back. Haven't heard from the rest, yet," Jacob said, stressing the yet part. Derek loved his son more than he could ever hope to voice, but the boy needed to get over his naive outlook on things. Likely most of them never would. Fire attacks worked wonders, but fire didn't care what it burned and would gladly roast them as readily as the Society.

"Half is good enough. Derek, get everyone ready to start the trip back," Darius said as he keep looking over the carnage, in particular the place where the base had been. Where fifteen good men had knowingly died for this to work. More now that half their fire squads had vanished.

"We're just going to leav-" Jacob stared to say, Derek tried to stop him, but Darius beat him to it as he turned to glare at Jacob. Jacob stopped as he saw Darius' glare.

"We are leaving. If they find a way back, good. But we are not going to stay here and risk all of us to, possibly, save a few of us. The Society will be combing this area soon and we need to be as far away as possible before then. Derek, take your son and go. I want to be ready to leave in two minutes," Darius said as he turned back to the fire. Derek nodded as he hefted up his laser cannon and lead his son away. Jacob hung his head down as they walked away and was silent until Darius had vanished from sight.

"Dad, I...I ju-"

"I know what you were trying to say, son. But its just not the world we live in now," Derek said, putting his arm on his son's shoulder. He loved his son, and, truth be told, loved that he wanted to save everyone and be the hero. But it would not be long till he realized the truth. There were no heroes out here. And sacrifice was the only way to survive.

Chapter 1: Phoenixes

January 8, 2024 4:12 PM

It had been almost five hours since they had left the flame teams to die. Jacob still couldn't put it out of his head as their group moved through the forest. No matter what his Dad or Darius said, it didn't change that they had left them. Left people who hadn't volunteered... The fifteen men who had gone to the base knew what they were volunteering for, knew they were going to die. But the others... It just wasn't right.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was no one else had even bat an eye at them leaving. Even when word got out that five of the fire teams were missing, no one suggested they stay behind. No one volunteered to keep on the lookout. And no one missed a beat when getting everything ready to go. It was like some unspoken understanding passed through them all, an understanding that Jacob did not get.

He shouldn't be surprised, though. He was still very new to being a soldier and no one was eager to show him the ropes. Or talk to him, or be near him, or anything really. He couldn't blame them after what he had done. Sneaking out like that and taking all those people with him... He had just wanted to show he was as good as his Dad and help... Just wanted to help warn them of the storm... and now they along with the people who went with him were dead, save for Martha and Stan. It was no wonder the soldiers didn't like him.

Jacob sighed as he keep walking, following the people ahead of him. His depression was interrupted as someone tapped his right shoulder. He looked over to see nothing before turning to his left to see Samantha's smiling face. Samantha was a good head shorter than him and had short brown hair. Her full lips spread into a smile as her brown eyes stared at him.

"Still moping after getting chewed out by Darius?" she asked falling in step with him. Samantha had been Jacob's friend for well over five years. And more than that for about two. She had, also, joined the soldiers a year ahead of him despite him being a better fighter than she was. He was sure his Dad had something to do with that... She used to be rather scrawny, but over the past year she had bulked up quite a bit. Now she was well toned and muscled, looking more like a professional athlete. Of course, with the heavy fur clothing she was wearing, you would never know it.

"I am not moping, just...we left them Samantha," Jacob said as he sighed. Samantha looked at the ground and her smile faded a bit.

"Yeah...If it makes you feel better, it was tough my first time too. Knowing there were people out there still fighting and being told to pack up and leave," she paused as she shook her head, "its not an easy thing to do." Despite her words, Jacob knew a but was coming, and he was not disappointed.

"But, its something we have to do. It is horrible and wrong morally, but it is the only way we can survive out here. If we had stayed, we would have all been killed by the Society. Who would have been helped by that?" she asked him. Jacob knew she was right, some part of him had always known that, but it still didn't make it the right choice.

"No one, I know. But it was still wrong. We could have at least sent someone," Jacob said getting a sigh from Samantha.

"Should have sent you then, Jack-off," one of the men ahead of him said as he glared back at him. Jack-off...their favorite nickname for him, though they never used it in earshot of his Dad. They thought it was clever because it sounded sorta like Jacob.

"Naw, then Derek would have had to go save his useless ass then and the kid would have gotten him killed too," a woman beside the man said getting a few chuckles from the people ahead. Jacob's anger flared inside him and he might have yelled something back if the group didn't suddenly halt. Jacob was new, but he still knew that when the group halted, it was time to shut up. He bit back his rage and clenched his fist.

Everyone began to crouch down and the group fell completely silent. Jacob looked around and strained to hear but didn't hear anything unusual. And then it was there, distant, but there. The deep boom of a footstep sending a cold chill up his spine. The one noise every Phoenix was terrified to hear. The leader of their group, a woman named Susan, gave the signal to hide. The group fanned out and began to hide in trees, fallen leaves, and anything else they could find. Jacob looked around for a spot and saw the group ahead of them doing the same along with the group behind them. Samantha motioned to a hole in a tree she had found and they both crammed into it together.

Jacob might have been excited to be so close to Samantha in different circumstances, but the slowly growing boom of footsteps drove such thoughts out of his head. He tried to reach for his rifle, but it was wedged between him and the tree. Samantha nudged him and slid the broken tip of a knife out of an animal skin "sheath". Samantha had tied a piece of wood on the end to make it a jury-rigged, but still effective, combat knife. He nodded to her and stopped reaching for his gun.

The booming stopped, still rather distant, after a second and the place fell silent. A moment passed before the crack of a branch and a curse got both of them to tense. Jacob didn't recognize the voice, but he didn't know everyone in his group that well either. Samantha tightened her grip on her knife as the soft sounds of footsteps began to get louder. The footsteps were almost right outside now, just on the other side of the tree. The footsteps stopped along with Jacob's breath and all other noises. For what seemed an eternity the world was silent.

"Bland! Bland! BLANCH!!" a voice yelled out, breaking the silence. A soft muttering came from the other side of the tree.

"What?!" the person on the other side of the tree yelled back before moving away.

"Where ar- oh there you are. What are you doing? This is outside the search grid and you know how anal Carly is about that stuff," the first voice said, sounding a bit closer now.

"Just got an odd feeling of being watched so I went to look," Blanch responded as his voice became more distant. Jacob let out his held breath and he felt Samantha relax a bit too.

"Oh you got a "feeling". Look man if you need to take a leak just admit it," the other voice said as their footsteps began to head further away from them. Their words became less and less distinct until, finally, they vanished all together. Samantha didn't move, however, and neither did anyone else for another full minute. The booming footsteps started up again, but this time grew more and more distant till they fell away to nothing. Finally, Susan gave the signal, a snow bird call, to come out. Samantha squeezed out first before Jacob followed her out, both groaning and stretching their cramped muscles.

"Shit that was close," Jacob said. Samantha nodded as the rest of the group came out of their hide spots, most looking just as cramped up as he did. Jacob's muscles were still complaining when the group began to move again, a good bit faster now. Susan pointed out three of the group and then pointed out around them. They nodded and split off into the forest, going out to screen their movements.

"And Jack-off wanted to stay and wait. Those damn Rangers would have had us pinned in if we hadn't have moved when Darius said. Dumbass kid," one of the men behind him, Luke, said. Jacob wanted to rise to the bait and yell at him, but Susan cut that off before he could.

"Quiet. No talking," she said glaring at Luke and then the rest of them. With the order given, the group fell silent.

It was two days of almost complete silence as the group made their way to their destination. The two days passed without incident while their nights were cold, dark, and lonely. His Dad, who was leading the squad, had forbidden fires so all their food was cold and their nights spent huddled together. The others might not have liked him, but were more than happy to snuggle up on him during the nights along with everyone else. Samantha helped make those nights somewhat better, but Jacob was in no mood for sex. If Samantha minded, though, she never showed it. Finally, on the third day, they arrived at their destination.

Jacob wasn't sure how long they had jogged, but it was longer than he would have liked. The sky was beginning to darken, but it was still light enough to be mid afternoon. Finally, the trees began to thin and the group slowed to a stop. Ahead of them were the two lead groups in the squad. Behind them, the trailing group came to a stop a few meters back. Jacob could see his Dad peering out of the trees and into the parking lot of the rest stop they had arrived at. He looked around before motioned forward. Five people moved up out of the trees and began to make their way toward the rest stop itself. After a few minutes of waiting, the blinking of a signal light came back.

With the signal given, the lead group rose and made its way across the parking lot to the rest stop, sprinting the whole way. The line of groups moved up and waited at the trees till the signal came again. Then the next group headed on and it was their group's turn. It was a slow process, but it made sure the entire squad was never caught completely in the open.

Jacob took a deep breath as they waited for the signal. Being spotted in the forest was one thing, at least there were places to hide and the potential for escape. Out in that parking lot, though. Out there, there was nowhere to hide and no chance of survival. Get caught out in the open like that and you were dead, no ifs ands or buts.

With that wonderful thought in his head, the signal came and Susan lead the group out into the open. The group broke into a full on sprint heading toward the far side of the parking lot. Even with the sun bearing down on the broken pavement, it was still rather cold and Jacob found his lungs beginning to burn from the cold air. The group keep right on sprinting and him along with them, though. Stopping out here would be just tempting death and no one was going to come back for you. Finally, the edge of the parking lot began to loom up and the slowly crumbling parking bars rose upward as well. Susan lead them to one with a large hole smashed into it where a few other Phoenix members were waiting.

The group stumbled into the parking bar and its welcome cover, all of them gasping for air and a few nearly collapsing. Jacob leaned against the wall as he got his breath back and looked to see Samantha doing the same. He might be new, but at least he was in no worse shape than any of them. Of course, you would have to be super human to sprint that far and not nearly collapse. The group took a moment to catch its breathe before Susan motioned for them to move. By then, the two other Phoenixes were using a piece of glass to signal the last group.

They made their way out of the bar and to the edge of the sidewalk. A line of cobweb rope tied down to the ground lead up into the sidewalk and Susan began to climb it up. The rest followed her up and into the small crack between the two paved blocks of the sidewalk. A few trees and other brush had grown into the small space, though a path had been cut into it to allow them to walk. With most of the brush dead and the leaves gone, there was not nearly as much cover in the crack, but Jacob could imagine it was completely hidden in the spring, summer, and most of fall.

The crack exited into another small forest that went from the sidewalk to the edge of the old rest stop building. Rather than head for it, however, Susan turned them to the right and lead them toward a, ruined, water drainage canal. A large rent had opened into it about halfway down and, from the water stains, looked to veer the water left rather than let it head down all the way. At the bottom of the drainage canal was the hole the water should have gone into, though it too was ruined. A large amount of rubble from the sidewalk and fallen on it and looked to have sealed it.

Susan lead them to the rubble and to a specific piece of said rubble, a piece that was only a bit larger than them. She smacked it with the butt of her rifle before yelling out,
"From ashes."
"We rise," a muffled voice responded before the rubble shifted and the piece slid out to reveal the entrance to the Phoenixes' watch post in this area. Two large men grunted as they moved the rubble and then motioned everyone inside. Jacob scrambled in along with the rest. Once everyone was in, the two men grabbed a stone handle that had been carved into the back of the rubble and pulled it back into place.

Jacob let out a sigh of relieve as he and the rest headed down the drainage tunnel and into the outpost proper. The tunnel opened up into what had been the old rainwater lines running below the streets. A large amount of tables, chairs, and other furniture had been rigged up with random bits of wood and such. A number of beds were, also, lined up along the walls before ending at some metal walls the workers had rigged up. A bit of water still ran through the wreckage giving the place fresh water and a large deer was being cooked up above a large fire-pit. A few other fires were burning here and there to light the place. After the cold and constant trudge of the outside, it was paradise in here.

Jacob took off his gloves and headed over to the fire to warm himself. A number of others were already doing the same while the rest were arguing over who got the beds. Samantha went to join the battle leaving Jacob alone for the moment. He glanced over and saw his Dad talking to a large balding man. The man was missing his right arm and had a massive scar across the right side of his face. The scar had left his right eye blind, and half missing, and completely removed his right ear. To say he was ugly would be to put it mildly.

With nothing better to do, Jacob headed over to them to hear what was going on.

"-rom them yesterday. Said they made it and be headin' out today," the other man said before turning his working eye toward him. Jacob had to fight back the urge to turn away from his stare. Derek glanced back with an annoyed look till he noticed it was him. His features softened then as he turned back to the man.

"Swanson, I don't think you have meet my son yet. Jacob, this is Swanson. One of our best watchpost Commanders," his Dad said with a smile. Swanson's features lightened as well as he gave Jacob a less than pretty smile and extended his left hand to shake. Jacob took it and shook it as Swanson talked.

"Ohh, so this is yer, lad. Aye, I can see the resemblance. Nice ta meet ya, lad. Father's told me a lot about ya," Swanson said with an accent Jacob couldn't place. He tired to return the smile, but it faltered at the mention of hearing a lot about him. Another guy just being nice cause his Dad was around...

"Yeah...I'm sure he has," Jacob said as he looked down at the ground. Or he tried to till Swanson snatched his head back up.

"No what was that fer, hmm? Ye be worried I heard about yer little fieldtrip? Well let me ease yer mind, aye I did. And aye, I think yer an idiot. But so is yer father and so am I, so I can't hold that against ya, hehe. But I heard other things too. Other more worrying things," Swanson said his mouth so close his rancid breath blasted into Jacob's face. He thought for sure his Dad would pull him away, but Derek simply looked on with a neutral face.

"And what was that?" Jacob asked as he tried to wiggle out of Swanson's grip, but the big man's hand was like a vice.

"That ye still don't be knowing WHY everyone is mad at ye. That ye think it was because ye took those people out or that you were a survivor. Is that what ya think, boy?" he asked his two eyes, one working, one useless and half missing, staring at him.

"What else could it be?" Jacob answered returned the stare as best he could, which wasn't that good if he was honest. Looking at Swanson made his stomach turn. At that Swanson gave a short sniff of disapproval before releasing his grip. Jacob pulled back and nearly stumbled into someone as he backed away from Swanson and his rancid breathe.

"If I was you, I would be figuring that out in a hurry, boy. Darius' got no use for a clueless idiot. Now off with ye, yer Dad and I got man's talking to be doing," Swanson said before turning back to Derek. Jacob scowled at Swanson, but left all the same. He headed toward the beds and decided to find Samantha.

He found her lying on a bed looking rather pleased with herself. When she noticed him coming and the face he had, she leaned up in the bed.

"What happened?" she asked as she moved to let him sit down. He flopped down and thought about what Swanson said. Not that he had taken them our or that he had survived...then what was it? What did everyone hate so much about what he did?

"Swanson told me that people don't hate me because I survived or because I took those people out. Told me there was some other reason," Jacob said as he sighed to himself.

"And you still don't know what it is," Samantha said staring at him. Jacob felt a bit...odd having Samantha stare at him like that. It wasn't like her to look so serious.

"No...I don't," he admitted. Samantha shock her head and sighed before standing up.

"Then you know nothing about being a soldier," Samantha said before walking off.


Spoken Knowledge from Anonymous Trader, Subject, Phoenixes:

The Phoenixes? Now there is an odd bunch. An odd and long lived bunch. They've been around since pretty much the start of the Society's attack. Haven't always been as big as they are, but they have been around. Now that they have been getting big, they been getting a bit testy. Used to be you could mess with them here and there and get away with it. Not know, though. You got picking a fight now, and you'll be kicking the hornet's nest for sure.

They're not a bad bunch though. Treat them alright and they'll treat you the same. Done a number of deals with them and they've never shorted or shafted me. And they haven't tried to kill me so that puts them leagues ahead of most. Course, this is assuming you can even find the bastards. They keep their places well hidden and got some ingenious ideas on how to hide them. Why they have survived as long as they have despite fighting the Society. They might not have the numbers of the Elves, the vehicles of those fucking Marauders, or the equipment of the Romans, but their tricky bastards.

Course, they still try to fight the Society at times, so they can't be that smart, am I right? Haha! Still, if it was up to me, I would rather stay on their good side. Doubly so with that Darius guy leading them, woo! Now there is one scary ass fucker. You heard he used to be a fucking serial killer?

Chapter 2: In Vain

January 8, 2024 6:12 PM

Derek sighed as his son stomped off. That boy of his... Swanson waited till he was out of ear shot to speak up.

"Not a bad, lad, just an unlucky one. Tha' little trip o' his would've been-" he stopped as Derek gave him a "not now" look. Swanson shrugged and dropped it before turning back to the map on the desk.

"Where was I?...Ahh, Darius' group is in, but Taylor's is still out," Swanson said. Derek nodded before answering.

"That's fine. Taylor had the heavy equipment with her group and took a longer route back. Probably be a few more days before she gets to the watchpost they were heading for," Derek said. The longer path was worth the long trip, though, as the stuff Taylor was transporting was too valuable to put in any undue risk.

"Aye, I guessed as much. Well, looks like yer all gettin back in one piece so I'd wager it went well?" Swanson asked as he moved back toward the fire. There was no need to keep this talk private since everyone in Derek's group would know as well. And all of Swanson's men would know soon enough with them bragging.

"That it did. We managed to stumble onto a Snakes' fuel depot and took it from them. We thought about stealing it, but Darius had other plans. Had the forest it was in set up for a firetrap and then lured the Society in to stomp the gas. Set it off once they had gotten the gas on them along with the rest of the forest. Got five giantesses and five catmonsters along with a number badly burned," Derek said smiling at the tally. Swanson gave a whistle and then a low chuckle.

"Oh that'll stir dem bitches up right quick. Snakes will have more heat on 'em than this deer. Serves 'em right," he said getting a number of nodes of agreement from others by the fire. The sound of knocking came from the rock along with the password. Light streamed in again as the "door" was opened to let in the last of Derek's group into the watchpost. Derek motioned for its squad leader to come over.

"Any trouble?" Derek asked him.

"No. No rumblers and no buzzers. We weren't seen," the squad leader responded, using the slang term for giantesses and fairies. Derek nodded and sent him off to rest as he let the tension go. His soldiers were all safe inside and now he could, finally, relax a little. Swanson seemed to relax a bit too at the good word.

"Good news, was a bit worried that catmonster might have been around," Swanson said as he scratched as his ruined eye.

"Catmonster?" Derek said with a worried look. Swanson didn't look all that concerned and looked to brush the worry off.

"Aye, one was stalken around up there a few days ago. Thing headed inta the Reststop and sleep there fer a night. Moved on in the morning headed toward Hope. Already sent out a warning," Swanson answered.

"Collar?" Derek asked, already guessing the answer with the way Swanson was acting about it.

"Naw, rogue one," Swanson answered letting Derek relax again. Rogue catmonsters were not common, but one would wonder into their territory every so often. Usually, they just stayed out of their way and the catmonster would wonder out of their territory sooner or later. As long as people knew where it was, they didn't cause much trouble. It was when they got in undetected or they lost track of one that people got killed. A collared one, though, a collared one was a Society catmonster. And where there were Society catmonsters, the Society was sure to follow.

By then, the deer had been fully cooked and Derek had his first decent meal in more than a week, though he let his soldiers get their meals first. Outside, fire was a luxury that could not be afforded when the threat of detection was ever present. Cold rations of jerky, dried fruits, and other such things were good enough to keep you going, but didn't fill a person up or provide any real taste. Cooked deer meat, though, now that was a filling and tasty meal. Better still when Swanson broke out some fruit they had gathered to make a full course meal out of it.

With their stomachs full for the first time since they left Hope, and with actual beds to sleep it, the group settled into sleep rather quickly. Most of the beds had two, sometimes even three, people in them. Derek walked along the rows of beds, checking over his soldiers. He smiled as he saw Jacob and Samantha laying together, their arms wrapped up on each other. He had seen them get into a bit of a fight during dinner, but, as always, they made up rather quickly. Derek didn't bother with a bed, his soldiers needed them more, and headed back to the fire. Swanson was there and eyed Derek as he approached.

"Ye need sleep too," Swanson said as he motioned toward a bit of straw laying on the floor. Derek looked at it with a bit of longing, but shook his head.

"Someone has to keep watch," he said getting a slight chuckle from Swanson.

"Aye, an the WATCHpost commander will be doin that. Get some sleep, ye stubborn ass," Swanson said, shoving Derek toward the pile of straw. Derek gave up trying to argue and headed for the straw. He laid down for only a second, but it was long enough for him to fall asleep.

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January 9, 2024 8:23 AM

"Get up! Everyone on your feet and get ready to head out!" Derek yelled out as he walked along the line of beds. People began to detangle themselves and grab their gear, cussing and swearing at being awaken. None of them didn't get up, however, as they all knew Derek would make sure they were good and awake if he had to ask twice. Derek reached the end of the line and looked back to see most of them either up and getting their gear sorted or pulling on their clothing. The Squad leaders were all yelling for them to hurry up as they, themselves got their things on. He left them to get everyone ready as he headed to the door leading through the jury-rigged wall.

Derek pushed the door open and stepped into the main drainage tunnel. The bottom of the pipe still had a small trickle of water running down it while large water stains covered the bottom. Ahead, the pipe split into two paths. One lead away and toward their destination, Hope. A few wooden beams braced the ceiling up while small patches could be seen here and there where the workers tried to keep the pipe from falling apart. The other looked to have collapsed from simple lack of maintenance. Which was how it was supposed to look.

Derek walked up to it and banged on the rubble a few times. The rubble shifted a bit as a piece slid out to reveal the hidden area beyond it. The Phoenix who had pushed the rubble open nodded to Derek as he let him in before pulling the piece back into place. Even if the Society found the Watchpost outside, it was unlikely they would ever think to check a tunnel that looked to have collapsed for a second hidden area. It had been a nightmare to get the rubble to look just right, doubly so since it had to been hauled in from outside, but it was worth it to protect one of their biggest secrets.

Inside the hidden room, Derek found Swanson reading over a report that had just come in from the wire. Beside him sat the wire station with the many copper wires leading from different Watchposts and Hope itself back to here. Beside the wire station sat the large battery powering it, locking into position by a cradle lest it roll over and break someone's legs. The operator was sitting at the station, typing out a message he had next to him in Morse code. He didn't look up from his work as Derek entered.

Swanson nodded as Derek entered and handed him the report he had just gotten. Derek took to scrap paper and read the charcoal writing on it. The report was short and to the point as per usual.
"Taylor group spotted by Watchpost 27. Making slow progress, but no trouble. Estimated arrival, tomorrow."
Derek smiled at the report, surprised it was good news. With Taylor's group now accounted for, the entire force that had headed into Snake territory had made it back. Save those few that had to be left. Still, a lost of only forty to get the Society off their trail AND pit them against the Snakes was a good deal.

"Good news for a change. Looks like everyone made it back," Derek said handing the report back to Swanson.

"Aye, there's more. The southern watches been saying the Society patrols have been pullin back. Looks like Darius' plan is workin," Swanson said before tossing the paper into the nearby firepit. Darius insisted all reports coming from the telegraph be burned the second they were read. For good reason too, as the telegraph was the Phoenixes' ace in the hole should it ever come to full scale war with the Society or any other group. Near instant communication was an advantage few had and the Society didn't need to know they had.

"His plans tend to do that. Its why we let him lead, despite...well," Derek said getting a knowing nod from Swanson. Him and Swanson were the only ones who remembered what Darius had been and what he was really fighting for. Everyone else who had known were now dead...along with so many others... Damn the Society, damn them all...all the original twelve...

"There...uhh...there somethin you wanted to send?" Swanson said, trying to move the conversation away from that topic. Derek shook off his old memories and nodded as he focused on the now.

"Yeah, I mean yes. I need to send a report to Darius that we are heading back to Hope. Can you take care of that?" Derek asked.

"Aye, I'll have Chris send it," Swanson said before the sound of people moving into the pipe began to echo into the room. Sounded like his soldiers were ready to move. Swanson heard it too and forced a smile to his face.

"Ya take care of yerself, Derek," Swanson said as he extended his hand. Derek took it and shook Swanson's hand. He didn't want to leave his old friend like this, so he decided to lighten the mood a little.

"You too, Swanson. Try to leave the scouting to your scouts," Derek said as he turned to the door with a smirk. Swanson gave a bark of laughter before he responded.

"Yer the last person who should be givin me that kind of advice," Swanson said. Derek pushed the rubble open before turning back.

"That is why you do what I say, not as I do," Derek said before hoping down to the ground and leaving Swanson's laugh behind.

Derek entered the pipe again to find all his soldiers ready to move out. Derek nodded to the squad leaders and turned to the assembled people.

"Alright, fall in. We are going back to Hope," Derek said getting a cheer from the soldiers and some happy comments. Derek lead the way back into the tunnel and down the path not blocked off. It would a long trip, two days a least, but it was two days of near complete safety thanks to the water system. They would have to come up here and there to change pipes or to bypass collapsed areas. Those trips, however, were short and unlikely to be dangerous. Each of those places had their own mini watch posts to keep an eye out for anyone and were all pretty far into their territory.

Derek glanced back and saw Jacob falling in with Samantha beside him.  Jacob and Samantha were talking about something, both smiling as they followed along with the group. Derek wondered if Swanson would still call Jacob unlucky if he knew about Samantha. Derek certainly would not have. Derek just wished his mother had seen him with her... Derek fought back the tears as he turned back forward and lead the way into the pipes.

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January 11, 2024 6:35 PM

The trip had taken a bit longer than Derek had estimated. They had arrived on the second day, but very well past nightfall. The long day of travel through the pipes, up onto street level a few times, and back down again, had worn on the group. By the time they had arrived, nearly all of them were exhausted, including Derek himself. 

Most of his group had stumbled into their barracks and flopped onto their beds the moment they arrived in Hope. Those few that didn't were not far behind the others. Derek had not taken that luxury and headed for the Command HQ. Things were a bit blurry about what happened, but Derek remembered Darius had been waiting for him, looking worried about something. He had taken one look at Derek and ordered him to get some sleep. Derek had been too tired to argue and found the first empty bed in the HQ to pass out on.

The next day found Derek recharged and ready for the day. Sleeping in a actual bed really did wonders, even if that bed was a mostly just some straw on sticks, with torn fabric draped over as covers. Derek headed for the kitchen of the HQ and got some eggs and toast to munch on before going to the Command Center

Even this early in the morning, the HQ was abuzz with activity. People were moving about with reports, notes, logs, storage checks, and other such things. Most nodded a greeting or gave a salute to Derek as they passed him, which Derek returned. Being the second-in-command caused some people to think he deserved special treatment and Derek had given up trying to get them to stop.

He entered into the Command Center and found it as busy as ever. The back part of the room, near where Derek had come in, was dominated by three large telegraph stations, the wires of each disappearing into the small holes in the cement walls. One was constantly sending reports, another was always receiving, and the third picked up the slack where it was needed. The operators of all three didn't look up from their work as they tapped or scribbled away.

The side walls had the torn remains of old maps plastered on them. Small nails and other such things were pinned onto them to mark Watchposts, last known patrol areas, and other such things. Every so often, a person would move some of the pins to new areas as reports came in.

The front of the Center had a number of "windows" carved out of the cement. Large slabs of rock were pushed in front of the holes to close them, but most of them were to the side of the windows. The cool morning air and the bright day were flowing in from the open windows as the empty remains of I-75 were silent outside.

In the middle of the room was a large round table with a roughly drawn map of the region covering it. Large wooden pieces were placed on it with letters carved into them. Darius was standing at the edge of the table studying the map and a report he had in his hand. He glanced up as Derek walked up to him and handed him the report without a word. Derek had a feeling this was not going to be a good report. That feeling increased when he saw it was from Watchpost 22, Swanson's post.

"Snake prisoner taken. Reports Snakes in rout. Decimated by Society attack. Main base taken out. Survivors fleeing toward us, Society pursuing. Please advice," the report said, sending a chill down Derek's spine.

"Decimated? Their main base gone... It hasn't even been a week and they are already in this bad shape? Tha-" Derek started to say before Darius cut him off.

"That ruins everything, I know. We were hoping the Snakes would last a month or at least a few weeks. I never imagined they would fall apart that fast. Worse, with them heading for us, they are going to lead the Society right to us," Darius said before letting out a long sigh. He grabbed the block with the Sn written on it and moved it closer to the piece carved to look like a king, Hope's piece, before moving one of the many figures with SS written on it right behind the Sn figure.

"It gets worse. Lindsey just reported that the Society is back to their normal patrols South of us," Darius said before moving another SS piece up closer to the pins that marked the Watchposts around Hope. They were getting dangerously close, now. A few more weeks and they would be patrolling right on top of their Watchposts and it would just be a matter of time till they were found.

"Fuck...So we just wasted two weeks accomplishing nothing?" Derek said as he looked at the map and the reports. It had taken them a week just to find that Snakes' depot and another few days to get the trap ready. Add that with the four days it took to get back, more if you went with Taylor's group, and the trip had been a two week mission.

Darius sighed as some of the activity died down in the command center. People were acting like they were still working, but it was obvious they were listening for what Darius said. Darius turned and moved to the window as he looked out onto I-75.

"Yes...we did," he said without a hint of emotion. Derek was not so calm as he slammed his fist into the table with a curse, knocking a few of the pieces over. All that work, all that planning, and those forty good people, all for nothing. It was Manchent all over again. Dammit...Dammit, Dammit, DAMMIT! He slammed his fist down again as he tried to get his anger under control.

 The activity in the command center dropped off almost completely, save the tapping of the telegraphs. Suddenly, Derek remembered that all the people in the center had just heard their latest mission had been a failure as well. Morale was already low and once this got out, and it would for sure now, it was going to be even lower. He moved up to Darius and got a quieter tone.

"Sorry, I didn-" Darius cut him off.

"Don't be. The people in here are not blind. Even if you hadn't said it, they would have figured out the mission was a failure by the maps and reports. If they were not that smart, they would not be in here," Darius said, loud enough that everyone could hear it. It didn't seem to cheer most of them up much, though. Derek nodded as he tried to keep from letting the despair grip him, instead gripping to his anger.

"So what the hell do we do now? Fucking bitches are going to be breathing down our necks any day now," he asked as Darius turned back to face the inside.

"We do what we can. The patrols to the south can't be stopped, but they can be delayed. If they were to find evidence of activity, they would stop to investigate it thoroughly. Doubly so after what we did to them. Send an order to Watchposts 2 through 6 to move any unneeded equipment south. If they need help, have the South Response Group assist. They are to hide the equipment, but not too well. We want the Society to find the equipment and think they might have stumbled onto a base.  That should slow their patrols progress if nothing else,"  Darius ordered getting a number of people to get back to work. They wrote down his orders and began to look over the southern maps for possible areas to use as fake bases. Darius turned to the rest as he continued.

"The Snakes can NOT reach our territory. They need to be stopped and stopped now. Have Watchposts 21, 22, and 23 send out some scouts to find them. Once they have, have our East Response Group funnel them into the Society or, if that would be too risky, put them down themselves. We want the Society to do most of the killing, though, as the more they find the more likely they are to think they got them all," Darius ordered sending the others scurrying off. The activity in the Center was now back to what it was before and the crushing news had mostly been forgotten, or at least put to the side in stopping disaster.

Derek moved to stand by Darius at the table again.

"Where do you want me and the Central Squad?" he asked. He wasn't quite sure which would require their expertise in anti-giantess combat more, but he was sure they would be moving out again. Darius turned to him and handed him another report, though this one was different than the one before. This one was in code.

Derek decoded the message after a minute and his eyes widened at the message. Looked like Lindsey had been busy doing more than just scouting. But if this message was right...

"Is he here?" Derek asked getting a nod from Darius.

"He arrived yesterday, but I wanted you to try him first. I don't think I need to tell you we need something important from him considering...," Darius said with a dead serious face. Derek nodded in understanding. Someone who made a beeline for Hope like that...

"No you don't. Should we go now, then?" Derek asked getting a nod from Darius.

The two of them left the Command Center and headed down deeper into the HQ. Near the very bottom of the complex carved into the cement were the cells for the prisoners. Most of them were filled with thieves, rapers, murders, and other criminal types that plagued even the Phoenixes. A few moved to the bars and looked about to make some snide comment until they saw who was walking down the halls. One look at Derek and his massive size was enough for them to reconsider. One look at Darius was enough to get them to scurry back into the cell. Darius' reputation was well known even down here.

They stopped at the last cell along the hallway, a solid rock door being the only way in. A soldier was on guard by the door, his rifle in his hands, and saluted them both. He put his rifle away before he grabbed the handle built into the rock along with Derek. Both of them grunted in effort as they hauled it back to reveal the cage door beyond it. The guard unlocked it and let Derek and Darius inside before closing it and pushing the rock back into place. No chances were going to be taken with this kind of prisoner.

The room was nearly pitch black save for a small light in the middle of the room. A man was sitting in a chair below the light and was slumped down in the seat. His hands were tied to the back of the chair, and his feet to its legs, by spider web wires. His brown hair was a mess and looked to have been unwashed for weeks. He wore a set of tattered armor and fur that looked to have never been washed before.

Darius hung back as Derek moved up to the prisoner. As he walked forward, the prisoner glanced up, but didn't look to be able to see Derek in the darkness.

"Who's there?" the prisoner asked as his green eyes scanned the darkness. Derek strode forward and backhanded the prisoner, nearly sending the man and chair tumbling to the ground.

"I ask the questions. Answer and you won't get hurt. Refuse and I will break your fingers one by one. Now, how did you know where Hope was?" Derek asked. The prisoner spit out of glob of blood and glared up at Derek, defiance in his eyes.

"Someone told me where to find it," he answered, despite the defiant look. Derek was tempted to hit him again, but decided to play along for now.

"Who?" he demanded.

"Lena Ranferd," the prisoner said. Derek couldn't help but look shocked and nearly whipped around to Darius. He stopped himself just in time as he got his face back under control. Jesus Christ, how the hell did he know that name?!

"You're lying. Now te-:" the prisoner cut him off as he shouted out.

"I am not, she told me and she said to "Remember the promise of November"!" the prisoner shouted. Derek had no idea what that meant and was about to hit the prisoner again when Darius appeared beside him. Derek stopped and looked at Darius. Darius had a look on his face that Derek had not seen in a long time.

"Who am I?" Darius asked starting right at the prisoner, his face going back to a mask.

"Darius Ranferd, Lena's adopted brother," the prisoner said without missing a beat. Derek looked at the prisoner in shock at him knowing that. No one in the Phoenixes, who was still alive, knew Darius and Rena were related, not even Swanson. How the hell did this random Society prisoner know that...unless...

"And who are you?" Darius asked, seemingly unaffected by this crazy situation.

"Sanders Cutter."

Watchpost Commanders' eyes only. Burn upon review. DO NOT TRANSLATE UPON RECEIVING. Your Commander will translate.

Watchpost Defense Plan:

First, allow me to congratulate all of you on completion of the Watchpost system. This would not have been possible without your support, thank you. Second, because of your new titles and role, I have seen fit to provide all of you with the completed Watchpost defense. This document is to be burned as soon as you have reviewed its information and never to be shared with anyone, including other Watchpost commanders. Failure to comply with this order will be viewed as treason and dealt with accordingly. This information is too valuable to fall into enemy hands.

Watchpost Defense:
As per the agreed on plan, thirty Watchposts have been constructed around Hope. These Watchposts will be named 1, 2, 3, etc up to 30. Watchposts 1-10 are the southern Watchposts with 4-8 focused on I-75. Watchposts 21-30 are the eastern Watchposts and are to watch for Snake activity. Watchposts 11-16 are the western Watchposts and 17-20 are the northern Watchposts. Both of those groups should have little to watch for save the occasional rogue catmonster and Marauder raids, but are no less important. We cannot afford a two-front war.

The Watchposts are NOT defensive bases. The job of the Watchposts are to act as early warning bases to warn of incoming threats before they arrive in out territory. You will not be given the arms or manpower needed to sustain a fight. Should you be discovered, destruction of your telegraph should be top priority followed by escape. Do not attempt to hold a Watchpost, they can be replaced. Your skilled scouts and you cannot.

Response Groups:
Behind each of the four directions will be a Response group tasked with responding to actual threats. These Response Groups will vary in size and equipment and will be based in special barracks hidden closer toward Hope. They are the true fighting strength of this defense and should only be called if the need is dire. Remember, the more people in a area, the higher chance of discovery by the Society and we are not prepared for a full scale war with the Society.

Secondary Watchposts:
A second set of watchposts are set up behind the main thirty. These will be less manned, but act as a second set of eyes to catch approaching danger. They are, also, your fall back points. On each of the copies I sent, I have sent a map with the location of your fallback Watchpost. Memorize it and be prepared to retreat to it. Should it be compromised, fall back to Hope as quickly as possible.

Remember, under NO circumstance is a Watchpost to engage a Society patrol. Your task is to warn us of their approach so we might hide and let them pass us by. Attacking them will only draw them to us and we cannot fight the Society head-on. Use any and all methods you think reasonable to keep them away from your post and Phoenix territory, but do NOT engage them.

I trust all of you understand just what a crucial role you play in the coming years to the continued existence of the Phoenixes. We will rise, but we must not be found before the ashes have ignited.

-Darius

Chapter 3: Lena's gift

December 6, 2023 9:20AM

"COME AND GET ME SO I CAN GIVE YOU THE WORST INDIGESTION OF YOUR LIFE!!!" Sanders yelled as the catgirl raised its hand to grab him. Sanders gritted his teeth as he waited for her hand to nearly be on top of him. As it was about to close on him, he pushed off with his still working leg and dived away from the hand. His dive got him just out of her reach, but the fall to the ground sent a spike of pain stabbing through his body. He cried out in pain as his vision blurred from the pain.

Sanders tried to push the intense pain away as he struggled to crawl away. He barely got started when he felt two large objects press onto his unbroken leg. Cursing, Sanders felt himself being lifted into the air and tried to grab onto the carpet to stop himself. The effort was a waste as the carpet strands slipped right through his hands and he was lifted higher into the air. He thought about kicking out, but all he would do is hurt himself with this broken leg. Damn you, Aviel!!

As he rose up, the catgirl's head came into view. Her massive upside down face smiled at him as her tongue licked her lips. The monster grabbed up Rick and swallowed him whole, his screams still echoing out as he slid down her throat. Panic and absolute terror gripped Sanders as her mouth began to open. He ran as he saw another man be snatched up. He tried to fight back, but the catgirl simply chewed his arms off before swallowing the rest of him. Fuck no, not like this...anything else but this! He still had to avenge Isabella, kill Aviel, save Flonne and his family, stop the Society, a-GOD PLEASE NOT LIKE THIS!!! The catgirl smashed through the warehouse's door, sending the metal gate crashing to the ground. Sanders pumped his legs harder as he heard its steps rumbling after him. Sander thrashed in the catgirl's grip, trying to shake himself lose, but her grip was too strong. Her mouth came closer and closer and her hot breath began to blast him with air. Her foot slammed down in front of him, knocking him to the ground. He tried to stand, but her hand had grabbed him before he could. She pulled him up to her mouth, blood from his friends still dribbling out. She opened her mouth,

"NOOOOO!" Sanders screamed out in terror as her mouth settled below him, her tongue out to catch him. He closed his eyes to try and shut out the terror, but the breath was still there, the pressure on his leg, and the image searing into his brain. He screamed louder as the fingers let go of his leg. He fell and his terror grew to the point of absolute hysteria. He thrashed in the air and landed on her tongue in a heap. His broken leg cried out in pain as it crumpled down onto him, but Sanders barely registered the pain. He scrambled to try and crawl off his tongue, but it was already wrapped around him. No no no! He had to escape, had to get out, had to fight, ha-

Suddenly the catgirl's head went flying forward and Sanders found himself thrown from her mouth. He plummeted to the ground, screaming the entire way. The carpet came flying up to greet him, and then everything went dark.

The world slowly came back as a storm of angry hissing and loud meowing. Sanders coughed as he gasped for breath. Sanders opened his eyes and found himself laying in a heap on some carpet. How did he get out here? And what was all that noise?

Sanders slowly lifted his head, the world spinning a bit. He glanced back behind him as his whole body screamed in agony. Further into the cage were two massive forms locked together. They were clawing, punching, biting, and kicking at each other like animals and hissing in rage. One was the same black-haired catgirl from before who had been about to eat him. Something had stopped it, though. And once the other figure shifted enough for Sanders to get a good look at her, he knew what. Pyrrha.

Sanders felt a wave of absolute relief hit him as he watch Pyrrha claw into the other catgirl. Her claw raked across the face of the other one and it cried out in pain. The black-haired catgirl had had enough and retreated back into the rear of the cage, balling herself up in the corner. Pyrrha gave her one last angry hiss as she slowly turned back to where Sanders was laying. Sanders groaned as he sat up, his vision still swimming a bit from pain and a possible concussion.

The world solidified by the time Pyrrha moved to him. She bent down to look at him and Sanders felt tears beginning to well up. He was safe...sweet fucking hell he was safe... He was safe.... The relief was too much and Sanders found himself scooting toward Pyrrha's face. Pyrrha moved to him to stop him from having to move and Sanders gave her cheek the biggest hug his tiny form could manage. He buried his face into her short fur and planted kiss after kiss on her, tears still running down his face. Pyrrha responded by purring as she softly pushed into him. He pushed the side of her cheek, getting her to turn, before giving her lips a kiss too. She returned it as gently as a her large form could. He was safe...

Sanders, finally broke off the kiss and looked up a Pyrrha. Her large green eyes stared down at him and her soft purring rumbled out from her throat.

"Pyrrha, sweet merciful God... Thank you. Just, thank you," Sanders said, though he doubted the catgirl understood. If she did, she gave no signs as her eyes moved down to his broken leg. She bent lower and sniffed it before slowly and gently licking the broken leg.

"Woah, Pyrrha d-...Ok I guess its alright" Sanders said. The rough tongue slid over his pants and soaked them, but the soft licking actually felt rather good. The constant pain from his leg began to die down thanks to the warmth and gentle caress and Sanders returned the gesture by slowly rubbing Pyrrha's cheek.

"It really is good to see you. Heh, my only remaining ally is a catgirl. Universe has a sick sense of humor," Sanders said to himself as Pyrrha stopped licking his leg. She curled up around him, making sure she was facing where the other catgirl was, and went to licking his back. Sanders let her as he leaned back and rubbed the tears away. Fuck he...he was still alive....he was still alive. Sanders couldn't help but smile as relief washed over him like a wave.

As wonderful as the feeling was, though, Sanders pushed it away as he tried to focus. He was still alive, which was good, but eventually, someone would come either for Pyrrha or the other catgirl in this cage. If they came for the other one, Sanders could just hide on Pyrrha somewhere. But if they came for Pyrrha, he would have to go with her or risk being made lunch by the other one. And if he had to go with Pyrrha, the chance of him staying hidden were slime to none. Though, Morgan was Pyrrha's handler so the one most likely to come for her was the new Sword. She had seemed more than trustworthy from the time Sanders spent with her...but Isabella had probably thought the same thing about Cathrine.

Did Morgan know what secret Isabella had found? Did all the Society know and were they all as twisted as the Matriarchs and Aviel? No...no he couldn't believe that. Isabella, obviously, had not known as she had been killed for finding it. Sanders doubted Gabriella and Alice knew either as they had been some of Isabella's closest friends. Pity they were both gone as they would have been the perfect people for Sanders to go to for help. Course, that was probably exactly WHY they were gone. Damn the Matriarchs...how long had they been planning this? Fuck, for all he knew they both could be dead as well.

That thought made up his mind on getting help from anyone in the Society. Even if he did find someone he could trust, he would just be putting them at risk of being killed. Or worse, making Aviel's choice... No, it was too risky. For now, Sanders would have to go it alone and find what Manchent had left.  He HAD to find whatever it was that Isabella found before Aviel and the Society did....oh no...

Aviel would know the clues...she would know what Manchent had told them and she would tell Angela! Worse, she might have understood what Isabella had been mouthing to him before he had shot her. "littdam madam?" Dammit, he STILL couldn't figure it out! But Aviel might have...fuck no no NO! Sanders had to get moving and get out of here. It was only a matter of time till Aviel found whatever Manchent had hidden. And if she did, both his and Isabella's deaths would become meaningless. Sanders would NOT let that happen!


Sanders turned to face Pyrrha, getting a lick right to his face as he did. The sandpaper like tongue slid off him and Sanders rubbed the saliva off his face. Pyrrha, thankfully, didn't go in for a second lick as she noticed him having turned around. He needed to get out of here, but with this broken leg he wasn't going to be walking out. Which meant he was going to need a ride out of here. A bumpy, stomach-churning ride, but a ride nonetheless. But first, he needed to get out of this cage.

"Pyrrha, up," Sanders said, hoping Pyrrha understood. She meowed in response and looked to have understood, but rather than her hand coming to pick him up, her mouth came toward him.

"No not lic-WOAH!" Sanders said as Pyrrha's mouth opened. He turned to try and scramble away, fear overriding his sense, but had barely turned when he felt her mouth closed on the back of his jacket. Sanders gave a cry of dismay as Pyrrha lifted him up into the air with her mouth, carrying him like a mother cat would her baby. Sanders was less than thrilled to see the ground fall away from him as he was taken at least three scale stories into the air. Sanders calmed down once he saw Pyrrha was just doing what he asked, and had a good grip on him, and took a few deep breaths to get his heart-rate back to normal.

"OK...OK that works. Now turn so I can see the cage door...." Sanders said before his mind wondered why he thought that would work.

"Turn left...Left...That way! Dammit you can't see me can you?" Sanders said suddenly realizing the problem with this position. Well this was just great. He was about to just tell her to put him down, when she suddenly began to shift. Sanders cursed as he tried to grab hold of something, but there was nothing to grab. Pyrrha shifted into a sitting position and Sanders found himself dangling above her perky breasts. Her head bent down and began to slowly lower him down into her cleavage. Some part of Sanders was telling him he didn't have time to play with her modest melons, but another was yelling that there was ALWAYS time for that. Torn between his two wants, Sanders didn't fight as Pyrrha gently set him down between her breasts, being extra careful of his broken leg.

Sanders couldn't help but rub Pyrrha's breasts as he sat in between the house-sized funbags. Shame his leg was broken or climbing up to the top of them and laying claim to them wo- NO NO! Sanders shook off his perverted thoughts as he tried to focus on getting out. He could fondle her giant breasts when they were out of the cage and not in danger.

Pyrrha's shift had given Sanders a decent view of the cage door, thankfully. It was rather low tech, just a set of metal bars crisscrossing each other. However, the bars were close enough that even Sanders wouldn't be able to squeeze his body through. The fact they had made the space between the bars so small made Sanders wonder if he was only the latest of many people feed to the catgirls... He shook off that thought as he tried to focus on escape.

Near the top left of the cage, Sanders could make out the latch that keep it in place. Not exactly state of the art, but they probably never figured a normal person would be able to get to it way up there and a catgirl would be too dumb to figure out how it worked. But most normal people didn't have a catgirl to use as a lift and most catgirls didn't have a normal-sized buddy. Sanders turned and looked up at Pyrrha's huge, smiling face.

"Pyrrha, over there," he said pointing toward the latch. Pyrrha cocked her head and gave him a confused look. Dammit...

"Take me there. Go there!....Move there," Sanders said hoping to find the right command. The last one seemed to register with her and she followed his finger to the latch. She meowed before bending down and biting the back of his jacket again. Sanders was a little more calm about being held like this a second time, but still found the prospect of nothing but open air below him...worrying. Pyrrha shifted and crawled over toward the latch, the breath from her nose blowing past him. She looked at the latch in confusion, but didn't get him close enough to mess with it.

"Move me closer, Pyrrha! Closer!" Sanders yelled hoping she understood. She seemed to get the idea and leaned in close to the latch, getting Sanders close enough to get a grip on it. The thing was nearly as big as he was and the bars made getting a grip hard, but Sanders was determined to get this door open. He dug his finger into the metal, or tried too, and grunted as he tried to pull the latch back to let go of the cage door. Sadly, all he managed to do was scrap his fingers on the metal.

He swore as he shook the pain out of his fingers and tried to think of some other way to do this. If he could just get a good grip on it, he might be able to pull it open. But fucking Angela and Aviel had taken everything off him save the clothes on his ba-....

Sanders looked at the latch, specifically, where it jutted out for someone outside to get a grip on it. It was useless with him being inside, but if he wrapped a part of the his clothing around the latch, it would get stuck on that jutting piece of metal and he could get a decent grip then. Sanders though about using his pants, but they were simple blue jeans. The fabric would, likely, rip before he got it open. However, his flak jacket was made of heavy duty fabric, reinforced with flak plates. If anything was strong enough to pull the latch open, it was going to be that. Of course, he couldn't use his flak jacket until Pyrrha let go of it.

"Pyrrha, down. No not on the ground, your hand!" Sanders said catching the mistake he almost made before it ended with him back on the ground. Pyrrha did as she was told and sat him down, gently, in her hand. She looked at him in confusion as he took off his jacket and looked somewhat sad when he made no moves to take off his shirt under it. Sanders looked at the jacket, remembering when Isabella first gave it to him. He had lost the pants of the armor back when he first meet Pyrrha, but at least he still had this. They would pay...Aviel most of all.

Shaking off his anger, Sanders pointed back up to the latch. Pyrrha got the idea and raised him back up to it. Sanders scooted over to it, careful not to bump his leg, and wrapped the jacket around the latch. He pulled it tight and moved it down to the handle. He took a deep breath and then began to pull. He grunted and strained as he tried to pull the latch off. At first it looked like it wasn't budged, but it slowly began to give. Sanders felt and heard the latch slowly scrapped its way back. But the sheer effort of moving the huge, to him, metal bar was wearing on him and his arms began to shake in exertion. He was about to give up, when Pyrrha's finger and thumb closed around the jacket and began to pull too. With her far greater strength, the latch came out and the cage began to fall.

Sanders let go of part of the flak jacket to make sure it didn't rip, but realized too late that Pyrrha hadn't. The left arm of the jacket ripped as the cage door fell away. Sanders swore as the left arm and shoulder of the jacket fell to the ground far below, lost to sight. Thankfully, the rest of the jacket was still intact and still in his hand. Well...at least he still had some of the armor.

The cage door gave a loud clang as it struck the cage below the one they were in. The noise caused a lot of the other catgirls to hiss and cry out. Sanders held his breath waiting for a giantess to barge in and wondering what had made that noise. She never came, though, and Sanders let out a breath of relief. Sanders was putting back on his damaged jacket when Pyrrha closed her hand around him, leaving him in mostly darkness. Sanders barely had time to yell out in surprise when he suddenly felt the weightless feeling of falling. Fuck, Pyrrha must have jumped out of the cage!

Sanders braced himself for impact and heard Pyrrha's feet hit the ground. The impact in her hand, though, was a lot less violent and Sanders managed to avoid hitting his broken leg on anything. Pyrrha opened her hand and smiled happily when she saw he was unhurt. Sanders sat up and saw they were, indeed, on the ground now. Behind Pyrrha, was a wall lined with cages, the open one a row up. In front of them were just more cages with more catgirls, many of them now clawing at their cages and making a good bit of racket. A single door was the only way in or out of the room and loomed high above even Pyrrha.

Sanders cursed at all the noise the other catgirls were making. With this much racket it was only a matter of time till a Society member came to see what was going on. They needed to get out of here before then. However, using the door, assuming Pyrrha COULD use it, would take them right out into the hallways where they were sure to be spotted. If Sanders was on his own he might be able to slip down them without being spotted, but that was out of the question with his leg broken. And, if he had to be honest, he didn't want to leave Pyrrha here, either. He was no fan of catgirls, but seeing them all locked up in these cages like livestock made him feel sorry for them. Doubly so if they had once been normal people like Flonne....He dearly hoped that was not the case.

Shaking off those thoughts, Sanders looked around for some other way out of the room. Off in the corner, Sanders spotted a vent leading out of the room. It still had its cover on it, but it looked to be the only way out of here. He pointed to it and got Pyrrha to head over to it. The vent cover was metal and was screwed into the plaster of the wall. Even if there had been a convenient screwdriver just laying around, Sanders doubted he could get Pyrrha to use it right. Still, there had to be some way to get it open. Sanders pulled on it to get a sense of how tight on it was and frowned at it not even rattling.

Pyrrha sniffed at it and then looked at Sanders. She suddenly picked Sanders up with her mouth, getting a cry of alarm from him, before her now free hand gripped the edge of the vent cover. She pulled on it to no avail and then put her other hand on it. She strained against the cover again, the toned muscles in her arms standing out, but again it was useless. Sanders  was about to tell her to stop when she shifted to put her legs on either side of the vent and began to pull with her arms and her legs. She gave a low meow of effort before, finally, the vent snapped free and went flying back toward the door. The sudden snap sent Pyrrha reeling back and Sanders along for the ride. Thankfully, Pyrrha's lips acted as massive airbags of flesh to pad his launch backwards, though one of his arms slipped through into her mouth.

Sanders pulled his arm free, shivering a bit from the memories of the other catgirl nearly eating him. He had no wish for any part of him to be in any catgirls' mouth, Pyrrha or otherwise. Pyrrha shifted her lips a bit and got his jacket back in her mouth before she sat up. No sooner had she sat up, did Sanders hear the sound of the door opening behind him.

"What the hell is going o- what the fuck?" a booming female voice said from behind Pyrrha. Shit, a giantess had finally come in to see what all the noise was about!

"Pyrrha go! Hurry!" Sanders said pointing forward, not remembering Pyrrha couldn't see him holding him like this. Thankfully, Pyrrha seemed to have gotten the idea and didn't even look back as she took off into the air duct on her hands and knees. Sanders heard the giantess curse out and her footsteps boom after them. Pyrrha, however, scrambled down the duct like she was made to move on her knees and quickly turned a corner to get out of reach and sight. Sanders held on, or rather hung limply, as Pyrrha raced through the ducts, his stomach turning knots from the swaying. They went up a level, down two more, around more corners than Sanders cared to count and left every bit of anything that had been in Sanders' stomach behind.  After a few minutes of this, Sanders could simply take no more.

"Pyrrha.... stop!" Sanders yelled between dry heaves. The catgirl slowed to a stop in a long straight duct. She laid down, putting Sanders on the ground in front of her mouth, and rested as she caught her breath. Sanders could have kissed the dust covered ground if he wasn't too busy dry heaving on it. He spent a good two minutes just trying to settle his stomach as Pyrrha's breath blasted the back of his head. Finally, Sanders' stomach settled down enough for Sanders to think.

For now, they were mostly safe inside the ducts. While Sanders had no idea where he was, he was fairly sure the Society had the same problem. Staying in the ducts would probably be the safest place for them on the base. Even better, the ducts had to go outside at some point. However, going down the wrong duct could send them right to the AC unit as well. And after going though all this work to get out of the cage, Sanders had no intention of getting killed by getting sucked into a damn AC unit.  Maybe getting out of the ducts would be a better idea...

Sanders looked ahead and saw some light filtering in from another vent up ahead. He slowly crawled his way there, letting Pyrrha rest, to see what was outside. He stopped beside the opening and peered around the corner, ready to duck back if anyone was in the room.

The room was rather small, looking to be only slightly larger than a storage closet. However, nothing inside it looked to be simple storage stuff. Large machines that Sanders had never seen before nearly filled the room. All of them rumbled away doing...whatever they did as massive cables snaked away from them. A large computer console was in the middle of the room where all the cables converged, looking like some kind of monolith. In front of the console, on top of another large machine, was a small tube that looked to be holding something, though Sanders couldn't tell what from here. Past the console was the only door leading into the room, a massive reinforced steel blast-door that looked capable of taking a tank shell without breaking. No people were inside as far as Sanders could see.

Whatever was in that tube had to be direly important to the Society to require this kind of setup, Sanders thought to himself. He crawled closer to the vent and cautiously stuck his hand out, worrying there might be a trap or something on it. Nothing seemed to happen so he slowly inched out of the vent to look at it from the other side. By the time he crawled far enough away to see the vent cover fully, Pyrrha had moved to the vent.

She looked out of it with a worried look and began to meow at him in sadness. Sanders tried to hush her, but she refused to be quiet. Before he could do anything to stop her, she moved back and rammed into the vent cover. Sanders cursed as the vent rattled from the impact and he waited the inevitable alarms to sound. The alarms never came, though, and Sanders was just beginning to relax when the vent cover came crashing to the ground, just inches from him. Sanders jumped at the noise and sudden mass of metal falling in front of him, before glaring up at Pyrrha.

"FUCKING HELL! Dammit, Pyrrha are you trying to get us caught?!" Sanders yelled at the catgirl as she moved up to him with a bright smile, oblivious to how pissed Sanders was. She rubbed her cheek against him and Sanders tried to push her off, but to no avail. He groaned in annoyance as he waited for the door to open. Any second another giantess would come in, see them, and Sanders would have to take another stomach churning ride hanging from Pyrrha's mouth.

To his utter shock, nothing happened, save for Pyrrha switched to licks. He got her to stop after a few attempts and saw the door was still closed and nothing seemed to be issuing any alarms. Then he remembered the door was built like a fucking tank so sound probably didn't travel through it too well. He was debating between just getting out of here or looking at the tube when he got an...odd feeling.

It was...hard to explain at first and seemed like just an unknown feeling, but it solidified into a feel-no...a though- No...a word.

Come..

Sanders rubbed his head as he tried to shake off the feeling. What the hell was that? It was like a thought he had had himself, only didn't. Maybe the lose of all those fluids was making him a bi-

Over here...

He jerked up and looked around, sure he had heard someone this time. Pyrrha was looking around in confusion too, her ears lowered a bit. Beside the two of them, however, there was no one else in the room. Sanders turned to Pyrrha and made up his mind about the place.

"Let's go Pyrrha, up," he said as Pyrrha looked down and grabbed his jacket again, looking a bit eager to get out of here too.  She was turning toward the duct when she suddenly stopped. Sanders tried to look up at her, but couldn't turn enough to get a good look. Suddenly, Pyrrha's hand came up and she sat him down in her hand.

Sanders shifted around in her palm to look at her and saw she had a very odd look on her face. Her ears were standing straight up and her eyes had a sort of glazed look to them, almost like she was not all there. Her mouth began to mouth out words, though Sanders wasn't able to tell what she was mouthing. She turned back toward the room and began to climb up some of the equipment.

"Pyrrha stop. Pyrrha? Pyrrha! PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled at the catgirl to no avail. If she heard him, she gave no response as she climbed up the machines till she reached the tube Sanders had seen. Now much closer to it, Sanders could see what was inside the tube. It was a woman.

The woman had long black hair and looked to be only in her late teens early twenties. She was dressed in a simple medical robe and looked to be suspended in some kind of strange liquid. Her eyes were shut and she looked to be asleep as she slowly drifted in the liquid currents. She was only about 5'4 or so tall, or had been before the disaster, and looked to be a scrawny little thing. Pyrrha sat him down near the tube before moving back toward the console. Sanders had no idea what was going on and-

Closer...please

SHIT! Sanders nearly leap back from the tube as the voice came again, now obviously female. He stared at the woman in the tube and dearly wished he had some kind of weapon on him. He needed to get awa-

No! Please....for Isabella's sake...

Sanders stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of Isabella. He stared at the woman in the tube for a second deciding to try something.

"How do you know Isabella?" he asked feeling a bit stupid talking to a woman in a -

From you...

He was frozen in place with that response...it was a response, right? What else could it be? And what did she or it mean by from him? What the FUCK was going o-

PLEASE...just...touch the...tube

The force of the first word caused him to cringe a bit, but there was a feeling mixed with the words. Desperation and...fear. Sanders looked at the woman again, trying to decide whether he was about to unleash some ungodly horror on the world. Then again, with the Society on the loose how much worse could this woman be?  A lot worse, of course, but what option did he have? He couldn't get down with Pyrrha offing doing...something and he couldn't just sit here forever.

With no other options available, Sanders scooted over to the edge of the tube, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on the tube.

Sanders felt like he was suddenly thrown forward as if someone had just slammed on the brakes for the entire world, yet didn't move at all. The world outside dimmed and swam becoming more like a dream as he felt fear and confusion grip him.

"No, don't be afraid. Its alright, you are fine," a female voice said from...everywhere. Sanders tried to move his eyes to look around, but his eyes refused to obey him. He wanted to scream, but his mouth made no attempt to open. Fuck what they hell was going on?!

"I'm sorry! Please, just calm and listen. I wish I could do this less...intrusively, but its the only way I could talk to you. And the only way you will be able to find what Isabella found," the voice said. Sanders fear was pushed aside at the mention of Isabella. Find what she had found? What did she know about that? HOW did she know about that?

"I already told you, you told me about it. Your mind told me. I am sorry for intruding into you, but when I felt your negative emotions toward the Society I knew I had to act.  I have been waiting for you for a long time. And now...now there is so little time. So please, just listen to me," the voice said in a pleading tone. Sanders was still afraid and worried, but tried to get his feelings under control. He still didn't know if he could trust this woman or voice or whatever, but he would at least listen.

"That is all I am asking for. I know what happened to your friend, Isabella and the betrayal you suffered. I am sorry for all of it, but there is still hope. You still have Manchent's clues and you CAN beat the Society and your ex-friend to the truth. I have seen it. But you cannot do it alone, you will need help. I can offer some, but you will need more than what I can give," the voice said before a sudden sharp pain piercing Sanders mind. He tried to shut his eyes to the bright light piercing his mind, but his eyes did not budge. He screamed without making a noise as the light slowly morphed into a map. A map of the area Northwest of Atlanta. A spot on the map was glowing a soft white with the words, "Hope" beside it.

"Forgive me for having to do this, but I have to know you will remember the location. Go to Hope and there you will find the help you need...and my brother, Darius Ranfred. My brother will be their leader and they will, undoubtedly be suspicious of you. However, my brother will understand and help if he knows I sent you. Tell him," she paused as the pain came back again, "Remember the promise of November. He will know I sent you then. Take him to the truth and  let it ignite the fires that revive the Phoenixes. Only with their help will you have a chance of getting justice for Isabella, Manchent, and all the others who have died at the Society's hands. Remember the promise of November, remember it and remember who Darius is!" the voice said before the pain came back and a new image was burned into Sanders' mind.

This time it slowly formed into that of a face. The face was of a man with a cocky smirk and bright green eyes. His black hair was well kept and he looked to be on the verge of a laugh as he looked down at him. Sanders could tell this was not his memory, but the woman's memory as it was seared into his brain. He tried to scream again, but there was no noise again.

"I am so sorry for having to do this to you, but it is the only way. While I cannot heal the pain that will come from these assurances, I can heal the other parts of your body. And I can give you an ally that will be beyond invaluable. She will take time to arrive, but she will be the greatest ally you will have in this journey. I wish I could do more, but already we are in danger of discovery. Remember what I told you and go. GO!" the voice screamed as Sanders jerked back and was thrown from the tube. He skidded along the machine and managed to stop himself with his leg-

Sanders eyes widened as his broken leg moved without an ounce of pain. He looked down at the rest of him and realized he was no longer hungry or tired or...anything! It was like he had eaten a full course meal and had a full day of rest! How the fucking hell?

He looked back at the tube and saw the woman's green eyes open and staring at him. A shiver went through him as they began to glow.

GO! the voice said as he looked at her in confusion. What the hell was that? What the hell was SHE!? Before he could wonder about anything else, Pyrrha's massive hand came down and scooped him up. Sanders cursed as she leap down from the machine and he wrapped himself around her thrunk-like thumb. She landed as gently as she could before scampering back into the air duct. Once inside, she turned back and grabbed the vent cover and pulled it back in place, propping it up to make it look like it was still attached.

"Pyrrha? How ar-" he started to say before Pyrrha shushed him. Sanders was so stunned by seeing Pyrrha do such a...a human thing that he almost missed hearing the sudden clang of metal. Sanders moved to the edge of Pyrrha's hand too look out the vent and saw the massive metal door slowly beginning to open.

"Operative 123, inside containment room," a booming voice from outside the door said as it opened to reveal the giantess past it. She was wearing next to nothing save a cloth robe and a large metal helmet that looking like something out of a sci-fi movie. The thing had all kinds of wires, and strange things that did fuck knows what.

"Roger, entering room," the giantess said as she moved to the console and began to type away at it.

"Check complete. Definite signs of psychic activity. Readings show it to be focused outside. Probably another call for help or something.... Understood, heading back out for mental check and decontamination," the giantess said before turning back and heading through the massive metal door. Psychic activity... son of a bitch that woman was a psychic!

It...it sounded like crazy talk but what other explanation was there? The voices in his head, the sudden intelligence by Pyrrha, that weird vision, her knowing about Isabella, the map- Sanders winced as his head suddenly got a spike of pain. He closed his eyes only for the map to appear in perfect clarity behind his eyes. It soon faded to be replaced with the phrase, Remember the promise of November, which was then replaced by the face of the smirking man. He cursed as the pain slowly faded a bit, but the images did no such thing. Every time he closed his eyes they would appear and no amount of rubbing or anything got them out. Fuck what had she done to him?!

Pyrrha looked down at him in worry and gave a soft meow as she nudged him with her nose. He tried to ignore the pain in his head as he rubbed her nose.

"I...I'm alright. Just...fuck that lady did a number on my head," he said, though Pyrrha didn't seem to understand a bit of it. Whatever sudden spark of intellect Pyrrha had had seemed to have gone.

With the pain slowly fading to manageable levels, Sanders looked back up at the tube. He thought about going bac-

NO GO!!!

He winced at the sudden flare and decided not to go back. He closed his eyes and looked at the map again. Hope...November...Darius... He sighed as he got Pyrrha to sat him on her head rather than hold him in her mouth. With his legs now both working, he could ride up here and not have to be held like a kitten. He still didn't know if he should trust that woman, but either wy he still had to get out of this base.

Chapter 4: Can't Escape the Past

December 6, 2023 11:04 AM

It was hard to say how long they had been moving. The second and minutes seem to just stretch into one another and the dull metal ducts made for little in stimulation. Sanders groaned as his stomach churned at Pyrrha's shifting body. It was better up here on her head where he could grab onto something, but the movement still made him sick. Pyrrha let out a loud yawn as she keep crawling, apparently just as bored as Sanders was sick.

There was nothing for it, though, save to keep moving. They couldn't stay in the air ducts forever and the longer they wasted in them, the bigger head start Aviel would have. Thankfully, their slow progress in one direction paid off.

Pyrrha turned a corner and Sanders smiled as he saw the welcome glare of daylight streaming through a vent ahead. Pyrrha saw it too and zipped down to the vent with a happy meow. She moved to the vent and sniffed the open air before starting back. Sanders cursed as he realized she was about to ram the vent cover.

"Pyrrha, stop!" Sanders yelled causing her ears to twitch. He forgot he was right next to them... Pyrrha stopped, giving a low growl as she rubbed her ears.

"Sorry, Pyrrha. Used to having to yell to get your attention. Put me down and let me get a look," he said, rather than yelled. Pyrrha scooped him up and put him on the ground and Sanders moved to the vent. He had to lift himself up a bit to get a good look out of the vent, but he managed it thanks to his new found energy and healed leg. How the hell had that woman done that?

The base outside was abuzz with activity. Swords and Shields members were stalking about the area in full combat gear, looking at their feet at all times. A number of vehicles were moving about the area as well, carrying various equipment and such. A large amount of Shields were at the edges of the base, patrolling the edge along with some tiny figures that Sanders was barely able to see.  A number of catgirls and fairies were combing the base as well and, occasionally, one would break off and go running of flying off. When they did, a giantess would go with them, sometimes stomping down on something and other times just going back to looking around. Any of the catgirls that headed for the edge of the base, however, were quickly stopped and kicked, tossed, or shooed back to the other parts of the base. So much for just riding Pyrrha out... A few members were picking up the small number of dead giantesses, their bodies looking to have been blasted with innumerable explosives. But while their were only a few dead giantesses, the ground looked to be covered in blood and squashed forms.

It seemed the Resistance attack had been real enough and ended as well as Sanders would have expected. What the hell had they been thinking? For that matter, what the hell was HE thinking? All those people with actual weapons had been wiped out by the Society with only, maybe, 4 dead giantesses. What the hell was he, alone, supposed to do against them? No...no he couldn't think like that. Isabella had given her life trying to stop them and Sanders would honor her memory by doing the same. Even if it meant becoming just a stain on a shoe, he would stay this course. He owed Isabella, Manchent, and anyone else murdered by the Society that much.

His misgivings shoved aside, he made sure the groups looking for stragglers were well away before climbing down and moving out of Pyrrha's way. He pointed to it and Pyrrha got the idea as she rammed it. It took her three tries, but the vent tumbled down to the ground. Luckily, all the noise of vehicles moving about and people yelling about cleared areas keep the noise from being heard. A few catgirls turned to the sound, but were pulled away by their handlers. Once Sanders was sure the cost was clear, he climbed into Pyrrha's hand, braced himself, and got ready to lose his lunch.

Pyrrha dropped down from the vent to the ground, a good seven foot drop. The landing slammed Sanders, despite his bracing, into Pyrrha's palm and he cursed as he nearly broke his nose. Thankfully, her flesh gave just enough to stop it from breaking, but not enough to stop it from bleeding. He cursed as Pyrrha opened her hand to put him back on her head. Once he was set on her head, and had raised his head to stop the blood, Pyrrha began to slowly inch her way to some nearby junk. Sanders thought Pyrrha was heading there to hide, until he noticed a bit of movement near the junk.

A Resistance member, probably a straggler, was hiding in the junk and was looking away from them. He looked badly hurt and on his last legs, but was still alive. Sanders wondered if maybe he could give some answers and... wait.

"Pyrrha N-!" Sanders tried to get out in time, but too late as Pyrrha sprang forward. Sanders hung on to her hair and cursed as she leap forward. He was thrown onto her head as she stopped and gasped as some of the air was knocked out of him. He heard a soft scream of terror before it vanished to be replaced with a soft gulp. Sanders eyes widened in terror as he looked to see the spot where the Resistance person had been. He was no longer there, though. He didn't need to look at Pyrrha's face to know what happened. Fuck...Sanders had almost forgotten Pyrrha was a catgirl and while she didn't want to eat him, she had no problem eating other people. Sanders anger rose up and he moved to Pyrrha's ear.

"NO! Pyrrha you do NOT eat people! Don't do that again!" he yelled into her ear getting a meow of pain from her. She hissed up at him, but he kicked simply kicked her ear in response. She gave a low growl and Sanders got ready to have to fight off Pyrrha's hand when something got both their attention.

A meow came from behind them that sounded way too close for comfort.. He looked back to see a catgirl sniffing in their direction and a giantess glancing their way as well. Shit if he was spotted out here he was as good as dead. Even if one of the giantesses believed he was a Society member, they were sure to take him to Cathrine or Angela. He doubted either would give him the chance to escape a second time... He could punish Pyrrha later, right now they needed to get out of here.

Pyrrha, however, didn't look so ready to just let things go and her hand came up to try and grab him. He shifted to her other ear to avoid it before remembering what he had done to calm her down when they had first meet. He starting to rub the spot behind her ear and let out a sigh of relief when her hand stopped in mid air. It slowly lowered as Pyrrha's hair stop bristling and her low growl turning into a purr.

"OK, OK, we can talk about eating people later. For now, lets get out of here," he said as he starting to look for somewhere to go. He spotted the giantess barracks not too far away and with very few giantesses around it. If they could slip into there, maybe they could hide till things calmed down out here. Then, hopefully, they could slip out undetected when security went back to normal. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had.

"Pyrrha," Sanders said before tugging on her ears to get her to face the building, "go." Pyrrha got the idea and got on her feet before heading toward it. They would be walking right through the open, but Sanders was banking on none of the Society people paying any mind to another catgirl wondering around. His gamble worked as no one even gave Pyrrha a second look as she moved toward the barracks. Sanders keep himself pressed down onto her head, hoping her hair would keep him hidden from view. After a couple of minutes of holding his breath, Pyrrha reached the barracks and stopped at its wall.

Sanders risked a peek out of her hair to look around. No giantesses were around and the few catgirls milling about were paying Pyrrha no mind. Her smell must have been masking his, thank whoever. He looked over the wall and saw another vent. However, trying to pull it off her would, undoubtedly, get them unwanted attention. And if any catgirls should follow them... No, the vent was no good, but there had to be some other way in.

Sanders tugged on Pyrrha's ear again and got her to start walking along the edge of the building. She keep sniffing away, probably looking for another snack which only made Sanders worried. Sanders dearly hoped the others had already found anyone around as he had no wish to see Pyrrha eat someone alive again. As they headed along the wall, Sanders looked up at the windows and stopped Pyrrha as he noticed one was open. Of course, it was also on the second floor, dauntingly high above them. Sanders cursed under his breath before cursing out loud as Pyrrha looked up. He grabbed hold of her hair and hung on as the dizzying high fall from her head to the ground spread out below him. He wrapped his hands up in her hair, hoping to get a better grip as he felt Pyrrha begin to lean down. Oh fuck no!

Sanders screamed in panic as Pyrrha launched herself into the air and the fall to the ground grew even farther. He was smacked into Pyrrha's head as she came to a stop and he barely managed to hand on. As if suddenly remembering him, Pyrrha reached back and pulled him out of her hair. Sanders practically buried himself into her palm as he welcomed the feel of SOMETHING below him. Sanders looked up enough to see Pyrrha had jumped to the landing of the window on the first floor Sadly, the window on this floor was shut tight and Sanders doubted they could open it. He got his nerves to calm down a bit and stood up before turning back to Pyrrha. His nerves had barely recovered when she smiled at him and opened her mouth.

"Oh no, not again. Pyrrha no, No, NO!" Sanders yelled as he backed away from her, but the catgirl. He turned to try and run, but had barely gotten a step when Pyrrha grabbed his jacket in her mouth again. Sanders swore as Pyrrha's hand fell away and she bent down again. Oh fuck nonononononononono! Sanders yelled out in terror as Pyrrha rocketed into the air and the window sill below him fell away. The window buffeted him downward as he shut his eyes to the terrifying sight until the wind died down. A quick glance was all he needed to shut them again as the upward motion ended and came to a jarring halt. He felt them going up a bit more as Pyrrha gave a soft grunt of effort.

After what seemed like an eternity,the moving stopped and Sanders opened his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief to see the window seal back below him. It was still far enough to probably break both his legs and his back, but at least it was not the splatter like a bug on a windshield fall from before. Pyrrha must have jumped up to the second level from the first floor's window sill as this window was wide open and just waiting for them to get inside.

"HEY! Get down from there you damn cat! Shit, someone go get that catgirl!" someone yelled from behind them. Fuck they had been spotted! Pyrrha looked about to turn to face whoever had yelled, but Sanders stopped her.

"Pyrrha, go! GO!" he yelled pointing into the room. Pyrrha couldn't see him in her mouth, but there really wasn't any other direction TO go. Sanders cursed as Pyrrha moved into the room and jumped to the floor. He yelled in terror as the floor came rushing up to meet them, before being jarred back into Pyrrha's airbag like lips. He groaned as his stomach began to tie into knots, but managed to keep from spewing.

Shaking off this sickness, he looked around the room. They were in a giantess' room that looked very similar to Isabella's. It had the same kind of  bed, nightstand, dresser, desk, etc.. that Isabella's room had. Kinda made sense the rooms would be similar in a barracks. A few personal nick-knacks were scattered about along with some clothes and other junk. Whoever's room this was was not the cleanest person, but wasn't the dirtiest Sanders had seen. Jr still held that award, ewww.

Thankfully, the owner of the room was not here and Sanders could guess it would take a bit of time to get up to the second floor and to this room. But they still needed to hurry. Sanders could probably find a place to hide and not be found, doubly so since they wouldn't be looking for him. Pyrrha, though, didn't have that advantage and any place she could hide, they were sure to look. Sanders didn't much care for his chances of getting out of this building, much less the base, alone. He needed to stick with Pyrrha if he wanted to get out of here.

Sadly, the only way out looked to be the door into the hallway. There was another air vent, but it was placed high up in the ceiling, far too high for them to reach. With no other real choice, Sanders was going to have to get Pyrrha to open the door and hope the hallway was empty.

Sanders got Pyrrha to put him back into her hand and then pointed toward the door. Pyrrha nodded and looked about to put him back on her head, but he stopped her. He was going to need her to see him for this. She didn't seem to mind and cared him in her large hand to the door and stopped in front of it, looking at it in confusion.

"OK...how the fuck am I going to do this?" Sanders asked himself trying to think of how to get Pyrrha to understand. The doorknob was...well just that, simple and yet so very complicated.

"Pyrrha, grab?" Sanders said pointing at the knob. Pyrrha looked at him and gave him the confused look he was beginning to hate.

"Of course... Hold? Grasp? Pick up?" the last one she got and moved her free hand to the  eye level to her, knob. She grabbed it and pulled on it, with no real success.

"OK! No stop! NO don't let- dammit!" Sanders swore as Pyrrha, hearing no, let go of the knob. He groaned as he rubbed his head. Dammit, they didn't have time for this!

"OK...OK...Pyrrha, pick it up," he said Pyrrha gave him a weird look but did as he said.

"Now stop! Don't- HOLD!" Sanders yelled, hoping he had guessed the right word. Pyrrha's ears perked at the word and she keep her hand on the knob. YES! OK, now he just needed her to turn it.

"Okay, good, good. Now turn it. Like this, turn it. Come on, Pyrrha, do what I do," Sanders said turning his hand like to open a door while holding it up for Pyrrha to see. She looked very confused at first, but her eyes seemed to slowly get some comprehension. Her hand slowly began to twist the knob bit by bit before the greatest sound Sanders had heard came from the door. The click of the lock opening.

"YES! OK now pull!" Sanders yelled as Pyrrha did as she was told and pulled the door open. HELL YES! They were out! Sanders pumped his arm in excitement as Pyrrha began to move the door back and forth, seemingly amazed with the new trick she had learned.

"YES!! HAHA! Come on, Pyrrha, lets go find a place to hide, up!" he said, pulling her attention away from the door. She raised him back to her head and he climbed on before she headed out the door.

The hallway outside was, thankfully, empty. The sides of it were lined with doors with numbers printed on them. Beside each door was also a name of the occupant. Sanders glanced back at the room they had been in, but didn't recognize the name. To their left the hallway went forward for awhile before it turned off to the right out of sight. The right went straight before ending at a staircase leading down. Well that way was no good as they were sure to be spotted there. Still, getting off this level and hiding on the first floor would, probably, be their best bet of going unnoticed.

"Pyrrha, grab. Good, now pull. Great, OK lets go," Sanders said getting Pyrrha to close the door behind them. Now, anyone who came looking for them would have no idea they had escaped the room. With their tracks covered, Pyrrha moved down the hallway. He got her to speed up, not wanting to still be in this part of the hall when someone came to investigate. He slowed her at the corner and got her to lean out to see if anyone was there. The coast was clear and they slipped around the corner.

This hallway was the same as the last one, just a bunch of rooms lining the walls till it turned to the right again. They keep going, Sanders glancing at the names every so often. Most he didn't recognize, but one caught his attention since the door was wide open.

"Laundry room", the sign next to it read. Sanders might have just ignored it, but Pyrrha's ears perked up a bit and she came to a stop. Sanders then heard it too, footsteps coming toward them.

"Pyrrha, there," Sander said turning Pyrrha to the laundry room. Inside it was a pretty standard laundry room. One side have washers, the other dryers and a few tables were scattered about. A few of the machines were chugging away and, even more importantly, there were some baskets full of clothes in the room.

"In the clothes, go!" Sanders yelled getting Pyrrha to go into the room. It took him a second to get her to actually get into the clothes, but she got the idea after a few tries. The clothes smelled like they had just been washed, thankfully, and Sanders found himself buried in a giant sweater. He managed to push it enough to at last see, but still felt like he was going to be buried under clothing for the rest of his life. Only the reassuring feel of Pyrrha's head keep him from thinking it was true.

He watched from the tiny little hole in the clothing as two giantesses came stomping past.

"-upid cats. I swear they get into EVERYTHING. Can't take your eye off the-" one of their voices boomed out before fading away. As they passed Pyrrha began to shift as if to get out, but Sanders stopped her. They needed to make sure they were the only ones. After a minute of sitting in the laundry basket, and Pyrrha beginning to get very VERY frigidity, Sanders let Pyrrha stand up. As she did, the sweater nearly crushed him onto her head, but thankfully rolled off her. He groaned as he got up from his near death with a damn piece of clothing and had to hold on as Pyrrha jumped out of the basket. She stretched a bit before heading for the door.

They peeked out into the hallway and found no one around. Going back was sure to get them caught now, so forward it was. They headed down the hallway going the same direction the two giantesses had come from. They turned the corner to find another staircase leading down to the first level. With nowhere else to go, they headed down the staircase.

The jarring steps down the stairs left Sanders stomach doing somersaults and he had to hold in what little was left in his stomach. By the time Pyrrha got to ground level, he was sure he was looking greener than a blade of grass. He groaned in pain as Pyrrha keep going down the hallway, oblivious to his discomfort. Sanders managed to look up and around the hallway. It was the same as the last few and had nothing but doors. He might have gone back to recovering if he didn't notice the numbers on the doors.

146, 145, 144...they were...they were on the same hallway as Isabella's old room! Sanders pushed his nausea away as he keep a look out on the rooms. 142, 141, 140, just a bit more and they would get to her room....and what batter place to hide? 138, 137, and maybe...just maybe she would have left a clue as to what she had found.

Sanders stopped Pyrrha as they arrived at Room 136, Isabella's old room. It still had her name beside it... still looked the same as always... Some part of Sanders imagined all he had to do was get Pyrrha to knock. Then Isabella would open the door, be shocked by him riding a catgirl, and then everything would go back to normal. Aviel would be back to his size, Isabella would be alive, and Flonne would be there with her giant smiling face tickled to death he was there. That was what should happen. That was what he wanted to happen. But it wasn't what was going to happen. Isabella wasn't behind that door, or any door. She was gone, dead, and there was no bringing her back... Flonne was...fuck who knew where she was and Aviel. Aviel was the enemy now. Fuck...FUCK how had it come to this?!

"Pyrrha...ope-grab it," Sander said looking down in depression. Dammit...how could he have let this happen? How could he have been so blind to turn Isabella over to Angela? And how could he not have killed Aviel when he had the chance?! He should have done something, he should have stopped her, he should have put her down, he shoud...

Pyrrha grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it, but the knob refused to budge. Locked...of course...Sanders sighed to himself, both disappointed and relieved. He was about to get Pyrrha to get back to moving, when he noticed the light streaming out from under the door. The space between the door and the floor...he might be able to squeeze under it. Pyrrha, of course, would never be able to fit, but maybe she didn't need to. Without him, even if she was caught she would be fine. They would just toss her back into her cage. He didn't want that to happen, but...but the chance of Isabella having left something important was too great for him not to look.

"Pyrrha, down," Sander said as Pyrrha picked him up and lowered him to the ground. She knelt down beside him as he moved to the door. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but he was sure he could make it.

"OK, Pyrrha. Go hide, I will come back in a few minutes, OK?" Sanders said to Pyrrha, though he doubted she understood. She gave a low sad meow as he began to start to crawl under the door. He heard her began to paw at the door and had to yell at her to stop. Last thing he needed was her causing noise. After a second or two of a very uncomfortable crawling, and a terrifying second where he was sure he had gotten stuck, Sanders managed to crawl his way into Isabella's room.

The room was much the same as he remembered it with everything still in its place. He had never been on the floor of the room, though, and seeing the skyscraper-sized bed, desk, and other furniture was a stark reminder how small he was now. It, also, presented him with another problem. How the hell did he think he was going to get to ANYTHING to investigate? Everything was hundreds of feet high, compared to him. He had really not thought this through...

Still, he had come to far to just turn back now. Looking around, he noticed the window on the far wall, or rather its curtains. They were long enough to nearly touch the ground and were very close to the nightstand with Flonne's bed on it. Flonne...he dearly hoped she was somewhere safe and away from Aviel...

He shook of those thoughts as he started across the floor. Those drapes would, at least, get him onto the nightstand. From there he should be able to get onto Isabella's bed and use it to cross over to the desk that was right beside the end of the bed. If anything was going to have a clue, it was going to be the desk. It was a long haul, but Sanders had made longer ones before.

It took him a few minutes to get across the carpeted floor. What would have taken Isabella maybe three steps took him more than five minutes to cross. Thankfully, the drapes were low enough to the ground for him to jump up to. He took a second to rest before he jumped up. It was going to be a very, very long climb...

By the time Sanders reached the top of the nightstand, he was nearly exhausted. His arms felt like jelly and he was sweating like mad. He took a deep breath and summoned the last of his energy to get him the last little bit to the nightstand. He swung himself to the side and throw himself to the nightstand. He flopped onto it and didn't bother to get up or move from the spot he had landed on. His entire body was screaming in pain from the excretion and he felt like he needed to just pass out for a few minutes. He didn't let sweet oblivion take him, though, as he struggled back to his feet, cursing himself for thinking that had been a good idea.

The nightstand had a lamp, Flonne's bed, and a large picture frame on it. Sanders hadn't been able to see what was in the frame from the ground so he moved in front of it to see. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the picture. It was the picture his Mom had taken on Thanksgiving...with all four of them all happy and together... Sanders stood there, a mixture of crushing sadness and bitter betrayal raging inside him. They had been all alive and friends back then...and now...thanks to her...to HER!

Sanders fists tightened as his exhaustion was forgotten in favor of rage. He stormed around the frame and pushed it over. It crashed down onto the nightstand and Sanders quickly unlatched the hatch to its back. With a bit of effort, he got it open and pulled the picture out.

"You don't deserved to be in this. Not anymore," he said to Aviel's image before ripping it out of the photo. He crumbled it up and tossed it to the ground before spitting after it. He would do the same to her when he found her again. He would put her in the ground and make sure she never betrayed anyone ever again.

Suddenly, Sanders heard the lock of the door start to jiggle. He groaned as took a breath to calm down. Pyrrha must have been trying to ge-

"Its locked, Susan give me the key," an all too familiar voice said. Lutice's voice... Panic and terror filled Sanders as he scrambled away from the pict- OH SHIT! The picture frame was knocked down, the picture taken out of it, and Aviel's image ripped off! Lutice and the rest would have to be blind not to notice that and then they would know someone was in here! Sanders dashed back as he heard the key get inserted into the door. He grabbed the picture and took off for Flonne's bed. He pushed his legs to their limit as he dived under the smaller bed, pulling the picture with him. Barely a millisecond after he had dived behind the bed's covers, the door opened.

"Alright, you heard Angela. Let's get this over with," Lutice said as her footsteps moved into the room. Other footsteps followed her's though Sanders couldn't tell how many. Dammit, why the hell was she in here and what had happened to Pyrrha?

"So fucking stupid. We've got better things to be doing that going through this dead bitches' shit. Should be out moping up those Resistance," another voice, Susan's, said.

"Apparently, Cathrine blames us for Isabella having to be killed so now we get to clean up the mess. Such BS, her attacking us had nothing to do with her finding out about the shrink devices," another said, Tracy he thought. Had that been it? She had found out about the shrink devices so they used it on her and killed her? Sanders had a gut feeling there was more to it than that. If that had been what it was about, Angela would have killed them too for seeing it rather than giving them a chance to stay loyal.

"Stop whining and just search the place. Sooner this is done, sooner we can leave," Lutice said with noticeable anger in her voice.

"Still mad about your little slave boy getting fed to the ca-" Susan started to say before she stopped and a loud bang came from the room, as if someone had just been slammed against a wall.

"Say one more word, Susan...say. One. More. FUCKING. Word," Lutice said sending a bit of a chill down Sanders spine even just listening. To no surprise, the room was silent for a minute before the footsteps went back to moving about the area.

Sanders risked a quick peek out of the covers dangling below the bed and saw Lutice and her three friends all looking through the area. They were all dressed in normal clothing save for the boots which were full combat boots. Fuck, so much for finding any clues now. Any clues Isabella had left would be long gone and in the hands of the Society, now. Not to mention, he might be too if they moved Flonne's bed or looked under it. As if summoned by his thoughts, Lutice glanced over at the nightstand making Sanders duck back behind the covers. He cursed as he heard her footsteps get closer and heard the frame being picked up. He risked a short peek and saw her looked at the empty frame. She studied it a bit before shrugging, and tossing it to the ground. She turned away and looked about to leave when she glanced back at the bed. Sanders swore as he ducked back in and got ready to make a dash from Isabella's bed. Maybe he could hide in its covers...

A loud hiss erupted in the room and Sanders heard Monet gave a muffled moan, probably the closest thing to a scream her broken jaw could make. Sanders glanced out and saw Monet struggling to get Pyrrha off her. Pyrrha was clawing into her back, hissing and spitting in rage, as Monet's arms flailed at her, trying to grab her. Susan rushed over and pulled Pyrrha off only to let go when Pyrrha bit down on her hand.

"OWWW FUCKING CAT!" Susan yelled as she kicked out at Pyrrha. Pyrrha dodged back and landed on all fours. She raised her back up as her tail bristled in rage. She hissed back at the giantesses before taking off into the hallway, running on fours.

"Don't let her get away!" Tracy yelled as they all took off after Pyrrha. Sanders was going to let a sigh of relief out when Lutice suddenly stopped. He looked at her in confusion as she looked down. She bent down and picked something off the ground. Sanders blood ran cold as he recognized it. The piece of the picture Sanders had torn off...

Lutice's head snapped around to look almost dead at him, and Sanders scrambled back from the edge of the bed. He took off running toward Isabella's bed as Lutice's footsteps came booming closer and closer. He was almost at Isabella's bed when Flonne's bed was sent flying to the side, the wind from its sudden move nearly knocking him to the ground.

Sanders stumbled and slowly turned to find himself staring up at Lutice's massive face. Lutice smiled down at him in anything but a comforting way.

"Sanders...Sanders....hahaha. HAHAHAHA!" she said before turning to the side and laughing. She turned back to him with the same smile, and yet her eyes looked a bit moist. Almost as if she was trying to fight back tears... Sanders mind raced trying to think of something, ANYTHING to do. Fuck this was bad, really REALLY bad. If she took him back to Angela or Cathrine...

"Lutice? What are you laughing at?" Tracy asked from the hallway. Lutice's eyes snapped wide and she cursed under her breath. Sanders looked around while Lutice was distracted for somewhere, anywhere, to run too, but the only place was Isabella's bed. Before he could make a run for it, Lutice's massive finger and thumb came rushed toward him. Sanders yelled in terror as they closed on him and lifted him up and into the air. He tried to wiggle free, but it was no use, her finger was along was close to double his size.

"Stop struggling or do you want to be found! Now keep still till I get you back to my room," Lutice whispered out before pulling the top of her shirt out. Sanders stared down at the awe-inspiring view of the top of Lutice's D-cup breasts and for a second forgot how fucked he was. He barely even registering he was falling before he landed on the oh so soft flesh. He slid a bit, but managed to stop before sliding into her bra. He looked up and watched the sky turn dark as her shirt closed back around him.

"Nothing, I thought I had found Isabella's dildo, but it was just a flashlight," Lutice's voice boomed above him, sounding disappointed.

"Did you get that catgirl?" she asked as she began to move, the steps causing her breasts to jiggle a bit. Sanders might have been in heaven if these weren't Lutice's breasts.

"No, damn thing got into an air vent. Monet and Susan are still trying to flush it out, but they are not going to get it out of there," Tracy said getting a sigh of relieve from Sanders. At least Pyrrha had escaped.

"You bunch really are useless. I am going back to my room, you guys finish up," Lutice said as she started to walk away.

"Cathrine sa-"

"I don't give a FUCK what Cathrine said. She can go shove another stick up her ass for all I care. Now, finish up or I will ram one up your ass," Lutice yelled making Sanders cringe. There was no more arguing at that point and Lutice began to walk back to, assumedly, her room. What the fuck was he going to do now? And if she was going to turn him in, what was she going to do with him? He wasn't sure he would like the answer...

Excerpt of Speech given by Representative Davidson on the attack on the Society Base:

"I think I speak for everyone here, when I say how grateful we are to have the Society's protection. We greatly respect their courage and willingness for self-sacrifice to keep us all safe. But, the attack on their base a few days ago illustrate that the Society may not be capable on continuing their sole vigil. I am not insinuating they have failed at their jobs, far from it. They have gone above and beyond anything we could ask for them. However, I feel like many of us who live and work in New Atlanta feel we should be defending and fighting for our homes, not asking them to do it for us.

The Matriarchs have warned us that the areas outside the city are dangerous, and this is true. However, those same dangers now seem poised to come to us. So why should we wait for them to come, when instead we can go and meet them head on? Why should we hide behind the Society, cowering like lost children, when we can stand and fight for ourselves? Why should we let others risk their lives for our homes when we can risk our own?

That is why I am calling for the formation of a New Atlanta military force to work with and alongside those that take the fight to these "Resistance" terrorists. So that we, too, can help defend our homes. So that we, too, can protect our loves ones. And so that we, too, can take the fight back to those who continue to disrupt our lives and announce with one voice, We will not stand for your threats, murders, and continued aggression! We will take the fight to you and bury you in the very violence you seemed bent on causing!"

Speech was meet with a near 95% approval rating. Passing of bill for New Atlanta Military to join Sword operation is considered to be inevitable.

Sanders found himself trapped in Lutice's breast. However, feeling bold and not wanting to miss an oppurtunity, Sanders began to slowly make his way down. If he was going to be trapped on a giant breast, he was at least going to have some fun with its nipple. He slide down inch by inch closer to the point of no return.

 

Just as he was about to reach it, Lutice stumbled a bit, throwing Sanders forward. He yelled in panic as he tried to grab her bra, but missed. He cursed as he fell and landed in the cup part of her bra. He groaned and looked up just in time for Lutice's breast to move forward to refill the area it had vacated during her trip. Sanders' eyes widened as the giant breast smushed him into the fabric.

 

For a brief moment, Sanders was in utter heaven. Despite the huge breast pushing into him, it was soft enough give more than enough to let him breath. He pushed himself into it and rubbed his face against its warmth. If there was a God, he was good for this single moment of bliss.

 

"AHH! Hey, who said you could get in there! Little perv," Lutice said before smacking her hand into her breast.

 

UWAAAAGGGHHH!" Sanders cried before he was crushed into paste on Lutice's breast.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"......wait what?" Derek asked in confusion.

 

"Yeah I di-...wait that's not how the story went. If I died, how could I be hear telling it?" Sanders asked in confusion. Darius and Derek looked at each other in confusion before looking back at an empty chair.  Both had an odd feeling like something had just gone very wrong in the world, but decided not to worry about it.

 

Without Sanders help, they would never find the truth, never learn of Lean's warning, and would all die. Aviel would go on to become the Sword Matriarch, being just as cruel and evil as Angela. Angela would "vanish" one day in a bizarre shrink device accident, and Cathrine would get forget to stock up on the proper items and get killed by a sleep-spamming pigeon.

 

Lutice would choke to death after taking a beat she could eat twenty tinies at once. She couldn't by the way in case the choked to death wasn't a big enough clue for you. Oh and Flonne would go on to lead a new Resistance group and eventually kill Aviel in an epic battle that would have been really awesome, but you're dead so you won't see it.

 

GAME OVER

 

 

 

 

 

Darn 500 word count minimum, now I have to put this shit down here and RUIN the joke...what the fuck. Jeez, you don't realize how many 500 words really is till you get under it. Come on, how many of these random bullshit sentences do I have to write? Just trying to do a joke and its like pulling fucking TEETH.

Chapter 5: The Shrink Device

December 6, 2023 12:18 PM


Sanders tried to find something to hold on to as Lutice walked. Sadly, the smooth skin of her breasts left him nothing to get a grip on. Each step sent him bouncing up into the air before he came down into her, thankfully, pillowy soft breast. As much as he tried to not to, he couldn't help but get a bit excited by this situation. He could think of worse ways to go to his execution...

After a few minutes of using Lutice's breasts like a bounce castle, Lutice stopped moving. Sanders groaned a bit from his upset stomach, but still managed to hear a lock clicking open. They walked forward a bit before the sound of a door shutting brought them to a stop again. He heard Lutice putting a few things down and he tried to prepare himself for whatever was in store for him. The cloth sky moved aside as Lutice pulled back the collar of her shirt. Sanders blinked a bit at the sudden light and saw Lutice's immense face staring down at him.

"Really? Just sitting there? Didn't even try to get a good feel for them or anything? You  really should learn to take an opportunity when it comes," Lutice said before he free hand came down toward him. For some reason, Sanders got the feeling that taking that opportunity would have ended badly... Sanders stood up to try and run, but Lutice's yielding breast flesh made running nearly impossible. Damn maybe he should have gotten a grop- NO NO NO NOT RIGHT NOW!

He grunted as Lutice pinned him between her forefinger and thumb again. She lifted him up out of her shirt and up to eye level. Sanders felt a wave of awe and panic hit him as he stared at Lutice's car-sized brown eyes. She gave a little giggle as she studied him, moving him around a bit.

"It's so hard to see you tinies well from a distance, but it is really you, isn't it Sanders? Hehehe," she said with an odd smile that made Sanders nervous. Still, it was Lutice. Sure she seemed a bit...off and had... tried to kill him... Fuck, but surely the old Lutice wasn't completely gone. He had to, at least, find out. The only other choice was to wait for his death.

"Lutice, please. Just let me go, I...I need to leave before Angela, Aviel, and the others find me!" he yelled out to her. Lutice stopped for a second and Sanders gulped in worry. She turned him back to facing her and stared at him with a harsh glare.

"You want to leave me? Of course you do, why wouldn't you? Still so caught up with that blood-headed bitch and that cow you called a Captain... Always about them, isn't it, huh? Always focused on them! Well what about ME?! Or do you still think I am a bitch?!" she yelled as her finger began to press down harder on him and his ears screamed in agony. Her glare hardened as the pressure on him increased. Sanders cursed as he felt his breath being pushed out of him. He tried to fight it, but his arms were not even slowing her finger down. Fuck, he was being crushed!

"L...Lut-...-ice....don't....hurting..." he managed to stammer out. Lutice stared at him for a moment before she squinted as if pain. She let the pressure on him up a bit as she moved him to within inches of her face and reopened her eyes.

"Going to beg for forgiveness? Plead for your life like a good little bug? Huh?!" she demanded, sounding pissed as hell and still yelling. The sonic force was enough to cause him to nearly yell in pain, but he bit it back. Fuck, mentioning Aviel had been a mistake and now she was going to squash him like a bug if he made another one. Dammit he needed to think, figure out what to say, something that would make her happy and NOT want to squish him. Maybe begging? No, she didn't sound like she wanted that... something else... She had gotten really angry after he mentioned Aviel almost like...like she was jealous...

"No...NO! You...you misunderstood me before, Lutice. I want to stay with you, but I...I was worried if I did you would get in trouble. I'm a traitor to the Society now and if they found out you were harboring me, then they would hurt you too.  And I...I couldn't let that happen. If you got hurt because of me...well...," Sanders said, only half lying. He hadn't meant it like that when he had first asked, but he really didn't want her hurt because of him. After all, she had still saved him back all those years ago and he wouldn't, couldn't forget that.

Her massive eyes stared at him as her glare slowly softened. She looked away and seemed lost in thought before her face began to blush. Again she cringed as if something was hurting her head before turning back to him.

"That's...I didn't even think... Even after I tried to kil-..."she stopped before looking away again with an embarrassed look. Sanders started to relax, but too soon as she snapped back to face him, the glare returning.

"IF...you are telling the truth, anyway. Are you lying to me, Sanders?" she asked bringing him even closer to her eyes. They glared down on his tiny form as her fingers gripped him a bit tighter.

"No, NO! Lutice, you know how I am! Remember back when you saved me from the catgirl? What was it that really had be so traumatized? It wasn't nearly getting killed was it?" Sanders said getting a suspicious look from Lutice. She glanced away and her eyes softened a bit along with her grip. She turned back to him as her look softened even more.

"The others...you were inconsolable about your squad-mates' death. I...I managed to talk you out of being terrified, but then you just got depressed about all of them. I couldn't...couldn't get you to get over that..." she said before looking away again. She seemed to be thinking of something and her eyes began to mist up. Tears began to run down her face. He was getting through to her, maybe now he could get her to help him escape.

"See? Please, Lutice, help me get out of Atlanta. I would love to stay with you, I really would, but I just can't put you in that danger. I could never live with myself if you got hurt because of me, so please, PLEASE, let me go," Sanders begged Lutice. She looked up at him again and looked about to say something, but reconsidered. She looked down as she groaned a bit, seeming to be debating something.

Suddenly, she gasped in pain and her free hand gripped her head. She took a second to recover before her eyes unclenched. She lowered the hand, before looked back up at Sanders. Her eyes still looked slightly moist, but were also back to a glare. Shit, had he pushed it too far?

"Help you escape? Are you forgetting I am a Sword of the Society? You betrayed us and now you want my help to escape?! HAH! No..in fact...maybe I should make sure you don't have to worry about hurting me and just turn you in," Lutice said getting a slight smirk on her face. Panic hit Sanders like a ton of bricks along with confusion. What the hell was going on with her? She had looked to be on the verge of helping him and was now threatening to turn him in! What the hell was going on with her?!

Whatever it was, it would have to wait. He couldn't let her turn him in, not after he had come this far. Think Sanders, THINK, there had to be- AVIEL, OF COURSE!

"Lutice, no! You can't turn me in! They will kill me, or worse, give me back to Aviel! Please don't let her get me, anything but that bitch!" he begged her. Lutice's eyebrow raised at that and she looked a bit intrigued. She chuckled a bit to herself.

"A bitch is she? So you don't like Aviel anymore? Well, what DO you think of her then, if you don't like her?" she asked studying him closely.

Sanders knew he needed to be honest here. It was obvious Lutice did not care for Aviel so seeing he didn't like here either might be his only way through this. He just needed to think back.. Sanders felt rage and hate boiling in him as he thought about Aviel and her betrayal. He didn't bother to hide his disgust from his face as he was sure Lutice would love to see and hear he was out for Aviel's blood.

"She is dead to me. That bitch betrayed me and Isabella for nothing more than power. She is a heartless, uncaring monster that deserves nothing more than a slow painful death. If I had my way, I would wring her neck and watch her eyes fade with life as she was sent to whatever hell is reserved for her. Or maybe let HER be dumped into a cage with a catgirl and see how she likes being in that position. Maybe even break one her legs too. No, I would break BOTH that, murderous, traitorous CUNT!" Sanders answered without an ounce of lying. His rage turned his statement into a rant before he had realized it and he worried he might have gone too far.

Lutice looked at him, her eyes widening as he went on. When he finished, she was looked rather surprised by his rage. Fuck, had he gone to far? His worry faded as Lutice began to chuckle. Her chuckle turned into a full on laugh as she looked to the side and whipped a way a bit of tears from the laughter.

"HAHAHA! Oh that...that is fantastic. Hahahaha! You really do fucking hate her now don't you? Hahaha! And...and they put you in a catgirl cell and you STILL managed to escape! Oh my...Oh my...oh...my..." she laughed before the laugh turned into a look. Sanders felt his pants constrict as Lutice's massive eyes began to give him a longing look. The suspicion was now completely gone to be replaced with an almost lustful look.

She walked over to her desk and placed Sanders down on it. Sanders was tempted to fall down and kiss the sweet, sweet solid ground under his feet, but was worried Lutice might take offense somehow. He had gotten her back to being happy, and he needed to keep her that way if he wanted to live through this. If only he could get through to the old Lutice... though horny Lutice might work too.

Lutice knelt down to be eye level with him as she smiled at him. She seemed to adjust something under the desk where he couldn't see before continuing.

"Escaped a catgirl all those years ago, survived being a Ranger, survived me and my friends going a little...excessive," she said that last part with a glance down and a blush of embarrassment, "survived being thrown right into a catgirl's cage, managed to escape all the way to your old leader's room without being spotted, and would have escaped out of there if you just had left that picture alone... You have a real knack for surviving don't you?" Lutice asked with that same look. Sanders nodded as he tried to figure out where this is going and wondered why Lutice was shifting around a bit. Was she...panting?

"So how did you escape from that catgirl cage? Did they leave you some tool they didn't think about?" Lutice asked, resting her head on one of her arms. Sanders cursed as she asked that question. Should he tell her the truth? Spill the beans he had a catgirl helper? And if not, what should he tell her? What would she believe? Lutice's smile began to fade as his mind scrambled for a plausible lie, but nothing was coming up. Fuck, no time to think. Screw it.

"A catgirl helped me escape," Sander answered getting look of confusion from Lutice. Her look turned to annoyance as she responded.

"A catgirl? Oh please, at lea-" she stopped as her eyes drifted off in thought. She turned back to Sanders and her smile spread out before she laughed in disbelief.

"Haha, oh fucking unbelievable. That catgirl that attacked Monet was her, wasn't it? It attacked her to distract us and give you a chance to escape... HAHAHA! That's pretty smart for a catgirl. Too smart actually..." she said before eying him. Her smiled spread as her mind seemed to come up with the answer.

"You clever little man. You managed to get Morgan's smart catgirl to help you, didn't you? HAHAHA! Oh...wow...that is just..." she said as she bit her lower lip. Sanders eyes widened a bit at that as Lutice looked at him in a way that made his pants tighten up even more. Fear was in the background of that, though, as he knew sex was a death sentence with this size difference. Still, death by sex was pretty high on his, Ways to Die, list. Certainly beat feed to a catgirl.

Lutice was shifting even more as she looked at him, but stopped as her wrist unit beeped. She cursed and looked at it and grumbled to herself. She looked back at Sanders and then the wrist unit. She gave a sigh as she pushed a switch on it.

"I probably should take you in, though. Angela and Cathrine will kill me if they find out I am keeping you. Shame too...you are...well," she said as she began to reach out for him. Oh shit! Sanders had to do something, had to think of something, had to come- fuck it, it was worth a try.

"W-WAIT, Lutice! I...I don't want to go back to them! I want to stay here with you!" he yelled getting Lutice's hand to stop. She raised an eyebrow at him as she stared.

"Oh? Didn't you say you didn't want to cause me trouble before?" she asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I want to go back to them! If you do, they will kill me! Or worse, give me to Aviel! Please, don't let her get me!" Sanders said begging Lutice for mercy. Lutice went to open her mouth, but closed it as she reconsidered. She turned away and grabbed her head as if in pain, again. She shook her head, before looked over at something by the dresser and smiling. She turned back to Sanders with the same smile, one that didn't fill him with confidence...

"Well, I guess you do still owe me for saving your life. So I could take you as a slave, but I have to have tough slaves. So how about this," she said before walking over to the box by her dresser. She dug through it before picking up some stuff and bringing them back to the desk. Sanders gulped as he got ready for fuck knows what, unable to not notice Lutice's pants seemed to be undone.

Lutice emptied her right hand of its contents in front of Sanders. A large shield and a mace dropped out of her hand, sized for someone his size. Sanders' bad feeling only got worse as he snatched up the weapons as she put down the thing in her left hand. Sanders recognized it as soon as her hand moved away from it.

A robot...a Resistance-hunting robot. They had, in a sense, been the prototypes for the Rangers, but had all been taken out of service. While they were super-humanly tough and strong, they still gave the Resistance access to advanced weapons and equipment when they were defeated. Not to mention, their limited AI made them unadaptive. So they had been replaced with the Rangers...but it seemed some had been keep around.

Sanders wasn't familiar with this model, but could already see he was fucked. It was a large four-legged model that looked similar to a bear. It stood at nearly eight scale feet tall and had legs the size of Sanders' chest. It had two arms coming out of its front shoulders with large sawblades on their ends. One its back, however, was the real threat, a turret-mounted machine gun. That thing would turn him into swiss cheese the second that thing engaged him and not even his armor would protect him for the large caliber bullets it used. Lutice seemed to notice his terrified look and smirked.

"Oh now don't worry. I'm going to be turning its gun off. It wouldn't be fair if I left that on, or very exciting. However, the rest of it combat systems will be working fine. So here is the deal. You beat the robot, and I will keep you. Don't, and it will kill you so you don't have to worry about being sent back to Aviel or causing me trouble. Perfect, right?" Lutice asked getting a twisted smile on her face.

"Lutice, this isn-" Sanders started to say, but Lutice's smile turned into a glare.

"Too bad, I'm the big one so I make the rules. Now either trash this robot and survive, or just go and die," she said before pushing a button on her wrist unit. The robot shifted a bit as a rumble came from it. A red glow came from its "eyes" as they scanned around. They centered on Sanders before it began to pace toward him. The two saw-blades on its arms revved up to speed and began to shift around its body. Sanders cursed under his breath as he raised his shield and mace.

He shifted a bit to his left, trying to figure out a way to fight this thing. His mace could smash its plating in and cause some damage to it, but those saw blades would rip him to shreds if they connected, armor or not. Hell, he wasn't sure his shield would be able to stop them. And that didn't even include it if just stepped on him or kicked him with those huge legs. Fuck...what the hell was he going to do?

He keep backing away and the machine keep pace with him. It didn't seemed to be in any rush to start the fight, but made sure to stay somewhat close. A stalemate for now, but one the robot would win in the end. Sanders would get tired at some point, where as the robot had no such issues. It didn't need to rush, hell the longer this fight went the better chance it had. Sanders had to get on the offensive while he could.

Sanders moved forward to engage the machine. The first saw blade thrust out toward him, but Sanders managed to dodge it. The second came flying from the side and Sanders nearly lost his footing dodging it. He brought his mace up to hit back, but cursed as the first saw blade came around to swing at him again. Sanders danced backwards, barely avoiding having his face sliced off. Dammit, he hadn't even got a hit in!

Those two blades were just too much and he was unwilling to trust his shield. His shield... Sanders smiled as he got an idea. He unhooked his shield from his arm and grabbed the edge of it as he keep backing away from the robot.

With his shield in his hand, Sanders moved back into the fight. The saw blades came out to meet him and Sander dodged the first. The second came flying toward his chest, just like Sanders wanted. He backed up a bit before bringing the shield smashing down on the saw blade, edge first. He smiled as the blade cut part way through the shield before slowing with a nasty grinding noise. It sputtered and sparked a few times before grinding to a halt, a bit of smoke rising from it. The robot slowed its advance and actually moved back from him as Sanders heard Lutice chuckle a bit above them.

With a second to breath, Sanders took a quick glance around the desk for anything useful. The desk, sadly, was rather bare with nothing but a pen, some papers, and a lamp sitting on a stand. Great...nothing helpful at all. He turned back just in time to see the machine crouch down before lunging forward, charging him like a bull. Sanders swore as he dived out of its path, pulling his legs in just in time to avoid its remaining blade. He rolled back to his feet and saw the machine coming to a halt a distance away. It was turning back to face him and, likely, was going to charge again.  Fuck, as big as it was, it didn't need its blades to kill him. Thing was just going to run him over and trample him to death!

Sanders took off running as he realized he was in trouble. He couldn't even counter attack with it charging like that without risking getting crushed or sliced apart. He needed to get somewhere where it couldn't just charge him or he was going to be killed. The only place on the desk where the robot couldn't get to him, was the stand with the lamp on it. He had to reach it or he was fucked.

As he ran, he glanced back and saw the robot had turned around and was now bounding after him, its saw whriling away. He cursed as he pushed his legs harder, trying to outrun it. Unfortunately, the robot was gaining on him and quickly, its size allowing it to run faster. Sanders wasn't sure he was going to make it before the robot caught him. Dammit, he just needed a few se-

Suddenly, the floor seemed to slip right out from under Sanders and the desk came flying up to his face. He barely had time to register confusion before his face smashed into the desk.

"OWWW! SON OF A BITCH!" he yelled as he grabbed his face in pain. He heard the booming laughter of Lutice echoed down from above and he wanted to cuss her out. However, the loud thumps of something coming closer got his min- OH SHIT THE ROBOT!

Sanders turned to see the robot nearly on top of him. He tried to scramble to his feet, but too late as it neared him and- its rear legs suddenly shot out from under it as Sanders again felt the ground shift under him. Sanders cursed as he landed on his ass while the machine did its own face-plant, shaking the desk with its impact. Sanders looked down and realized why the ground had been moving. They were on the papers he had seen before. The ground wasn't moving, the paper was slipping out from under them. Fuck, that had been too close.

Sanders didn't even bother with standing up, figuring the paper might shift again. Instead, he began to crawl toward the lamp. He glanced back at the robot and saw its back legs kick out while the arms pushed it up. It got back its legs and looked about to charge when the papers shifted again. Its "eyes" looked down at the paper as it froze. It started after him a second later, moving at a slower pace, but still too quick for Sanders liking. Sanders crawled faster as the whirling saw blade began to get closer and closer.

Finally, Sanders got off the paper and he scrambled back to his feet. Rather than take off, however, he turned and grabbed the paper the machine was on. He gave it a massive pull and smiled as he felt it shift a bit. It wasn't enough to knock the robot over, but it did force it to stop as it tried to regain its balance. With it slowed down, Sanders took off back for the lamp.

He was nearing the lamp before he began to feel the robot's thumping steps. He glanced back and saw it gaining on him quickly, again. Damn that thing was fast. Sanders pushed himself and saw the lamp coming closer and closer. The stand was about an inch high, or about ten feet to him, so he was going to need to climb up it. However, it would keep him from being trampled.

Sanders yelled as he leap into the air for the last few steps and tried to grab the edge of the stand. His fingers closed around its lip and he smiled in satisfaction. He looked back to see the robot storming toward him and he scrambled up just in time to avoid its blade slicing into the stand where he had been. Sanders rolled away as the saw blade retracted from the stand.

Sanders got back to his feet let out a sigh of relief. OK...now he could think and come up with a-... His thought was interrupted as something thunked into the lamp. Sanders looked up and saw two cables going up from the robot to the lamp. The cables were attached to two winches that had come out of the robot's sides and were slowly pulling it up toward Sanders.

"Oh come on!" Sanders yelled as he realized his plan was falling apart and he was still very much in danger. Sanders had to get rid of those cables or the robot was going to follow him up here. The only problem was he didn't have anything that COULD cut those cables. His mace was meant for smashing, not cutting, and would just bounce off them. Fuck now wha-...the saw blades!

It was a long shot, but it was the only shot. Sanders rushed the slowly rising machine as its arm came out to engage him. The saw blade whirled toward him and Sanders dodged its screaming death. He danced around it, usually staying just outside its reach, as he moved toward the cables. He got right near on and waiting for the saw blade to come toward him. It never did, however. Instead, the arm with the shield stuck in it came flying toward him. Sanders swore as he dropped to the ground to avoid the club being swung at him at superhuman speeds. The arm with the shield bounced off the cable, not doing a bit of damage to it. Sanders scrambled back as the saw blade cut into the stand, barely missing his legs. Great...now it had a saw blade AND a club...

Sanders tried to think of something else, but didn't have time as one of the robot's legs stepped up onto the stand. Swearing under his breath, Sanders looked around for what to do now. With no other real choices, he rushed to the lamp and began to try and climb it. It was tough going as the thing didn't really have any hand holds beside the little decorations on it. They were not evenly, placed, however, and made climbing slow. He looked down as the robot got to the top of the stand and rushed toward him. Sanders scrambled up and managed to get high enough to be out of reach of its arms. Dammit, now what the fuck was he going to do?

Before he could even start to to think, he felt the whole lamp shift. He swore as he slammed into it and looked down. The robot backed away from the lamp before ramming it again, sending another jolt through the lamp.

"You damn bucket of bolts! Can you not give me ANY break?!" Sanders yelled at it as it slammed the lamp again. He cursed as he felt his grip slipping. He was still trying to get it back when the robot slammed the lamp a fourth time. Sanders swore as his feet slipped and his fingers screamed in pain as they tried to keep him up. He tried to get his footholds back, but the next jolt came to fast. His fingers slipped and Sanders felt himself falling. He cried out in terror before gasping in pain as his back smashed into something. He reached down to grab what it was and felt something like...a cylinder?

Suddenly, he felt the ground buck under him and Sanders cursed as he was nearly thrown from whatever he had landed on. Looking around, he realized he had landed ON TOP of the robot. And the cylinder was the machine gun that had been on top of it! Sanders grabbed it in a death grip as the robot began to buck, kick, and thrash trying to get him off. Its arms tried to reach back to him, but didn't turn far enough back to reach him. Not like it mattered as the moment Sanders lost his grip he was dead. He screamed in terror as he gripped the gun tighter. The bucking got worse and Sanders scrambled to find a handhold on the robot. His finger slipped into something an- BANG

Sanders tried to curse, but heard nothing as he suddenly went deaf. He glanced forward and noticed a hole in the lamp where a bullet had punched through it. He glanced down and noticed his finger had slipped into the trigger of the gun...the gun had a trigger...IT HAD A TRIGGER AND AMMO!

Hope filled Sanders as he took out his mace and began to beat into the top of the machine. He smashed in the plating around the gun, trying to force it out as he keep a death grip on it. His pounding paid off as the gun began to come loose. Sanders pulled on it and felt a few cables snapped off from its base. He took one last breath before giving a mighty heave and was rewarded with being thrown off the robot. He landed on his back, smashing his head into the lamps' stand. For a second his vision burst into stars, but the adrenaline flooding his system steadied his vision. The robot turned and crouched down to charge again. Sanders just smiled at it, however, as he raised its own turret toward it.

Sanders squeezed the trigger and yelled as the recoil blasted into him. The robot's charge was blunted before it had began as the bullets began to rip into it, shredding its armor and causing sparks to fly. It stumbled back then forward as its armor was turned into swiss cheese and its head was turned into a ruined mess. Both of its arms were blasted off and it fell to the ground as one of its legs was nearly blow off. Finally, with a few sparks and the grinding of gears, it crumbled to the ground. Sanders never let go of the trigger even after the gun was empty and the robot scrap metal. He laid there breathing heavily, half expecting the machine to get back up and come thumping toward him. It wasn't until he heard some laughter behind him that he finally snapped out of his stupor.

The laughing wasn't what he was expecting. It wasn't the booming laughter of Lutice...and yet it sounded like her. He slowly stood up, pushing the empty machine gun away and turned to see who was behind him. His eyes went wide in shock as the woman behind him moved toward him, a smile on her face.

Sanders was taken completely off guard as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a long kiss. Her large breasts pushed into his chest as she slipped her tongue in and out of his mouth. Her brown eyes stared at him with unhidden lust as her hips began to grind into him.

Finally, she broke off the kiss as she cooed at him.

"That...was a magnificent show, my little survivor. Though, I guess you are not little now," Lutice said as she pulled him down for another kiss. Sanders was at a lose for words and didn't even try to fight against her. What the fuck was going on?! Why was Lutice his size now?! Was he still small or had she gotten small?!

The last question was easily answer, a quick glance up at the huge lamp answering it. The others though, Sanders had no idea how to answer. He pushed away, from Lutice's kiss, getting a disappointed look from Lutice.

"How...why are you-" he started to ask, but Lutice put her finger on his lips.

"Shhh, don't worry about it. Right now, I should be your only concern. Its been sooo long, and a survivor like you only comes along so often. Mmmm, have I mentioned how much men who can survive anything turn me on? Maybe I should have," she said with a throaty chuckle. Sanders pants were more constraining than they ever had been in his life as Lutice grinded against him. He tried to stammer out...something, he wasn't really sure what, but his words were lost as Lutice slipped off her shirt.

Sanders was dumb struck as Lutice's shirt came over her head to reveal her D-cup breasts. He marveled at their size and perfect shape and being right THERE begging to be held. Her black lace bra keep them contained, but only barely, and he couldn't help but reach for them. He stopped himself, but Lutice caught the action. She snatched his hands up and brought them to her breasts, moaning a bit as they pushed into her flesh.

"Go ahead, enjoy them while I slip out of this," she said as she began to unbutton her pants. Sanders didn't even try to resist as he rubbed her soft, firm breasts, running his thumbs across her already stiff nipple. Lutice let out a soft moan as he began to squeeze them a bit. He...he had just been laying on these a few minutes ago and now... now he was cupping them and ...and could suck on them if he wanted to. A quick pull on her bra and-

Dammit, what was he doing?! He didn't have time for this and now was his best chance of getting away from her...but the breasts and the lust in her eye- NO Isabella was counting on him! With her shrunk, he could overpower her and...with her shrunk...

FUCK, he had been so distracted by her that he hadn't thought of HOW she had shrunk. She had to have some kind of device or something on her that let her shrink. If Sanders could get that he might be able to shrink Aviel back to his size, or Angela, or anyone! That kind of weapon would change everything! He had to get it, but where did Lutice have it?

Sanders was very sure she didn't have it on her bra as he had thoroughly checked it, and was still "checking" it. That meant it had to be in her pants or her shirt. He needed to keep her distracted, though, or she might realize what he was after. And if she got to the device first... The thought of getting even smaller sent a chill down his spine like no other.

"Are you really that distracted by them?" Lutice asked as Sanders realized he had been staring at her breasts the entire time. He shook off his thoughts and forced a smile onto his face.

"Sorry just they are so...perfect that I just can't get enough," Sanders said giving the twins another squeeze to sell the half lie. Only half because they truly were perfect. Damn he wanted to bury his face in them. Lutice smiled at that and pulled him down for another kiss. Sanders let himself be drawn down and returned the kiss. He moved his head to the side and managed to see just a bit behind Lutice. It wasn't enough to get a good view though. Before he could try anything else, Lutice broke off the kiss and looked at him in a disapproving manner. Fuck, had she figured it out?

"I think that is enough for now. If you want more, than you need to get rid of that armor," Lutice said as she bit her lip. Sanders swore inside his head. He had been hoping to keep it on to give him an advantage if this came to blows. Arguing, however, would only ruin the mood and, probably, spoil his only chance at that device. If he wanted it, he was going to have to strip.

With no other choice, Sanders began to strip out of his armor. It took him a bit longer than Lutice had as his armor had a few buckles and such that needed to be removed, but a few seconds of work saw him down to his pants. Lutice watched him intently, the lust in her eyes only growing in intensity. She stared at his chest with unhidden lust and looked to have to hold herself back. Sanders unzipped his pants and took them off before looking back up at Lutice.

However, Lutice wasn't where she had been. Instead, she was rushing toward him with a wild look in her eye. Sanders had just enough time to get an "oh sh-" out before she leap onto his chest. He tried to keep his balance, but the force of her impact was too much. He fell back and landed flat on his back, with Lutice sitting on top of him. She giggled down at him before her hand slipped back towards his boxers. Sanders eyes went wide as he felt her hand wrap around his erection and begin to slowly rub it.

Lutice gave him a wicked grin as she shifted herself back toward his hip. She grabbed his boxers with her other hand and yanked them down and smiled at his throbbing erection. Holy fuck...holy fuck what...what was he trying to do again? Fuck he-

Lutice let go of his penis as her other hand slipped her panties to the side, revealing her soaking wet pussy. It seemed to almost be pulsing in need as she moved it above his dick. She gave a soft breath of anticipation before lowering herself onto him. Sanders had to stifle a gasp as his penis slid into Lutice's wet vagina. Holy fuck she was tight and so wet! Sanders was not a virgin, but this...this was different from all the other times. Fuck, fuck she was...just fuck! Lutice moaned as she took more and more of him till, with a gasp of pleasure, she had taken his entire length into her. She stayed there a moment, breathing from her mouth and looked at him with those lust-crazed eyes.

And then she went back up, sliding his member out of her.  She came down a second time, this time quicker. Sanders swore as his hands tightened, trying to find something to grab in his pleasure. Sanders couldn't help but grunt as Lutice groaned again. He...he was forgetting something...wasn't he? Something he sho-

Lutice came down a third time, this one better than all the rest. She slid back up before Sanders even had time to recover and was coming down before the pleasure had worn off. He watched his hands move to her hips and wrap around them. They were nice and wide, with just enough fat on them to make them soft enough, but not overly plump. She giggled down at him as she began to speed up her pumps. Faster and faster she went, moaning with each pump. Suddenly, Sanders felt his own hips moving up and down with her. He thrust his member into her and was rewarded with even louder moans of pleasure from her. One of his hands wondered up to her bra and yanked it down to reveal her D-cup breasts in all their glory. They bounced up and down with each thrust, in a mesmerizing sight. Sanders' hand grabbed one and began to fondle her nipple causing Lutice to gasp in confusion before smiling in approval. She looked down at him with a look of utter bliss and lust.

Their thrusts became faster and faster and Lutice's moans turned into one long moan of differing volumes. Sanders could feel the orgasm coming, closer and closer he got with each thrust. A few more and he would have the release he needed SO badly. Lutice's hands began to dig into his arms as if willing him to pound her harder. Sanders thrust and thrust and thrust into her as Lutice came down again and again and again.

Finally, Sanders thrust one last time and felt his seed erupting out. Lutice gasped as she felt it too and arched her back as she cried in an orgasm of her own. Sanders gripped her hip and breast hard as she did the same with his arms as they both came. Sanders let out a long breath of sweet release as Lutice screamed in satisfaction. She leaned back forward and nearly collapsed into him. She caught herself with her arms, her head just above his and her hair creating a sort of wall around them. She stared at him as he stared at her for a few seconds. In her brown eyes, Sanders saw the old Lutice that had saved him all those years ago and the look of a feral, wild beast.

Something was nagging at his mind about something, but all he wanted to do now was be here with her. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her down into him. She let herself fall into him and gave a happy moan. Sanders kissed her forehead before she looked up at him. She shifted up and they kissed for a long time before they broke off. They stayed like that till sleep took them both, their bodies wrapped around each other.

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December 7, 2023 8:21 AM

Sanders slowly woke, feeling better than he had in days. He glanced down and saw Lutice's head laying on his chest, her hair a mess. She looked to be sound asleep and had her arms wrapped around him. He leaned back, not wanting to wake her by moving. What the hell? One second he was nearly killed by a robot and the next Lutice was his siz-....FUCK!

Remembrance slammed into Sanders as he remembered he still needed to find that shrink device, AND get to that Hope place AND find what Manchent had left. FUCK he had just wasted an entire night! Sanders almost leap up, but stopped when his moving caused Lutice to mumble in her sleep. She hugged herself to him even tighter as she mumbled out what almost sounded like...help? No, he must have misheard. Sanders sighed to himself as he laid back down.

If he stood up he would wake her and then he would have to deal with her to get the device. Sanders...didn't want to have to do that if he could avoid it. After this, he wasn't sure he COULD hurt her. The old Lutice was still there and they had just had the best sex in his life. He would have to figure some other way to do this.

He glanced over to the side and saw Lutice's pants not that far away. In fact, if he could shift a little bit closer, he might be able to reach them. Course the device might not be in them, but it was worth a look. And even if he did wake Lutice up, he could probably figure some lie to use to keep her from getting suspicious.

Sanders moved his arms up a bit and slowly shifted himself closer to them. Lutice held on and was dragged along, but didn't seem to notice. He stopped for a second to make sure she was still asleep before shifting again. He looked over and gave a silent yes as the pants came closer. He shifted just a few scale inches more, still not waking Lutice, before getting the pants in reach. He slowly reached out to them and managed to get his finger around the leg. He pulled them down slowly, watching Lutice like a hawk.

Lutice never stirred so Sanders turned his attention to the pants. He dug into its pockets, but didn't find anything save ID cards and pocket lint. The belt was empty of anything too, causing him to swear. It must have been on her shirt. Sadly, the shirt was a good bit away and Sanders didn't think he could go that far without waking Lutice. He might have just gone for it if his hand hadn't bumped into something in the pant's leg.

Sanders turned back to the pants and stuck his hand up the leg. His hand closed on a cylinder hooked to the leg with a latch. He undid the latch and pulled the object out. His eyes widened as he pulled out a gun that looked exactly like the one Angela had used. A shrink ray...the same kind that had doomed Isabella...

Sanders glanced down at Lutice and saw she was still asleep. With that worry out of the way, he brought the device over. It looked like some kind a futuristic ray gun with two knobs on its and a trigger to fire it. Its barrel gave off the same green glow and Sanders was careful not to go anywhere near it. Sadly, the knobs were not labelled in anyway, leaving him to guess what they did.

He figured there was only one way to figure out how to use it, that didn't involve hurting Lutice. The beam that had hit Isabella had only shrunk her and the shrink disaster had left objects alone as well. However, the fact this thing was so tiny and Lutice's clothes were as well, meant these things COULD affect objects. Best to test it on an object then. Sanders pointed it toward the rather distant pencil on the desk. Worse case it was way over there so... With a gulp of worry, Sanders pulled the trigger.

The shrink ray made a slight noise as it discharged the green energy and sent it flying toward the pencil. It hit the pencil and...did nothing. The green energy caused the pencil to glow for a second before dissipating without doing a thing. Sanders cursed under his breath and looked at the gun in annoyance. Great...looked like it was time to play guess the right setting.

"You really shouldn't play with other people's toys," Lutice said getting Sanders eyes to widen. He looked down to see her looking up at him with a smirk on her face. Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Think, Sanders think, THINK!

"Lutice...I was...just curious and-"

"And using my shrink gun without my permission," she said before making a tsk tsk noise. She crawled up toward his face and Sanders made sure to move the shrink device out of her reach as she did. She didn't so much as glance at it, though, as she stared at him and began to inch closer and closer to his lips.

"Silly Sanders, if you wanted to play with it, you could have asked. In fact, why don't I show you a REALLY neat trick," she said before lunging for the gun. Sanders tried to keep it from her, but she yanked it out of his grip before he could stop her. She got to her feet and whipped around as Sanders got to his, pulling up his boxers when he noticed they were still down.

Sanders thought about going for the gun, but Lutice raised it to point at him, ending that thought.

"Lutice...you don't want to do this. Please, don't shrink me, please," Sanders begged, hoping he could talk his way out of this. Lutice raised an eyebrow at his pleading before giggling a little.

"Shrink you? Why would I do that? No, I like you just the way you are. However," she paused as she moved the gun to point at herself, "I am feeling a bit, constrained." Sanders was confused as hell why she would point a shrink ray at herself... and then it hit him. Because it could reverse it too. If it couldn't, why would she EVERY have shrunk herself? Fuck, he had a way to return his size right in his hands, and probably set to it too, and he had wasted it on a damn pencil...an unshrunken pencil to boot! Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!

Sanders heard Lutice moan as she pulled the trigger. The same green energy shot out of the gun before bathing her in the same glow. She smiled at him as she slowly began to rise into the air. She lowered the gun as she sauntered up to him as her head slowly rising up. Sanders tried to move back, but Lutice was quicker and wrapped her arms around his back. She pulled him to her and smirked as her slowly expanding breasts began to push into him. She rose upward to him as the glow faded from her form. She gave one last moan of pleasure as her eyes rose up to be level with his own. She...she was the same height as he was...

"Ahh, much better. And it makes it so much easier to," she said before stopping as her lips pushed into his. Sanders tried to stay focused, tried to remember he needed to get the shrink ray. It was in her hand, he just had to take it, just had to...

It was no use, her expanded lips were caressing his mouth, her swollen breasts were pushing into his chest, and his hands were too busy cradling her larger butt. All he wanted now was to rip his boxers down and see how her larger pussy felt. Sanders managed to pull one of his hands from her rear to try and pull his boxers down. Lutice, however, stopped him with her free hand and slowly drew away from his kiss.

"Not yet...I' haven't finished yet," Lutice said as she pulled away. Sanders almost tried to go after her, but she leveled the shrink ray at him when he did. Oddly, it looked to be a bit bigger than he remembered it... He backed away as she turned it back on herself. She adjusted one of the knobs and then fired it again.

Once again she gave a pleased moan as the energy washed over her. She wasted no time moving back to Sanders and wrapping herself around him again, not that Sanders was complaining. Sanders stared at her brown eyes as they began to rise above his own and go higher and higher above him. He pulled himself closer as he felt her breasts filling out and pushing harder into him. And he could literally FEEL her ass filling out in his hands, pushing them further and further out. It was...unbelievable. Lutice was growing right in his arms.

Lutice giggled as her head passed his. She was a head taller than him now and still growing. Her breasts were beginning to push him further and further away as they blew up right along with the rest of her. His hands could barely get around her growing rear and he was having to strain his arms to keep a grip on her. It wasn't long before she was simply too big for him to wrap his arms around.

His hands began to slide back along the side of her hips, grown too large for him to round now. Her face was now staring down at him, a full three heads higher now. Sanders looked down and saw her breasts rising up to meet him, both large enough now to nearly wrap around him. He was slipping down her, or she was simply growing too fast for him to keep up. Whatever the reason, he was slipping further down her expanding body.

Thankfully, Lutice realized the problem. Sanders heard something rather big thunk to the desk as her hands wrapped around his, comparatively, small rear. Sanders sighed at that, thinking she would lift him up to her face. No such luck, or bad luck, however as she keep him chest level. Her breasts expanded out along with her, slowly engulfing him in their orbs of flesh. Sanders couldn't help but grab both of her nipples and began to caress them. Lutice gave a low moan of approval as her nipples hardened under his hands. They, too, were swelling larger and larger with each passing second, pushing further out like slowly rising flags.

Lutice gave a soft sigh as her growth seemed to slow. Sanders looked up to see her large face smiling down at him. He risked a glance down and saw her long legs going down to the desk, a good story between him and it. Lutice had grown to about ten scale feet, maybe more. However, she was not the only one as the shrink ray was now far larger than it had been before. It seemed it could shrink and grow objects after all, including itself. Sanders didn't get more time to study it, however, as Lutice pulled him into her breasts and began to squeeze them together. Sanders managed to worm up enough to get his head out, gasping for air, but his chest and a bit of his waist were trapped in her breasts' loving embrace. Sanders penis was back to full erection and it was unimaginably hard not to blow his load right then and there as the twin orbs slowly messaged his body.

Lutice was not done, though, as she giggled and pulled him out of her breasts. She lifted him up with both hands to her face and looked about to kiss him. However, she rose him up above herself at the last minute and Sanders found his dick going for her mouth. Before he could even think to say something, he felt Lutice's wet, soft, and large lips wrap around his dick.

Sanders gasped in pleasure as Lutice began to slowly suck on his dick,draping the rest of him over her head. She tilted her head up just enough to let him lay on her face without risk of falling as her hands went down to pleasure herself. Sanders held on to her hair as she licked, sucked, and kissed his member. It was...unbelieveable. Pyrrha's licks were great, but the sheer size difference made them more like entire body rubs. Lutice, however, was at the perfect size to still be able to pleasure just his member. And pleasure it she did as her tongue ran all over it and her lips sucked it further and further into her mouth. She had to keep it up for only a few seconds before Sanders could take no more. He blew his load right into her mouth causing her eyes to widen a bit before she gave a rumbling giggle.

She swallowed down his cum before going right back to her assault on his dick. Sanders groaned as his dick was forced to stay up and a second load forced out. Again, it only took a few seconds before Sanders had fired again, this time nearly passing out from the pleasure and exhaustion.

Lutice picked him up off her face and lowered him to eye level. She gave him a loving smile before her lips moved forward. Sanders returned the kiss as best he could, but it was awkward with the size difference. Lutice began to slowly lower him down to her pussy when a noise came from the lamp.

Lutice's look changed instantly to a look of rage as she swore. She sat Sanders down, grabbed the shrink ray, and stomped back over to the lamp. She shot something with the ray and waited a second before grabbed her wrist unit. She looked over it before stomping her feet and swearing angrily.

"Lut-Lutice? Are...are you al-" Sanders started to ask before her amazon-sized form whirled on him.

"NO YOU IDIOT! DO I LOOK ALRIGHT?! FUC..." she stopped as she saw Sander cringe from her anger. She cringed herself as she seemed to get another headache.

"I'm...fine just...annoyed. We will have to continue this later, though I won't have the shrink ray then," Lutice said sounding really disappointed. She was not the only one. Fuck, he had lost his chance of getting it simply because he had been too damn horny. DAMMIT!

Lutice shot some other stuff on the lamp before pulling on her resized shirt and pants. Sanders was sad to see her back in her clothing and yet was also grateful. Lutice moved back to him and knelt down to him.

"Mommy has to go to work now, so you be a good boy and stay out of trouble, OK?" she said in a mocking tone. Sanders gave her an unamused look which only got her to giggle at him.

"Fine, then how about this instead," she said before snatching him up again. She pulled her shirt outward and shoved him up it and into her breasts again. Sanders was able to just see out of her shirt as she began to squeeze her tits into him again.

"Be a good boy and we can do this again. Only with me full sized. I'll let you play with them to your little hearts content and then you can play with my pussy to MY content. Sound good?" Lutice said as she kissed the top of his head. Sanders was too busy coping a feel to really answer, but Lutice took it as a yes.

She let him fall out of her shirt before lowering him to the desk. She then moved the knob of the ray again and  shot herself with it. She leap down from the desk just as the green glow grew to an almost blinding intensity. By the time Sanders had blinked it away, Lutice was almost back to her normal height. She turned back to the desk and stretched her arms out, purposely pushing her now massive breasts out toward Sanders. She looked down at him and then frowned.

"Hmm...might not be a good idea to just leave you sitting out in the open. Wouldn't want you getting found and someone else having fun with you. Hmm," she said as she looked around. She looked back at her dresser and smiled as she turned back to Sanders. Before he could offer to just walk ONTO her hand, she had snatched him up between her fingers. She walked over to her dresser, the steps sending jolts into Sanders that made him queasy, before pulling one of the top drawers open. Inside were a large number of panties of various makes and colors all folded and ready for us. Lutice lowered him till he was over one before dropping him inside.

Sanders yelled in panic as he fell, but the red panty he fell on gave way under him like a large safety net, slowing his fall. He slowly came back up and after a few bounces, was safety on the panty with no injuries. He looked up to see Lutice's massive figure looming above him.

"You should be safe in there. If someone else other than me comes, you can hide in my panties. Or you can do that anyway, I don't really mind," she said with a wink before the drawer shifted. The light slowly faded as Lutice pushed the drawer closed, trapping Sanders in a sea of her panties. Well...at least it wasn't a catgirl cage.

Chapter 6: Escape to Danger

December 7, 2023 8:26 AM


Sanders laid there on his panty mattress for a little while, unsure what to do. It was pitch black inside, at first, but slowly his eyes adjusted enough to kinda see. He could hear Lutice still moving around the room and knew trying to escape with her still here was pointless. Of course, he had a bad feeling that trying to escape was going to prove futile as well. Trying to push the drawer open would be like trying to move a building with his bare hands.

Finally, Sanders heard the door open and close. He waited for a few minutes, listening for any sounds, before trying to stand up. The panty gave way under his feet, making standing difficult to say the least. Giving up on that, he crawled toward the dresser. He slid down the edge of the folded panty to the floor and headed to the wall. He looked up and saw a bit of light coming through the space between the drawer and the dresser. He pushed against the drawer, but it didn't so much as budge. He even tried ramming it, but only got a sore shoulder for his troubles.

Sanders cursed as he realized he was not getting out that way. There might be a way out further into the drawer, but he could barely see here near the crack. If he went too far back he would be lost in a maze of panties. Fuck...he might really be trapped this time.

Just as he was about to head to the back to try his luck, a loud bang came from outside. He looked back at the dresser in confusion before another bang came drifting through. He pressed his ear against the wood to hear better as a third bang rang out. This one was followed by a thump as something hit the carpet which, itself, was followed by a louder thump.

Someone was in the room... Sanders began to back away from the wood, unsure if he should try to hide or not. Whoever it was hadn't used the door, but that just meant it could be anyone. Course, would being found by whoever really be any worse that being stuck in here? Lutice was going to come back at some point. While the thought of another wild night like last one was appealing on MANY levels, the thought of doing such with Lutice at her full size sent a shiver down his spine. And that was assuming she didn't pit him against another killer robot or fuck knows what else.

Sanders' thoughts were interrupted as he heard something. He put his ear back to the wood and could just barely hear...something. Sounding like...a hose? No...air escaping? No...sniffing? Yes, something was sniffing! Wait...sniffing?

Sanders was utterly confused now, but got no time to think as another thump, this one a bit farther away, echoed in. He could barely hear the sniffing now before a low noise came behind it...was that...a meow? A second meow, this one louder, came from outside, sounding lost and worried. Sniffing, meowing, falling from the ceiling...PYRRHA! That was right, they had said she had escaped into the vents!

"PYRRHA! PYRRHA!!! I'M IN HERE!!! PYRRHA!!" Sanders yelled, trying to get her to hear. He put his ear back to the wood, but didn't hear her coming closer. Dammit, she couldn't hear him. He had to get her to come over here, though, before Lutice got back. There had to be some way for him to get her attention! Some...dammit would she stop snif-

Sniffing...she had been sniffed...no, smelling for him! If she got a whiff of him, she might be able to follow it back to here and get him out! He had to smell more and Sanders only knew one way to do that. Dropping to the ground, Sanders began to pump out push-ups like mad. He needed to get one hell of a sweat going if he wanted her to notice him. And, to be honest, he had been lagging behind with his workouts.

It didn't take him too long to get a good sweat going. He flopped to the wood to catch his breath as he tried to get his heart-rate back down from manic. Well he had gotten the smelling more part done, but Pyrrha didn't seem to have noticed yet. Sanders wasn't sure what she was looking at, but it wasn't the dresser.

He looked back and noticed the large red panty sitting behind him. He smirked as he got another idea. Grabbing a bit of the panty, he began to fan himself with it, trying to blow his scent out through the crack. Of course, she sheer size of the panty made this itself a work-out and Sanders grumbled a bit to himself. Should've just done this from the beginning...

It wasn't long before Sanders arms felt like jelly and his energy was near its limit. He hadn't eaten at all today and he was running on fumes and adrenaline for the most part. He gave one last pump, before he collapsed in a heap onto the panty. He laid there, smelling the lingering detergent smell of the panty. Well, at least Lutice washed them... He was about to just pass out and say fuck it when the dresser suddenly rocked a bit. Sanders sat up just as a loud noise came from up above him.

Sanders looked up and saw a shadow moving over the light filtering in. His hope soared as he shifted around.

"Pyrrha! PYRRHA! I'M IN HERE!" he yelled up. This time, he got an answer of a happy meow as he heard Pyrrha's claw beginning to dig into the wood. Of course...she had found him, but didn't know how to open the drawer...fan-fucking-tastic.

Sanders was about to try and shout up instructions when the drawer shifted a bit. Sanders glanced around in confusion before it shifted again. Sanders blinked as he suddenly found the small amount of light filtering in become a good blinding beam. He blinked away before looked up just in time for the dresser to shift forward again. The opening expanded to reveal Pyrrha's large face looking down into it. She looked around before her eyes settled on Sanders.

"MEOW!" she cried before her hand wiggled its way into the drawer. Sanders didn't even try to resist as it wrapped around him and pulled him out of his panty prison. Only to replace it with one made of lips, tongues, and flesh as Pyrrha kissed, licked, and nuzzled him like a child finding her long lost pet. Sanders was soon drenched in her saliva and more than a little battered from her rougher than usual nuzzling. He tried saying something, but Pyrrha always buried his face in something before he could get more than a word out.

Finally, Sanders' stomach did was his mouth couldn't and groaned. Pyrrha stopped as his stomach growled again and began to look around. Sanders whipped the spit off his face as he finally got a chance to talk.

"Glad to see you too, Pyrrha. Or I was, yuck," he said as he whipped off more of her spit. A few licks was one thing but she had practically bathed him in licks and kisses. He had needed a bath, but this wasn't what he had in mind... The fact he had nothing on save his boxers made it worse. Hopefully, Lutice had left his stuff on her desk.

Before he could say anything else Pyrrha turned to the edge of the dresser and leap down off it. Sanders grabbed her fingers as his stomach went rushing to his head from the fall. Pyrrha landed with ease, as her hand cradled him from the fall. Sander was uninjured, save for seeing his life flash before him, but didn't release his death grip on her fingers. While he was still in shock, Pyrrha began to sniff the air again, probably looking for some food. Sanders shook off the shock as he looked around the room for the first time.

Lutice's room was, oddly, well kept and neat. All her dirty clothing was put away in a hamper and the carpet looked to have been vacuumed recently. Her bed was made and the sheets looked well taken care of. Her nightstand had a lamp on it and a picture of some people Sanders didn't recognize, Lutice's family maybe? The dresser looked rather tidy to, though he couldn't see the top of it from down here. Beside it was a box- wait.... OF COURSE! Lutice had gotten the robot and those weapons from there! It might have some field rations too!

"Pyrrha, over there!" Sanders said as he pointed over to the box. Pyrrha glanced at it and moved toward it. She gave it a confused look and Sanders sighed as he got ready to explain how to open it. Before he could, though, Pyrrha reached down and began to push on it and turn it a bit, almost like she was trying to open it. Damn she learned fast.

"No, not like that. Grab it there. No higher...no...here, there right, Yes! OK, now lift up. Up! That's it!" Sanders said as he got her to grab the lip of the box and lift its top off. As Pyrrha dumped the top to the ground, Sanders smiled as he looked inside. Just as he was hoping, it looked to be a mobile storage box.

Mobile storage boxes were almost like warehouses stuffed full of all kinds of useful stuff for normal sized people. They were usually made of four sections, each linked by a door, with differing stuff in each room. Even better, they were designed for giantesses to carry allowing them to be brought into areas quickly. Mainly they were used either to transport things to the outlying farms or as mobile command centers in disaster relief, but occasionally the Rangers would use one if they were going on a particularly long patrol. Sanders wasn't sure why Lutice had one, but considering she had tried to keep that shrink ray he had a guess.

Sanders got Pyrrha to put him down in it and he quickly went about looking through it. Unfortunately, the stuff in the box was anything but organized and looked to have just been piled in. Most of it was stuff that he wanted to take when he left, but he could worry about picking on the choice stuff AFTER he stuffed his face. It took him a few minutes of looking, but finally he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a ration bar and quickly tore the wrapper off. The ration bar was about as tasty as a cardboard box, but it was the best thing he had ever tasted at that moment.

Four bars later saw him mostly full and Sanders ready to actually look through for some useful stuff. He decided on some rope, a new shield, a flint and tender box, a couple of spare ration bars, three doses of nano-bots, a medkit, a backpack to put all this shit in, a knife(he had learned his lesson with that robot), and night-vision goggles. The rest of the stuff was either large parts he didn't have a use for, more of the stuff he had already taken, or things like a wrist computers he dared not take. As useful as one would be, the risk of being tracked was too great to use one. With all of that stuffed into his backpack, he got Pyrrha to pick him up.

"OK, now that I'm not starving, lets see if I can get my clothes back," Sanders said more to himself. He pointed to the desk and Pyrrha headed over. Thankfully, she climbed onto the chair and then the desk rather than leaping all the way up it, making for a less sickening ascent. Sanders smiled as he saw his stuff right where he had left it, next to the wreckage of the robot.

Sanders got himself set down and began pulling on his old stuff, welcoming the familiar feeling and weight of his armor. It was a good reminder of the burden Isabella, Manchent, and that strange woman had given him. He closed his eyes and the map flashed into his mind, clear as day, followed by the phrase, and the picture of the woman's brother. None of them had faded at all and it was almost like he was staring at them at that moment. He didn't know if that should worry him or not, but it was his only real chance of finding help. He couldn't trust anyone in the Society and anyone who helped him in New Atlanta would be in dire danger. The Resistance was his only chance for help and this was his best chance of finding them.

He was about to climb back onto Pyrrha, who was sniffing at the spot Sanders was pretty sure he had fucked Lutice... when he glanced back at the robot. He moved over to it and looked into the hole he had ripped out of its top. Wires dangled out of the hole while a belt like thing seemed to go right where the gun should have been. He turned the belt so he could see down into it and his eyes widened. Bullets...lots of them. Sanders grabbed up his mace and began to pound on the robot again, using it to smash and leverage out the belt. Finally, he got what the belt was hooked to to slowly come out. He pulled it free and smiled in joy. A drum...a drum full of ammo. He rushed back to the machine gun and brought it back. The belt fit the gun like a glove. Son of a bitch, he had himself a machine gun with enough ammo to fill Pyrrha with lead.

It was not all perfect, though. Him ripping the gun out had ripped the belt as well and now it wouldn't stay on. He could feed ammo into the machine gun the old fashion way and it held twenty rounds of ammo in itself, but once used he would have to reload it manually. Rather time-consuming at the best of times. In a fight...well. Still, it was better than nothing.

Of course, there was the problem of bring the drum along. It was heavy and nearly as big as him. There was no way he could carry in anywhere save his back, and his backpack was already there. Not to mention, he doubted he could carry both. He glanced over to Pyrrha and then back to the storage box as an idea formed.

"Pyrrha, come here a second," Sanders said with a smile.

A few minutes later, and some rather inventive use of stuff, Sanders had rigged up a "necklace" for Pyrrha with the barrel of ammo as the "jewel". He closed up the belt and taped it onto the barrel with duck tape to make sure ammo didn't just pour out. Finished with that, he made sure the rubber he had used for the necklace was more than strong enough. It took a bit of doing to get Pyrrha to put it around her neck, but he got her to do it eventually. For her part, Pyrrha thought it was some kind of new toy and swatted at it as it dangled from her neck. The fact it didn't snap from her "playing" was proof enough that it was solid, so Sanders was sure it wasn't going anywhere. With his drum of ammo ready to come along, Sanders got back to their next problem. How to get out of here?

The vent Pyrrha had come in from was out as it was way up on the ceiling. The door leading out into the hallway was probably a poor idea as well. Sanders had heard footsteps going by every so often as he had worked on the necklace. They were very likely to be spotted going out that way. He then glanced at the window and remembered he had not felt Lutice climb any stairs when she had carried him to her room. If that was right, they were still on the first floor and could hope right out the window!

Sanders had Pyrrha put him back on her head and got her to head for the window. Looking out, Sanders theory was confirmed as the ground was only a short...well short to Pyrrha, drop out the window. Lutice had it locked, but Sanders managed to force the latch open, with some help from Pyrrha once she saw what he was doing. With it unlocked, Pyrrha raised it up and plucking Sanders from her head. She held him close as she dropped down. Sanders swore as his stomach shot up into him again before they lurched to a stop. He grunted a bit as his stomach rolled a bit, but he gulped down the bile. Pyrrha lifted him back up onto her head as Sanders tried to keep the ration bars down.

Sanders laid down to hide in her hair as they looked around. It looked to be about mid-morning and things were a lot calmer today. Where as yesterday had seen the base a whirlwind of activity, today it seemed more business as usual. A few giantesses were still moving about the area with catgirls and fairies, most likely hunting stragglers, but nowhere near the number yesterday. Likewise, the perimeter of the base only had a few giantesses patrolling it and he didn't see any tiny figures. Good, he didn't need to worry about Pyrrha stopping for a ...snack. The thought of what happened last time sent a shiver running through him along with a bit of bile.

"Alright, Pyrrha. Let's head for the perimeter, nice and slow. Don't want to draw attention to ourselves yet," Sanders said using her ears to aim her toward the perimeter. She started heading that way and Sanders held his breath. If they could just get close enough to the edge, they could make a break for it and try to give them the slip. Pity all the drainage ditches in the area had either been sealed or narrowed down to the point even HE couldn't get through. Made the base flood a bit when it rained hard, but was worth the inconvenience to not have Resistance using the tunnels to sneak up on them.

They were about halfway there when Sanders heard a giantess yell out a HEY! His heart skipped a beat as he risked a look in the direction of the voice. He let a sigh of relieve as he saw the yelling giantess moving toward another catgirl. It looked to be trying to dig something out from between some large boxes, but wasn't able to reach it. The giantess moved one just enough for the catgirl to get in. Sanders turned away, knowing what was going to happen next.

What the hell had the Resistance been thinking attacking the base like that? And what was he thinking, thinking they would be any help? They had been slaughtered out here and for what? To take down less than ten giantesses? There were hundreds of them on the base and plenty of women more than happy to take their place like... Sanders' hands clenched into fists as he had his answer. No matter how unlikely, he was still going to fight and, dammit, he was going to WIN!

The activity with the other catgirl was a boon as most of the giantesses were focusing on that. They neared the perimeter and were almost across it before Sanders heard another giantess yell. This time, there was no dispute it was at them.

"No! Hey, NO! Get back here!" a giantess' voice boomed out from their left. Sanders grabbed hold of Pyrrha's hair and braced his feet.

"Go, Pyrrha, run!" he yelled and run she did. Pyrrha took off at a full sprint toward the highway a few meters away. Sanders held on for dear life as her steps tossed him about. He glanced back and saw the giantess who had yelled at them starting to give chase. Her longer strides would give her a speed advantage and it would only be a matter of time till she caught up. Sanders had to figure out some way to lose her.

Sadly, all they had in front of them was open ground all the way to the highway, which was even MORE open ground. All the old wrecks and such had been removed from this part of the highway leaving them nothing to use. Dammit, there was nowhere to hide or duck under or anything out here! Sanders swore as he glanced back to see the giantess starting to gain on them.

Thankfully, none of the other giantesses were coming after them. The rest looked happy enough to let the one chasing them deal with them. They couldn't lose her...but maybe they could deal with her. Alone, Sanders would stand no chance against a giantess, but with Pyrrha...

"Pyrrha, that way!" Sanders yelled getting Pyrrha to turn a bit toward a large slope nearby. It lead up to another highway that went over the first. If they could get over that slope and beyond it, they would be out of sight of the other giantesses. Then, if they could manage to bring the one chasing them down, they could slip away before anyone realized what had happened. It was risky and hinged on them taking down a giantess in light combat gear, but Sanders didn't see any other choice.

Sanders held on tighter as Pyrrha began to scramble up the steep slope. He looked back and saw the giantess closing in on them. Pyrrha managed to scamper up high enough to get out of her reach before the giantess got to the steep slope. She swore before she began to give chase, slipping a bit on the loose dirt. Pyrrha, however, proved to be more sure-footed and slipped only once. Sanders held onto her hair and tried to stay out of sight as Pyrrha climbed to the top of the ridge.

Pyrrha was breathing rather hard by this point, but so was the giantess tailing them. The climb had slowed her down a good bit, giving them a bit of breathing room. Still, they couldn't rest too long, they needed to get out of sight before the giantess caught up to them.

"OK, Pyrrha, down the slope, nice and easy," Sanders said as Pyrrha moved to the other side of the highway. She slowly made her way down the slope, careful not to fall. There was a close call or two, but Pyrrha caught herself quickly. He was going to have to remember Pyrrha was a lot more sure-footed than a normal person. That could be an advantage that won this fight for them.

He looked back once they were halfway down and saw the giantess come over the hill. She groaned in annoyance as she sat down and began to slide down the hill after them. Damn, Sanders had hoped she would try to walk down the slope like they did and slip. No such luck with her coming down like that.

They reached the bottom well before the giantess, but it was still a long sprint over yet another highway to the city proper. Even worse, the highway was lowered down into a depression, meaning they would have to climb up to reach the city. Sanders wasn't sure if Pyrrha could out climb the giantess when the climb was a sheer vertical climb, and didn't want to risk being wrong. If she caught them and pulled them off... No, they were going to have to make their stand here.

"Go Pyrrha, but not too fast," Sanders said getting Pyrrha to run, but not sprint toward the other side of the highway. They had reached about a quarter of the way when the giantess had reached the bottom and took off after them. Sanders watched as she got closer and unhooked his machine gun. He wasn't sure how effective it would be on a giantess, but he wasn't just going to sit here and do nothing.

As the giantess neared them, Pyrrha turned to face her on her own. She crouched down and gave a low growl before hissing at the giantess. The giantess was undeterred as she slowed to a stop and shook her head.

"Oh shut up. Make me have to chase you and then hiss at me. Going to make sure your handler teaches you a lesson," the giantess said as she started to walk closer. Sanders knelt down lower into Pyrrha's hair to hide and tightened his grip on her hair. He waited till the giantess was nearly on top of them.

"Attack!" he hissed out to Pyrrha and the catgirl sprang forward. Sanders held on as wind buffeted him as Pyrrha leap forward onto the giantess. The woman yelled in pain and shock as Pyrrha began to claw and bite into her chest. Sanders was slammed into Pyrrha's head as she and the giantess wrestled with each other. Fuck, why hadn't he just had Pyrrha put him down?! STUPID!

The world became a scene of utter chaos as Sanders was thrown around. Every so often he would see the giantess and her hands trying to grab Pyrrha while Pyrrha's claws sliced into her. But it was so brief he had no idea what was going on or who was winning.

The giantess gave a cry of effort as Sanders felt them lifted away from her. He looked forward and saw the giantess had gotten her arms around Pyrrha's waist. Fuck, that was really, REALLY not good. Pyrrha clawed at her arms, leaving a number of nasty cuts in them, but the giantess did not let her go.

"FUCKING CAT!" the giantess yelled before raising them up over her head and tossing them straight down to the ground. Sanders tried to hold on, but the speed of the throw was just too much. His hand slipped off some of the strands of hair and yanked out the rest as he found himself free failing in the air. Sanders bite back a scream, knowing being spotted would end him just as quickly as the fast approaching ground. He looked around in panic for something, ANYTHING to grab onto. He looked down and saw the shoulder of the giantess slowly going back up from her toss.

Sanders twisted in the air and stretched out to the bit of shirt dangling off her shoulder. His hand dug into the fabric, trying to slow him, before catching on the thread of the cuff. He screamed in his mouth as his arm was nearly pulled out of its socket stopping him, but stop he did. He looked down at the dizzingly high drop and nearly passed out just for the sight. His light-headedness faded, however, when he saw Pyrrha gasping in pain on the highway. Before she could recover, the giantess kicked out and sent her rolling away, doubled over in pain. Sanders held on for dear life as the giantess shifted with the kick, barely keeping a hold on, but no longer feeling ready to pass out.

"Owww, FUCK! Screw taking you back! Going to fucking kill you, you stupid animal!" the giantess said as she looked at the cuts on her body. Sanders managed to shimmy around to the side of her shoulder and out of sight. He felt her starting to walk over to Pyrrha and swore under his breath. He had to do something or this giant bitch was going kill her!

Sanders gritted his teeth as he climbed up to the giantess shoulder. He crawled up onto it and stared at her face. He smiled as he got his target and stood up. He raised his gun and stomped down on her shoulder. The giantess stopped as she turned in confusion to her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw Sanders and the gun in his hand. He didn't say a word as he fired a burst of fire straight for her eye. The bullets punched through her eye causing a burst of gore to come out of it. The giantess screamed in pain as she reared back, blasted Sanders ears to ringing. Both of her hands came up to her head as Sanders was thrown forward by the movement. He keep a grip on his gun, but found himself slipping off her shoulder.

He looked up to see her hand came flying down toward him, ready to crush him. Sanders swore as he rolled off her shoulder to avoid the hand, only to find himself free falling again. Sanders took out his knife and plunged it into her shirt. The knife cut through the fabric, but began to slow as he held on with all his might. Finally, his descent slowed as he reached about halfway down the back of her shirt.

The ringing in Sanders ears began to fade as his hearing came back. The giantess was still screaming in pain and now rage as she was looking around herself.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU FUCKING ANT?! YOU FUCKING SHOT OUT MY EYE!!! MY FUCKING EYE!!!! I'M GOING TO BITE YOUR LIMBS OFF ONE BY ONE YOU DAMN TINY!!" she was bellowing out, causing Sanders to cringe in pain from the sonic force. Dammit, he needed to get some ear plugs or something.

He couldn't see if Pyrrha was alright or not since the giantess' body was in the way, but he had to assume she was not. He only had two more bursts of fire before his gun was out. And once it was out he was royally fucked. He had to hit something that would take her down or at least cripple her. But what?

He looked up and had his answer. Her neck...if he could climb up and shot out the back of her neck, he could sever her spinal cord. Even if it didn't kill her outright, it might paralyze her which would be just as good, if a bit morbid. Sanders slung his machine gun and started to climb up the giantess' shirt to her neck.

"DAMMIT! Little bastard!" the giantess growled before starting to spin around. Sanders swore as the momentum began to pull him from her shirt. He stared down at the ground hundreds of scale stories below and tightened his grip in a blind panic.  She stopped the turn and Sanders' momentum slammed him into her back, grunting in pain but keeping his grip.

"There you are!" she yelled as Sanders shook off the daze from the impact. He looked up to see her hand coming down toward him, ready to snatch him up. Sanders reacted on instinct and fired his second burst into her hand. The bullets raced forward, bounced away an inch from her hand as her shield deflected them. FUCK, she must have turned on her shield!

Her hand came racing toward him and Sanders had no time to try and climb away from it. He looked down and took a deep breath as he let got. He fell away from her shirt just as her hand closed on the spot where he had been. Sanders rolled and saw her ass racing up toward him. It jutted out just enough for him to land on the edge of it. He had to grab it or there would be nothing between him and the pavement save open air.

Sanders spread his arms and legs to slow his fall and got both hands ready to grab on. He landed onto her, thankfully, rather soft rear and tried to dig his hands into her jeans. His hands couldn't get a grip on the fabric and he began to slide down till his foot caught onto her pocket. He nearly went tumbling over as the rest of him keep falling, but he managed to grab hold of a nearby stitching and stop himself. He shifted himself around and got into an upright position.

The giantess didn't seem to have noticed him landing on her rear as she keep tapping her shirt for him. Sanders let out a breath of relief as he looked for some way to get back up. He still needed to reach her neck. Unfortunately, with the giantess patting her back, trying to climb up her shirt would be suicide. He was going to have to wait till she gave up.

"Dammit, where did you go? Fuck it, probably fell off. Time to deal with that cat," the giantess boomed out as she turned back to Pyrrha. Sanders cursed as he looked up. Dammit, there was no way he could reach her neck in time to stop her. Pyrrha was already hurt from before and he had no doubt the giantess would kill her. He had to stop her, but how?

Sanders held on as her rear shifted with her long strides. Sanders swore as he tried to think of something to do, but was drawing a blank. The giantess stopped and he heard a soft hiss come from in front of her. Dammit, no time, only one thing to do!

Sanders pressed the gun right into the giantess' ass and pulled the trigger. No shield stopped the bullets this time as they blasted into her skin from point blank range. Blood erupted out along with a yell of pain from the giantess. Small as he and the bullets were they were not life-threatening, being more like the size of a needle's point. But having a needle blast into your ass still hurt like a bitch, doubly so when it was a burst of them. 

The giantess' whipped around, nearly throwing Sanders off her pants, and tried to look down at him. Both of her hands came around and raised up to smack into her rear. Sanders swore as he tried to climb up to avoid them, but slipped on the blood leaking from the wound. He glanced back in panic at the hands before a large figure leap past the hands and up to the giantess' head. Sanders looked up to see Pyrrha grab onto the giantess' shoulders, her claws out.

"Wh-" the giaintess started to say before it turned into a gurgle as Pyrrha's claws raced forward and raked her throat. The giantess hands shot up to grab her throat as Pyrrha bit into it and clawed her hands away. The giantess gasped and gurgled in terror as blood began to run down her body. Sanders held on as the giantess thrashed around a bit longer before her movement slowed. Her gurgling stopped as her legs gave out. Sanders yelled in panic as the giantess began to fall forward, taking him with her.

He braced himself as the fall speed up and up and up, and Sanders had to hold on with all his might not to be thrown off by the wind. The giantess' body slammed to the ground, blasting out enough sound to blast out Sander's eardrums. He came flying down into her rear with enough force that he was sure he was dead. However, the woman's plump rear acted like a massive airbag and Sanders sank into it rather than crumble on it. The flesh pushed him back and sent the world spinning as Sanders screamed in terror. He came down on the same yielding flesh and slowly came to a stop. Sanders laid there for a second, still unsure if he was dead or not.

He slowly picked himself up and looked up. The giantess' body was laid out before him like an island in a sea of concrete. She was laying on the ground on her stomach, blood slowly pooling out from her neck. Sanders didn't need to see her unmoving chest to know she was dead. Pyrrha had, literally, ripped her throat out. Pyrrha... Shit where was Pyrrha?!

Sanders looked around and spotted her off to the side. She was laying on the cement, looked rather hurt from the beating she had taken. Being thrown to the cement and then kicked away had left a really nasty bruise on her leg and her side. She looked to have hurt the leg worse jumping onto the giantess as she was crawling along without it.

She was looking around for him before her eyes settled on him. She crawled over to him and gave him a happy lick. Sanders let her and gave her cheek a kiss in return.

"Good to see you too, Pyrrha. Sorry you got hurt, I should have thought of a better idea than this," Sanders said, though Pyrrha just nuzzled into him in response. Sanders looked past her giant face to the bruise on her leg. Already it was beginning to swell and Sanders could tell it was going to slow them down. They couldn't afford that, not at this junction. Sadly, the med-kit Sanders had was meant for normal-sized people. Pyrrha was so huge compared to that, that nothing in it would do a damn thing.

Sanders got a confused look as he got a sense of deja vu from this situation. Had he been in this situation before? No...and then he remembered. Aviel and Flonne... they had been in the same situation and Aviel had used the nano-bots on Flonne. The same nano-bots that had reacted with her healing power to reveal the truth about her past. The same nano-bots that were not meant for monstergirls.The same nano-bots  he had to decide to use or not.

Sanders stared at Pyrrha as the sounds of someone yelling came from the base. He knew what choice he had to make.

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January 11, 2024 6:55 PM

Sanders had stopped his story at that point. He took a deep breath thinking back on that moment. He moved on from it, these two didn't need to hear about that, and continued with what little was left.

"After that, we got into Atlanta proper. It wasn't too hard to avoid what few patrols there were. We got into the old drainage tunnels and used them to slip out of the city. Took us, two, three days or so. Not real sure, was hard to judge time down there. Anyway, once we got to the suburbs it was simple to avoid the patrols. I know where all of them are and how they operate so it was easy to avoid them. Then it was just following I-75 till we got here. Still, it took nearly a month to do..." Sanders said. Nearly a month of having to make due with whatever they caught or found and living in holes or old abandoned houses. A miserable month to be sure.

"When I got close to where the image in my head showed Hope was, I decided to leave Pyrrha behind. I left her in an old gas station a few miles back and continued the rest of the way on foot. Or I was, but your people jumped me moments after I got out of sight of the station. You guys probably know the rest," Sanders said hoping to whoever that they believed him.

Sanders had told Darius and the larger man nearly everything. He had told them his side of the botched rescue of Manchent, the large man glaring at him the entire time; Isabella's constant trips out into the wilds; her demise at the hands of a shrink device, Darius seemed to listen very closely to that part; his escape thanks to Pyrrha; his meeting with Darius' sister; and their killing of a giantess to escape. He left out the part with Lutice and the robot, having no wish to talk about that with two strangers.

Darius stared at him after he finished, his face blank of all emotions. Sanders had no idea whether he believed him or not. All he knew, was this Darius looked nothing like the smirking one that was still in his head. The large man, however, was easier to read and shook his head in disbelief.

"A good story. Did your bitch leaders come up with it or did you, spy?" he said moving closer to Sanders.

"What?! I'm no spy! I am te-" Sanders started to say before the big man interrupted him with a smack across the face. Before the big man could say anything, however, Darius spoke up.

"Derek, stop. Sanders is not a spy," Darius said getting Derek to whirl around to him. Sanders heart leap up in hope for the first time since his capture hearing that. Darius still stared at him with that icy gaze, however.

"What?! You believe all of that nonsense?! Darius it-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Derek," Darius interrupted him with a harsh glare. "I said he was not a spy. I said nothing of believing his story. And before you ask, I know he is not spy because of this," Darius said. He didn't move or do anything, however, and the cell was silent.

"You...supposed to be doing something?" Sanders ask getting a glare from Derek, though he didn't hit him this time. Darius shook his head.

"Because of the silence. Our scouts said that he made for Hope in a straight line, only deviating when Society patrols forced him to. That path is too perfect to be just a coincidence. Therefore, we can assume he did know where Hope was. Which means, if he was a Society spy, the Society would know where we are. And if they did, what would be happening?" Darius asked.

"We would be under siege already..." Derek answered before nodded to himself. Sanders was glad Darius was in here too or Derek probably would have beaten him bloody before either of them had thought of that, if not killed him outright.

"Well if he is not a spy, what is he then?" Derek asked going back to giving Sanders a suspicious look. Sanders guessed he should be happy he wasn't giving him a death glare anymore...

"That is the real question," Darius said as he stared at Sanders.

"I'm someone trying to help you! Whatever Manchent left has to be important if the Society was willing to kill their own to keep it unknown! I know you're smart enough to see that!" Sanders said trying to get Darius to see reason. Dammit, why did he just stand there staring at him without any emotion at all?!

"Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me," Derek growled out. Sanders turned to return the growl as Darius nodded.

"I am inclined to agree. We have wasted enough time with this," Darius said before turning back to the door. Sanders eyes widened as he realized they were not going to help AND leave him to rot down here! Dammit NO!!

"You're just going to leave me here! I fought my way through the entire Society base, surviving a giantess AND a catgirl attack, even brought a fucking message from your own damn sisters and you are going to just LEAVE me here to rot?!" Sanders said trying to break the wires binding his arms and legs. They held firm though, keeping him locked in place.

Darius stopped and glanced back at him.

"I never said anything about leaving you here. Derek," Darius said getting a stunned look from Derek. The big man gave something between a growl and a sigh as he bent down and undid the wires binding Sanders. Sanders sighed in relief as he tried to rub feeling back into his wrists and ankles.

"As I said, you are not a spy so I see no reason to keep you here. Besides, that catmonster might come looking for you if you are gone too long. I have enough issues to deal with without it adding to them. You can leave if you like and go on your...mission. But I have more important things to do than go on wild goose chases," Darius said before banging on the rock. The rock began to slowly shift as Sanders stormed after Darius. Derek, however, was in front of Sanders in an instant, blocking his way. The big man towered over Darius by a good scale foot and glowered down at him.

"So that's it? I came here to get help and you are just going to wish your hands of it? I have had a map to this place, your face, and that stupid phrase burrowed into my head for you just to say "fuck it?" Your sister must be so happy her brother is still out here doing what needs to be done to save her rather than sitting on his ass and waiting for the e-" Sanders had just gotten the last words out when Darius wheeled on him, an actually decently made pistol in his hand. He pointed the gun straight at Sanders as Derek stepped aside.

"Don't ever, EVER, talk about my sister or me not doing enough to save her again. You know NOTHING about what I have done to get her back," Darius said with a glare of utter hate on his face. Sanders was taken aback by it, but not enough to back down.

"And yet she is still in their base, trapped in a tube being subjected to Go-" Darius' pistol smashed into Sanders' jaw sending him reeling to the side. Sanders grabbed his jaw and worked it to make sure it wasn't broken before spitting out a wade of blood from his mouth. Darius was glaring even more intently at him now.

"That's right...beat the guy who came to help. That will help your sister and everyone else," Sanders said, expecting another blow. It never came, though as Darius just glared at him. Finally, he turned away from Sanders before hiding his gun away in his shirt.

"Well, my other theory about who you might be seems to be unlikely now as well," Darius said as he whispered something to Derek. Derek gave Darius a shocked look and shook his head. He started to whisper something back, but Darius ignored him.

"You are not a spy and very much not a coward. You were not sent by the Society and you are not simply trying to flee to the North to escape them. Which leaves me with only one real conclusion to make. You are, indeed, here to help and, at least, believe that there is something in Lindale that could assist us further," Darius said. Sanders was stunned for a moment by that. He...he believe him...Holy shit, he believed him! Sanders had to resist the urge to jump in the air or cheer as he felt the sweet feel of success and relief hit him.

"However,that doesn't mean I can help you," Darius said dashing Sanders hopes just as they were getting raised. His eyes leap up to stare at Darius in disbelief. He believed him and STILL wouldn't help?! This son of a-

"Before you overreact, let me explain. The Phoenixes, this group I run, are coming very close to being in an all out war with the Society. Their patrols are moving up on our southern border with alarming speed. At the same time, the Snakes are fleeing a Society attack force that wiped them out. This would not be a problem expect they are leading said force straight to our eastern border. If any of our bases in those areas are found, the Society will not rest till they find the rest. Eventually, they may even find Hope itself. With things looking so dire, I can spare no one to go with you on what is, very likely, a pointless mission," Darius said before turning to leave. Sanders felt crushed as he listened. Dammit...he couldn't even get mad at Darius for saying no. Darius had his own people to consider and Sanders knew enough about how the Society dealt with Resistance members to know what being found meant.

And then something in his head clicked. It was something Darius had said. "With things looking so dire"... But what if things were not so dire?

"Wait," Sanders said getting Darius to stop at the door. Derek sighed as he turned to glare back at him. Darius didn't turn, however.
"What if things were not so bad? What if Hope was safe for the moment?" Sander asked.

"Then I would have time to indulge a potential waste of time mission with a chance of finding what Manchent wanted so desperately to tell me," Darius said  without looking back. Sanders understood perfectly now and knew what he had to do.

"Then tell me what Pyrrha and I can do to help save Hope," Sanders said. Darius turned back to Sanders and gave him a familiar smirk.


Report from Scout Lindsey, Commander Darius' eyes only:

I have been tracking the Sphinx for three days now. It has made no move to attack, devour, or harm the Puzzle. In fact, it has done quite the opposite. When it hunts, it always brings food back for the Puzzle and uses its own body to warm the Puzzle during the night. At this point I must agree with Scout Lewis' assessment. The Sphinx is protecting and serving the Puzzle. I have even seen the Puzzle riding the Sphinx on its head, using its ears to steer it.

Also, both have yet to deviate from their course. They are still moving almost directly toward Hope. The Sphinx has, on more than one occasion, gone off the wrong way, but the Puzzle has already brought them back on the path within a few moments. Again, I must agree with Lewis. The Puzzle is heading directly for Hope. Please advice.


Response:

Capture the Puzzle at all costs, but do not harm the Sphinx.

Chapter 7: Distrusted, but Needed

January 11, 2024 7:13PM

Derek was angry. No, he was beyond angry, he was...there wasn't a word to describe what he was to be honest. It was bad enough Darius was letting this damn Society bastard live, but now he wanted to get his help AND let him get back to his catmonster?! Derek couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"Darius are you mad?! We can't let him get back to that monster! He could turn it o-" Derek started to say before Darius shot him a glare that got him to stop.

"We will discuss this in private, Derek. For now, however, let's get out of this cell and get our new...ally a meal. While he eats, we can talk," Darius said. Derek growled out an annoyed sigh, but nodded his agreement. Now they were feeding him too...

They headed out of the prison area and back into the HQ proper. Derek made sure to keep the prisoner in front of him and grabbed three more guards to come with them. Darius might be sure he was not a spy, but Derek was still unconvinced. They left the prisoner, and the three guards Derek had grabbed along the way, in the kitchen of the HQ while they headed to a small meeting room a few rooms down. Derek shut the door and turned on Darius.

"You actually believe that story AND want to let him get his CATMONSTER?! Even if he IS on our side, who is to say he can keep it tame? And do I need to remind you he was part of the reason we LOST Manchent?!" Derek said, the memory of that failure still stinging. If only he hadn't let down his guard, he could have killed that fairy and Manchent would still be alive. He would have told them whatever truth this obvious spy was lying about and... but there was no use dwelling on could be's.

"All the more reason we can't just kill him. It is possible Manchent told him something. However, in case he is lying, we are going to take all due caution when we take him to the catmonster. And, we are going to MAKE him show he is with us," Darius said his face the same unmoving stare. That wasn't the response Derek had wanted, but at least it showed Darius wasn't letting his guard down completely.

"And how are we to take "all due caution"?" Derek asked, crossing his arms across his large chest.

"By having you and Lindsey watch him ever step of the way. I am going to recall Lindsey once we are done here and she should arrive back tomorrow. You, her, and Sanders will then go and retrieve the catmonster. Both of you are to stay near Sanders and be prepared to kill him should he show any signs of betraying us," Darius said, much to Derek's relief. Darius wasn't taking any chances if he was calling Lindsey back. Between the two of them, that spy would get caught and get his just rewards. Even if Derek had to take matters into his own hands and make some evidence.. And while a catmonster was a deadly enemy, Derek would be bringing his laser cannon to even the odds. He had killed more than one with it and with Lindsey backing him up, he would kill another.

"Fine. At least it will be one less catmonster to deal with," Derek said, but stopped as Darius cleared his throat.

"There is more. Whether Sanders proves true to his word or not, I have a mission I need your Force to do. My orders in the HQ will buy us a few days, but we need to stop this advance if Hope is to survive," Darius said. He turned to the table and took out a small piece of torn paper from his fur belt. He unrolled it to reveal it as a small map of the area around Hope. It was roughly drawn with charcoal and was far from perfect, but it was good enough to get the idea.

"To accomplish that, I want you to take your soldiers south while I go back to the eastern bases with mine. I will make sure the Snakes are found and whipped out by the Society. With them dead, the Society should stop their pursuit of them and not move into our territory, doubly so thanks to what you are going to do," Darius paused as he moved his finger back down to an area well south of their Southern watchposts.

"I want you and your Force to head for this area between Kennesaw and Marietta. You are to lure one of the Ranger Patrols into the area, using whatever method you deem appropriate. Once the patrol arrives, I need you to whip it out, giantess and all," Darius said causing Derek's eyes to widen.

"You want my Force to take on a Ranger patrol by ITSELF?! I would be lucky to have even a fourth of my soldiers live through that kind of attack!" Derek said in horror. A single Force vs a giantess...a giantess with Ranger support no less. If any of those Rangers caught them before they lured the giantess into a trap or, God-forbid, found them without them realizing it...

"That is highly likely, but it is our only option. The Ranger patrols will keep advancing unless given a very good reason to stop. The fake bases will slow them, but not stop them. The only way we can stop them is by causing the lose of another Ranger patrol. Assuming Sanders is telling the truth about being a Ex-Ranger, they are already down two squads. The lose of another would force them to reconisder the marets of advancing so rapidly. And, the other Ranger patrols are sure to waste time searching both Marietta and Kennasaw for the Resistance that killed their comrades," Darius said. Derek was still in slight shock from what was being asked, but still was aware enough to know Darius was right. Even if the Society did keep pushing, the Rangers that were sent toward them were sure to go AWOL looking for the killers of their comrades. A few fake bases in both of those towns could keep them busy for months... But a single Force?!

"I can see the merits of it, Darius. But only my Force? Darius, there has to be someone else you can send along," Derek said, almost pleadingly.

"I would send another force with you, but there are none to send. The Southern forces will all be busy making those fake bases and buying you the time needed to do this. Any Force from another region would take too long to arrive and this has to be done ASAP," Darius said as Derek still tried to digest what was being asked of him. He...he had told himself he would be ready for this kind of mission, but to actually be given one...

He could have suggested Taylor's Force go instead, but that would still send people off to die. Even worse, they would be people that Derek were sure could not succeed. Taylor's Force was a more support Force than a front-line fighting Force like his. If any Force could manage to kill a Ranger patrol by itself, it was his. But the loses...

Derek looked at the map and begged it to show him another way, but nothing came to him. He was no grand strategist, just a battlefield commander and this sort of large scale planning was beyond him. That was why Darius was the leader and not him despite...

"Alright... when do you want us to move out?" Derek asked, already knowing the answer. His soldiers deserved a few days of rest, but...

"Tomorrow. The longer we wait the greater chance of one of our watchposts being found. If that happens this will be all for nothing," Darius said, just as Derek feared. His soldiers would only get a full day to rest...but it couldn't be helped. Anymore and they might be resting forever along with everyone in Hope. He wanted to let despair take him, but Derek was still the second-in-command. He couldn't fall to despair no more than he could let anyone else. He had to keep his hopes up if he wanted to protect Hope.

"What will Taylor's Force do while we are both gone?" Derek asked, trying to get on another subject.

"They will stay here as reserves and guard Hope. The Marauders might decide now is the perfect time to attack and I want someone here to make sure they reconsider," Darius answered getting a nod of agreement from Derek. The Marauders were not likely to strike at them in the middle of winter, but they had done stranger things before. And with the Society pressing into them, they might decide now was the perfect chance.

"Alright. I'll go tell my soldiers to pack up and start getting things ready," Derek said as he headed for the door. Good God...how was he going to tell them that they had arrived only to march off to their death?

"One more thing, Derek," Darius said getting Derek to turn back.

"Make sure you keep Sanders close and tell no one who he is. I don't want him killed before we know if he is a spy or not. And if he is not, that catmonster he has would be invaluable to your mission," Darius said with his dead stare. Derek sighed as he remembered he had to babysit him an-... Derek felt white hot rage suddenly fill him as his mind realized what Darius had just done. That...god-damn fucking BASTARD! He was using his own soldiers as fucking insurance!!! Derek whirled on him and stormed back toward Darius.

"You BASTARD! You have no right to play with my soldiers lives like this! You are sending them off to die no matter WHAT I do! Either death by catmonster or death by giantess!" Derek roared out glaring down at the much smaller Darius. Darius, however, didn't move an inch. He returned the glare full force before he answered.

"I am saving Hope, THAT is what I am doing. If you are so worried that Sanders is lying, then do whatever you feel is necessary to safe-guard your soldiers, by all means. But make sure you realize just what you are throwing away for nothing more than a suspicion. Oh an make sure to get his equipment back from Helman too," Darius said. Derek's fists clenched shut and he was sorely tempted to beat Darius to death. His fist came down and smashed into the table, smashing the corner apart as Derek whirled around. Damn him...DAMN HIM! Derek stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Derek plowed through the halls heading back to the kitchen and found Sanders eating some deer jerky he had found. He slapped the food out of his hand and hauled him up to his feet with one arm.

"MOVE! The rest of you go back to your posts," Derek ordered as he shoved Sanders down the hallway. The guards were quick to scatter after seeing Derek's rage and Sanders seemed to get the hint talking would end badly for him. He keep quiet as Derek had him lead them to the exit of the HQ, Derek giving him directions. Derek didn't even want to be in the same space as Darius right now and the sooner he got away from him, the better.

After a few minutes of walking, they came out of the HQ. Sanders climbed down the ladder and the two guards at its foot keep an eye on him as Derek climbed down after him. Derek reached the wooden platform and saw Sanders staring in awe at the scene below them. Derek's rage diminished as he looked out on the sight as well. He always loved this view and, even now, it calmed him a bit.

Hope spread out below them in all its wonder and ingenuity. Built into an old, covered, highway gutter, the city was well protected from the elements and passing Society troops. A bridge had been built going over this part of I-75 and the bridge's support had been buried into the ground right next to the gutter. Some animal before the shrink had dug through the dirt to make a nest in the gutter and had made a large open area between the drain in the gutter and the bridge support. The large open area had been its nest, but was now the perfect spot for the city. Even better, the constant flow of rain water from the drain gave them easy access to water and the means to grow food. Dams had been rigged up in the channel that lead the drain water to a cleaning plant somewhere to stop the water when it started to run out and could open again if it rained too much.

Up top, the bridge had collapsed at some point after the shrink and had blocked the road with its rubble. The Society had cleared it back when they were not the monsters they were today and, ironically, made the place even better for them. Above the gutter, debris from the bridge made for horridly uneven ground full of cracks and crevices, all perfect for hiding in. The large cement ramp leading into the gutter itself had been blocked up with some of the debris, but they had shifted it enough to keep one side mostly clear of water, while the other let it flow freely. Next to the dry side, a massive wooden ramp had been built to get from it to the dirt ground of the nest beside the drain itself, while a large waterfall let the water pour into their man made drain lake.

In the dirt itself was the actual city of Hope. A large number of buildings made of various materials: cardboard, cans, wood, and anything else they scavenged, were placed at random intervals around the area. Around them were tents made of torn cloth, shredded paper, and pretty much anything and everything that the winter people lived in. People in furs and sown together bits of cloth moved through the city going about their business in droves. A number of kids were in the open areas playing any number of games and generally having no care in the world. A number of fields of mushrooms and other plants that didn't require sun were near the lake, though they were mostly empty. Smoke from various cook fires were everywhere as were people trading off the last of their crops and such things. A large market was set up in the middle of the city with "stalls" set up in various locations. Pretty much anything of worth was up for trade, including rooms in houses.

Behind the city, was the massive bridge support that held the armory, R&D, and other such places. All of the military facilities had been cut out of the concrete of the massive support foot to make sure they were safe and to keep people from wondering in. A number of people were near the support training with their guns and rockets as supplies were moved about and taken stock of. The entire city was buzzing with activity and you would never know it was threatened to be whipped out by looking at it.

"Holy shit...This place is...nothing like I thought it would be," Sanders said as he stared in amazement. He looked back up at the HQ above them and Derek couldn't help smirk as Sander's face paled when he realized where it was. Darius had been the one to insist the HQ be in the concrete cover of the gutter and, now that it was finished, Derek had to admit it was a brilliant idea. Not only was in safe from practically anything, it also gave them a perfect spot to look out into the highway AND to get out into the debris above them. Hope would still fall to an all out attack, but it would not fall easily.

"And we want to keep it that way. Darius might trust you, but I don't. Do anything I think is suspicious and I will make sure its the last thing you do. Now move," Derek ordered as he traded his smirk for a glare. Sanders shook out of his awe and grumbled a bit before heading down the wood ramp that lead to the city proper. Derek followed on his heels and made sure to keep a hand near his hidden handgun.

They reached the bottom without incident and Derek got Sanders to head toward the bridge support in the distance, making sure to steer them away from the city proper. The last thing he needed was Sanders slipping away in the crowd. Sanders did as he was told and looked more interesting in looking around in wonder than plan an escape. Of course it could all be a ruse and Derek was not about to fall for it. Dammit, it would be so easy just to shoot him, but Darius' words were still fresh in his mind. Damn him...

"You need to build more houses," Sanders said as they passed a number of tents set up by the winter people. Most of them eyed Sanders with suspicion, but welcomed Derek or gave him respectful nods. Derek returned them before he answered.

"We have plenty. These people are only here because its winter. Once it warms up and they don't have to worry about freezing, they will go back to their normal homes. And you should worry more about yourself," Derek said as he shoved Sanders forward to make him go faster. Sanders cursed under his breath from the shove, barely catching himself. A few of the people around gave a light chuckle from the display.

Of course, none of them knew Sanders was ex-Society, assuming he was. If they did, Derek had no doubt they would be grabbing any weapon they had to kill him. Most of them, probably, just assumed he was a criminal or a soldier who had done something worth being punished for.

Sanders stayed silent as they left the tents behind and headed into the practice area. A few people glanced at them, but a yell from an instructor got them to focus again. The instructors all gave "Sir"s, salutes, and other greetings to Derek as he passed. He returned them as he pushed Sanders into the cement support structure itself.

"You must be pretty high up the chain around here for all the respect they give you," Sanders said, glancing back at him. Derek growled at him and shoved him back to facing forward. Derek had no interest in talking with Sanders or giving him any hint of their command structure. Sanders, though, didn't seem to get the hint.

"Is that all you are going to do? Growl and shove me? Not even going to at least say something?" Sanders said causing a flash of anger to go off in Derek.

"Fine, shut the hell up," Derek said before shoving him roughly into the door leading to their destination. Sanders grunted as he hit the wooden door and glared back at Derek. He said nothing, though, as he opened the door. He started to move through but stopped as he gaped in wonder. Derek shoved him out of the way before going in himself.

They entered into the R&D room of the Phoenixes and the near constant noise of the place. A few people were scattered about the area, either combing through massive piles of parts for things or trying to rig together some new weapon. A few wooden work benches covered in damaged parts were everywhere along with half-finished weapons and other things. In the far right corner was a large jury-rigged smelter and forge, belching smoke and heat. Their head blacksmith, Henry, was busy hammering away at a piece of metal while his assistant was bringing over choice pieces of metal from the parts pile to put into the smelter. There was no telling what he was trying to make, but Derek was excited to find out. Henry only used this place to make something if it was important or special. Otherwise, he just used one of the forges in their manufacturing area.

In the far left corner was a small alcove with a number of plants, roots, and other such things scattered about. Doctor Hambly was not there and neither was any of her nurses. Most likely, they were busy treating all the new people who were coming in back at the clinic. Hopefully she wasn't working herself to death again...

In the middle of the room, however, was the men Derek was looking for. "Doctor" Helman and his suedo assistant, Jimmy, were doing...something. Helman was a large man with a equally large belly. A huge white beard and mustache covered most of his face and his white hair went nearly down to his back. He wore a large leather apron stained with all sorts of things, including some things Derek would swear was blood, over a patch-worked labcoat-esque coat. Jimmy was nearly the exact opposite. Short but well built, Jimmy looked like a light-weight boxer with just enough muscle to give some definition to him. He was clean shaved and his hair was trimmed neatly. He wore simple patchwork clothing along with large leather gloves and boots.

"Jimmy, pick up that stick...slowly...carefully. OK, now AGITATE THE HELL OUT OF THAT SNAKE!" Helman said pointing into box laying on its side on the bench. Jimmy sighed as he began to poke the, thankfully, long stick into the box, getting some rattling from the box for his trouble. The look on Sanders' face was probably the very same Derek had as he realized what was in the box. He cleared his throat as they got closer, both staying well away from the box, and Helman glanced over at him.

"Ahh, Derek, you are just in time for my latest weapon! One of the people who live outside managed to catch a rattlesnake, quite the find I must say! If we can harvest its venom we can use it to poison anyone who attacks us! Even a giantess will be in trouble with snake venom running through their veins!" he said looking rather smug with himself. Sanders was silent as he just stared in bewilderment, but Derek was used to this sort of thing.

"Doctor" Helman was not a true Doctor, having never gotten a Doctorate in anything. Still, the man was brilliant beyond compare. He had designed not only the air-cannon that Henderson used, but also the special flak missiles that were actually effective on the giantess' shields. Many of the improvements made to their weapons were his ideas and all of their heavy or special weapons/devices were his own creations. In fact, the forge Henry was using to make some special device had been the brain child of Helman.

However, Helman was also more than a little crazy and many of his ideas, while somewhat sound, were just too bizarre or impractical to use. This...was one of those times. Yes snake venom would be a potent weapon on giantesses, doubly so for the ones out on their own. However, it would require them to harvest enough venom to actually affect a giantess AND actually get it into the giantess. And while the venom would kill them given enough time, they would still be dangerous till then.

"Doctor I...don't think that will work all that well. How are we supposed to get it into the giantess without being noticed? And even then, how to we survive long enough for the venom to kill her?" Derek asked. Helman opened his mouth to answer, but closed it as he began to stroke his massive white beard. More than a few people thought the mad scientist looked a bit like Santa and Derek could kinda see it when he didn't have that mad smile and crazied look in his eyes.

"Hmm...that is a good question. Yes..Need to look into that...Actually, a weapon that could be used without the giantess knowing you were there might work better. Yes...YES! A silent weapon that the giantess doesn't even know has hit till its too late! Hmm...Need it to get past their shield though...." Helman said as he began to wonder away from them. Jimmy mouthed a thank you as he tipped the box back upright and placed a sheet of metal over its top along a large gear to keep it in place. Derek relaxed a bit too with the rattlesnake put away.

While Helman was the brains, Jimmy was the hands. Having been a Marine mechanic, a carpenter, and a car repair man, Jimmy knew just about anything there was to know about building things. His Marine days had seen him have to jury-rig and generally Macgyver solutions on the fly. He had keep those skills fresh with his other jobs, generally enjoying coming up with inventive solutions. Those same skills were ungodly useful now as normal parts and proper tools were basically nowhere to be found. That didn't matter in the least to Jimmy who just found shit that worked or made things that worked. Anything Helman could dream up, Jimmy could build with Henry's help.

"Jimmy, do you have the gear our latest prisoner had with him?" Derek asked, leaving Helman to continue to ponder whatever he was pondering. Derek had learned it was best to just leave Helman alone when he got like this.

"Yeah, its right over here," Jimmy said as he lead them to a table nearby. On it was  what looked to be a large machine gun, a medical kit, some rope, three syringes full of something, a pair of goggles, a large shield, a mace, a knife, and some flint. All of it looked like standard issue Society equipment, just slightly more dirty than usual. The machine gun, however, grabbed Derek's attention to most and caused a flash of anger in him.

"Where did you get a gun from?" Derek said as he whirled on Sanders. Sanders face paled a bit as he stammered out a few words.

"WHERE?!" Derek demanded his fists clenching together. He KNEW this bastard wasn't being straight with him and that gun was proof of of it. The Society didn't make guns anymore. Dammit he was going to strangle this bastard with his own tw-
That catmonster would be invaluable... Derek swore in his mind as he fought back his anger to let Sanders answer. Again Sanders didn't answer, but Jimmy spoke up for him.

"Maybe I can jog his memory," he said spinning the gun around so the bottom of it was facing them.
"Those torn wires on its bottom, those are from a control system used to operate the gun. Meaning this came off a Society robot and, considering the damage, was taken from it by force. Hell, even ruined the ammo belt for the gun making it a really shitty machine gun," Jimmy said looking a bit miffed about that. Derek turned back to Sanders and glared at him. He hadn't mentioned a robot at all and yet here was a weapon off one.

Derek wanted it to be proof Sanders was a spy, but part of him knew that didn't make sense. Why would the Society give him a ruined weapon? Better yet, why would they give him a gun at ALL, much less one as advanced as this? They didn't even give their Rangers guns. And, if they had given it to him, why ruin it like that? Still, it did prove Sanders hadn't told them everything and that was bad enough.

Derek glanced around and noticed a number of people were watching them now. He growled in annoyance before pulling Sanders back toward the medical study area that was being unused. He gave everyone who was looking their way a glare that got them scuttling back to work. He didn't need word spreading about this.

"You never mentioned fighting a robot or getting its weapon. What else have you not told us?" Derek growled out, still determined to get an answer.

"I...I didn't want to talk about it. Things...happened that I would rather not talk about," Sanders said looking away from Derek. Derek eyes narrowed as he tried to will Sanders' face to reveal what he was thinking, but all he saw was shame. That wasn't good enough for Derek.

"Too bad, you either start talking or you are going to suffer an accident in here," Derek said glancing over toward a bit of metal sticking out of a pile nearby. Sanders looked up at Derek in anger and gave him a death stare that Derek returned. The two stared the other down before Sanders relented and sighed to himself.

"Fine...Yes I fought a robot. I did it to entertain a damn giantess that caught me trying to escape. I managed to kill it by ripping its own gun off and using it against it. Then the giantess....well..." Sanders looked away again as his face blushed a bit with embarrassment and shame. Derek was confused for a second before realization hit him like a brick. Oh....ohhhh....suddenly Derek felt a bit guilty at having pushed so hard. Sanders could be lying, he tried to tell himself, but the look on Sanders face was telling. Someone didn't look that shameful unless they had done something shameful.

"I...I see...I..." Derek tried to think of something to say, but his mind was blank. Instead, he just motioned for Sanders to head back toward Jimmy and his stuff. Sanders went as Derek swore like a sailor in his head. Just his fucking luck...

"What...what else did he have?" Derek asked trying to get something else on his mind. Jimmy gave them both a confused look, but didn't press for answers.

"Right... Well, he had a standard issue mace and shield, typical Ranger weapons. Knife is just a knife, though its better made than anything we have. Same with the rope and the backpack. The medkit has some proper bandages, disinfectant and such. Doctor Hambly would love to have this so I'll just keep it till she or a nurse shows up. The goggles are just night vision goggles. Sure Lindsey would love to have these or any of our scouts really. Not sure how long the battery will last, but anytime is better than none. All of this is pretty standard kit for a Ranger so its probably all stolen, " Jimmy said before stopping in front of the syringes.

"These, though. Well, both me and Helman have no idea what they ar-" Derek interrupted him when he got a good look at them.

"Their nano-bots. Rangers have them and use them to heal from wounds quicker," Derek answered looking closely at the vial to make sure. Sure enough, they looked exactly like he remembered them looking. It had been a long time since he had seen one, but he still remembered what the vials looked like. And what they did...

Both Jimmy and Sanders looked at him in dumbstruck silence. Jimmy recovered and shrugged a sure, but Sanders did not recover so fast.

"How do you know what they are?" he asked in confusion.

"I have been fighting y- the Society for years now. I have overheard a lot of talking and they talked about these things more than once," Derek lied as he put the vial down. Sanders had no reason to know the truth and that answer worked just as well.

Sanders still eyed him a bit suspiciously, but didn't get a chance to talk as Helman came back over.

"Nano-bots you say? Interesting...very VERY interesting...Would you mind if we keep these for now, Derek? I would love to run some tests on them. Snake venom might not work, but killer nano-bots...oh my the possibilities... JIMMY! I need a microscope! Start building the case and I will find a piece of glass to use!" Helman yelled before running over to another pile of parts and diving through it. Jimmy sighed to himself and shook his head.

"When he remembers what he was doing, tell him he can keep the nano-bots, but try to keep him reigned in, Jimmy. I'll take the rest save the medkit, give that to the Doc when she gets here," Derek said getting a nod from Jimmy as he went after Helman. Derek wasn't sure which of them had the tougher job at times like this.

Derek gave the backpack, rope, flint, and goggles to Sanders. He slid the knife into his boot, the machine gun's jury-rigged strap around his shoulders, and carried the shield and mace in his hands. Sanders sighed and shook his head when Derek took all the weapons, but Derek ignored his sighing and pushed him back to the exit of the R&D room. From there, he had Sanders lead them to the armory so he could store this stuff. Sanders would get his equipment back when he was on his way to his catmonster with Derek and the rest of his soldiers, all armed to the teeth.

With Sanders' equipment stored away, Derek had to get his soldiers ready to move out tomorrow...and that meant telling them their mission. Derek was not looking forward to this, but he had to tell them at some point. Best to get it out of the way so no one got too comfortable. Derek lead the way to the barracks, his mind so distracted he forgot to have Sanders lead, and entered into it.

This part of the barracks held his Force and was pretty much the same as the rest of the barracks. It was a rather large room with straw beds lining the walls. A few had torn bits of cloth or leather as cover while some had none at all. A few even had trunks at the foot of the bed that the soldier had either traded for or made themselves. Tables and chairs were scattered about the middle of the room along with a few practice dummies, including a large one with thirteen notches carved in it. It was their giantess kill count that Martin had built before he had been killed. Thirteen giantesses...it would need another notch when they got back. Assuming they came back. In the back of the room was the names of everyone who had been on the Force and died, carved into the cement. Over fifty names were on the wall and Derek dreaded how many more would be added.

 A few of his soldiers were inside the room either resting in their straw beds or playing cards with their badly drawn carboard stand-ins. They all turned and began to stand as they noticed Derek come in. Derek waved them back down as he sighed to himself. Damn Darius...when he got back from this...

"Clinton, Shawn, Margery, go find the rest of the Force and tell them to meet back here ASAP. The rest of you, start getting your stuff cleaned up," Derek said, unable to keep his usually forceful voice. His soldiers looked between themselves before slowly rising to carry out his orders. The looks on their faces was enough for Derek to tell they knew bad news was coming. Derek sighed to himself as he headed into his private room. He was about to shut it when he found Sanders in the door way. Right...him... He had almost forgot about Sanders. Derek felt his anger at him swelling again.

He pulled the spy into his room and slammed him down onto the chair before Derek sat down on his bed. All he wanted was to be alone right now, but he didn't dare let Sanders out of his sight. Derek sighed to himself as he tried to think of what to say to his soldiers...what he could tell them to inspire them and not...not crush them. A single Force against a Ranger patrol....fuck what was he SUPPOSED to say?

"What are you about to have to tell them? If its about having to get Pyrrha, you do-" Sanders started to say. Derek interrupted him by slamming his fist onto the stand next to his bed.

"Shut...the hell up. The last thing I want to deal with is you," Derek said with a glare. Sanders didn't take the hint though.

"I know you don't trust me, but Pyrrha won't hurt any of you as long as I-" Derek leap to his feet and grabbed Sanders by the throat. He lifted him off the ground and began to choke the life out of him as his anger at Sanders, combined with his misplaced rage at Darius, erupted out.

"You think I am worried about your stupid CAT?! I would welcome having to hunt one down with my soldiers if it meant not having to send them against a damn Ranger patrol. Yes, my force of forty soldiers has to fight and KILL an entire Ranger patrol! And you think I am worried about you and your fur-ball?!" Derek said before tightening his grip. Sanders kicked and struggled in his grip, but Derek was far the stronger of the two. He saw Sanders' face slowly turning red just as a knock came at Derek's door.

"D-Commander, everyone is here," Jacob said from the other side of the door. Darius' words flashed through his mind and Derek let go of Sanders. Sanders crawled away from Derek, coughing for air and choking on his own gasps. Derek glared down at him and felt the urge to give the same treatment to Darius. But doing that wouldn't change anything and Derek had already had his chance to see a way out of this. As much as he hated it, this damn spy and his damn cat were the only chance him and most of his soldiers had of coming back alive. Soldiers that included his son... The very same man who had a helping hand in Derek's greatest defeat might very well be the only chance his son had of surviving this. Damn Darius, damn Sanders, and DAMN the Society for making this world! Derek knelt down and picked Sanders up off the ground and pulled him to his face.

"You better not be fucking lying about wanting to help us OR having control of that cat. So help me, if you are, I will make sure you suffer far FAR worse than any of my soldiers will. You will wish I had used your face as a break back on the train by the time I am finished," Derek growled out before dropping Sanders to the ground again. Derek stomped past him and was about to open his door when Sanders coughed out some words.

"I...am not....lying," Sanders said between coughs. Derek didn't even turn to look at him as he opened his door. Jacob was at the door and got a worried look when he saw him. He looked back at Sanders gasping on the floor and gave his father a very confused look.

"Bring him and keep an eye on him. If he so much as breathes wrong snap his neck," Derek said as Jacob's confused look turned into a stone cold one. He walked up to Sanders and pulled him to his feet before following Derek out into the briefing room.

All of Derek's soldiers were in the meeting room and had already taken seats. Most of them were talking with each other, but they all feel silent as Derek entered the room. Derek motioned for Jacob to stay near the door with Sanders as he walked to the front of the room. He took a deep breath as he stopped in front of everyone.

"We have a new mission. One that is...hell, I see no reason to lie to you. One that is most likely a suicide mission," Derek admitted. Lying to them wasn't going to make the mission any less dangerous. If anything, it would make it more so. His soldiers didn't react at all to the news, to his pride. They sat there, silently, waiting for him to continue.

"The Society's patrols to our south are still advancing and will, in few days, be on top of our watchposts. I don't need to tell any of you what that means. Darius has already sent orders out to make false bases to try and slow them, but it will only buy us time. Time that will run out. Therefore, we need a way to stop their advance completely," Darius said, keeping his voice even and calm despite himself.

"To do this, Darius has ordered us to go to the southern regions. We will lure a Ranger patrol to an area between Marietta and Kennesaw, attack it, and whip it out," Derek finished. His soldiers all stared at him for a second before looking among themselves. He knew none of them would say it, they were too good for that, but they were all thinking it. Thinking that he had to have said that wrong or something.

"I did not say that wrong. We, alone, will need to take out a Ranger patrol. No other forces can be spared to assist," Derek said, trying to keep his voice level. Dead silence greeted his statement. A few people looked down at the ground, some rubbed their faces, Jacob looked over toward Samantha who looked at him, unsaid words flying between them. Damn Darius and damn this cruel game he was playing on them. These were good people who deserved better than this.They deserved....they deserved the truth.

"Jacob, bring him here," Derek ordered getting Jacob to snap out of his silent conversation with Samantha. He brought Sanders forward to Derek as the rest of the force stared at him in a mix of confusion and curiosity. Derek waited till Sanders was next to him to continue.

"This is Sanders, a self claimed ex-Society Ranger. He claims he is here to help us. More importantly to our mission, he claims he can control a catmonster that will help us kill the giantess of the Ranger patrol," Derek said unable to not smile a bit as Sanders looked at him in panic. Jacob swore as his face turned into a glare along with practically everyone in the room.

"Everyone get a good look at him and remember his face. If he doesn't come through, I want you all to know exactly who got us sent on this mission. And I want you to make sure he dies as slowly and painfully as possible," Derek said as everyone in the room stared at Sanders. Squad leaders Susan, Jeremy, and Fulton all glared the most out of everyone and Derek knew they were memorizing his face. Derek would have to keep Sanders close now to keep him from being killed, but he was going to do that anyway.

"Hope you can back up what you claimed, Sanders. Everyone here is counting on it. And your survival depends on it too," Derek said with a smile as he clapped Sanders on the shoulder. Sanders didn't respond as he stared back at all the glares of hate.


Organization of Phoenix Military: Report sent to all Force Commanders

To help better organize our Military, I have changed the compostion of our forces. Read over the changes and memorize them. -Darius

Groups: Groups our the largest organizations. There are only five of them in total: South, North, East, West, and Central. The cardinal groups are in charge of supporting and protecting their region along with working with watchposts to stop threats from reaching the interior. Central will be a reserve group ment to reinforce any group or meet severe threats. Southern and Eastern Groups will be the most numerous with North being the second. West will be the second smallest while Cental will be the smallest of all, but will be made of the best troops we have. General Holmes will lead South, General Faine will lead East, General Williams will lead West, and General Holcomb will lead North. I will command Central myself.

Forces: Forces are the second largest and are composed of, usually, around fifty to a hundred soldiers. They will be lead by a Force Commander and who will report to the General of each region. Each General will be in charge of assigning people to the rank of Force Commander.

Squads: Squads are groups of ten to twelve people. All forces in possible giantess areas should be split into squad to minimize the possiblity of the force being spotted in full. Squads will be lead by squad leaders who are assigned by Force commanders.

Fire teams: At a squad leaders' discretion, a squad may split up into two/three man fire teams.

Chapter 8: Enemy Mine

January 12, 2024 8:45 AM

Jacob was already awake when his dad came out of his room. Neither him nor Samantha had slept much last night and not because of why they would have liked. No, it was worry and apprehension that had keep them awake. Today would see them going on a mission that could see one or both of them dead. Death was always a part of being a soldier in the Phoenixes, but it was different going on one that Derek himself had called a suicide mission. It made it seem so much closer and more likely that neither wanted to let go of the other.

"Everyone up! We are moving out in ten," Derek said before headed back into his room. Jacob sighed as he buried his head into Samatha's chest, wishing he could just will the night to come back. She stroked his head and gave her own sigh of disappointment. The night was over and their safety with it. They would have more nights together on the way to their mission, but it wouldn't be the same. Out there, the ever present danger of being found or just being stepped on by accident tainted everything, including their nights together. Even tangled up in Samantha, Jacob could not truly relax out there, and neither could anyone else.

"Come on, it's time," Samantha whispered as Jacob, reluctantly, pulled away from her. They both began to get their gear on along with everyone else in the barracks. The Squad Leaders were already dressed, equipped, and ready to move out so they went around to help those that lagged behind. Jacob put his large fur coat over his patch-work clothing and shouldered his rifle. He grabbed his leather pack and slung it over his back after checking to make sure it was full of his supplies still. Samantha was dressed pretty much the same but had a rocket launcher rather than a rifle, with plenty of spare rockets sticking out of her pack. About half their number also had rockets while the rest had rifles like Jacob. In less than five minutes, everyone was geared up and ready to move out. No sooner had the noise died down did Derek come out of his room.

Derek had his usual ill-fitting clothing on but had his own fur coat over it. His laser cannon was on his back and a few spare power sources were hanging from his belt. A large gun that looked to be a machine gun was in his hand. Behind him came the Society fucker who had his odd mix of Society clothing and fur on. An actual backpack was on his back along with a knife on his belt. A rather ramshackle, even by Phoenix standards, rifle was slung over his shoulder. He looked away from the group as they all gave him a death stare. He was the reason they were going out to fucking die. Why Samantha was going to put in so much danger. Over a fucking catmonster no less. Fucking Darius, why the fuck was he in charge when he made these kinds of shitty decisions?!

Derek motioned for Squad Leader Susan to come over and handed her the machine gun.

"You're our best shot, so make good use of it. Sanders here doesn't need it since he will have a catmonster to fight for him," Derek said getting a few chuckles from the Force. Susan took the gun and smiled as she looked it over. Sanders frowned in annoyance which only mad Jacob more angry at him. Fucker should be glad he isn't dead.

"Alright, boys and girls, let's move out," Derek said before pushing Sanders in front of him to lead the way. His dad must want to keep Sanders alive if he was keeping the fucker with him. Jacob was sure he wasn't the only one who would kill that Society piece of shit if given a chance. And why shouldn't they? Those fucks had taken everything from them, including his mother. Maybe putting his ass down would get people to stop calling him Jack-off too...

They headed out of the barracks and up through the bridge support. It was a long climb up, but the lift would have taken too long to get them all up to the top. So they were forced to use the stairs that had been carved out of it, a job Jacob had helped with and still made every part of his body ache when he thought back on it. Finally, they reached the top and came out in the large debris field above Hope. A few hidden watchposts were set up in the debris and a base of sorts was just outside the exit of the support column. Though calling it a base was a bit of a overstatement since all it was was a bunch of tents. 

Derek talked with the leader of the base for a few seconds, but only long enough for people to start to get their breath back from the climb. Then they were moving again, through the maze of debris to the eastern end of the gutter.

While going out the front of the gutter would have been quicker, that route was rarely used. The area was just too open and the risk of getting spotted too great. In this maze of debris, though, it would be next to impossible for anyone to spot them. The risk was so low that they didn't even split into squads and just walked there in whatever order they pleased. There was enough hiding places here that if the alert went out they could all hide and have hiding places to spare. Even the Society asshole could manage to go unseen in here. Dammit...just thinking about him made his blood boil.

"Dammit. Why the hell are we escorting a fucking spy back to his catmonster? This is such bullshit," Jacob said to Samantha, though a few others heard him too.

"For once I actually agree with Jack-off. This is just plain stupid. Should shoot the fucker and be done with it," Jonathon, a guy from Derek's squad, said. A few others nodded their agreement or voiced it.

"We still don't know if he is a spy and you know if he showed any sign of it Derek would have killed him. Let's at least give him some benefit of the doubt and trust Darius and Derek know what they are doing," Samantha said getting a few people to give her a miffed look, including Jacob. Did she honestly think that spy wasn't a spy? Did she think he honestly had a tamed catmonster? He didn't think he had ever thought Samantha had sounded dumber in her life. Thankfully, he didn't have to voice that thought.

"You mean like we trusted Darius that screwed the Snakes over would save Hope and we would finally get some time to relax? Yeah that worked out really well," Mary, a woman from Fulton's squad, shot back getting a few chuckles and agreements.

"That's enough. If you don't want to follow orders you can turn around and go back to Hope and wait for the end. Otherwise, keep your complaints to yourselves," Squad Leader Jeremy said as he came walking by them. Everyone grumbled out a yes, sir and fell silent. No one here wanted to go back and sit on their hands for the end to come, even if it meant doing things that sounded as stupid as this. Jacob sure as hell wasn't going back, not when he still hadn't proven to be just as good as his dad and saved everyone in Hope.

They made their way through the maze in mostly silence, using the coded signs carved into the rocks to find their way, and arrived at the exit that lead out into the forest next to the gutter. They gathered at the base of the gutter for one last briefing before heading into the woods. The Society fucker was still with Derek and Jacob glared at him, though he was busy looking anywhere but at them.

Derek was about to start talking when a rustling got everyone to snap toward a nearby bush. A few of the quicker people managed to grab their guns, but everyone relaxed, a little, once the figure came into view. Scout Leader Lindsey came out of the brush and moved toward them as if she hadn't just appeared out of nowhere. Derek didn't seem at all surprised by her arrival, though.

Lindsey was about the average height of a woman and average everything else as well. Her brown hair and brown eyes were nothing special and her curves were nothing amazing either. Even her clothing was average being just simple patchwork cloth with fur here and there to fight off the cold. The only thing that marked her out was her slight reddish skin thanks to her Native American heritage. Despite her looks, however, Lindsey was anything but average. She was the Scout Leader for a reason after all and the rumors about her were varied and many.

"Scout Leader, good to have you along," Derek said as Lindsey moved to stand beside him.

"Force Commander, glad to be along. Have you told your soldiers what we are doing?" Lindsey said as she looked them over. Her eyes lingered on the Society fucker, but only when he wasn't looking. Whenever his eyes came up to look at her, her eyes had already settled on someone else.

"Most of it, but not all of it," Derek said before turning back to them, "Listen up! You all know what we are doing out here. And that our...friend here is supposed to help by bringing a catmonster. However, we can't risk everyone going to get the catmonster. So, me, Sanders, Lindsey, and three volunteers will all be going to get it. Any takers?"

The force was silent as people looked around. Susan looked about to say something, but Derek shook his head. Apparently the Squad Leaders were excluded from this which made sense. Someone had to lead the rest of the Force while Derek was gone. Jacob shook his head as the thought of his dad having to fight a catmonster nearly on his own gave him a wave of fear. He needed help, and Jacob was going to give him some even if he didn't like it. Not to mention he might get a chance to kill that Society ass, but protecting his dad was more important than that.

"I'll go," Jacob said as everyone looked at him. Derek's face paled a bit and he looked about to say something when Lindsey spoke up.

"That is one, we need two more," she said as Derek snapped to her. She gave him a smirk, but said nothing. Derek sighed and turned back to them without a word as well, though looking more than a bit annoyed.

"Count me in too," Samantha said beside Jacob. Jacob turned to her and might have said something to try and dissuade her, but the look she was giving him let him know he would be wasting his time. She was going and that was that, if he didn't like it, too fucking bad. Jacob had been with Samantha long enough to know a doomed battle when he saw one so he didn't even try. Both of them walked toward his dad and joined the smaller group of people. He eyed Sanders with a look of contempt while the Society spy just looked away with a sigh.

"Dammit, I better go too to make sure Jack-off doesn't fuck shit up," Luke said getting an inward groan from Jacob. Of all the damn people to go with them it had to be him. No one in the force gave him more shit than Luke. And it was no secret he was interested in Samantha as well, a fact that pissed Jacob off like no other. Derek gave him a withering stare from using Jacob's nick-name, but didn't say anything to him.

"Alright. We will go meet this catmonster and either brings its pelt or it back. Till then, Squad Leader Fulton is in charge. In case anyone gets separated, the Southern Group HQ is our rally point. Remember to stay apart, but in sight of each other. A Society giantess might ignore a single Phoenix, they won't ignore a squad. Understood?" Derek said. Everyone gave a yes, sir and Derek nodded to them.

"Good. Fulton, a word," Derek said as both of them headed off to the side to talk for a second. As they talked, the Society fucker turned to them.

"Looks like we'll be working together. I'm Sanders Cutter, by the way, though Sanders is just fine," he said with a smile. None of them took his offered hand as both Jacob and Luke glared at him while Samantha eyed him with suspicion. Seemed Samantha, despite saying to give him the benefit of the doubt, wasn't sold on him yet, either. He was about to put his hand away when Lindsey took it.

"It is good to meet you, Sanders, I'm Lindsey Redfern, the leader of the Scouts. You will have to excuse these three. They are soldiers through and through and have hard time hiding their suspicions" Lindsey said giving all three of them an icy look that sent a chill down Jacob's spine. Samantha and Luke must have felt it too as they looked away as well. Seemed the rumors about Lindsey's stares were true enough...

"Uhh...no its fine. I understand this is...odd to say the least. If I was in their shoes I wouldn't trust me either," Sanders said, taken off guard by Lindsey speaking to him.

"Good. I hope you keep that in mind when Derek comes back. He doesn't hate you on a personal level, just hates the threat you represent to his soldiers. Prove you are not a threat and he will warm to you. Well, maybe not warm but at least not be openly hostile," she said with a warm smile and a slight giggle. Jeez, that giggle did not sound right coming out of someone who had given such an icy glare not a second before.

"I understand, but I swear I'm no threat to him or any of them," Sanders said, trying to look as sincere as he could. Jacob wasn't buying it for a second, though. Spies were supposed to be good a lying, otherwise they wouldn't be a spy. Luke seemed to be of the same opinion though Samantha seemed a bit unsure. Lindsey smiled at that before the smile vanished along with her warmth. Suddenly, she pulled Sanders closer by the collar of his jacket and pressed his own knife into the side of his neck, though not hard enough to draw blood.

"You had best keep that swear. Whatever hell Derek has promised you if you are lying will only be the beginning," she said before her smile returned and she released her grip on him, "Just something to think about." She handed his knife back to him and headed over to Derek and Fulton. Luke chuckled as Sanders stood rooted in place, his face pale. Samantha was staring starry-eyed after Lindsey and Jacob starred as well. Fuck, he had heard Lindsey was terrifying, but damn. That was scary even just to watch, he could only imagine what being on the receiving end was like. Plus, he hadn't seen her grab Sanders' knife, and yet it was in her hand, ready to stab Sanders.

Derek, Fulton, and Lindsey talked for a few more seconds before they headed back toward them. Fulton began to get the rest of the Force into their squads for the march south while Derek and Lindsey came to them.

"Before we move let me make this clear to you three," Derek started to say to them as Lindsey got Sanders to move out of earshot, "I want to put Sanders' ass down just as much, if not more, than any of you do. However, we are not going to do that till we know he is against us. I don't need to tell any of you how badly we are outmatched against a Ranger patrol and that a lot of us will die if we fight one on our own. I don't want that to happen so as long as there is a chance we can use this catmonster to safe our people, Sanders isn't to be harmed. If any of you do decide to take matters into your own hands, Lindsey will be in charge of punishing you. No matter who you are." Derek looked straight at Jacob as he finished and Jacob understood the message. His son or not, Derek would give him over to Lindsey just as quickly as he would Samantha or Luke. Jacob had been partly thinking of ways to have an accident with Sanders, but such thoughts were quickly thrown away. Lindsey scared him WAY too much for him to try anything. Besides, he imagined Lindsey could do a hell of a lot worse than him if that spy did show his true colors.

"Let Lindsey deal with Sanders while we focus on getting to that gas station and dealing with the catmonster, understood?" Derek said as they all gave him a yes,sir. Jacob glanced over toward Sanders and Lindsey and saw them talking. Sanders was giving a half-hearted smile to something Lindsey had said before he turned away with an "oh god why me" look. Well, at least the Society fuckhead would not have an enjoyable trip to the gas station.

With them all briefed, Derek got them moving, taking point himself and letting Luke take rear guard. Samantha wanted it for herself, but being the only one with a rocket precluded her from it. Lindsey keep close to Sanders, much to his obvious discomfort, while Sanders keep watch from the wings along with Samantha.

For the first hour or so, they traveled in mostly silence. A few birds could be heard every so often along with the rustle of deer moving about, but the bare forest was rather quiet. For his part, Sanders proved to be about as skilled as they were at moving quietly. It wasn't proof that he had been a Ranger, but it gave his tale some credibility. Then again, a spy should be able to move quietly too so never mind.

A few minutes after their first hour of traveling, Lindsey went ahead and caught up with Derek. While she talked with him, both speaking too softly to be clearly heard, Jacob took over watching Sanders. Sanders tried to smile at him and make friendly, but Jacob was having none of it. He glared back at him each time till Sanders gave up with a shake of his head. He grumbled out something that Jacob was sure was an insult. Jacob's anger flared and he was about to demand he tell him what he said when Lindsey started to head back. Jacob swore under his breath as he moved away and let Lindsey take over. Fucking bastard...

"Sanders, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Lindsey suddenly asked, breaking the silence. Sanders glanced back at her and shrugged.

"I guess not. What is it?" Sanders said.

"You were on the train that was carrying Dr. Manchent and helped recapture him. So, how did Dr. Manchent die?"

Both Derek and Sanders stopped as they turned to her. Derek gave her an annoyed look before turning a glare toward Sanders. Sanders paled a bit and looked away as he closed his eyes. The rest of them stopped and turned toward Sanders as he shook his head. Fuck he had been on the train and been one of the Rangers who had beat his dad?! Dammit to fucking hell, why were they not KILLING HIM?!

"The bomb collar around his neck went off. I tried to diffuse it, but..."Sander stopped as he looked away again. Jacob had to admit he was good at faking the pained look on his face and in his voice, but fake it was. It had to be. Derek looked at Lindsey and gave a nearly unseen nod to her before looking away himself. Lindsey saw the nod and smiled to herself. What was that about? Was that some kind of test or something? Fuck he hoped he had failed.

"I see. And do you know who put that collar on him?" she asked with a disturbing smirk. That caught Jacob off guard as he snapped to her. Shit, what the hell was she doing? Jacob had not been part of that operation, but he had heard enough from it to know the collar was on him when they got Manchent out of the city. But Lindsey was implying they put it on him! Why the hell would she do that? They would never do something like that!

Sanders glanced up at her in confusion before realization hit him. His pained look shifted to one of blinding rage as his hand went to the rifle slung over his shoulder. He raised it to point at Lindsey just as Luke raised his own rifle. He might have fired if Lindsey hadn't shifted to block his shot. Jacob snatched up his own, but held his fire as Samantha shook her head at him. Dammit, what the hell was going on?!

"You BASTARDS! How the hell could you do that to him?! You monsters are not better than the fucking Society and I am not helping you do shit! Manchent was trying to help you and you MURDERED HIM FOR IT!" Sanders yelled as he keep his rifle pointed at Lindsey's face. Lindsey's smirk didn't fade as she glanced over to Derek.

"Still think he is a spy, Derek?" she asked getting a confused look from Sanders. Derek let out an annoyed sigh as he shook his head.

"No, you have proven your damn point. Fucking crazy woman, you are lucky he didn't shoot you or my men him," Derek grumbled out before turning back and continuing forward. Lindsey giggled at the back of his head and turned to Sanders.

"To answer you, we didn't. The bomb collar was on Dr. Manchent when we rescued him from the Society. We managed to keep the detonate signal from reaching it until...well. Don't feel guilty over it, though. The truly at fault for the lost of that great man are the ones who put the collar on him in the first place," Lindsey said before patting Sanders on the shoulder and moving after Derek. But not before motioning for Luke and Jacob to lower their guns. Luke shook his head in annoyance and cursed under his breath but did as he was told. Jacob did as well and found himself suddenly not sure what to think.

So it had been a test, a way to prove Sanders was not a spy. Now Jacob understood why she had implied they had set the collar on Manchent. No spy would ever have been so stupid as to pull a gun on one of them, and yet Sanders had done just that. Not to mention his reaction to the implications. He was ready to die rather than help them when he thought they had killed Manchent. Jacob...honestly probably would have done the same, but.... but he was a Society spy? Right?... No...Dammit, now he was all kinds of confused. Maybe...Maybe Samantha did have a point back at the maze.

Sanders lowered his rifle as he realized what had just happened as well. He stood there a moment as if processing what had just happened until Luke shoved him forward. He shook off his confusion, shouldered his rifle, and got back into the formation, still seemingly trying to figure out what had just happened. Samantha mouthed to Jacob "that was so awesome" and looked to be fangirling for Lindsey. At least someone was enjoying Lindsey's company...

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful. Lindsey asked Sanders a few other questions, but they were just about is personal life and such. Sanders sounded...well rather normal to be honest. Jacob had always assumed everyone in New Atlanta had lived in the lap of luxury, but the farm Sanders family ran sounded like it was just as much work to maintain as any other farm. And while things sounded far better in the city, it still had its problems and such. But they were still the enemy even if they were sounding more and more like just people. Or...maybe it was just the Society that was the enemy...DAMMIT!

It was late in the day when they, finally, arrived at the outskirts of the gas station. It was an old Shell station that was now long abandoned and slowly crumbling apart. Its sign had fallen some time before and parts of the roof over the pumps had fallen in as well. The actual station itself was slowly crumbling and its automatic doors had stopping working about halfway open. Most of its windows were badly stained and what few of its signs and such that were left were now all ruined and illegible.

"Alright, I'll go get her," Sanders said as he starting to make his way to the station. Derek stopped him, however, with with his arm and gave him a glare.

"She is a catmonster and can hear you just fine from here. Call her out," Derek said as Jacob, Luke, and Samantha all readied their weapons. They were sure as hell not taking any chances with this catmonster, Sanders being a spy or not. Sanders glared back at them before turning the glare to Derek.

"So you can shoot her the moment she comes into sight? Screw that, I-" he was interrupted as a loud meow came from the gas station. Derek shoved Sanders back as he took out his laser cannon and got it ready to fire. The huge cannon began to glow as he held it at his hip with both hands.

"Derek, I should remind you that this catmonster is important to our mission. Best not to kill it unless we have to," Lindsey said as she took out a rifle she had hidden in her clothing. Unlike his and Luke's, her's almost looked to be from before the shrink and had a number of modifications on it, including a large jury-rigged scope. Jacob couldn't help but be jealous of the impressive weapon, but she WAS the Scout Leader. Made sense she got better stuff than they did.

"Put the weapons down, dammit! She isn't going to hurt you as long as you don't hurt me or her! All you are going to do is scare her and make this harder!" Sanders said trying to get in front of them. Jacob stopped him and held him back with his free arm. Sanders tried to dance around him, but Jacob keep up with him and keep him back. Damn fucking idiot was going to get them all eaten at this rate.

Sanders looked about to start shoving when his eyes locked on something behind them. Jacob risked a quick glance and his blood ran cold as ice. A blonde catmonster came stalking out of the gas station on all fours. She sniffed the air before turning toward them and licking her lips. Jacob froze as he recognized the face on the catmonster. This wasn't just any catmonster, it was the very same one that had attacked him and the other's who had gone to warn the outlying colony of the blizzard. The same one that the four giantesses had sent after them rather than fight them themselves. The same one that had killed ten of the group right in front of his eyes. The same one that had followed the other group rather than his when they had split up. The same one that had caused him to be captured by that red-headed bitch and her fairy and earned him his Jack-off nick-name.

Sanders had pushed passed Jacob in his stunned stupor and took off toward the catmonster. Derek tried to grab him, but Lindsey pulled him back.

"Let him go. Worst case I will make sure he dies too," Lindsey said with a stern look. Derek nodded as he stood his ground with Samantha and Luke, both of who seemed ill at ease. Sanders began to run toward the catmonster who began to run toward him in turn.

Jacob, however, had no intention of just standing here. That damn monster had cost him EVERYTHING. He had wanted to be a hero, wanted to save the people of the colony, lure the giantesses away, come back with the survivors, or at least die a worthy death. But no, all he got was dead friends, captured, humiliation, and a stigma he couldn't get rid of, all because of that damn thing! If it hadn't been there...If it hadn't existed...if it had been DEAD!!

Jacob snapped his rifle around and brought it up. He raised it up just as Samantha turned to him. Her eyes widened in horror as she lunged for him.

"Jacob ST-" she said before Jacob pulled the trigger. He didn't give a damn about anything other that making that damn monster pay for ruining his life! The gun roared out and a bit of blood exploded out of the catmonster's cheek. He started to reload as the catmonster cried in pain. Derek, Lindsey, and Luke all whipped around to him and stared in horror at him. They might have said something, but didn't get the chance to as the catmonster let out a massive hiss of rage. They turned back to see the catmonster charging right for them, a look of murderous anger on her face.

"God dammit Jack-off you fucking shit head!" Luke said before he raised his own gun to fire. Samantha smacked it down before he could, however, as Lindsey did the same to Derek's cannon.

"NO! Firing at it is just going to make it madder!" Lindsey said as she shot a murderous glare at Jacob. Jacob didn't care at all as he loaded another round and raised the gun to fire again. He began to pull the trigger just as something smashing into his chest, throwing his aim off completely.

Jacob slammed into the ground to find Sanders laying on top of him, having tackled him to the ground. Sanders raised his fist and smashed it into Jacob's head. Jacob's world went spinning and exploding with stars as the blow sent him reeling. Even with the blow, though, he managed to bring his gun around and smashed it into Sanders' head. Sanders cried out from the blow and grabbed his head in pain. Jacob kicked Sanders off him while he was reeling and got back to his feet, though still feeling a bit wobbly from the blow to his own head. Damn it was almost like the ground was shaking, that blow had really fucked him up. He started over to the still fallen Sanders and was about to kick him when four massive fingers came around and wrapped around him. SHIT THE CATMONSTER!

Jacob screamed in terror as he felt himself starting to be lifted up and heard his dad yell out to him. His dad would save him, he had the laser cannon and Samantha was there, they would save him, they had to save him!

"PYRRHA! STOP! PYRRHA!" a voice yelled out from below him, getting the catmonster to stop lifting him up. He could feel its breath on the back of his head and had to bite back a whimper of terror. Fuck he didn't want to die. Dammit, he didn't want to die! Not yet, not while he was still Jack-off!

The catmonster gave a low hiss and her breath started to get hotter and closer. Fuck, she was going to eat him alive! He was going to die as Jack-off and never be the hero he wanted to be!

"NO! PYRRHA DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS DAMMIT!" the voice yelled out again. The catmonster stopped for a second before a flash of light caused the catmonster to scream in pain and drop Jacob to the ground. Jacob didn't waste a second to scramble to his feet and took off running in the direction of the light.

His dad's cannon was glowing a dull red as the barrel began to cool. The rest of the group was with him and raised their own weapons. Jacob glanced back at the catmonster and saw it clutching the wrist of the hand that had been holding him. It looked to be in a lot of pain and turned toward his dad and the rest. It gave a hiss so loud Jacob's ears hurt from it and bent down to lunge, her bare breasts dangling over his head. Suddenly, the catmonster cried out again and as the sound of another gun went out. She whipped around, the wind from her sudden move nearly blasting Jacob off his feet, but stopped as she saw where the gunshot had come from.

Jacob slowed when he turned to see Sanders standing alone with the still smoking gun. The catmonster stared at him for a moment before seeming to move away as if scared and hurt. It almost looked like it had tears in its eyes.

"Stop, Pyrrha, no don't run. Look, see no more guns. I didn't want to do that, but we can't kill those people, OK? Come here...come on," Sanders said to Pyrrha as he slung his gun. The catmonster seemed to relax a little as it saw the gun put up and inched back toward Sanders. It leaned down and Sanders hugged himself to its cheek as it nuzzled him a bit, purring as it did so.

"Yeah...there we go. I'm sorry for shooting you, Pyrrha. Just had to get your attention that's all. I know, I'll make sure they don't hurt you again," Sanders said before kissing the catmonster's cheek. To Jacob's horror, and maybe a bit of satisfaction, the catmonster turned and moved its mouth toward Sanders. However, the catmonster pressed its lips into Sanders, giving him a massive kiss, rather than gobbling him up. Sweet Jesus....

"Son of a bitch...he can control it," Samantha said as she and the rest moved up to Jacob, watching the catmonster nuzzle into Sanders. 

"Yes he can. And we would have seen that without the bloodshed if someone had not lost their nerve," Lindsey said glaring at Jacob with a look of utter disgust.

"I didn't lose my nerve I-" Jacob started to explain through gasps, before Luke interrupted.

"Oh save your damn excuses, Jack-off. No one wants to hear it. Sanders should have just let that monster eat you," Luke said before getting a glare from Derek. Luke just shrugged it off and keep moving toward Sanders along with Lindsey. His dad gave him a dissappointed look before following them. Even Samantha shook her head at him before leaving him there. Great...just fucking great. It was like last time all FUCKING over again. Try to explain what happened and no one want's to listen, to busy just assuming the worst about him. Fucking perfect, just FUCKING GOD DAMN PERFECT! And now everyone was going to be all over that damn fucking monster that had ruined him TWICE NOW!!! AND HE HAD BEEN SAVED BY THAT FUCKING SPY!!!! DAMMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jacob stomped over to them, trying his best not to just start beating them all with his gun as his rage went to new levels. The catmonster gave a low angry meow at Jacob as he got close, but he just flipped it off. Samantha smacked his hand and glared at him. Dammit...

"I got her calmed down and she should be tame as long as the two of you who shot her don't do it again," he said as the catmonster eyed Jacob and Derek as if to prove his point. Lindsey nodded and looked about to ask something when Sanders suddenly whipped out his gun and smashed the butt of it into Derek's jaw. Derek went reeling back from the blow as Sanders charged past him and toward Jacob. Jacob tried to bring his own gun up to block, but too late as Sanders smashed the butt into his stomach, doubling Jacob over.

Jacob crumbled to the ground as he heard more shuffling of feet and the sounds of a butt hitting someone else.

"Stop it, STOP IT!" Lindsey yelled out before Sanders gasped in pain from something hitting him. A loud hiss came from the catmonster as the ground began to shake from her moving toward them. A few more yells were said before the sounds of fighting seemed to die out.

"Dammit, would you all STOP fighting each other! What the hell is with you guys?!" Samantha said as Jacob began to recover enough to look up. The catmonster was looming over them, giving off a low growl at everyone. Lindsey had her gun out and pointed toward Sanders who was still holding the rifle like a club. He spit out a glob of blood from his mouth as he glared at Derek and Jacob. Luke had his rifle out like a club as well and looked ready to fight while Derek was checking his jaw to make sure it was not broken. Samantha was off to the side looking pissed as hell and ready to beat the next person to throw a punch with her rocket.

"Yes, now that we are even. They hurt Pyrrha and I can't let her pay them back cause she would kill them. So I did it for her. Don't EVER hurt her again or I will let her pay you back," Sanders said putting his rifle away. As if to put home his point, the catmonster gave a low hiss as well. Not that Jacob cared. He got to his feet, anger at being sucker punched like that turning his vision red, and was about to charge Sanders when his dad stopped him with an arm. His mix of angry and disappointed glare snuffed Jacob's rage out like a flame put into water.

"Is that a threat, fucker? Think I am scared of your overgrown freak?" Luke said as he started toward Sanders. He stopped as the catmonster let out another low angry meow and lowered itself down to his level. Even laying on the ground, her eyes were higher up than Luke's and glared down at him.

"She is not freak and you should be terrified of her if you knew what was good for you," Sanders said as he glared back at Luke.

"Enough! This has been nothing more than a waste of time and ammo and I am SICK OF IT! We are out here trying to save Hope and just got the best tool to do that and we are wasting it by trying to kill each other! Jacob, if you fire that gun at the catmonster again I'll shove it so far up your ass you will be spitting bullets. Luke, stop trying to act tough and just admit the giant monster is terrifying. Sanders, if you so much as touch me or anyone else under my command with the intention to cause harm, I will make a pelt out of your catgirlfriend and make you cut the pelt off her yourself! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Derek said looking furious about what just happened and ready to beat them all to a bloody pulp. Jacob and Luke both gave a yes sir while Sanders said yes. Derek let it slide, but gave him a withering look. Even the catmonster seemed to calm down and back off from Derek's rage.

"Good. The catmonster hasn't eaten any of us yet, despite us firing on it," Derek stopped before throwing a glare at Jacob that made him swear in his head, "so I thinks its safe to assume Sanders does have some control over it. And if he wanted us dead he had amply opportunity there as well."

"Does that mean you believe me now?" Sanders asked as he rubbed the catmonster's cheek, getting a soft purr from it.

"That you have a catmonster and want to help us? Yes. The rest of that shit you said back at Hope, not a bit. But that doesn't matter now. What does matter is we have the means to fight a Ranger patrol that might not be suicidal. We need to get back to the Force and get to the mission sight ASAP," Derek said getting a sigh from Sanders, but a nod of agreement from Lindsey

"Fine, I guess the other stuff can wait anyway," Sanders said, looking a bit disappointed. He turned back to the catmonster and began to look over the hole in her wrist. Normally a wound like that would be badly bleeding, but the laser had cauterized the wound.

"I need to go get Pyrrha some food to heal this. You can start heading for the meeting point, me and Pyrrha will be able to catch up," Sanders said.

"Oh hell no. We are not just going to let him wonder off with a fucking catmonster are we?" Luke said tightening his grip on his gun. The catmonster glared at him and let out a low hiss, but Luke only returned the hiss with a growl of his own.

"Of course not. I will go with him and make sure he comes back. While we are gone, you can find your soldiers and we can, then, all head for the Southern HQ together," Lindsey said as she moved over toward Sanders. The catmonster eyed her and sniffed her a bit, but didn't seem opposed to her coming. Derek didn't look like he liked this plan, but didn't voice his objections.

"Fine, do what you want. Just bring back that catmonster, my soldiers lives depend on it," Derek said glancing at Jacob. Jacob wanted to feel angry, but the look of disappointment his dad gave him turned it into shame. But what was he supposed to do when the very thing that had ruined his chances of ever being a hero to the Phoenixes, like his dad, was right in front of him? Just suck it up and let it life?!

"Good. Come on, Sanders and, Pyrrha right?" Sanders nodded, "Pyrrha then. Let's go get some food for our new weapon."

"She is-...fine whatever. Pyrrha, up," Sanders said with a sigh. Pyrrha eyed Lindsey again but did as she was told. She picked them both up and placed them on her head. The two grabbed onto her ears as the catmonster stood up and began to walk off into the woods, her footsteps slowly fading away.

"Samantha, Luke, go scout us a route to the Southern HQ. Keep an eye out for signs of the other squads," Derek ordered. Luke gave a triumphant smirk to Jacob before mouthing, you're fucked jack-off, to him. Jacob's fist tightened, but a touch on his shoulder got him to stop. Samantha shook her head and gave him a light kiss before heading off herself. Jacob sighed to himself as he was left alone with his dad.

"Jacob....what in the world were you thinking?" Derek said looking at Jacob with a mix of anger and disappointment.

"Dad I-" Jacob started to say, but Derek cut him off.

"No...no I don't have time for this. I don't care what got you to do something so stupid, but make sure it doesn't happen again. We have a mission to do and its too important for you to be...I don't even know. Just get your head in the game, son, and quick," Derek said before going past Jacob to follow after Luke and Samantha.

Jacob waited till he left before punching a nearby tree hard enough to leave a dent and bloody his fist. Never anytime to listen, just assumes the worst as always. Like he wouldn't have fired if it had been a catmonster than had killed one of the original eleven. Like he...he wouldn't have seen the big picture and...lives of his soldiers depend...dammit...

Jacob turned his back to the tree and slid down to the ground. Fuck...fuck... In the heat of the moment he had completely forgotten WHY they needed the catmonster. And now Luke was sure to go around telling that story to ever person in the Force and further cement him as Jack-off... Dammit...

He wanted to just sit there and feel sorry for himself. Just wallow in his own self misery and the injustice of what just happened. To just tell everything to fuck off and maybe just go wonder off on his own. Screw the people who thought he was useless and his dad who thought he had lost his damn mind. But his Dad was right about one thing, this mission was too important. Hope and everyone in it were counting on them and failure meant all of them would die. He didn't, no couldn't let that happen. He had promised his mother he would fight to save everyone, and he would even if it meant with people who hated him and thought him useless.

Jacob sucked up his depression and self-pity, got back to his feet, and headed after his dad.

Instructions on typical Phoenix equipment given by Sergeant Hoffman:

Listen up, hatchlings! Today we will be going over the use of the equipment you will be using as a soldier. Your specialist instructor will go over the special stuff you will make use of, but we are focusing on the basics everyone uses.

First and foremost is your weapon. Your weapon will either be a rifle or a rocket launcher. As you can see, they are not pretty or streamlined, but they will get the job done. Your weapon instructors will go over proper use, maintenance, and repairs. Along with your weapon is your ammo which you will never have enough of. If you think you do, you are wrong and will run out when you need it most. Always bring as much ammo as you can carry. And for the love of God be careful with the rockets.

Second is your pack which will usually be made of leather. The pack is your best friend and you need to keep it close at all times. It will hold all the rest of the equipment and losing it is tantamount to shooting yourself in the leg. Keep up with your damn pack and it will save your life.

Third is your drinking skin, also made of leather, though a few are made from plastic. Keep this thing full at all times and remember to hydrate. Nothing is more embarrassing than a soldier who died of thirst.

Fourth is your reflection lens. This will be a piece of broken glass placed into a frame of metal. Keep it clean at all times and make sure it does not break. These things are the only means of communication you have when a giantess is nearby and being without one is to be all alone. I cannot tell you how many people have vanished to never be seen again because they did not take care of their reflection lens.

Lastly is your salted jerky and other such foods. Let me be clear, this is EMERGENCY food only. There is no shortage of game out there to hunt and a good squad can hunt down a deer or rabbit or something to eat just about every day. That can't be done when you are trying to avoid detection and a fire would give you away. For those times you will want this to be here. Only eat these when you have no choice.

Alright, all of you have packs in front of you with all of these supplies. We are going to go and use-

Sergeant Hoffman and his recruits left on training mission. All but one recruit returned safety. Lost recruit was reported to have been lost due to improper reflection lens care.[

Chapter 9: Welcome to the Resistance

 

January 12, 2024 2:36 PM

Lindsey held on to the catmonster's hair as it stalked through the woods. Despite its huge size, it was making very little noise and was managing to only step on a few trees. Lindsey had known catmonsters could be incredibly silent when they wanted to be, but it was still surprising just how quiet something so huge could be.

She glanced over to Sanders and saw that he still had an angry look to him. She couldn't blame him, Jacob had shot at his catmonster and, judging by the way he acted with her, Sanders cared a good bit for her. It was kind of cute seeing him be so protective of her when she was the one who with a thirty story height advantage. But she didn't have time for that, she needed to find out if Sanders could be really trusted or not. After all, that was why Darius had sent her with Derek, along with making sure he didn't kill him before they found out.

"You seem to have a rather close relationship with the ca- Pyrrha," Lindsey caught herself, figuring he probably would prefer she use her name.
"How did you manage to tame her like this?" Lindsey asking. Going straight for the question of trust would just make him suspect something. Better to go at it in a round about manner.  Sanders glanced over and his angry look faded a bit.

"Well...I guess just dumb luck. Pyrrha is an experimental new catgirl that the Society bred. They made her to be smarter than a normal catgirl and I guess it, also, made her more... human? I...I don't really know how to explain it, but she isn't like a normal catgirl so I doubt what I did to..."tame" her would work again," Sanders said, though he seemed to not enjoy using that word. Lindsey couldn't help but smile at this new information. The fact he was just offering it up further proved he was not with the Society, which was nice. But the knowledge they were turning a Society prototype weapon against them was the real treat. That was just so perfect she almost wanted to giggle.

"I see. Shame we cannot duplicate your dumb luck on another catmon- catgirl. Turning them against the Society would be a wonderful sight to see. That said, you still didn't answer my question. If you don't wish to talk about it, I understand, just tell me so," Lindsey said trying to be as nice as possible. She had found long ago that honey got further with people than vinegar. Though that didn't mean she couldn't use vinegar when it was needed...

"I guess I didn't... Its fine just...seems like its been another lifetime since then. I got separated from the rest of my Ranger group and lost in the woods. Was pretty banged up and was about to pass out when I stumbled onto her. She was even worse than I was and was about to become a meal for a pack of wolves. Don't really know why I did it, but I charged in and fought them. Everyone I killed she ate and the more she ate the more her wounds healed till she was able to move again. That was when I passed out and, well, I guess she must have felt some kind of appreciation for me cause I woke up on her rather than in her. Kinda been stuck with her since," Sanders finished rubbing the back of Pyrrha's ear. The large catmonster gave a low purr of pleasure from the scratching. Seemed to Lindsey it was a bit more than just appreciation that was keeping Pyrrha from eating him. Perhaps whatever the Society did to make her smarter also got something else working again... Now THAT would be a sight.

"Ahh. Dumb luck indeed to stumble onto her when she was most vulnerable and get the chance to save her. Not hard to see why she would take a shining to you after saving her. Doubly so when most sane people would have left her to die," Lindsey said with a slight smirk. Sanders sighed at that and nodded.

"Yeah...I look back on it and I always can't help but wonder what the hell I was thinking. But...but how could I just turn my back on her when she was crying for help? Who would be the monster if I had just left her to die all alone?" Sanders said as he looked down. Lindsey sighed in her head at that response. Another fool of a man who thinks himself a hero... though his luck had saved him from those foolish thoughts thus far. It would be interesting to see how long he lived. Shame too, she was starting to like Sanders.

"Rather noble of you and a rare outlook out here. You won't find many who would agree with your choice and many who will think you a fool. Just fair warning," Lindsey said with the same slight smirk. Sanders turned back to her and gave his own smirk.

"Maybe. But if I hadn't been a fool we wouldn't be riding on Pyrrha right now, would we?" Sanders shot back. Lindsey had to laugh at that as she decided she did like Sanders.

"Very true. And Hope might very well have been doomed as well. The world does have a sense of humor and enjoys making fools out of geniuses and geniuses out of fools," Lindsey said as Pyrrha came to a stop.

Sanders motioned for quiet as Pyrrha began to lower herself to the ground. Lindsey knew what was about to happen, she had been on the receiving end of it more than once. Pyrrha had found something and was getting ready to pounce. Sanders braced himself against Pyrrha's head and began to wrap more of her hair in his hand. Lindsey did the same, trusting his greater experience to keep them both safe. A fall from Pyrrha, even while she was crouched, would mean a broken limb, at best.

Pyrrha inched forward a little and Lindsey tried to look over her head to see what they were stalking. She managed to see a few deer in the area and gave a slight sigh of relieve. She didn't think Sanders would let her hunt people, but it was still a worry in the back of her mind.

Pyrrha lowered a few inches more before springing forward with horrifying speed. Lindsey held on with all her strength as she was pushed back by the inertia, only to nearly smack into Pyrrha's head when she smashed down into the ground. Lindsey managed to stop herself with her feet, just like Sanders, and heard a Pyrrha's hands smashing through trees to get at her prey. She glanced back down and saw Pyrrha had snatched up quite a few of the deer in the small herd, blood dripping out of her hand.

Lindsey looked away as Pyrrha began to bring the fists full of deer to her mouth, having no real interest in watching that. She could hear the crunching of bones and such as Pyrrha chewed them up and gave a slight cringe. Sanders didn't seem to enjoy the sounds anymore than she did and didn't bother to hide his disgust.

"She isn't the most...delicate of eaters," he said with a slight smile as another loud crack came from her mouth. He shook his head in disgust.

"I see...or rather hear," Lindsey said as Pyrrha began to lick her hands clean. As she did, the hole in her wrist looked to slowly shrink, but didn't vanish completely. Lindsey had fought catmonsters before and seen their healing ability work. However, it was something else to see it up close like this along with the sheer power at ones fingertips. Darius' plan was looking more and more likely to succeed.

"That should be good enough for now. We'll head back to the gas station and pick up the others trail from there. Pyrrha, let's go," Sanders said. Pyrrha didn't stop licking her hands, but did stand up all the way. Lindsey couldn't help but be a bit nervous finding herself nearly 300 scale feet off the ground and only a catmonster being between her and certain death. She made sure not to show it, though, as she keep a good grip on Pyrrha as she got moving back toward the gas station, licking her hands as she went.

After a minute, Lindsey felt confident enough not to keep a death grip on Pyrrha's hair and had got into the rhythm of bracing for the jarring footfalls. Oddly, Sanders didn't seem so used to it and was looking a little off. Despite his look, Lindsey decided now would be a good time to get at the heart of why she wanted to come along. Doubly so with him looking a bit out of it.

"If you don't mind me asking, what got you to quit the Society and join with us?" Lindsey asked figuring now was a good time to test Sanders. Of course, she already knew the story he had told Darius and Derek, Darius had sent it along with her new orders. Hopefully, the story he told her would be the same one that was in that letter, otherwise... Otherwise, she might have to figure out a way to kill a catmonster on her own. How fun.

Sanders sighed  and looked to the side after she asked her question. He took a second to respond, seemingly conflicted in what to say.

"My giantess leader, Isabella, found out something, something Dr. Manchent had been trying to tell us before he... I don't know what she found, but it was horrid enough to convince her to quit the Society. She was trying to get us out and to safety when they killed her...all because she happened to learn something they didn't want her to know," Sanders' hand tightened into a fist.
"I quit because I am going to make them pay. Isabella was a great woman who deserved better. Just like Dr. Manchent and God knows how many others. I'll find what Manchent left and Isabella found, go back to New Atlanta, and make sure the Matriarchs and Aviel pay for betraying what they should be standing for!" Sanders said with a mix of anguish and rage. Lindsey was very skilled at seeing past deceptions and lies, as a scout should be. She didn't see either on Sanders' face. And his story, mostly, matched up with the version Darius sent him. Lindsey was pretty well convinced Sanders was not with the Society. Of course, if he was an ally or not was still to be seen. Only a fool blindly trusted the enemy of their enemy.

"You seem rather determined on that course. I take it Isabella and you were close?" she asked, deciding to push a little further. Sanders blushed a bit and turned away.

"Not...Not that way. She was...a very special person. Kind, but stern when she needed to be. She treated all of us, including Flonne, our fairy, like family and always remembered that us normal sized people were still people. She never thought she was better than anyone just because she was a giantess and was always...always protecting us...and everyone else...right till the end," Sanders said as his look changed to sadness and lose. He turned away and hung his head. Lindsey was beyond sure this was genuine. Isabella's lose had hit him hard and it looked like he still hadn't had real time to mourn her. No way of faking this kind of look.

"Sorry. I should not have brought her up," Lindsey said, still trying to stay as polite as possible, and feeling a bit guilty. Sanders shook his head.

"Its fine...just...can we not talk for a bit?" Sanders asked. Lindsey nodded and the two of them fell silent. Pyrrha gave a soft meow, but went silent after that as well. They stayed silent until they reached the gas station.

It didn't take long for the combined efforts of Lindsey and Pyrrha to pick up the others trail. It was even easier to follow it with Lindsey picking out their tracks and Pyrrha keeping their scent. It only took them about half an hour to catch up with Derek and the rest. Jacob stayed away from Pyrrha, as he should after his stupidity, as she lowered Sanders and Lindsey down to the ground.

"I can say for certain that riding a catm- Pyrrha is a very interesting experience. One I did not think I would ever have, as well. She is safe enough, as is Sanders. As long as one does not give them a reason to be dangerous," she said shooting her worst glare at Jacob. Sadly, the boy had preempted her glare and was looking away.

Derek ignored the glare at his son and nodded in approval.

"Good. We haven't been able to find the rest of the Force's trail, yet, but we know where they are going. If we keep moving we should catch up to them sometime tomorrow," Derek said as he turned to get moving. Sanders glanced down and sighed as he looked about to say something he didn't want to. Lindsey had some idea what it was.

"We...we could catch them faster if we all rode on Pyrrha. She can move a lot faster just walking that we can, even while running," Sanders said, glaring a bit at Jacob. Jacob returned the glare full force and planted his feet on the ground rather firmly. It was so nice seeing everyone get along...though she supposed that wasn't too fair to Jacob. Luke and Samantha didn't seem anymore thrilled with the idea than he did and the look on Derek's face was...displeased to say the least.

"It can also kill us all just by rolling over or tripping. We will walk, thank you," Derek said getting a look of relief from Samantha and Luke. Premature relief.

"Come now, Derek, Pyrrha is not a dog or a pig. She doesn't just roll over whenever she feels like it and when was the last time you saw a catmonster trip?  We will be perfectly safe up on her, probably more safe in fact. Up there we won't have to worry about being stepped on or the wildlife. And the sooner we get back to the Force, the sooner it will have its Commander back," Lindsey said, knowing that last part would be the selling point for Derek. It was no secret Derek had a soft spot for the soldiers under his command and Lindsey was more than willing to use it to her advantage.

Derek growled a bit in annoyance, but Lindsey could tell it was the "don't like it but will accept it growl". Good, if Derek rode on Pyrrha and saw she was no threat, he would be more apt to make sure another incident like with Jacob wouldn't happen again. An incident they could NOT afford to repeat.

"Fine. But its on your head if something goes wrong," Derek said getting a swear from Luke.

"If something goes wrong we will all, most likely, be dead," she said with a smile that didn't make Samantha or Luke any happier. Jacob shook his head and sighed to himself.

Sanders got Pyrrha to pick up the group two at a time and lift them onto her back. She didn't mind getting Lindsey or Samantha on though Samantha still seemed very unsure about this. She did star to sniff at them before Sanders got her to quit, making Samantha really nervous. Luke and Derek got a slight growl from her as she lifted them up, which they both gave right back to her. Sanders had to bring Jacob with him when he came up as Pyrrha wouldn't let him near her without him. She hissed and growled at him as she lifted him up while Sanders glared at him the entire time. For his part, Jacob said nothing and looked away, much to Lindsey's relief. At least the boy knew when to suck it up and deal with it.

With everyone on, Pyrrha started forward on all fours while they held on to the fur on her back to stay on.

"Not..very smooth is it?" Luke said as her back bent and shifted as she moved, moving them right along with it.

"No...I'm going to...go to her head and...see if I can fix that," Sanders said as he stumbled up to her neck. Luke glared at him as he left them, looking less than convinced by that lie.

"Too good... for us, huh? Figures," he grumbled out in annoyance.

"I...don't think that's it," Samantha said as she pointed back to him. They glanced over and saw Sanders starting to climb up her hair, but having to stop to gag into his hand. He managed to hold it in, but his face had turned a very unhealthy green. Motion sickness...maybe he wasn't so lucky after all. Luke chuckled at that and shook his head.

"Pussy."

Despite Sanders attempts to make the ride smoother, it was still a rather uncomfortable ride. Every so often Lindsey and the rest would have to get off just to rest a bit and enjoy having solid ground under them. It was, also, a good chance to try and pick up the Force's trail, though it wasn't till after sundown that Lindsey managed to find it. Another hour of bumpy traveling got them caught up with the Force.

Derek had to yell down at them to hold fire as he was put down by Pyrrha, along with Lindsey. The Force had hidden itself well and had readied itself to fight, but a few of them came out when Derek yelled. They gave the all clear sign and the rest of the rear squad of the Force came out. A runner got the other squad leaders to come back so they could talk about what to do with Pyrrha and Sanders.

"I think it would be best if we keep the...catmonster away from the soldiers, sir. A lot of them have lost friends and family to those things and might be more than a little trigger happy," Fulton suggested getting a nod of agreement from Susan and Jeremy. Derek nodded as well and Lindsey made it a unanimous decision.

By then it was already well into the night and Derek decided that they might as well set up camp. Pyrrha and Sanders set up a good ways away from the Force, but Lindsey made sure to have some of the more trustworthy people of the Force keep an eye on them. Normally, she would have just watched them herself, but she needed to talk to Derek now that they could be alone. She found him up on a hill overlooking their camp, sitting next to a tree he was leaning on.

"Watching your soldiers, Derek? Making sure they are all tucked in for bed?" she said as she creep up behind him. He didn't jump from her voice, however, and just simply turned to face her.

"Making sure they are safe. Something I know you find pointless," Derek said as he turned back to the camp. Lindsey walked up and leaned against the tree he was sitting next to.

"Indeed I do. Your time would be better spent simply resting and winding yourself down some. No amount of watching or worrying will stop them from dying if we are found. So what's the point? All your doing is making yourself worry," she said thinking back to when she used to do the same. So much stress...so much pain...so much death... She beat herself up over it everyday till Darius finally got her to see. Pity he couldn't get Derek to see it too.

"Maybe there isn't a point and maybe I am just worrying, but what I do with my time is my business Let's not get into this right now, though. I assume you are here to talk about Sanders and the catmonster?" Derek said as he looked back up at her.

"Indeed I am. I questioned Sanders on why he quit the Society and he told me a close enough story to the one he told you and Darius. He, also, made it very clear he is not a fan of the Society. Should have seen the anger and bitterness on his face when he talked about their betrayal of him, you would have been impressed," Lindsey said glancing back to where she could just barely make out Pyrrha's shape in the distance. 

"So he isn't a spy then and we can trust him?" Derek asked going straight to the point as usual.

"To the first part, almost certainly. Even if he was a spy, I doubt he is one any longer. The Society did something to him to make him furious with them, whether that is the story he tells or something else, who knows and who cares? Either way, he is furious at them and more than ready to fight them. As for trust, that's a bit harder to say. I think, at least for this mission, we can. After that, though, I am not so sure. Our...priorities and combat doctrine are probably not going to agree with him," Lindsey said sighing inward. It would be a shame to lose that catmonster, but she couldn't see Sanders going along with Darius' usual plans.

Derek nodded and glanced over toward Pyrrha as well.

"We only need him and that catmonster for this mission anyway. Beyond that, its Darius' problem. I'll keep my soldiers away from them and make sure they don't do something stupid. You keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't either," Derek said as he stood up.

"Of course. Oh and might I suggest putting your son on a tighter leash as well?" Lindsey said before vanishing into the darkness. Derek snapped back toward her, but couldn't find her in the darkness. He grumbled out a damn woman as he stomped off. Lindsey did enjoy messing with Derek. He was a good soldier and a good man, but so uptight. One of these days he was just going to snap in half and it would be a huge lose to the Phoenixes. She hoped she could loosen him up before then.

The rest of the trip to the Southern HQ was uneventful. Derek and Lindsey were able to keep the soldiers from bothering Pyrrha and Sanders, and Sanders keep himself and Pyrrha well away from them. Lindsey spent a bit more time with them to keep an eye on them. She found Pyrrha to, indeed, be smart for her catmonster and made up a few games with her. She even fashioned a whistle that was too high pitch for anyone save Pyrrha to hear as a way to call her. Though her first test of it nearly caused a disaster as Pyrrha tried to go right through the camp to get to her. Thankfully, Sanders managed to stop her and Lindsey made sure to only use it well away from the camp.

It took them another three days of traveling to arrive at the HQ and Lindsey made sure to keep Pyrrha a good deal away from it when they did arrive. Darius should have sent word ahead of them, but still best not to risk someone getting jumpy. Not to mention the giant catmonster might draw unwanted attention to the HQ.

The HQ was in an abandoned van out on a back road. Most of its important stuff was stuffed into its engine block which had been removed by a Society member at some point. Derek and Lindsey both headed into the HQ to speak with the general of the Southern Group before they headed out on their mission. He would have valuable intel they would need if they wanted to pull this off.

They found General Holmes in his war room, pouring over a rough map of the southern areas. A few carved wooden pieces were set on the map along with a number of torn papers and such. He was stroking his long white beard as he took another report from his comm officer. Off in the corner, two sets of communication consoles were set up, both taping away.

Holmes was an older man, probably in his late forties. He had a large white beard and long white hair that he keep tied into a rat tail. He was still in good shape, for his age, and carried himself like he had military experience. However, he had actually been a foreman for a factory up in North-east Georgia before the shrink. He and the other workers who had survived managed to get all the way to Atlanta thanks to him and had even taken on a few jobs for the Society. Of course, this was back before they started attacking people and still seemed the best chance to normalize the world.

Holmes and his workers were outside Atlanta, working on an irrigation project Manchent had spear-headed, when a survivor of one of the attacked towns showed up. Once he had seen the devastation for himself, him and anyone else he could get to follow him took off into the woods. Lindsey had been the one to first make contact with them and Darius managed to convince him and his people to join the Phoenixes. Since then, he had proved a natural leader and his skill at building and management made him an obvious choice as the Southern General. When his people were not in crisis mode, like they were now, they were building defenses and traps to try and slow an attack on Hope. He never claimed his stuff would stop an attack, but he always did boast it would give Hope the time it needed to get ready.

"Sir, Scout Leader Lindsey and Force Commander Derek have arrived," the officer who had escorted them in said. Holmes looked up from his map and got a big smile as he walked over to them.

"Lindsey, Derek! Good to see you both! Haha! Its been far too long," he said clapping them both on the shoulder. Despite Lindsey's repeated attempts, she never could keep a stern or sad face with Holmes around. His big smile and general good cheer was more infectious than a cold.

"Same to you, General. I wish it was under better circumstances. You still owe me that drink," Derek said as he got a genuine smile on his face, a rare thing for Derek.

"General? Derek, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Martin? When you get that right maybe I will invite you to drink," Martin said as he sighed and shook his head.

"It is a shame that this is not just a social visit, but it isn't. I'm afraid we need to get to the task at hand, Martin. Time is something we do not have much of," Lindsey said, trying to get the boys back on task. Martin's big smile faded to be replaced with an all business look as he nodded. He motioned them over to the map.

"You're right, time is something we certainly do not have. I did as Darius told me and started setting up fake bases out in places away from our lines. Its helped, a bit, but I think the Society is starting to catch on. The last base they found they only spent a few hours looking at before moving on. Their advancing on us far too fast for my liking and will probably hit our outlying scout camps in a day or two, our watchposts in less than a week," Martin said as he showed them where he had marked out the furthest reaches of where the Society had patrolled. It was only about twenty miles from their watchposts and, considering the erased marks, was moving about two to three miles a day. Things were worse off than Lindsey had thought.

"Then we need to get moving. We'll need a copy of all your latest reports on where their Ranger patrols are and where you made those fake bases. Any other info you have would, also, be good," Derek said looking just as worried as Lindsey was. They were going to be cutting it close and if they got spotted getting into position... No use worrying about that, though. If it happened, they would just have to improvise.

"Right. Ivan, get all our reports on Ranger patrols all maped out and our fake bases. Also, give them the latest info we got from our scouts,"  Martin said to the officer who brought them in. He nodded and started working on getting everything gathered up.

"So you really got a catmonster, then?" Martin asked as Ivan went to work. Derek nodded.

"Yes. So far, it hasn't attacked anyone and the man with it seems to have it tamed. Hopefully, it'll give us the edge we need," Derek said looking less than sure of that. Lindsey couldn't blame him. They were putting a lot of trust in an unknown asset.

"Derek, I have another Force kitted out and ready to go with you. Even with a catmonster, a single Force against a Ranger squad is suicide. Take them and don't throw your and your soldier's lives away," Martin said. Lindsey was expecting this. Martin was a good commander and inspired loyalty because he cared for his soldiers. But, that also meant he had a tough time making the tough calls. It was why Darius was in full command and not him. She hoped Derek, at least, could see the bigger picture.

"I can't do that, Martin. This is already risky enough and I am not going to risk anymore people than I have to. Besides, if we do fail, you will need ever soldier you have. Keep your Force here and put it to better use, General," Derek said getting a slight smile from Lindsey. And that was why Derek was the second in command. Though Lindsey had to wonder if he said no because he knew risking two Forces for this was stupid or just because he didn't want to risk more lives. Well, either way he still said no.

Martin sighed as he shook his head. He looked about to argue when Ivan showed up with the papers. Lindsey took them and nodded to Martin before heading out.

"Stay safe, General," Derek said as he followed her out.

"That should be my line, Derek. And its still Martin," the Southern General said as they headed back out.

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It had been three days since they had left the Southern HQ and the Force had managed to slip through the Society patrols to their destination. They had set up a small camp between Kennasaw and Marietta, just like Darius had told them, and made sure to keep Pyrrha well hidden in a large valley behind the camp. Lindsey and Squad 4 had gone out the day before to set out some signs pointing toward the area for a patrol to find. Lindsey had stayed to make sure they were found and, once all of them were, she slipped back to the Force's camp to get them ready.

"A Ranger patrol found the bait. They should be heading this way soon," Lindsey told Derek, his squad leaders, and Sanders. They all nodded as Derek took a deep breath to get ready. He used a stick to draw a very rough map of the area in the dirt before he starting to explain the plan.

"Alright. Susan, I want all of your people loaded with rockets. Take them to this bluff here and wait there. Fulton, I want your people all rifled up and spread out in the front. The giantess will send out her normal-sized Rangers to scout ahead of her and I want them dead before they tip her off. Jeremy, I want you on this hill opposite Susan's group. Stay hidden and don't reveal yourselves till I give the word. Me and my squad will set up back here on the hill and make some noise and draw attention to us," Derek said setting up the Susan's and Jeremy's squads across from each other and his own behind them. Lindsey could already tell his plan.

"The plan is simple. Fulton will get rid of the small Rangers and blind the giantess. With no support, she will spot my squad and advance to us. When she gets here between Jeremy and Susan's squads, both of you will open up. While she is reeling from the attack, Sanders and Pyrrha will move in and finish her off before she can counter-attack. Any questions?" Derek said, confirming Lindsey's hutch. It was a simple plan, but simple plans were often the most effective. After all, there was less things that could go wrong and something always did go wrong.

"What do we do if she doesn't take the bait?" Jeremy asked looking at the map.

"Then we send Sanders and Pyrrha in to attack, piss her off, and lure her in that way," Derek answered, getting a nod from Jeremy.

"So you are going to kill the Rangers then?" Sanders asked getting a cold stare from Derek. Lindsey was afraid of this becoming an issue. She tried to answer, but Derek beat her to the punch.

"Yes. Anything less and they might report this was a trick or warn the giantess. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Derek asked giving him a stern glare. Sanders closed his eyes and sighed.

"No...no, it can't be helped," Sanders said. Lindsey eyed him a bit, but found him harder to read now. She dearly hoped he meant that, for all their sakes. Just in case she made a mental note to have him watched closely. The last thing they needed was him getting cold feet. Derek seemed to have the same concerns as her and glared suspiciously at Sanders, but moved on.

"Alright... If there are no other questions, get your people loaded up and moving out," he ordered as they all split off into different directions. Lindsey took a moment to follow Sanders to give him a bit of advice before she headed out.

"Don't try to save everyone. It never works out, trust me," Lindsey said before slipping away before he could turn to her. She had no time to relive that memory with this mission about to start. She needed to focus if she was going to help Fulton and his soldiers find those Rangers.

Lindsey headed out with Fulton's squad and split up, alone, once they passed the two hills the other squads were setting up on. The sun was starting to dip down into late afternoon and the shadows in the forest were growing in size. Good, she would need them to keep hidden. Lindsey creep through the barren forest alone, moving from shadow to shadow.

For about half an hour she listened, moved, listened, moved, listened, and moved. But still there was no sign of the Rangers or the rumbling footsteps of the giantess. Perhaps she had overestimated the Ranger's ability to follow the clues she had left. Or maybe they had decided it was too late to keep patrolling. Both situations would be equally vexing as it would mean their plan would have to be revised. Worse, being ready for a fight that long would start to fry nerves and increase the likelihood of someone doing something stupid. Not to mention Pyrrha being spotted when she went to hunt.

Just as she was about to curse to herself, she heard a slight rumble off in the distance. The rumble was followed by another and Lindsey knew what it was instantly. Foot steps...giant foot steps. The Ranger patrol had taken the bait and were on their way. The giantess was still a good ways off considering how muffled her footsteps were, but her smaller Rangers could be anywhere out here. Lindsey got lower to the ground and made sure to stick even closer to the shadows. Being found now could ruin the plan before it started.

Lindsey stopped as she heard a very faint sound. She ducked into the shadow of a nearby tree and pressed herself as close to it as possible. The sound came again and Lindsey recognized it. Footsteps...careful footsteps of someone trying not to be heard. Anyone else would have missed them, but Lindsey was an expert at hearing such things. It could be someone else from Fulton's squad...or. She slid her knife out of her coat as she knelt down on all fours. She crawled toward the barely audible noise without making a sound of her own. She slowly crested a hill and looked down to see the source of the noise. She sighed when she saw who it was.

"Sanders...what the hell are you doing?" she said as she got up and moved to him. Sanders jumped and swung around, but relaxed when he saw it was her.

"I wa-" he started to say, but Lindsey stopped him.

"Actually, never mind, I already know. Did you not hear me when I said trying to save everyone would end badly? Do I need to remind you that all of the Phoenix forces out here are relying on you and Pyrrha coming to aid them?" she said giving him an angry glare. Fool might just doom them all if he didn't get back. He was the only one who could control Pyrrha and without her, they had no way of dealing with the giantess.

"I know that and yes I did hear you. But I can't just doom my old comrades to death without trying to save them. They are good people who just have been lied to by the Society. I-" he stopped as a snapped branch echoed from over a hill nearby. Both of them dived into cover as a curse came over the hill.

"Dammit Blanch, are you going to step on every branch?" a female voice said from over the hill.

Sanders eyes lit up with recognition at the voice and name. At least now she knew the enemy was over that hill. She didn't waste a second as she took off up the hill, completely silent. She easily crested the hill without disturbing a bit of the earth or dead brush and reached the top in seconds. Sanders came after her, but nowhere near as quickly. At least he was being quiet, though. Good, she would have time to deal with this before he could interfere.

She looked down and saw a man with red hair coming up the hill. He was wearing typical Ranger gear and had a sword hooked to his side. He kicked a branch away and grumbled to himself. A little bit below him she could see more movement as another Ranger, this one a black woman with a spear, was coming behind him. Well there was a problem... If she killed the man the woman would notice and might call for help before she could kill her. Best to start with the woman.

Lindsey slipped around to the side of the hill and began to slowly make her way down, making sure to stay out of sight. About halfway down she spotted more movement and saw a third person in the group, this one a lanky brown haired man with an axe. Damn...taking on three Rangers without any of them reporting the attack was going to be near impossible. But, she would figure out someway to pull it off.

She was about to move to engage them when Sanders crested the hill, in full view of all three. Great...

"Shit, Resistance!" the lead guy yelled as all three reached for their weapons. Lindsey cursed under her breath as she got ready to rush the closest one.

"NO! Blanch, its me! Sanders," Sanders said getting all three to stop dead in their tracks.

"Sa...Sanders?!" the lead guy said as he looked closer at Sanders.
"Holy shit, it is," he said as the other two came up to join the lead guy, both eying Sanders. Lindsey moved up too, but stayed out of sight of all of them. She would see how this played out for now. The guy who had been bringing up the rear gave a short laugh before moving up to Sanders.

"Son of a bitch it is you. What the hell, the top brass said you were dead, killed along with Isabella. Wait, is she still alive too?" he asked with a smile, a fake smile. Lindsey looked at the other two and saw they were eying the forest around them, hands near their weapons. They were expecting an attack, which meant they expected this to be a trick. And Sanders was completely oblivious to it. Wonderful.

"N...No...she's dead. I...I know this is going to sound crazy, but you have to listen to me. The Matriarchs killed her and nearly killed me. Isabella found something, something Dr. Manchent tried to get us to find before he died. I know where it is and I could use your help getting to it. Please, I know this is a lot to take in right now, but trust me the Society does not have our best interest at heart anymore," Sanders said to all three of them. The male that was not Blanch keep his smile through the story, though it was obvious it was a strain to. Dammit, he wasn't believing a damn word Sanders was saying and Sanders wasn't seeing it at all. She had to do something or they were going to kill him.

Lindsey took out the whistle she had made and blew into it as hard as she could. It made no sound any of them could hear, but hopefully Pyrrha would. It would still take awhile for Pyrrha to arrive, though. Lindsey was going to have to buy some time till then or hope Sanders could talk himself some.

"That is a really interesting story, Sanders. You make that up all by yourself?" the woman asked as she turned back to Sanders. The unnamed guy shot her a dirty look while Sanders looked at her in confusion.

"Wha- NO! I didn't make this up. Trent, you know I wouldn't lie about this! They KILLED her and they will ki-" Sanders started before Trent interrupted him.

"Just stop, Sanders. We know what really happened, so you can just stop. Sharon told us the whole, pathetic thing. I'll admit, I didn't want to believe it, that you killed Isabella and switched over to the Resistance, but after that stupid ass lie and being out here where we know a Resistance group is," he paused as he shook his head, "Let me ask you one thing. How the hell can you live with yourself after murdering Isabella in cold blood?"

"What?! Murdering?!  Trent do you even hear how absurd that sounds?! I had nothing but respect for Isabella, hell I loved her! And how the HELL could I have even managed TO kill her?!" Sanders yelled out.

"By shooting her in the throat with that gun you keep from the Resistance," Blanch answered as Sanders' face began to pale.
"You got close to her neck when you were being picked up by her and shot her point blank. Would have killed Aviel too, if she hadn't cut the gun in half before you could."

"He already knows how he killed her, you dumbass," the woman said before turning back to Sanders.
"Enough talking. Let's gut this traitor and get back to killing Resistance fuckers."

Shit, Lindsey had to act fast. With no other choice, she rushed toward the group, not caring about making noise. The group whirled to face her as she charged in with her knife, not daring to use her gun lest it draw the giantess to them.

She leap up and tried to stab it into Blanch's shoulder, but he dodged to the left just enough to cause it to scrap off his armor. The woman grabbed her spear in both hands and thrust it forward straight for Lindsey's stomach. Lindsey dodged back before having to duck under Blanch's sword. She stabbed her sword into his leg and he cried in pain as he fell over.

"No! Stop!" Sanders yelled as Trent joined the fight. He swung his brutal axe down for her head and Lindsey danced back to avoid it, only to come right into the reach of the woman's spear. Lindsey managed to shift just enough to cause it to slice across her side rather than straight into her and jabbed her knife down at the woman's hand. She was too quick and yanked her hand back as Trent came forward to deliver a horizontal blow. Lindsey backed up and ducked down as Trent's axe thunked into the tree she had moved to. Lindsey smiled as raised her dagger to stab him in the throat when a hand grabbed her arm, stopping the thrust before it began.

"STOP IT I SAID!" Sanders said as he held her arm. She cursed as the idiot did more than just stop her from killing Trent and cried in pain as Blanch's blade sunk into her side, punching right through to the other side. The last Ranger had gone down the hill and had been coming up on the attack, apparently unnoticed by Sanders, and had taken his chance to stab her straight through.

"No...BLANCH!" Sanders yelled before he kicked him back down the hill. He grabbed the sword and pulled it out of her, causing a new wave of pain to lance through Lindsey. She gasped in pain as she felt her legs turn to jelly and Sanders had to hold her up. Blood was already pooling out of the wound and Lindsey could feel herself starting to get light-headed. Trent managed to free his axe as the woman approached with her spear. Sanders grabbed her knife and held it in front of them both to fend them off.

Idiot...didn't he know she was dead? Damn bastard had stabbed her right through the stomach, no living through that. And here was Sanders, trying to save her with a knife despite being the reason she was dead. At least...at least he was constant. Damn hero types.

"Stay back you two. I don't want to hurt you. Just please, listen to me. The So-"

"Shut up, you fucking traitor. I liked you, you know that? Thought of you as my friend, but now I see you're just a damn traitor. You killed your Captain and now you are trying to save a fucking Resistance bitch. So if you got any last words, now would be the time for them," Trent said as he and the woman moved toward them. Lindsey's vision started to fade, but she still caught the slight movement in the trees above them. Two huge glowing eyes appeared behind the branches and stared down at them. Well...she had bought them time, been pretty pricey though.

Sanders saw them too and slowly shook his head. Lindsey looked at him and took a ragged breath.

"You better...take the...chance...You can't....save...but there....are others," she said. Sanders looked at her as tears began to form in his eyes. He looked up and lowered his knife as Blanch began to move up to join the other two.

"Pyrrha....kill," he said getting confused looks from all three. And then Blanch vanished as something massive closed around him. His muffled screams came out for a second before a gulp silenced him forever. The other two Rangers spun around and got looks of pure terror as Pyrrha towered above them. The woman tried to run, but Pyrrha snatched her up before she even got a step. Trent got no further as Pyrrha's other hand plucked him from the ground as well. Sanders stood there, his eyes locked on the site as his body froze in place

The woman screamed in terror as Pyrrha dropped her into her mouth and swallowed her alive. Trent watched in terror before screaming himself. Sanders started to mutter to himself and shook his head, as if trying to say something.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! SANDERS CALL HER OFF! SANDERS SAND-" and then he was gone too. Pyrrha gave a happy ahh as she licked her lips and looked down at the two of them happily. Sanders stood there for a second still muttered what almost sounded like stop before, flopped to the ground, shaking like crazy and sobbing uncontrollably.

"What....what did....I just wanted..." he sobbed out as he sat there, still holding her. Lindsey could feel herself slipping away, the last bit of her blood spilling out. Resting was...sounding so good, but she couldn't yet. She...she needed to get Sanders to...to fight. Not...not cry like a...baby

"Sa...Sanders..." she gasped out using the last of her energy to talk. He looked down to her, his eyes full of tears and red from crying.

"Not...your fault...can't save....everyone...lies...told...them...li-" she tried to say more, but her voice just refused to come out. Sanders stared at her for a moment before his shaking began to slow. He looked up at Pyrrha who was looking at him and her with a very worried look.

"Told them lies....Who told them lies..." his grip tightened on her shoulder as his look changed from despair to anger.
"Sharon told them I killed Isabella...She told them the lies...She....She is supposed to be protecting them...She should have seen the truth like Isabella. They all should have...They..." Sanders stopped as his grip became a vice grip and his look one of pure rage. Lindsey smiled to herself as she knew she had done her job well.

"She didn't care...They all don't care...They are all like Angela and Cathrine and....AVIEL!" he said as his grip tightened even further. He looked down at her and slid her over to a tree. He leaned her onto the tree and wiped away his tears.

"I promise you won't have died in vain, Lindsey. I'll kill them all and make sure the Society falls. And I won't try to save everyone doing it. I swear it," he said as she smiled at him. Still acting like a hero...so stupid and yet...and yet she couldn't stop smiling. She mouthed go to him as her energy ran out. She keep watching, though, as he stood up and turned back to Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, up. We have a giant bitch to kill. And a friend to avenge," he said with a look of pure hatred on his face. And then everything went white. She could let Sanders handle it from here.

Chapter 10: Heroes are Made

January 18, 2024 5:23 PM

Sanders began to climb up onto Pyrrha's hand when he saw movement at the top of the hill. He looked over and saw the squad leader, Fulton, and a few of his soldiers come over the ridge. They looked at Sanders before turning to the dead Lindsey. He knew exactly what they would assume and he had no time for it. Sharon needed to pay for making this tragedy happen, for letting her Rangers be just pawns for the likes of Angela and Cathrine!

"The Rangers are dead, Pyrrha ate them! Get Lindsey's body and your squad out of here! I am going to lure the giantess into the trap!" he  yelled back before turning back to Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, go!" he said as she gripped him tighter. She took off before the Resistance members could react. Fulton might not believe him at first, but once he got Pyrrha to the giantess and starting fighting her, he was sure to change that opinion. At least he had gotten away before they could fire at Pyrrha. He had seen enough people eaten by her for a lifetime....

Trent...Blanch....Lizette... if he had just stayed bac- NO! No, he couldn't think about that right now. He needed to stay focused on Sharon and HER part in this disaster! Telling her Rangers that HE had murdered Isabella?! HE had betrayed Aviel?! She was going to pay, just like all the other corrupt Society members! He was going to have Pyrrha rip all their throats out till he got his hands on a shrink device then he would kill them himself!

Sanders slowed Pyrrha down as she moved forward, being as unnaturally silent as she always was. He made sure to watch where she stepped for any Resistance members, he was NOT going to let another die today, but they seemed to have moved beyond their scouting area.

The sky was darkening and turning to night as he slowed Pyrrha even more. He stayed in her hand so she could see his hand gestures and motioned for her to lower herself to the ground. Pyrrha began to creep along it, staying behind the rolling landscape and keeping out of sight. He wanted to get the drop on Sharon and needed to keep Pyrrha hidden till they were ready to strike. A surprise attack would be the best way to assure she would follow them.

"Pyrrha, down," he whispered as he stopped her at a mountain, at least at his size it was. She put him down about half way up it and he motioned for her to be quiet and to stay. He started up the mountain, making sure to make no noise, and stopped every so often to make sure Pyrrha was staying put. She watched him go up, but seemed to get the idea and stayed put. She did, however, keep one arm out as if ready to catch him should he start to fall. After a minute or two of climbing, he got to the top. He crawled up the last bit and peeked over the lip of the mountain, making sure to make a little movement as possible.

Sharon was just over the large mountain and looked to be checking her wrist unit. She was in typical giantess Ranger gear: a large jacket to fend off the cold, some baggy pants and armored boots. She had a shield generator hooked to her belt along with a few supplies, but no real weapons save for her sheer size, which was weapon enough in honesty. Sanders had seen first hand the destructive power a giantess had. Seeing Isabella or Gabby or any of the other giantesses had always been intimidating, but it was another thing entirely to know you were going to have to fight something so massive. But Sanders was long past fear and seeing her only made his rage all the more potent.

Isabella would have realized something was wrong, by now. And she would NEVER have sent them so far afield without her following along. Sharon, on the other hand, didn't even look concerned and was just typing away on her wrist unit doing fuck knows what. If she had just followed along...if she hadn't lied to her Rangers...if... But she didn't and now she was going to pay. She had no right to call herself a Giantess Ranger when compared to Isabella.

Sanders slowly crawled back down the mountain until he had slipped out of sight of Sharon. He got back his feet and descended a little bit more before Pyrrha picked him up again. This time, however, he got her to put him on her head. Pyrrha was going to need both her hands for this and Sanders had gotten rather good at holding onto her hair over the past month.

"OK, Pyrrha, its time we make her pay for her betrayal. First, we need to get her attention. Sorry about this," he said as he was about to scratch her with his knife to get her to meow. To his surprise, Pyrrha let out a meow before he could. He blinked a few times before sliding his knife back in its holster. Odd...was she coming to attention or something? He didn't remember that being a word that she reacted to...Bah, he didn't have time to worry about that right now, the giant bitch was on her way.

"That works too, good girl. OK, brace!" he said, using the word he had taught her to get her ready to pounce. Pyrrha did as she was instructed and got ready to pounce over the mountain.

"A catgirl? Dammit..." Sanders heard the booming voice of Sharon said before her shaking footsteps moved closer and closer. He wrapped both his arms around Pyrrha's hair and braced his feet as he got ready for her momentum. No sooner did her face come into view, and her eyes widen, did Sanders give the command.

"ATTACK!" he yelled as Pyrrha sprang forward toward Sharon's face. Sanders arm's screamed in pain as he keep his feet planted onto Pyrrha's head. No sooner had Pyrrha crashed into Sharon, and the fight start, it was his legs that flared in pain from the sudden stop. He shoved away the pain as Pyrrha hissed in rage as the clawed at Sharon and Sharon yelled in surprise and pain.

"Pyrrha down!" he yelled, having learned from the last fight with a giantess. Given enough time, Sharon would get a grip on Pyrrha and the two of them might not get so lucky with Sharon. Pyrrha did as she was told and pushed off Sharon. Sanders braced as Pyrrha fell to the ground, making sure to fall as lightly as possible though Sanders still smashed into her head. He grunted in pain from the blow and groaned a bit, but keep his grip on her hair. Sanders shook off the blow and looked back up to see Sharon wincing and rubbing the large gashs Pyrrha had left on her arms, shoulders, and face. She looked down at them with a look of rage before bringing her foot back to kick them.

Pyrrha was quicker, though, and jumped to the left to avoid the kick. Sanders held on as they flew to the left. Pyrrha turning back toward Sharon and hissed at her as the kick connected with nothing but air.

"Damn catgirl! Fuck that hurts. Going to fucking," she started to say before kicking out at them again. Pyrrha dodged the kick again as she started circling Sharon. Sanders was only getting more sure he wanted this bitch dead as they did. A fucking catgirl was attacking her and she hadn't even THOUGHT about her Rangers. Isabella would have been screaming for them to hide and been doing whatever it took to keep them save. This.....monster didn't even give a shit. All she, no IT cared about was that it was hurt.

Well it was going to have a lot more to worry about soon. All he needed to do was lure it into the trap and then him and the Resistance would kill this fucker. But first, he needed to get rid of its shield. If it had that, the first volley of fire would be wasted on taking it down. And by the time they got the second off, it might have killed some of the Resistance. Sanders was NOT going to let that happen, enough people had died today, which only left room for monsters...

"Pyrrha, legs! Attack!" he ordered as Pyrrha growled and bent down. Sanders tightened his grip as she rocketed toward Sharon again, but Sharon was ready this time. It brought its arm down and smashed Pyrrha in the face, deflecting the pounce. Pyrrha's head went whipping around, nearly shaking Sanders off with the sudden change in direction. Sanders managed to hold on, still lying on Pyrrha's head, but felt a wave of sickness hit him. Pyrrha cried in pain as she hit the ground, but scampered away before a massive earthquake rocked the ground. Pyrrha turned and Sanders saw the massive, to him, dust cloud Sharon had kicked up with its stomp. If that had hit them, they would have been done.

Sanders cursed to himself as he pulled himself back up onto his feet, before nearly falling over again from his stomach rolling like mad. Dammit, they needed a distraction to get at that shield generator. He fought back his nausea and steadied himself as Pyrrha keep circling Sharon, a low angry growl coming from her. He looked at the mountains hoping to spot a Resistance member, but couldn't see anything from this distance. If only he had his gun with the sco- wait he still had a gun! The last thing Sharon would be expecting is to take a shot from a catgirl. Maybe that would distract it just long enough for Pyrrha to get at the shield.

"Pyrrha, back!" he said getting Pyrrha to back away from Sharon. They needed some distance so he could aim without Pyrrha dodging kicks. Thankfully, Sharon followed her, but slowly. It keep its arms up and ready to swat away another pounce as it advanced on them.

Sanders took out the shitty rifle the Resistance had given him and raised it to point at Sharon's right arm. The shield generator was on the left side of its body and he was hoping it would look right when he shot it to let Pyrrha get a chance to slip in. It was a long shot, but the only other option was to head for the trap and hope the shield didn't absorb too much of the attack. Sanders wasn't going to accept that until he had tried everything else.

He lined up the shot as best he could with one arm, for once glad of how huge a giantess was. This might have been a tough shot if Sharon's arm wasn't the size of a subway tunnel. He took a deep breath to steady his arm and pulled the trigger. The gun fired and sent the bullet flying toward the giantess, and causing Pyrrha to cringe a bit. He smiled as a small shimmer of light appeared near Sharon's right arm as the shield stopped the bullet. He gave Pyrrha a quick scratch as Sharon's focus on them lessened.

"What the?" Sharon said as it glanced at its arm in confusion, taking its eyes off Pyrrha for an instant. And an instant was all they needed.

"NOW ATTACK!" Sanders yelled as Pyrrha launched herself forward again. Sharon turned back too late as Pyrrha grabbed onto its leg and got ready to claw into it. Sanders cursed though as he realized Pyrrha was attacking its leg and not the generator. Worse, he had no idea how to get her TO target the generator.

"Pyrrha, the generator! Up! Get it!" Sanders yelled, as he was about to risk climbing down to point at it. He stopped, however, as Pyrrha looked up at it and grabbed hold of it. She started to pull on it, but couldn't get it off the belt. Suddenly, Sharon kicked its leg out with a curse, flinging Pyrrha back. But Pyrrha keep a grip on the generator and the extra force was enough to yank it off Sharon's belt. Wires and cables sparked as they were ripped away and the shield shimmered around Sharon for a brief second before fading away. The had brought the shield down!

"FUCK, my shield! That is IT! I am going to fucking crush you!" Sharon said as it started to run after them. Even better, now they just had to lure it to the trap.

"Pyrrha, run!" Sanders said as Pyrrha tossed the, now ruined, generator away and took off running. Sanders steered her back toward the valley where the trap was and made sure Sharon was keeping up, but not about to catch them. Its much longer strides were gaining it ground, but not enough to catch them before they made it, thankfully. He turned back as he keep a tight grip on Pyrrha's hair.

Sanders dearly hoped Fulton had moved his people away as they came running toward the trap. Pyrrha' huge feet were blasting apart trees as she rushed toward the trap where as Sharon's massive feet were crushing anything and everything they came down on. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do for anyone down there as they ran through the area Fulton's people had been in. Stopping or slowing down would mean getting caught and the trap failing. They had come too far and lost too much to fail now.

Sanders waited till Pyrrha had passed the two mountains, smiling as he managed to spot people on both, before getting her to stop. She spun around and skidded to a stop on all fours as she raised up and hissed at Sharon, her tail bristling. Sharon came running on, heedless of the threat and still dead set on Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, legs. Get ready," Sanders said to Pyrrha as he held on and waited for Sharon to enter the valley. Once the missiles started flying, he would get Pyrrha to attack its legs for real and make sure it couldn't escape. It was time for it to pay for Lindsey, Trent, Blanch, and Lizette;s deaths.

Sharon took two massive running steps into the valley before the two mountains erupted to life. Missiles came flying out from the trees as the top of the mountains light up with the flames of their engines. Sharon had just enough time to look surprised before the first few smashed into its sides. They blasted through its unarmored jacket with ease and exploded out, sending bits of flesh, blood, and cloth flying out of the holes they were making. A few hit its hips and caused blood to begin to run down its pants. A few even went toward its face, but Sharon managed to raise its arms to stop most of them.

Sharon cried out in pain as the first volley brought it to a stop and it shielded its face from the bullets still flying upward.

"Now, Pyrrha!" Sanders ordered as Pyrrha rushed back into the fight and latched onto Sharon's leg again. This time she wasn't distracted by the generator and managed to cut into Sharon's calf while biting into its leg. Sharon howled in pain as its leg buckled and it collapsed to its knees, Pyrrha backing off to avoid being crushed.

It glared at Pyrrha and looked about to talk when the second volley of missiles erupted out, this time a face level with Sharon. It raised its now very bloody arms to shield its face again as Sanders keep Pyrrha back to avoid friendly fire. The missiles began to blast huge chunks of its flesh off as it screamed in pain and agony. its left forearm fell limp as a lucky hit blew out its elbow and a few late rockets managed to hit its face thanks to it. Sharon's bloody face twisted in rage as the second volley came to an end.

"You fucking ANTS!" it yelled so loud it nearly deafened Sanders. It brought its still working right arm around and turned his gaze to her right. Fuck, it was going to back hand the mountain the right squad was on! And with its massive size most of them would be obliterated just by the impact and the rest would be flung off to their deaths somewhere off the mountain! He had to stop it!

"Pyrrha! Its arm! Stop it!" he yelled as Pyrrha seemed to see it too and was already lunging for the arm. Pyrrha grabbed it just as Sharon was bringing it around. Pyrrha cried in pain as it smacked into her chest, sending a wave of force traveling all the up her body. Sanders cursed as the force began to push Pyrrha back toward the mountain and he began to worry they would wind up just crushing the squad anyway. But Pyrrha dug her heels into the ground and growled in fury as they slowed. Finally, they stopped a few inches from the mountain, having only touched its base. Sanders looked back and saw some of the Resistance people looking up in shock and surprise at having been saved from what they probably thought was certain death.

"FIRE DAMMIT! KILL IT!" Sanders yelled down at them as Pyrrha bit into Sharon's arm, causing it to scream in pain again and start to pull them back the other direction. Sanders held on and was about to tell Pyrrha to let go when a sudden flash of light got his attention.

He looked up, but the light had already vanished. He looked over to Sharon and noticed it had stopped screaming. It sat there as if perplexed by what had just happened as a small dribble of blood began to run down its forehead. It looked at it for a second before another flash of light came. Sanders saw a red laser cut into Sharon's forehead and it convulsed slightly from the laser burning through her head. Its eyes seemed to twitch before the third volley of missiles came from both mountains and finished what the lasers had started. Sharon, the Ranger giantess, was dead and her face was a ruined mess. It deserved worse.

Sanders had Pyrrha hold on to it and slowly lower its torso to the ground to keep it from crushing anyone. He heard cheers and yells from the two mountains as they began to clap each other on the back and celebrate their victory. Sanders wished he could join them, but with Sharon dead there was nothing to keep him from his despair. His rage slowly burnt out to be replaced with a near crippling lose.

Lindsey...Trent...Blanch...Lizette...all dead. He couldn't save them...hell he had damned them, one to death and the other three to the worst possible death he could imagine. Trent had been begging him and he had just...

Sanders slumped down onto Pyrrha's head as she meowed up at him in confusion and worry. He gave no reply as he laid there and felt tears start to form. He didn't bother trying to stop them.

Sanders slowly picked himself up as the cheering began to get louder. He looked up and saw the squads from the two mountains coming down them and still celebrating. He wasn't exactly sure how long he had been laying on Pyrrha's head, but it had been long enough. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't hide up on Pyrrha's head forever. He had to tell them what he had done...what he had cost them... He tried to whip away his tears as the two squads moved together to congratulate each other.

"Pyrrha, down," Sanders said as he tried to hide his crying. Pyrrha's hand came up and picked him up, but didn't lower him to the ground. Instead, it stopped near her face and she looked at him with a concerned look. He sighed as he rubbed her check, getting a slight purr from her, but motioned down. Pyrrha slowly lowered her hand down and set him onto the ground.

As he was set down, he could start to hear what the people were saying.
"We did it! We saved Hope!"
"Fucking hell, we took on a Ranger patrol with a single Force and won!"
"We killed her! We actually killed a giantess!"
None of them knew yet and a few were even smiling at him. They might have moved to clamp him on the back or shake his hand, but they still seemed a little uneasy with moving close to Pyrrha. Sanders looked down and moved toward them. As he neared them, a few of them moved to thank or congratulate him, but he keep them back. He...he didn't deserve their praise and admiration.

"Please, can...I need to say something," Sanders said, getting a few of the nearby people to quiet down. A few of the ones who heard him got the rest to be quiet and Sanders found himself in the middle of the two squads. They all looking a bit confused by his red eyes and depressing look save for Susan and Jeremy. Both of them looked between each other and seemed to send a unsaid message. Samantha was right in the front with Jacob behind her, she looking concerned and him glaring.

"I..." fuck it... no sense beating around the bush.

"Lindsey is dead," Sanders said feeling the tears beginning to come again, though this time he fought to keep them back. A murmur of disbelief and shock went through the group. Samantha's concerned look turned to shook and despair as she leaned back into Jacob. Even his glare softened into a look of disbelieve as he held onto Samantha. The two squad leaders sighed and looked away, their fears most likely confirmed. Sanders cursed himself for being so stupid, for being so naive. He had made what should have been a complete victory into a sour pill that they all had to swallow. And now...now he had to admit his fault in it.

"She...I was with her and she died bec-" he started to say before a voice interrupted him.

"Because of the Rangers," a male voice said as people turned to the voice. Sanders looked up and saw Squad Leader Fulton moving through the group along with his squad. Sanders wasn't sure how many of them there were, but it was still close to the number he remembered. He dearly hoped it was.

"I got there at the last couple of seconds. Lindsey was fighting the three Rangers alone when Sanders and the catmonster showed up. They tried to save her, but she took a blade through the side before they could get them all," he said as he reached Sanders. He had a sad look on his face till he turned to face Sanders. It changed to a serious one was he motioned for Sanders to come with him.

"I need to speak to him alone. Lindsey asked me to give him something before she... died," Fulton said as the group turned away and began to murmur amongst themselves. They all looked a bit crestfallen, but none of them looked at him in anger. In fact...was that admiration in their eyes? Dammit, he didn't deserve that, what was Fulton doing?!

"Why are you lying about wh-" Sanders started to whisper as they moved away. Before he could finish, Fulton held up the whistle Lindsey had made to call Pyrrha. Sanders stopped and stared at it as Fulton stared at him.

"What good would telling them that you got her killed do for us? Nothing, save maybe make you feel better. You got Lindsey killed, I know it and you know it, and we are the only ones who can ever know it. You want to honor her memory, then keep your mistake to yourself and live with the guilt. Right now, the Phoenixes need you and your catmonster's help, and thinking you are an idiot who got one of our best killed will just drive a wedge between us. We don't need an idiot with a catmonster, we need a hero with catmonster, a hero everyone can trust and respect," Fulton said as he clapped Sanders on the shoulder and smiled at him, making it look like they were having a nice conversation rather than one that was...anything but.

Sanders looked away from the whistle and closed his eyes. Fulton was right...telling the truth would ruin any chance of them ever trusting him. And if they didn't trust him, they wouldn't trust Pyrrha. Sanders hadn't known Lindsey long, but he knew she would want him to do what was best of the Phoenixes. And right now...what was best for the Phoenixes was for him to swallow his guilt and lie to the Phoenixes so he could be the hero they wanted.

Sanders took the whistle and nodded to Fulton.

"I...I understand. I won't tell anyone," he said as he cursed himself again.

"Good. Make sure you live up to everyone's expectations. And don't ever forget what being a naive dumbass costs others," Fulton said with a glare of anger He turning away, his face now looking sad but happy at the same time, as he headed back to the other squad leaders. Sanders held Lindsey's whistle in his hand and fought back his despair, his guilt, his lose, and his self-loathing. Live up to their expectations... He put the whistle away in his pocket as he looked up to see Derek and the rest of his squad coming toward them.

Derek still had his laser cannon out, its barrel slowly cooling, as he walked towards Sanders. His soldiers still had big bright smiles and triumphant looks on their faces, though the dimmed a bit when they saw the others looks. Derek looked around at the sad faces and his eyes narrowed on Sanders.

"Where is Lindsey?" he asked as Sanders rubbed the whistle in his pocket. Sanders fought back his guilt as he gave the lie he needed to give.

"Dead. The Rangers killed her. She must have stumbled onto all three of them and either got seen or tried to take them on herself. She blew the whistle she made to get me and Pyrrha to come, but..." Sanders trailed off, feeling horrid for telling this lie. But he had to stick to it, for Lindsey's sake and everyone else's.

"But we didn't get there in time," he said looked down at the ground. The guilt was pounding away at him, but he couldn't let it make him tell the truth. The guilty would just have to be his punishment, living with it, his atonement. He wouldn't fail Lindsey again by ruining the opportunity she had died to make.

Derek didn't look all that convinced as his stare turned into a piercing glare. Sanders felt like Derek was trying to strip him bare with just his eyes and see the naked truth, but didn't get very long to stare.

"Its true, sir. Me and a few of my soldiers heard the commotion and came running. By the time we got there Lindsey was...being slain, sir. The catmonster made them pay, though. Ate all three of the Rangers before they could warn the giantess," Fulton said with a vindictive smile. The memory of letting Pyrrha eat his three friends nearly made Sanders shiver and break down, but he fought it back. He had to stay strong, heroes didn't fall into quivered messes.

Derek glared softened a bit as Fulton confirmed Sanders lie. He looked away with a heavy sigh as he ran his hand over his shaved head. He shook his head and mumbled a silent curse as he took another breath and composed himself.

"Suppose it was too much to ask for no one dying during this mission. Who else did we lose?" he asked as the other two squad leaders, Susan and Jeremy came to join them. The squad leaders looked between them, as if suspecting one of them to speak up, but none of them did. Derek looked between them and his mood seemed to brighten a bit.

"None of you have casualties?" he asked as the squad leaders all shook their heads one by one. Sanders gave a soft thanks to anyone that at least no one else had died. Though no one would have died at all if he had just stuck to the plan.

Derek glanced over to Sanders and then the Pyrrha, who was kneeling over them and looked curiously as to what was going on. Derek shook his head as he mumbled out what sounded like "fucking bastard knew", but Sanders didn't catch the rest.

The rest of the Force had gathered near them by this point and word seemed to spread that, save Lindsey, no one else had died. The mood seemed to brighten a bit over the Force as is spread. Derek cleared his throat to get the mumbling to stop as he stepped into the middle of the group.

"Soldiers. Our mission is complete. We have killed the Ranger patrol as ordered and may have just saved Hope. Even better, we succeeded and only lost a single person. While Lindsey was one of our best and her lose will be direly felt by all, trading her for an entire Ranger patrol, including its giantess, is a victory unlike any we have ever won. Lindsey would be proud of such a victory and she would not want us despairing in her lose. No, she would want us to celebrate our first major victory and the acquiring of a new ally which the Society is not prepared to fight," Derek said as he walked around the small circle that was formed around him. People nodded their agreement and yelled it as well as he started to rally his men. Sanders, however, only cursed himself all the more as he keep going.

"Today, we have shown how effective a combined arms attack by the catmonster, Pyrrha, and ourselves can be. And Sanders has proven himself to be with us in opposing their reign of terror and death. With their help, we have bought Hope time and we will use that time to find a way to turn this war around. Soon, WE will be the aggressors and it will be THEY who are on the defensive. When that day comes, Phoenixes, what will you do?!" Derek asked with a mighty yell as the entire Force screamed their answer in unison.

"RISE! RISE! RISE! RISE!" they yelled as Derek nodded in approval at them. Pyrrha even joined in with a meow in time with the cheers which only seemed to make the soldiers even happier. The shadow of Lindsey's lose was gone and the light of victory had taken its place. At least, with the soldiers it had...

Sanders didn't join in the celebration as his hand drifted down to the whistle again. A victory...it sure didn't feel like one. Derek yelled something else out that Sanders didn't catch as the cheering died down. People began to move away and gather into their squads. A number of the people who passed him clapping him on the shoulders, gave him warm smiles, or even said nice job and such.

Sanders didn't deserve their praise, but he took it nonetheless. He had to, doubly so now that he had seen how much this victory had increased their morale. The soldiers had almost never smiled on the way down, but now they were almost all smiling. Even Jacob seemed to have brightened. Revealing what he had down would crush this new morale boost and ruin any good that came from this. Hell, a few of the braver ones among them were not shying away from Pyrrha anymore, though none of them seemed eager to touch or be touched by her. Sanders felt the tears coming again when a large fluffy wall rubbed into his back. He glanced back and saw Pyrrha nuzzling her cheek against him as if to cheer him up. Sanders smiled a bit as he rubbed her back.

"I guess I shouldn't be too sad, huh? I still got you after all," he said as he leaned back against her. Pyrra gave a soft purr in response as Derek and his squad leaders talked about things. Sanders left them to do their jobs as he tried to come to terms with what had happened. Sadly, he didn't get much time as Derek began to head over. Pyrrha's large eyes stared at him, but she didn't make any threatening moves or noises.

"We...we'll be moving out once we check the giantess for anything we can use. The search would go faster with...bigger hands helping," Derek said, seemingly a bit unsure how to ask, or just embarrassed to ask, for Sanders help. Considering their interactions thus far, it was a nice change of pace. Sanders nodded as he decided to put his worries at ease. Keeping a grudge for him shooting Pyrrha and being suspicious of him wouldn't help anything and Lindsey wouldn't have wanted him to.

"Alright, I'll take Pyrrha and search her. And if you need something else just ask. You're in charge so I'll do as you say," Sanders said as he leaned off Pyrrha and motioned up. Pyrrha moved her hand for him to climb on just as Derek spoke up again.

"One more thing," he said as Sanders turned back.
"....Thank you for saving my soldiers. That back hand that almost hit the mountain would have killed Squad 3 and my...son. You didn't have to risk yourself or the ca-...Pyrrha to stop it. Thank you," Derek said before turning away and moving back to his own squad. Sanders watched him go and stared at the ground. He felt somewhat guilty for it, considering he didn't think he deserved that thanks, but it still felt good to hear it. He got a slight smile as he climbed onto Pyrrha' hand.

Briefing on Anti-Giantess Tactics given by Derek Hodgson:

Good morning, potential squad-leaders. I would like to congratulate you all for reaching this point in our officer potential program. To reach this point means you have shown a level of calmness and leadership uncommon in most people.

Today is a special day in the program, today I will teach you common tactics used when facing a giantess. Let me be very clear before we begin, however, that fighting a giantess should be a last resort. If hiding, traps, or running are still viable options, they should be used long before combat is resorted to. Direct combat with a giantess is the most dangerous mission any of us can get. No matter how good your tactics are or how favorable the terrain is to you, you WILL lose people. In fact, it is likely that entire squads will be wiped out attempting to bring one down, more if she is in full combat gear. Keep that thought well in your mind before committing to combating one.

Now, let us go over the basics of the tactics you will need.

First and foremost is stealth. Trying to fight a giantess in the open and on equal terms is suicide, plan and simple. Even with a hundred people, you WILL lose if you fight one head-on. Instead, you need to use our size to your advantage. Stay hidden, keep low, and split up. Splitting up will prevent all of you being killed if one of you is spotted and help in the fight, more on that when we go into detailed strategies. Remember, if you are spotted, she will be actively trying to avoid the missiles and your soldiers will have a skyscraper sized death dealer barreling toward them. I don't think I need to explain to any of you what that will do to morale and unit cohesion. Make sure any fight with a giantess is on YOUR terms and not her's by making sure she doesn't know you are there.

Next is surprise. An unprepared for first volley of missiles can be the difference between a few of your people coming back and none of them coming back. Not only that, but if the giantess doesn't see where the missiles came from you can attempt to hide and launch a second volley before she can counter-attack. The more volleys you can get off without being spotted, the greater chance your people have of coming back alive. A ruined surprise attack could cause your first volley to miss or, worst of all, let her get the first attack. Personally, I would suggest retreating should you lose the element of surprise unless that is simply not an option.

The next thing to consider is her shields. All giantesses will have shields and they keep them on at all times. Therefore, you should assume any initial volley will do little to no actual damage to the giantess. Your first volley will, usually, be enough to bring a shield down, assuming most of the missiles hit. However, as I said before, stealth is your most important resource and rockets will highly likely ruin said stealth. You need to plan accordingly and keep in mind that the shield will come back online after a few minutes. Do not waste the time it is offline as it is highly unlikely you will get a second chance to bring them down.

Last is mobility. A mobile giantess is a nigh unstoppable killing machine that will slaughter entire squads with ease. An immobile one is a fish in a barrel waiting to be put down. Your first and most important target on any giantess should be her legs and feet. These will, if she is in combat gear, be very well protected and armored, making damaging them difficult. However, they should still be priority one. If you can bring a giantess down or simply slow her down, you hamper not only her ability to defend herself but also her offensive power. Cripple a leg, and you will save entire squads of soldiers in a fight with a giantess.

All of these things should be carefully considered before any attempt to fight a giantess. If any of them are unfavorable, do not engage the giantess. Even when paired with a trap for a giantess, these tactics should still be in the forefront of you mind. Failure to heed them will get not only yourself, but many others killed. Understood?

Good, then let's move on the spec-....

Chapter 11: New Allies, Old Friends, New Threats

January 18, 2024 5:53 PM

 With the catmo- Pyrrha's help, searching the dead giantess only took a few minutes. Most of her stuff was of no real use, though they did take some parts and wires from her wrist unit. The shield generator had been too badly damaged having been ripped off and dropped and the rest was simply too big for them to use. It wasn't much of a haul, sadly, but no one really was that disappointed. How could they be when they had taken down an entire Ranger patrol by themselves?

Samantha was still feeling like she was in a dream from the news. A single Force beating a Ranger patrol with help from a catmonster along with Lindsey's death just made things seem so...unreal. Worse, she wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad or...or what. Lindsey had been everything she wanted to be, another female to look up to after... after Jessica. But now she was gone just like Jessica.

Oh sure Susan was still here, but she was about as independent as a duckling. She was a good squad leader and Samantha respected her a great deal, but that was all she was. She took her orders, did them, and that was it. Samantha didn't want that, though. She wanted to be someone, to have a name for herself, to be someone of importance. She wanted to be in on the big stuff, to be making decisions rather than just following them, to feel like she was actually making a difference and saving people, not just being another cog in a machine. Just like Jessica and Lindsey had been...

Samantha tried to shake off those thoughts as the squads came back together. The squad leaders, Sanders, and Darius were all talking, deciding how and where they were going. She sighed to herself, unable to not be a bit jealous of how quickly Sanders had rose to that level. Then again, he DID have a catmonster at his command AND it was the sole reason they managed to save Hope. She supposed he deserved to be raised up above the rank and file thanks to that. And he had saved all of Squad Three's lives, including hers and Jacob's.

Thinking of the catmonster, she glanced over to the huge thing. It was kneeling on the ground a good ways away from the group and was watching Sanders and the rest with a curious look. Her ears twitched every so often and Samantha couldn't help but think it was kinda cute how she seemed to be trying to understand what was going on. She shook that thought away, though, as she tried to remember it was still a catmonster. She had seen more than a few of her comrades be devoured by one...but this one HAD saved them and didn't look all that dangerous.

She tensed a bit as a hand touched her shoulder, but she relaxed when she recognized the hand. Jacob was about to draw away, but she pulled his hand back. She didn't want him to think she was against him touching her, she had never been against that, but show he had just surprised her. He seemed to understand and wrapped his other hand around her waist. She leaned back into his toned body and enjoyed the feel of it. This was much better than worrying about the catmonster or her dreams.

She looked back at him and was about to kiss him over her shoulder when the murmurs of talking and such died down. She cursed as she looked forward and saw Derek coming back toward them. Damn, just when she was starting to enjoy herself. At least she wasn't alone as a few other couples began to pull apart. Such open shows of affection were no uncommon in the soldiers of any group. Any of them could die in any number of ways so the general feel was to get in as much as you could while you were still alive, cause tomorrow, or an hour from now, you might not be here.

"Everyone listen up! We are going to be heading back to the Southern HQ and then on to Hope if things have gone according to plan. However, with Lindsey gone we need someone else to accompany Sanders and make sure he and Pyrrha don't get separated and lost. And before you ask, yes that means you will have to ride Pyrrha too. Any volunteers?" Derek asked. Silence greeted his request as a few shook their head and looked down at the ground. Samantha understood why. Sanders and Pyrrha may have saved them and won them this victory, but he was still Ex- Society and she was still a catmonster. Being alone with them both, all while riding on the catmonster, was...worrying to say the least.

Samantha looked at Sanders, still standing back with the squad leaders, and saw him sigh to himself. It probably didn't feel too good to have the fact he was still not fully trusted so blatantly shoved into his face and she felt bad for him. And whoever Derek forced to go with him was just going to be angry and suspicious the whole time. The man who had helped save them didn't deserve that, doubly so after having to watch Lindsey be killed... And he had seen Lindsey killed...maybe...

Samantha pulled out of Jacob's arms as she raised her hand to the surprise of the people looking her way.

"I'll do it," Samantha said as everyone turned to her. She didn't mind being stared at by them, she would have to get used to it, after all, if she wanted to be like Jessica. She wouldn't get anywhere just blending in with the others, she needed to stand out. And what better way than helping the rising star, Sanders? She felt a bit bad about that part of her reasoning, but she felt the other reasons she wanted to do it made it OK. She had ridden on Pyrrha already so she was less likely to be all freaked out over it and wouldn't be angry about being forced to do something she didn't want to do. And maybe she could help Sanders feel better about what happened to Lindsey, and find out more about her in the process.

Before Jacob could voice his dissent to the idea, and he would she knew, she headed through the parting crowd toward Derek. Derek gave her a quizzical look before glancing back in Jacob's direction. She risked a look back at him and saw he had a stunned look on his face. He got rid of it, though, when he noticed her looking at him and replaced it with a passive mask. He was angry, she could tell, but he would get over it. In fact, that might be another reason to do this. Help Jacob bury the hatchet with Sanders and Pyrrha.

"You sure you want to do this, Samantha?" Derek asked her, quiet enough that no one else could hear. She nodded to him with a stern look on her face. She was more than sure she wanted to do this. Derek looked to accept her nod and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Alright, the rest of you split off into your squads and get ready to move. We are heading out in five," Derek ordered as the people split off into their squads as the squad leaders began to yell for them to gather around them. Samantha watched Jacob go as a few people whispered between themselves while looking his way. She felt a flare of anger come over her as she wanted to beat the shit out of the assholes, but knew that would just make it worse. Jacob had to fight his own battles...

Samantha followed Derek over to Sanders and Pyrrha. Pyrrha had been nudging Sanders with her nose while Sanders grumbled angrily at her. She meowed at him as a deep rumble came from her stomach. That...didn't make Samantha feel any better about being near her. Though, to be fair, she sounded hungry and didn't seem to be too inclining to eating them. In fact, it looked more like she wanted to go.

"I said stop it! We'll go get you something to eat when Dere- STOP IT DAMMIT!" Sanders yelled as he whaped her nose with his fist. Pyrrha's look went from begging to annoyed as she poked him with one of her huge fingers and laid him flat out just with the light poke. Sanders was getting back his feet and looked about to hit her back when Derek cleared his throat. Both Sanders and Pyrrha glanced back toward them and Samantha felt a wave of fear go over her having the huge catmonster staring at her with her slit eyes. Maybe...maybe this was a bad idea.

Sanders, however, seemed a bit relieved to recognize Samantha. She hadn't spoken much with Sanders during their trip together to get Pyrrha. Lindsey had pretty much been around him at all times and she had been...shy about speaking or being near her. But she had heard them talking and Sanders had seemed nice enough and not at all like the crazed Society murderers some others always tried to paint any person from New Atlanta. She had always found that a stupid outlook. Like everyone in a city could be monsters...

"Its...Samantha, right?" Sanders asked as he offered his hand to her with a sad smile, though he tried to make it happy. Lindsey's death must have hit him rather hard, not surprising considering she had been his only friend out here. Samantha took his offered hand and nodded to him.

"Yes, I was in the group who took you to Pyrrha though we never really talked," she said as she tried to focus on Sanders and not the huge slit eyes behind him, staring at her. It was a futile effort, though as she keep being drawn to the reflection of herself in them. Thankfully, the catmonster seemed more curious about her than angry or hungry.

"Yeah I remember. She the only one coming along?" Sanders asked Derek once they finished shaking hands. Derek nodded.

"Yes. She knows all our tricks for leaving trails for others to follow and things like that. She, also, knows the way back to the Southern HQ and Hope so if you do lose us, you won't be completely lost," Derek said as Samantha wondered if that was completely true. She could find her way back to Hope for sure, but the Southern HQ might be a bit tougher. Well it was probably fine as getting them back to Hope was probably the more important part, anyway.

Before anyone else could say anything another loud rumble came from the catmonster. She gave a soft meow and nudged Sanders with her nose again. He pushed her back and grumbled a bit in annoyance.

"Alright, alright. We need to get going and find her some dinner before she starts trying to eat the trees. I'll try to link back up once she's feed. If not, I'll see you back at the HQ. Pyrrha, up," Sanders said as Pyrrha's eyes lit up and she quickly put her hand down to pick him up. Derek nodded and headed back to the others, leaving Samantha alone with Sanders and his huge catmonster that could kill her in more ways than she really wanted to consider...oh why did she think this was a good idea? No, no she needed to be brave, Jessica would have been brave.

Sanders motioned her over toward Pyrrha's hand and Samantha gulped a bit. She had ridden on Pyrrha before, but that had been with Luke, Jacob, Derek, and Lindsey. Being brave then was a lot easier with all of them there, doubly so with her trying to impress Lindsey. Now, though, it was just her and she wasn't so good with just her. Jessica wouldn't have chickened out, though, and neither would have Lindsey. And Samantha sure as hell wasn't either.

Samantha climbed onto Pyrrha's hand and tried to keep her face as stoic as possible. Pyrrha didn't seem to mind her tagging along and began to lift them up off the ground. Sanders keep his footing rather easily, but Samantha had to fight not to fall over. Thankfully, the lift up wasn't that far, only about a story up, as Pyrrha's hand stopped at her head.

Sanders leap over to her head and grabbed some of her hair to keep his footing before turning back to help her over. She tried to act like she didn't need it, but was thankful it was there. Once both of them were on and had good grips, Sanders rubbed Pyrrha's ear and the catmonster slowly stood up. Samantha felt her breath rush out of her body as the world fell away from them and her grip on Pyrrha's blonde hair became a death grip. Holy shit they were high...way way WAY too high. Sanders, however, didn't seem to notice as he got Pyrrha moving away from the dead body of Sharon and further west.

For the first few minutes, Samantha was too busy being terrified to do anything save hang on. The sky had darkened a good deal and only the barest hints of sunlight remained. Most of the woods below them was heavily shadowed and near impossible to see, which didn't help her fear at all. All she could manage to do was breath, barely, and hang on for dear life. It wasn't until Sanders started to try and ask her something, that Samantha thought about anything else other than the ground far below.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, looking a bit worried. She tried to answer, but her voice seemed to have left so she just nodded. He didn't look convinced in the least and said something into Pyrrha's ear. Pyrrha shifted as she lowered herself to the ground and got on all fours. Samantha felt some of her terror fade away a bit now that the ground wasn't so far away, but it was still there, lurking.

She took a few deep breaths as she tried to calm down and, finally, started to snap out of...whatever had gotten her. She had never had that happen before...

"Tha-...Thank you," she said to Sanders as she relaxed her grip.

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asked, still looking a bit worried.

"No! I...well...I don't...I don't think I have ever been really high up," she said as she began to think about it. She...had never really been all that high up to be honest. Well, save for the ramp up to the command center which..she hated now that she thought about it. Oh fuck...

"Never been high up? Did you never go to a city or anything like that?" Sanders asked.

"No. I lived Cartersville before the disaster hit and never really had a chance to go to the city. I was only eleven when it hit. And I certainly can't go now," she admitted, feeling the old terror and fear from back then. So many dead in just a few seconds...

"Oh..right. I guess I forgot you must have been from somewhere well away from the city. Only eleven...being fourteen during the disaster doesn't seem so bad, now, though..." Sanders said as he shook his head. Pyrrha keep moving through the area, making far too little noise for something so huge, oblivious to their talking.

"I think it was bad no matter what age or where you were. That disaster...it took so much that the pain and lose scarred everyone," Samantha said as she felt the old pain coming up again. She wasn't really angry about it, no one to be angry at after all, just...sad and lonely.

"Yeah...I lost so many friends that day. Hell, I would have died too if my parents hadn't pulled me out of class to help with the farm. I rode one of the first buses to leave the school. Would have been on it right when it hit... and I haven't seen anyone from my bus, or any of the buses that would have left the school..." Sanders said as he shook his head. Well she was getting his mind off Lindsey, but not really on anything happy. Still...she kinda wanted to talk about back then too. She had done it so rarely and Sanders had opened up to her, it was only fair.

"I was at school when it hit. Luckily, my bus was one of the last ones and I had set my backpack down. A few of the others...weren't so lucky. I heard them scream as they tried to get them off before it was too late. Most didn't... including a girl who had been standing right next to me," Samantha said. She still saw the girl's look of terror as her backpack slowly crushed the life out of her, despite the decade that had gone by.

"Stories like that make me think Disaster isn't a strong enough word for it. Guessing you managed to get back home," Sanders assumed, incorrectly.

"No...I've never been back to my house... or seen my parents since. Everything went to utter chaos once it hit and I was left alone. Probably would have starved or been killed if an older girl named Jessica hadn't adapted me. Only reason I am here is because of her," Samantha said as Pyrrha ears seem to twitch. The catmonster stopped for a second, before continuing on, somewhat slower than before. Sanders nodded in understanding, but didn't answer. Instead, he put his fingers to his lips and motioned for her to get down lower.

Samantha did as Sanders said, figuring Pyrrha must have found something to eat. She tried to look out into the gloom to see, but she couldn't make out anythin- A wave of fear went through her looking down on the trees and she looked away before it knocked her flat.

Samantha had just recovered from the wave of fear when Pyrrha sprang forward. She nearly lost her grip, but Sanders grabbed her arm and made sure she stayed on, holding on with practiced ease himself. Pyrrha crashed to the ground and began to grab up something in the dark. Samantha risked a glance just long enough to see some deer trying to run from Pyrrha's huge form, and failing. The catmonster snatched them all up and stuffed them into her mouth, greedily. Most she just swallowed whole, but a few she actually chewed a bit. Sanders seemed to turn a bit green at the noises, though.

"Are you OK?" she asked him, as he turned away from her and looked to rub something in his pocket.

"Fine. Its just a case of...bad memories," Sanders said as he keep looking away from Samantha. It was pretty easy to tell he was trying to hide tears. Samantha wondered what brought them on, but didn't push him to find out. Those kind of memories shouldn't be forced out of someone, least you wanted to open old wounds.

After a few minutes of eating, Pyrrha let out a small belch followed by a happy meow. She started licking her hands clean of the blood on them as Sanders turned back, his eyes a bit redder than before.

"OK, we can head back and try to find the others now. Come on, Pyrrha," Sanders said as Pyrrha stopping licking her hands and headed back the way they had come. Sanders waited till she was back to moving to turn back to Samantha.

"Is Jessica in another unit from you? Only seen you hang around with that Jacob guy," Sanders said getting an angry look at the mention of Jacob. Samantha sighed to herself as she had been dreading that question.

"No...she's dead," Samantha said, glad that the wound had scabbed over long ago. Sanders' look changed to embarrassment at the mention of her being dead.

"Oh...sorry."

"Its alright. It happened a...long while ago," she said as they both fell silent. She hadn't been trying to bring up painful old memories, but managed to do it nonetheless. Now she didn't feel like talking at all and Sanders looked about the same.

They both were silent as Pyrrha keep moving back toward the dead body of the giantess. By then it had become fully night and the half moon only gave of a hint of light. Pyrrha, however, still seemed fully able to see and moved through the area without any trouble. All Samantha was able to make out, however, was the rolling hills. On the plus side, though, not being able to see seemed to help her fear of heights. Couldn't be afraid of them if she couldn't see them, she supposed.

"We might want to stop or we might run into the Force without realizing it," Samantha suggested, not wanting to imagine the horror if that happened. Sanders didn't seem all that concerned, however.

"Don't worry about us not seeing them. Pyrrha can see really well at night and Derek is putting people out around them to listen for us. They'll signal us when w-" Sanders stopped as Pyrrha's ear twitched and she lowered herself to the ground. Sanders knelt down as well, and feel silent as Samantha followed his lead. Samantha didn't ask what was going on as she trusted Sanders to tell her if he could. For now, it would be best just to do as he did and ask later.

And then she realized what had got Pyrrha to stop. It was faint, but it was there. The rhythmic rumbles of massive feet walking. A giantess was nearby, no...more than one! Sanders swore under his breath as he whispered something to Pyrrha. Pyrrha began to slowly inch forward, making sure to stay behind a large hill rising above them. The rumbling, however, began to get closer and closer and Samantha began to get very worried.

Sanders whispered to Pyrrha again and the catgirl began to move a bit quicker, but had to stop as the hill began to dip down. Just as Pyrrha looked about to move, the sky over the hill began to brighten. Lights...and the only thing that could carry lights that big were... Samantha cursed as she grabbed Sanders and pointed it out. Sanders swore as he whispered to Pyrrha again and she stopped.

They watched the lights for a few seconds as the footsteps came closer. Thankfully, they stopped as they heard a loud voice say something, thought Samantha wasn't able to make it out. Sanders said something to Pyrrha and her hand came up. Sanders climbed onto it before turning back to Samantha.

"Stay her-" Sanders started to whisper, but didn't get it out before Samantha had climbed onto the hand as well. She gave him a daring look and he sighed in response. Well he was smarter than Jacob when it came to knowing when to just accept it and shut up. Pyrrha lowered her hand to the ground and both of them slipped through the dark woods toward the top of the hill. They needed to see where the giantesses were and make sure it was safe to move. And make sure they were not heading after the Force...

Both of them reached the top and were about to crest the hill when a shaft of light suddenly flashed over them. They both dived to the ground as the light hovered over them for a few seconds. Finally, it moved away as the giantess swung her flashlight away from the hill they were hiding behind. Her footsteps rumbled out, still a good distance away, but her flashlight was powerful enough to reach them all the way over her. It wasn't likely that she would have spotted them, but neither of them were willing to take the chance. Being spotted now would almost assuredly be a death sentence.

They both risked a look up and saw the dead body of the giantess a few scale miles away. Three giantesses were around her, all with flashlights in their hands. One was kneeling down to inspect her and was hard to see thanks to the shadows being cast on her. The other two were looking around the area, one with blue hair and the other with brown.

"We going to go look for the Resistance fuckers that did this?" the brown haired one asked. From this distance, she sounded like a normal person rather than a giantess. A normal person who was right next to Samantha and not scale miles away...

"Of course we are. We can't let them get away with this," the blue haired one said as her light sweep back toward them. They both dived down again as Sanders mouthed fuck fuck fuck FUCK. Did he know the blue haired one?

The light passed and both glanced back up. Samantha dearly hoped they didn't try to find the Force. Derek would have found a good hiding place for them and the lights the giantess were using would give them a very early warning of their approach. She trusted Derek to get them out of there and keep them safe. But there was still a chance...And if they came this way...

"That would be a mistake, Monet. Even assuming we do find the Resistance, unlikely with it now being night and them having double the places to hide, they have an ace on their side," the one kneeling down said. Samantha heard Sanders suck in a breath as his hand gripped the dirt.

"What do you mean an ace, Aviel?" the brown one asked as the kneeling one stood up to reveal her fiery red hair.

"There are claw marks on Sharon, catgirl claw marks. Not only that, her shield generator looks to have been pulled off, not blown off. A feral catgirl might have attacked her, but why would it pull her shield generator off and lure her right into a Resistance trap?" Aviel asked getting the other two giantesses to look at her in disbelief.

"Oh come on. Resistance working with a catgirl? That's impossible....isn't it?" the brown haired one said as she looked back down at Sharon. Monet got a stern look as she looked down as well.

"Apparently not...Aviel, do you think its?" she asked getting a nod from Aviel.

"No one else it could be. And as much as I would enjoy putting an end to him, we need to get back and report this. The Matriarchs need to know he is still alive," Aviel said as Monet and the brown haired giantess nodded. Samantha glanced over to Sanders and was taken back by the look of utter hate on his face.

"Aviel..." he growled out as his fist tightened in rage. Samantha had never seen Sanders, or anyone, look so angry. He looked on the verge of yelling for Pyrrha to attack, but a glance to her seemed to get him to calm down a little. She fought back a shiver as Sanders beat his fist into the rock he was hiding behind.

The three giantesses turned and began to move away from them and back toward the highway, thankfully. They were heading away from them and the Force which got a sigh of relief from Samantha. She looked back over and saw Sanders staring in hatred after the form of Aviel.

"Who...was that?" Samantha asked, unable to keep her curiosity in check. Sanders didn't look at her as he stared forward after Aviel. His mouth twisted into fury as he took deep a breath.

"My ex-partner and the person who betrayed me, Isabella, and everyone else just to get revenge and power. The person I am going to kill one of these days," Sanders said as he turned away and started back toward Pyrrha. Samantha glanced back and watched the lights from the giantesses grow dimmer. Whatever doubts she had about Sanders being on their side was dispelled, at least so far as being against the Society. No way he could fake that kind of fury, not to mention there was little doubt the giantesses were talking about Sanders.

She followed after him and both climbed back onto Pyrrha. Pyrrha seemed to sense Sanders anger and gave him a worried look, but he brushed her off. She gave a soft, sad, meow as they got back onto her head.

"We are not going to be able to pick up the Force's trail here. Not without risking being spotted, anyway. Do you know some other way to find them further on?" Sanders asked, looking to be trying to get his rage under control. Samantha nodded knowing the Force would have left marks on the trees to show their direction and such. They would look like animal claw marks to the untrained eye, but Samantha could tell the difference. The only problem was it was nearly pitch black and seeing the marks would be next to impossible.

"Yes, but I can't see the marks on the trees in the dark," Samantha admitted. Spending a night alone with Pyrrha and Sanders wasn't horridly appealing, but she had sleep around worst. Sanders didn't look the type to try anything, but she still had her jury-rigged knife in case she misjudged him. As for Pyrrha...well there wasn't much she could do to stop her. That was a comforting thought...

Sanders didn't seem concerned about the dark as he took out his pack. He dug through it and pulled out a pair of goggles that looked to be some kind of Society tech. He looked in them and adjusted a few things on the side before handing them to Samantha. She looked in and realized they were night-vision goggles. Everything in the forest was, suddenly, visible though all in black and white.

"OK, this will work. Let's head north for a few miles and then I can try finding their trail," Samantha said as Sanders nodded. He got Pyrrha moving, making sure she stayed low to the ground, and they headed out into the darkness.

It took them about half a hour to find one of the marks. Once they found it, though, it was easy enough to stay on the Force's trail. When the marks started to get fresher, the sap was still leaking out, Samantha began to worry they might blunder right into the camp. Sanders, however, dispelled that worry by having Pyrrha lightly stomp every few steps. It wasn't hard enough to go really far, but was loud enough for a watchman to hear long before they were on top of him.

It proved to be effective as, after a few minutes of traveling, Samantha saw a flash of torchlight up ahead. It vanished just as quick as it appeared and Samantha smiled as she realized they had found the Force.

"Stop, Sanders. The Force is over there," she said, pointing towards where the light had been. He nodded and got Pyrrha tp set them both down. He had here stay and they headed, on foot, toward the light. Sanders still had a bit of simmering rage in his eyes and Samantha made sure to take the lead. Last thing they needed was someone getting jump and his anger causing problems.

"Phoenix," a voice said from the darkness, starting the first part of the code.

"Rise," Samantha answered as Sanders looked around in confusion. Two people came out of the darkness, their guns shouldered. Samantha recognized them from Jeremy's squad, but didn't know them personally. They recognized them as well and nodded a greeting to Sanders but shook Samantha' hand.

"We were starting to think you guys got lost. Derek set a place off to the side of the camp for the catmonster. Just go around that hill over there and you'll be in the spot," one of them said as he pointed out the hill.

"Thanks," Samantha said as they headed back. The two watchmen both melted back into the darkness and went back to their patrols. Sanders had Pyrrha move around the hill, making sure she took it nice and slow just in case, and stopped when she reached a large open area. She sat them down before letting out a long yawn, thankfully looking the other way when she did. Samantha, reminded of how late it was, suddenly felt unbelievably tired and wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed. Sanders, however, didn't look all that tired as he took out a whistle and studied it. Samantha might have asked about it if she wasn't too tired to care.

Pyrrha walked around them, making Samantha a bit worried as he hands and feet sent a bit of rumbles through the ground. Her fear was put to rest, though, as Pyrrha stretched and then laid down behind them. She nuzzled Sanders' back and he, absentmindedly, rubbed her cheek as he keep looking at the whistle. Samantha, now assured Pyrrha was just getting comfortable, went back to getting ready to sleep

Samantha took out her fur cover from her bag and draped it around herself to keep warm. She would have preferred to have Jacob here to warm her, but she didn't want to leave to find him. Tonight, she would sleep alone and just have to keep warm the old fashion way. She might have been disappointed by that if she didn't pass out almost the moment her head hit the dirt.

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January 19, 2024 8:13 AM

Samantha woke early, as always, and found Sanders still asleep. He was leaning back onto Pyrrha's cheek and had one of Pyrrha's finger wrapped around him like a blanket. Pyrrha opened one of her eyes as Samantha started to move around, but closed it after a second of watching her get up. The huge catmonster yawned, causing Sanders to shift a bit, before looking to go back to sleep.

Samantha left the two of them to sleep as she headed toward the camp, wanting to find Jacob, but knowing she needed to find Derek first. Those giantesses from last night were bound to come back and they hadn't put enough distance between them and the battle site, yet. If she hadn't been so tired, she might have told him last night, but hadn't thought about it. She needed to get Derek to get them moving ASAP.

She asked around the camp, finding a few others already awake as well. They pointed her toward a hill overlooking the camp. She headed that way, eating a bit of jerky and drinking some water she had scrounged up, and found Derek already awake. He was doing some morning exercises and stopped his push ups as Samantha came over. Derek might have been a good deal bigger and more muscled than Jacob, but she still preferred the son to the father. Derek was just a bit... too taciturn for her. Jacob still knew how to show emotions and she loved that about him, even if it was annoying at times.

"Samantha, something you need?" Derek asked, looking a bit concerned she wasn't with Sanders.

"Commander, I need to report what I saw last night," she said as she walked up to him. Derek got a stern look and nodded for her to go ahead, while taking a drink.

"While we were heading back from Pyrrha finding food, we passed by the giantess' dead body. Three other giantesses were already there, looking over her body. We overheard them talking and they now know she was killed by a Resistance group with the aid of a catmonster. I, also, believe they know it was Sanders who aided us. One of them seemed to know him and Sanders for sure know one of them," she said, trying to give as much information as she could. Derek needed to know everything she did if he was to make a good tactical decision. And a good decision could save all of their lives.

Derek cursed as he heard the news, but raised an eyebrow at the last part.

"What do you mean he for sure knew one of them?"

"Sir, when that giantess revealed herself Sanders was nearly overcome with rage. I thought, for a second, he was going to charge the giantess by himself with how angry he was. He said her name was Aviel and that she was his ex-partner and had betrayed him. I...do not think he was lying, sir. The look on his face was nothing short of unbridled hate. Also, the giantesses seemed to hint that they knew it was Sanders who had aided us as well," she said, still shivering a bit remembering that look. Derek listened and looked away. He nodded and seemed somewhat pleased to hear that.

"Alright. Get back to watching Sanders and tell everyone you pass to get ready to move out. We need to get going before those giantesses come back," Derek said as he gathered up his stuff. Samantha nodded and took off back down the hill to the huge form off Pyrrha in the distance. She did as she was ordered and told everyone she passed to get ready to go, including the ones sleeping.

On her way back, she ran into Sanders, now awake, who looked to be heading for Derek.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as he noticed her and stopped.

"Going to tell Derek what we saw last night. We nee-" Samantha stopped him as she interrupted him.

"Need to tell him about the giantesses, I already did and he is getting everyone moving. Let's get back to Pyrrha and get ready to move ourselves," she said as Sanders looked a bit surprised. He recovered and nodded as he lead the way back to Pyrrha after saying good job.

She was about to enter into the clearing Pyrrha was in when someone grabbed her from behind a tree. Her hand shoot down to her knife, but stopped as the arm pulled her into a familiar hug. She sighed in annoyance as Jacob wrapped himself around her.

"Dammit, Jacob, I keep telling you not to do that. One of these days I am going to stab you when you do that," she said in anger. She wasn't sure she could ever live with herself if she hurt Jacob like that, or stop kicking his ass for being that stupid.

"You would have just brushed past me and keep going with this Society fucker if I hadn't grabbed you. And I barely sleep at all without you," Jacob said kissing the side of her neck. Samantha wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms and make up for their lost night, but she didn't have the time for that. Doubly so with him trying to start shit with Sanders who gave him an icy stare at the Society fucker. Why was Jacob still getting hung up on that?

"I'm sorry, Jacob, but I can't right now. The Society knows we killed that giantess and is going to be looking for us. I need to get Sanders and Pyrrha ready to move and you need to get back to Squad 3," she said as she started to walk away. Jacob looked about to say something, but stopped when she said the Society was looking for them. He swore under his breath before glancing over toward the huge catmonster. He got a suspicious look which got Samantha to sigh and Sanders to harden his glare. She was going to nip that thought before it formed.

"Its not them, trust me. Sanders hates the Society just as much, if not more, than us. We can trust him," she said as Jacob just got a more angry look. Sanders, though, seemed to soften up as she took his side. She sighed to herself, wondering if Jacob was just jealous or if this was about something else. Whatever it was, she didn't need him starting trouble.

"Jacob, don't even think of doing something stupid or starting something. Sanders saved our lives and so did Pyrrha. We need them if we want to win this war and you starting trouble with them isn't going to help," she chastised him. Jacob looked away with an annoyed look, but nodded just the same.

"Fine...fine, I'll trust YOU that we can trust them. But, I'm going with you to make sure Sanders doesn't try anything," Jacob said as he glared at Sanders. Sanders returned the glare in full and Samantha groaned to herself. Pyrrha suddenly appeared over them, apparently having gotten curious and glanced at Jacob. She let out a low growl at Jacob which only got Jacob to look even madder. So much for not starting something...

Chapter 12:Justified Betrayal

January 17, 2024 3:27 PM

Run, run, he had to run. He had to find the tunnel, had to find the Phoenixes, had to find help! Marcus stumbled a bit as another massive shock wave blasted the area. He didn't dare look back as his friend, Alex, helped him keep his feet. They both keep running as gunfire, yells, meows, and laughter filled the air. The Society had found them, and now all they could do was run. Run like the bugs they were...

"This way!" Alex said as they turned to avoid a large open area a giantess' foot had made. They moved to go around it as Marcus looked in horror at the crushed field. Trees had been flattened like they were nothing more than twigs and bits of blood were slowly dripping down them. He even thought he saw a face crushed into the wood, but he didn't dare look hard enough to tell. He felt sick, but he had to keep going, had to keep running!

They rushed past the field in full sprint as another shock wave blasted the area. This time, Marcus and Alex both turned to see a giantess laughing as dust came up from her feet. The rear guard were getting slaughtered and their fire wasn't even denting the giantess' shield. If only they had more launchers... A fairy dived into the fray as a loud meow echoed off the hills as well. More screams and yells could be heard as the giantess stomped down again. And she was just one of the four attacking them...

"Come on!" Alex said as he pulled Marcus along. Marcus followed in a daze, barely conscious of what was happening. This...this couldn't be happening... Everyone...everyone was dying...the Society had found them...they were doomed, they we-

Suddenly, a deafeningly loud buzz filled the air as Alex turned to look behind them. His face paled as he dived back to push Marcus to the ground. Marcus fell flat on his back just as a large hand went rushing over him and snatched up Alex. The fairy giggled in joy as it grabbed him.

"ALEX!" Marcus yelled in panic. Alex was pulled into the air by the fairy who had zipped past them, his face a mix of terror and determination. She took off into the air with Alex writhing in her grip.

"FIND THE PHOENIXES!" Alex yelled back before the fairy flew out of sight with her cargo. Marcus' terror and panic reached new heights as he realized he was alone. Thirty of them had set out, and now he was all that was left...the guy who had never even had training. The others had been soldiers...been trained to fight. But they had died...one by one...to catmonsters, fairies, giantesses....He...he....

Marcus did the only thing he could and took off running. He throw down his gun, his ammo, everything that was slowing him as he ran toward where the tunnel should be. The sounds of war and slaughter were everywhere and pressing down on him. He had to escape, had to escape had to! The noises started to sufficate him, the screams driving into his skull. He heard the buzzing of fairy wings, the meows of catmonsters, and the booming laughter of the giantesses getting closer and closer. They were after him, they were going to get him, HE WAS GOING TO DIE!

He ran up a small ridge in blind panic and nearly ran past a strange sight. Some part of his mind screamed at him and managed to get through the fog of terror. He stopped and turned to see a part of the hill covered in old vines and leaves. That...that didn't really fit with the rest of the hill. Everything else was dead an- THE TUNNEL!!!! His heart leap for joy as he rushed to it and pulled the stuff out of the way. He had just started to rip it off when the vines and leaves shifted back. He staggered back as a woman came out of the hidden door behind the fake vines and leaves.

"You just had to knock," she said as she looked up. Marcus followed her eyes and saw two more fairies moving toward the area, looking for more people to snatch up. The woman frowned before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him in, closing the hidden door in the same motion.

Marcus had to blink a few times as his eyes adjusted to the much dimmer light. The small tunnel was full of heavily armed people with the same patch work clothing he had.  The woman seemed to be the leader as she looked better armed and had more well made clothing. Marcus nearly flopped to the ground in relief as he realized he had made it. He had linked up with the Phoenixes coming to help them escape. Alex...I did it...

"Oh thank God...I...I didn't think any of us were going to make it. You...you need to hurry, we are getting slaughtered out there!" Marcus said as he tried to recover. The woman nodded and opened the hidden wooden door a bit to peek out.

"Where are the people you need evacuated at?" she asked as she looked out into the warzone. Even inside, the rumbling and constant gunfire echoed in, nearly drowning out all sound.

"There...there is an old stump that didn't get shrank. The stump has a number of termite holes in it that we are using to hide the women and children in," Marcus said before moving beside her and pointing it out. Its huge size made it rather easy to see. The woman looked at it and then back to where the main fighting was.

"Smart. Put your noncoms in the stump while your combat units make it look like that old rusted car is your last holdout. Still, easy enough to sabotage," the woman said.

Marcus had just enough time to look confused before the woman whipped out her handgun. His eyes widened as he found himself staring down the barrel. A bright flash blinded him as the world fell away.


Tiffany shook her head as the Snakes' scout flopped to the ground. Idiot, did he really expect them to forgive them after they raided their base and killed their people? No, there would be no forgiveness today, only the complete destruction of the Snakes.

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3 days earlier...

January 14, 2024 1:42 PM

General Tiffany Faine drummed her fingers over the table as she read the map again. She had read it more times than she cared to count as she waited for Darius to arrive. The rest of the HQ was buzzing with activity as reports poured in of the approaching Snakes, and the Society forces trailing them.

As pathetic she thought the Snakes were, even more so after their cowardly attack, she was still stunned by how quickly they had fallen to the Society. She, like Darius, had assumed they would be able to hold out for a few weeks, at the very least. The useless fools, however, had proven to be even more incompetent than even she had thought as they fell apart in a matter of days. Now they were making a mad dash toward the Phoenixes hoping the very people they had wronged would save them. If the Society wasn't sure to see the battle, she would have lead her people to war and slaughtered them already.

Tiffany sighed as she cursed her inability to act. Darius had left strict orders to hold position until he arrived and Tiffany was unwilling to disobey them. Doubly so as a misstep could reveal them and send them fleeing just as the Snakes were now. Tiffany was confident in her command, strategy, and leadership abilities, but she was not so arrogant as to believe she was better than Darius. He was their leader for a reason, after all. Which left her with only one option, wait. And she hated to wait.

"General, the outside watchpost just reported Darius and his soldiers arriving," her second-in-command, Lieutenant Lloyd Cromwell, reported. A few of the other high-ranking people in the Phoenixes didn't make use of rank and titles, but Tiffany found them useful. Her group was not a family, it was a military unit and the people part of it needed to remember that. Unlike those idiots in the South...

"Finally... Lieutenant, show Darius to the war room," Tiffany said as he saluted and marched out of the room. She had wanted to tell him to hurry the man along, but Tiffany knew that would be a waste of breath. Cromwell would obey her every order, but even he wouldn't rush the leader of the Phoenixes. His loyalty to her did have some limits.

Thankfully, Darius hurried up to the war room despite not being urged to. Cromwell lead the way as Darius entered along with two of his officers, his squad leaders if she had to guess. Oddly, she didn't see Derek with him, a rare thing when he went into a combat situations. Just as well, she was not a fan of the large man.

"General Faine, good to see you again," Darius said as they shook hands.

"Same to you, Darius. The reports you requested are all on the table," Tiffany said, motioning to the table behind her. Darius had never taken a title or rank for himself, preferring to just be called by his name. It had irked her at first, but she had given up on caring a few years back. She supposed it was his right as their leader to decide if he wanted a title.

Darius moved past her and began to look over the table, going straight to work as always. That was fine by Tiffany who preferred to get things done rather than socialize. Darius spent a few minutes going over the map, asking a few questions every so often about the lay of the land and marks on the map. He then went to the latest reports on the locations of Snake troops and Society troops, again asking questions every so often.

It took a little over an hour for him to get caught up on everything. Tiffany spent most of the hour answering questions and helping Darius understand their way of doing things. Each Group had their own quirks and slightly different ways of reporting and coding things. Darius might have been their leader, but even he couldn't keep up with all the different ways they all did things. He did catch on rather quickly and was reading their messages without trouble by the end of the hour.

"Hmmm...better than I feared, worse than I hoped. That said, I see a solution for this disaster, though, it will require some field work," Darius said getting a surprised look from a few of Tiffany's soldiers, including Cromwell. She, however, was not surprised. Darius' brilliant tactical mind and quick thinking were the reason he was in charge of the Phoenixes, after all. She had stop being surprised by how quickly he could put together a plan long ago.

"Two of my Forces stand ready to move out and I can have a third one ready tomorrow," Tiffany said, having anticipated their direct involvement in a solution. Darius nodded in approval as he looked back over the map.

"Those two and my own Force will be sufficient. Get them all loaded with the best anti-Society gear you have here. While they get loaded out, send out our scouts to find where the largest group of Snakes are. We need to find them ASAP," Darius said as people began to move to carry out his orders. Tiffany was a bit annoyed with him taking command like this, but if it meant saving Hope and putting the Snakes down, and some Society too, she would swallow her pride.

"Should we not be equipped to fight the Snakes, sir?" Cromwell asked, looking a little confused. Darius shook his head.

"We are not going to fight the Snakes, Lieutenant. We are going to save them."

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January 15, 2024 8:15 PM

Tiffany frowned as she looked through the near pitch black forest. Night had fallen in full and the moon barely gave any light to see by. The temperature had dropped noticeable with the sun gone and Tiffany's breath formed in front of her. Her soldiers keep their fur coats tight around them as they waited in the dark. Somewhere in the gloom, their scouts were moving through the area looking for the battle that was raging nearby. Gunshots, screams, and the rumble of catmonsters moving echoed through the area, setting everyone on edge. They might not be able to see in this darkness, but the catmonsters would have no trouble at all.

It had taken them most of yesterday to find the largest group of Snakes and most of today to reach them. The Snakes had taken cover in an old abandoned tool-shed for the night. However, their hiding place had been compromised by four catmonsters the Society had left in the area when they had fallen back for the night. Considering the noise and screams, the fight was not going well for the Snakes.

Tiffany still hated this plan. No matter how it ended, it still required them to aid the Snakes which made her blood boil. But, Darius was in charge and his plan was sound. As much as she didn't like it, she would stick to the plan and just remember the ultimate goal. He hadn't told anyone what that was, but Tiffany had seen it once he explained the first part of the plan. It was brilliant, but she still didn't like it.

Her thoughts were cast aside as a bit of movement caught her eye. Her hand went to the pistol she carried as a few of her soldiers grabbed their weapons as well.

"Rise," came a voice from out of the darkness. Everyone relaxed as one of the scouts they had sent out came into view. His patchwork clothing had a number of twigs and other such things sticking out of it, making him look more like a moving bush than a person. He moved over to Tiffany and knelt down to the ground. She knelt with him as Cromwell threw a fur cloth over them. Once the cloth settled, Tiffany uncovered a small fire they had hidden in old plastic-wrap and allowed the light to shine out. The scout, now with light to see, began to draw out a rough outline of the area in the dirt as Tiffany put on an eyepatch made from some cloth.

"The Snakes' lines are here, staggered out from the tool shed in four, maybe five rows. Four catmonsters are ripping their way through them. It looks like the Snakes are trying to pull them back toward the tool shed, probably planning on using the shed to get some high ground on them. Taking a lot of casualties doing it, though, and its not working too well. Their guys keeping scattering and losing cohesion as soon as the catmonster shows," the scout reported drawing a circle with a cat face in the middle to show the general area the catmonsters were when he looked.

Tiffany frowned at the rough map. The catmonsters were not right on top of each other, but close enough that they would likely have to deal with two of them if they did attack. And while waiting for the catmonsters to get close enough to the shed was tempting, Tiffany knew they wouldn't be saving anybody by then.

Having lines like this coming out from your hiding place was beyond stupid as was trying to use so many people to lure something unintelligent into a trap.  A smart leader who have left small groups scattered about, but close enough to hear the other groups if attacked. That way you could use the groups to try and lure the threat AWAY from the main base or attempt to just hide from it. And sending a lot of people as a lure just risked someone panicking and wasting the effort and lives, doubly so when a catmonster only needed one person for a distraction.

Whoever was in charge of the Snakes, however, wasn't very smart and Tiffany was sure they would get their people killed if the catmonsters got to the shed. If they were going to save this group of Snakes, they were going to have to stop those catmonsters before they arrived at the shed. She cursed in her head as she looked over the map one last time to make her choice where to attack from. Sadly, this kind of situation didn't leave much to strategy and there was no real way to plan an ambush without knowing where the catmonsters were. Brute force was really the only option, and they were badly outclassed in that regard.

Tiffany snuffed out the light as she threw off the fur cloth. The time in the light had completely ruined her night vision and she barely saw Cromwell take the cloth away. The scout didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least as he stood up and took off back into the woods, most likely to make sure his comrades had reported the info to the other Forces. Tiffany switch the eyepatch to the other eye and the world became much clearer thanks to its preserved night vision.

"Lieutenant, send a runner to Darius and Abraham's Forces. Tell them we are moving in to engage the catmonsters," she ordered. Cromwell nodded and moved off to get one of the runners. She was still annoyed Darius had taken the other Force with him, but he was the leader. He better put her soldiers to good use or she might decide against him being the leader...

Tiffany turned back to the battle ahead of them and took a deep breath. She was going to be sending a few of her soldiers to their deaths, but such sacrifices were necessary. If it saved Hope and keep the chance of the Society losing alive, they were well spent sacrifices. That did not make them any easier to pay, however.

"Squad Leaders," Tiffany said as her four squad leaders came forward to receive their orders. She wished she could give them different orders, but this had to be done. And she would not coddle them with fake, kind words.

"Get your squads locked and ready for catmonster combat. We are going to advance and take out the catmonsters attacking the Snakes. Keep your people spread out and hidden as long as possible, but engage the moment you are spotted, orders or not," Tiffany said as they all nodded. Other Groups might have had their squad leaders question that order, but hers knew better. Her soldiers obeyed their orders, no questions asked, or they found themselves punished.

Tiffany got her own squad prepared and double checked their rockets herself, just to be sure. Those weapons would be the difference between them losing a few people or most of their people and she was not going to allow any misfires. Once she was satisfied everything was ready, she motioned forward and lead the way toward the battle, the other four squads spread out alongside them before going off in their own directions.

They moved out through the woods, sticking to the shadows as much as possible, and slowly began to spread out. Tiffany smiled as she saw her squad spread out enough to avoid more than two of them being near each other, but keep close enough to see everyone. She had trained her soldiers well and she would be sad to see any of them be lost. But, lost they would be as that was their job as soldiers. Anyone who wasn't prepared to face a grisly death from either being crushed or eaten had no business being a soldier of the Phoenixes.

The noise of the battle increased as they moved through the black, bare woods. Gunshots and screams mixed with the occasional rumbling meow as the battle came closer and closer. The area began to brighten slightly from small fires started by misfired missiles or by the fool soldiers who had been manning the line. They passed a fire pit that was still lit and Tiffany swore as she realized what kind of amateurs they were dealing with. Setting a fire at night...no wonder they had four catmonsters slaughtering them all.

Tiffany shook her thoughts off as a loud rumble sounded nearby along with a booming meow. Screams and sporadic gunfire echoed through the woods as the battle closed in on them. Tiffany motioned down as her squad took cover. A huge, black form moved past the top of the trees, its size easily dwarfing the trees. The catmonster...it was right on top of them. Flashes of light came as a few doomed Snakes fire up at the monster, but the flashes died away along with the screams and pleas of mercy. The all too familiar gulp of someone being swallowed whole followed as Tiffany narrowed her eyes. Those Snakes might be useful...

She listened as the last of the screams died out and gave the signal to prepare. Her soldiers hefted up their rockets as a few more flashes lit up the forest and part of the catmonster. The huge thing was crawling up to the two surviving Snakes, toying with her meal like they loved to do. Tiffany waited till the screams reached their loudest to signal her soldier to take aim. One of the Snakes was silenced with a gulp while the second began to beg for help and his mother. His screams dimmed a little as Tiffany saw the catmonster slowly pushing the last Snake into her mouth, drawing out the taste to enjoy its meal. It had better enjoy it, because it was the last one it would ever get. The second gulp came, and so did Tiffany's order.

"FIRE!" she yelled as her squad launched their barrage of missiles toward the catmonster. The flames of their engines lit up the barren forest and caused the catmonster's eyes to glow as she snapped around to them. Too late, however, as the missiles slammed into its side, sending blossoms of fire and blood flying out. The catmonster cried in pain as Tiffany leap up with her own launcher and fired a shot straight toward its head.

The catmonster turned and looked about to lunge for them when Tiffany's and two other missiles smashed into her head. The catmonster lunge was turned into a stagger back as it fell to its side, now groaning and moaning in pain. Tiffany rushed forward as she reloaded her launcher, sprinting past the catmonster's ruined side. Blood and some of its guts were starting to spill out and she smiled at their first kill. Those Snakes had proven useful. She stopped at the catmonster's head, now badly mauled from the three missiles that had hit it. It groaned as its hands started to pick it up, but Tiffany ended its attempt with near point blank shot right into its head. Now there were only three catmonsters.

They had gotten lucky with this one. If those Snakes hadn't been there to distract it long enough for them all to get ready, AND take it by surprise, that first volley would not have put it down. Those Snakes had died so her soldiers didn't have to, and that was a fair trade considering what they had done. Whether they would be forgiven or not would be up to the people they had killed for their food.

The rest of her squad was moving up when she felt, and heard, more rumbling. It was getting louder...and closer, shit one of the other catmonsters must have seen the explosions. Catmonsters didn't seek revenge, but they did know explosions meant food and one was making a beeline for them. If she knew where her other squads were she could have set a trap, but this darkness made communication next to impossible. She should have keep her squads close, a stupid mistake due to her inexperience in night fighting.

"Scatter!" she yelled as she dashed away from the dead catmonster and her squad did the same. Barely a second after she started to run, she saw a huge figure moving over the trees, eyes shining. It was already scanning the area and let out a rumbling meowed as it caught sight of a few of them. Damn, they were not taking this one off-guard. The catmonster got down on all fours as it started toward her squad.

One of her braver squad members, Harmon, fired a rocket up at the catmonster. The rocket was on target,  but the catmonster easily shifted to avoid the missile. Damn catmonster's and their inhuman speed. Tiffany didn't bother to watch as Harmon took off running trying to lure the monster away from his comrades. He would not get very far, but any time he bought was more time for her or the rest of the squad to get a clear shot.

Tiffany stopped at a tree and ducked behind it. She looked to her sides and saw a few of her soldiers nearby. They were all hidden and keeping low as they readied their launchers or reloaded them. She wished she could give them some order or strategy that would guarantee them victory and their lives. However, now that the catmonster knew they were here, there was no strategy involved anymore. Now it was just a battle of attrition and luck.

Tiffany cursed as she heard Harmon swear before being cut off by that sickening gulp. Harmon's sacrifice wasn't in vain as she heard two rockets roar out. She glanced around the tree and saw two blossoms of fire explode out as the catmonster cried in pain. Two hits, thought they looked to have only hit her sides and not her arms or legs. Not kill shots or wounding shots, but any damage was good.

The catmonster turned to its left and lunged forward. A scream of panic was cut short as a crunch came out along with the crash of the catmonster hitting the ground. Its hand swiped out and Tiffany gritted her teeth as she saw a figure go flying through the air along with a number of trees. Another of her squad dead, damn that monster... Tiffany was not going to sit around anymore as she signaled the nearby soldiers to fan out and move in.

Tiffany scrambled to a nearby tree as another rocket blasted out. The catmonster dodged back and Tiffany eyes went wide as its huge foot came flying toward her. Tiffany leap backwards as the foot crashed to the ground, pulverizing the tree she had been hiding behind into nothing but splinters. The world exploded with noise as the foot blasted through the earth and Tiffany was nearly deafened by the noise.

Tiffany had to fight back a cough from the dust and waved it away from her face. She looked around and saw the missile go flying above her head, a miss. To her side, she saw one of her soldiers, Paula, staring in terror at the catmonster's other foot, stopped barely inches from crushing her. However, a bloody arm was sticking up from under the catmonster's foot and blood was splattered around it. Damn...

Tiffany snapped back forward as she heard a scream of anger that was all too familiar. Cromwell. She looked forward and was barely able to make out the catmonster's hand and the form wiggling in it. She cursed as the other hand came up to her mouth and a scream, a female one thankfully, was cut off as it gulped down another of her squad. Dammit they were dropping like flies!

Tiffany was willing to sacrifice anything for the Phoenixes, but there were limits. Cromwell was too important to her operations to die here for a mission she did not care for. She needed him alive so she knew the Eastern border was in good hands if she died. He was not allowed to die, not yet. This monster was not going to take him.

Tiffany scrambled to her feet and raised the launcher up to the pussy's pussy. She smiled as she fired and didn't flinch when the explosion sent bits of flesh and blood splattering onto her. The catmonster screamed in pain so loud that Tiffany was deafened by the noise. It sprang forward and held onto its crotch, with both hands, as it screamed and cried in pain. Tiffany's smile spread as she saw the figure of Cromwell pick himself off the ground and scramble back into cover.

Tiffany took off as well before the catmonster whipped back around. Paula, however, was not so quick, still in shock by her brush with death and her comrades demise. The catmonster caught sight of her and roared in fury before running on all fours straight for her. Tiffany cursed as she saw blood come flying up along with trees from its charge. Damn, how many of her squad was this thing going to take?!

Paula screamed in terror before dropping her launcher and running the other direction, getting a flare of anger from Tiffany at the abandoned weapon. The catmonster lunged forward again and Paula simply ceased to be as the catmonster landed right on her. It began to smash its hands into the ground where she had been as it hissed and growled in fury.

Seeing her chance, Tiffany began to reload her launcher, but stopped as a sudden massive roar got her attention. The catmonster turned just in time to get a full volley of rockets into her. It staggered back and cried in pain before flopping to the ground, large chunks of it blown apart. Despite the massive wounds, it hissed in fury and swiped its arm through the trees that had lit up. Tiffany heard bones cracking along with bark as the new squad took its own loses. Dammit, this had to end!

Before Tiffany could pull her launcher up, another one fired from nearby.  The rocket flew forward and hit the catmonster right in the back of its neck. Cromwell smirked as he lowered his launcher, his skill with aiming it still amazing Tiffany. The catmonster twitched from the hit before flopping to the ground, completely limp. It gave a few weak and pitiful meows of pain before a second, smaller volley from the, now ruined, treeline finished it off. Two down...

"Squad, reform!" she yelled out as the noise of the battle dimmed. Of the twenty soldiers in her squad, only eight appeared out of the darkness, including Cromwell. She had lost twelve people...and would have lost more if her other squad hadn't shown up. Twelve of her best...their lose would not be easy to make up for. Darius' plan had to work now or this had been a needless sacrifice.

Just as her squad had reformed around her, the leader of her second squad, Jennifer, appeared. She had a still smoking launcher on her shoulder, already reloaded and ready to fire. Her fur clothing had bits of wood and blood splattered on it and she had a large bruise on her forehead. Tiffany would have to ask about her loses once this was over.

"Nice timing, Squad Leader Jennifer. Do you know where the other squads are?" Tiffany asked, pushing aside her lose in favor of the task at hand.

"No, General, we lost squad three when we heard your fight with the catmonster. We went to assist while squad three continued forward toward the third catmonster. I don't know where squad four is," Squad Leader Jennifer reported as she glanced at the survivors of first squad.

No sooner had she finished did the battle suddenly pick up again. The distant sounds of rockets being fired drifted over the trees along with explosions. An angry meow followed the explosions along with the rumbling of a catmonster on the attack. Someone else was engaging on of the two remaining catmonsters.

"Get back to your squad, Squad Leader, we still have two catmonsters to kill. Stick close to my squad and make sure everyone is ready to fire," Tiffany said as Jennifer saluted and took off back to her soldiers. Tiffany turned to what was left of her squad and fought back the urge to tell them to hide and survive this. That wasn't an option and would only put other soldiers in danger. She was not going to run and hide and neither were her soldiers.

"Let's move," Tiffany said as she lead the way toward the battle, her soldiers falling it behind her. They ran through the ruined woods, past small fires spreading outward, over places that had been utterly flattened by the catmonsters, and avoiding the few dead bodies that were still in the area. Considering the carnage they were going through, there should have been a lot more, but only the lucky ones had a corpse. The rest...

The noise from the battle began to get louder and Tiffany began to be able to pick out individual screams and yells. Tiffany was slowing her squad's advancement when a massive barrage of rockets filled the air with their roaring engines. Tiffany could barely hear the catmonster's cry of pain over the rockets, but felt it hit the ground. The noise died down to near silence as the yells and screams vanished along with the engines.

Tiffany moved her squad forward till the catmonster's huge dead form came into sight. The catmonster had been nearly blown apart by the massive amounts of missiles that had hit it. Its entire chest was blown out and its arms looked to be a ruined mess of bones and hanging flesh. Movement drew her eyes upward to a figure standing on the catmonster's head.

"General Tiffany. Excellent work killing the other two catmonsters. The Snakes are saved now," Darius said as he leap down off the catmonster's head, his handgun still smoking. Tiffany gave him a confused look as she glanced back to where the fourth catmonster was still attacking. It sounded like it was getting closer...

"We still have a last catmonster to deal with, Darius. Assuming victory would be a mistake," Tiffany said, finding Darius' nonchalance annoying. He never did seem to be fazed by anything.

"That one is being taken care of and will not survive long. We need to focus on other matters. I need you to come with me to meet the Snakes," Darius said, seemingly unconcerned by the approaching catmonster. Tiffany glared at him in annoyance at that order and was dearly tempted to tell him to shove it. But, Tiffany trusted Darius and that he knew what he was doing, even if it made her sick to her stomach.

"Fine, but the catmonst-" she was interrupted as another massive volley of rockets blasted out. Tiffany and her squad turned to see an entire Force fire their rockets at the catmonster. The monster didn't even get a chance to scream as it was blown apart by the massed fire. So that is what Darius had done with her second Force...

"Is dead. Come, we need to hurry. The sooner we meet them the sooner we can leave," Darius said as he made a beeline for the shed.

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8:49 PM

As they approached the shed, Tiffany's fear of the Snakes attacking them mounted. So far, they had only passed badly wounded or utterly broken soldiers who were no threat to anyone, but they were bound to run into some soldiers who could still fight. Darius lead the way with five of his own soldiers. Tiffany followed with Cromwell and the survivors of her first squad. They deserved to be here for this. She wanted to bring second squad too, but Darius had not allowed it.

They were only a few yards from the shed when they came upon their first real squad of Snake soldiers. The squad called out to them and caused Tiffany to curse under her breath. Did they not know yelling would attract Society attention? Fools...

"Hey, are...are they dead?" one of the Snakes asked as the squad started to stand up. Tiffany was tempted to answer them with a bullet, but she held herself back. She needed to remember the plan.

"Yes, the catmonsters are dead. I need to speak with your leader, immediately," Darius said as he stopped their advance. They were close enough to see if they started to grab for weapons, but far enough that they could slip into the darkness and escape if need be. The Snakes talked among themselves for a second before someone knew yelled out.

"Who are you and why do you need to see him?" the new person asked.

"I am Darius, leader of the Phoenixes. And I need to speak to him to prevent you all from being killed out here," Darius said without a hint of lying in his voice. Not surprising as it wasn't a complete lie. The plan wasn't to kill them here, after all.

Again, the Snakes talked among themselves, though it was obvious they were excited by the news. One of them went running back toward the shed and Darius got a small smile on his face.

"We sent someone to go get him. Fuck we are glad to see you guys, though. We thought you were going to leave us out here to die," the first one said as the Snake squad relaxed a good bit. Darius motioned them all forward and the Snake squad came into full view.

Calling them soldiers would be a vile overstatement. Most of them looked to be barely old enough to be considered an adult, or too old to be fighting. Despite the battle that had raged around them, they looked mostly unscathed and had, probably, just hidden in this little hole they had dug rather than do any real fighting. Just as well, though, as their "weapons" looked about ready to fall apart. It was no wonder the Snakes were slaughtered out there if they were all like this.

"We are not so cruel as to simply leave you to die," Darius said, again, no hint of lying in his voice. Tiffany was impressed with how well Darius lied.

The next few minutes were spent with Darius asking the soldiers what had happened. Sadly, they only knew bits and pieces, having been civilians up till a few days ago. The Society had hit the Snakes hard after their fire attack. The leader of the Snakes had ordered the civilians evacuated and were, originally, going to go north. However, the Society had utterly wiped out the Snakes' base, despite it being well underground, and had taken off after them horrifyingly quickly. They were forced to run west and try to reach the Phoenixes rather than try to make the long trip into the mountains. Since then, the Society had been tailing them and the civilians had broken up into smaller and smaller groups with fewer and fewer soldiers spread among them. Darius wanted to know how the Society had beaten the base so easily, but these people had no idea and were sure no one else did either. The only people who knew were those that had been in the base and they were all dead.

"So none of you are trained soldiers?" Tiffany asked them. They all looked away as they slowly nodded. Now the Snakes inability and amateur tactics made sense. These were not Snake soldiers but volunteers trading their lives for time. She might have respected them once...but not after what the Snakes had done.

Before anyone else could talk, Cromwell grabbed his rifle and pointed it out into the shadows. Tiffany turned as two figures emerged into the light of the fire the volunteers had lit, and she had let them keep only because she was confident they could escape, unlike them. One looked to be a volunteer, most likely the one who had run off. The other, however, had a soldier's look about him and seemed to have some training, though not good training if he just came sauntering up to them with no code words or anything.

The boy, and he was a boy as she doubted he was out of his teens, looked to be in charge as the other volunteers gave him respectfully nods. Just how dire the situation for this group was was becoming very obvious. Cromwell lowered his weapon as the boy moved to Darius.

"Pr-...Alex, leader of this group of Snakes," Alex said as he held out his hand to shake. Darius accepted it and introduced himself.

"Thank you for coming, Darius. We would have been slaughtered out here if you hadn't come along," Alex admitted as he gave them a warm smile. Darius did not return it, but did nod in appreciation.

"You are welcome. But your people are not save yet, far from it in fact. Your people told me a bit of what is going on and I doubt you will survive out here for more than a few days," Darius said with all the tact of a bomb. The volunteers gasped and cursed but Alex simply nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... I know. There was a Ranger attack yesterday and I was the only survivor from our soldiers. All our good weapons and equipment is gone too and, no offense guys, these people are not ready for this kind of fighting," Alex admitted with a sigh. His volunteers didn't look to have taken any offense as they just looked away.

"I am glad you are not trying to hold onto some false sense of pride, it will make this easier. Out here, you will all die. However, there is a way I can save some of you," Darius said. The volunteer's eyes light up with hope, but Alex's narrowed.

"Some of us?" he said as he eyed Darius.

"Yes, some. Our food stores are not unlimited and bringing all of you the way I am going to tell you would be too dangerous, for both of our groups," Darius said with a stern glare. Alex returned the stare before sighing and nodding.

"Alright, what is it?"

"There is a secret tunnel we use to move into the area unseen. It goes straight to our main city of Hope, far to the West of here. I can tell you where it is and keep it open to you, but I cannot risk fighting the Society head on. If they found out there was another Resistance group out here..." Darius let it hang and the Snakes to fill it it. Alex understood as he nodded.

"I understand. Tell me where it is and we will get there," he said before Darius started to explain. Alex listened and nodded, repeating the instructions back to make sure he wrote them right.

"Yes, that is right. Be there in two days time and we will help get your people to safety. I would suggest you move tonight. These dead bodies will attract more catmonsters and the Society come the morning," Darius said. Alex nodded and thanked them. They shook hands one last time and then left each other to their work.

They moved back toward where Darius' Force waited for them. They were silent till they were well away from the Snakes and out of hearing. Cromwell was rubbing his chin in thought and looked up to Darius' back.

"Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Cromwell asked. Darius shook his head.

"No, what is it, Lieutenant?" Darius said as he glanced back at her second. Tiffany turned to him as well, curious as to what Cromwell had on his mind.

"Why go through all this trouble just to tell them about that cave? We could have just killed one of the catmonsters and pulled back to let the other three kill them all. The Society would be bound to find them with the catmonster's dead body nearby," Cromwell asked. Tiffany hid a smile of satisfaction at her second's keen mind. He was shaping up to be a worth successor, not that she would ever tell him that.

"Yes, they would have found that group dead, but would, also, have reports of other such groups still moving. They would keep advancing and we would be in a race to track the other groups down before they arrived. This way, however, we don't need to track them at all. Alex will do all our work for us," Darius said as if he was explaining a problem to a student. Cromwell didn't seem to fully grasp the answer yet, though, so Darius continued.

"Tell me, Cromwell, what do you think Alex will do now that he knows there is hope for his people? Will he simply take my offer of saving a few of them or will he try to FORCE me to save them all? Of course, a tactically minded person would figure such a plan was doomed to failure, but Alex is not such a person. If he was, he would never have come to meet us with no backup OR let his people come under attack by four catmonsters. Not to mention he is still a bright-eyed young brat who would never consider we might be trying to kill them. After all, why save them now just to kill them later?

"The answer is obvious, really. So we can kill them ALL later. He will send out people to tell as many Snake groups as he can of the tunnel and will, conveniently, leave out the part of it being an offer from myself, just like he left out ever agreeing to only bring a few people. The other groups will make a mad dash toward the tunnel and meet in the area. Undoutably, there will be someone more intelligent than Alex among them, but it will be far too late to stop what has happened. By then, we will have boxed them in with the Society and they will have nowhere to run. They will have to bank on us coming to save them," Darius finished with a cold stare. Cromwell blinked a few times as the plan came into focus now. He shook his head before smirking to himself.

"I see, a brilliant plan, sir. I see now why the General follows you," he said as Darius nodded in response. Tiffany keep her face an emotionless mask as she wished it was time already. Soon...soon her people would not have to fear the Snakes lurking in the grass.

"Good. Now, I need to speak with the scouts. Lieutenant, find them and bring them to me ASAP."

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January 17, 2024 3:30 PM

Tiffany looked out the hidden door as two of her men moved the dead Snake down the tunnel, out of the way. Two fairies were still flying over the area, but looked to be losing interest. A few more seconds and they would head back to the battle by the old rusted car. And then they would have a clear line of advance to the stump.

She nodded as the fairies, finally, moved away. It was time to put the plan into action. Today the Snakes would die and never again threaten her soldiers or the people they swore to protect. Today, the Society would become the only threat she needed to worry about and those bastards would pay for all the people they took. Both their own, and her's.

"Squad one, get ready to move," she said as she took out her launcher. The new squad one, formed from the survivors of Squads one and two, readied their own launchers as Cromwell moved up to her.

"Sir, please allow me to lead this mission. There is no-" he started to say, but Tiffany cut him off with a glare.

"I will not ask my soldiers to do a mission I am not willing to do myself. And this mission is far to important to be left to anyone else. Get back to Darius' squad and make sure the explosives are ready. Blow them the second you get back," Tiffany ordered. Cromwell sighed, but saluted and headed back down the tunnel. Allowing this tunnel to remain was too risky so both her and Darius had agreed to destroy it. And with the battle making the perfect cover for the explosion, now was the time to do it. Even if it meant she and Squad one would have to find another way back to the Phoenix lines.

"Squad one, move out!" she yelled as she throw open the door and charged out into the light. Squad one followed after her and Jennifer, bringing up the read, slammed the door back. They were on their own now, on a suicide mission to draw the Society to the civilians of the Snakes and make sure they were all wiped out. With them dead, the Society would stop their advance and the Eastern border would be save, for now. It was a mission worth her possible lose.

Outside the tunnel, the sounds of battle were deafening. Rocket and gunfire echoed off the trees and hills, screams of pain, terror, and anger combined into a dull roar, rumbling earthquakes shook the ground as catmonsters and giantesses moved through the area, crushing anything in their way, and booming laughter and taunts rose over all of it as the Society bitches lorded over the battlefield like giant demons. If this wasn't hell, it was close to it and Tiffany would have wanted to be nowhere else.

Tiffany lead her soldiers in a full out sprint toward the stump in the distance. It was, at least, four to five hundred yards away and every second they were out here was another second they could be spotted. They couldn't be seen, not yet anyway.

"Buzzer!" one of her soldiers yelled as Tiffany looked up to see a fairy heading for them. She cursed as she dived behind a nearby tree and looked back to make sure the rest were doing the same. Her soldiers had all found their own hiding places and tried to keep as low as possible as the fairy's shadow went over them. Tiffany glared up at the fairy as its eyes roamed over them, but didn't settle on anything. It keep going past them before veering away.

"Go," Tiffany said as she took off again, her soldiers falling in behind her. The noises of the battlefield began to get louder as they got closer and closer to the stump. Its huge form began to loom higher and higher as they closed in on it. Tiffany stopped them a few yards from its base and had them spread out to draw less attention. The last thing they needed was the Snakes seeing them and coming out to investigate.

She crawled up closer to the stump to get a better view as her soldiers keep their eyes out for any Society forces. A few people were patrolling around the stump, all making sure to stay hidden from the air. Even if a fairy or a catmonster passed the stump by, they were unlikely to see the Snakes keeping watch over it. One of the old termite holes was nearby and had a large amount of supplies inside it. Most of it looked to be food and other such things. Shame it would have to go to waste.

She crawled back to her soldiers and hand signaled them to move around the stump. They needed to get to the side that was facing toward a giantess or a catmonster before putting the plan into action. They moved out as stealthy as possible as they slowly made their way around the huge stump. Thankfully, the Society seemed to have fully invested in taking down the Snake forces in the ruined car and the flybys by fairies became rarer and rarer. They managed to slip around to the side of the stump facing the ruined car without drawing attention to themselves from either the Society or Snakes.

They arrived at a good location as a giantess loomed high above them in the distance. She had her hands on her hips and looked to be yelling down at something, most likely some fairies and catmonsters. Undoubtably, her shield would be online, but that didn't matter at all. All they had to do was get her attention and make sure she realized what was in the stump.

Tiffany used hand signals to give her orders. She had everyone set up their launchers on the shaped branches they had made the day before. The branches let them set the launchers up like mortars and everyone made sure to aim at the giantess. A few would miss, but they only needed one or two to hit. Her weapon expert, Kevin, strung the launchers firing pins together so that a single pull could, theoretically fire them all. If that failed, Kevin would have to do it manually and, most likely, be killed for it. No helping it, however. It was either him or all of them.

With everything set, Tiffany had her soldiers take out their rifles and set the next part of the plan into action. They moved back toward the stump and crawled their way into range of the Snakes around it. Tiffany waited a second to get one in her sights before taking a deep breath. With this, the Snakes would die.

"Fire!" she yelled as she fired on her target, smiling as he fell before even turning around. The others in the squad fired as well and a number of the Snakes fell to the sudden barrage. The Snakes reacted, surprisingly, quickly and dived into cover. A few returned fire, but their shots were poorly aimed and missed her soldiers. Tiffany ejected the spent casing and slammed the breech closed before firing a second shot at the Snakes. She clipped another Snake in the shoulder, but the Snake was pulled into cover by one of his comrades. The rest of her soldiers got off a second round as well and had similar luck. The Snakes had gotten into cover now and they needed to pull back before their superior numbers came into play.

"Fall back!" she yelled, making sure that the Snakes could hear her as well. She crawled back down the hill they had used along with her soldiers and scrambled to her feet. They took off at a full sprint back to the launchers, making sure to weave through the trees as much as possible. Tiffany risked a glance back and saw a few Snakes cresting the hill. Bullets whizzed past them, but didn't hit anyone, yet.

"Once you reach the launchers, scatter! We will meet at the rendezvous location. If you are spotted, die well," Tiffany said. That might very well be the last order she gave them, or that she ever gave, but she had no time to worry about that now. More bullets began to zip past them as more Snakes got over the hill and began to pursue them. One of her soldiers cried in pain as a bullet hit his arm, but he shook off the pain and keep moving. Stopping now was certain death.

Finally, the launchers came into view. Tiffany turned to her right and keep running as the rest of her soldiers did the same in every direction. Jennifer headed close to the same direction as Tiffany, but soon vanished into the woods and rolling hills. Tiffany was alone and could only keep running if she wanted to live.

She slowed a bit as she heard the roar of multiple launchers firing. She turned back and saw the missiles flying up toward  the skyscraper-sized form of the giantess. A few were way off target and hit places past the giantess, like the car and other such things. However, about five of the missiles were right on target and exploded a few inches from the giantess as her shield stopped them. Tiffany slowed to a stop as she waited to see if the plan worked.

"Who the hell?" the giantess' booming voice said as she turned to look behind her. Tiffany smiled as she saw the giantess was wearing a visor. They had learned the hard way that those visors were more than just for show and had many devices built into them, including magnification. She had lost a few good people to those damn things, but now she was grateful for them.

"Well hello there. Did you stupid rebels think our shields didn't cover our backs too or did you just have a death wish?" the giantess said as she smiled down at where Tiffany estimated the launchers were. Tiffany smiled herself as the plan, finally, came to fruition. Now all that was left was to escape.

The giantess' massive footsteps began to shake the ground as she walked toward the stump. Tiffany had no wish to be near her and took off as best she could over the shaking ground. She had to brace herself against trees every so often as the shaking got worse with each step of the titaness. She had only gotten a few yards before the shaking was simply too much to safely walk in.

Tiffany stopped as she took cover behind a tree, risking a falling tree limb to avoid a falling foot. The giantess moved to where the launchers had been set and came to a stop, her hands on her hips. A few more rockets were fired up at her, but all of them simply exploded on her shield without doing any real damage. They were far too few to cause the shield to overload and were only giving away their position, fools. Seemed the Snakes still had amateurs in their ranks. Not surprising, all the experience soldiers were probably at the car.

The giantess smirked as she raised her foot and Tiffany swore as she dived to the ground. She was far too close to the giantess for comfort. She put her hands over her head as she waited for the blast. She didn't have to wait long.

The air exploded in sound for a split second before everything went silent. Tiffany gritted her teeth as air blasted past her and she barely managed to keep from being blown away. The ground shook like a wild bull as she held on and hoped not to be in the path of a falling tree. It seemed like minutes, but it was over in less than a second. The air died down and the ground steadied itself.

Tiffany didn't waste a second as she took off running again. She needed to get as far from that stump as possible before any of Society forces moved to it. Once they realized the stump was another base, they would have fairies and catmonsters patrolling around it for anyone trying to escape. She had to get out of that ring before then.

Her ears were still ringing when a second stomp blasted her off her feet. She fell to the ground and glanced up to see a tree falling directly toward her. She rolled to the side, barely avoiding the trunk but taking its branches full on. They tore into her fur coat in a few places and she was forced to rip her way out of it as she keep running.

Now without her fur coat, the cold wind was stinging her bare arms. She ignored it as she pushed her body to run faster, pumping her arms and sucking in the cold air. Her throat was beginning to sting from the cold air, but still she ran. Her hearing slowly faded back in as booming laughter came from behind her.

"Haha! You Resistance are such morons! We might have missed the ones in this stump if you hadn't shot at us. Hey, Lutice, there are some in this stump too!" the giantess said as she kicked the stump and sent a chunk of its rotten wood flying off. Even from this distance, the impact was like a cannon shot and Tiffany grimaced in pain from the sound.

"Oh is that right? Well I got just the thing to deal with them. Bring a few catgirls over," another giantess said as she started to walk over to the stump as well. Three catmonsters came over with her and began to paw at the stump. Tiffany risked a few glances back every so often to see what was going on, but didn't dare stop.

The giantess named Lutice moved to the stomp and reached to her belt. She took out her canteen and smiled as she opened the top. Tiffany smiled herself as she realized what she was going to do. They deserved it and would receive no pity from her.

Lutice chuckled as she knelt down next to the stump and slowly began to tip the canteen over. Tiffany could just barely hear screams and yells of panic over the still ongoing battle at the car and chuckles of the two giantesses. Tiffany looked away and focused on running as the screams grew louder before becoming softer. And then they stopped completely. The only sounds seemed to be the giantesses' laughter and the catmonster happy meows. Tiffany wasn't smiling anymore.

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January 22, 2024 3:32PM

Lloyd sighed as he heard the footsteps behind him. He didn't want to do this, he didn't want to give up on the General yet. But Darius was not so patient and the Eastern border needed a leader. He had learned a lot from General Faine, but he still felt there was more to know. But now...

Darius' plan had worked. The Society seemed to think they had killed the Snakes and their patrols had stop moving toward them. In fact, their scouts had reported that the Society looked to be pulling back and that their patrols were fewer in number. However...However not one person from the squad General Faine had taken out into that battlefield had been seen since, including the General herself.

Lloyd knew that it should only have taken them three days to make it back, but had still held out hope. He still did, but Darius didn't seem to share it.

"Lieutenant Cromwell, its time. I will ask you again, do you wish to be the new General for the Eastern border or not?" Darius asked as Lloyd grimaced. He didn't turn to face Darius as he lowered his head. If he refused he knew Darius would just appoint someone else. And whoever that was might change everything the General had done. There really was only one choice.

"Sir! I am getting a report from watchpost 24. Its something about survivors!" one of the telegraph operators said. Lloyd spun around and nearly shoved his way past Darius to the station.

"What does it say?" he demanded as the operator held up a finger as he wrote out the message.

"Found Survivors of battle. Identified as Squad Leader Jennifer and-" the operator paused as he smiled, "General Faine!" Lloyd could have hugged the man if he wasn't trained to keep such displays hidden. Instead, he made do with a clap on the man's shoulder.

"She's still alive. I knew she would be. Darius, I must decline because the General of the East is still alive," Lloyd said as he turned back to Darius. Darius gave the barest hint of a smile as he nodded.

"Very well. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant. Tell the General it is good to know the East is well secure in her hands. And to let her second in command do the suicide missions next time," Darius said before heading for the exit.

"Of course, sir," Lloyd said with a salute as he watched Darius go. Once he was gone, he turned back to the room and smiled to himself.

While Lloyd Cromwell enjoyed the return of his leader, Darius sighed in annoyance. Cromwell would have been so much easier to deal with and keep control of. General Faine, however, was no one's pawn and would be...testy. But there was nothing for it, now. She was too good to be squandered, so he would make use of her as best as he could.

At least the eastern front was secure and, assuming the reports were correct, Derek had carried out his mission. His gamble with Sanders and that catmonster had bought them time, time enough, he hoped, to find what Manchent left. It was a risk, betting everything on an unknown thing like that, but Darius had no other choice.

"You better have left something good, Manchent. You might be the last hope for Hope..." he said to himself as he walked back to his Force.

January 19, 2024 8:13 AM

Jacob did not care for that damn catmonster growling at him. That fucking monster had killed so many of his comrades back during the colony mission. There was no way he was ever forgetting that, no matter how many times it saved him or Samantha or anyone else. It might be tame now, but it was still a fucking monster that ate people. Only a matter of time before it showed its true colors.

"Let me be clear about something. You hurt Pyrrha or even look to be THINKING about hurting her, I'll..." Sanders started before stopping as Derek's yelling voice drifted toward them. Sanders got a slight grin at that that made Jacob a bit worried.

"I'll let your dad sort you out," Sanders said with a smirk. Jacob's anger flared, but a wave of fear keep him from acting on it. His dad was already angry at him for their first meeting of Pyrrha, if Jacob caused more trouble with her... With no other choice, he bottled his anger and just glared back at Sanders. Fucking bastard, using his own father against him.

"That's enough, you two. Jacob won't try to hurt Pyrrha, right?" Samantha said as she moved between them and stared at Jacob. Jacob sighed and nodded, wasn't like he could kill Pyrrha at this point anyway. He was one of the best fighters in the Force, but even he couldn't take a catmonster by himself. And...and Sanders was a hero for saving them and killing that giantess...ugh.

"I won't hurt it as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else," Jacob said with a sigh. Sanders didn't seem at all pleased with that response, for some reason. Fuck did Jacob have to bow and scrap to him to make him happy?!

"Pyrrha is a she not an it. And its only cause of Samantha that I am letting you come," Sanders said as he turned and stormed off into the clearing. Pyrrha gave a low growl before shifting around to keep up with Sanders. Samantha sighed as Sanders left and gave Jacob an annoyed look.

"What? That thing is an it. Its dangerous and could kill any of us with a flick of its finger!" Jacob said, not understanding why Samantha seemed to so calm around it. It was a catMONSTER for God's sake. Both of them had seen comrades be devoured by those damn things!

"SHE also saved me and you from that giantess AND is the only reason we saved Hope," Samantha said with an annoyed glare. She looked away before turning back to him.

"What is with you, Jacob? You are not, usually, this angry or suspicious," Samantha asked, her look changed to one of concern. That was right, only his dad knew Pyrrha was the same catmonster that had attacked him and the others on that doomed mission. Jacob bet Samantha would change her tune after hearing that. Then they could have two sets of eyes watching that damn thing.

"Because that is the same catmonster that attacked me and the others when we went to warn the colony. Those giantesses sent it after us and I saw it eat at least fifteen of our people, including Rance," Jacob said in fury. Just thinking back to seeing his friends and comrades being devoured by that thing made his blood boil. Samantha HAD to understand now why he didn't trust that damn monster.

Samantha glanced back at Pyrrha in shock and stared at it for a second. She turned back to Jacob and looked at him before glancing down at the ground.

"Is that why you shot at her when you first saw her?" she asked. Jacob anger flared as Samantha called it a her. Why was she still calling it a SHE?!?!

"YES that is why I shot at IT!" he yelled out, not caring that he was now yelling. Both Sanders and Pyrrha turned to look at him with an angry glare. He might have turned to yell at them if his head hadn't snapped around. He was confused at first about what had happened, but the sudden stinging on his face gave him an idea. He turned back to face Samantha as he realized she had just slapped him.

"Stop calling her an it and blaming her for their deaths. It wasn't Pyrrha's fault they died and you know it. Just like you know who that anger should really be directed at. If you want to come with me and Sanders, you better come over to apologize. Otherwise, go back to the Squad and stay there. I don't want to see you unless its to apoglize," Samantha said with a furious look. She stormed off toward Sanders, her hands clenched into fists, leaving Jacob alone.

Jacob rubbed his stinging face and watching in silence as Samantha left. Not Pyrrha's fault...well then who the fuck's fault was it?! It wasn't his, of course, it couldn't be his! It wasn't like he wanted the gi-...the giantesses... Jacob looked up at Pyrrha and thought back to how Sanders was controlling it during the fight. He had been yelling orders to it and it had obeyed like...like an obedient animal... aww hell.

Lovely, he had been a complete dumbass. Pyrrha hadn't killed his friends out of spite or hate or anything, i-...she had simply been doing what the giantesses had told her to do. Jacob could blame her no more than he could blame a guard dog for attacking him when its master said to. It wasn't the animal's fault, it was the master. No...the real people who were at fault for his friends' deaths were the giantesses who had unleashed her on them. Though that also meant he had to thank Sanders for saving them and not Pyrrha... Ugh, both choices were equally sickening.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed to go apologize to Pyrrha. He had shoved all the lose and anger at that failed mission, and the unfair treatment he got from it, onto Pyrrha. I-SHE didn't deserve that considering she was just an animal with no real will of her own. Still, swallowing his pride and apologizing, to a catmonster no less, wasn't easy. But it was either that or leaving Sanders alone with Samantha, and that was not happening. And he would have to face Samantha's wraith...

Pushing his pride away in favor of his need to protect Samantha, he headed over to where Sanders, Samantha, and Pyrrha were all together. He had to fight back a glare at Sanders getting too friendly with Samantha for his liking. Glaring at him, though, wasn't going to improve his chances of Samantha letting him come. It didn't stop Sanders from glaring at him or Pyrrha giving a low angry growl at his approach. He might have given in to his anger if he didn't focus on Samantha and her hopeful look. He had to focus on her and not the other two. She was worth some wounded pride as was doing the right thing.

He pulled his eyes off Samantha and turned toward Pyrrha. He had to fight back his anger, and some fear, at staring up at the catmonster that had killed his friends. Those slit eyes reflected his own image back to him, but all he saw was Rance being pulled into her mouth. He ignored it as he pushed through and spit it out.

"Sorry, its not your fault my friends died," Jacob said. Pyrrha gave him a confused look and Sander looked shocked by his apology. Did he really think Jacob couldn't apologize if it meant making Samantha happy and keeping her safe? Well now he did know and Jacob was going to make sure he didn't forget. AND that he let Jacob come with him. He wasn't going to leave her alone with him again.

"I won't call her an it either or hurt her," Jacob said looking at Sanders now. Sanders gave him an unconvinced look as he crossed his arms. Samantha turned to Sanders and gave him a "please" look which only made Jacob more angry. Samantha was having to beg for him to come...fucking bastard. He said he wouldn't call her an it and apologized, what the fuck did he want? Thankfully, for Sanders sake, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine, let's go. Pyrrha, up," Sanders said, shaking his head. Pyrrha eyed Jacob with suspicion, but didn't growl, as she lowered her hand to let them climb on. Jacob grumbled a bit under his breath as he climbed onto her hand and tried to think about something other than her eating his comrades. Dammit, this had been easier when his dad and Lindsey had been here. At least then he was sure they could kill this d- Pyrrha if something did go wrong.

As Pyrrha raised her hand, he was tempted to drop flat on her palm in panic, but refused to show his fear when Sanders was so calm. Instead, he tried to brace himself with his feet and keep balanced like Sanders was managing to. Despite his best effort, though, he nearly fell and only barely keep his feet through the ascent. He might have been mortified if Samantha wasn't having just as much trouble. Just a matter of more experience than skill, couldn't really be mocked for that.

They jumped over to Pyrrha's head and Samantha spent a minute showing him how to hold onto Pyrrha. Sanders waited till he had a good grip before telling Pyrrha to move. The catmonster swung her head back toward the Force and Jacob felt his stomach nearly drop out. A wave of both fear and awe hit him at, even with Pyrrha on all fours, how high up they were. So this is what the world looked like to a catmonster... And to a giantess, everything was even smaller... Jesus..

He shook off his speechlessness as Pyrrha lowered her head down to the edge of the clearing. Jacob spotted his dad and the squad leaders at the edge of the forest. Past them, the rest of the Force looked ready to move out and were milling about. Dad looked surprised to see Jacob on Pyrrha, but not at the same time as he glanced at Samantha. He shook his head and...was that a smirk on his face?

"I was wondering where Jacob had gone. Are you alright with letting him go with you, Sanders?" Dad asked. Sanders sighed but nodded.

"Yeah its fine. Are you and your soldiers ready to move?" Sanders asked, probably trying to get the conversation on something else. That was fine by Jacob as he had no wish for his dad to show just how little trust he had in him... Jacob already knew.

"Yes, we are ready. My Squad leaders and myself think it best if we make use of a nearby water drainage tunnel to head further east and then swing back northwest to the Southern HQ. Its a longer route, but it should prevent the Society from following us. However, the tunnel is too small for Pyrrha to fit in," Dad said as his eyes drifted back to Jacob. Jacob looked away, unwilling to hold his dad's gaze, and looked at a nearby tree. Those eyes...had just never been the same.

"So you want me to take Pyrrha a different direction and find my own way back to the HQ, right?" Sanders said without a hint of anger or annoyance at the situation. If anything, he almost sounded happy. Maybe he didn't like his dad anymore than Jacob did...or maybe he wanted to get away from the Force for some other reason...

"Yes. Ideally, a round-about route in case they try to track you," Dad said as he glanced at Jacob yet again. Was he that worried Jacob would fuck things up? He thought that, but some part of Jacob knew his dad was just worried about him, he just didn't want to admit it. Easier to stay with Samantha without feeling guilty for making his dad worry. And he sure as hell didn't want to be stuck with Squad 3 and their constant taunts.

"Of course. We should get moving before the Society catches up to us. Good luck Derek and make sure you keep your people safe," Sanders said with a smile.

"Same to you, Sanders. Make sure my boy comes back alive," Derek said as he looked over to Jacob again. Jacob turned away and was grateful to feel Pyrrha shifting away. He didn't want to have to say goodbye or anything like that to his dad. It wasn't like he wouldn't see him again. His dad had survived a lot worse, after all, and the Society wouldn't find them. Those drainage tunnels were perfect places to sneak through.

"You should have said goodbye at least," Samantha said as Pyrrha started to move away from the Force, keeping on all fours.

"Leave it alone, Samantha," Jacob warned her as he gave her a glare. There were very few things he was unwilling to talk to her about, but this was one of them. His dad and him had a...strained relationship. Dad's need to be the second-in-command of the Phoenixes first and a father second had pissed Jacob off when he was younger and that anger hadn't completely faded. And then there was what happened when Mom...

Samantha took the hint, thankfully, and let it go. Sanders didn't show any interest in it and just stayed by Pyrrha's other ear, petting it absentmindedly. Good, Jacob REALLY didn't want to get into that with him. Pyrrha keep right on walking without a sound.

A few minutes passed with no noise until Pyrrha's stomach grumbled. A wave of fear went through Jacob as that noise, along with rumbling meows, buzzing wings, and booming footsteps, was almost bred into Phoenixes to be terrifying. Samantha stiffened from the noise as well, but relaxed very quickly. Sanders, though, didn't even twitch and just rubbed Pyrrha's ear a bit more. He smiled a bit as Pyrrha gave a soft meow.

"I want some breakfast too, Pyrrha. We need to get out of this area first, though. Can't afford to be found by the Society," Sanders said in a soothing voice. Jacob rolled his eyes at Sanders acting like the catmonster could understand him. Pyrrha's meow in response did sound kinda disappointed... but it was probably just his imagination.

He might have thought more about it if his own stomach hadn't grumbled as well. He hadn't eaten anything since waking up, having gone straight to looking for Samantha. Thankfully, it didn't look like Sanders had heard his stomach, though Samantha had. She turned to him and gave him a "really" look. He shrugged at her and she rolled her eyes before taking out a bit of jerky from her pack. He knew better than try to wave it off, Samantha would shove it down his throat if she had too, so he took it and ate it with a nod of thanks.

They traveled for a good while without saying much, save for Pyrrha's stomach rumbling and Sanders soothing her. They crested a large hill and Pyrrha stopped at the top of it. She looked around as her ears perked up. She gave a soft meow as her nose started to sniff the air. Jacob gave Samantha a confused look and she shrugged in response.

"Alright, Pyrrha. I think we are far enough now. Samantha, Jacob, keep quiet for a few minutes. Pyrrha, hunt," Sanders said getting an excited meow from Pyrrha. Jacob raised his eyebrow in confusion as Samantha pulled him down into a crouch.

"She is hunting for food. Don't worry, it's probably just some deer," Samantha whispered to him. He nodded as Pyrrha lowered herself to the ground and began to slowly creep over the trees. Despite her huge size, she was barely causing any noise at all and only crushed a few trees. Jacob was not surprised, though, as he knew how quiet catmonsters could be. But Samantha better be right that it was just deer she was after.... Or Rangers, that would be OK too now that he thought about it.

Thankfully, it did turn out to be deer and Pyrrha, easily, took them by surprise. Jacob had to fight back a shudder as she crushed and then swallowed the poor animals. His disgusted feeling only got worse as her feeding went on and on and on. That fucking noise...and this being the same damn one...it was...it was...

"STOP IT!" he yelled, getting Pyrrha to wince. Her ear flattened as she hissed up at him and both Sanders and Samantha turned to him in confusion. Sanders look quickly turned to anger as Samantha went to concern.

"Jacob, wha-"

"NOTHING! It...just let me off while she eats," Jacob said, unable to bare it any longer. He couldn't bare to hear it anymore and the fact it was the same one that ate his friends.... Ever time he heard it he saw Rance and Malcolm and so many others disappearing into her mouth. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!!!

"Pyrrha, down," Sanders said as Pyrrha gave a low annoyed growl. Her bloody hand came up and Jacob wasted no time getting on. Fuck this was disgusting, but it was better than suffering with that damn noise and memories. Samantha looked to be about to get on, but Sanders grabbed her shoulder.

"You stay with Pyrrha. I need to have a chat with Jacob and someone needs to stay with Pyrrha in case the Society finds us. If you see them, tell Pyrrha to get me, she'll know what to do," Sanders said as he leap over to Pyrrha's hand. Samantha looked about to argue, but Jacob beat her to it.

"Wait, you can't leave her with the catmonster, she'l-" Jacob started to say, but Sanders cut him off.

"Pyrrha won't hurt her. Why would she want to eat Samantha when she has plenty of deer to eat? You want to come with me then you are going to have this chat with me. Otherwise, I'm taking you back to your dad," Sanders said with a glare. Jacob returned it full force and grumbled a bit to himself. Before he could think of a comeback, Pyrrha's hand started to move and Jacob nearly lost his footing again. Fucking catmonster. Samantha looked down after them, but stayed silent.

They both hopped off her hand and Sanders lead the way away from Pyrrha. Pyrrha seemed a little worried, but Sanders patted her hips as they moved past them. That seemed to calm her a bit and she went back to eating while Samantha stared after them, looking worried.

Jacob made sure to keep his hand near his weapon, just in case, as they went a few yards into the forest. They moved out of sight of Pyrrha and into a small cleared area.  Sanders turned around to face Jacob and crossed his arms.

"Alright, what the hell is your problem with Pyrrha and me? Its obvious this is something more than just misplaced jealously or not liking catgirls," Sanders said with an annoyed look. Jacob rolled his eyes as he looked away from him. Misplaced jealously...that still remained to be seen, but he was right about it being more than not liking catMONSTERS. Dumbass, how could he even call one of those things a girl? Bah, if he wanted to know, then Jacob would tell him.

"My problem is that catmonster is the same one that ate a lot of my friends and nearly killed me," Jacob said as he stared Sanders down. Sanders angry look became one of shock as his arms loosened.

"Wh-what?!" Sanders asked, taken off-guard by that response.

"You heard me. She killed and ate my comrades when we went to warn one of our colonies," Jacob said, feeling more and more angry as he said it. He knew he had agreed it wasn't Pyrrha's fault, but that agreement drifted further and further from his mind. The screams of terror, running for his life, all while those giantesses laughed in psychotic joy as they toyed with the colony...

Sanders stared at him with eyes that seem to beg him to be lying. He shook his head as he looked down and reached into his pocket. He took out something and glanced at it before putting it back, though Jacob wasn't sure what. Sanders sighed as he seemed to gather himself.

"Tell me what happened," he said with an even look on his face. Jacob wasn't fooled by that look, though. Any idiot could tell Sanders wanted to do anything other than hear this. Well too bad, Sanders was going to learn why he shouldn't trust that monster anymore than Jacob did. And why he was the one who owed Jacob an apology.

"A few months ago, a large group of people left Hope. They all had differing reasons, but mostly it was just being sick of being underground. When they announced their intentions, Darius said they were just going to die, but didn't try to stop them. So they left and managed to build a small town south east of our territory. It went well till about a month ago," Jacob started. He still couldn't believe Darius had just let them walk out without doing something. Should have at least sent a Force with them or something. Bastard.

"A big winter storm was coming and those people didn't have a lot of winter gear. They people who left still had family and friends in Hope and they all were worried about them freezing to death. They asked Darius to send someone to check on them, but he refused to no one's surprise. Said he didn't have the spare manpower and other bullshit. I had a few friends out in the colony too so I decided to go myself. Word got around and a number of people asked to tag along. I was leery of that at first, but my friend, Booker, convinced me to let them come. More people meant more supplies we could bring, after all. We had about thirty people when we left, though only three of us had any combat experience. Me, Booker, and another friend of mine, Rance, were the only soldiers in the group, the rest were civilians. Since this whole thing had been my idea, they put me in charge and I got us moving to the colony."

Jacob paused as he thought back to the day they left. It had been a bright day full of promise and hope. He and his two buddies leading a group of civilians to go help their colony and save it from disaster. They thought they would come back to a hero's welcome... and instead... He pushed the thoughts away as he leaned against a nearby tree and keep going.

"Trip there was easy. Back then the Society wasn't pushing forward like it is now, so there weren't too many patrols. We only got close to one and it was just a lone giantess, easy to slip past. Trip took a little over a week, but...but we never did get to the town," Jacob said as his mind drifted back to that day. The rumbling noises, the screams drifting over the wind. Him, Rance, and Booker sprinting up the hill to see...

"We heard the rumbling and the screams long before we got there. Town was being crushed by five giantesses and a catmonster...your catmonster," Jacob said as he glared at Sanders. Sanders blinked a few times before looked down at the ground. His shoulders slumped down as he let out a long, sad, sigh. He shook his head before looking back up.

"And they saw you and attacked... I'm so so-" Sanders started to say as Jacob's annoyance flared. Why did everyone assume the giantesses had saw him?! He was better at hiding than that AND knew to keep the civilians hidden too!

"They didn't see me or anyone in the group. I wasn't stupid or incompetent at keeping hidden," Jacob corrected him as he crossed his arms in anger. Sanders looked back up at him in confusion.

"I was- wait..,they didn't? But then how did Pyrrha eat your friends? If they did-..." Sanders stopped as his eyes widened in horror and disbelief. What the hell was that look for? Sanders eyes turned on him and stared at him.

"You...you didn't...you...you ATTACKED them?!" Sanders asked, looking like he was in complete shock. Why was he in shock? Was him trying to save the people of that colony really so hard to believe?

"Of course I did. They were killing people down there and we had a chance to save some of those people! Our lives were worth the chance to save some of theirs!" Jacob said as Sanders disbelief turned to anger.

"You only had three soldiers, including yourself, to throw at FIVE giantesses and a catgirl, what the FUCK did you think you were going to do?! You were outnumbered by GIANTESSES! You were never going to save anyone with only three people! You should have focused on the people you brought!" Sanders said in anger as he moved toward Jacob. Jacob's fists clenched as Sanders practically gave the same speech his dad had given him back then. Did they not understand there were people DYING DOWN THERE?!

"So I should have turned my back on the people in the colony and left them to die?! I should have saved my own life and doomed theirs?!"Jacob said with a glare at Sanders. This guy didn't understand, just like everyone else. What other choice did he have, to run? To leave those people to die? What the hell kind of choice was that?!

"You should have protected the people you already were protecting! Those people needed you and you COULD save them! You were never going to save those people in the colony with only three people!" Sanders yelled back, his face scrunched up in anger.

"That is why I brought the others with us! Three people couldn't, but thirty might," Jacob said as Sanders stopped and stared at him in stunned silence. He slowly shook his head as he stumbled back a step.

"You...you sent the civilians to fight? You sen....yo..." Sanders stopped for a brief second as his face went from disbelief to rage. He glared at Jacob in fury before running at him. Jacob tried to dodge him, but was too slow as Sanders grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face down to his.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?! You sent civilians that trusted you to protect them into a fight with FIVE giantesses and a catgirl?!?! And then have the gall to try and blame Pyrrha for their deaths?! YOU FUCKING MONSTER, THEIR DEATHS ARE YOUR DAMN FAULT!" Sanders yelled into his face. Jacob had had all he could stand of this as his rage reached its boiling point. He DARED to say it was his fault Booker and Rance were dead?! Jacob bellowed out in fury as he punched Sanders in the face, sending him reeling back. Jacob followed him and started to lay into Sanders with his fists. Smashing his fists into him with each sentence.

"I DIDN'T SEND THEM TO DIE! I SENT THEM TO SAVE THE COLONY! WE COULD HAVE DONE IT IF THEY HADN'T RUN! WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEM ALL IF THEY HADN'T BEEN COWARDS! W-" he stopped as Sanders grabbed Jacob's fist before smashing his own into Jacob's face. Jacob stumbled back from the blow and never got a chance to recover as Sanders tackled him to the ground. He pinned Jacob to the ground with his arms as he glared down at him in utter hate.

"THEY WERE CIVILIANS! THEY WERE NOT TRAINED TO BE FIGHTERS! THEY WERE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT AND THAT COLONY WAS DEAD THE MOMENT FIVE GIANTESSES ATTACKED IT! YOU CAN'T SAV-..." Sanders stopped as his voice seemed to catch in his throat. His face softened as he relaxed his grip on Jacob.

It was all the opening Jacob needed as he broke out of the pin and slammed his fist into Sanders' side. Sanders grunted in pain as he was knocked off Jacob, clutching the side Jacob had hit. Jacob leap back to his feet as Sanders tried to stagger up to his. He looked about to say something, but Jacob didn't want to hear it. He punched Sanders square in the jaw and sent him reeling back to the ground, his rage giving his punch extra power.

"THEY WERE NOT DEAD! I COULD HEAR THEM SCREAMING FOR HELP! AND YOU WERE NOT THERE SO DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING JUDGE ME!" Jacob yelled down at him before turning away in fury. Couldn't believe this. This fucking Society asshole was giving him the same talk his dad had given him. Can't save everyone...fucking BULLSHIT! Just them being too scared to risk their own lives to do what had to be done. And this fucker was being called a HERO?! He was no hero, just a fucking cowardly fucker!

"People were calling YOU a hero too. Biggest load of shit I have ever heard," Jacob said as he kicked Sanders in the stomach. Sanders grunted from the kick and gasped from the air being knocked out of him. He looked up at Jacob with a look of utter rage on his face. That's right, fucker, get up so I can kick your fake hero ass. But, the look faded as Sanders turned away and caught his breath.

"You're right, I'm no hero. Just a man who happened to tame a catgirl. And I have no right to judge you considering what I have done... Maybe...maybe you were right to try and save them," Sanders said as he seemed to completely deflate. Jacob was taken completely off-guard by Sanders response. No one had ever said that he might have been right...and he hadn't expected Sanders to agree to not being a hero. How...how could he just give that title up? Wasn't it what everyone strived to be?

Before Jacob could think of what to do, the sound of a tree being crushed got him and Sanders to look to their right. Pyrrha moved up to them, looming high above them and the trees even on all fours. She looked at Sanders and then at Jacob before hissing and reaching toward Jacob. Jacob swore under his breath and started to backpedal away from the huge hand, but not fast enough as it came ever closer.

"Pyrrha, stop!" Sanders yelled as Pyrrha's hand nearly reached Jacob. The hand stopped as Pyrrha turned back to Sanders, a confused look on her face.
"Don't hurt him. We just had a...disagreement is all," Sanders said as his hand drifted into his pocket for something. Jacob keep his hand on his rifle as Pyrrha eyed him, angrily, but pulled her hand back. Samantha looked over Pyrrha's forehead and said something to the catmonster. Pyrrha raised her hand and carried Samantha down to the ground. She looked at Sanders and Jacob before her face twisted into an angry scowl. Oh fuck...

"What the hell did you two do?! I told you not to cause problems, Jacob, and you go and get into a fight with Sanders?! You know Pyrrha is really protective of him and we were not far away! Did you think you could take her too?! And what if a Ranger patrol had heard you two or Phoenix patrol that didn't know who Sanders was?! How many times do I have to remind you that he is our best chance of winning this war?! Do you want to beat the Society or not?!" Samantha yelled at Jacob, causing all his rage to turn into fear. Fuck he had only see Samantha this mad a few times before and it did not end well. He tried to say something in his defense, but she slapped him across the face before he got a word out. Jacob keep his mouth shut and simply nodded as Samantha scowled up at him and Pyrrha scowled down at him. Shit, Samantha was bad enough without the catmonster...

"And you!" Samantha said turning on Sanders, who looked just as fearful now that he was the target of her anger, "It takes two to fight and Jacob has a few bruises on him that he didn't have before! You said you wanted to talk with him, not have a brawl with him! What would have happened if Pyrrha had come back during your fight, huh?! Think you could have stopped her then?! And God forbid if the Society had found us! You are supposed to be the hero that is going to help us win this war and here you are beating up on a younger soldier?! If you want to be our savior you fucking better start acting like it before I take Pyrrha for myself!"

Sanders tried to stammer out some answers, but never got a chance to say any of them as Samantha laid into him. To Jacob's surprise, Pyrrha turned the same angry look she had given him on Sanders and even meowed a few times in the rant to add emphasis. Did...did she understand what was happening? Or was she just imitating Samantha? Before he could really think on that, though, Samantha turned her furious look back on him. Jacob gulped as he worried what Samantha was going to do.

"Tired of you two acting like little boys about Pyrrha, me, and fucking everything else. Its stopping RIGHT NOW and so help me the next one of you that fights or causes problems is going to answer to me and Pyrrha, right?" Samantha said as she looked back at Pyrrha. Pyrrha hissed at them in agreement and both Jacob and Sanders cringed at the volume of her voice. Fuck when did Samantha get so good at controlling Pyrrha?

They both nodded in understanding and Jacob felt a wave of embarrassment go over him. What the fuck was he doing fighting with Sanders? The guy had saved him, Samantha, and Squad 3 just yesterday. And, as much as he didn't like to admit it, he was their best chance of beating the Society thanks to Pyrrha. Not to mention, he had told Samantha he trusted her trust in Sanders, and yet here he was doing the exact opposite. Was it any wonder Samantha was pissed as hell at him? Dammit, he was letting his anger get the best of him again...

"Sorry, Samantha. It won't happen again, I promise," Jacob said as he tried to look her in the eyes, but her harsh look made it hard. Damn she was really mad...

"Yeah, its my fault this happened. I pushed Jacob on something I shouldn't have and should have just left alone," Sanders said as he keep staring at the ground, his hand still in his pocket. Samantha got a curious look and glanced at Jacob.

"Pushed him on what?" she asked.

"On how he knows Pyrrha. He told me what happened and I... its none of my business, forget it," Sanders said as he shook his head and moved toward Pyrrha. Samantha looked back to Jacob and gave him an odd look. Was that...anger, sadness..or both? Whatever it was, it vanished quickly as she nodded and waited for Sanders to move away.

"What did he say that got you so mad?" Samantha asked Jacob as she gave him a harsh glare.

"He- he said the same thing my dad said. That I should have left the colony to die and got the others to safety," Jacob said. His anger might have come back if Samantha wasn't giving him a look that made his blood run cold. She didn't say anything in response as she headed toward Pyrrha. Jacob sighed to himself as he followed her. This was going to be a long trip.

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January 22, 2024 7:19 PM
Jacob sighed to himself as he tried to rub the cold away. Normally he would have welcome some time alone with Samantha, but ever since the fight three days ago those times had become torturous. Samantha was still furious with him and coming anywhere near her would get him nothing save an angry glare. The only good news was she was just as mad at Sanders so at least he had nothing to worry about on that front.

Sanders and Pyrrha had gone out to make some false trails for the Society to find. As large as Pyrrha was, it was all but impossible for her not to leave some trail. However, feral catmonsters were known to be in the area and that had given Jacob an idea. Rather than try not to leave a trail, they would leave an obvious one, but one that meandered around and seemed to not go a specific direction. That way, if the Society did find it, it would look like a feral had left it. Even better, the many off trails and such might pass by an actual feral catmonster's trail making their path all but impossible to pick out. He was rather proud of that idea, if he said so himself.

Now, though, he was wishing he hadn't thought of it. While those two were out making trails, he and Samantha were left alone to listen and watch for Society forces. So far, though, the only thing Jacob had seen was wild animals and Samantha's angry glares. He sighed to himself as he pulled his jacket closer to him and wished he could wrap himself around Samantha.

With nothing better to do, Jacob let his mind wonder back to the past, back when he had first met Samantha..

It had happened just after the Bears were wiped out. She had been in the crowd when the news arrived. Darius himself gave the news, without a hint of emotion as usually. A number of people had cried and cursed at the news, devastated that a group as powerful as the Bears could be wiped out. Dad had been there too and simply shook his head before heading back to the barracks.

Back then, the Bears were legendary and spoken of in near reverence by everyone. They actually made a point of going and fighting the Society at every turn, no matter the danger. But more importantly, they fought and WON against the Society. They had even made a few raids into New Atlanta itself and lived to tell the tale, even managed to blow up a few important targets. People would train like mad to get the chance to join them as only the best of the best of the best got in. Hell, even Jacob had been dreaming of the day he would join them back then. What better place to be a hero than in the company of heroes, and the Bears were the heroes of every Resistance Group. Even the Marauders respected them and would gladly give them aid if asked.

But even they were not invincible... No one was really sure what happened to them, sadly. That day, they sent out a radio transmission that they were under attack by a massive Society attack force. Rather than call for help, though, they told everyone to stay away and keep hidden. And fucking Darius had listened to them rather than going to save them... Bastard. After that, the Bears were never seen or heard from again. People had gone to the site of the battle and found it a ruined wasteland of bodies and flattened earth. The Bears had taken a large toll on the Society, but had fallen nonetheless.

Jacob had stayed in the plaza Darius had given the news. He had been devastated to hear the thing he had been striving for was now gone and just sat there, numb and unsure what to do. He might have just gone home to wallow in self-pity if he hadn't noticed Samantha. She had been crying the entire time and showed no signs of stopping. Most of the people left her to weep, unwilling to help or figuring it was best to let her grief. Jacob, though, couldn't just leave her there, a hero didn't turn their back on crying women. And if he couldn't join the Bears to become a hero, he might as well be one this way. Man was he childish back then...

"Hey, umm...wh..what's the matter? Do..do you need some help?" he had asked her. She had looked up at him and turned away from him. He wasn't going to give up, though, doubly so as he knew that look. It had been his look a few years before.

"You lost someone, didn't you? A family member in the Bears?" he asked, but got no response. He sighed and sat down next to her. He knew no amount of its OK and stuff like that would help, it never helped him, so he decided to try something different.

"I lost someone too, you know. Back before the Society attacked, I lived in a village out by Roswell. Me, my dad, and my mom all lived there and had an OK life. Was hard work, but at least we were together, ya know?" he said before he paused. The girl hadn't stopped crying and he hadn't been sure she was even listening, but he keep going anyway.

"At least...it was till that day. Me and my dad had gone out to hunt for some food while Mom had stayed back to mind the house. While we were out there, we ran into a bunch of people, Darius among them. They told us that towns were getting wiped out by the Society and the giantesses were just crushing anything and anyone that got in their way. Dad didn't want to believe them, but...but then the rumbling started..." Jacob stopped as he had felt tears begun to form in his eyes. He wasn't sure if Samantha had stopped crying by then or not, he wasn't paying much attention to her at that point. His mind had been too busy reliving that horrible day. The day the world turned upside down yet again.

"We ran back, but...but it was too late. Our house was completely crushed and my mom...my mom...was outside it...smeared on the ground," Jacob finished as he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He cried a little to himself as the the image of his dad falling to his knees by what was left of his mom filled his mind. His dad had shed two tears before he turned back to them, a look on his face Jacob had never seen before. A look that always reappeared whenever a giantess was near. A look of complete and utter hatred that scared Jacob even to this day. Dad had never been the same since that day...

"You...you don't...don't understand... You...you still have...a dad. I don't...have anyone now," Samantha had said between gasps for breath. Jacob snapped out of his memories and turned back to the girl. She was still crying and gasping from the tears as she glared at him. Jacob had sighed as he realized she was kind right.

"Maybe...Sometimes I'm not so sure of that. Dad spends more time as Commander Derek than Dad now. I...I think Mom dying broke something in him. He's...not the same anymore," Jacob said as he looked down at his feet. Samantha stared at him as he felt tears starting to come back. He fought them back as he turned back to her.

"But that's OK. I don't need him to keep surviving. I'll do it on my own and become the hero that saves us. I'll make a new Bears and we'll beat the Society and make sure they never bother us again!" Jacob had said with a cocky smile. Looking back on it, it was such a childish boast, doubly so for a sixteen year old. But...but it had worked.

Samantha gave him a disgusted look, at first, but it slowly faded away. She mumbled something about "again", before starting to laugh.

"HEY don't laugh at my goals! At least I have one!" Jacob had said, letting his anger get the best of him again. Samantha stopped laughing and got a far away look at that. Jacob felt bad for saying it and was going to apologize when the girl suddenly jumped to her feet.

"You are right. I don't have a goal...and I can't just sit here with no goal, she wouldn't want that. She would want me to keep going," she said as she whipped away her tears. She then smiled at Jacob.

"Thank you...umm."

"Jacob, Jacob Ranferd," Jacob answered with his own smile.

"Samantha," she said before kissing him on the cheek and running off. Jacob had stood there, stunned for a second before getting a big smile on his face. Shit he had hoped to see her again. And he got his wish.

The next day, Samantha joined the trainees and blitzed through the training program. Where as most took a month or more of training to get bumped to a soldier, she took only a week. By sheer chance, she had wound up in the same watchpost he had been assigned to and...well things had progressed from there. Those were some of his favorite memories... Him, Rance, Booker, and Samantha all in the same watchpost. It was a wonder nothing sneaked past the post with them constantly goofing off.

But now...now Rance and Booker were gone and Samantha was furious at him. Jacob sighed to himself as he wondered if Sanders had been right about saving the civilians. No, no he wouldn't believe that. The people in the colony deserved better than to be left to die and he would NEVER accept that the proper choice was to leave them to die. He glanced up and shook his thoughts away as a large form began to loom out of the darkness.

He tapped a nearby tree to get Samantha's attention as he slowly took out his rifle. He began to back away toward here as the shape stopped. It gave out two short meows before moving toward them again. Jacob and Samantha relaxed as Pyrrha came into view. Jacob put away his rifle and his emotions toward Pyrrha as Sanders was lowered down to them.

"I think we left enough broken trees that the Society will think we are just a feral moving through the area. Still, we should probably keep heading north west just in case," Sanders said as he jumped off Pyrrha's hand.

"If we do that we might just want to forget going to the Southern HQ. I think we have already overshoot it so might as well just start heading for Hope instead," Jacob said as he took out the rough map he had of the Phoenixes' territory. He had learned back when he was a boy scout how to navigate with the stars and his time in the Phoenixes had sharpened the skill. It was a, mostly, cloudless night so it was easy enough to figure out where they were. After a few quick checks his guess was proven right. They were a good mile west of the Southern HQ and a number of miles south. If they keep heading west they would be WAY off target of it, but Hope was still to the north, north east, so west was still in line with it.

"Yeah, we are already west of the HQ. We'd have to swing back east to get to it and that would take us over some mountains. Be odd for a feral to decide to climb one," Jacob said as Samantha nodded in agreement.

"What about the Force? They'll be wondering what happened to us," Sanders put in, looking a bit worried about leaving Derek in the dark. Not surprising considering how protective his dad was of him.

"We'll have to pass a watchpost at some point and they will have a telegraph. We can send a message we are safe to the Southern HQ that way," Samantha said. Jacob nodded in agreement and Sanders gave a "well...alright" shrug. With their path determined, they all climbed back onto Pyrrha and headed out.

Jacob made sure to keep his anger and distrust of Sanders and Pyrrha to himself for the remainder of the trip. Anytime he felt they were getting the best of him, a quick glance at Samantha put those fires out. If he every wanted to be with Samantha again, he was going to have to show he trusted her by trusting Pyrrha and Sanders. He didn't like it, but he loved Samantha more. She was worth putting aside his rage for.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful and his plan seemed to work. They never saw any signs of the Society following them. Sanders, also, seemed willing to make sure they didn't have a fight. He never brought up the colony or anything involving it again. He, also, made sure to drop Samantha and Jacob off somewhere before taking Pyrrha to hunt. Jacob tried to use those times to get back in Samantha's good graces, but she didn't seem interested.

Finally, they arrived at one of the watchposts. General Holmes had, thankfully, sent out the word there was a catmonster on their side now so the post didn't fire on them. Once Jacob and Samantha climbed down and said who they were, they were welcomed in pretty quickly. Sanders and Pyrrha moved away from the post and stayed a good distance away, lest they draw attention to it.

Inside, Samantha headed for the telegraph room to send the message to the HQ while Jacob was bombarded with questions. After telling the soldiers in the post pretty much the whole story of them taking down the Ranger patrol, with some creative licensee taken by Jacob, Samantha came back with their reply.

"What did they say?" Jacob asked as Samantha stared blankly at him. She handed him the letter and headed out. Jacob gulped as he looked down at the message, afraid of what was on it.

"Acknowledged. Commander Derek wishes you well and will meet you in Hope. Safe travels."

Jacob blinked a few times at the note, confused by why Samantha would make it seem like bad news. He turned back to her and saw her glancing back at him. She gave him a playful smirk as she headed out of the watchpost. Jacob smiled to himself as he felt a massive weight lifted off him. Samantha wouldn't be poking fun at him if she was still mad at him. He was going to look forward to tonight.

Chapter 14: Rekindling Hope

January 24, 2024 2:19 PM

The trip back to Hope was a calm and peaceful one. Sanders keep out of Jacob's way and Samantha keep him distracted from Pyrrha. The two of them looked to have made up and Sanders made sure to give them space when they wanted it. Jacob tended to be a lot more chill when they had their "alone" time. Though Sanders would be lying if he wasn't jealous. Pyrrha may have been willing, but Sanders had a feeling that would end badly.

Some part of Sanders wanted to be angry at Jacob after their fight, but he knew that was not fair. Now that he knew what had happened to Jacob, and how similar it was to Sanders' own experiences, he knew he had no right to judge him. If Pyrrha had been the catgirl who had ate his old comrades, he might very well have shot at her without thinking too. And the colony thing... couldn't save everyone... After he had gotten Lindsey killed AND played it off to become a "hero", he was in no position to be critical of Jacob. In a sense, the two of them were more alike than either of them would ever admit

Samantha's simmering anger at both him and Jacob was slowly forgotten, to his relief. He thought getting lectured by Isabella would have made him immune to such things, but no such luck. Even though she wasn't the size of a skyscraper, Samantha was still intimidating when she wanted to be. Or maybe it had just been Pyrrha glaring out from behind her. Either way, he was glad she had gone back to being her happy self. Though it, also, meant she went back to asking about Lindsey... Thankfully, Sanders managed to avoid answered them, for now anyway.

Pyrrha was the same as ever. As long as Sanders went with her to hunt and sleep close to her, she was happy. The first one was easy enough, doubly so since it gave Samantha and Jacob their needed alone time. It, also, gave Sanders time to clear his head and avoid questions about Lindsey... Questions he did not want to answer. The second was just as easy as her huge form made for a soft, warm bed. Doubly so when she sleep on her back and he could bury himself in her cleavage. Both Jacob and Samantha had no interest in sleeping near her, probably afraid she was going to roll over onto them in her sleep. Sanders, however, had sleep near her enough that he trusted her to not roll around.

Sanders had Pyrrha take it nice and slow on the way to Hope. Derek and his Force couldn't move nearly as fast as Pyrrha could and Sanders doubted they would be moving out again till after he and his Force got some rest. Getting there sooner wouldn't get them moving to Lindale any quicker, so no reason to bother. Even going slowly, it still only took two days for them to arrive near Hope. Sanders remembered it had taken them longer than that when they had been with the Force so it was highly unlikely that Derek was here.

Samantha and Jacob went ahead as Sander stayed with Pyrrha a good distance from Hope. Pyrrha was rather noticeable, even when she was lying down, and having her just sitting right outside Hope would be tempting disaster. While not many Society forces went this far up I-75, it would only take one to doom them all. Hopefully, Darius or someone high up was in Hope and could think of some place to put Pyrrha.

Left alone with Pyrrha, Sanders scratched her under her chin as she purred in approval.

"Might have to leave you for a little bit, again. I doubt they are going to let you in the city," Sanders said. Pyrrha looked down at him and got a sad look as she moved closer to him, as if to ask for a hug.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, it won't be long. Aviel knows I escaped and that I am with the Resistance. She'll be heading to Lindale soon, if she hasn't already. We need to get there as soon as we can. Whatever Darius or Derek says, we are leaving in two days. Even if that means its just you and me again," Sanders told her as he rubbed her cheek. That was the worst-case scenario, doing all this work for nothing. He supposed being killed might be worse, but he doubted the Phoenixes were willing to risk Pyrrha's wraith when she was right at their doorstep. Pyrrha didn't seem to cheer up much and gave a soft, low meow. She glanced over to where Samantha and Jacob had disappeared over the hill and turned back to Sanders.

"Yeah I'll miss Samantha too. Though, if she does come, we will have to take Jacob too," he said with a smirk. Pyrrha frowned and, using her newest learned skill, rasp-berried at the thought of Jacob coming. Sanders couldn't help but laugh as he remembered how she had learned that. Jacob had thought it funny to take the last piece of meat they had been eating right when Samantha was reaching for it. When Samantha had called him out on it, he had just rasp-berried her and keep eating. Thus started a raspberry war that ended when Pyrrha managed to do one at Jacob, though a very messy one. Jacob still smelled of Pyrrha's mouth and Sanders had to fight back a chuckle every time he got a whiff of it.. Damn he wished they still had cameras.

"Haha, yeah we could do without him. Still, I would rather have him than no one. Going to need all the help we can get if Aviel is there..." Sanders said as his smile faded. He looked at the ground as that night played in his head again. Monet and Aviel working together...Had she really fallen so far that she would work with people who tried to kill her? That question had already been answered, though, and it made his blood boil.

Pyrrha gave a worried meow as she rubbed her nose against him. He snapped out of his rage as he turned back to Pyrrha's worried gaze. He rubbed her nose and sighed to himself.

"Sorry, Pyrrha, but not even you are going to stop me fighting against her," he said as Pyrrha gave a sad meow in response. Suddenly, her eyes snapped fully open as her ears began to twitch, though her head remained stationary. Sanders didn't move from in front of her and keep rubbing her nose like he hadn't noticed. He got ready to spin around and draw his rifle in one motion as Pyrrha's eyes sweep over the area. Sanders looked at the reflection in Pyrrha's slit eyes and saw people moving toward them. Pyrrha tensed a little, before relaxing as the people came into focus.

Samantha and Jacob were leading the group and Samantha gave a happy wave to Pyrrha. Sanders let out a held breath as he turned to face them and the group they were leading. Most of the group he didn't recognize, but the cold stare from the man in the middle was familiar. Darius...

Pyrrha tensed a little as Darius began to move toward them and got a worried look. This wasn't like when she tensed up before, ready to spring out and attack a threat. This was more like she was ready to do the opposite, snatch Sanders up and run as fast as she could. Sanders had thought Darius was a bit...intense, but for Pyrrha to act like this... She hadn't even done that with the giantess' they had fought.

"Sander Cutter, good to see you safety return to Hope. Derek told me his mission was a success thanks to you and Pyrrha. From the entire Phoenix group, allow me to thank you," Darius said as he offered his hand to shake. Sanders accepted it, with a bit of trepidation, but the hand shake was just that. No sick feelings or sudden drawn weapons or anything. Odd...then again all of his people were armed and Pyrrha had nearly been killed by a Phoenix group. Maybe she was just nervous around them due to her old memories.

"It was no problem. I was planning on taking the fight to the Society, anyway. Might as well have started by saving the Resistance," Sanders said, trying to keep his sadness out of his voice. He had been planning it...but not like that...not by killing his old comrades...and letting a new friends die... He had to fight the urge to reach into his pocket for Lindsey's whistle.

Before Darius could respond, Samantha moved past him and Sanders to Pyrrha. She began to pet Pyrrha on the cheek and under her chin. Pyrrha's worried look faded and turned to purring as Samantha whispered something to her. Darius' eyes fixed on her for a second before moving back to Sanders.

"Indeed, a good start, but it is only a start. And I would disagree that we are saved. All we really did was increase the time on the clock, nothing more. To be truly saved, we will need something to turn the tide. Something you believe you have," Darius said with a cold look. Both Jacob and Samantha looked at Sanders in surprise as a few of the people with Darius exchanged glances.  Fuck, Sanders hadn't promised it would change the tide, just that it was important. He was about to correct that mistake when Darius, suddenly, turned back toward Hope.

"But we should speak of this in private. Let us head back to Hope and we can discuss it there," Derek said as he began to walk back the way he came.

"Wait, what about Pyrrha?" Sanders asked taken off-guard by how fast things were moving.

"She is coming with us, of course. It is far too dangerous to leave her out here, doubly so in the day. We can discuss the details inside Hope," Darius said as he waved them to follow. The people who had come with Darius turned and followed as Jacob shrugged and did the same.

"Is he always like this?" Sanders asked Samantha as he turned back to her and Pyrrha.

"Yeah...pretty much. Don't be offended by it. He does it to everyone," Samantha said as she stopped petting Pyrrha. Sanders sighed as he climbed onto Pyrrha and followed after the leader of the Phoenixes.

Darius and the rest had Pyrrha and him hang back behind the lip of the highway, out of sight, as they scouted it for any signs of Society. Once they were sure the coast was clear, Samantha waved them forward and Sanders had Pyrrha hurry to the gutter. Sanders could well see why Hope had not been discovered now that he saw it from this side. It was inside a gutter that was nearly completely hidden by the rubble of the collapsed bridge above it. If you didn't know to look for it, you would probably never notice it. Even better, the rubble acted like a funnel forcing anyone coming toward it to come at it from the front. Otherwise, you would have to brave the loose cement rubble and the multitude of traps he was sure were hidden in them. Not to mention all the cracks and crevices providing the perfect cover for any soldiers in them.

Sanders didn't get much time to marvel at them as Pyrrha arrived at the gutter itself. She bent down so they could look inside and, once again, Sanders was stunned by what he saw. Three guns, full-sized guns, were pointing out at them. They looked to have been handguns, but had been remodeled into turreted cannons. Sanders could see people moving around and on them as they tensed at Pyrrha's face. The three guns turned and pointed at them as the people began to yell and shout. A wave of fear went through Sanders as he realized any one of those guns would kill Pyrrha in an instant. Had Darius just lured them into a trap?!

His fear was put down as Darius yelled at them to stand down. He turned to them and motioned to their left before turning back to continue calming his soldiers down. Sanders let out a relieved sigh as he pulled his eyes off the guns, made easier by them turning away from them. Damn, this place was looking more like a fortress than a city...

The gutter looked to be separated into two parts. The part with the guns was a little more than half its length and looked to be raised ever so slightly above the other part. The other part was separated by large rocks and boulders, most likely taken from the rubble outside, was lowered a good bit from the other side. It had a sort of funnel shape to it and looked to have a kind of funnel shape to it. The water stains on it made Sanders realize this part was meant to take in the rain water and prevent the other side from flooding. Water probably still got into the other side, but not enough to cause any real problems. It was, also, the path Darius wanted them to use to get in. Not surprising as Sanders wasn't sure Pyrrha could have squeezed past those three gun-cannons.

Pyrrha got down on her stomach and slowly inched her way into the gutter. It wasn't a comfortable trip, considering Pyrrha's annoyed meows and grunts, but her lithe and flexible body managed to squeeze through. Thankfully, the gutter widened as they went further in, allowing Pyrrha to pull herself forward rather than have to wiggle. Sanders though he might have to climb off her head, but Pyrrha managed to keep her head low enough to give him room, though her ears did brush the cement on occasion.

Pyrrha pulled herself a little ways out of the gutter and into the main drain itself. Below them was the huge lake Sanders remembered from the last time he was here and the large dames that keep it from draining into the drainage system. Off to their right was the actual city itself where a large crowd was streaming out of it to watch them. And directly beside them, also on the right, was a massive wooden spiral ramp that went up to the gutter and back down to the dirt hole the city was built into. Sanders saw Darius, Jacob, Samantha, and a few other soldiers heading down the ramp to the ground below. Sanders was worried Pyrrha might try to get out head first, but he fear was put to rest.

It took some impressive bending and twisting, but Pyrrha managed to shift around so that her feet were pointing out of the gutter. She plucked Sanders from her head and tucked him into her cleavage. Sanders gave no complaints as he braced for what he knew was coming next. At least he had some good "padding" to cushion himself, though he did wonder why he hadn't just used the ramp. Pyrrha began to slip out of the gutter, one of her hands keeping him tucked in tight, and Sanders held his breath. He should have just used the damn ramp...

Sanders stomach flew into his mouth as they plummeted to the lake below them. Sanders fought back a scream as the surface of the lake came racing up to him. Pyrrha's huge legs crashed into the water before bending up from the impact with the ground beneath it. Sanders was jarred back into Pyrrha's soft breasts, but their plushness gave enough for him not to be injured. Sadly, it did nothing for his motion sickness which sent his stomach churning and him nearly heaving over Pyrrha's hand. Pyrrha gave him a worried meow, but he waved her away. He knelt into her hand and took a moment to keep his lunch.

It took him a few seconds, but Sanders managed to get his stomach to settle. Pyrrha's rocking stride hadn't helped, but he had gotten used to her walking a long time ago. She had left him between her breasts as she started forward and Sanders had to climb up her hand to get a look out. He pulled himself over her finger and looked out on the lake. The water was just below Pyrrha's knee and was slowly receding as she moved toward the shore. Her huge steps sent giant, to him, waves surging outwards and the crowd moved further and further from the shore as the waves crashed against it.

It had been a long while since Pyrrha had stood on two legs, Samantha's fear of heights had keep her on all fours, and Sanders had nearly forgotten just how huge she was. And how much power she had. But seeing her striding through this lake like it was a puddle and seeing the waves just her steps were making put it into clear focus again. He needed to remember just how dangerous she was no matter how sweet she acted. Jacob story might not be a clear reflection of the Pyrrha of today, but was a good reminder of what she could do...

Sanders glanced up at Pyrrha as she looked down at him. She smiled at him before lifting him up into the air. She sat Sander back onto her head before going back down to all fours, making sure to take it slow for Sanders. Sanders took a deep breath as they neared the shore and hoped Darius had told his people they were friendly. A number of soldiers had come from the armory, the city, and the ramp and were taking up positions in front of the crowd, though they were too far for Sanders to say if they had weapons drawn. Well, if nothing else the crowd was not screaming in terror and running away, so he guessed that was a good sign. Sanders had Pyrrha move up onto land, her massive weight causing her to sink into the dirt a bit, before putting him down. Sanders racked his brain for what to say in case the worst came about as Pyrrha lowered him to the ground.

"ITS TRUE! HE HAS TAMED A CATMONSTER!!" someone yelled from the crowd as they suddenly erupted in cheers and excitement. The soldiers turned away from Sanders and started trying to hold back the crowd as it began to push toward him Sanders was completely dumbstruck by what was happening and barely even registered that the crowd had steamrolled past the soldiers. Before he could even say something, people were crowding around him to pat him on the back, shake his hand, or even kiss him, thankfully only women did the last part.

"I-than-no I-Plea-fuck PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled as he gave up trying to fend off the people or talk to them all at once. The crowd parted a bit in fear and awe as Pyrrha's hand came down and plucked him from the crowd by the shirt. She rasp berried them, getting a groan from Sanders, oh that was just great, before putting him back onto her head. Rather than be mad, though, the crowd seemed even more pleased by that as a few laughed and the others actually clapped.

"He even trained it to do tricks!"
"No wonder he was able to use it to kill that Ranger patrol!"
"We finally have a chance against them!"
"We can fight them on nearly even ground!"
"Sanders!" one of the people yelled before the others took up the chant. "SANDERS! SANDERS! SANDERS! SANDERS!" they cheered as Sanders starred down at them in complete shock. What...what the hell had Darius told them?! All he did was kill one giantess and... and THIS was the result?! No way... They were treating him like some kind of...hero... Darius HAD to have told them so kind of lie just like outside just a moment ago.

"Everyone, please calm down! You will have a chance to congratulate Sanders later, but mobbing him isn't going to make him feel welcome! Give him some space so that I can get him situated," Darius yelled out as he and more soldiers he brought moved into the area. Samantha and Jacob joined the other soldiers and managed to push the crowd back. The crowd was still cheering and clapping for him, but stopped as Darius motioned them to simmer down. Pyrrha waited for the crowd to move back before raising her hand up to let him down. Sanders took his hand out of his pocket before climbing on. She dropped him off near Darius and the rest.

"What the hell did you tell them about me?" Sanders whispered to Darius, barely keeping himself from grabbing his jacket's collar. Fuck, this was NOT what he wanted when he had agreed to Fulton's idea. Being a hero to soldiers was one thing, but to an entire city?! Darius raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Nothing save the truth. I told them you were an ex-Ranger who came to our side with a tamed catmonster. That you went with Derek to the south to take the fight back to the Society and managed to kill an entire Ranger patrol, including its giantess, while only suffering one causality," Darius said with a stone cold face. Sanders had to fight not to wince at the mention of that one causality. Lindsey...even one had been too much.

"If that is all you told them then why are they acting like I am the second coming of Jesus?" Sanders demanded. Darius gave him a cold stare before cracking the barest hint of a smile.

"Because you represent something that has not been here for a long time, hope. Hope that the tide might turn and the Society be defeated. Hope that had been all but extinguished when the Bears fell," Darius replied. Sanders was dumb-struck by this. HE was their hope? HIM?! He couldn't be their only hope not after...he rubbed the whistle as he looked away for a second.

"I...I don-...they ne-" Sanders started to say before Darius interrupted him.

"Need a different hero? Shame, I know Derek's third Squad would think you are a perfect one. And Lindsey as well if she was still among us," Darius said as his smile faded. Sanders eyes snapped back to Darius and felt his eyes drilling into him. Di...Did he know? That look said that he did...and if he revealed it here...

"But this is a conversation for a more private setting. Samantha," Darius said.

"Sir!" Samantha said as she stiffened.

"You are familiar with Pyrrha here enough to keep her from causing trouble, correct?" he paused for Samantha to say yes, "Good. Stay here and keep her out of trouble. Jacob, stay with her and keep our people out of trouble with her." Both of them saluted and moved over to Pyrrha. Darius motioned for Sanders to follow as he and a few soldiers headed toward a second large spiral ramp he remembered went to the HQ. Sanders sighed as he realized what that threat had really been about. Either he came along or any chance of them working together ended. Great...

Sanders followed after Darius as Pyrrha gave a worried meow. Sanders glanced back and saw Pyrrha looking like she was going to follow. Samantha, though, managed to stop her and got her to lay down while she started to brush our her fur. Jacob watched him go with a jealous look, but turned away as he walked back to join Samantha. He wondered if Jacob knew the truth if he would still be jealous. Considering how much the kid wanted to be a hero, he wasn't really sure.

The group walked in silence as they headed toward the HQ high above them. A few people followed them, still cheering and yelling, but didn't try to mob him again. Thankfully, they were left behind as they started up the ramp. He...he didn't deserve to be cheered on and heralded as a hero...not after Lindsey...

The climb up was a long one, but Sanders was used to long walks. After about a minute of climbing, they arrived at the ladder leading up into the HQ. Darius went first and Sanders followed. They went through the maze of hallways to a wooden door with Darius' name carved into it. Darius motioned for Sanders to follow him inside while the soldier remained outside.

The room itself was rather bare. It had a wooden bed off in the far corner with a number of patchwork clothing folded up beside it. A large wooden desk dominated most of the room and was covered in paper and bits of charcoal. The rest of the room was mostly bare save for a few chairs. Oddly, it didn't look like it had been used in a long while considering the dust.

Darius took a seat behind his desk and motioned for Sanders to sit at one of the chairs before it. Sanders crossed his arms as he remained standing, though if Darius was angry he did not show it. Instead, he simply got right down to business.

"As you may have already guessed, yes I know the truth of what happened to Lindsey. And while her death is regrettable and your...stupidity condemning, I am not angry. Nor do I intend to go back on my offer to assist you in going to Lindale," Darius said as he steepled his hands in front of him. Sanders was a more than surprised to hear that.

"You do? And you will?! Why?" he asked, getting a bit suspicious of Darius. He didn't rub him as the type to do something unless there was a gain for him.

"Because what is in Lindale is going to change the tide of this war," Darius said flatly. Sanders remembered now what he had said outside and Sanders anger flared.

"Why did you tell those people that what Manchent left would turn the tide? I told you before I have no idea what it is!" Sanders said as he moved closer to Darius' desk. Darius didn't budge as he answered.

"Let me ask you a question, why do you think this city is called Hope?" Darius asked as he stared at Sanders. Sanders was taken a bit off guard with that question.

"Why it-...because you made it in the hope of defeating the Society?" Sanders answered with a shrug. Darius chuckled at that answer as he lowered his hands and leaned back in his chair.

"A good guess, but no. It was named Hope because people dared to hope they could live out their lives in some semblance of normalcy here. Hope was never founded to take the fight back to the Society or as a fortress, but as a hiding place. A safe place where shrunken people could live and not worry about the Society crushing them or of another group attacking them. In other words, it is named after a fool's hope," Darius said as he took out a map from the piles of paper and put it between them.

"This map shows the Society's controlled area over the last five years along with the names of Resistance groups that used to exist there. Do you notice a pattern?" Darius said as Sanders moved up to look at it. It wasn't hard to see the pattern. The lines of Society control creep further and further from New Atlanta and as it did, the group's were crossed off. Comparing the dates of the lines movement with the death date beside each group showed they were wiped out soon after the Society got them into their controlled area. But most of all, it was that the Phoenixes were the next on the chopping block along with a group called the Snakes.

"Oh that reminds me," Darius said before turning the page back to face him. He grabbed a bit of charcoal and Xed out the Snakes and put Febuarary 2023, this month, beside their name. Now nothing was in the Society's way toward Rome save the Phoenixes.

"The Phoenixes are next," Sanders stated flatly as Darius nodded.

"Yes and soon after us, the Marauders and then Rome itself will be besieged. That is why this city was founded on a fool's hope. There is no hope for normalcy for us unlucky souls outside the cities. And no matter how far we run, the Society will follow us and come to kill us," Darius said as he paused. Sanders looked up for him to continue, but Darius simply stared at him as if waiting for him to say something. And then it hit him.

"Which is why you told them I could turn the tide. If running isn't an option, then the only hope anyone has is to fight," Sanders said as Darius nodded.

"Exactly. They need hope that they can win, because it is their ONLY hope. Sadly, that hope was extinguished a few years ago when the Bears, another Resistance group, were killed," Darius said as he pushed the map away.
"The Bears were brave men and women, but foolishly believed they could fight the Society head-on. They paid for that belief with their lives. Even worse, their defeat made all the Resistance groups, including my own, convince themselves the Society was unbeatable. I had hoped saving Dr. Manchent would provide a spark of hope to dispel that belief, but..." Darius stopped as he looked at Sanders. Sanders looked away in shame at his role in the good Doctor's demise. The Doctor had begged both him and Aviel to continue his work, and Aviel had spit in his face. Sanders was the only one left to carry on for him...just like Isabella and Lindsey...

"Which leaves me with you and your catmonster. You have already given me the spark I needed and you saw the results of it. Those people that cheered for you have had nothing to cheer about for years. And while we both know your..."hero" title is nothing but a shame, these people need one, shame or not. So, will you be their hero or will you let the embers of hope you sparked die out?" Darius asked as he stood and held out his hand.

Sanders stared down at the hand and what it meant. If he took this offer...if he became their hero...there would be no going back. He would have to live up to that standard and bear the weight of all their hopes and dreams. He was already carrying so much as it was...Manchent, Lindsey, Isabella, Trent, Blanch, Lizette... but he knew what they all expected of him. And what he owed them.

"I won't let those sparks go out, not as long as I have the spark of life in me," Sanders said as he took Darius' hand. Darius gave a hint of a smirk as they shook hands.

"You have the bad one-liners down I see."

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January 24, 2024 2:45 PM

Darius lead the way as he, Sanders, and a few soldiers headed toward the armory. After Sanders had agreed to be the Phoenixes' hero, Darius had told him they needed to go inspect something at the armory. Something that would be invaluable if they wanted to get to Lindale.

The group entered into the armory built into the bridge's support and headed down a familiar path. Darius opened a door and lead Sanders into the same "lab" Derek had brought him to when he had first come to Hope. It still looked like a complete mad house to Sanders and he had to wonder how anything ever got done in here. The same two men they had spoken to, Jimmy and Doctor Helman if he remembered right, before were there and were working on something at a work desk. Helman stopped his work as he moved to greet Darius, leaving Jimmy to actually put it away.

"Darius! Good, good, I trust our subject is here now, correct?" the Doctor asked with a glint in his eyes. Sanders could already guess who he was talking about and turned a glare toward Darius. If he thought he was going to let this nutjob experiment on Pyrrha, he was going to be disappointed. Darius ignored him, though, and nodded.

"Yes the catmonster is here, but we can talk about that later. How far along is your special project?" Darius asked as Jimmy came to join them.

"Ahh, very close to being complete. There are a few things that we still need to make, but most of them require the measurements. Once we have those it should only take us a day to finish it," Helman said with a proud look. Measurements? Sanders was really lost now.

"Or two. The shock springs are going to need to be adjusted and placed in the correct locations to keep the platform steady. And we have to make sure we weave enough spiderwebs together to keep them from breaking, which we are running low of. And-," Jimmy stopped as Helman wheeled on him and gave him an angry glare. Jimmy just shrugged at him as if to say "just saying".

"Take as much time as needed to make sure the platform is safe and secure. I will, also, send a harvest group out to get you the webs you need after we get the measurements. Gentlemen," Darius said as he motioned for them to follow him as he turned to leave. Helman fell in behind him as Jimmy went back and grabbed a few tools. A few of the other workers came with them and Sanders sighed as he followed too. He still had no idea what was going on, but he was determined to find out. Figuring Jimmy was his best bet of getting any info, he moved up to him.

"Do you mind if I ask what this platform is?" he asked as Jimmy glanced at him. He looked him over for a second before he seemed to place who he was.

"Darius didn't tell you? Ehh, guess I shouldn't be surprised, guy doesn't tell anyone anything if he doesn't have to. Well since you are the big hero who took down a Ranger patrol and the tamer of that catmonster I guess you got a right to know. Nothing dangerous or anything, just a platform to put on the back of the catmonster. We designed it to stay steady while she moves on all fours and to shift to working like a backpack if she stands up. Took a lot of our scrap metal, parts, and other stuff we really didn't need to be wasting to build, but Darius said to build it so," Jimmy said as he seemed less than happy about it. A platform for them to stay on...that would be huge, doubly so after seeing how badly just riding her barebacked had worked. If this platform worked like it was intended, they could ride Pyrrha all the way to Lindale, making the trip far faster. But something this big...

"How long have you guys been working on this?" Sanders asked. Jimmy raised an eyebrow at him, but answered.

"Since you showed up at the shop. Just after you and Derek left, Darius came in with the order," Jimmy answered. Since he first came here...Had Darius been betting on this outcome all along? Had he...had he been planning to turn Sanders into a hero to rally his people from the very start?!  Considering how tight lipped Darius had been up till now, Sanders doubted asking him would do any good. He would just have to keep in mind how far planning Darius was, and be glad he was on his side for now.

They headed back out of the armory and to the lake shore where they had left Pyrrha. Even though the city was in the way, Sanders could still see Pyrrha's tail waving above the buildings. Whatever was going on must be making her happy for her tail to be up like that. Hopefully Samantha was keeping her from getting into too much trouble and Jacob hadn't done anything stupid.

To Sanders' annoyance, Darius headed into the city to reach Pyrrha, rather than go around it. Sanders did his best to blend in with the rest of the group, but it wasn't long till someone spotted him. Once again, people were cheering and clapping as he passed and a few kids were even trying to worm their way into the group to get to him. People were leaning out windows and a few even offered him things as thanks for making sure their family members came back alive. Sanders turned them all down, though, he didn't deserve any of it.

"Looks like you got a few fans. Don't be shy, you might as well enjoy the goodwill you earned," Jimmy said. Sanders wanted to just dig a hole and bury himself in it for this...lie he was living. He hadn't earned anything save guilty and regret. But Darius' words still rang in his head. These people needed hope and he...

Sanders took a deep breath as he forged his way ahead to stand beside Darius. He started to wave to the people as he passed them and give the kids the best fake smile he could manage. He even took a few of the things offered to him, mostly just useless junk anyway. He didn't dare say anything, least his voice give away his raging emotions, but he did his best to put on the show of being their hero. The trip seemed to stretch on and on and on, so many hopeful faces and so many people who were counting on him, not knowing that he had already failed them once. He wou- no COULDN'T fail them again, but the expectations... How was he to live up to a standard he had already failed to meet?

Finally, the cardboard and wooden buildings gave way to the open space leading to the lake. Pyrrha's huge form, literally, laid in front of them. She was laying on her stomach, though what she was doing he could only guess. They had come out near her hips and her huge body was blocking their view of her face and whatever was in front of her. Sanders could see her forearms moving, but could only guess what she was doing. Considering the way her tail was slowly wagging, he guessed it was making her happy whatever it was. Maybe Samantha was still brushing her.

 Sanders thoughts were throw aside as movement caught his eye. He looked to the side and saw Helman rushing toward Pyrrha. He nearly went running straight up to Pyrrha's hips, but Jimmy managed to pull him back. Sanders relaxed, grateful Jimmy was watching the "Doctor".

"Unhand me, Jimmy! We need to get to work immediately and get the measurements! Not to mention the wealth of information we could get just from her body," Helman said as he tried to wiggle free of Jimmy's grip. The small man keep a vice grip on the doctor, however, and didn't let him budge. Sanders glared at the Doctor as he realized he only wanted to get near Pyrrha to use her as a test subject.

"That would be a really bad idea. She would probably swat you all away if you just went and started climbing on her, and not gently either. Let me talk to her and then you can get the measurements," Sanders suggested, leaving out the part where he would watch them like hawks too. Honestly, he had no idea WHAT Pyrrha would have done if the Doctor had starting climbing up her butt out of the blue, but he had a feeling it would not have ended well for him. Even if she had just shaken him off, her butt was nearly twenty scale ft tall. Fall from it would end with a broken something. 

The Doctor sighed and nodded as he Jimmy let him go, but stayed near him just in case. The group got moving again and headed up past Pyrrha's torso, Sanders glancing back to watch Helman every so often. The others in the group, doubly so the workers, seemed in awe at the sheer size of Pyrrha. Sanders probably would have been too if he hadn't gotten so used to it. After awhile, you do get used to having a moving, meowing office building following you around. They, also, looked at Sanders in just as much amazement, probably stunned he had managed to "tame" her. He wondered if they would still be impressed if they heard the real story of how they wound up together.

Bringing that up made him realize that Pyrrha had not tried to lick him off since they had escaped New Atlanta. She had, certainly, seemed willing, but hadn't forced the issue like that first time. Maybe she had started thinking of him more as a friend and less as a sex toy now. Or maybe he just needed to as- he should save this for later when there were not kid's around. Then again, what if she wanted the favor returned...that was a lot of lickin-

Sanders shook the perverted thoughts out of his head as the sounds of children playing got his attention. He had no intention of having to explain what a boner was to a bun- wait, that wasn't coming from the kids that were following the group... It was coming from in front of Pyrrha.

They moved past Pyrrha's arms and stopped dead at the sight before them. Pyrrha had her chin resting on the dirt and had a huge smile on her face. Kids of various ages were waiting in lines to ride her fingers like horses as she bounced them up and down or just lifted them into the air to "fly" them about. The kids were laughing and having a wonderful time as they soared through the air or rode the bucking fingers. For her part, Pyrrha seemed to be having just as much fun as the children as she smiled down at the tiny, doubly so to her, tikes.
 
Darius sighed as he shook his head and moved into the area. He motioned for the group to stay put, but Sanders followed him anyway. He knew Pyrrha wouldn't hurt any of them, but if their parents saw this he could well understand how furious they would be. He needed to find Samantha or Jacob and have them put a stop to this.

He spotted Samantha near one of Pyrrha's hand and moved toward her along with Darius. She was helping a little kid up onto one of Pyrrha's fingers when Sanders move up to her.

"Samantha, could you come he-" Sanders started to stay, intending to get out of the hearing range of the kids before cussing her out. Darius had other plans, though.

"No need for that. Samantha, get these children out of here. We need to do some business with Pyrrha now. They can come back when it is done," Darius said as all the kids in hearing range awed and pouted. A few of them huffed and looked angry, but none of them said a word against it to Darius.

"Yes, sir. Come on, everyone, we need to let Darius and the rest do their jobs. You can play with Pyrrha some more in a little bit. Jacob, stop messing around and come help!" she yelled back. Sanders glanced to where she yelled and saw Jacob's hand wave from a pile of little kids that had dog piled him. He play growled as he pushed himself back to his feet, the kids still hanging onto him. He made monsters sounds as he started to "chase" other kids away from Pyrrha, all while the giant pile of kids that had been on him still hung from him.

"Oh no we can't stop him!" one of the larger boys said as he tried to stop Jacob from moving.

"You can't stop the juggernaut!" Jacob said in a deep voice as he and Samantha shooed the kids away. Pyrrha's ears drooped down as the kids moved away, but perked up when she noticed Sanders. She smiled at him and seemed to have cheered right back up. Sanders smiled back before turning to Darius.

"You sure its fine letting those kids play on Pyrrha? I can guarantee she won't hurt them, but if their pa-"

"They don't have parents. Those are Hope's orphans," Darius said before turning back and waving the workers forward. Sanders eyes shoot wide as he looked back at the group of kids. There had to be fifty, maybe seventy kids in that group! And they were all orphans...Jesus...

He didn't get any more time to think about them as Helman nearly went charging up to Pyrrha again, and again was stopped by Jimmy. Pyrrha recoiled a bit from Helman and his wild look. Helman tried to pull free, but failed again and just had to make do with his eyes running all over Pyrrha.

"Oh my...a living catmonster... A living, TAMED, catmonster! This...this is amazing! The knowledge we could gain just from studying her is...Sir if-" Helman started to before Darius cut him off.

"We are only here for the measurements, Doctor. Finish the platform and then we will talk about other things," Darius said with a stern look. Helman looked about to argue, but Darius' look made it obvious it was pointless. He sighed and nodded.

"Very well, uhh..you...no the tamer," Helman said as he pointed to Sanders.

"Its Sanders."

"Yes, yes, Sanders then. We need to get the subject's torso measurements so make sure she doesn't kill us while we get them," he said as he turned back to the group of workers he had brought. He started giving them orders as Jimmy let him go with a sigh.

"Translation, we need to make sure the cables we are using to connect the platform to your friend here are long enough to fit, but snug enough to keep the platform secure. Just keep her from moving or eating us and we'll be done in no time," Jimmy said with a smirk.

"Alright," Sanders said, understanding know what the measurements were for. He left Jimmy to help the doctor as he moved over to Pyrrha. Pyrrha seemed a bit worried about the workers and the soldiers with them, but Sanders knew he could calm her down.

"Hey, don't worry about them Pyrrha. Their friends and their going to help us get to Lindale. But they need to measure you to make sure a cool thing they made will fit you. Once they do that, you will get a cool backpack to carry other people around and you can go back to having fun with the kids, OK?" Sanders said as Pyrrha looked down at him. She still seemed a bit worried, but gave a soft meow in response.

"I'll be right here with you the whole time and if they hurt you at all I'll kick their asses," Sanders assured her. Pyrrha purred a bit in response, but still didn't look totally comfortable. Still, Sanders was pretty sure the workers would be safe climbing on Pyrrha as long as they took it slow.

The workers used Pyrrha's arms like ramps to climb up onto her back. Pyrrha didn't seem too happy about it at first, but Sanders keep her from moving or doing anything rash. Once they were up on her back, though, she calmed down and seemed to enjoy it somewhat. He guessed them walking around up there was probably like a back rub to her, which helped calm her.

The workers used bits of ripped tape measures to get the measurements they needed and, true to Jimmy's word, it didn't take them long. It took them, maybe, five minutes to measure out her back. Once they were done with her back, they climbed off and asked Sanders to have Pyrra flip over. Pyrrha gave no complaints as she flopped onto her back and let her arms hang out to let them climb on.

This time, she didn't need Sanders to calm her at all. She was totally calm about the process this time and spent nearly all the time watching the workers moving about her chest. The only hiccup came when they needed to measure across her breasts She hissed at them when they started to touch her breasts and Sanders was forced to do that part of the measuring. He was grateful the kids had left as there was no stopping his erection climbing on her building sizes breasts. It didn't help that she moaned as he did it either. A few of the workers looked a bit uncomfortable from it, including Jimmy, but Helman and Darius didn't seem effected in the least. Sanders, though, might have to take her "hunting" after this and let the orphans find something else to play with...

With the last of the measurements done, Helman took off back to his armory, babbling on about the final preparations and such. Jimmy and the workers followed after him, though they did get in a bye before going unlike the Doctor. Pyrrha watched them go with some curiosity and might have wondered after them if Sanders hadn't stopped her. She grumbled a bit as she crossed her arms in a huff.

"Thank you for your assistance in this, Sanders. The Doctor will tell me when the platform is ready and I will contact you when he does. Till then you are free to explore Hope, though it would be best to keep Pyrrha here. Once night falls you can take her out to hunt, if you wish, just make sure you are back before daybreak. We are next to I-75 and the Society do make use of it. I have prepared a room for you to sleep in a-" Darius started, but Sanders cut him off at that.

"There's no need for a room. I'll just sleep out here with Pyrrha. I'm pretty used to it now and it'll keep her from getting lonely and causing problems," Sanders said. To be honest, he was worried about Pyrrha getting lonely at night, but he was also worried about himself as well. He had spent so many nights sleeping next to her, he wasn't sure he could sleep without her nearby. He had gotten so used to hearing her soft, but loud breathing and feeling the warmth of her fur and skin against himself that he wasn't sure a straw bed would cut it anymore. Course, Darius didn't need to know that and seemed to accept his reasoning. Pyrrha seemed to cheer up from hearing it too.

"Very well, that will free up some soldiers too. I need to get back to HQ so unless there is something else you wanted?" he paused as Sanders thought, but nothing came to mind, "No? Then I will take my leave. If you do need me, just ask anyone in the HQ and they will point you to me." With that, Darius and his soldiers turned and headed back toward the ramp leading to the HQ.

Sanders watched them go for a moment before the sound of Pyrrha rolling back over got his attention. He rubbed her cheek, getting a low purr from her as he thought of what to do. Exploring Hope might not be a bad idea, but the place was huge. Finding all the important stuff would probably take him well into the night without help. He could ask the civilians, but considering how they acted around him he would be lucky if they all didn't invite him in for dinner or throw a huge party for him. THAT sure as hell wouldn't help him explore the place. Didn't help that he wanted to be back by nightfall to take Pyrrha hunting. And by hunting he did mean JUST hunting...maybe...

His thoughts were interrupted as a few of the orphans began to come back. Pyrrha gave them all a happy smile and put her hands back down, ready for them to hop on again. Soon enough, most of the other orphans had come back and were giggling and laughing as they started to climb on Pyrrha. Pyrrha seemed to have taken to the kids like a mother cat with her kittens and just seemed to enjoy them being around. Of course, she wasn't the only one they were interested in...

"Hey, are you the guy who tamed Pyrrha?" one of the boys asked as a group of them started to form around him. Now that he got a good look at them, he could tell they were orphans. Most had patchwork clothing that looked to be on the verge of falling apart, even by Resistance standards, and all of them were covered in dirt and other stuff he didn't want to think about. Worst of all, though, they all looked either half-starved or sick. He couldn't believe back when he was in the Society he never thought of the families of the Resistance he killed. Though...he supposed they probably didn't think about his own family when they tried to kill him...

"Aww come on, tell us!" a boy spoke up and shook Sanders out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh...yes...Yes I am," Sanders said as the kids wowed and got all excited.

"Could you go tame another one?!"
"Can you make her do tricks?"
"Can she talk?"
"Are you going to kill those mean Society people?"

The questions came flying at him like a machine gun and Sanders was barely able to get a word out. He might have been stuck like that if Samantha and Jacob hadn't come back, Jacob still dragging a large group of kids around.

"Kids, let Sanders have a chance to talk," Samantha said as she went back to helping the smaller ones climb onto Pyrrha's fingers. The kids around him all gave a sad OK, before turning back to him.

"Uhh. well no I can't tame another one. Pyrrha is a special catgirl and the way I became her friend probably wouldn't work on another one. And yes she can do tricks, want to see one?" Sanders asked, feeling a bit more comfortable around the kids. He wasn't sure why he was feeling nervous around them, they were pretty much all in his siblings age ran- and now he knew...Dammit, he wanted to check on them...

"YEAH SHOW US!" the kids all yelled in various ways, their excitement distracting him from his depressing thoughts. He calmed them down before turning back to Pyrrha, he had just the trick in mind.

"Pyrrha, what do you think of Jacob?" he asked. Pyrrha had been looking at her hands as she "flew" the children on her fingers, but glanced back at him. She got a slightly annoyed look before rasp-berrying and going back to the kids on her fingers. The kids found that hilarious, though both Jacob and Samantha gave Sanders an annoyed look. He just shrugged at them as the kids began to mimic Pyrrha.

"Okay, okay, enough. How about another trick?" Sanders said as they all stopped spitting all over the place and calmed down. Sanders showed the kids various "tricks", such as Pyrrha picking him up, her rolling over, and standing up to her full height. That last one caused not just a stir with the kids, but the city itself. A few soldiers came by and asked Sanders not to do that again and he agreed to keep her laying down. He couldn't really blame them considering her feet were about as big as the buildings.

Sanders was pretty confident that the kids and Samantha could keep Pyrrha out of trouble, now. He still wanted to explore Hope, though, and there was only one person here he trusted not to try and treat him like royalty, besides Samantha. As much as he didn't want to, he was going to have to ask Jacob to show him around. He would have preferred Samantha, but there was no way in hell he was leaving Jacob alone with Pyrrha.

He moved through the mass of kids and found Jacob wrestling with a few of them. Sanders felt a wave of depression and longing run through him as he remembered wrestling with Junior...Jessy...Lissa...Dammit, he needed to get out of her and get his mind on something else before he went charging back to Atlanta.

"Jacob, I need to ask you something," Sanders said. Jacob looked up at him and his happy smile faded. He got the kids to let him up before he got an annoyed look on his face.

"What?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

"I want to learn my way around Hope, but I need someone to show me around. You mind doing that?" Sanders said, deciding to just go straight at it. Jacob looked at him like he was crazy before shaking his head.

"Why not just go ask one of the people in the city or Samantha?" he asked while looking very impatient.

"Because the city-folk think I am some sort of messiah come to save them all and will be too busy being star-struck to help. As for Samantha, do you want to be left here alone with Pyrrha?" Sanders answered back. Jacob groaned as he turned away and rubbed his face. He looked like he wanted to say no so badly, but one look at Pyrrha seemed to get him to decide.

"Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with," Jacob said as he started off away from Pyrrha. Sanders was already regretting this as he followed him toward Hope.

Spoken Knowledge from anonymous trader, Subject: Resistance Groups of the Northwest

Well there are a lot of groups out here. Most of them, though, are too small to really do much else save exist. Good thing about them, though, is they tend to be easy to deal with. Don't have a lot of firepower so a good showing of your own force will keep them from causing you trouble, doubly so if you make it out like you might come back.
Those little backwaters need stuff and, a lot of times, that stuff is something that is not near them. Their your real bread and butter.

But, there are some big players out here and their the ones you got to watch out for. The biggest is the Elves. Their all holed up in the mountains and deep in the back country. They pretty much keep to themselves, though, and are happy enough to leave you alone as long as you leave them alone. Still, doesn't hurt to go near their territory with your goods on display. Their willing to come out and trade if you got something they want or need, just don't expect much conversation or room and board. Oh and for the love of money, don't go into their territory. That will end REALLY badly for you.

The second biggest are one of the really annoying ones to deal with, the Romans. Unlike the Elves who hide and keep out of sight of the Society, these crazy bastards stand right out in the open daring the Society to come at them. Course, since they got rivers deep enough to drown a giantess all around them with no bridges to cross them, AND full sized guns to guard those rivers, not hard to see why they can do that.

Heard talk that the Society took their dare once and lost twenty giantesses in the attack and fuck knows how many catmonsters and fairies. Might just be the Romans making shit up, but after seeing their fortifications, I think it might be true. Word of advice, though, just assume its true if one of them is in earshot. They are all a bunch of prideful bastards.

Real shame they became like they are now. A few years ago, they were pretty much THE place to trade and do business. Opened their doors to just about anyone and were willing to trade anything as well. Then...well something happened. Look, its a long and complicated story that involves all sorts of people and if I try to explain it we'll be up all night. Short story is Rome lost all faith in anyone that wasn't them and has closed its doors to anyone, gone full on isolationist now. There are still a few people who manage to trade with them, though even they are getting less and less welcome. Doesn't help the Marauders have moved into the areas around Rome and made the place a fucking wasteland.

Speaking of those fuckers, guess I should tell you about them. Not really much to tell, though. Their name says it all, their assholes who showed up a few months after Rome shut itself away and starting ripping through the area around it. People think they came from Tennessee, but who knows really. What I do know is they have a massive fleet of jury-rigged vehicles they ride around on and kill anyone who gets in their way. And yes, the includes giantesses and no I am not just spreading hearsay. I saw the crazy motherfuckers actually taking on a giantess a few months back and bring the bitch down with those huge ass weapons they have on their vehicles. My word of advice for dealing with them, leave your shit and run if you see them. If your lucky, they'll be too busy looting your stuff to bother killing you. And if not, well at least you tried.

The last two powers are the closest to Atlanta and kinda act like a buffer to the other three. The Snakes and the Phoenixes have had a love-hate relationship since they both started. The two of them have competed for resources on more than one occasion, but have also pulled each other's asses out of the fire too. Course, that was back when the original leader of the Snakes was alive. That guy, though, got himself caught underfoot and killed a few weeks ago, or so I heard. This new guy who took over...well let's just say there is a reason I haven't done any business with them since. Shame too cause the Snakes used to be one of my best customers. Would haggle for every damn thing, but still nice people.

The Phoenixes, though, are still lead by their original leader, Darius. Heard some crazy shit about him, like that he sends his own people to die without batting an eye and he is a serial killer. Personally, I think its a bunch of bullshit. I meet the guy a number of years ago, back before the Society starting this shit. He was always cracking jokes with this smug look on his face and could get just about anyone to laugh. Had this really sweet sister too who was always helping people and stuff. Course...people who were from the area didn't seem to like him very much, though I never did find out why. Still, I find it hard to believe he could do half the shit people accuse him of doing. I think he just spreads it around to make himself seem scarier and stuff, you know, propaganda and shit like that.

Either way, the Phoenixes still good to do trades with. Little hard to meet, though, as they don't tell anyone where their bases and cities are. Pretty much just have to just go into their territory and wait till they come to you. Best advice for them is to go a bit into their territory, but not too far. If they want something, they'll find you. If not, you can slip on out before you draw attention to yourself. And as nice as they can be, you really don't want to get their attention.

Chapter 15: Hope

January 24, 2024 3:00 PM

Sanders followed after Jacob as they moved toward Hope. A few people started toward Sanders, but turned away once they noticed Jacob. A few gave Jacob an angry glare, but most looked to just be unwilling to approach him. Looked like it wasn't just the soldiers that were still angry with him for what happened to the colony. A sad and some what unfair situation even if it did work out well for Sanders. He didn't have to worry about being mobbed with Jacob around.

"I guess the first place I can take you is the clinic. It's the closest important spot so," Jacob said as he lead the way into the city. Sanders only partly listened, though, as he was too busy being shocked by the state of the place. When he had been with Darius, he hadn't really gotten a good look at the city. There had been too many people and too much going on to really look at it. Now, though, the horrid conditions were on full display.

Most of the buildings, if they could be called that, were made out of junk, literally. Some were old cans of soda, others were plastic bags held up by wooden frames, and most were just old cardboard boxes. Even those made totally out of wood looked rather ramshackle, jury-rigged, and like it had been made out of whatever wood happened to be around.Then again, maybe this was just a bad part of the city.

"This where the poor people of the city live?" Sanders asked.  Jacob turned back to him and gave him a confused look.

"What? Of course not, this is where the more well-off people live. What, you think everyone in Hope has a house or something?" Jacob asked as he shook his head. Sanders was stunned by Jacob's response. Holy shit...these shitty "houses" were the homes of the rich! If the rich lived like this...

"Well what do those without a house live in?" Sanders asked. Jacob's shoulders slumped a bit at that question as he sighed.

"Whatever they can," he answered without turning to face Sanders. Sanders had been afraid of that answer, but it didn't surprise him. Really, now that he thought about it, any sort of house would be a luxury out here. A luxury he took for granted in New Atlanta, along with who knows what else.

"Any plumbing or electricity?"

"No."

"Why not? Y-" Sanders started to say something else, but Jacob gave him a glare that got him to stop.

"Go ask Darius if you are so curious, alright? He's the one who decided shit should be like this...fucker," Jacob said as he keep going. Didn't take a mind reader to know Jacob was just as pissed about the state of thing as Sanders was, if not more. Sanders would have to remember to have a word with the Phoenixes' leader after this tour.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way to the clinic. Unlike the other wooden buildings, the clinic looked to have been carefully crafted and put together. Rather than being ramshackle and sorta thrown up, it looked clean, neat, and designed to last. Not only that, it was one of the biggest buildings in the area, standing about four stories tall and having a good bit of floor space. It even had a large red cross printed onto its sides.

"In case it wasn't obvious, this is the clinic. Doctor Hambly runs the place and has a large staff of nurses to help her. I wouldn't suggest going in unless your sick or need treatment. She doesn't take too kindly to people just coming in for no good reason. Though she is an angel if you are hurt," Jacob said getting a bit of a faraway look in his eye. He must be remembering said angelic times, Sanders thought. He was going to snap Jacob out of his memories when he noticed the door to the clinic open.

An older man came out first, looking rather haggard and worn out, but still moving and with a big smile on his face. Behind him came a sight that nearly flattened Sanders. Isabella was holding the door open for the older man. She spoke something to the older man before she gave him the warmest, yes saddest, smile Sanders had ever seen. The old man laughed before turning away. Isabella smiled after him before turned to face Sanders, her long blonde hai-...blonde hair?

Sanders blinked as he realized the woman wasn't Isabella, though he could tell why his mind was fooled at first. She had that same sad smile that Isabella had always had, depressing yet so warm and loving. Her breasts were just as large, if not larger, than Isabella's and stretched the patchwork white coat she wore. And, just like Isabella, her hips were large and motherly. She pushed a bit of her long blonde hair out of her sky blue eyes as she starred at him and Jacob. Her smiled faded a bit as she started to walk toward them. Sanders had to fight back the urge to dive headfirst into her cleavage and wrap his arms around her squeezable butt. Thankfully, she moved to Jacob first, giving Sanders more time to get himself under control.

"Jacob, has that stomach virus you had run its course?" the woman asked with a concerned look. Jacob nodded as he blushed a bit.

"Yes, Doctor Ham-" he started to say before the Doctor shoved him aside.

"Good, then I don't need to worry about you. And its Doctor Kimberly you dumbass," she said as her look changed completely and utterly. Rather than looking concerned and kind, she looked uninterested and annoyed as she brushed Jacob off. She turned to Sanders and looked him over before stared right into his eyes. Even though Sanders had a good head in height over her, he still felt a bit nervous as she looked at him.

"So you're the hero that is supposed to save us all with that catmonster you brought, right?" she said as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Sanders had to fight himself like crazy not to stare at them, but managed to keep his eyes on her face.

"Yes, Doctor. I'm Sand-" he started to say before she interrupted.

"Sanders, I know. Let me ask you something, "hero", can you bring the Society down by yourself?" Kimerbly asked as she glared at him. Sanders stumbled a bit to find the words, taken off guard by how quickly the Doctor had changed. She sure as hell wasn't Isabella now.

"N-No."

"Can you make sure no one else dies fighting the Society?"

"No."

"Can you give me the supplies and equipment to save all my patients?"

"...No," Sanders said as he found his eyes drift away from her face and her chest. He looked away to the ground as the Doctor's stare burned into him. She scoffed at that and shook her head.

"Some hero you are," she said as she turned around and strode back to her clinic. A nurse came out, looking rather worried just as she reached the door and both went rushing inside. Sanders stood there in an ashamed daze as she left. He looked up and noticed Jacob staring at him. Jacob turned away when Sanders looked at him and just motioned for him to follow. Sanders looked back at the clinic before following after Jacob. Some hero he was, indeed...

A real hero would have saved Isabella, a real hero would never have gotten Lindsey killed, a real hero would never have allowed this kind of world to be made. A real hero would have never let the current Matriarchs take power. A real hero would have stopped the Chinese before they even used that weapon. A real hero... wasn't here, instead, all they had was him.

Sanders followed Jacob in silence. A few people said hello and such, but Sanders didn't even acknowledge them. He was far too depressed to keep this sham up and wanted to just go back to Pyrrha to sulk. He might have done just that if Jacob hadn't spoken up.

"This is where the market sets up. Its not all that busy in the winter, though," Jacob said, seemingly oblivious to Sanders inner turmoil. Sanders tried to shake off his despair as he focused on the tour.

The area was a large open area Sanders guessed was near the center of the city. A few stalls and carts were set up in the area and people were trying to sell various things. A small crowd of people were moving around the stalls and carts, haggleing, looking, and buying. Most of the stuff on sale looked to be food, but few other things were on sale.

"Guessing there is not a lot of outside trading in the winter," Sanders said as Jacob nodded.

"Pretty much. If you needed something exotic, you should have gotten it before now. The Society getting so close to us and forcing travel to be cut doesn't help either," Jacob said as they moved through the, mostly, abandoned market. Closing travel...made sense as they didn't want the Society figuring out they were here. Easy to keep soldiers hidden, but civilians tended to be less...cooperative.

"Do people have to buy their own food?" Sanders asked as he looked at the food on sale.

"No, well sort of. Everyone gets a ration of food from the stuff we grow here along with some meat. However, if you want food grown outside Hope or extra rations, you have to trade for it," Jacob answered as they keep moving through the market.

"So you guys don't have a currency or anything?"

"No. We tried a few years ago, but we just don't have anything that is useless and in abundance that could work as coins or anything. So its all just trading or IOUs," Jacob answered with a shrug. Made sense as Sanders couldn't really think of anything to use either.Still, he had to wonder how the people who didn't have stuff to trade got by. He didn't bother to ask Jacob, though, as he was sure he would just tell him to go as Darius.

They moved to the edge of the open area of the market and came to another large and somewhat well built building. It was not as nice as the clinic, but it was better than most of the other buildings around. Of course, once Sanders saw the sign on the building, he could understand why. The sign had the word, "Bar" carved into it along with the picture of a jar.

"Guessing this is the cities bar," Sanders said with a sigh. Some drinking might help with his worries of being a "hero", but...

"What was your first clue? Yes, its the bar and before you ask they only serve moonshine. Only alcoholic thing we can make down here," Jacob said with an annoyed look. Welp, that got rid of that idea. Normal moonshine was strong and he could only imagine what this places moonshine was like. Actually, he didn't want to imagine that as it made him feel drunk just thinking about it.

"Could go in for a round if yo-" Jacob started to offer before Sanders interrupted him.

"No, that's OK. Little early to be drinking, anyway," Sanders said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. It must have worked as Jacob just shrugged and headed on. Good, he didn't want to let on he had no interest drinking with Jacob. He could think of hundreds of ways for that to go wrong and most of them ended with a trashed bar.

The next few places were rather minor and uninteresting. The city hall was the biggest building in the city and looked more like a fort than a government building. Jacob said it was more used as a fall back point in case the city was taken unawares and people couldn't get to the bridge support, though Darius did give announcements there every so often. Between those times, though, there really wasn't anything to do in there or anything to look at, they had better things to do than make art or trophies, so they just keep going.

They exited the city proper after that and headed to a large open area on the other side of Hope. They moved through a few winter people, if he remembered right, camps and got a few nods and smiles. Jacob returned them and, for once, actually looked welcomed to be around. Looked like their good will to Derek extended to Jacob as well. But, they keep going past their camps and to some buildings off in the distance. Sanders had seen them from afar with Derek, but hadn't been able to tell what they were for. Once they got closer, though, Sanders realized what this place was...

 It was a farm...a mushroom farm to be exact. Mushrooms were planted in neat rows all through the area and were being tended to a by a few people. Off away from the farm land, Sanders could see cows, sheep, and even a few horses being herded around near some cardboard barns. This place brought back so many memories...their farm before the shrink and the one after. Tending the crops, herding the animals, playing with hi-

"Nice, let's go somewhere else," Sanders said as memories of his family started to bombard his mind. He missed them so much it was driving him insane. Worse, he didn't even know if they were safe. He had just left them...left them at the mercy of Aviel and Angela and Lu...oh god...

"Huh? What i-"

"I SAID LET'S GO!" Sanders yelled as he turned away and stormed off. Jacob stood there a bit dumbfounded before shrugging and following. He had to get away from here, had to get away from these memories. He needed to go back, had to go warn them and...and do what? Take them here to this shit hole? But this place had to be better than risking Lutice finding them. And Aviel...Aviel was going to make his siblings good soldiers for the Society... He had to go bac- NO he had come to far to go running back- ARGH!!! Fuck where was that bar again?

Sanders might have just gone charging into the city if he hadn't spotted a large number of soldiers moving toward the armory with a big, rickety, empty wagon. His inner fighting died down as tried to focus on his curiosity. Odd...doubly so with all of them packing rockets and looking like they were about to go into a combat situation. Sanders slowed to a stop as Jacob caught up with him and followed where he was looking.

"Guess we are running out of web," Jacob said more to himself than to Sanders. Sanders raised an eyebrow at that and thanked whoever for this distraction. Web must be spider web, he had seen the Resistance use it on the train and a few other places as rope, though why they needed all that firepower just to harvest some he had no idea. Spiders had been shrank along with everything else so a good boot would be enough...unless...

"W-...Where are they going to get the web?" Sanders asked, a bit worried about the answer. Jacob glanced over at him before giving him a nasty smile.

"That's right, you don't know... Come on, I'll show you," Jacob said as he went to follow after the soldiers with a bit too much pep. Sanders was very sure he did NOT want Jacob to show him, yet this was the best way to stop himself from tearing himself apart. And he did need to know where this stuff came from considering how useful it was. He gathered his courage and prepared himself as he followed them.

A few of the soldiers glanced back at them and didn't seem too happy about Jacob following, but brightened when they noticed Sanders. They started nudging each other and gesturing back to Sanders. Jacob shook his head and mumbled something under his breath, but didn't look back at Sanders. Oh great, now he was jealous of Sanders' unwanted reputation as a hero. Maybe he should have just brought Samantha and let Pyrrha have her way with him...

Rather than going straight into bridge support, the soldiers went around it and to a slightly larger side entrance. A few large metal...things were inside, probably projects Helman had never finished or had turned out to be failures. Most looked to be either cannons or vehicles of some kind, but were now just slowly being scrapped junk heaps. One, however, looked to still be in working order and had two people working on it. Sanders got an odd feeling like he had seen them before, but couldn't qui-

"Taylor, hand me that wrench, gracias," the guy said. Sanders swore as remembered that voice, it was the same man Flonne had...well...

"Do you have to keep up that old cliche of using Spanish words every so often, Henderson?" Taylor said as she dug through a toolbox.

"Excuse me for trying to retain some kind of my cultural identity, chicka. Nobody else here speaks Spanish so I either use it or lose it, comprenda?" Henderson shot back as he took the wrench and got back to work, mumbling Spanish to himself. Sanders made sure to keep his head down as he tried to avoid the two of them. He had no wish to meet them and have the, undoutably, awkward moment between them. Thankfully, the soldiers and Jacob steered away from the pair and headed for a ramp leading down.

The group headed down the ramp and Sanders let out a sigh of relief when the pair vanished from sight. He followed the group down the ramp till it ended at a large room. The room had a number of spare weapons and ammo lining the walls along with wooden signs with warnings carved in them.

"Do not enter alone."
"Do not feed without permission."
"Trespassers will not be rescued," and other such signs were everywhere. A large table was on the right side of the room. Three soldier he knew were not in the group he had followed were there and seemed to be ill at ease. On the left side of the wall was a doorway that lead into a separate room. Sanders could hear a few animals snorting and moving about inside.

On the far wall was a large glass window with an equally large cement block hanging over it. The block was held up by a pulley with some web as rope.  The web rope came down to a second block it was tied off too. A flask of some kind of chemical was setting next to it and had a "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" blazoned on it.

Next to the large window was a large metal door shut tighter than a drum. A number of locks and deadbolts covered it and one of the soldiers began to slowly unlock them. Most of the rest began to check their weapons while the others seemed to relax a little when they noticed he was here. He heard more than a few whisper about having the hero here and other things. Jacob didn't looked too happy about that so Sanders tried to get his mind off it.

"What is all this?" he asked, wondering what the hell was past that door. It must be something really dangerous to need this much security.

"This is where we keep Charlotte and make sure it doesn't get out," Jacob said as he made sure to stay out of the soldiers' way. Sanders did the same, though they didn't seem to mind either Sanders being there. The last few locks were left on the door as the man who seemed in charge motioned toward the other doorway. Three soldiers headed into the room and stayed in there for a few seconds. They came back with three fat pigs that seemed extremely agitated and were having to be nearly dragged forward. A few others moved to help them as the moved the pigs to the door.

"Alright, you all know the drill. Animals go in first to get stuck. We let Charlotte get her bacon for the day before shooing her back. Candice, Devan, and Justin, you three are on collection duty. Everyone else, keep an eye on Charlotte. First sign of trouble, we book it back here and leave anything not bolted onto you, understood?" the sergeant, or at least Sanders figured he was, said. The soldiers all nodded as the three soldiers who were not part of the group began to grab up weapons of their own, rockets for the most part. Jacob snatched one up as well before handing one to Sanders. This must really be dangerous if Jacob was handing him a weapon.

"Good, and remember we got Sanders, the hero himself, here so make sure you show him your best, let's go," the Sergeant said as he opened the last of the locks and pushed open the door. Sanders, ignoring the very unwanted title, tried to look past all the bodies to see into the doorway, but could really only tell a cave was past it. The soldiers kicked the pigs into the cave and they took off squealing. Everyone waited for a few seconds before the pigs squealing became even more panicked and terrified. The Sergeant waved them forward and the group moved into the cave after him. A few stayed back with the wagon and waited till a clear came out to move it through the door.

With the room now empty, Sanders and Jacob moved up to the window along with the other three soldiers. One of the them, an OK looking woman, stayed near the door and made sure to keep it ready to be slammed shut. Sanders tried to not think of if that was in case the soldier's ran back and needed the door shut behind them or to make sure the soldiers COULDN'T come back as he looked out the window.

Outside the door was, indeed, a cave, but one far larger than he had expected. The cave was huge, probably big enough for Pyrrha to move through comfortably. But its size wasn't what drew Sanders attention, it was the fact it was almost completely covered in webs. The tell-tale signs of spiders were everywhere in the cave and went on as far as the light allowed them to see. But these were not just any webs, theses webs were huge...far too large for shrunken spiders to make.

The squealing of the pigs drew Sanders attention to them and he saw all three of the pigs had already gotten tangled in the webs further into the cave. The soldiers who had gone into the cave stayed near the door, for now, and sweep their rockets and rifles over the area. Most of them had small hooded lanterns for light, but not much else. The lanterns lit up some of the cave, but not nearly enough for Sanders liking. Sanders had a horrid feeling about this and made sure the rocket Jacob had given him was loaded and ready.

"There, I see it," one of the soldiers with them said as he pointed toward the outer edge of the light. The woman by the door followed his finger and saw it before Sanders and shouted out a warning to the soldiers outside. Their lights shifted around and Sanders eyes widened as he saw what it was.

The thing seemed to hiss a bit as the light began to shine on it, but still it slowly moved closer. Its long, chitinous legs, all eight of them, lowered it along its web to the ground. It landed with a loud boom and Sanders gaped at its huge size. It had to be just as, if not bigger, than Pyrrha...but where Pyrrha had a mostly human form, this...thing had anything but.

The entire lower half of the thing was that of a monstrously huge spider. Its huge legs were bigger than most buildings  while the spider half of it was....fuck he didn't even know what to compare it too. Connected to what would normally be the spiders head was the truly terrifying part. The top half of a woman was connected to the spider body, though the shadows of the place made it hard to see.

Even cloaked in shadows, Sanders could see a bit of the female part. The woman half had black hair that looked to have not been washed or combed in years. The hair draped over her form and nearly hide her face completely. What could be seen, though, was enough as her mouth opened into a growl of anger, revealed her teeth to look more like a shark's than a human's. She moved closer to the soldiers, but they held their ground and their fire. Sanders was tempted to dash in and tell them to run, but figured these people knew what they were doing. This didn't seem like the first time they had done this.

The spider-woman-thing, stared the soldiers down for a second before the squealing pigs got her attention. She glanced down at them, before looking back up at the soldiers. She keep her eye on them as she bent down toward the pigs. As she did, her body was lit up a bit more by the lights. She was completely naked, though her hair was so long that it draped over her breasts. Her arms didn't end with hands, but with claws that looked capable of ripping any of them apart. Her claws snatched up the three squealing pigs as she glared at the soldiers. She slowly retreated back into the cave before leaping onto a web near one of the walls. She withdrew back into the shadows, but Sanders could still barely make her out...waiting.

The soldiers by the door and Jacob let out a breath of relief as the soldiers inside got to work. Three of them split off and began to pour some kind of chemical onto parts of the web. The chemical, probably an acid of some kind, ate through the web and let them carry the severed parts back to the waiting wagon. The rest keep their eyes on the huge spider-woman and made sure their weapons were ready.

"What the hell is that thing?" Sanders asked Jacob now that things had calmed down. Jacob smirked at Sanders before he answered.

"Spider-monster or drider if you want, though we call her Charlotte sorta as a gag. Society used to use them a few years ago, but stopped probably because of what we are doing right now. Those webs are near impossible to break and getting caught in one is almost guaranteed death, but some Japanese guy, Chijinda or something, came through here and taught us a way to treat the webs so they lose their stickiness. Do that, and their pretty much unbreakable rope," Jacob answered, seeming rather proud he knew all that. Sanders glanced back in as he put the rest together himself.

"So you guys trapped one in here and placate her with free food while you harvest some of her web. Smart, wouldn't take her long to figure out its better just to take the free food that doesn't fight back than bother with the food that will," Sanders said. As if to agree with his statement, one of the pigs ceased its squealing. Sanders could still see the huge form of Charlotte in the shadows of the tunnel, though she seem content just to stay there and eat.

"It was Darius' idea, though we didn't really trap it. We were digging out through the back of the support and more blundered into its lair. Rather than kill it, though, Darius suggested we use it to our advantage. Most people thought he was nuts, at first, but now... well sometimes he does have good ideas," Jacob said, though he seemed very unhappy having to admit that. Good idea indeed... pretty much had an infinite supply of rope now thanks to that idea. And, even if Charlotte went on a rampage and killed all of them here, she still wouldn't be able to get to Hope. A slab of solid concrete was between her and the city and she had no way of getting through it. Still...

"Has she ever killed anyone?" Sanders asked, more toward Jacob, though one of the male soldiers answers.

"Yeah a couple. Few were just idiots who thought they could map the place all by themselves. Never saw them again, though we did hear them. We have lost some during these harvests, though. Someone isn't careful and gets caught in its web or isn't paying attention and wonders away from the group. It knows not to try and rush a group that big as they'll put some serious hurt on it, but if anyone gets separated its open season," the guy answered. Jacob nodded his agreement to what he said as he went back to watching Charlotte.

"We never had anyone try to tame it, though. Want to give it a shot?" Jacob said to Sanders with a wicked smile. Sanders returned his smile with an annoyed glare.

"No, thanks. Pyrrha is the jealous type and I'm not a fan of spiders," Sanders said.

"Is anyone?" the female soldier said, keeping close to the door.

They spent the rest of the time watching Charlotte and keeping track of how many squeals of pigs there were. When they all agreed there was only one squealing now, the female soldier gave a signal to the ones outside. The sergeant circled his finger above his head and the soldiers gathered back up. They got the rather large amount of webs they had harvested onto the wagon, the three who had gathered were stuck to a few pieces, and began to wheel it back to the door.

They got the wagon inside the room first before they began to all pull back. Jacob and the people inside all stayed close to the door, looking ready to charge out just in case. Rather than help, Sanders decided to stand back and let them handle this, he had a feeling he would just get in the way. Finally, the last of the soldiers pulled back into the room just as the last squealing pig was silenced. They throw the door closed and began to, quickly, get the many locks and deadbolts back in place. Sanders watched as the huge form of the spider-woman shifted a bit and slowly vanished from sight.

"I think she's gone," Sanders said as everyone in the room began to relax.

"Yeah, its gone," Jacob said as everyone in the room let out a collective sigh.

"Nice job everyone. Let's get this stuff up to the Doc and get our people unstuck from it. Shines on me," the sergeant said getting a cheer from the soldiers. The three that hadn't been with the group put their weapons back and sat down at the table, picking up a game of cards they had been playing.

While they waited for the soldiers to push the wagon back up the ramp, Sanders moved a bit closer to the window. He knew he had said no to the idea of trying to tame this spider monster, but if he could manage it somehow... Pyrrha was already a massive boost to the Phoenixes combat strength and could, nearly, take a giantess by herself. Add in another equally powerful monster an-

Suddenly, a huge eye, no eyes appeared in the window. They looked around the room before settling on Sanders and locking him in place. Charlotte's two eyes, one above the other, stared at him as what little of her cheek could be seen seemed to rise. They moved away as its claw like hand began to move toward the window, opening as if getting ready to grab something.

"GET BACK!" Jacob yelled as he grabbed Sanders' shoulder and pulled him back. Sanders stumbled backwards onto Jacob as the sound of glass breaking sounded through the room. The giant concrete slab that had been above the window came racing down and smashed into the ground, right where Sanders had been seconds before. A loud hiss of annoyance came from the other side as something scrapped against the glass.

Sanders' heart was racing as his mind tried to catch up with what happened. Jacob shoved Sanders off him as they both got to their feet. Over by the slab where the web had been tied off, the female soldier was holding the top of the flask that she had broken over the web. A pool of acid was slowly steaming its way through the concrete, though it looked to be dissipating.

"Fucking hell, are you trying to get us killed?!," Jacob said as he gave Sanders a furious look. Sanders shook his head numbly, having only sorta heard him as he turned back to the slab of concrete. That...had been far too close. A second later and he would have been splattered or grabbed by that...thing. He had had near death experiences before, too many to be honest, but they never got any easier to recover from. Doubly so when they were death by consumption...assuming that thing did eat things.

"Quit being an ass, Jacob, he didn't know!  Just get Sanders out of here while we deal with this," the male soldier said as he and the other two soldiers began to arm back up. They keep as far back from the wall separating the cave and this room as possible as they readied their weapons. The other man who had not talked grabbed a stick and banged it against a tube going up through the ceiling, making a loud banging noise echo up into the armory.

Jacob growled at being called an ass, but nodded. He guided, then shoved when Sanders didn't start moving, Sanders toward the ramp. Sanders anger at the shove helped snap him out of his shock and he started to move up the ramp. As he did, though, he could almost swear he heard a strange noise almost like...a laugh? No, more like a rapid bit of hissing. Must be Charlotte, angry her second course was denied to her. Any thoughts of taming her were now well and truly dead.

The two of them headed back up the ramp as a few soldiers, all armed and ready, headed down. They all gave Sanders a respectful nod, but seemed to ignore Jacob, much to his annoyance. They arrived back at the, Sanders guessed, garage and found it, thankfully, empty. It seemed Taylor and Henderson had finished working on that cannon and had gone to do something else.

"I...think I would like to just head back to Pyrrha. Had enough exploring for one day," Sanders said, still a bit shook up from that brush with death.

"Don't let me stop you," Jacob said as he motioned forward. Sanders followed his gesture and saw Pyrrha's tail and a bit of her backside off in the distance.
"I'm going back down to make sure you didn't just stir up the hornet's nest," Jacob said with an angry look. He turned back and ran down the ramp. Sanders didn't fire anything back at him, kinda hard to when he was right to be angry. Sanders shouldn't have gone near that window, but he had. Dammit, if he had gotten anymore people killed...

He thought about going back himself, but he figured he had done enough "helping" today. Some hero...how right that Doctor had been. nI all honesty, the real hero was off in the distance, probably still playing with a bunch of kids. Pyrrha was the one who did all the work, who did the fighting, who had stopped that punch, and had saved his and so many other lives. Sanders...Sanders hadn't saved anyone. In fact, he had done the exact opposite... Fuck, where had that bar been?

The thought of sweet alcoholic bliss was tempting, but Sanders could see it was getting late through the drain high above. Pyrrha would be getting hungry soon and letting her go hunt alone this close to Hope filled him with dread. He needed to get back to her and make sure she didn't tip off the Society to where they were.

Sanders followed Pyrrha's waving tail around the outskirts of Hope, not wanting to be cheered on as he walked back to her. He had never gone through this area, but had assumed it was another place for the winter people to live. The tents and cook fires all through the area had looked very similar to the winter people's...but he had been dead wrong.

The tents here were ragged and torn in many places. The fires were not for cooking, but for people to huddle around to keep warm. And the people... unlike the winter people who looked hardy and well fed, these people look half-starved and in various states of disease. Where as the Winter People had stared at him with pride and conviction, these people looked utterly broken and defeated.

Sanders tried to keep from gaping in horror as he moved among them. None of the people here seemed to recognize Sanders and most didn't even look at him. Their clothing was falling apart along with their "houses". What few children were around seemed more concerned with huddling together than playing. Sanders had only seen conditions like this on those old ads about Africa back before the shrink. How the hell could they let people live like this?

Sanders turned back forward from looking over the place to find a little girl standing in front of him. She was staring up at him and seemed somewhere between fear and wonder. She started to say something, but stopped as she looked down at the ground. Sanders sighed as he wished he could just walk away, but bent down to her. He put on his best big brother smile as he tried to get her to look at him.

"What is it? If you want to ask me something, go ahead," Sanders said, using the same tone he used with his little sisters back...dammit... The little girl glanced up at him and seemed to get a little less shy. She gulped before turning up to him.

"Are...are you Sanders?" she asked Sanders with a hopeful look. Sanders had to fight not to frown or cringe at that. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now, but the look that little girl was giving him... It was the same look his little sisters used to give him. Did every little girl know that look?

"...Yes, I am," Sanders admitted, knowing full well there was no fighting that look. He had tried for many, many years and failed every time. The little girl's face brightened up with a big smile as she, suddenly, threw her arms around his neck. Sanders was taken off guard as he stood there in surprise, unsure whether to push her off or return the hug. The little girl broke off from the hug and smiled at him.

"Thanks for saving my daddy," she said as Sanders still tried to figure out what was going on.

"Your...daddy? What are you talking about?" Sanders asked, confused and totally lost.

"My daddy is in Derek's Force. Mommy said he might not comeback this time and I got really scared...But today she said the Hero, Sanders, had used a catmonster to save him and kill the bad giant ladies. Daddy gets to come home, now, thanks to you!" the girl answered keeping her bright smile. Now he understood what she had meant. He supposed seeing it as he had saved her dad was one way to look at it. Not exactly the way he would have looked at it, but kids didn't always see things the same way as adults.

"Oh, right. Well, you're welcome," Sanders said and was about to get up when something caught his eye. He looked to the side and saw a woman running toward them, looking worried and angry. Much like everyone else around here, her clothing was dirt stained and looked to have never been washed. Her body was somewhat shrunken in and she didn't seem at all well.

"Cindy! I told you not to go wondering off! I'm sorry, she was-" the woman started to say before the girl interrupted her.

"But Mom, this is Sanders! He saved Daddy!" the little girl yelled at her mom. The woman looked about to yell at her again for talking back, but stopped in place when her daughter mentioned who he was. Sanders, suddenly, became very keenly aware that everyone in the area had heard that and felt eyes begin to settle on him. He slowly got to his feet as the woman stared at him in half wonder and awe. Dammit, he didn't deserve that kind of look...

"Y...Yo...You're...Sanders?" the woman asked as more people began to look at him. A few began to talk among themselves and Sanders overheard a few agreeing that he looked like him.

"He is, he said so! He's going to make sure Daddy can stay home forever, right?" Cindy asked as she hugged his leg. Sanders glanced down at her and stammered out a well before looking back up. Suddenly, a number of the people in the area had stood up and were moving closer to him. Sanders felt a wave of fear go through him, at first, but it faded as he noticed their looks. They were not angry, just desperate, pleading almost for him to say yes to little Cindy, to say that he would save them from this place, bring their loved ones back, and give them back their lives. He wanted to say he couldn't promise that...but...

"O-Of course I am. I'll make sure your Daddy comes home after every mission and defeat the Society once and for all. That's what heroes do, right?," Sanders said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. So easy to say that, but actually doing it...hell he didn't even know who her dad WAS and defeating the Society...

The people gathered around him, though, didn't worry about those things at all as they began to cheer and clap. Their faces, once completely takeover by despair, was now showing signs of hope. Cindy's mother, who had looked so sickly before, seemed to become more alive as she smiled at him.  In fact, everyone in the area did. Sanders marveled at how just him giving them hope, however false, had changed them. Those promises he might not be able to keep, but maybe...maybe he could help these people other ways.

"Please, could you all stop for a moment," Sanders asked as he motioned for them to quite down. The group took a second or two to stop, but did as Sanders asked. with all their attention now on him, Sanders was feeling a bit of stage fright. Shit, there were a lot of people here...
"T-Thank you. I..I wanted to know why you live like this?" Sanders said, finding his bravery back as he pushed through. A few of the people looked around, as if remembering the horrid conditions, and darkened. Others seem to get bitter and angry looks on their faces. That might have been a poor question.

"We...we have asked Darius to help us and to build homes for us, but...He says there is not enough wood or food for all of us," Cindy's mother said.

"Its a bunch of bullshit is what it is. He just wants to horde it all for himself!" a man yelled out from the crowd. A few yelled their agreement, but didn't seem eager to do anything about it. Angry though they were, none of them looked in any shape to put up a fight. Had Darius really just left these people here to rot?! Considering how coldly he had dismissed Lindsey's death and his general attitude, Sanders leaned more toward yes he had.

Sanders wasn't going to let that stand. These people deserved houses and food just as much as anyone else. He might not be a real hero, but he knew how one should act. And a hero wouldn't just turn his back on these people. Darius had said he needed a hero to rekindle their hope, well then it was time to get firing and start acting like a hero.

"This is not right. You people have just as much right to have homes as those that do have ones. And to let you starve while others are well fed, I will not let this go on. I will go speak to Darius at once and make this right. I promise that by tomorrow you will have the wood you need for real homes and food enough to be properly feed," Sanders said to the gathered people, making sure to be loud enough for them all to hear.

The crowd was silent for a moment, seemingly stunned by what Sanders had said. But not for long as they erupted in cheers and thanks. They all crowed in to shake his hand or thank them and Sanders did his best to let each one get their turn. What despair had been left on their faces was gone in favor or optimism and hope. But the best part was that it felt...right. These people DID need a hero and he COULD help them. He knew it.

Finally, he managed to pull himself away from the group and began to move toward Pyrrha again. He still wanted to check on her before he went to Darius to talk about this. Word of his promise had spread like wildfire through the slum and everyone was thanking him and cheering for him. Sanders nodded to each one and thanked them himself as he moved through the camp. He was about halfway when an older man approached him and drew his attention right away, mostly cause of his age.

The old man had to be in his 70s, possibly 80s, and looked just as haggard and run down as anyone else here. How he had managed to survive in these conditions was beyond Sanders, but alive he was. He leaned rather heavily on a walking stick and huffed a bit when he reached Sanders. As he did the crowd quieted down and made Sanders wonder who this was. Apparently he was someone rather important.

"So you are Sanders...quite the looker young man, shame I am not in my prime anymore. Oh the things I would do," the old man said with a soft chuckle. Sanders had to fight back the urge to recoil at the horrid thoughts that barraged his mind at those words. Oh fuck, you had GOT to be kidding... Yep, time to go.

"Oh don't look so terrified. young man. Just having a bit of fun in my old age. I have enough self awareness to know no one want's to see me unclothed anymore. Now, you are going to go and talk to Darius for us, yes?" the older man asked. Sanders stopped as he nodded, apprehensively. He wasn't sure if he should stick around this old man or not, doubly after...yeah. The older man smiled a bit as he looked back over the area.

"All of you git, me and Sanders have some private talking to do," he said as the crowd began to disperse. Sanders was taken aback by how quickly they all left and how none of them seemed to have any interest in trying to eavesdrop.

"Surprised? Well don't be. These people just respect their elders, doubly so when that elder has some pull with Darius, hehe," the old man chuckled as he waved Sanders to follow him. Sanders was still unsure if he should have just keep walking, but followed the old man anyway. They didn't go far, just to a slightly better looking tent. The old man bent down to enter and Sanders followed him. Inside smelled about as bad as he figured it would and was far too cramped for Sanders liking.

"Now, we can talk in serious. You will have to excuse the smell, just part of the job you understand," the old man said, suddenly now sounding much stronger and more authoritative. In fact, he seemed to straighten and look far more healthy than he had before. He was still old, but more fit and ready old than deathbed old.

"Who are you and why did you act so frail out there?" Sanders asked as he checked his instinct to reach back for his mace. It wasn't there anyway. The old man smiled at Sanders before answering.

"William Pledger, scout for the Phoenixes and keeper of the refugees. As for the act, its to make sure they don't realize I am with the Phoenixes and to take them off guard if they do," the old man said as he stretched a bit in the tent, showing off his rather muscular physique. Jeez how had he hid that?

"So you're here to make sure these people stay repressed and in this sorry state?" Sanders said as his hand did drift back for his not there mace. Damn, he had no weapons, but he was rather sure he could win a scuffle. Worse came to worse, if he retreated outside William would have to go back into his disguise and be unable to fight. William, though, sighed as he looked down at the ground.

"No and yes," he said before looking back up at Sanders,
"No because I refuse for that to be my job. Yes because reality, unfortunately, seems dead-set on it being my job." Sanders raised an eyebrow at that in confusion as William looked up. He nodded and held up his hand.
 
"Let me explain. When Hope was first founded the Phoenixes barely numbered in the hundreds. Getting enough wood and food for everyone was simple, back then. Didn't need to cut down too many trees and we grew enough in Hope to feed everyone. However, word spread fast of the place and our numbers swelled well beyond our means. Soon enough, demand for lumber and food was outpacing what we could provide. Some thought the best answer was simply to cut down more trees and make more farms outside, but Darius was smarter than that," William said before stopping as he looked at Sanders. Sanders was a bit confused by why that wouldn't be the best option himself and William seemed to pick up on it.

"Tell me, do you know where lumber comes from?" William asked after his short pause. Sanders eyed him suspiciously wondering if this was some kind of trick question, but the older man seemed genuine.

"Trees?" he ventured getting a smile from the old man.

"Yes, very good. Smart and good looking, I'm kidding. To get lumber to build homes we need to cut down trees. However, trees are our best cover for remaining hidden. Without trees, the Society could easily find us and kill us. And even if we only cut down one or two, if their stumps are found the Society will know we were there. Who else cuts down trees, after all. This creates a problem. We need wood for everything we build here, but we can only cut down so many trees AND can't do it too close to any of our bases. So," William stopped as he waited for Sanders to finished, much like Darius did. It wasn't too hard to finish, though, now that William had laid it out like that.

"So you have to make judgement calls on where that wood goes. Darius picked defense rather than homes," Sanders said, confident he was right. He hadn't been around Darius long, but he could already see him picking that over keeping his people happy. William nodded and confirmed his theory.

"And the same with food. You only have so many farms and so much food. Better to make sure the soldiers are all feed and let the civilians go hungry than risk the hungry soldiers screwing up," Sanders said, not needing prompting with that. Again, William nodded.

"Indeed he made both of those choices. I won't get into a debate of whether he was right or wrong, not my place anymore, but I will say that talking to him will do nothing to help. Darius is set in his ways and no amount of talk will change that. I am afraid you have promised these people the impossible," William said as he gave Sanders a cold stare. Sanders didn't want to believe that, but the more he thought about the more he thought it was true. He swore under his breath as he realized William was right.

Even if he could convince Darius to go along with it, where were they going to get the wood and food? They would have to go far from Hope or risk the taken trees drawing attention. And hauling back enough wood would take a lot of effort and time, AND risk those people being found. And the food...hunting was not called catching for a reason. Though, that didn't exactly apply to Py-

Sanders eyes shoot wide as something hit him. William gave him a confused look and Sanders smiled at him.

"Not the impossible if you know who to ask," Sanders said with a smirk. He dashed out of the tent before William could say anything and took off away from it. He made a beeline for Pyrrha and ran past the people staring at him in confusion. He had no time to explain anything, he had to get to her and get to work. This might take them all night if they didn't hurry.

He dashed up to Pyrrha's head and found her still playing with the orphans with Samantha. As cute as it was, he didn't have time for it. They needed to go, now.

"Pyrrha, hunting time. Samantha, get the kids out of here," Sanders said as he brushed past her to Pyrrha's hand, still trying to catch his breath from the sprint. Samantha tried to stammer out a question, but Pyrrha's happy meow drowned it out. Pyrrha shooed the kids and Samantha away from herself before putting Sanders on her head. Samantha was still trying to shoot questions as Pyrrha got up and moved to the lake. Sanders just waved as Pyrrha stood up to walk through the water. They headed back to the drain and Pyrrha managed to wiggle her way out. Night hadn't fully fallen yet, but it was getting there. They needed to hurry and use the darkness to its fullest.

"OK, Pyrrha. Time to go hunting for more than just food," Sanders said. Pyrrha gave a confused meow in response.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 25, 2024 12:26 AM

It had taken them most of the night, but they had finally managed to get what Sanders had wanted. Pyrrha was a bit irritated and testy, having been up a bit longer than she wanted, but her ears perked up when Hope came back into view. Knowing what to expect this time, she went in feet first and wiggled through fairly quickly. She had to leave their stuff at the entrance, though, but reached back for them once she was through.

Sanders couldn't help but smile as Pyrrha walked out of the lake and toward Hope. Most of the city was asleep, so he made sure she walked as quietly as possible. As always, quietly was nearly silently as she inched her way to the slums. He motioned for her to put her cargo down and Pyrrha sat the two bundles in her hands down near the camp. One, full of trees Sanders and Pyrrha had taken far too the west of Hope and the other full of deer and boars that Pyrrha had hunted down but not eaten.

With that done, Pyrrha slunk back to her spot and laid back down. She plucked Sanders off her head and sat him down next to her face. Sanders turned to her and gave her a big hug.

"Thanks, Pyrrha. We are going to make a lot of people's morning with this and I'll make sure to make it worth the long night," he said to her. Pyrrha gave him a quick lick in response before curling up around him to sleep. Sanders joined her and snuggled into her warm embrace. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. He could feel it.



Oral Report of Social Status of Hope. Given by Scout William Pledger to Darius. Date: Unrecorded

"As you wish, I will give my report in complete honesty and without any sort of tact. The Social Status of Hope is abysmal. While I understand the need for rationing and not wasting our resources, to allow only a select few to have homes while other do not will only lead to unrest. You and I know the issue is not one of will or corruption, but desperate and hungry people are quick to jump to such explanations. I must, again, suggest we find some alternative to this situation."

"And what alternative would that be, William? Would you have me have the buildings use a rotation schedule? Do you think telling people that helped build those homes that they have to vacate them for a few weeks so another family who just showed up at our doorstep can use it will go over any better? And what of the soldiers who have families in those homes? Do you think they will stay loyal when I threw their family to the street? And that is to say nothing of the unrest caused by a food shortage."

"...To be honest I do not have an alternative, Darius. However, I know how smart you are and how inventive you can be when you want to. I think if you set your mind to it, you could come up with a way to-"

"I have more important things to worry about than whether a few people have a roof over their head! It is all I can do to keep our location here hidden and these distractions are not helping!"

"They are not distractions, Darius, they are people! People yo-"

"I NEVER WANTED THIS JOB!"

....................................................

"Get out William. We won't be speaking of this again."

Chapter 16: A New Weapon

 

January 25, 2024 11:54 AM

Derek let out a sigh of relief as Hope came into view. It had been a long trip and he was looking forward to having a bed to sleep in. Even more than that, though, he was looking forward to seeing his boy again. A scout from Darius had found them yesterday and told Derek Jacob and the rest had arrived in Hope, but he wouldn't feel completely at ease till he saw his boy for himself. He just hoped Jacob hadn't caused any trouble.

His soldiers looked just a relieved to see Hope as he was and a short cheer went up from them. A few started talking among themselves while others stretched and put their weapons away. Derek waved the squad leaders off to let his soldiers relax a little, they deserved it. No reason to keep them in full military formation when they were right at home's doorstep. If anything happened here, they would all be dead no matter their formation or readiness. A sobering thought, but Derek saw no signs of any Society in the area.

They headed into the maze of rubble and made their way to the front entrance. Derek wanted to come in from this direction so he could look down on their city and see just what they were fighting for. It was always a good reminder that he wasn't fighting just for revenge, but for people's lives as well. It was not the equal to their lives before, by any measure, but it was a life of moderate safety. That was more than anyone else out here had and was worth fighting for.

Derek shook off his thoughts as they exited the maze. A few soldiers were near the drain's entrance, looking out over the area. They gave the all clear signal and Derek had his men scramble to the safety of the drain. He waited for them all to arrive before moving into the drain himself. The soldiers in the area welcomed them back and gave them all a bit of a cheer. Seemed news of their successful mission had got out. That was good, Hope needed a boost in morale.

As he moved past the cannons, Derek began to hear a dull roar coming from inside the drain. He looked over his soldiers heads and could see the front most stopping at the railing to look down at something. Derek pushed his way forward to see what was going on. He reached the railing of the ramp and was stunned by the sight.

Down in the slum part of the city, a massive celebration seemed to be going on. People were cheering and dancing and making merry as...as buildings were being built in the area?! What the hell was going on? He had tried more times than he could count to get Darius to help those people and, always, he had been adamant about not being able to. Now th-

Derek realized who was responsible for this once his eyes settled on a huge figure towering over the celebration. The catmonster, Pyrrha, was there and looked to be helping build the new structures. Seems Sanders had taken it upon himself to help them. As wonderful as it was those people were finally getting help, Derek worried if Sanders had put everyone here at risk by doing it. He needed to talk to Darius right now, if the worst case had just happened...

Derek turned back to his men and found them eying the celebration with eager anticipation. A large number of cook fires were burning and they could smell the cooking meat even from here. Derek had work still to do, but his soldiers deserved to have a rest. Doubly so if his worst fear was true as they would find themselves right back in the fray. Dammit, if that happened he would strangle Sanders with his bare hands, catmonster or not.

"FORCE!" Derek yelled to get their attention trying to push aside his anger for now, "You did well on the mission. I could not have asked for a better result nor desired one. Because of that, consider yourselves all on leave as of this moment. Go enjoy yourselves." A cheer went up from his Force at the news and most of them began to sprint down the ramp to join the party. The others seemed just as eager, just unwilling to run as they headed down the ramp. Even his three squad leaders had big smiles on their faces as they headed down the ramp. Derek let them go as he turned to one of the soldiers on duty to confirm his suspicion.

"Soldier, what is that celebration for?" Derek asked as the soldier glanced back at it in longing, but stayed at attention.

"Sanders, sir! He and the catmonster went out last night and brought a large amount of wood and food back for the slums. When they found the gift, the people there started the celebration and it has been going on since," the soldier said, confirming Derek's theory. He thanked the soldier and let him get back to work as he headed down the ramp.

By the time he reached the bottom, most of his soldiers were long gone, either to the party or to their families. Derek would have liked to head to either one, but his duty demanded he go to Darius first. He needed to give his report and make sure Sanders act of kindness had not doomed them all. He headed for the HQ and made his way up into it. The soldiers guarding the entrance snapped back to attention when Derek came into view, having been looking at the party. Derek gave them a knowing look before heading into the HQ.

Darius was in the command room, as usual, and was studying a number of maps on the table. The telegraphs were as busy as ever and ticked away as reports were sent to and fro. Derek ignored the reports, for now, and headed for Darius. Darius keep studying the maps for a second before glancing up at Derek.

"Derek, anything new to report from your trip?" Darius asked with a glance.

"No, sir. Everything was quiet," Derek answered as Darius nodded.

"Then this is about the celebration then?" Darius said as he looked up to face Derek, his face impassive.

"Yes, I-" was as far as Derek got before Darius held up his hand.

"I have already had scouts check where the timber came from and if any trails were left back to Hope. Sanders did his homework and took the wood from many different places. He even made them look to have been crushed by a passing catmonster rather than ripped out of the ground. Even if a patrol found them, they would think it was just a feral moving through the area. There is no need for alarm or concern, so let them enjoy themselves," Darius said as he turned back to the maps.

Derek let out a sigh of relieve at the news. He had not been looking forward to ruining those people's enjoyment with news that their hero had doomed them all. They had suffered enough without having their hopes squashed yet again. Now, they could enjoy their celebration in peace, for now.

"Besides, we have more important matters to discuss. I sent out orders for our scouts to search the areas around our frontiers for any signs of Society activity. Their reports are coming in now and, thankfully, paint a much better picture than before," Darius started as he moved aside to let Derek see the maps as well. Derek moved up and smiled in pride as all of them showed the Society pulling back.

They were no longer right on the border of the southern reaches but now a few miles south of them, and looked to be pulling back yet further. The eastern parts were reporting much the same, now that the Snakes were dead and not leading the Society straight to them. Shame they all had to die, but after their raid on that supply base and murdering of everyone there, civilians including, they had it coming.

"The plan worked then, the Society are falling back," Derek said with relieve. Still, success or not, Darius had put his soldiers AND his son in harms way on a hunch. Derek was going to make sure that didn't happen again.

"However, that still does not mean I agree with your plan. You put my entire Force at risk on a hunch that could have ended with all of us dead. I-" Derek started to say before Darius glared up at him.

"We do not have time for this nonsense. This victory has not ended the war, Derek, only delayed our defeat. When we have won, you can bemoan my tactics, or you can takeover and use your own. Till either of those things happen, keep your damn morale qualms to yourself and focus on the here and now," Darius said with a harsh glare. Derek felt a wave of rage go through him at that and he was tempted to smash that glare off Darius' face. He might very well have if Darius hadn't turned away.

"Speaking of, I need you to go to the celebration and find Sanders and Pyrrha. Bring them to the closed side of the armory as soon as possible. Tell Sanders its time for our first test, he will know what it means," Darius said as he went back to the maps. Derek's rage cooled as it was replaced by confusion. Test? What test? Derek had no idea what was going on and that was very unusual for him.

"Test?" Derek asked, hoping to get some answers. He was disappointed as Darius ignored him. Derek had worked for Darius long enough to know that meant he was getting no answers right now. If he wanted them, he was just going to have to follow orders and wait for them to come. His anger came back as he whirled around and stomped his way out of the HQ. Damn him and his ice cold heart, using him and his soldiers like they were pawns and keeping them in the dark. Not for the first time, Derek wished he had Darius' keen strategic mind so he could takeover, but Derek was no fool. He knew he was nowhere near as cunning or smart as Darius was. And, as much as he hated to admit it, Darius' often times cruel leadership had saved them more times than Derek cared to remember. He sighed as his anger gave way to a sad acceptance. Damn this cruel world they lived in...

Derek made his way out of the HQ, back down the ramp, and into Hope. The streets were unusually empty and lifeless. Considering the dull roar of the celebration, Derek could guess where everyone was. Even from here, Derek could see the back of the catmonster as it worked to help build the new homes. Derek was still very leery of letting that thing into Hope, and having it so close to civilians, but he supposed he owned it some leeway. It had saved his son and all of Squad 3...

Derek moved through the empty streets and tried to find a way into the celebration that would put him close to Pyrrha. He figured Sanders would not be far from it, or at least he better not be, so best to start looking for him there. He was about to head down a street that was looking to be his best option when he noticed a figure standing nearby. Doctor Kimberly was standing outside her clinic looking toward the party. She didn't seem all that happy about it and was taking a few drinks out of a wineskin that undoutably had moonshine in it.

Derek headed over to her and stopped at the stairs leading up to the clinic. Kimberly looked down at him and nodded a greeting before turning back to the party. She took another sip from the wineskin before shaking her head.

"Want a drink?" she offered Derek. He shook his head and waved the shine away.
"You're lose," she said in reply before taking another drink. Derek could tell she was a little buzzed from the alcohol, but far from drunk. He knew from experience she could hold her liquor quite well and to not challenge her to a drinking contest. She grumbled as she looked at the party and shook her head again.

"All he had to do was fetch some wood and food and suddenly he is fucking Jesus come again... Men and women put their lives on the line everyday to keep this place safe and they never get celebrated or praised. All they get is a trip to my clinic to get patched up and sent back, or a bonfire farewell ," Kimberly said as she took another swig. Kimberly always hated that they didn't bury their dead, but there was nothing for it. There was no room in Hope for a cemetery, doubly so one that would need to be so large, and putting it outside would only draw attention to them. Derek wasn't thrilled with it either, but he understood that necessity overruled feelings. Kimberly, though...

"I couldn't careless about what they think of Sanders. All that really matters is those people, finally, got the help they needed. That, at least, is worth celebrating," Derek said, hoping to get the conversation away from Sanders and his new popularity. He did agree with Kimberly that his soldiers deserved that praise more than Sanders. But, on the other hand, Sanders was the one who had found a way to help the people in the slums. That was worth some praise as was giving something for the slum people to celebrate. Lord knows they needed something to...

"I suppose that is true. Sad that it took an outsider coming for them to get that help. An outsider who only managed it because of his pet monster," Kimberly said as her voice became more bitter. It looked like his plan to move the conversation away had failed. Kimberly took another drink before she continued.

"There are far better heroes, far better people, that deserve a celebration in their honor. Sanders is no hero, just a man who has a catmonster at his call. And yet that is what they are calling him, a hero," Kimberly said as her free hand tightened into a fist.
"They've all already forgotten the real heroes. The ones who gave everything they had to protect us. The ones who had nothing but their own will and skills to fight with, who fought giantesses without monsters, who saved...saved..." Kimberly stopped as she slammed her fist into the railing of the stairs. She closed her eyes and looked away from Derek as she sniffed back some tears. Derek sighed to himself as he realized what this was really about.

He moved up the stairs and wrapped his arm around Kimberly. She didn't try to resist, but didn't move to welcome the touch either.

"I miss him too, Kimberly. And so do a lot of people here, even if they don't show it everyday. He was a great man and deserved better than he got," Derek said in as comforting a way as he could. Kimberly's head lowered as she stopped trying to fight the tears. She covered her face with her free hand and whipped away the tears as they came. Derek pulled her a little closer and Kimberly returned the half hug.

"I..I know they do, but its just... There was never a celebration for him, no monument or anything to remember him with... He made all this possible and yet... and yet Darius is given credit for Hope and now this...upstart comes and.." she stopped as she shook her head again. She started to raise the wineskin to her mouth again when Derek took it from her grasp. He took a very long and drawn out drink, enjoying the burning sensation it made down his throat. He finished it off before looking back to a confused Kimberly.

"You are wrong about that. Jason does have a monument to him and we both see it everyday. Those young boys and girls that join up, ready to give their lives so that others might keep theirs, are his monument. Jason was the first to make that choice and his legacy comes through your door everyday. And everyday you tend to it to make sure it doesn't die completely. Which is why you need your wits and not this," Derek said as handed her back her wineskin. She looked back to the door and looked to fight back another wave of tears. She, suddenly, wrapped both arms around Derek and buried her head in his chest. Derek was taken a bit off guard at first, but gently hugged her back as she weep into his fur coat.

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Kimberly lifted her head from Derek's chest. She looked up at Derek before pulling herself up just high enough to give Derek a light kiss on the cheek. Derek couldn't help but blush a bit at the kiss as she pulled away from him.

"Thank you, Derek. I...I need to get back to my patients and...his legacy," Kimberly said with a sad, but content smile. Derek nodded as he thought back to his own loses and how nice it would be to bury them in Kimberly's embrace. But both had agreed long ago that it would never work as neither wanted to go through that lose again. It would ease the pain in the short term, but cause much, much more later.

Derek turned back to the party and headed down the stairs. He hadn't gotten far before Kimberly called out to him again.

"Derek," she said as he turned to look at her in the doorway, "Make sure we don't lose this hero." Derek nodded with a half smile and Kimberly returned it. She turned back and headed into the clinic as Derek turned to the party in the distance.

Derek arrived in the celebration itself a minute later. He was a bit taken aback seeing just how happy and cheerful everyone was. People he had known never to so much as break a smile were laughing and carrying on with people as they ate or helped move supplies around. Kids were moving through the area playing tag or other such games, acting like real kids rather than traumatized refugees. Even a few of his own soldiers were in the crowd having just as good time as everyone else. Whatever jealousy or lingering annoyance he had at this celebration was dispelled thanks to their happy faces. Whatever risks or potential problems were worth it now that he had seen them.

He weaved his way through the crowd, getting greeted here and there and welcomed back. Derek returned the greetings and spoke shortly with a few people. Part of him wanted to join in on the celebration and go back to being just Derek for a few minutes, but he still had responsibilities and duties to see to. He excused himself from all the talks and keep heading toward the looming figure of the catmonster.

He was about halfway to the catmonster when his nose was assaulted with a smell that nearly caused him to droll all over himself. Meat...slow cooking meat mixed in with some mushrooms and a hint of shine as well. Derek had been living off rations and jerky for the last few days, along with the rest of his Force. They had been enough to keep him from starving, but were far from a real meal. This, though...

Derek found himself wondering slightly off course now and toward the smell. His stomach was overriding all other concerns save getting to that food and there was little he could do about, not that he wanted to. Derek followed the smell to a large open area where a big cookfire had been made and was being used to cook large haunches of meat. A number of dead deer and boar carcasses were laying nearby, slowly being cut up by a few blood-covered butchers. Near the cook fire were a number of women handing out portions to people waiting in line. One of them caught Derek's eye as she turned to hand a piece of meat to a small kid.

Samantha noticed him a second later and waved to him. Derek snapped out of his hunger-driven stupor and remembered what he had been doing. And, more importantly, that he still had not seen his son or heard how the trip went. Samantha would know about the trip and, likely, where Jacob was. Darius had said to get Sanders ASAP, but Derek thought his son was more important than whatever secret plan Darius was hatching. He headed over to Samantha as she stepped away from the cookfire.

"Commander, its good to see you arrived back safely. I was going to give my report of our separate mission when I heard you were back, but...well..." she said all straight laced, though she began to falter a bit at the end. Derek gave her a calming smile as he chuckled a bit.

"It's fine, Samantha. Helping feed the people in the slums is a good enough excuse for me. Just bring me up to speed and we will forget all about the lateness," Derek said as Samantha brightened a bit and nodded.

"Yes, sir, thank you. The trip was rather uneventful. Sanders had Pyrrha go back every few hours and create fake trails to throw off pursuit and Jacob keep us on course for Hope. We did not come across any Society forces on our trip and arrived without incident two days ago," Samantha said as calmly as if she had rehearsed it. In fact...it was a bit TOO much like she had rehearsed it. It would not be the first time she had tried to protect Jacob from his own stupidity. 

"No incidents...are you sure, Samantha?" Derek asked as he narrowed his eyes. Samantha didn't so much as blink as she stared back at him.

"Yes, sir. No incidents," she replied with a unreadable mask for a face. Derek tried to pierce that mask to find the truth it was hiding, but Samantha's mask was too well made to punch through. Threats and intimidation wouldn't work either. Derek had learned that Samantha was more than willing to stand up to him to protect Jacob, Force Commander or not. To be honest, though, Derek was kinda glad that she was, it showed just how much she cared for his son.

"I see... that is good to hear. Thank you for your report, Samantha. Before you get back to work, though, do you know where Jacob is?" Derek asked, giving up on getting the truth out of Samantha. Her mask didn't shift at all as she stared at him for a second.

"Yes, he is over with Pyrrha and Sanders helping build the new homes," she said with a hint of a smile breaking through. Derek had to fight not to looked surprised at the news. Jacob working with Sanders AND Pyrrha?! Now he KNEW something had happened during their time together, though whether it was bad or not he was torn on. Derek managed to keep his face impassive as he nodded.

"Thank you, Samantha. Oh and make sure some of that meat gets put into storage," Derek said, trying to get his mind off his shock and onto something else. Samantha's smile spread as her mask fell away.

"Darius already beat you to that, sir. He had most of the food taken to storage along with a good bit of the wood. Would have taken more if Sanders hadn't stopped him. Tell Jacob I said hello when you see him," Samantha said as she went back to the cookfire. Derek should have guessed Darius would have done that as soon as he heard about the new supplies. A bit odd he would have given in to Sanders and not taken what he wanted, though. Then again, Sanders did have a catmonster and the popularity of the masses now. Darius probably figured it was best to give in this time.

Derek let Samantha get back to work as he started back toward the huge form of Pyrrha. He hadn't gotten far before he starting kicking himself for not getting some of that food while he was there. Too late now as he had put off finding Sanders long enough. He would just have to come back later and suffer till then.

Derek moved past a few buildings that were having the finishing touches put on them by some workers. These homes were small and rather simple, but would be palaces compared to what the people here had lived in. Beyond these nearly finished homes were a few that just had their frames up. These had a larger amount of people working on them, including a few Derek recognized as being soldiers. A large pile of wood was nearby and was being cut into the planks needed for the homes. Derek smiled as he saw Jacob helping move the finished planks to the homes and making sure each home had enough planks to keep its construction moving along.

He was tempted to go over to talk to his son, but he didn't want to disturb him while he was doing important work. He would save their talk for later along with some praise for his good work here. Derek weaved through the workers and headed to the far end of the area. High above, Pyrrha's huge form loomed over him, squatting down to get a better look at things. Her massive rear was hovering in the air near him and Derek had to admire how toned and firm it looked. Derek tore his eyes from her huge ass, and the giant tail swinging above it, to the house itself she was squatting in front of. The catmonster had a completed frame of a roof in her hand and was carefully placing it onto the wall frames of a house.  He spotted the form of Sanders near the wall frame, yelling orders up to Pyrrha.

"Little lower. Easy, Pyrrha. OK, hold it," Sanders said as he nodded to three other men. The three of them moved to the frames and began to secure the roofing frame to the rest of the house as Sanders smiled up at Pyrrha.

"Good girl, still up for more?" he asked to which Pyrrha gave a happy meow. She, slowly, let go of the roof frame before looking around herself as if making sure where she could move to, but stopped when she noticed Derek. She gave him a suspicious look and watched him as he made his way to Sanders. Derek ignored the massive stare he was getting as he focused on Sanders. Sanders smile faded a bit when he noticed Derek coming toward him.

"Derek, glad to see you made it back safely. Here to help with the construction?" Sanders asked as he started to move to help secure the frame as well. Derek stopped him before he moved off, though.

"No, though I will later. Right now, though, Darius needs you and Pyrrha to come to the armory. He said its time for the first test," Derek said, trying not to look confrontational. He had every intention of helping once this was done, but his duty as a soldier came first. At least until he saw what they were testing. If it turned out to be something pointless he would have Darius' hide and duty be damned. Bastard had no right keeping him in the dark like this when he was the second-in-command.

Sanders looked angry at first, but softened when Derek gave his reason. Sanders sighed as he looked around and seemed to debate whether he was going to agree or not. He nodded, though as he turned back to Derek.

"Alright. Give me a second to get Pyrrha moved away from here and then we'll head that way," Sanders said. Derek nodded and let Sanders go as he headed for Pyrrha and the workers.

"Hey! You guys think you can handle things here while I go take care of something with Pyrrha?" Sanders asked the workers. They all gave him a sure or go ahead in reply. Sanders nodded and headed to Pyrrha. The catmonster had stop eying Derek by then and was bending over to look at the workers better when Sanders got her attention. She raised him up to her head far above and slowly began to work her way away from the build site. Confident that Sanders would make his way to the armory, Derek started heading that way as well.

Despite her far larger steps, Derek arrived at the armory ahead of Pyrrha. The catmonster had to take each step in her crawl slowly as she made her way to it, careful not to crush anyone or anything. As she got close enough for her steps to make the ground rumble, Darius, Jimmy, and Doctor Helman all came out to wait for her arrival. Jimmy nodded a hi to Derek which he returned, but Helman and Darius ignored him in favor of Pyrrha. Helman looked to be on the verge of a stroke as he waited in anticipation for her arrival.

Pyrrha seemed less than happy to see Helman and even less pleased to see Darius. Her ears flattened a bit at Darius, but Sanders seemed to soothe her a bit. She lowered him back down to the ground before sitting on her knees, still looking ill at ease.

"Sanders, thank you for coming and bringing Pyrrha. We are ready to begin the final tests of the platform and make sure it works properly. If you would be so kind as to have Pyrrha come to the far side of the armory, we will get started on fitting it to her," Darius said with an agreeable smile. Sanders nodded and turned back to Pyrrha. While Sanders talked to Pyrrha, Darius turned to Derek.

"Do you remember what Sanders wanted us to help him with?" Darius asked getting a raised eyebrow from Derek.

"Yes, why?"

"Because we are going to help him. However, his overhearing of his old partner realizing he is still around makes this a race, a race we cannot afford to lose," Darius answered as his usual emotionless mask came back. Derek was a bit surprised by this, though wasn't at the same time. Some part of him knew they were going to help Sanders the moment Darius had sent him on that suicide mission. Didn't mean he liked it, though.

"So you really think he is telling the truth and that whatever Manchent left is that valuable?" Derek said as Darius began to lead them to the far side of the armory as well. This part of the armory was always covered in a large towel and was where the most secret of weapons were made. And since it was off in its own corner with nothing near it, it was easy to keep anyone from wondering in or making some stupid excuse for why they were there. Society might not use spies, but other groups did.

"I believe he believes he is telling the truth. I, also, believe that if whatever is in Lindale is truly valuable, the Society will be heading that way very soon. While I would prefer to wait for that proof, if we did we would be too late to reach it. Instead, we will just have to risk it being unimportant and wasting our time rather than risk losing something that could be valuable," Darius answered as he moved a flap cut into the towel and headed into the area. Derek followed and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what was being built.

The entire area walled off by the towel was covered with wooden scaffolds which surrounded a huge metal...thing. On top of the metal construction looked to be a number of small buildings made of various things. Gigantic cables of spider webs, woven together, were hanging down from the huge metal construction. A few workers were still moving about the thing checking a few things and other such stuff. The construction site was easily several stories tall and had, undoutably, taken weeks to get to this point.

Derek stood there, gaping at the sight as Helman pushed past and Jimmy joined him. Sanders came in and, thankfully, stopped dead in stunned surprised as well. At least Sanders hadn't seen this thing either... Darius motioned for Sanders to join him, but had to come back and nearly drag him away to join him and Helman. That left Derek with Jimmy at the entrance.

"What...is this thing?" Derek asked, finally recovering from his shock. Jimmy got a proud smile as he looked over it.

"My pride and joy that's what. Biggest thing I have ever helped build and the most complex. To put it in lay man's terms, its a giant backpack for Pyrrha that can, also, serve as a base of operations," Jimmy said as he looked over his work with a pleased eye. Derek's shock only grew as his brain caught up with what his ear had heard. A backpack for Pyrrha that was a base of operations...fuck they had built a mobile base to go on Pyrrha!

"No...no, there is no way you could build something like this and expect it-" Derek started to say before Jimmy interrupted him.

"And expect it to work? Of course I expect it to. Both me and the Doc have been working on this round the clock since Darius gave the order. For good reason too. Imagine having a base with a full compliment of soldiers ready to deploy and able to move as fast as a catmonster. And then, once they are deployed, having catmonster support. This could change everything for us, your mission proved that. If we can start hitting their patrols and actually win with minimal loses...well," Jimmy said nudging Derek a bit.

Derek glanced down at the nudge as his mind finished the thought. If they could do that...the Society might never find them. Even better, they could advance outward farther than before, maybe even raid some of the outlying towns in New Atlanta. If they could start doing that with a modicum of success it might force the Society back on the defensive... Shit, they might have the game changer right here without going to Lindale.

Derek moved up to where Darius, Helman, and Sanders were talking and caught the last bit of the conversation.

"-and get her to go under the platform, we can take care of securing it to her," Darius said as Sanders looked over the area. He seemed a bit worried as he looked over things, but nodded.

"I'll try, but I'm not sure Pyrrha is going to be thrilled to have that thing on her. Keep your people away from it till I give the word, alright?" he said. Darius nodded and Sanders headed back out to get Pyrrha. Helman was nearly jumping around with giddiness as he dashed off to make a few final adjustments, yelling for Jimmy as he went. Jimmy sighed and followed leaving Derek and Darius alone.

"You were planning this from the very beginning weren't you?" Derek said with a bit of annoyance in his voice. Darius didn't answer.
"You could have filled me in, at least, and told me-"

"Told you what? That I trusted Sanders to side with us and that I was going to use a large portion of our resources building a device that would be utterly useless if Sanders or his catmonster proved uncooperative? How would you have reacted to that before you saw Sanders and Pyrrha in action?" Darius interrupted with a harsh glare. Derek opened his mouth to protest, but closed it as he realized exactly what he would have done.

"Derek, I do not enjoy leaving you in the dark, but it is necessary at times. You, after seeing what that catmonster is capable of, know how much this could change everything. I could not risk you ruining it over paranoia, however well founded it might have been," Darius said in a more soothing tone. Derek sighed to himself as his anger turned to acceptance. As much as he hated to admit it, he understood why Darius had done what he had. This truly could change everything...and he could have easily ruined it.

"I understand. I will try to be less...close-minded," Derek said getting a humph from Darius.

"Don't be. Knowing you would never go for the plan lead me to consider alternatives if our "hero" had proven unworthy. The adjustments being done could easily have been used on our other trump card," Darius said with a slight smirk. Derek felt a bit better knowing his paranoia had helped in some small way. And now that he thought about it, this device could work on it as well. Still, it was best to keep that card hidden till the last possible moment. Surprise would be its best advantage.

"I see. In that case, I have to wonder why we are going to Lindale. This could change our war effort and we have the Society pulling back. Now seems a perfect chance to strike back using this rather than running off on a wild goose chase," Derek said, still stumped as to why Darius would go for this. Even if Manchent had left something, it couldn't be that useful if it hadn't saved him or been used by the good Doctor. Not to mention, if Sanders story was true, it hadn't helped his friend from being killed.

"It is and it is not. Sanders told you his old partner realized what had killed the Ranger, correct?" he paused while Derek nodded, "That means we have lost the element of surprise. Most likely, those giantesses that are still out on patrol will be much more wary of any catmonsters they meet along with being lured into ambushes. And, while I do have great faith in Doctor Helman and Jimmy, this project has still been untested. We do not know if it even works or how effective it will be. It needs to be tested and doing so by throwing it straight into the fire would be too risky. Instead..." Darius stopped and, much like William loved to do, waited for Derek to fill in the rest. It wasn't too hard now that Darius had explained it.

"Instead, we will go on this potential goose chase, test the back pack to make sure it works without having to go straight into danger, and keep Sanders happy and working for us," Derek finished getting a nod from Darius.

"Exactly. I do not have much hope in finding anything worthwhile in Lindale as well, but Sanders WILL leave us if we do not go with him and Pyrrha will go with him. We cannot afford to lose either at this point," Darius added as Derek nodded his understanding. Now that he understood what this was all about, he felt more confident in this mission. Goose chase or not, they would still be able to work out any kinks with the backpack before they took it into a combat situation. That alone was worth the delay in taking the fight back to the Society, doubly so with them only having one of these things.

Derek felt the all to familiar rumbling of a giant thing moving long before the towel started to move. A number of workers pulled it aside to reveal the backpack as Pyrrha, with Sanders on her head, moved toward it. Pyrrha gave it a curious look before glancing upwards toward Sanders. Sanders said something to her and she put him back onto the ground. By then, the towel was pulled all the way back and everyone had moved away from the backpack.

"PYRRHA COME!" Sanders yelled up at Pyrrha as he moved toward the backpack. Pyrrha followed him till she got to it and stopped at it. She poked it a few times and gave it a wary look. Sanders called out to her and motioned for her to follow him under it. Pyrrha bent down and looked at him, but didn't look keen on getting under it.

"Come on, Pyrrha, its not going to hurt you! Pyrrha!...PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled, but the catmonster just glanced between him and the backpack. Darius sighed beside Derek as he rubbed his temples.

"Derek, go get some of the meat out of storage, see if that will get the damn thing under there," Darius said with an annoyed look. Derek doubted that would work, but...he glanced at Sanders a smiled to himself.

"Got a better idea," he said before heading toward Sanders. Darius gave him a curious look as he watched him go. Sanders keep trying to coax Pyrrha under the backpack, with no success as Derek headed for him. He stopped when Derek was a few feet from him. Derek made sure Pyrrha was looking as well before turning to face Sanders completely.

"Derek, stay back. I'll get her un-" was as far as he got before Derek rushed him and smashed his fist into his face. Sanders went tumbling to the ground with a cry of pain and fell flat onto his back from the blow. Barely a second later, a booming hiss erupted from Pyrrha as Derek turned to see the office building-sized catmonster rushing toward him, crawling along the ground under the backpack. Derek sprinted back away from its huge form as fast as his legs could go, but not fast enough.

Pyrrha's massive claw came crashing down in front of him, blasting him backwards from the impact. His ears were sent ringing from the blast and he scrambled to his feet. He tried to run again, but barely had gotten to his feet when the claw came racing back toward him. He swore as it wrapped around him and lifted him into the air. He gasped for air as the hand lifted him face to building with Pyrrha. The catmonster let out another angry hiss and tightened its grip of Derek. Derek grunted in pain and started to feel things going dark. Shit...maybe this...wasn't such...a good...idea...

"PYRRHA STOP!" Sanders yelled from below as Pyrrha's grip loosened. Derek sucked in a huge lung full of air and coughed a bit as he felt his mind clearing a bit. Pyrrha glanced downward, but only for a second before locking back onto Derek.

"PUT HIM DOWN PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled again. Pyrrha turned away from Derek and looked down at, assumedly, Sanders. She gave a low growl in response and looked about to turn back to Derek when Sanders yelled again.

"PYRRHA! NOW! PUT HIM DOWN NOW!" Sanders yelled, this time sounding actually angry. Pyrrha glanced back up at Derek, and gave a low growl before lowering him part way to the ground. She let go of him a few feet from the ground causing Derek to crash to the ground. He grunted from the impact, but was too relieved to be out of her grip to care about the rough landing. He laid there a moment and groaning in pain.

Sanders moved over to him, his face looking a bit swollen, and offered him a hand up. Derek took it and let himself be helped up. Only to wind up on his ass again when Sanders repaid his punch in kind. Derek swore as his face roared in pain from the blow.

"Next time, I'm not saving you're stupid ass from Pyrrha. Want to commit suicide, do it without Pyrrha's help!" Sanders yelled, looking furious about what just happened. Pyrrha, though, smiled at the punch and rasp-berried at Derek, getting a fair bit of spit on him. Derek rubbed it off as he got back to his feet, making sure none of his ribs were bruised from the squeeze.

"It got Pyrrha under the backpack didn't it? And as long as I stay near you, she won't move while they get it hooked on her now, will she?" Derek said with a slight smirk. He was rather proud of that idea. Dangerous, sure, but he could see nothing short of it was going to get Pyrrha under there and stay under. And, most importantly, it had worked. Pyrrha was lying on the ground and in the perfect position for the backpack to be put on her.

Sanders looked about to protest, but stopped. He threw up his hands and shook his head, before walking over to Pyrrha. Derek let him go as he looked up to see Pyrrha was right where she needed to be. Workers were already moving up the scaffolding to get things ready while Helman shouted orders. Darius nodded to Derek before turning to watch the work. A few possible bruised ribs was worth a potential weapon like this.

Sanders managed to keep Pyrrha from moving or wiggling around as the workers began to set the backpack onto her. It helped that all Derek had to do was move toward Sanders to get her to lock all attention on him. It took a large number of them to pull the spiderwebs into position, though Pyrrha did help a bit. With the shoulder straps around her looped over her arms, they moved to the waist straps. These took a bit longer, as Pyrrha once again seemed ill at ease by it. Thankfully, Sanders managed to coax her into helping them pull them around her waist so they could get them secure. With the backpack secured to Pyrrha, the workers went about setting up straw dummies all over it. Derek headed back over to Darius while the last few were put into place.

"Guessing those are to test it," Derek said as he looked at the dummies. Darius nodded as an "all finished" call went out. The workers began to move away from the scaffolding and to safe areas. Sanders stayed with Pyrrha, keeping her calm by petting her cheek as Jimmy and Helman headed to them. Helman hurried over and took up position to watch as he hurried Jimmy along.

"Hurry up, Jimmy. Finally, its time to see my greatest work go into action," he said with a school boy's enthusiasm. Jimmy shook his head and sighed to himself.

"Yeah, not like I helped or anything..." he grumbled as he checked for the all clear signs from the other parts of the work area. With everyone clear of the backpack, he gave the thumbs up to Darius.

"Sanders! You can proceed with the test now!" Darius yelled to Sanders. Sanders nodded and said something to Pyrrha. She lifted him up onto her head before getting up on all fours. She stopped for a second when she bumped the backpack and bent down a bit. Sanders said something to her, probably trying to calm her and coax her in playing along. It seemed to work as she, slowly, got on all fours, lifting the backpack up as well.

The huge metal construction groaned a bit as it was lifted up, but didn't fall apart or show any sign of breaking apart. The starwmen on it all looked OK and, for now, things seemed to be working. Pyrrha moved back a bit from the scaffolding and her steps caused the springs on the bottom of the backpack to moan. Helman and Jimmy watched the dummies with baited breath as she took her first step. They barely even shook has her knee hit the ground, same with her next, and the next, and the next.

Both Jimmy and Helman let out of sigh of relieve as the shock springs worked perfectly. Ridding bareback on Pyrrha had been more than a little rough, but those springs would make the rocking minimal on the backpack. Darius smiled and gave a nod of approval to them both. They keep watching as Sanders had Pyrrha move a bit quicker back and forth, turning from side to side, and testing that the shock springs worked in any direction. Each and every time, the dummies barely lost any straw at all. They worked better than well, they worked perfectly.

"Very well done, both of you. Helman, consider your little pet project given a green light and Jimmy, your request is approved," Darius said to them both. Helman cackled like a madman just told he was exempt from all laws while Jimmy gave a sigh of relief. He thanked Darius as Darius turned back to Pyrrha and Sanders.

"Sander!" he yelled up to him, getting Sanders to stop Pyrrha.
"Have Pyrrha stand up, we are going to test the other part of the system!" he yelled. Sanders gave a yes sign before going back to talk to Pyrrha. Pyrrha looked a bit apprehensive, but moved back to her feet nonetheless. She rose up as the backpack, slowly, slid into its secondary position. The metal floor unlocked from its position and rolled down along some metal rails before curving back around and up, making a lip.

A number of the dummies had been tied to the "floor" with web ropes to represent gunners and such. They weathered the change without much trouble and looked secure enough. Those that were not, however, were not quite so good. Most fell into the lip where, Derek assumed something soft was ready to catch them, but some seemed caught on the floor and being crushed by the metal plates or crashed into the buildings built onto it. Two even came tumbling out of windows in some of the buildings and fell past the lip. Both Helmans and Jimmy's excitement died with the dummies.

"Looks like we got some adjustments to make...another long nighter," Jimmy sighed as Helman moved up to Darius.

"This...doe-"

"No, this doesn't change what I said. I doubted this part would go off without a hitch, anyway. Once its back on the scaffolding, get to work fixing those problems," Darius said with a just a hint of annoyance. Both Helman and Jimmy nodded as Darius turned to the armory.

"Derek, we need to talk in private. Helman, you're in charge here. Once the backpack is off Pyrrha, she and Sanders are free to go," Darius said as he walked away. Derek followed after Darius as Jimmy gave another long sigh and Helman chuckled a bit. He wasn't sure he would have left Helman in charge, but it wasn't his call.

Darius and Derek headed into the armory and to a small office near the entrance. Darius waited for Derek to close the door before he spoke.

"With the test looking promising, we need to discuss who we are going to bring on the mission to Lindale. Currently, I want my own first squad and your third squad to come along, but I am unsure who else we should bring," Darius said. Derek got a wave of both fear and anger at that suggestion.

"My first squad would be a better choice, Derek. Third squ-" he started, though Darius interrupted him.

"Your first squad is not indebted to Pyrrha for their lives. I am loathe to trust even my own squad to go along with riding a catmonster which means I need a squad I know WILL accept it. Out of all your squads, third is the most likely," Darius said with an annoyed tone. Derek's fists clenched as he felt his anger rising. Darius KNEW Jacob was in third and what him coming would mean. Derek wanted his son here where it was safe, not out there testing a new weapon. A weapon that has just shown could be deadly to them as well!

"Darius, I will not let my son go on this mission," Derek said with a harsh glare. Darius returned it and the two stared the other down. Darius, however, scoffed as he turned away.

"Fine, reassign him to another squad, but we are still bringing third," Darius said with a dismissive wave. Derek let out his held breath and tried to reign in his anger. He had gotten what he wanted so there was little point to staying furious. Indeed, he still needed to keep his wits to make a good team for this mission.

"That's acceptable. Two squads, though, is still a bit short-handed. We might want to bring a third," Derek suggested, trying to move things away from that argument. Darius nodded, apparently just as willing to move on, and rubbed his chin in thought.

"Perhaps a squad from the northern Forces? They know the land and General Holcomb will not miss one squad," Darius suggested. Derek frowned a bit at that notion, though.

"True, but many of his squads are green and untested. I would rather not have an entire squad of rookies on this trip," Derek said, getting a nod of agreement from Darius. The two thought for a moment before an idea came to Derek.

"What about one of Gerard's squads? That fire attack cost them a good many troops, but he still has a number of experienced people left. Would give his new bloods a chance to get bloodied and we would have enough senior people to keep them from doing something stupid," Derek suggested. He left out bringing Gerard himself for a number of reasons, not the least of which being he was a pyromaniac. The only reason his usual lose cannon style was tolerated was because of his skill with flames. The fire attack might have been Darius' plan, but it was Gerard's skill that managed to pull it off.

Darius thought for a moment, mulling over options, before nodding.

"Yes that is a good idea. So we have my squad, your third, and one of Gerards, we can leave which to him. We will still need a few specialists. Jimmy is going to come to make sure the backpack stays in working order and to give him sometime away from Helman," Darius said with a slight smirk. Poor bastard deserved sometime away. Helman could be....well there really was no words for it. And his skills at jury-rigging would be a God-send if something went wrong with the backpack. Derek nodded his agreement to that and thought about what else they might need.

"Might want some heavy firepower just in case. Pyrrha is strong, but even I could tell she couldn't take that giantess alone, not without getting banged up anyway," Derek suggested, thinking back to how Pyrrha barely stopped that blow from hitting the mountain. And that had been a wounded giantess too. Darius nodded his agreement and both came to the same agreement on who to bring.

"Henderson and Taylor," they both said in unison. Henderson was the best shot in the Phoenixes with a air cannon and Taylor was one of the best spotters. The two had blown the brains out catmonsters mid-charge, nailed the wing of a fairy mid-flight, and even brought down a giantess before it even knew someone was there. Even better, Pyrrha would make the perfect platform for them to fire from.

"Once we are done, I'll go tell Jimmy to start rigging their cannon onto the platform," Derek said, getting a smile and a nod from Darius.

"Very good. The only other specialist we will need is a scout. Normally, Lindsey would be the obvious choice...however..." Darius sighed to himself as he looked to the side. Derek felt the sadness of losing her coming back and he had to fight back a bit of tears. The last time they had spoke had been their usual jabbing at each other...if he had known... No, no use in that.

"Yeah...I think all our as skilled scouts are in the South and pulling any of them back would be...problematic," Derek said. Darius took a second to nod his agreement as he turned away from the wall he had been staring at.

"Yes, we can't afford to pull any of them back. We cannot leave Hope less defended while we are on this mission....but I can't think of anyone with Lindsey's skills who is free," Darius said with an aggravated tone. Derek raked his brain for someone they could use that was not busy, someone cl-...

"William," Derek said getting a stare from Darius. "William is free."

"No. He is needed to ke-" this time it was Derek turn to interrupt.

"Sanders just took care of that problem. The people in the slums will be too busy enjoying their new homes to cause any problems. I know you two don't see eye to eye, but the old man is the only one with the skills we need," Derek said as Darius turned away with a scoff. He was silent for a moment before his shoulders drooped and he sighed.

"Fine...William is our scout. Tell everyone that is going to be ready to move out tomorrow. We can't wait any longer than that," Darius said with an annoyed look. He brushed past Derek and out of the office. Derek watched him go and couldn't help but smile a bit. Turn about was far play you bastard. See how he liked having someone on a mission he didn't want.

Oral information on "Original 12":

"Finally heard about them, did ya? Hehe, yeah I know about them, but to tell the whole story of them would take all day. I know how you young people are so let me just give you the quick story. It was back when the Society first started killin folks and attacking towns. A man named Jason Hambly started rounding up people to make a group to help save folks and get them to safety before the Society attacked. He managed to get eleven other people to come with him when he set out and they decided to call themselves the Phoenixes. Yep, that's right son. This was how the Phoenixes got started.

The original twelve went all over the place, warning villages of the attacks, helping people find places to hide, and even slowing down the Society when they could. But, it was dangerous work and more than a few of them died. But, as they lost people, more joined and swelled their ranks. Wasn't long before they started to get some serious numbers and...well who knows how things would have wound up if it had keep going like that.

Sadly, Jason was a bit too heroic for his own good. Crazy fool went rushing into a town that was being besieged by three giantesses, trying to save a few people. He never came out...

Hmm? No, no, Darius didn't takeover after Jason. A woman took over after Jason and lead the Phoenixes for a while before Darius took over. That is a whole nother can of worms that we can get into later.

...Oh yes a few of them are still alive. Darius and Derek are both originals, as is Doctor Kimberly. I am pretty sure there was a fourth person who was an original, but I haven't seen them around in a long time. Might have gotten killed or not, hard to say. Either way, I would show those three some respect, young man. They've been at this for as long as anyone could be.

Chapter 17: The Stage is Set

January 25, 2024 1:25 PM

Jacob was finding it harder and harder to focus on building homes as people keep wondering away. Off in the distance, Jacob could see Pyrrha moving about with some kind of metal thing on her back, a thing that had come from the secret part of the armory. Jacob had no idea what it was and he had to fight not to stare at it in wonder like everyone else. A number of them were whispering between each other, trading theories and other crap. So much for helping the slums...

Whatever it was, it must have been what his dad had wanted with Sanders. Still made him pissed that his dad hadn't even bothered to say hi. Too busy being Force Commander Derek to even say hello to his son, but DID have time to talk to Samantha AND Sanders. Dammit, why had he even bothered being worried for the old bastard? Jacob turned back to the house he was helping build and took out his frustration on the nail he was hammering in. If nothing else, this was good for misplaced aggression. He was helping others and keeping himself from punching someone.

Jacob focused on his hammering for a few minutes till a cheer got his attention. He turned back to see Pyrrha and Sanders heading back to the area, getting a cheer from the workers. Jacob rolled his eyes as his anger came back with a bit of jealousy. Yes, lets all hail the returning hero. The brave man who had nearly gotten eaten by the spidermonster, and gotten Jacob blamed for that, somehow. It still made him furious that he got a chewing out because of that while Sanders got off scott free. Last time he saves his ass, that's for sure.

Jacob had had enough of this shit, too angry for even hammering to solve. He was going to drown his rage in some meat, shine, and Samantha's smiling face. Jacob tossed down his tools and headed back into the main celebration. Despite himself, he couldn't help but cheer up a bit as he made his way through the area. Seeing the slum people happy and actually hopeful was just too good for Jacob to stay angry. He would never admit it to anyone, but Jacob did think Sanders deserved some praise for helping these people. Still, he couldn't help but be jealous of him. He was being treated like the hero Jacob had always wanted to be...only it was Pyrrha who was really doing all the work. Without her, Sanders was just another asshole.

Jacob moved through the crowd to the cook fire Samantha was at. He smiled as it came into view and looked around for Samantha. Oddly, however, he didn't see her anywhere near the fire. Jacob's smile faded as he wondered where she had gone. He walked up to one of the other women serving food to ask her.

"Excuse me," he said to get her attention. She turned to him and looked about to tell him to wait in line, but Jacob stopped her with a raised hand.

"I'm just looking for Samantha, have you seen her?" he asked as the woman got an ahh look.

"Oh, Samantha. Uhh...she was her- OH RIGHT! Derek came by with a few others and had her come with him to talk," the woman said with a smile.

"Where did they go?" Jacob asked the woman. She pointed off toward the city and Jacob thanked her before heading that way. He weaved his way through the crowd as he looked around for any sign of his dad or Samantha. He didn't see either anywhere in the crowd, however. Frowning a bit, he decided to try in the city thinking they might have wanted some privacy.

Jacob heading into the near empty streets and saw, at the end of the block, his dad, Samantha, and a few others from Squad Three all talking. Jacob headed over to them and managed to catch the last bit of his dad's words.

"-form tomorrow. Make sure all your stuff is ready by tonight and that you have everything you need for a long trip. Extra ammo and water takes first priority, understood?" his father said as everyone nodded. Jacob moved into the group, getting a smile from Samantha and an odd look from his dad. The others barely even glanced at him and Jacob had to fight the urge to yell at them. He keep it bottled, though, since his dad was here.

"Good. You can stay at the celebration till the tests tonight, but make sure you are battle-ready tomorrow. Now, I need to have a private chat with my son," Derek said as he waved everyone away. The other members of Squad Three gave Jacob smug looks and seemed to snicker a bit. Jacob wanted to punch them all, but Samantha's touch on his shoulder got his mind off them. She gave him a light kiss before heading with them back to the celebration. Sanders turned back to his dad and wondered what he had done now. Maybe he had heard about his and Sanders' fight...

"Jacob, I have decided to reassign you. You are now part of Squad One," Derek said with a slight smile. Jacob felt like he had just been slapped upside the head with a winning lottery ticket. W...What the hell?! Reassigned to...Squad One....that was the best squad in the Force! The very same squad Derek lead himself! Was this why his dad had avoided him before, to confirm his reassignment with Darius? Holy crap...Jacob didn't know what to say...and he had called him an old bastard too...

"Da-Commander...Thank you, sir! I won't let you down!" Jacob finally managed to say with a proud salute. FINALLY! He was moving up and soon he would have his own squad and then his own Force. He was going to show everyone that he was his father's son and just as good, if not better, than his old man!

"I know you won't, Jacob. Make sure you keep Hope safe while we are gone," Derek said as he started to turn to leave. Wait...safe while they are gone? What the hell was his dad talking about? He had just told Samantha and a few-...from Squad Th-... Realization hit Jacob like a sledgehammer and the impact sent his anger soaring to new heights. His dad had only moved him to Squad One to keep him from going on this mission!!! This wasn't a promotion, it was just a way to keep him from the mission!! That bastard thought he was that much of a liability?!?!?!?

"Safe wh-... You asshole! You moved me to Squad One just to keep me off this mission?!" Jacob demanded as he moved after his dad. His dad's shoulders slumped a bit as he sighed. He didn't turn, though, as he answered.

"I moved you because I felt it was needed. That is all," Da-no Derek said. This wasn't his father talking, just the damn Force Commander who had it in for Jacob! Jacob's hands clenched together as he felt his anger beginning to boil over. How could his dad do this to him?! As if he didn't catch enough shit as it was...

"Why was it needed?! Do you know what the ot-" Jacob started to say before Derek whirled around on him. Derek glared down at Jacob with a furious look.

"I don't have to justify anything to you. You are not going on this mission and that is final. Now you can either be a good soldier and do what you are ordered and join Squad One, or keep questioning me and get booted out. Which is it, Private Hodgson?" Force Commander Derek said with barely contained fury. Normally, Jacob would have backed down for such a look and statement, but his anger and rage were overriding his sense.Like hell he was going to back down!

"I could ask you the same, Dad, or should it be Force Commander? Cause it sure seems like a lot of your fucking choices are something my dad would make and yet want the Commander's authority behind them. The Commander wouldn't put his squad a man down and risk everyone's lives just to protect one soldier. And my dad doesn't get to tell me what I can and can't do now that I am not living in his house! So why don't you just go fuck yourself and your damn Private bullshit!" Jacob said before storming away from his father. Derek yelled after him, his voice roaring with rage, but Jacob was having none of it. He took off running into the celebration, having no wish to even look as his dad much less listen to him, and weaved through the crowd. Jacob was bigger than most, but nowhere near as large as his father. He managed to weave through without much trouble where as his dad keep getting bogged down by the mass of people. Soon enough, Jacob couldn't hear his father's angry yells over the dull rumble of the crowd.

Jacob turned back in the direction his dad had been and felt his rage bubbling up again, though with a hint of guilt too. He shouldn't have said that...and yet it felt so damn good to finally say it. He was utterly sick of his dad acting like his dad when it came to his safety, often putting others at risk because of it, and yet wanting the obedience a Force Commander demanded at all times. But most of all, he was sick of his dad just assuming he would screw things up. Anytime there was something important to do, Dad always picked someone other than him and he was SICK of it. Well fuck him and fuck his lack of faith in him.

Jacob plowed his way through the crowd, making for a food line. He was in no mood to weave through people so he just barreled his way through, leaving a number of people cursing behind him He returned their curses and stormed through. Thankfully, the line wasn't too long and he was up front soon enough. He was so lost in his anger that he barely registered the familiar hi from the woman handing him his food. He looked up to see Samantha's smiling face staring back at him. Her smile faded, though, and slowly turned into a worried frown as she looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as Jacob grabbed his food from her.

"Nothing, just tired is all," Jacob lied before walking away to find a spot to eat his meal. Samantha, though, didn't look to be fooled by that answer and followed after him.

"Jacob? Jacob, what is wrong?" Samantha asked with a worried tone. Jacob groaned to himself as he realized he was making her unduly worried now. He cursed his dad for this mess again as he took a bite of his meat. Maybe he would luck up and she would leave him alone once he told her it was about his dad.

"Just mad at my father, alright? Now leave me alone," Jacob said as he began to try and eat as messily as possible. He knew Samantha could not stand when people ate like pigs so he was hoping the display would send her scuttling off. No such luck, though, as she ignored his messy eating as she sat next to him.

"Why, what happened?" she asked with a slight twitch as he smacked his lips together. Jacob gave up on eating messily to scare her off and sighed to himself. No getting out of answering it now as she would just keep baggering him till he broke. Better to just get it out of the way and avoid the headache.

"I'm not going on the mission he just told you about. And, to top it off, he had the gall to assign me to Squad One to try and appease me," Jacob said, unable to keep his anger out of his voice. Samantha shook her head and sighed at that, looking rather displeased by it herself. He knew she would understand just how wrong this was and why he was pissed as hell.

"I'm sorry, Jacob. Derek should never have moved you to Squad One for such a horrid reason... but he is just trying to keep you safe," Samantha said as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Jacob's face frowned in annoyance at that and he turned to glare at Samantha.

"By keeping me away from everything? By never letting me do anything that is perfectly safe and being furious when I step out of HIS comfort-zone? All they while taking huge risks himself?" Jacob said as his anger began to rise to new heights. It wasn't fair...it wasn't fair that his dad went out there everyday and risked his live while forcing Jacob to sit here and wait.

"He is just worried about losing you," Samantha said as she tried to pull herself closer to Jacob. Jacob shrugged off her arm as his anger flared to its limit.

"AND WHAT ABOUT ME!? What, does he think I don't worry about losing him too?! That I don't live in fear of him going out and just never coming back? Of me never knowing what happened to him and having to live my life never knowing if me being there would have mattered?! Does he think I won't miss him just as much as he will miss me?!" Jacob said as he had to fight back some tears coming on. Dammit, he hated to admit that, but it felt good to finally admit it. A few people had turned to look at Jacob during his outburst and Jacob glared back at them.

"GO THE FUCK AWAY!" he yelled at them and they all began to scamper away. Jacob sighed as he flopped back down and buried his head in his hands. He sighed to himself as he felt Samantha slide over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged herself to him as Jacob fought off the tears that were demanding to be released. They two sat like that for a few seconds before Samantha spoke up.

"You should tell your father that. He loves you, Jacob, and he will see just how unfair he has been if you talk to him rather than yell at him. Just tell him what you said and he will let you come, I promise," Samantha said as she nuzzled closer to Jacob. Jacob slid his hands down from his face and thought about it. Maybe...maybe she was right...may- Jacob's lingering sadness and anger turned to fear as he remembered what he had said to his father when he left. Fuck how the hell could he go and talk to his dad after saying THAT?! No...no he..he didn't think he could face his dad right now. But he knew Samantha wasn't going to accept that answer.

"Yeah...yeah I should. Think I will go do that now," Jacob said as he started to get up. Samantha didn't release him from her hug as he tried to stand, however. He glanced back to Samantha and came face to face with her suspicion look. He thought about making a run for it, but reconsidered as Samantha's arms tightened their grip. Jacob tried to keep the fear off his face, but it was hard to keep his feelings from surfacing when Samantha was this close. She sighed as she looked down and shook her head.

"Or we can wait till after this mission. I suppose we don't want to cause issues before such an important thing," Samantha said getting a sigh of relieve from Sanders. Before either of them could do anything else, a low deep horn blast came from the direction of the townhall. Most of the people around looked surprised, but Samantha didn't look surprised in the least.

"That time already? I need to get back to the armory to get some stuff ready, unless..." she paused as Jacob turned back to look at her,
"unless you want me to stay here. I don't mind sitting out this mission too and I am sure we could find things to do..." Samantha gave him a look that made Jacob's pants feel a bit tighter. That...was a very...very tempting offer, but at the same time Samantha was one of the best soldiers in Squad Three and they would already be short-handed without him. He...he couldn't do that to Squad Three, even if he hated most of them.

"No, the squad is going to need you, Samantha. You need to go," Jacob said, kicking himself for it as he said it. All that time alone with Samantha...damn his morale compass! Samantha's lusty look slowly faded away to be replaced with a neutral look. She...wasn't mad was she? Fuck he hoped not.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to tell me to go only to regret it when I leave," Samantha said as she moved a bit closer to him. Jacob's pants trouble only got worse now that Samantha was leaning against him and close enough for him to smell her scent. Dammit, he soooo wanted to say fuck the squad time to fuck, but he just couldn't do it.

"Yes, I'm sure. They are going to need you more than I will," Jacob said  with a inward groan. Samantha's neutral look vanished from her face to be replaced with a bright smile. She leaned in and kissed him full on the lips, going for a full on make-out. Before Jacob could wonder what that was for, Samantha pulled away and got to her feet.

"You should go to the meeting. Even if you are not going on the expedition, you should know what is at stake. Just don't do anything too stupid afterwords, alright?" Samantha said with a slight smirk and a wink. Jacob was left with a confused look on his face as Samantha sauntered off, obviously shaking her hips on purpose with each step. What...what was that about? Had...had he done something that had made her happy? He must have as she only did things like that when she was happy with him. But what the hell had he done?

He shook off the sight of Samantha's retreating rear, and the desire to go rushing after it, as the horn blew a second time. Samantha had told him to go and he supposed he might as well hear what Darius had to say. Even if he wasn't going, he should at least try to stay up-to-date. And maybe...maybe his dad would be there and... fuck no..no he couldn't do that.

Jacob followed the flow of people heading toward the town hall and away from the celebration area. Only a handful of people were going against the flow or avoiding it as most everyone was heading that way. Jacob was able to overhear a bit of chatter from the people moving around him. Most figured this was going to be some kind of award ceremony for Sanders or something else along that line...ugh he hoped they were wrong. The smarter ones in the crowd figured it had something to do with that huge metal thing that Pyrrha was using before, which is what Jacob figured as well. Still others thought Darius was going to step down and let Sanders takeover, which nearly made Jacob burst into laughter. Jacob wasn't a fan of Darius' leadership and willingness to let people die, but he was still better than Sanders. At least Darius had proven to be successful at leading, unlike Sanders. Not to mention, Jacob had a feeling Darius was not the type to just step down.

By the time Jacob arrived at the town hall, the area in front of it was packed with people. A few soldiers were moving around the area, trying to get people to move in closer to make more room. Normally a meeting like this would be held inside, but with the winter people here, there simply was not enough room inside the hall for everyone. Instead, Darius, his dad, and Sanders were all standing on the raised platform in front of the town hall. Jacob stayed near the back of the huge crowd, content to be away from the press and his dad's gaze Thankfully, Derek seemed occupied with his own thoughts and was staring off into nothing rather than scanning the crowd. Jacob thought he looked...sadder than normal and a bit of guilt hit him. Maybe once this was over he would talk to him and apologize.

A few minutes passed as more people squeezed in while others headed into nearby buildings to look through the windows. Finally, the last of the people came into the area and Darius stepped forward to begin his announcement. The crowd quieted down as Darius cleared his throat.

"Good afternoon to you all. Today has been a very momentous and wonderful day. From the gifts of home and food from Hope's new heroes, Sanders and Pyrrha, to the strange sight I am sure many of you saw on Pyrrha. Today has, certainly, been a day of wonder.

"However, despite how wonderful this day may have been, we cannot forget that we are at war. Outside these walls, men and women fight everyday to keep us safe from those that would crush us. From those who view us as nothing more than vermin needed to be exterminated and removed from this world for daring not to bow to them. I know this is not something you want to hear on a day full of celebrations, but reality will not take a backseat just for our enjoyment. No matter how much we would wish it would."

Darius paused here as he looked over everyone and seemed to scan for reactions. So far, all he had really done was erase a few smiles as they remember what a horrid world this was. Great, people finally get a distraction and he rips it away with nothing to offer as comfort. Asshole.

"But just because we must accept this reality for now, does not mean that we cannot change it for the future. Indeed, I believe it is time we start doing just that. The object many of you saw on Pyrrha was a new weapon developed by our scientist and engineers. It is a mobile base capable of being safety moved and used while on Pyrrha's back. With it, we can transport man and materials far faster than we have ever been able to before, and range further as well. This new weapon, combined with the already incredible power of Pyrrha, will allow us to bring the fight to the Society and force them on the defensive," Darius said, getting a few cheers and claps. Still, most of the people seemed skeptical or downright hostile to the idea. Jacob wasn't surprised by that in the least, though. Any talk of fighting the Society since the Bears were wiped was always meet with suspicion and fear. Idiots, didn't they see that the Society would wipe them out regardless of if they fought or not? Fighting was the only option they really had.

"I know many of you are...hesitant, to put your faith in anything that involves warfare against the Society. I will admit to sharing your fear and worry, doubly so after the fate of the Bears. Thankfully, or hero Sanders has come bearing the answer to this problem as well. When he escaped from the Society, he did so bearing important intelligence. This intelligence suggests something is in Lindale, something that may turn the tide of the war completely in our favor," Darius said as Sanders looked away and to the side. The entire crowd picked up on that last part and the skeptical and hostile looks vanished to be ones of interest. Jacob eyes widened a bit at the news as he realized this is what Darius was talking about back when they had first gotten back to Hope. And he wasn't going to be allowed to go?!

"While we all mourn for the lose of Dr. Manchent and his death at the hands of the Society," Sanders downcast look became even more downcast at that part, "his legacy still lives on. According to the information Sanders brought back, Manchent left something in Lindale. Something so dangerous to the Society that they were willing to kill their own to protect it. So dangerous that they have not stopped hunting Sanders since his escape. So dangerous, that it must surely be able to turn the war against them. Tomorrow, an expedition will go with Sanders and Pyrrha, using this new weapon, to search Lindale for what Manchent left. We will find whatever it is that he left, bring it back, and use it against the Society! With Manchent's legacy, we will turn this war into our favor and our hero will see us to victory!" Darius said getting a cheer from nearly everyone in the area. Jacob watched as Darius moved aside and Derek pushed Sanders forward.

"To the hero who will lead us back to our lives! To Sanders!" Darius yelled as the call was picked up by the crowd. Jacob's jealousy came back in full as he looked at Sanders on that platform, his name being chanted. Despite being exactly where Jacob wanted to be, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. Dammit, why was HE up there?! Did none of them know Jacob had saved his ass not a day ago?! Of course not, cause HE wasn't important! And now the "hero" was going off to get a weapon that could turn the tide without Jacob so he could be even MORE celebrated?! HELL NO! HE WAS NOT PUTTING UP WITH THIS! HE WAS NOT GOING TO SIT ON THE SIDELINES WHILE EVERYONE'S FUTURE WAS ON THE LINE!!!

Jacob stormed off away from the meeting, making a beeline for the armory. He was going on this mission and there wasn't a damn thing Sanders, Darius, or his dad could say to stop him! He didn't care if he had to have a heart to heart with his dad or punch him out, he was going and that was that!

He plowed his way through the nearly empty celebration area, stomped through the construction area and its many half built homes, and growled the whole way up to the armory. He was about to smash the door aside when movement to his side caught his eye. Jacob turned to see a few people moving some boxes toward the secret area of the armory, the same area that had the metal thing the expedition was going to be using.

Jacob's anger was pushed aside as curiosity took over. He moved over to the area and saw the people moving the boxes toward a person-powered crane that was lifting them up to the platform. Ahh, they were moving the supplies the expedition would need onto the platform. His curiosity sated, Jacob was about to go back to blasting into the armory when a thought occurred to him. He headed back around to the other side of the armory, where the garage and the ramp down the Charlotte was, and came upon a massive pile of boxes and thimbles ready to be transported to the platform. Jacob smiled to himself as he moved toward them.

Suddenly, he heard some voices coming toward him and Jacob cursed as he dived behind some of the crates. Two of the workers were coming back to grab more of the crates. Crap, if they saw him in here they were sure to wonder what he was doing and might even go to his dad about it. Dammit, this would have been so much easier than having to deal with his dad. He groaned to himself until a familiar female voice came from outside.

"Hey, you two, can you help me with this?" Samantha yelled from outside, getting the workers to head back out of the garage. Jacob let out a sigh of relieve as they moved away and back around to the front of the armory. Jacob wasted no time as he moved to one of the crates marked for ammo. He opened the top and took out a number of the clips inside. He sat them aside and out of sight till there was enough space for him to get in. He climbed in and let the lid fall back down over him. There was barely enough room for him to fit in here and it was going to be a very uncomfortable ride, but he was willing to put up with it if it meant he could go on this mission. And by God, he was.

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Sanders had to fight to keep some kind of positive look on his face. All this was just...too much. Darius had dumped every hope and dream of the people of Hope onto his shoulders. Worse, he hadn't given a single hint to Sanders that he intended to do it. And now that it was out there, anything short of accepting the burden would crush these people. It was just like when he had first arrived in Hope with Pyrrha...dammit had he been planning this since then?!

Sanders tried to keep his anger at Darius hidden as he waved to the cheering crowd. He thought about saying a few words, but was afraid his tone would give away how unsure he was of all this. These people didn't want an unsure person, they wanted a rock-steady hero, and Sanders didn't want to dispel their belief that he was the later. He did his best to look confident and sure of himself as he keep waving to them till Darius stepped forward again.

"Everyone, quiet down, there is still more to tell," Darius said, getting the cheering and yells to die down after a few seconds.
"I will be going with this expedition, as will Force Commander Derek. With both of us gone, General Holmes will be placed in overall command. As for Hope itself, Mayor Cormec will be in charge. With the recent victories we have made against the Society, in part thanks to Sanders and Pyrrha, it is unlikely they will trouble us while this mission is going on. Should the unthinkable happen, however, remember the drills we have practiced and follow all orders given to you by military personal.

"In addition, ther-" Sanders listened to Darius for a few short seconds before deciding this stuff had nothing to do with him. It sounded like this was just law and business stuff to keep Hope running while Darius was gone. Most of it went right over Sanders head along with most of the crowd who seemed to just mil around hoping for something more interesting to come up. It never did, though, but Darius didn't talk long.

"-and rations will be keep at their normal rates.  Derek, any further business?" Darius asked the larger man. Derek thought for a second before he shook his head. Darius nodded and turned back to the crowd.

"That is all the announcements. I know many of you would love to thank and wish good luck to Sanders personally, but I must ask all of you to refrain from that. He and Pyrrha will both need their rest and I require his counsel before going on this expedition. Therefore, I would ask you all to go back to your homes or helping make the new homes for our less fortunate citizens rather than rushing the platform. Thank you," Darius said. To Sanders surprise, everyone actually did as Darius suggested and began to disperse into the city, the dull buzz of their talking filling up the air.

Darius turned back to him and Derek and motioned for them to follow him into the town hall. Sanders had just turned to follow when a familiar voice caught their attention.

"Darius!" a woman shouted from behind them. They all turned to see Doctor H- Kimberly coming up the stairs to them, a determined look on her face. Sanders had to fight not to stare at her chest as it bounced with each step she took up the stairs. Dammit, what heav- NO NONO!

"Doctor, can I help you with something?" Darius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I am going on the expedition," Kimberly said  with a look that broached no discussion. Sanders glanced back towards Darius and saw his face remained the passive mask it always seemed to be, completely unreadable. Derek, however, was far from passive and looked about to argue against it. Before he could, Darius held up his hand and motioned Derek over. Derek came closer and Darius whispered something into his ear, something about picking battles. Whatever Darius said seemed to work on Derek. He turned back to look at Kimberly before his shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat. Probably for the best as the way Kimberly looked made it obvious No was not a choice.

"Very well. Have any equipment you will need delivered to the armory before the end of the day and come to the platform as soon as the town hall horn sounds. If you are late, we will leave you behind," Darius said keeping both his voice and face emotionless. Kimberly didn't so much as smirk as she nodded and headed back toward her clinic. Sanders wasn't sure if he was excited or worried she was coming, but didn't get much time to debate as Darius headed into the town hall.

Sanders followed him along with Derek and entered into the rather...unimpressive town hall. Most town halls had decorations, monuments, or something to show the town's history. No such things here as all the hall was...was well just that. It was a big open hall with wooden pews scattered about. A large raised platform along with a podium was at the far end of the room along with a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. A few spare guns and rockets were scattered about the room on gun racks and a few of the "windows" seemed more like gun-slits. Most of the walls were reinforced with large metal bars or were solid metal on this side. He remembered Jacob had said this place was more fort than town hall and, seeing it on the inside, he could see what he meant. It probably wouldn't hold out long against a Society attack, but it was better than being out in the open.

Sanders shook off his wonder at the sight as he remembered what had happened outside a second ago. He rushed up to Darius and pulled him around to face him. He ignored the fast approach of Derek as he stared Darius down.

"What the hell was that about?! You are making it sound like whatever Manchent left is going to solve everything and, magically, turn us all back to normal!" Sanders said, his anger rising as he realized those people's expectations would never be meet now. No matter what Manchent had left, it would NEVER match the expectations Darius had given it. Darius, though, didn't even bat an eye at Sanders fury.

"I told them what they wanted to hear. They don't want to hear that we MIGHT have a way to help them, they don't want to here that we are WORKING on saving them, they don't want a POSSIBLE savior. If I had told them the full truth they would have seen it as a fool's errand or, worse, as us fleeing to save our own skins. Either way, we would not have been able to leave on this mission and whatever Manchent left would be lost to us," Darius said with his increasingly infuriating emotionless stare. Dammit, what he said did make sense, but that didn't make it anymore right. They were still getting these people's hopes up far too high and would only succeed in crushing their spirits when they failed to deliver.

"And what happens if we come back and what Manchent left wasn't a game changer or, fuck, if we come back empty-handed? What the hell do we tell them then?" Sanders demanded. He thought for sure Derek would have butted in by now and pulled Sanders away from Darius or said something, but the large man was silent as he and Darius went at it. Maybe he was having the same doubts as Sanders.

"Then we lie to them, of course. We tell them that what we found is so great we can't risk revealing it and let them believe everything will change. And everything will whether we succeed or not. The platform and Pyrrha alone will revolutionize our war efforts without the need to find anything in Lindale. That will be enough to keep the people happy and their morale high. And as long as we do that, there is still a fighting chance," Darius said as if explaining a problem to a child. Sanders was less than happy with that tone and with the dishonesty of this. Whether Darius was right or not, it didn't excuse him outright lying to his people just to keep them fighting. Doubly so when that lie might be the only reason they were still fighting.

"So we just keep them in the dark and hope they never find out the truth? We let them live in ignorance to how bad things are?!" Sanders demanded in anger. Darius sighed to himself and rubbed his temple before he responded.

"And what would you do instead? Let them know that we have no way of winning the war as things are? That even if that platform works perfectly it will never win us the war? That we are putting what little hope there is on the belief that there is a miracle in Lindale left by Manchent? What good would that do anyone? Who would we help by telling them that they are, most likely, doomed to die without ever regaining their original size? That their children will still live in fear of being squashed as bugs and that their family and friends who go off to die managed to only buy time with their lives?" Darius asked with a harsh glare. Sanders tried to stammer out an answer, but found himself unable to find a good comeback to that. It...it wasn't....this wasn't right and...and yet...

To his surprise, Sanders felt Derek's large hand pat his shoulder. Sanders turned back to see a sympathetic look of the large man's face.

"I know how you feel about lying to them, but Darius is right. Telling everyone the truth isn't going to help them in this case. All it will do is make them lose hope and give in to despair. And nothing will insure we lose more than that. In this case, lying to them is the kinder thing to do, even if it is morally wrong," Derek said with a sigh. Darius nodded his agreement as Sanders scrambled for something to say in opposition. And yet...nothing came. Dammit he didn't want to agree with this, but everything Derek said was true. What good was the truth if it made things worse for these people? You couldn't save everyone...and you couldn't always tell the truth... Sanders unconsciously rubbed the whistle in his pocket. Would you have told me that Lindsey?

"...Alright, just...don't make me part of anymore lies," Sanders said with an admittance of defeat. Darius groaned a bit, but didn't say anything as Derek gave him a glare. He shook his head and turned away.

"Fine, we have better things to do than debate this anyway. Derek and myself need to go over a few things in private before we go over the mission with everyone. Make sure you and Pyrrha are ready in case the backpack is finished early, we still need to test it with real people. And make sure you keep this conversation to yourself," Darius said before heading toward the stairs leading up. Derek sighed to himself and shook his own head before going after Darius. Sanders had no wish to continue this conversation or its implications anymore, so he turned and headed out of the town hall. This entire event left a bad taste in his mouth and he wanted to put it behind him. Doubly so when he had no real choice but to go along with it. He had come too far with the Phoenixes to abandon them now, even if he was beginning to wonder if their leader was really the best person for the job.

Pushing his worries aside, Sanders looked around to see where Pyrrha had wondered off to. He saw her head and her shoulders peeking out above the buildings in the direction of the lake. She was smiling down at something and looked to have found something to keep her entertained. That was good as he really didn't want to see what kind of trouble she would get up to if she got bored. He decided to go check on her and started toward her.

After a few minutes of moving through the streets, all while fending off people wanting to thank him,  Sanders exited Hope and got a good look at what Pyrrha was up to. She was sitting out in the lake with her legs crossed in front of her. The water was just deep enough for most of her legs to be under the water, though only barely. Her knees, however, stuck out like giant furry islands and Sanders could see people moving on them. He squinted and could barely make out the forms of kids moving over and around her knees. Sanders figured they were the orphans from before and Pyrrha must have taken them out to play in the water. From here, it looked like Pyrrha was using her fingers to try and, gently, push them off her knees while the kids ran to avoid her fingers. From the sounds of the laughter drifting to him, they seemed to be having a good time.

Sanders thought about swimming out to join in and get a better look, but he worried about his armor. If he keep it on, he would be lucky not to have to be fished out by Pyrrha. But if he took it off and it was taken... No, he couldn't risk the one thing he had left to remind him of Isabella and the debt he owed her. This armor was staying on till Isabella was avenged.

 He looked around for some other way to get out to Pyrrha, but the few boats around were either out on the lake already or tied up with no one around. He supposed he could just take one of the tied up ones, but he didn't really want to steal anything. Not the best image for a hero to be cultivating either. He was about to give up when he noticed a familiar figure off in the distance. Samantha was standing on a wooden dock at the lake's edge and was staring off toward Pyrrha and the kids.

Sanders headed over to the wooden dock Samantha was standing on, figuring a talk with her would help him forget the conversation he had just had with Darius. She turned to him when his boots began to make the dock groan and smiled at him. Sanders moved up and stood beside her and joined in watching Pyrrha play with the kids.

"I suppose you and Jacob have heard about the expedition," Sanders said as he tried to find a good way to start a conversation.

"Yes. Our squad was picked to go on it," Samantha said with a less than thrilled voice. Sanders was a bit surprised that Derek would let his son go on this mission considering how protective he was of him. Doubly so after they had just gotten back from another mission.

"Really? It will be nice to have some familiar faces on the mission. Though I wonder what Darius had to do to get Derek to agree to let Jacob go," Sanders wondered out loud. Samantha smirked and seemed to laugh at a joke only she heard.

"He didn't say anything. Derek had Jacob transferred to Squad One to keep him from going," she said with a bitter laugh. Sanders was taken aback at that and stared at Samantha to see if she was joking. The slightly angry look on her face was enough to tell him she wasn't.

"That explains that. Would imagine Jacob is not taking that well, I know I wouldn't," Sanders admitted. If Isabella had ever, purposely, left him behind in a mission, but still took Aviel, he would have been furious, and that was him. Jacob, though... Hell Sanders hadn't known him long but could already tell he was a hothead. Sanders began to worry where Jacob was and if Samantha needed to go find him before he did something rash like try to kick his own dad's ass.

"He wasn't, but I think he found a way to deal with it. Or at least he better have if he knows what's good for him," Samantha said with a slight glare toward the armory. Sanders guessed that was where Jacob was and that she had already dealt with him. Or at least she better have for Jacob's sake. If he hadn't, he would probably have been better off taking his chances with Derek.

"Ah...well good. Would hate to see him and his dad at each others throat," Sanders said, somewhat jealous of Jacob. Must be nice having a woman looking out for him like Samantha did. There was a time when Sanders had not, but two women who did that...and now one was gone and the other....she was going to pay...

Sanders anger was distracted by the sound of a lot of water being shoved aside. Sanders looked up to see Pyrrha lowering her hand into the water and scooping out a number of the orphans. She did the same with her other hand before lifting them both to her head. The orphans moved over to her head before Pyrrha went back to scooping out the rest. Once all the kids were up on Pyrrha's head, she began to, slowly, crawl back to the shore. The kids were still laughing and playing, using her hair like a mini-forest, as they made their way back to land.

Pyrrha smile widened when she saw Sanders, but didn't move toward him. Instead, she crawled to a part of the lake shore that didn't have any docks and got out of the water. She lowered her head and let the kids use her hair as rope as they slid down to the ground. Once they were all off, she moved around them and laid down around them leaving an opening between her head and legs facing Sanders and Samantha. With her settled, the kids moved up to her and started to use her fur to dry off and get warm.

Sanders started toward the "stadium" Pyrrha made with her body along with Samantha. Pyrrha was happily purring away as the orphans started back to playing. A few came up and hugged Samantha while others stared at Sanders like Superman had just walked in on them. Despite himself, Sanders couldn't help but feel somewhat good about seeing their awe. What person didn't want to be viewed as a superhero? Yet, he was no hero and certainly no superhero, no matter what Darius manipulated his people into believing.

Before anymore kids could come up to them, Pyrrha put her hand down between them and the kids and brushed them toward her fur. The kids grumbled a bit as they went over to her and dried themselves off.

"She really isn't like most catmonsters, is she?" Samantha said as she watched Pyrrha make sure all the kids got dry. Sanders smiled to himself before he answered.

"No...no she is not. She..." Sanders stopped as he debated on whether he should tell Samantha the truth. He had already told Darius and Derek about her being unique during their "interrogation" of him, but the only other person he had told had been Lindsey... He...supposed he should let someone else know in case...in case something happened. And Samantha was the best candidate for that job now that he thought about it. Pyrrha had taken a real shine to her.

"She was a prototype to make a smart catgirl. Probably why she didn't just eat me when we first meet," Sanders said as Samantha looked up at Pyrrha with interest.

"A smart catm- catgirl... Do..do they have others?" Samantha asked as a bit of fear creep into her voice. Sanders didn't blame her. The thought of facing down a catgirl as smart as Pyrrha that wanted him dead was terrifying to say the least.

"Honestly...I don't know. I think she was the only one, but they might have made more," Sanders said with a sigh. The fear and worry on Samantha's face began to spread and a few of the kids seemed to be picking up on it. Sanders tried to think of something to reassure her and grabbed a thought that came to him.

"Don't worry too much, though. Pyrrha was nowhere near as smart back then as she was now. I could barely get her to do anything, even simple stuff like picking me up. Hell, it took me forever to get her to put me down and now...now..." Sanders drifted off as his words got him to think about that. Used to be he had to use command words to get her to do things, but...but he could remember a few times he HADN'T used the command word and she still did what he wanted. Most of those times had been rather recently too. And stopping that blow from the giantess...that had never been a command. And the way she acted like she could understand him at times...he thought it had just been because they spent so much time together, but now... Did...did she honestly understand him now? But...but he hadn't used the nanobots on her so how could that be?

"Really? I can't imagine her not being as smart as she is now. That's good though, maybe it means Pyrrha is one of a kind. She certainly is unlike anyone else I know when it comes to how she is around the children. The way she is so happy just to see them happy...reminds me of someone else I used to know," Samantha said, obviously to Sanders inner-confusion. Sanders shook the confusion off as he nodded in agreement. Pyrrha had gone back to giving the kids pony rides on her fingers and was as happy as can be by it, softly purring away. She seemed even more happy when some of the kids started to snuggle up to her and her warmth to nap.

"She certainly makes for a good daycare service. Caregiver, toy, and building all in one," Sanders said as he left his confusion for later and focused on the now. Worrying over why Pyrrha was changing for the better was not as appealing as watching her mother the parent-less kids. And besides, whatever was happening was making Pyrrha that much more a valuable ally, so why worry?

Samantha nodded and looked about to say more, but was interrupted as the kids began to pull her toward Pyrrha's hands. She laughed a bit and waved bye to him as she let herself be lead/pulled to the giant hand to help the kids up onto the giant fingers.

Sanders chuckled a bit at the sight and sighed to himself. Man...what the hell did Jacob have to be mad about, anyway? Pushing aside his annoyance and jealousy for Jacob, he moved into the circle and decided to join in on the fun.

"OK, kids, who wants to wrestle a hero?!" he yelled as he got ready to show these kids the moves he had learned with his siblings. He would see them again, one day, and he didn't want to be rusty.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 26, 2024 5:15 AM

It was still nearly pitch black out when Sanders was woken by the horn at the town hall. Both he and Pyrrha cursed the damn noise and Darius for deciding to start so early. Sanders was tempted to have Pyrrha go over and just smash the damn thing as way to say no, but resisted the urge. Instead, he begrudgingly got up and groaned to himself.

This wouldn't have been so bad if Darius hadn't made them stay up so late. Between the meeting on how the backpack would work and the few test runs, it had to have been past midnight before they were left to sleep. Sanders would be surprised if they had gotten more than three hours of sleep and that left a very nasty problem for Sanders. Getting Pyrrha up.

Shouting and yelling only got Pyrrha to squash him into her breast as a way to hush him. Sanders grumbled to himself as he laid smushed into Pyrrha's house-sized breast. He shifted around a bit to try and wiggle free, but didn't get very far. He was about to just give up when he noticed Pyrrha's nipple nearby. Sanders got an evil smirk as he wiggled his way to it. He reached over and rubbed it a few times to get it to harden a bit. Pyrrha moaned a little, but didn't release her grip on him. Sanders went with plan B as he grabbed as big a handful of nipple he could get before squeezing it as tight as he could.

Pyrrha let out a yelp of pain and jolted upward in surprise, sending Sanders flying up before coming back down on the, thankfully, soft breast. Pyrrha growled in anger at him, but Sanders ignored her as he pointed toward the armory.

"I'm just as exhausted as you, but we still need to get moving. Up, Pyrrha," Sanders said as Pyrrha rolled her eyes. She looked like she was going to go back to sleep so Sanders moved over to her nipple again. Pyrrha let out a low growl as he did, but Sanders didn't back down.

"Don't think I won't do it again, Pyrrha, because I will. Let's go, UP!" he said as Pyrrha glared at him. She huffed a bit and gave a low groan of acceptance. Sanders smiled as he felt Pyrrha start to shift up. His smile faded, though, as Pyrrha gave him an evil look and her head lunged toward him. Sanders cursed as he tried to run, but was too slow to avoid Pyrrha biting down on the back of his shirt.

"Dammit, Pyrrha NO! Put me down! You are not going to carry me like...ulp," Sanders said as he already felt his stomach starting to churn from her movements. Pyrrha rolled over and began to head toward the armory, her head swinging around more than usual. Sanders had to fight not to leave what little was in his stomach on the ground  as he dangled more stories than he cared to know above the ground.

"Dam...get you....for this..." he managed to stammer out between gulps and groans, but Pyrrha simply gave a pleased grunt in response.

They arrived to find the members of the expedition slowly filing in. Most of them looked as groggy and generally miserable as Sanders was though a few looked fully awake. Derek was among them and looked like he hadn't just woken up sometime before four AM. Sanders didn't know what kind of coffee he had, but he wanted some. Or he would have if his stomach wasn't about to empty.

Pyrrha, finally, put him down near the platform and Sanders had to rest for a few minutes to recover from the motion sickness. He gave Pyrrha a wicked look as he made a mental note to pull some of her hair out by "accident" during the trip.

Sanders was more than a little worried it might take Derek "helping" to get Pyrrha under the backpack again and his slightly bruised jaw made him very much hope that was not the case. Thankfully, Pyrrha went right under the backpack without a sound of complaint once he told her too, causing him and his jaw to relax.

A few minutes later saw the backpack secured to Pyrrha and Sanders back on her head. He moved to the back of her head to watch as the expedition began to climb the scaffolding to board the backpack. Darius lead the first group, looking just as unreadable as always. He and his soldiers looked no worse for wear thanks to their early start, save one kid who was carrying a large machine on his back. The poor kid looked on the verge of falling asleep and had to be smacked a few times. Next came Derek and Squad three, minus Jacob. They had a few who looked like they still needed to be in a bed, but most looked mostly alert. Samantha looked awake and gave Sanders a half wave as she moved up to climb Pyrrha's hair to where he was. Sanders returned the wave as another squad came up.

Sanders didn't recognize anyone in this group, but their leader still caught his eye. He was a tall lanky man with a completely bald head that sported a number of burn marks. He had a number of large, jury-rigged tanks on him that made Sanders more than a bit nervous. Thankfully, they were taken by some of his men and put in one of the buildings on the backpack. Sanders didn't think he wanted to know what was in those things... As for his soldiers, they seemed like a mix bunch of obviously hardened vets and rookies. The vets looked full awake and didn't bat an eye at what they were getting on while the rookies, at least the awake ones, were slack-jawed and had to be shoved to their spots by the vets.

As the last of the new squad came on and Samantha got up to him, Sanders saw Doctor Kimberly and Jimmy come up. Both were accompanied by three helpers who were lugging leather backpacks full of stuff, most likely tools and such for their respective jobs. Kimberly completely ignored Sanders high up on Pyrrha's head, but Jimmy gave him a nod at least. Both them and their assistants were moved into the larger building near the middle of the platform. Behind them came two people Sanders did NOT want to see. Henderson and Taylor came next and both shot daggers up at him. They headed to the back of the platform to where the large cannon was, thankfully far away from where Sanders was going to be.

"What was that about?" Samantha asked in confusion.

"Don't worry about it," Sanders said.

Sanders thought that was it until he noticed a figure dashing up the scaffolding. The figure looked somewhat familiar, but he didn't place who it was till he had boarded the platform. William Pledger rushed onto the platform and let out a sigh of relief that he had made it. Darius seemed to get a slightly annoyed look by his arrival, but still had some of his men show him to his spot on the platform. With him now on, Darius whistled to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone, hook to the platform now. While we are moving, you are only to unhook yourselves in the event of emergencies. Failure to do so may result in you being thrown off and being killed. Understood?" Darius yelled out. A general yes sir was his answer as people set about hooking their leather harnesses to the spider webs built into parts of the platform. Darius got his own harness hooked in and waited a few seconds before he yelled out again.

"Sound off for securement!" Darius yelled as, one-by-one, everyone sounded of that they were hooked in. When the sounding got all the way back around to Darius, he nodded and turned to Sanders.

"Sanders, let's go," he said simply as Sanders nodded and got to his feet. Samantha nodded to him and started to wrap her hands around Pyrrha's hair. She was going to be his eyes and ears for how things were going back there since he couldn't see through Pyrrha's mass of hair. After making his way through the "forest", he came to her ears and started to get his own grip.

"OK, we are going up!" Sanders yelled back to Samantha before getting Pyrrha to raise herself up. Sanders heard the metal groan as the platform was lifted off the scaffolding. Sanders waited for Samantha to yell back to stop, but heard nothing from her. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sanders got Pyrrha moving toward the drain.

They had tested this climb last night with strawmen and Pyrrha had managed to climb up and wiggle through the drain without losing anyone or damaging the backpack. Still...strawmen were not real people and Sanders couldn't help but be worried. If something went wrong... Pyrrha splashed her way through the lake till she reached the edge of the drain and stopped there. Sanders took a deep breath before shouting back the warning. He heard Samantha give it and waited a few heartbeats before telling Pyrrha to climb.

Up they went as Pyrrha stood up and Sanders heard the backpack roll back into its second stage. He didn't hear any screams of pain or terror as the backpack shifted back to its second stage. It seemed the rubber flooring and addition of hook-ins to the buildings had fixed the problem with the change. With everything still sounding good, Sanders had Pyrrha pull herself up and into the drain itself. Once she was in the drain fully, Sanders head the backpack roll back to its normal stage and waited till Samantha yelled the all clear to get Pyrrha moving forward. She wiggled her way out of the drain, doing her best to stay as low to the ground as possible. Finally, Pyrrha slipped out of the drain and into the gloom of the early morning hours.

"Everything good back there?" Sanders asked, hoping for a good response.

"Everything is fine!" Samantha yelled back as Sanders sighed in relief. The backpack was working just as it was supposed to and, now that they were out of Hope, the worst part should be behind them. From here on, assuming they avoided the Society, it would just be a few days ride to Lindale. Finally, he was heading toward Lindale and the answers he had wanted since that horrid day so long ago. Finally, it was time to see what Manchent had left for them and what had caused Isabella to turn on the Society.

"It took me longer than I was planning, but I'm heading to Lindale. I'll find what you left, Manchent, I'll avenge your death, Isabella, and I'll make sure you didn't die in vain, Lindsey, I swear it," Sanders said as he rubbed his armor and then the whistle in his pocket.

"Pyrrha, let's go," Sanders said as Pyrrha gave a determined meow of her own and took off toward Lindale.

Back in one of the storage building on the backpack, the lid to one of the ammo boxes raised up slightly as Jacob peeked out. He desperately wanted to get out of this damn box and stretch his cramped muscles, but he had to wait till they were too far from Hope to be sent back to reveal himself. Till then, he would just have to suffer. The lid lowered back as Jacob waited for his time to come.


Briefing on Mobile Fortress, AKA "Backpack" operations given in part by Jimmy and Derek:

"OK quiet down everyone. We are going to go over the operation of the backpack and where you are to be on it while we are moving. Make sure you listen and listen good as not obeying the rules we lay out can, and most likely will, get you killed. Understood?"

The large group gives various kinds of yes.

"Good. Jimmy, why don't you start?"

"Alright. First and foremost, let's go over the structure of the backpack itself. It is slightly less than fifty scale yards long and fifteen scale yards wide, making it more than large enough to carry all of us. For ease of visualization and keeping things straight, I've separated the backpack into different sections.

"The first section is the outer most part that we call the oval. The oval runs around the edge of the backpack, but stops near Pyrrha's neck, no need for gunners there. The oval is where our best shooters and soldiers will be, ready to help fend off any attacks, and has numerous tie down points to allow them to move about if need be, though I would not recommend it. It is, also, the most dangerous place to be as you are right at the edge and most vulnerable to attacks. We have put up small barriers of metal and such to try and give some protection, but...well I am sure anyone who is going to be in that position knows how much that helps.

Silence fills the room for a second.

"Anyway, the second section is in the very back behind the oval line. This is the cannon section and is where our air-cannon will be installed. Henderson and Taylor are the only two who should be in this area so we can move on, I'll talk to you two in private about it later.

"Next section going forward from that is the storage area. We have installed two "buildings" onto the backpack that will hold our supplies and keep them from the elements. During travel, the supplies will be tied down and the buildings sealed to prevent us losing anything in case of more...hectic conditions. No one should open or be near these while we are in motion, unless you want to be buried under boxes.

"The middle area is a larger building that will be the barracks and medical area. There are no beds inside, so don't get excited, but there is places that you can hook to the platform. Along with those we put in some specially made tie downs meant for people who are lying down in case of...wounded people. The Doctor, her nurses, my workers, and myself will all be inside during normal operations to keep us out of the way in case the worst should come. Around the barracks are other tie down points that those soldiers not on the oval line will use. There are a few that are close to the oval line, but these should only be used in case of an attack. No reason to have more people near the edge than needed, after all.

Lastly is the command area right behind Pyrrha's neck. This area is where Darius and the other squad leaders will be while we are in motion. It is the best protected area and will give Darius a near direct line of communication with Sanders, though it will require a middle man to sit on the back of Pyrrha's head to relay the messages. Samantha has volunteered for that job so no need to worry about getting picked for it. Sadly, we can't hook a tie down up there so...well I'll just talk to you about it later, Samantha."

"Does everyone understand the layout?"

Another general yes.

"Very good. Now, I will read off where each of you will be assign-"

Chapter 18: Old Friends, New Circumstances

January 26, 2024 9:35 AM

Samantha had to take a deep breath as she made the mistake of looking at the ground. This phobia of heights was making staying on Pyrrha's head a real test, but that was part of the reason she had volunteered. She needed to get over this fear and the only way to do it was to face it head on...or at least that was what she thought, but it didn't seem to be working too well. She shook her head to try and get herself back under control, but her anxiety refused to go away. She cursed to herself as she looked around for something to distract her. 

Samantha was on the back edge of Pyrrha's head, her hands wrapped in the long strands of her blonde hair. Pyrrha's long hair worked well as rope to keep herself from falling off, though it did make it a little hard to see some of the platform. Anything that wasn't directly below her was easy enough to see, but the command area was nearly impossible to see thanks to the mass of yellow hair that went past it. Though, to be fair, she really only needed to be able to hear Darius, not see him.

Looking over the platform, she could still see a few of the people looking pale and worried about this situation. She couldn't blame them for still being nervous. If she wasn't familiar with Pyrrha, and wasn't more freaked out by the ground far below, she would have been scared too. But she knew Pyrrha wouldn't let anything happen to them if she could help it and that...made her feel a lot better actually. It also helped that she just shut her eyes and tried to imagine herself somewhere else, like the ground.

A few hours passed without incident as they keep moving. Samantha managed to find a spot where she could see down onto the platform and not kill her arms. Down on the platform, most of the people looked to have settled in and calmed down. They were either sitting down, laying down if they managed it, or were just standing around looking bored. Between Pyrrha's loud footsteps, she could hear the dull drone of people talking like nothing was wrong at all. Seeing, and hearing, everyone staying calm helped her keep her phobia at bay. She took a relaxing breath as her anxiety gave way just as the sun began to crest the horizon.

Samantha sighed at the rising sun, wishing Jacob could be up here to see this too. Sadly, they were still far too close to Hope for him to come out, assuming he was in one of the boxes, anyway. She still couldn't believe his dad had done that to him. A mission as important as this and he kicks Jacob out... He got enough flak for his, well there was no sense sugar-coating it, stupidity with the colony mission and his refusal to see his own failure there. Now, his own Father had shown an obvious sign he had no faith in him, even if it was meant to keep him safe. Any hope for Jacob to live down the colony mission would have been crushed if he had stayed behind. Which was why he better have been in one of those crates, for his sake in more than one way.

Samantha was jarred out of her thoughts as she heard Darius yell up at her. Samantha shook her head before she leaned out to see him, keeping a grip on Pyrrha's hair. A bit of her anxiety came back, but she keep it away by focusing on listening.

"We need to get off the highway!" Darius yelled up at her before going back to the map he had set up in front of him. Samantha nodded and leaned back away from the edge.

"Sanders! Darius says we need to get off the highway!" she yelled forward to Sanders. Sanders yelled back an okay and Samantha felt Pyrrha shift a bit as she changed direction. As she did, Derek whistled to get everyone's attention over the booms of Pyrrha's footsteps.

"We are about to go off the highway! Things are going to get bumpier so stand up and make sure you are tied down!" Derek yelled out as people began, grumpily, and get up. The complaining soon turned to worried cries of alarm as Pyrrha began to slope upward, going up a hill. Thankfully, Samantha didn't see anyone go sliding down the platform or scream in pain, just surprise. The yells died down as Samantha strained to keep herself in Pyrrha's hair, wrapping one of her feet in the hair to help her tiring arms. Finally, Pyrrha's body evened out before sloping forward as they headed down the hill and into the wild. Samantha groaned as she shook her arms and enjoyed being able to just lay down. She hoped there were not anymore big hills after this...

The next few hours saw more hills and more suffering for Samantha. More than once she debated on asking for someone to take her place, but doing so would mean they would have to stop. Not only would that delay them, but would increase the chance of someone finding Jacob. With no other choice, Samantha gritted and bared it as the hours dragged on. It was nearing noon by the time Darius yelled up to her with the order to stop. Samantha nearly collapsed onto Pyrrha's head once she relaying the message to Sanders. Her arms were screaming in pain and only the cold air was keeping her from being drenched in sweat.

Sanders had Pyrrha move down into a large valley with a small stream running through it before he told her to stop. Pyrrha stretched a bit before she, slowly lowered herself onto her stomach. She gave a loud yawn before pulling her arms up to make a pillow. With Pyrrha now fully stopped, a few of the soldiers began to unhook themselves from the platform to stretch and move around.

"We are going to take a thirty minute break. You can disembark to stretch, get some water, or relieve yourselves. Do not go far and do not make any fires or anything that will draw attention to us. Oval group one is relieved and those in Oval group two will need to take their place and stay on board. Pyrrha will meow once when it is time to re-board That is all," Derek said, not having to yell now that Pyrrha's booming steps were not drowning him out.

The dull hum of general talking soon filled the air as everyone began to move about. People in the oval all stretched and set their weapons down before throwing down rope ladders, hooked to the side of the platform. With that done, most of them headed over to the barracks and found a place to flop down, but a few headed down the ladders to the ground. The rest of the soldiers were about evenly split on heading down or just trying to sleep where they had stood. Samantha picked the latter as she moved up Pyrrha head a bit to find some more even ground and snuggled into her hair. She might have fallen asleep if Darius hadn't started yelling for her.

Grumbling to herself she moved back to the edge.

"Yes, sir?" she said as she looked down toward her commander.

"Tell Sanders to come down. We need to discuss what route to take to Lindale," he said before heading toward the barracks along with Derek and Gerad. She still couldn't believe Darius had brought Gerad along. That man was dangerous to anyone around him, not just to the Society. Then again, considering they were going near Roman territory and into Marauder country, that might be exactly why he was here. Samantha moved back and turned to where Sanders was.

"Sanders, Darius wants you to come down to discuss the route we are using to get to Lindale," she said before getting ready to sit down. Before she could, Sanders responded.

"Alright, could you make sure Pyrrha doesn't move while I am gone?" he asked getting a sigh of annoyance from Samantha. Just never going to get a chance to sit today, was she?

"Yes, that's fine," she said keeping any hint of her irritation out of her voice. She moved to the front part of Pyrrha's head, wading through the brush-sized hair. She gave a nod to Sanders as they passed each other, which he returned, and finally came to the front of Pyrrha's head. She moved over to one of Pyrrha's slightly drooped ears and rubbed it a bit. Pyrrha gave a soft purr in response to the petting.

"Hey, Pyrrha. The boys had to go and make their plans so its just you and me. Guess we shouldn't complain too much cause it means we can get some sleep, right?" she said as Pyrrha just purred in response. Samantha yawned before laying down next to Pyrrha's ear. She enjoyed the soft fuzz that was on its back and was fast asleep in no time at all.

Samantha was jolted awake by a sudden shift from Pyrrha's ear. She wasn't sure how long she had been out, but it couldn't have been too long. The sky hadn't changed much from when she had fallen asleep and she didn't hear anyone yelling for them to get moving. She was about to go back to sleep when Pyrrha's ear shifted again, like it had before. She moved away from it and was about to find some place else to lie down when she noticed that both ears had flattened on Pyrrha's head. That...couldn't be good. As if to prove the point, Pyrrha gave a low growl as her head shifted a bit to the side.

"What is it, Pyrrha?" Samantha asked as she moved forward to look where Pyrrha was looking. Pyrrha responded with the same low growl leaving Samantha to draw her own conclusions. She looked out over the valley, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It couldn't be the Society, they would have gotten a report of them being in their territory before moving out. Was she just smelling a pack of wolves or had one of the people down on the ground done something to her? Neither of those seemed all that likely, even as she wished it was that simple. A pack of wolves would have to be very desperate to attack a group their size, doubly so with them having Pyrrha here, and she doubted anyone in their group was dumb enough to purposely piss off Pyrrha. So what was making her so antsy?

Samantha looked over the area again and, this time, caught a bit of movement with her eye. She turned to it and could see...something moving just beyond the crest of the nearby hill. It looked almost like a triangle blac- Samantha's blood ran cold as she glanced to Pyrrha's own ears. Oh God no...

"FERAL! FERAL CATMONSTER! EVERYONE GET BACK ON PYRRHA! FERAL!!!!" Samantha yelled at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, the air was filled with shouts of warning and alarm as her warning was picked up. She rushed to the side of Pyrrha's head hoping to see everyone had stayed close to the ladders. She got to the edge and looked down, her adrenaline keeping her acrophobia at bay for the moment, to see people scrambling back toward Pyrrha and climbing the ladders as fast as they could. But not nearly fast enough, there was way too many of them down there for them all to make it back up in time and a lot of them were scattered well away from Pyrrha. Samantha could have Pyrrha stand up now and try to fight off or lure the feral away, but if it slipped past them it would be a massacre down there. Not to mention those on the ladders would be thrown off to their death along with anyone not tied down. No, she couldn't let Pyrrha move till everyone was on-board and secured.

She rushed back to the front of Pyrrha's head just in time to see the feral catmonster crest the hill. Pyrrha gave a loud hiss at it as her ears lowered even further. Samantha hoped and prayed it would be enough to scare the feral away. Her hopes were dashed as the feral returned the hiss and began to slowly stalk down the hill toward them, its ears lowered and its claws digging into the earth. Its huge hands and feet smashed apart the trees that happened to be under it as it moved toward them. No no no, this was bad. If Pyrrha couldn't move, she couldn't fight effectively and if she couldn't fight the feral was going to carve a bloody path through them. They would, eventually, bring it down but the cost...

The feral stalked closer and closer as it and Pyrrha hissed and spit at each other. Pyrrha made to stand up more than once and each time Samantha had to tell her no. Samantha wasn't willing to doom those people still on the ground and on the ladders to death, not when there was still a chance to save them. She had to think of something, anything to slow the feral down. She looked around the ground, fighting her fear of heights off the entire time, but saw nothing but trees an- TREES!

"Pyrrha, throw the trees at it," Samantha said, fighting to not yell directly in Pyrrha's ear. Pyrrha stopped hissing for a second as she cocked her head a bit in confusion. Samantha cursed as she tried to think of someway to get Pyrrha to understand.

"The trees, Pyrrha, the things you keep stepping on and ripped up to make the houses, TREES! Throw them at the feral!" Samantha said, unable to keep her voice low as the feral closed with them. Pyrrha was silent for a second and Samantha debated on rushing down to get Sanders so he could try. Suddenly, Pyrrha's arm moved and her claw closed around a bare tree below them. She, effortlessly, ripped it out of the ground, sending large chunks of dirt flying and raised it above her head. With a grunt of effort she sent it flying right at the feral. The tree smacked into the feral's face, causing it to smash apart, and the feral yelped in pain from the impact

The feral stopped its advance as it backed up and hissed in rage. Pyrrha returned the hiss before grabbing another tree from in front of her. She sent it flying toward the feral just like before. However, the feral shifted to the side causing the tree to simply smash into the side of the hill behind her, carving a large crater into it. Samantha didn't care about the miss as relief hit her thanks to Pyrrha understanding.

"That's it! Keep it away from us, Pyrrha, till everyone is on! Wait till it tries to move to us and then hit it!" Samantha yelled as encouragement. Pyrrha plucked another tree up and held it up, but didn't throw it just as Samantha had suggested. The feral hissed at them for a second before trying to move closer. No sooner did it move did Pyrrha hurl the next tree at it. It barely managed to dodge the tree as it sailed past just to its left. The feral didn't waste the miss as it rushed forward. Fear gripped Samantha as it came rushing toward them, but Pyrrha snatched up another tree and chunked it toward the charging feral. It tried to avoid this tree as well, but couldn't turn quick enough while it was charging. The tree smacked into its face and sent it reeling back from the impact.

Pyrrha didn't give it time to recover as she throw another tree at the feral. The tree smashed into the feral's shoulder and it yelped in pain before retreating back to where it had been. It spun back to face them, however, and seemed angrier than ever. Samantha wasn't sure how long they could keep this up. Eventually, the feral might get angry enough to just charge through and attack, and if that happened... She needed to think of someway to bring this thing down for good.

Suddenly, Samantha barely heard what sounded like a gunshot. The feral jerked its arm up as if something had hit it and turned away from Pyrrha. It hissed down at something down on the ground and began to move off to their left. Samantha swore as she realized someone must be down there and trying to lure the feral away. What the hell was that idiot thinking?! That feral would crush them or gobble them up with ease and luring it away from Pyrrha's fron- wait...THE AIR CANNON OF COURSE! It couldn't hit the feral while it was in front of Pyrrha, but if they got it to move to the side, just enough to get Pyrrha's head out of the firing line... Samantha had to make sure whoever that brave soul down there was survived.

The feral stalked toward whoever was down there, hissing with rage. The trees and the sheer distance made it hard to see, but Samantha caught a glimpse of the person every so often. They were running as fast as they could to Pyrrha's side, but was being easily outpaced by the feral. It began to lower itself for a lunge and Samantha's heart leap into her throat.

"Pyrrha, throw!" she yelled as Pyrrha sent another tree at the feral. The feral looked up and lunged backwards to avoid the tree. It hissed at Pyrrha and looked to focus on her again, but not for long as it jerked its arm back again. The feral hissed at the figure before flinched away as another gunshot hit it square in the face. The feral didn't hiss, but roared in fury as it suddenly went charging straight after the figure far below. Samantha swore as she yelled at Pyrrha to throw again, her voice nearly drowned out by the feral smashing its way through the forest. Pyrrha grabbed another tree and pegged the feral again, but the monster ignored the pain and went straight for the figure. Samantha looked on in horror as the catmonster smashed through the trees straight toward the figure and tried to think of something to do. Pyrrha was pulling out another tree as fast as she could, but not fast enough, and Samantha had no weapons! No!

Suddenly, a massive whoomp sound erupted from behind Pyrrha. Samantha watched in stunned awe as a hole appeared in the feral's head and its entire skull erupted out the back. The very dead feral crumpled to the ground, sliding a few more scale feet before stopping. Samantha knew that sound, and the effects of it hitting, from anywhere. The feral had been lured far enough for the air-cannon to have a clear shot.

Samantha moved closer to the edge of Pyrrha's head and looked down to try and see the figure far below. She didn't see anything save the smashed apart trees and the very dead catmonster. Then, a bit of movement caught her eye and she saw the figure pick itself out of a pile of dead trees. It dusted itself off and gave a wave to Samatha. Samantha returned the wave as the air erupted in yells and shouts, all of which had been drowned out by Pyrrha and the catmonster a few seconds before.

"Good job, Pyrrha. If I had a treat that was your size, I would give you every one of them," Samantha said as she rubbed Pyrrha's ears. Pyrrha put down the tree she had pulled up and gave a happy meow. Her ears unflattened and went back to their normal  position as Samantha rubbed them.

"I'm going to go see if everyone is alright. Stay here till me or Sanders tell you otherwise, OK?" she said as she glanced back at the figure now moving toward Pyrrha's side. Pyrrha gave a meow-s...moew-s? Did she just make an S- noise? Naw she was hearing things. Pushing that oddness out of her head, she headed to the back of Pyrrha's head and slid down her hair to the platform below.

The platform was in a state of somewhat controlled chaos. People were moving everywhere and securing themselves down as Gerad bellowed at them to hurry up. Off in the back, near the cannon, she could see Henderson doing his victory dance while Taylor tried to look anywhere else. Samantha had to fight back a giggle at the ridiculous mix of Spanish dancing and...whatever that other part was. As fun as it would be to talk to them when they were high on a kill, she was more interested in seeing who that figure had been. Whoever it was deserved a hero's reward.

She had thought it might have been Sanders, but he was trying to get himself unsecured from a spot that someone had tied him to. Now she knew why he had not been in the room when they had given instructions on how the harnesses work. She walked over to him and started to help him get free.

"Thanks. The moment you yelled about the feral, fucking Derek dragged me here and tied me down. Told me to stay put and stay alive before he went sliding down one of the ladders. And Darius just ignored me and started trying to yell at you to get us moving. Glad you pretended not to hear him," Sanders said as Samantha worked on getting him free.

"I wasn't pretending, I couldn't hear anything with Pyrrha hissing away along with the other one. If I had though, I would have pretended not to. As soldiers, we are supposed to protect people and that includes our own. We don't leave people to die just to save our own skins, not if we don't have to anyway," Samantha said back. Sanders nodded in agreement before trying, and failing, to help get him out. Looking back on it, that might have been a time where they didn't have a choice. If that person hadn't shown up when they did... would...would she have gotten more killed because of her choice to stay? Maybe, but it hadn't so there was no use worrying about it.

Samantha got Sanders free and he gave her a short thanks before charging off to confront Darius. She sighed to herself and let the two boys yell out their differences. She had learned long ago that boys and their testosterone are best left to work out their own problems with each other. She turned back to the side of Pyrrha where the figure had been heading to and looked to see if she could see who it was.

Whoever it was had been rather tall and strong considered they had dug themselves out from under a number of trees. She wondered who that might be when she remembered what Sanders had said. Derek had gone down the ladders to the ground and he was the tallest and strongest person in the Phoenixes. She supposed she should have guessed it was him, who else would be that heroic/crazy. But...why was he using a gun and not his laser cannon? That would have worked far better and could have killed the catmonster without the aid of the aircannon, if he had got a clean enough shot. Something wasn't adding up.

Samantha glanced up as a few hushed words passed through the people by one of the ladders. Samantha moved closer and noticed Luke moving away from the ladder with his gun raised. A woman came up the ladder and cause Samantha's eyes to widen. The woman was nearly covered in skinned animal fur of various origins. A wolf pelt for a vest, a boars for her pants, squirral for boots, and various others that all looked to have been sewn together with clothing fibers. Only her arms and her knees were uncovered and had bits of dried blood on them, where the fur was, obviously, still leaking when she had put it on. Her hair was matted and greasy and was mostly brown, though the tips of it were dyed blue. A tattoo saying "badass" was printed across her cheek while a USMC tattoo was just below her left shoulder. She stood nearly 6'4, in scale anyway, and every man around seemed stunned by the tone of her body, Luke included. Her arms had some serious definition to them.

"You boys going to stand there gawking away at me or are you going to show me to this "Darius" guy that meat head below told me to talk to," the woman said as she got a cocky smirk on her face. There was a moment of silence from everyone as people wondered what to do with this... amazon who had climbed on board. Samantha knew she wasn't one of theirs which begged the question of who she worked for.

"Are you the idiot you tried to take on that catmonster alone?" Luke asked as he snapped out of his stupor. The woman glanced over at him and his leveled gun with an annoyed look.

"Yeah I am. And unless you want me to give a repeat performance with your face, you better put that gun down. Got enough threats from the big roid-abuser down there," she growled out at Luke. She must be talking about Derek as she didn't know many other people who someone her size would consider big, excluding Pyrrha who big was an understatement. Samantha hoped this woman was on their side cause she was awesome, threatening a guy who had a gun on her without so much as a worried look. Luke, however, didn't take the threat to well. He glared at the woman and his grip tightened on his gun. Things might have escalated from there if Susan hadn't come up the ladder.

"Stand down, Luke, Derek has given her the OK to talk to Darius. And you, Gabriella, will refrain from making any threats if you know what is good for you," Susan said as she slapped Luke's gun away from pointing at Gabriella. Luke looked pissed as hell while Gabriella just rolled her eyes. She looked about to say something when Sanders interrupted her.

"Ga-Gabriella?!" Sanders gasped out in astonishment from the command area. Gabriella and the crowd turned to Sanders as he began to walk toward her with a slack-jawed look. Gabriella looked over toward him with a confused look and didn't seem to recognize him at first. As he got closer, though, the light of recognition hit her face along with a huge smile.

"Sanders?! SANDERS!" she yelled as she rushed toward him before wrapping him in a back-breaking bear-hug, lifting him a few scale inches off the ground. Sanders looked to try to return the hug at first, but gave up as he focused on trying to breath.
"Holy shit, I didn't think I would ever see you again, pipsqueak. Though, I guess you are not a pipsqueak now," she said before giving a big happy laugh. Sanders gasped as Gabriella crushed him into herself.

"It...good to...see....air...need...air," Sanders got out between gasps for air. Gabriella, finally, released him and Sanders nearly collapsed onto the ground. He coughed a bit and leaned down on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry about that, just...damn its good to see a familiar face. Was starting to think I was never going to see anyone from the Shields again," Gabriella said as Darius walked over to listen in on the conversation, but made no move to join it. Susan looked about to move in to push them apart, but Darius waved her down. Everyone else got the same message and left Sanders and Gabriella to talk. Sanders took a deep breath to refill his lungs again before standing back up straight.

"Same here. But...why are you our size and out in the middle of nowhere? Weren't you supposed to be assigned to one of the outlying farms?" Sanders asked in confusion. Gabriella's smile faded a bit as her hands clenched together.

"Yeah I was. I helped Isabella sneak out of Atlanta when I left and let her keep my jeep. Good thing I did too, cause the farm turned out to be a trap. Four Sword fuckers were waiting there ready to jump me. They must have been expecting me to roll up on them in my jeep, cause they weren't being very quite. Heard them bitching while I was still a ways down the road about how they had better things to do. Managed to sneak up on them and overheard them talking about killing me. Figured they were trying to get revenge for Lutice, but then they started talking about Angela being the one to send them out here. I wanted some answers, so I jumped them to beat some out of them," Gabriella said with a slight smirk.

"I managed to beat down three of the four, but the fourth girl pulled out some gun-thing. I tried to dodge it, but was too slow. Next thing I know, I'm buried in my own clothes and the bitch's laughter is sounding a lot louder. I dug myself out of my clothes and...well," she motioned to herself to finish the thought.  She fought four people and beat three of them?! Holy crap, she was awesome! Samantha had to get her to teach her how to fight like that.

"Angela had, already. set a trap for you and had a shrink device there just in case... Dammit, did those two know about what Isabella was looking for before she even found it?" Sanders asked, more to himself, as Samantha found herself more and more lost. Shrink device? Was...was that a real thing that existed? If Gabriella was telling the truth then yes it was, but... but why did they use it on Gabriella? And why had they never heard or it or seen it used?

"Those two? You mean Lutice and Angela? Speaking of the Cap, where is she? She didn't...get shrunk too, did she?" Gabriella asked as she started to look around for someone. Samantha had no idea who Cap was, but whoever it was was not here. Which meant...oh no... Sanders closed his eyes and looked down at the ground. Gabriella stopped looking around as she stared at Sanders face. Slowly, her slight smile faded as her eyes widened.

"No....Sanders where...no please tel-..." she stopped as Sanders looked up to her and shook his head, a look of sorrow and lose on his face.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Gabriella. I...I should have...I wanted...She's dead...Isabella is dead," Sanders finally said as he rubbed his eyes to hide his tears. Gabriella shook her head as tears began to run down her own face. She covered her face for a second or two, her breaths coming in gasps before taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from her eyes. Her look of lose was replaced with one of determination.

"What happened, Sanders? Who killed her?" Gabriella demanded as her fists started to shake a bit in anger. Sanders looked back up at her and sighed to himself.

"Angela...Cathrine...and Aviel," he said his voice getting bitter at the last name. Gabriella looked like she had just been stuck at the last two names and stared at him in shock.

"Wh-...WHAT?!" she demanded as Sanders took a breath to steady himself.

"Isabella found something in Lindale. I don't know what, but whatever it was it was bad enough for her to betray the Society. She came back to try and get me and Aviel out and told Cathrine what she had found. But Cathrine...Cathrine is working WITH Angela and told her what was happening. Just before Isabella could get us to take us out of Atlanta, Angela showed up with a shrink gun like the one that was used on you. She shrank Isabella and...and then both her and Cathrine condemned her to death. Angela would have eaten her alive if I hadn't...shoot her before she was...swallowed," Sanders said fighting back tears as he recounted his story. Samantha and most of the other soldiers were dead silent as they heard, for the first time, what had gotten Sanders to jump sides. Jesus...to be forced to shoot a friend to stop them from being eaten alive... Gabriella's fists clenched even tighter as Sanders keep going.

"Angela then gave me and Aviel a choice. Stay quiet and serve them still, or die. I was going to fight her and do whatever I could, but Aviel...Aviel picked the other option. She beat me down all while spitting on Isabella's name. Didn't matter that Isabella was the closest thing to a mother that damn ungrateful bitch had, she just wanted the power. So she beat me, gave me to Angela and joined the Swords. Worse still, Angela gave her back her old size and she looks to be working with Lutice and her bunch now. That traitorous monster... even suggested I get dumped into a catgirl cage to have me killed knowing full well....knowing full..." Sanders said with sheer hate dripping from his voice. He stopped as he started to nearly shake with fury... or was it fear? Samantha was stunned by what had happened to Sanders. No wonder his voice was always filled with hate when he spoke of Aviel. A few holy shit and other such things passed between some of the gathered soldiers. But as angry as Sanders looked, it was nothing compared to the rage that was on Gabriella's face.

"Cathrine....betrayed Isabella? She...she helped Angela...KILL her? And Aviel JOINED THEM?! I...I...." she brought her hands up, clenched so tight that her nails were drawing blood. The look of fury on her face made Sanders look calm in comparison as her entire body seemed to be shaking with barely contained fury.

"I AM GOING TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN THEIR DAMN BODIES, SHRINK THEM DOWN TO THE SIZE OF ANTS AND THEN CHEW THEM UP LIKE GUM! I'LL MAKE THEM WISH THEY DIDN'T KNOW PAIN WAS EVEN A THING! I WILL MAKE THEM REGRET THEY EVER EXISTED! I'll KIL- NO, I WILL FUCKING OBLITERATE THEM AND MAKE THEM BEG FOR DEATH BY THE TIME I AM ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH WITH THEM! YOU HEAR ME YOU FUCKING MONSTERS! I'LL KILL YOU!! I DON'T CARE HOW BIG YOU ARE COMPARED TO ME, NOW! I'LL STILL FUCKING KILL YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU GO THROUGH HELL TO GET TO HELL!!!!!" Gabriella bellowed so loud that even Pyrrha turned toward them to try and see what was going on. Samantha was sure the people down below had heard her as she shook with fury and looked back to Sanders. Sanders' own look of anger had turned to surprise, along with most everyone else. Even Darius looked a bit taken aback.

"Sanders, I don't care what you are doing, where you are going, or who you are working with. As long as it means I get to fight and kill some Society monsters, I am going and I will do whatever it takes to see them ALL dead. Ever last fucking Sword is going to pay for what they did to Isabella. No one, and I mean NO ONE, kills my best friend and doesn't wind up wishing they were in hell before they are sent there!" Gabriella yelled with a look that sent both chills of terror and excitement down Samantha's spine. This woman...she was terrifying, but there was no doubt she was on their side. No one could fake that kind of hate and rage.

The soldiers in the area nudged each other and a few approving comments went between them. Samantha noticed Gerad had stopped yelling at people and was smiling at Gabriella in approval. Figures he would like a person with just as much, and maybe more, hate for the Society as him. Her rant had done more than just prove which side she was on, it had earned her some respect from the people here. Darius, finally, moved forward to stand by Sanders.

"Well said, Gabriella was it? However, it is not up to Sanders if you are allowed to come," Darius said with a neutral look as he crossed his arms.

"Who the fuck is this guy and why shouldn't I kick his ass for interrupting?" Gabriella asked Sanders with an angry look.

"Darius, leader of the Phoenixes, the group our mutual friend Sanders is working with. And the one who decides if you come," Darius said with a slight smirk.

"Oh...," Gabriella said as she got an "oh crap" look. A few of the people around, including Luke, laughed at that. Samantha, though, just felt embarrassed for Gabriella.

"If I need to vouch for her I-" Sanders started but Darius interrupted him.

"Who, exactly, is she, Sanders?" he said as the laughter died away to be replaced with tense silence. Samantha gulped in worry as she hoped this awesome new woman wasn't gotten rid of just as quickly as she arrived. Surely Darius didn't think she was a spy or something. After that rant of rage, how could he?

"Gabriella Pearson. She i- was a Shield Security Officer for the New Atlanta base. Also, she is, debatably, the best fighter in the New Atlanta branch," Sanders said in a military-like tone. Darius nodded, but showed no sign of whether he approved or disapproved of that.

"No debating about it, I AM the best and they are going to regret making an enemy of me," Gabriella said with a self-assured smirk, though she was still shaking a bit in fury.

"I see... Well, Gabriella, normally I would be loathe to welcome a random person into our ranks. However, after your foolishly brave diversion of the catmonster and your obvious hate towards the Society, I cannot see a reason to deny you. Welcome to the Phoenixes, Gabriella," Darius said as he offered his hand to Gabriella. Gabriella got a slight smile as she took it and vigorously shook it.

"Great, as long as you are working on trashing the Society or hurting the Swords, I'm ready and willing," Gabriella said with a vicious stare. Darius gave the barest hint of a smile in return.

"We will certainly being doing both of those, though I will warn you we make no distinction between your, swords and shields. Samantha, see to it that Gabriella gets some real clothing and weapons. She can take Jacob's position in Squad Three, for now, till we find a permanent place for her," Darius said before turning back to the command area.

"Sanders, come with me. I have a few things to talk to you about," Darius said as an after thought.

"I-...fine. When you are finished getting equipped, Gabriella, come to the top of Pyrrha's head and I'll fill you in," Sanders said. Gabriella nodded and Sanders headed off after Darius, most likely to answer questions about Gabriella. Samantha smiled at Gabriella and waved her over to make sure she knew who she was. The larger woman headed over to her and Samantha was a bit taken aback by how much taller Gabriella was than her, and the glare she was wearing.

"You're called Samantha? Let's hurry up and get this over with so I can get filled in on things. Nothing against you, just...yeah," Gabriella said as she glanced away with a slowly returning sad look. It looked as if her rage was slowly dying away to be replaced with sorrow and lose. Samantha nodded in understanding and put on her best sympathetic smile. She thought about trying to say something, but reconsidered as she looked at Gabriella's face. She didn't look like she was any mood to talk and just wanted to get this over with. So Samantha just lead her toward the storage building where, hopefully, they could find her some clothes and a weapon, Derek probably took the gun she had used on the ground.

As Gerad went back to getting everyone in their positions, the two of them headed for the rear of the platform. A few people gave Gabriella a confused or surprised stare, but no one tried to stop them when they saw Samantha was leading her. Samantha headed for the storage building on Pyrrha's left, wondering if she was going to have to ask Gabriella not to give away Jacob. She gulped down her worry and opened the door. Inside was a number of stacked up boxes and thimbles, all tied down completely so they would not move at all. Samantha looked around till she saw a box marked as clothing off in a corner. She moved over to it and untied the web keeping it close.

"These have all our spare furs and clothing. Tell me when you are done changing and I will close it back for you," Samantha said, sounding a bit more stiff than she wanted to. She couldn't help but be a bit nervous around Gabriella being so...well everything Samantha wanted to be. She was tall, strong, confident, and just so...awesome. She reminded her of Jessica in more ways than she could readily count.

"Alright, thanks," Gabriella said as started pulling clothing out. Samantha tried to think of something else to say, but came up empty. Instead, she simply turned to the door and headed out. Gabriella took less than a minute to come out of the storage building. She had thrown on a rather ragged shirt and some patch-work pants that had seen better days. It looked like she had just grabbed the first shirt and pants that fit and thrown them on. However, considering the way she was admiring her chosen jacket, she had taken time to pick it. It was massive bear-skin coat that wrapped around her whole body and nearly was too big even for her.

"Oh shit that is a lot better. Those haphazardly made clothes were just not cutting it when it came to keeping warm. This, though...yeah I am going to be sleeping good tonight," Gabriella said as she looked ready to just curl up in the warm fur and hibernate. Samantha went back into the building and began to tie up the box again.

"You...you made those clothes you were wearing?" Samantha managed to ask, trying not to sound too nervous. Gabriella glanced at her and looked as if she had forgotten she was even there.

"Yeah. Those Sword fuckers just left me there after they shrank me. Said they would rather let me slowly freeze and starve to death than make it quick. Dumbasses must have forgot I am ex-Marine. Ain't no way in hell I was going to die from cold and starvation in fucking Georgia, that's just embarrassing. So I hunted down some animals and used the fibers from my old clothing to make that stuff I was wearing. As I caught more, I added to it till I had that big mess. Wasn't comfortable and wasn't really all that warm, but it keep the cold off enough to keep away hypothermia," Gabriella said as if none of this was a big deal at all. She was out in the wilderness, alone and with nothing, not even clothes, and managed to survive. And, not only survive, but keep herself fighting fit too. Samantha could barely keep herself for stammered out a wow as she tried to keep her dignity. But...she was even more impressive than Jessica and Lindsey put together.

"I....I see. That's...rather impressive," was all Samantha really managed to stammer out. Gabriella gave her a curious look about her stammered words and Samantha had to fight not to blush in embarrassment. She, quickly, finished tying down the crate and rushed out of the building.

"We..we still need to get you a weapon. The weapons are in the other storage building," Samantha said as she tried to focus on doing her job rather than be star-struck with Gabriella. Samantha turned away from the larger woman and headed toward the second supply buildings. Gabriella paused for a second before following after her. She was making a great first impression...

Samantha headed into the storage building and pulled a gun off one of the racks. It was a larger rifle than most, but was still just a rifle. While she might think a launcher was more Gabriella's style, Jacob's position was a rifle-user's so Gabriella needed a rifle. She handed it to Gabriella along with some spare ammo that was laying around. Thankfully, she didn't need to open any of the boxes and risk it being the one Jacob was in. Gabriella looked over the rifle with disapproval.

"This the best you have? Jeez, this things a hunch of junk. Not as much as that gun I was using, but still," she said as she looked over the jury-rigged gun. Samantha knew she was right, but felt a bit of anger at the words anyway. She didn't say anything, though, as she was too nervous to call the larger woman out. She still gave her a bit of a glare. Gabriella must have noticed as she shrugged and sighed to herself.

"Guess I got no right to complain, though. Its free and its a gun. As long as it shoots, it works well enough I suppose," she said before slinging the gun over her shoulder and putting away the ammo. Samantha nodded in agreement and motioned for her to follow. They headed back to the front of Pyrrha and to the command area. With her new clothing on, and the jacket covering most of her up, no one really paid them any mind. As they approached the command area, they saw Darius and Sanders were still talking.

"-ust her, but I meant it when I said she was part of the Phoenixes," Darius was saying as they moved close enough to catch the last bit of the conversation. Sanders seemed more than a little annoyed by what they were talking about, but sighed and waved his hand in a dismissing way.

"I guess that's good enough. Still, I-" Sanders stopped when he noticed the two of them coming toward them, but started again soon after.
"I would prefer if you trusted me when I said someone was trustworthy," he finished, though Samantha had to wonder if that was what he was going to say before he noticed them both.

"I never said I trusted you, either, Sanders. Both you and Gabriella are ex-Society and that creates certain...worries. While both of you do have strong cases to support that you are against the Society, there is more to trust that simply being the enemy of my enemy," Darius said in response, his arms crossed. He turned away from Sanders and toward Samantha and Gabriella.

"Good work, Samantha. Now that you are properly outfitted, Gabriella, I am going to leave you to your squad leader. Susan, the woman who escorted you up the ladder, is usually the leader of Squad Three, but for this mission Derek is in charge. He is the, how did you put it, roid-abuser that you meet down below," Darius said with the the barest hint of a smile.

"Of course he is..." Gabriella said with a sigh, "If it would be alright, though, I would rather stay with Sanders for now so he can fill me in on what is going on. Not going to be much good if I have no idea what we are doing." Darius' slight smile faded away as he seemed to debate that. He glanced over to Samantha before he nodded.

"Fine. Until we stop again, you can stay with Sanders so he can bring you up to speed. After that, however, you are to stay with Squad Three, understood?" he said with a stare that demanded no other answer than yes.

"Yes, sir!" Gabriella said, seemingly going back to her old military roots for a second. Darius nodded in approval before turning back to Sanders.

"Good. Sanders, take Gabriella and get back on top of Pyrrha. Derek should have everyone back on-board in a few seconds and I want to be moving as soon as we are ready. The faster we leave this corpse behind, the better," Darius said before going back to studying a nearby map.

"Alright, come on Gabriella," Sanders said as he motioned for the large woman to follow him.

"Just call me Gabby, alright?" she said as they moved toward Pyrrha's hair to climb up to her head. Samantha was about to head off to try and check on Jacob when Darius suddenly spoke up.

"Samantha?" he said getting her to turn around.

"Yes, sir?" she said, realizing with a bit of worry that she was mostly alone with Darius now. Did...did he know about Jacob? No, how could he, but...

"Head back up with them and be ready to tell them to move out," he said without ever looking up at her. Samantha let out her held breath as she remembered that she still had a job to do.

"Y-yes, of course, sir," she said as she turned to head after Sanders and Gabriella.

"One more thing," he said getting her to stop. Her fear came back full force as she turned back to see him stared right at her.

"Make sure you listen to everything those two talk about. If anything...unusual comes up, tell me. And if anything treasonous is said, kill them both," he said with no hint of any emotion. He simply stared at her as if he had just told her what time it was and not to murder two people. Samantha stammered a bit over words, trying to find something to say or do to dissuade that order, but she couldn't seem to stop tripping over her own tongue. She had killed before, both shrunken people and giantesses, but those were all people she hadn't know. Killing people she knew and had talked to, even if only for a few minutes was...

"Get it done, Samantha. Jessica would not have questioned her orders, after all," he said before going back to studying the maps. Samantha felt like she had just been struck as he said that name. Jessica...she...wouldn't kill people for no....but it was only if it was treasonous talk. And if they did talk about stuff like that, they might kill everyone here. So...wouldn't it be saving people then? Yes...yes it would be and Jessica WOULD kill if it meant saving more people. Samantha took a deep breath to try to calm herself before she answered.

"Yes, sir," she said before turning away from her Commander and heading for Pyrrha's hair. Both Sanders and Gabriella were already about halfway up so Samantha climbed a bit faster than she would have liked. She reached the top shortly after Sanders and Gabriella did and made sure to slid further back that normal. It wasn't close enough for either of them to see her, but it should be close enough for her to eavesdrop on them and still hear Darius.

"-ha and me managed to bring her down. After that, it was easy enough to slip away from the base," Sanders was saying as Samantha started to listen in to their conversation.

"Spent about...a month, maybe less, just trying to get to where their base is, a place called Hope. Wouldn't have taken so long if we didn't have to be constantly going off the wrong way, double backing, and stuff like that to throw off pursuit. Nearly got found a few times, but we managed to stay hidden despite the close-calls," Sanders said, most likely talking about the time before he had joined them. Samantha's worry had gotten worse when he had mentioned Hope, but she relaxed when he didn't reveal where it was. Telling someone they had a base wasn't going to do much good if they had no idea where it was.

"You escaped Atlanta and managed to survive out in the wilds for a month all while having a catgirl with you? Haha, the world really does have a sense of humor. If anyone had told me, a few months back, that you would have a tamed catgirl as your best friend, I would have thrown them in the brig for being a nutjob. Got over your fear, then, huh?" Gabriella said with a laugh. Did Sanders have a problem with catmonsters? Considering how he acted with Pyrrha, you would never know it. Maybe it was only for ferals.

"Yeah... I would have thought they were nuts too. But, no, I am not over it. Hearing that feral coming for us was just...I might have been best that I was tied up and unable to do anything as who knows what I would have done. But...its different with Pyrrha. Maybe its because I know she isn't going to hurt me or anyone unless we do something to deserve it," Sanders said as Pyrrha stared to purr a little, probably from getting a rub behind her ears.

"Ahh. Yeah knowing something isn't going to hurt you does tend to make it less scary. An Abrams coming to the rescue is a god-send, one firing at you is fucking terrifying. Guess this could be like that. Or maybe you just have a crush on your cat-savior," Gabriella said in a taunting manner.

"Wh-What?! I-I don't have a crush on her! How would that even work?!" Sanders said getting a loud laugh from Gabriella. Samantha had to fight not to laugh out-loud herself as Sanders tried so hard to hide it. It didn't take a love genius to see the sparks between the two. But, Sanders did have a point on the last sentence. Any sort of relationship was going to be...problematic.

The laughing was interrupted as a rumble came from below and behind them. Samantha was worried about what it was coming from at first, but soon recognized it as a stomach rumble. Pyrrha's head shifted a bit as she gave a soft, longing meow.

"Sounds like someone is hungry," Gabriella said as Samantha glanced down to see how the platform was doing, having to fight not to freak out at the long drop. A few people were still climbing up the ladders, but most everyone was on now. Just going to be a little while longer for everyone to get tied down and secured again.

"Yeah, but we can't go get some food till we get the order from Darius. Just hang tight, Pyrrha an-" Sanders' words were drowned out as another rumble came from Pyrrha. She gave a more pressing meow as she started to shift a bit.

"Pyrrha, no! We can't move till Darius says we can! If we do we might hurt someone!" Sanders yelled as Pyrrha's shifting stopped. Her stomach, however, grumbled again and she gave another long, wanting meow.

"Dammit, Pyrrha, I know you are hungry, but we can't go hunting yet! Just be pat-"

"Huneory," a loud voice said. Samantha eyes went wide as she turned to the front of Pyrrha's head and looked on in astonishment. Had she...no, no she had to have mishea-

"Hungrow, hun-...hung...hungry," the loud voice said again, causing Samantha's jaw to fall to the floor.

"Hungry," Pyrrha whined again.

Chapter 19: Cracking Alliance

January 26, 2024 3:25 PM

Sanders was...bewildered, stunned, confused, and more as he stared down at Pyrrha's head. She...she had talked! She had said she was hungry! How...but...

"W...what?" he stammered out, unsure if he was hearing right or just going crazy. He had to be going crazy.

"Hungry," Pyrrha whined up at him again, dispelling any chance Sanders had heard wrong. She had, without a doubt, said hungry. And a quick glance at Gabby told him he wasn't the only one to hear it.

"Woah...she can talk? You never mentioned that," Gabby said looking completely amazed by this development.

"That...that's because she couldn't," Sanders said as Gabby snapped around to him. Her look of amazement turned to a bit of worry as Pyrrha's stomach rumbled again. She whined again, but didn't talk this time.

"Well...that is...I'm not really sure what that is. But, we...we should probably worry about this later when we are not beside a dead catgirl that is going to attract attention. And when Pyrrha is not slowly getting hungry enough to try to eat one of us," Gabby suggested as she backed away from the edge of Pyrrha's head. Sanders was about to snap at her for suggesting Pyrrha would eat them and that they needed to find out what was going on with her when Samantha interrupted him.

"Sanders! Darius gave the all-clear! He said to get us moving and find Pyrrha some food!" Samantha yelled from the other side of Pyrrha's head. Pyrrha's ears seem to perk up at the mention of food and her stomach gave another rumble.

He must have heard that wrong. There was no way anyone on the platform hadn't heard Pyrrha and yet he was fine with them still moving? Then again, the only other option would be to get off and risk the attention of whatever was brought by the dead catgirl, which could very well be another feral. As much as Sanders wanted to stop and find out exactly what was going on with Pyrrha, they needed to get moving or they would be risking deaths on their side. Sanders was not going to be the cause of more allies deaths. Barely stopping himself from rubbing the whistle in his pocket, he sighed and turned forward.

"Alright, Pyrrha, we can get going now. Let's go find you some food," he said wondering what kind of reply he would get. Sanders wasn't sure if he was more or less happy that Pyrrha gave her usual happy meow in response. She, slowly, stood back up onto all fours and started forward, already sniffing the air for her next meal. Sanders glanced back toward the platform, unable to see it because of Pyrrha head. He wondered what they all thought of this and whether the next stop would be the end of this alliance.

Sanders spent the rest of the trip worrying about what would happen when they reached their next stop. Would Darius see a talking catgirl as a boon or a potential problem that needed to be dealt with? He hoped for the former and thought it more likely considering how cold and logical Darius seemed to be. Talking or not, Pyrrha had not shown any hostility toward anyone, well save Jacob and Derek but they had caused said hostility. Surely he couldn't think she was still dangerous after all this. Still, he couldn't help but worry, doubly so about the other Phoenixes. Darius might be all logic, or at least seemed to be, but everyone else...

Gabby tried to distract him with kind words and such, but Sanders barely heard anything she said. He just stood there thinking on what to do if the worst should happen...Hopefully, Darius would just let them leave if they decided to stop, but Sanders had his doubts about that being the likely end. If Darius tried to force him to stay, was Sanders willing to fight and potentially kill to escape? He...he honestly was not sure. At least Pyrrha had found a herd a deer along the way and eaten her fill. She would be fully ready if the worst should come...and God help him if it did...

They arrived at the northern edge of the Phoenix's territory a few hours later. By then, night had covered the area in a dark blanket that made it near impossible to see thanks to the moonless night. Thankfully, Pyrrha seemed to be able to see well enough to keep going, but slowed down a good bit. They had to stop a few times as William and a few others got down to try and figure out where they were. They were supposed to find a watchpost and stay near it for the night, but the fight with the feral had delayed them and the pitch black night was making it hard to find.

Finally, William returned with the watch commander, a woman named Meredith, and a group of soldiers from the watchpost. They had been out looking for them and had stumbled onto William while he was out trying to find them. Sanders had Pyrrha, carefully, follow Meredith and the rest as she lead them to where they would be hiding. Slowly, a large form loomed out of the darkness and Sanders was just barely able to make out the form of a shed. The shed was made from old pieces of sheet metal and looked to be on the verge of falling apart. However, it was still together enough for Pyrrha to hide in and give the other's plenty of room to set up camp. They headed inside and Pyrrha nearly collapsed once Sanders told her she could lay down. She gave a big yawn as she stetched out before lifted her hand up to bring Sanders and Gabby down to the ground.

Once on the ground, Sanders glanced around Pyrrha's head and saw people climbing down the ladders leading off the platform. A few of them were carrying large bundles on their back, likely filled with supplies or food. He tried to see if he could pick out Darius among them, but it was simply too far to tell who was who. He needed to find him and make sure Pyrrha's talking didn't cause him to rethink this plan. He turned back to Gabby as he tried to think of what to say.

"Gabby, could you stay here and make sure Pyrrha doesn't move or anything. Just tell her no if she starts to move," Sanders asked, only half paying attention to her. He had to keep this mission going or, at the very least, keep himself going toward it. He wasn't going to let Manchent and Isabella's death be in vain, no matter what.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure. Aunt Gabby will make sure she doesn't get fussy," Gabby said with a confident smirk. Pyrrha gave her a confused look as Sanders nodded and headed toward the ladders. Some part of him was a bit worried if Gabby could keep Pyrrha under control, but he was far more worried about the potential problems Pyrrha talking could make. Worse came the worse, Samantha was still around and could takeover.

Sanders was nearing the ladders when he saw a few people splitting off from the mass to come toward him. Sanders managed to pick out Darius leading the group followed closely by Derek and the bald squad-leader. A few soldiers were with them along with William, Kimberly, and Jimmy. Great...Sanders would had preferred a private talk, but that was unlikely with all of them coming too. At least William was along and he seemed like a reasonable person.

"Sanders, good of you to meet us. We need to speak about Pyrrha," Darius said, his face and tone giving no hint to what he was thinking. Sanders swore as he realized why all these people were with him. They were going to be discussing what to do and whether to call off the expedition. Dammit...

"I wouldn't have thought her simply being able to talk would have needed a full meeting of everyone. You all knew she was smarter than normal," Sanders said, hoping to get some of them to agree with him. Maybe he could defuse this before it started.

"You thought wrong. We knew she was smart, but being able to talk changes everything. Animals don't talk," Derek said with an angry glare. Sanders was tempted to return the glare, but stopped himself. Getting mad at Derek wasn't going to help this mess, doubly so now that it was obvious there was no avoiding it.

"Indeed, this does change things, but we can get into this debate once we are away from any wondering ears. Come," Darius ordered as he started off back toward Pyrrha's head. Sanders sighed as he fell in at the back of the group, getting a sympathetic smile from William. They moved past Pyrrha's head, both Gabby and Pyrrha giving them a confused stare, till they were near the entrance of the shed. The moved into the corner as the soldiers with them created a perimeter around them to keep out anyone.

"Now that we are alone, we can discuss this issue in full without worry of our words spreading to the soldiers. We cannot afford to present a divided message to them if we hope to keep them cohesive. Therefore, whatever decision we make here must be the decision we all, at least in front of the soldiers, support. Any dissention from that will spread to the soldiers and doom this expedition. Is that understood?" Darius asked with a glare that made it clear there was only one acceptable answer. He turned to everyone as they nodded in understanding, including Sanders. At least he was still making it seem like the expedition would keep going. If he had already decided they were stopping, Darius wouldn't be so concerned for their morale.

"Good, now Pyrrha's...change has made a number of you less than sure of continuing with this mission. Others, however, feel this does not warrant a change of plans. Rather than allowing this to turn into a shouting match, we will each be given a chance to speak our minds on what needs to be done. Once that is finished, we can try to find a proper compromise that we can, at least, live with. Derek, you can start," Darius said as he motioned for Derek to go ahead. Sanders guessed this was the fairest way to do this, though he would have preferred someone else going first. Derek nodded and turned to the group.

"It is my opinion that we need to call off the mission, for now, till we understand just what is happening to Pyrrha and if we can fully trust her. Before, we thought she was a simple, though rather intelligent, animal. However, her sudden ability to speak suggests she is not just an animal, but something closer to a person. If that is true, then she may start thinking like a person as well. I doubt, no matter how she might change, she will turn on Sanders, but the same cannot be said for the rest of us. What are we to do if she decides that protecting him overrides aiding us, or starts to view us as a threat? Even if you think that is unlikely, just remember we have no idea what is happening to her and she is our only way back to Hope. It's simply too dangerous to go so far from our territory using something we can no longer guarantee will be available to us on our return. We are better off returning to Hope, testing just how trustworthy Pyrrha is, and try this again when we know we can count on Pyrrha rather than risk all of our deaths or being months away from our territory," Derek said in a, as much as Sanders hated to admit it, convincing way. Despite himself, Sanders couldn't help but understand Derek's worries. Sanders had nothing to fear from Pyrrha, no matter what was happening to her, but... but he wasn't sure he could extend that to everyone here. And if she ever did feel Sanders was in danger and leaving them could save him...

Dammit, no! He trusted Pyrrha more than that! She wouldn't leave them to die even if it meant saving Sanders and she sure as hell wouldn't turn on them, unless it was Derek or Jacob...she might turn on them. Sanders wanted to debate Derek's words and show them to be false, but Darius spoke up before he could get anything out.

"William, you can go now," Darius said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Sanders closed his mouth as he was a bit surprised with that tone and Darius' face. For once, it was not completely emotionless and had a bit of anger on it. Was he angry at what Derek had said or was he angry at William? Either way, Sanders decided to keep silent and let William get his say. The older man had seemed a good deal smarter than Derek and Sanders was interested with what side he would take. William stroked his large grey beard in thought before starting.

"Alright. Well, I can't completely disagree with Derek's points. Pyrrha talking does seem to show that she is more intelligent than we thought and does add a bit of an unknown variable to the mix. However, I don't think we have the luxury of going back to deal with this unknown how we would like. I read the reports on what happened with the first test of Pyrrha as a weapon, including the part Samantha submitted about Sanders'...encounter with his old partner," William paused as he glanced over toward Sanders with a sympathetic look. Sanders turned away and had to fight to keep his anger from raising to the surface. Aviel...

"According to Samantha, the Society patrol realized that the giantess was killed by a catmonster acting with Resistance aid. Worse, they guessed it to be Sanders' doing. That means they will know Sanders has joined a Resistance group and passed along his information to us, information that they will know as well since his partner was there to hear Manchent's last words as well, or at least that is what I would guess," he paused as Sanders looked up to see him and the rest staring at him.

"Yeah...yeah she heard it too," Sanders said with a depressed sigh. Derek swore under his breath while the bald guy seemed kinda bored. Jimmy rubbed his head while both Kimberly and Darius keep their faces passive.

"It is highly likely, then, that the Society will be sending their own forces to Lindale to find our objective and destroy it. Currently, we have a head start, but it will still take us at least two days to reach Lindale. The Society, however, will only need two to three hours to arrive, and that is assuming they have to stop to clear the road a few times.  I don't disagree with Derek that we are taking a risk, but I think the risk is necessary. I knew Gregor and he would not have told two strangers about this unless it was direly important that it was found. We have to find whatever this thing is, no matter the risk," William said with a determined look that reminded Sanders of the look Manchent had had just before... Sanders had to fight not to shiver as he tried not to relive that horrid memory.

Derek crossed his arms and seemed less than happy with William's words, but slumped a bit as if in defeat. The bald commander rubbed the scar on his chin as he nodded at the words.  Jimmy sighed to himself and looked bored with this whole thing, his gaze drifting back toward Pyrrha. Maybe they wouldn't need to go through them all, after all. It was looking like William had convinced the bald guy and Derek they had to keep going.

"There is still one thing no one has answered, though," Kimberly suddenly spoke up, giving both Sanders and Darius a glare.
"What, exactly, did Manchent leave? You said it would turn the tide and yet Derek, your second, seems to be ready to let it go. Seems odd if it was something so important," Kimberly finished as her eyes narrowed. Jimmy turned back to the group after her words and looked just as curious. The bald man, however, just rolled his eyes. Darius returned Kimberly's glare for a second before speaking up.

"Fine. The truth is we do not know what it is. All we know, as William pointed out, was that it was valuable enough that Manchent risked telling two Shields about it when it was clear he was going to die, but did not tell Derek when it looked as if he could survive. That would-" Darius was interrupted as Kimberly butted in.

"Imply it was very valuable, yes yes. But you and our...hero still have no idea what it is. Meaning it might be completely useless to us. You are risking people's lives on an unknown thing and, now, want to risk them while using a transport that might be dangerous. One is bad enough, Darius, but two is too much. We should turn back now before you get us all killed," Kimberly said with a harsh glare and a tone to match. Sanders wanted to be angry at what Kimberly was saying, but couldn't as he knew she was right. They were risking all these people on a prayer, maybe even less than that. Maybe...maybe they should turn around and leave Sanders to go look for what Manchent left alone. At least then it was only him and Pyrrha at risk...

Sanders glanced over to Darius and saw his eyes narrow at Kimberly as his face sneered a bit in anger.

"Before I get us all killed? Do I need to remind you that I have yet to say what I think is best and that you had no issue with this mission before now? If we all die, the fault is mostly mine, but plenty falls on you as well, Doctor. Just as it always has," Darius said as Kimberly's face reddened in anger.

"How da-" Kimberly started to say before Jimmy butted in and moved between the two of them.

"Alright, that's enough. Doctor Kimberly, stop trying to put the blame all on Darius for things that go wrong and Darius, stop holding her own past failures against her. We all are going to pick what happens here so the fault lies with all of us if we wind up dead. Now, let's get back to figuring out what we are going to do before the Society decides for us," Jimmy said as he looked between Darius and Kimberly. They both glared at the other, but looked to back down. William sighed to himself and shook his head as Darius' glare shifted to him.

"You... are right, Jimmy, I apologize. Why don't you give your opinion now so that we can move on?" Darius said as his face went back to its passive mask. Kimberly crossed her arms under her large breasts and still looked angry, but keep silent. Jimmy seemed content with that as he stepped out from between the two. Good thing Jimmy was here to defuse that situation before it got out of hand.

"Huh? Oh yeah...right. Well everything I wanted to say has already been said, mostly. I do think we are taking a risk using Pyrrha when we don't know what is going on with her, but it would be a shame for all that work on the platform to go to waste. And I think Manchent wouldn't have made such a fuss over something stupid, but I didn't know the guy so... Hell, we might as well go for it. Pyrrha and this platform are our only chance of turning the war around and if we don't have enough faith in them just to ride them, how the hell are we supposed to fight on them? They either work and we have a chance or they don't and we are all fucked. Might as well find out now rather than waiting around for it," Jimmy said with a shrug. It wasn't a great vote of confidence, but it was a good point. If they gave up on Manchent's thing and the platform, what hope did the Phoe- hell anyone, have? 

Kimberly didn't look convinced, though, as she shook her head in disgust. Derek looked less than happy as well, but William nodded his agreement. The bald man didn't seem to be listening anymore and looked rather bored as he silently whistled something to himself. For his part, Sanders was still torn. Jimmy did have a good point, but he still wasn't sure he was willing to risk all these people on this. But...but if he failed...

"Gerard, do you have anything the say?" Darius asked after a second of waiting. The bald man looked back to the group and thought for a second.

"Naw, I'm here to fight and burn some damn giant bitches, not do all this talking. I don't care what we decide to do, just wish we would hurry up and pick one so I can roast me up some giantess," Gerard said with a grin that made Sanders more than a bit uncomfortable. He was starting to see why the group keep further away from him than they did everyone else. He was, also, sure what was in those canisters Gerard had brought on-board and that made Sanders very, very worried.

No one looked surprised by Gerard's answer, or rather lack of one, and they all turned to Sanders. Sanders realized he was going next a second before Darius actually spoke. Great...

"Sanders, do you have anything to add?" he said as Sanders got a bit of stage-fright. He fought it off as he gulped down his fear. Fuck he had stared down catmonsters and giantesses, what the fuck was he worried about this for?

"I..." he started to say, but stopped as he realized he wasn't sure what he was going to say. He agreed with William that this was necessary and that whatever Manchent left had to be important, and yet Kimberly's point of risking everyone on a unknown thing keep coming back to his mind. He was sure Pyrrha wouldn't hurt anyone...but then he had been sure Pyrrha couldn't talk. And then there was the threat of the Society showing up...

"I...I don't think I can really give an opinion on this. I'm biased toward saying we keep going, but that is because I have a personal stake in finding what Manchent left. And, unlike all of you, I know for a fact Pyrrha would never hurt me, I...can't in all honesty give that same guarantee to everyone else. The only real thing I want to say, or rather ask, is that if you all do decide to turn back, you let me and Pyrrha keep going. That...that's really all I got to say," Sanders said with a halfhearted nod. He looked over the group and was half expecting to see them angry about him not picking a side. However, they all looked to understand his reluctance and looked to accept that answer. Even Derek looked...not happy but not angry either which was an improvement. Darius, though, seemed to be looking at something else in the distance.

"Fair enough. Then we have a split of two opinions to head back and two to continue on. The general theme is that Derek and Kimberly believe using Pyrrha is too much of a risk now, while William and Jimmy think the potential rewards are worth the risk. I am more inclined to lean to Jimmy's line of thinking, but I think there may be a way to settle this without an argument," Darius said as he looked between them all. Everyone, including Sanders, gave him a curious look, interested in what he had in mind.

"The crux of the problem is that Pyrrha's sudden ability to talk implies she may be gaining a more...human outlook. However, talking does not truly mean intelligence. After all, a parrot talks and we would not say it is of human level intelligence. Therefore, I think we need to establish whether Pyrrha is truly talking or simply repeating words she has associated with her wants," Darius said as he motioned toward the massive prone form of Pyrrha. She was giving Gabriella her confused look as Gabby yelled something at the catgirl, though Sanders couldn't hear what.

Derek gave an unsure look to Darius for a second before, slowly, nodding to himself.
"That...is a good point. All she has said is hungry and she went right back to meowing afterwords," he said as he glanced over to Kimberly. Kimberly didn't look as convinced as she keep her arms crossed under his breasts.

"Its a fine thought, but how do we prove she can't talk?" she said with a skeptical look.

"Well...we could try talking to her. If all she does is repeat what we say then we have our answer," William suggested as he ran his hands through his beard. 

"So we go talk to the catmonster and if it talks back, we go back, but if it don't we keep going? Sounds good enough to me, now can we get to it so we can get back to important shit?" Gerard barged in, looking very impatient and over this whole thing. Everyone nodded in agreement to the idea, Kimberly looked less than happy with it however. Despite nodding, Sanders couldn't help but be worried. On one hand, if Pyrrha could talk it would be...he wasn't sure what it would be, but he would lose the Phoenixes. But if she couldn't talk and was just repeating words... He and Gabriella had said hungry more than a few times before she said it, now that he thought about it. Was she really just copying him?

The group headed over to Pyrrha's head in silence as the soldiers fell in along side them. As they got closer, Sanders was able to pick up on what Gabby was saying to Pyrrha, who was still giving her a confused look.

"Come on, say Gabby! G-A-BB-Y! Fine, how about Sanders can you say that?... Come on, I know you can talk, you did it a few hours ago!," Gabby said as Pyrrha tilted her head back and forth at her. She glanced up and saw the group coming toward her and smiled a bit at Sanders. It vanished, though, when he eyes settled on Darius and was replaced with a nervous look. He still couldn't figure out why she got like that only around Darius. Sure he was a bit...intense, but so was Derek and yet she just glared at him.

Gabby turned back and gave a stiff nod to the group. Darius ignored her as he moved up to Pyrrha, seemingly oblivious to the discomfort he was causing her. Sanders moved up to stand beside him, worried she might swipe at him if he wasn't there to stop her. He motioned Gabby back and she shrugged before stepping away.

"Hello, Pyrrha. I am Darius, can you say that?" Darius asked as Pyrrha seemed to want to look anywhere, but at Darius. She said nothing as she shied away from him.

"Maybe someone else should try, Darius. You seem to be making her nervous, not surprising really," Kimberly said as she moved forward. Darius glanced back at her and nodded. He moved back with the rest of the group as Kimberly walked up to join Sanders. Pyrrha seemed to calm down a good deal once Darius turned away and glanced down at Kimberly in curiosity.

"Hello, girl, are you hungry, hmmm? If you are just say hungry," Kimberly said in a kind and sweet voice that Sanders was stunned could come out of her mouth. Pyrrha stared at her, but didn't say anything.

"No? Not hungry? That's ok, you had a big dinner. Mind if I pet you? Yes, that's a good girl. Hey, who is that, hmm? Do you know his name," Kimberly asked as she moved up and began to rub Pyrrha's cheek. She pointed to Sanders and made sure Pyrrha could see her finger pointing toward him. Pyrrha looked at him, but gave no response save her purrs at the petting. Kimberly sighed in annoyance and stopped petting Pyrrha as she put her hands on her wide hips in a huff.

"Might as well give it up. I have been trying to get her to talk since Sanders left me with her. All she has done is purr and yawn. Oh and growl when I bopped her one in frustration," Gabby said as Pyrrha glared at her a bit.

"Gabby! Are you trying to get hurt?!" Sanders yelled at her getting an unconcerned shrug from Gabby.

"Pfft, she knows better than to mess with me," Gabby said with a cocky smirk. Sanders groaned at that and wondered what limb Pyrrha would break when Gabby, inevitably, pushed her too far. Gerard, however, gave a hearty laugh at Gabby's confidence, getting an annoyed glare from Derek.

"It would seem Gabriella has already done our test for us. Pyrrha has not talked since this afternoon and shows no signs of talking now. Most likely, her talking was a fluke of some kind brought about by her hunger. These catmonsters ARE modeled after humans so it should not be that surprising that they can form words," Darius said with an air of finality. Kimberly looked about to debate, but was stopped as William spoke up.

"Sanders, or I suppose Gabriella might know this as well, does the Society keep their catmonsters around people a lot?" he asked as he rubbed his beard in thought. Sanders and Gabby glanced between each other in confusion before Sanders answers.

"No, they keep them locked in cages whenever they are not being used on missions. Its to keep tin- smaller people away from them. Also keep them from pissing and pooping all over the floor," Gabby answered, beating Sanders to the punch. William nodded as everyone, save Darius, gave him a confused look.

"So it is not typical that one would have so much contact with people or hear so much talking? Perhaps the answer to the talking issue is right there. Maybe they all can mimic human speech just they never hear it enough to manage it, unlike Pyrrha," William suggested. That did make a lot of sense. Even when it was just him and Pyrrha, he did talk to her a lot and even carry on one-sided conversations with her. He was sure that kind of thing didn't happen to other catgirls. Add in her higher than average intelligence and it seemed highly likely that she simply had learned how to mimic them.

Kimberly thought on that for a moment before sighing to herself. She stared at Pyrrha, who stared back, for a second before nodding.

"You...you are probably right, William. Still, we should be careful near her from now on. We do not want her mimicking us when we are trying to sneak away or learning...things we would rather not be repeated," Kimberly said as she moved back to the group. Derek nodded in agreement, but looked to have accepted defeat as well.

"It...does seem like the most likely explanation. And she did only say one word," Derek added, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than anyone else.

"Then we are all in agreement that the mission is still on then?" Darius asked as, one by one, everyone nodded.
"Good. Return to your duties and spread the word that we are still on mission. If anyone asks, tell them Pyrrha was just parroting Sanders and was not truly talking. That should calm everyone down and keep people from freaking out. Derek, Gerard we need to discuss our plans for the rest of the journey, come with me," Darius said before he turned to Sanders.

"Sanders, make sure you and Pyrrha are ready to move out bright and early. If you need some food, don't hesitate to get it from the platform," Darius said with a nod. Sanders nodded as Darius gave him an odd smile only Sanders saw. Before Sanders could say anything, Darius turned away and started off toward the camp the others had set up. Derek, Gerard, and most of the soldiers followed after him. William gave Sanders a weary smile before following after Darius and the rest, despite the fact he was not asked to come. Kimberly didn't look or say anything to Sanders as she headed off toward the camp. Jimmy shook his head at her and shrugged to Sanders before following after her. Sanders watched them go for a second before turning back to Pyrrha, who still looked a bit nervous.

"She really doesn't like that Darius guy does she?" Gabby said as she watched them go.

"Yeah...just wish I knew why," Sanders said as he rubbed Pyrrha's cheek. If she had been able to talk...

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Derek was less than happy with the results of their debate. While it did seem William's theory about Pyrrha was the most likely, Derek still couldn't shake his worry. Pyrrha might not be on human level of intelligence, but it was obvious she was far smarter than a normal catmonster. That alone made her far more dangerous and keep him from being totally for this mission. Still, he had agreed at the debate that they should keep going and he wouldn't suggest they stop. But that didn't mean he couldn't suggest ways to help lessen the risk. At least Jacob wasn't here for this...

"Darius, I know we agreed to continue with the mission, but I still have some concerns I think we should address," Derek said, unable to keep his fears to himself any longer. Darius glanced back at him as they headed to the command tent that had been put up along with a few others.

"Such as?" Darius asked as he continued toward the tent.

"We know Pyrrha will not harm Sanders and that he has a good deal on control of her, but what happens if we lose him? If he dies and we lose control of Pyrrha while we are outside our territory, I am not sure any of us would be able to get back," Derek said, letting his fear and worry into his voice. Trying to act tough wasn't going to help his position.

"We'll just roast the damn thing and anyone or anything that gets in our on the way back. Burn 'em up real good," Gerard said with a grin that made Derek groan. Dammit, he had told Darius it was a bad idea to let him come, but Darius had still relented when Gerard demanded to be allowed on board. Madman should be in a cell, not leading troops, no matter how good with fire he was. It was obvious to everyone that he was a pyromaniac that barely keep himself under-control.

"Yes because all our problems can be solved with the proper use of fire. Gerard, Pyrrha is not like a normal catmonster, she is far smarter and far more dangerous. If she turned against us-" Derek started to say before he was interrupted.

"We would be lucky if even half of our numbers survived her attack. I may have sided with continuing forward, but Derek does bring up a good point. Losing Sanders would be a blow, not just in possibly losing Pyrrha, but in morale. After all, he is supposed to be our hero come to save us all. We should discuss how best to keep that from happening and how to deal with Pyrrha should the worst come to pass," William said from behind them. Darius glared back at him for half a second before turning back forward without a word. Derek sighed to himself as Darius held onto his grudge with William. He supposed he wasn't in a position to judge, but this damn feud between them was getting old. Doubly so when they were the two smartest people in the Phoenixes.

Darius brushed aside the flap to the command tent and headed inside. Gerard and Derek followed after him, but Darius motioned for William to be kept out. The soldiers by the door locked their guns together to keep him from coming in.

"Darius, William is our scout here. He needs to know what we are doing and planning if he is going to be any help," Derek said in his best advising tone. This was a touchy subject and one of the few where Darius would let emotion override his sense, but Derek was hoping he could get through that. They needed William and his abilities if they wanted to make sure their losses were minimal. Unavoidable losses were one thing, but losses that were caused just simply by a feud in their ranks was not something Derek would allow.

Darius gave Derek a glare that might have caused someone else to back down. Derek, though, had been on the receiving end of that glare too many times to be kowtowed by it. He crossed his arms and returned the glare as he refused to back down. Finally, Darius turned from Derek with a annoyed huff and motioned for William to be allowed in. William nodded a thanks to Derek before he took a seat in a nearby chair.

"Let's get straight to business. William," Darius gave him a glare, "is correct that we need to keep Sanders safe, however, the plan for Pyrrha is not needed. Gerard, Jimmy, and myself have already taken care of that."

"You have? How?" Derek asked in surprise. Gerard gave him a wicked grin as William's face turned to a frown.

"You don't think those four little canisters are all the fun juice I brought, did you? Got a shit ton more hidden in parts of the platform ready to be set off if the pussy gets a little uppity. Or we just need a distraction," Gerard said with a chuckle as his eyes seemed to light up in anticipation. Both Derek and William were shocked by the news and stared at Gerard in disbelief. Derek recovered first as he turned to Darius and saw him frowning at Gerard.

"Why wasn't I told about this?" he demanded as Darius shook his head with a sigh.

"Because of what you did today. If you knew that we had a way to take Pyrrha out of the picture with a push of a button, you would not have been so...convincing with your attempts to get us to stop. That may have tipped off Sanders that something was wrong and if he had discovered what we had done..." Darius stopped to let Derek fill in the rest.

"He would have been furious. Possibly mad enough to leave," Derek finished for Darius. Still, he should have been told about this! He was second in command and he felt like he was being left out of the loop more and more. He glared at Darius for a second before he started to reconsider. Then again...he had always been terrible at acting...maybe that had been the best option.

"And well he should be! Darius, Pyrrha has shown no sign of trying to betray us so you rig her up with explosives?! What will happen if they go off by accident or are triggered when she is still on our side?! We could lose the one thing we have that can fight a giantess!" William said in a mix of anger and confusion as he stood back up. Darius looked away from Derek and turned to glare at William.

"And what will happen if she turns against us? You said it yourself that we would be lucky if half of us survive if she attacked us. That is too big a lost of life take without some kind on insurance that it will not happen. Doubly so when many of those lives are some of our best soldiers. As for being triggered by accident, Jimmy and Gerard took every precaution to make sure the chance of that is as low as possible. I deemed it worth the risk, as leader of the Phoenixes," he said, his glare turning more angry at the last part. William looked about to say something in response, but stopped. He nodded in understanding before looking away and sitting back down.

"Do you have any problems with this plan, Derek?" Darius said as he turned his gaze toward him. Darius was shaking his head before Darius' eyes even settled on him. It would be a shame to lose Pyrrha, but this put most of Derek's fears to rest. They could put Pyrrha down if needed with minimal losses and, while getting back would still be a problem, it was one that had dealt with before.Being stranded with eighty to seventy percent of their forces alive gave them a good chance of getting back. He was worried about trying to make it back with less than fifty.

"Good. Then we can move on to keeping Sanders safe. The most obvious way is to keep him away from battles. However, his own personality and general need to be in the thick of everything makes that a near unattainable goal," Darius said as his face went back to his usual passive look. William went to stroking his beard as Derek tried to think of some other way to keep him safe.

"Why not just give him a bodyguard or something? Someone who could drag his ass to safety whether he likes it or not," Gerard said before glancing over toward Derek. Oh hell no, he was not going to be the bodyguard for Sanders.

"I am not guarding Sanders. I need to stay with my soldiers. Not to mention Pyrrha is not a fan of me after I had to deck Sanders," Derek said, ready to fight that idea tooth and nail. He was not leaving his soldiers just to guard one man, no matter how important. Thankfully, Darius nodded in agreement.

"It is a thought, but Derek is too important to waste him on guard duty. We need someone else, someone who is not in a command role," Darius said as he glanced toward William. Derek turned to see William walking toward the tent entrance. He pulled the flap back and looked out toward Pyrrha.

"Someone strong enough to overpower Sanders, in case he gets testy, and is not in a critical role. I think I might have an idea of who best fits that," William said as he moved aside. Derek looked out and saw Sanders and the ex-Society woman, Gabriella, talking near Pyrrha. Dammit, she fit that bill perfectly. Derek turned back to Darius and saw that gleam in his eye that he hoped not to.

"Jefferson, bring the woman who just joined us here. We need to discuss something with her," Darius ordered one of the soldiers outside. He saluted and double-timed it over toward Pyrrha. Derek turned back to Darius as his mind filled with all kinds of horrid situations that might come from this. They didn't even know if this woman was on their side!

"Darius, I think this is a mistake. We still are not sure how loyal this Gabriella is! We should be keeping her as far away from important things and people as possible, not making them inseparable," Derek said with a worried tone. He trusted Sanders enough to know he was on their side, at least when it came to the Society, but Gabriella was still a wild card. Her anger at the Society might have seemed genuine even to Darius, but that didn't mean she was with them.

"Got to agree with Derek, on this. I mean, that Gabriella is a fighter and as feisty as they come, but she is still an unknown. You don't put a lose wire near the gasoline unless you plan on being burned," Gerard said, looking just as worried about this as Derek was, though his eyes lingered on Gabriella a bit longer than was needed.

"I am bringing her here so we can find out if she can be trusted or not. Depending on how she responses, she will either be our bodyguard or not. If not, we will find someone else. If she is...then William will have another job he will need to keep in mind," Darius said as he gave a slight glare at William. William didn't turn to look, but nodded in understanding. Good for him because Derek didn't get what Darius was talking about.

Jefferson brought Gabriella to the tent and the large woman had to bend a bit to get in through the flap. While Derek was taller than her, it was still a bit odd not having to crane his neck downward to see a woman. She crossed her muscular arms as she looked between them.

"Is this the point where you give me some kind of crazy initiation? If it involves any of you dropping your pants, I hope you don't expect to use it every again," Gabriella said as she glared suspiciously over them all. Gerard gave a loud laugh at that while Derek just rolled his eyes.

"We have no crazy initiations, Gabriella. All we want is for you to answer some questions. And no, they are not about personnel anything," Darius said in a more pleasant tone that normal. Gabriella raised her eyebrow as she looked at Darius.

"Alright, I'll play a game of twenty questions," she said as her glare softened.

"You said you were part of the Society security, so I will assume you have a good feel for their base's defensive strength. Do you believe we could breach the base's defenses?" Darius asked, getting a confused look from everyone in the room, save William. What did that have to do with finding out she was loyal? Gabriella paused for a second before she answered.

"Do you want brutal honesty or not?" she asked.

"If it is the complete truth, than be as brutal as you want," Darius answered as Gabriella smirked.

"Alright, then no you guys have no chance in hell of making it through the defenses. Even if there were over ten thousand more of you, you still wouldn't breach it. The base has hundreds of giantesses on it and thousands of catgirls and fairies ready to join the fight. A frontal assault would end about as well as you trying to punch out a wall. A full-sized wall, mind you. As for trying to sneak in, yeah not happening. Every sewer system, water system, or anything else that tinies could use to sneak it with were sealed and had robots, and worse, dumped in them just to be double sure. There is no getting into the base save the front door, and you would all be wiped out before you even got within sight of it," Gabriella said with all the brutal honesty she had said she would bring.

"Could have been a little less brutal," William said as he sighed to himself. Gabriella shrugged in response as she keep her smirk. None of this was news to Derek or Darius. Darius had sent scouts to test ways to get into the base and they had always come back empty, if they came back. Derek understood why Darius wanted into the base so badly, but Gabriella had only confirmed what they both should know. There was no way into that base and Darius needed to accept that.

"I see...a shame," Darius paused for a second as he took a deep breath, "Next question, what is your relationship to Sanders?"

"So much for nothing personal... Fine, he was a scout in my best friend's Ranger group, Isabella...who is dead and I am so glad you reminded me," Gabriella said with a glare at Darius. Darius ignored the glare as he continued.

"So he is just a friend or...?" Darius said making Derek confused again. What the hell was he trying to prove with this? Gabriella's glare darkened as her body tensed a bit.

"If you are asking if I like him, that is none of your damn business. We are friends and that's all you need to know," Gabriella answered as she looked less and less happy to be here. Derek didn't blame her for that, these questions were beyond stupid. What was Darius even trying to prove?

"Fair enough. Moving on, why were you out in the middle of nowhere in our territory?" Darius asked, finally getting to a question Derek was interested in. That had been bugging him since she had first arrived and she had avoided it when he had first meet her. He wouldn't have let her on Pyrrha at all if she hadn't mentioned Isabella. Gabriella's glare shifted to a worried look for a second before going back to the glare.

"I...I was looking for you. Not you in specific, but you as in the Phoenixes," Gabriella admitted with an annoyed look.

"Us? Why would you be looking for us?" Gerard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because the Elves told me you guys had a catmonster," she said before sighing and rubbing her head.
"Alright, full disclosure OK. I wasn't completely alone the entire time I was out there. I did get shrunk and I was left to die by those fucking Sword cunts. I was alone for, three, maybe four, days. Might have froze to death, but an Elf scout squad had seen the whole thing. Guess they figured I was honestly left to die when I started to get frost bite. They helped me get the clothing I was using and gave me that gun I had. I stuck with them for a week or so till we meet another scout squad. They said that you guys had a tamed catmonster with you and I figured the only person who could have pulled something like that off was Isabella. So I left them and headed for you guys. Just dumb luck I happened to be in the right place at the right time," Gabriella said as she looked everywhere but at any of them.

The Elves helping someone, doubly so an Ex-Society, was the most ridiculous thing Derek had ever heard. And them giving said stranger a WEAPON?! Those bastards were so reclusive that it was a miracle to see one anywhere outside the northern mountains, and a full squad had stumbled onto her? That was the biggest pile of bullshit Derek had ever heard. He glanced over and was happy to see both William and Darius giving her equally unbelieving looks.

"I...see...and you are still willing to kill your ex-comrades now that you know what happened to Isabella?" Darius asked, coming out of left field. What? Why the fuck was he asking that? He should be asking about that obvious lie! Gabriella's glare turned into a look of pure hate as she growled in anger.

"More than willing. Let me at them and I will butcher them. Every last one of them," she growled out with a look of anger that was...unbelievably realistic. Derek was almost more than sure it was real...but...it wasn't, right? She had just lied about where she come from, but that look...

"Good. If you would step out a moment, we need to discuss something in private," Darius said as he waved her away. Gabriella gave him a curious look, but did as she was told. Once she was outside and a good few feet away, Darius motioned for them to come closer.

"She is lying about how she wound up with us. There is no way that story happened and all of you know it," Derek said, going straight on the attack.

"Obviously, but that is not what the issue is," Darius said as Derek got a confused look.

"It's not? What the hell is the point if it's not that she is lying to us?" Gerard said looking just as lost as Derek.

"The point is how stupid and unbelievable that lie was. Anyone could have saw through it and it was beyond obvious that it was made up on the spot. Lying is, obviously, not Gabriella's strong suit considering even you two could tell. Which would suggest that her anger toward her old comrades is genuine. If she was faking that, it would be rather obvious," William answered, getting a nod of agreement from Darius. Derek wanted to debate that, but...but it did make sense. That lie had been worse than some of the duds Jacob used to use. But the look of anger on her face was perfectly believable...because it WAS real.

"Which means she ain't lying about being pissed as hell at the Society. So she is on our side!" Gerard said looking rather happy with that revelation. Derek was not so sure if he should be ecstatic about that or not. Another ally was good, but...

"She is not on the side of the Society, at least. Whether she is truly on our side or not is debatable, but of little consequence for what we want her for. She will protect Sanders' life and is not a spy for the Society, that is enough," Darius said with his usual passive tone.

"Really? That's all we need? We don't even care about what happened between when she shrink and when she happened upon us?" Derek said with a tone of incredibility. How the hell could that not be an issue?!

"Of course we care about that and it is something to keep in mind. However, we now know she is not working with the Society. And while she might be working with another group, those other groups we can fight much easier than we can the Society. Not to mention, most of those groups stand to gain more by letting us find what Manchent left than trying to stop us. We should keep an eye on her, of course, but we can trust her to keep Sanders safe, which is enough," William said in a soothing tone. Derek sighed to himself as he still had reservations about this, but couldn't think of a good reason to scuttle this idea.

"Fine, but we should have someone very good watching her," Derek said, angry that he had lost a debate yet again. Dammit, this mission was becoming less and less appealing to him by the minute.

"And we will. William, make sure you keep a close eye on Gabriella when she is not with Sanders. I have already told Samantha to listen to them when they are on Pyrrha's head. If she tries anything someone will be there to stop here. Good enough, Derek?" Darius said giving him a slightly annoyed look. Derek sighed as he nodded. Both William and Samantha were some of their best and he couldn't deny their skill. He just hoped this didn't come back to bite them in the ass.

"Good, bring Gabriella back in!" Darius said loud enough for the soldiers outside to hear. They waited a second before Gabriella came back inside looking rather annoyed with this whole thing.

"You boys finally decide if you trust me or not?" Gabriella asked as she crossed her arms. Darius didn't even respond to that.

"I have a new job for you. Rather than working in Squad Three, I want you to keep Sanders safe," Darius said without any hint of emotion. Gabriella gave him a confused look and glanced between them before shrugging.

"Fine, rather do that than have to take orders from Sergeant Muscles, anyway," Gabriella said before turning and heading out of the tent. Derek sighed to himself at the pot shot, but didn't bother returning fire. She was not worth it.

"Now that that is taken care of, Derek I am leaving you in charge till I get back. I need to go give some instructions to General Holcomb. Make sure everyone knows we move out at first light and gets well fed," Darius said as he turned to Derek. Derek was a bit surprised by this sudden order, but recovered quickly. At least he was being given the responsibilities of second in command still.

"Yes, sir," Derek said as Gerard got an annoyed look. Darius gave them one last nod before heading out of the tent. William watched him go with a curious look and rubbed his beard absentmindedly.

"I supposed I should get to watching our two friends. Gentlemen," William said as he nodded to them both and headed out as well. Derek followed after him, having no wish to be left with Gerard. Gerard just shrugged and began to whistle the tune to believe in magic as he headed for Darius' drink box.

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Sanders frowned as he watched Gabriella be lead off by the Phoenix soldier. He watched as they headed straight for the command tent and sighed to himself. Seemed Darius still had some concerns with Gabby, concerns he wanted addressed without Sanders around. Sanders grumbled to himself as he started to wonder if this alliance was falling apart before it had even got off the ground.

"Well, well, look who it is. The big hero come to save us all with his pet," a familiar voice said in a mocking tone. Sanders turned to see the Hispanic man, Henderson, coming toward him along with the woman that had been with him, Taylor. Henderson had a mocking smile on his face as he lead the way while Taylor glared at Sanders. Oh great this is just what he needed.

"Got a different one this time, eh amigo? You upgrade to the larger model cause you needed more rear space, eh?" Henderson said as he walked toward Sanders. Pyrrha gave a low growl at Henderson, but Sanders waved her down. Last thing she needed to do was hurt someone when she had just freaked everyone out by talking, or parroting rather.

"Look, I know you are mad about the fairy thing, bu-" Sanders started but was interrupted as Henderson gave a fake laugh. Taylor moved up to stand at his shoulder before crossing her arms, keeping her angry look.

"Hahah! Angry? Angry...does not even BEGIN to describe it!" Henderson said as his fake happy look fell away to reveal a look of pure anger.
"Do you have any, ANY idea how fucking fucked up that was?! I got eaten by a fucking vagina, a VAGINA, because of you! I have goddamn nightmares about that day and just thinking about getting near one is..." Henderson stopped as he started to shake a bit in a mix of rage and fear. Taylor moved over to him and tried to comfort him, but he shook her off before looking back up at Sanders.

"YOU did this to me! YOU made it where I can't...you damn well know what I mean! Just thinking about those walls...the goop and the pulsing and the darkness...so dark and tight..." Henderson stopped as his shaking got even worse. His eyes didn't seem to be seeing him anymore as they stared off into space and his breathing became a little irregular. Taylor pulled him to her and he closed his eyes as he hugged himself to her, both of them sitting down. Pyrrha tilted her head in confusion as the two sat there while Sanders could do nothing but stare in shock and horror.

"The others might think you are some savior or hero or what-the-fuck-ever, but me and Henderson know you are no hero. A hero would not have done this to my lover. He can't even look at me naked now without this happening," Taylor said as she glared at Sanders. Sanders stammered out a few noises that were supposed to be words, but didn't come out that way. He had given Henderson a phobia...a phobia just as bad as his of catgirls. He...he had never meant to do that, ever, but...but he had. How could he have done this?!

"I'm...I'm so sorry. I never meant...can...can I make it up to you somehow? Just...just name it and I will do it," Sanders said, figuring they had to have come here for a reason. Henderson looked up from Taylor and gave Sanders a glare, his shaking slowing a bit.

"Tell everyone the truth. Tell them that you are no hero and that you are just some piece of shit Society fucker who managed to worm your way into the good graces of Darius. Tell them all what you did to me and everyone else while you were in the Society," Henderson said with a furious tone. Sanders felt like he had just been punched in the stomach as Henderson named his terms. Tell them...the truth...

Truth was, Sanders had wanted to tell everyone the truth from the start. This stupid hero thing that Darius had dumped onto him was something Sanders hated more than he could put words to. He was no hero, Lindsey was proof of that, and he had no right to put on even a fake mantle of one. Telling them the truth would be...so much easier and so much-

He stopped as his hand went into his pocket and brushed against the whistle inside it. He took it out and stared at it. You can't save everyone... He glanced at Henderson laying on the ground in Taylor's arms and sighed to himself.

"No," he said as he put the whistle back into his pocket.

"No? No?!" Henderson said as he got to his feet. He got right into Sanders' face, or as close as his shorter form could, as his face twisted into one of pure rage.

"No, I won't tell them that. I will not lie and doom this mission just so you can feel better I am a hero and you will just have to deal with it," Sanders said as he did his best impression of Darius' passive face. Henderson's look got even angrier as Sanders saw his fists ball up. Sanders turned his eyes toward Pyrrha and Henderson's followed his. Pyrrha was staring right at Henderson with a look of daring. Her hands had moved closer to both of them and looked ready to spring forward to Sanders' defense. There was no need to make any threats now, Pyrrha was a walking one.

"I'm sorry for what happened, really I am, but too many people have died for what Manchent left to allow it to be lost just for this. If you want me to do something else, something that doesn't endanger this mission, I will do it, but I won't doom this mission for this," Sanders said, forcing a bit of edge into his voice. He couldn't let Manchent, Isabella, and Lindsey's deaths become pointless, doubly so due to his own past mistakes.

Henderson turned back to him and looked to be on the verge of striking him. Sanders had no wish for him to suffer more, so he stepped back away from Henderson. Some might call that backing down, but he would rather back down than start a fight. A fight Henderson and Taylor would lose before it even started. Henderson glared at him even more as he backed away and was about to come after him when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Henderson, let's just go. It's obvious this...murderer has no intention of making up for his crimes. We'll just have to make him pay when he doesn't have his giant monster around," Taylor said as she glared at Sanders over Henderson's shoulder. Murderer? He...he supposed he was after what he had done to Lindsey, Trent, Lizette, and Blanch. But Taylor wasn't talking about them, hell she didn't even know three of them, so who was she saying he murdered?

"Murderer? Who did I murder?" Sanders demanded as he stopped backing away. Both of them stared at him as if he was a dumb-ass before Henderson answered.

"What, you forget about your attack on our train already? There were good people on that train, asshole, and a lot more in the base. Their all dead now because of you. Sounds like murder to me," Henderson said as his glare turned hostile again. Sanders tried to speak out in his defense, but stopped as his mind was filled with the smears of red that had been on Isabella shoes when he and Flonne had flown past, and the faces of the people he had killed on the train. They had all been fighting on the right side of this war, just trying to defend their home and stop the Society's madness. And he had killed them...He...he had never even thought about that till now...

"Then we are all murderers, Henderson, or do I need to remind you of our mission into Snakes territory, or the battle we had with the Lions?" Samantha said as she came around Pyrrha's arm and toward the three of them. She had a stern glare on her face as she looked at Taylor and Henderson.

"Stay out of this, Samantha, it doesn't involve you," Taylor said as she turned to face her with an equally stern glare.

"It does when you are trying to sabotage a mission simply because you have personal problems with Sanders. I suggest you get over them before I tell Darius about this. I am sure he will be happy to... soothe your issues with Sanders," Samantha said as she got a slight smirk on her face. Both Taylor and Henderson glared even harder at Samantha, but both had an obvious hint of fear mixed in. Henderson glared at Sanders one last time before turning away to head back toward the tents. Taylor waited a second, staring down Samantha the whole time, before she followed after him.

"Shouldn't be surprised you would take his side. You seem to have a thing for murderers and people that should be dead," Taylor said as she slammed her shoulder into Samantha's. Samantha didn't turn or say anything in return, though Pyrrha did give a low growl in response. Sanders let out a sigh of relieve as the two disappeared into the camp.

"Thank you, Samantha, I was worried that would end with one or both of them with broken limbs," Sanders said, trying not to think about the people he had killed. It...was not easy.

"Don't worry about it. Those two have a real knack for holding grudges for far too long, or rather Taylor does. You did the right thing keeping it peaceful. If I know Taylor, she was probably betting on Pyrrha attacking so she could make you and her look bad. Bitch," Samantha said scowling as she looked back to where the two had been lost from sight. Sanders nodded numbly, having only half heard. He keep seeing the faces of the people he had killed, the smears...

"Sanders? Are you alright?" Samantha asked as she gave him a worried look. Sanders snapped out of his memories and nodded to her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah...yeah I'm fine," Sanders said as he felt Pyrrha nudge him a bit with her nose. He smiled at her and rubbed its tip, getting some soft purrs from her. Samantha gave him a worried look as she glanced back toward where Taylor and Henderson had gone.

"Their wrong, you know? You are not a murderer simply because you killed or got people killed during that attack. If you hadn't killed them, they would have killed you. You can't be blamed for fighting to survive," Samantha said in a soothing, calming voice. Sanders knew she was right, of course. The majority of the blame was with the Society. If they hadn't lied to him and feed him their propaganda of the Resistance being evil, he would never have fought them. But they had and he had believed them and those people were dead. Part of the blame was his, no matter how you looked at it. He couldn't just ignore that, but Samantha didn't want to hear that.

"Yeah, I know. Just...not easy to get yourself to remember that," Sanders said as he forced his best fake smile. Samantha didn't look completely convinced, but Sanders was saved as a figured came into view.

"Do you need me to come back later, pipsqueak, or... maybe I should join in?" Gabby said as she walked toward them. Samantha's look of scrutiny vanished in less than a second as she seemed to lose all sense of...well everything.

"WHAT?! N-No! Its not...I mean, I'm not into-...I have a boyfriend!" Samantha finally managed to spit out as she looked like she had just got caught masturbating by her mom. What the fuck? Gabby looked just as confused as Sanders as she gave Samantha a confused look.

"Ooookay, good for you. Anyway, looks like you are stuck with me, pipsqueak. Mr. Expressive wants me to stay with you and make sure you don't get hurt, so you better just get used to having me around," Gabby said as she smirked toward Sanders. Sanders was taken a bit off-guard by that, but could guess Mr. Expressive was Darius. Stay with him and make sure he didn't get hurt? Wait...

"Darius wants you to be my bodyguard?!" Sanders said as he realized what she was really saying.

"Yep, and no bitching, whining, moaning, or groaning. You do any of those ings and...well you don't want to know," Gabby said with a smile that made Sanders very sure he didn't. He sighed to himself as Samantha eyes seem to light up in awe at Gabby's talk. At least someone was happy about this...

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Jacob stretched his back as he stood up in the storage room. His legs, arms, back, hell everything, was cramped so bad that it was painful just to shift a bit, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He gritted his teeth as he straightened his arms and started to work out the overly cramped muscles.

He didn't even want to try and guess how long he had been in that damn box. Crammed into it like a sardine with no real light, no way to move, and with casings and shells shifting all around him. He had lost count of how many had wound up in his mouth or clothing and he was sure he would be picking ammo out for days to come. Still, at least now with them stopped he could stretch a bit. He might even risk laying down to sleep rather than cramming himself back in that damn box.

He had just started stretching his legs when footsteps caught his attention. He swore as he ducked back behind the box and tried to put the lid back on. He had gotten it nearly on when he heard the footsteps stop by the door. He left it lopsided before diving down into the crates to hid.

The door opened and Jacob held his breath. The room was silent for a moment before the person stepped into the building. They closed the door behind them before moving up to the box Jacob had been in, fuck. Jacob heard the lid be pushed aside and his mind began to race with what to do. Should he just stay here and hope they didn't bother looking? Leap out and try to knock whoever it was out? Maybe steal their clothes and... what? Pretend he was someone else? Oh sure, no one would recognize him. Idiot NO, think of something reas-

"Jacob? Jacob, if you are in here come out, I won't turn you in," a heart-lifting familiar voice said. Jacob slid back out of his hiding place and had to fight back a groan as he showed himself to Samantha. He trusted her enough to believe her.

"Samantha," Jacob said as she smiled at him in a way that was anything but surprised. Had she known he was here the whole time? Or maybe she had figured it out when she had come in a few hours ago.

"Jacob," she said before moving over and hugging him. Jacob had to fight back a groan as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug as best as he could.

"I'm...sorry to have to tell you this, but you need to stay hidden tonight as well. We stopped at the northern border of our territory, near a watchpost," Samantha said  with a sad sigh. Jacob gave his own as he cursed his luck. If his dad found him now, he would leave him in the watchpost and make sure he didn't come along. Looks like Jacob had one ore date with that damn box, fuck.

"Great...oh well, just have to suck it up. By the way, what the hell was all that yelling about? I tried to make out what was going on, but everything was too muffled cause of this damn box," Jacob said as he kicked it. He regretted doing that as a lance of pain came from his still cramped muscle.

"It...was a fight. Luke and a few of the others got into an argument over something, I didn't bother finding out what, and it took a bit to get them to stop," Samantha said with a pleasant, but kind of odd smile. Shit, being stuffed into that box had probably made Jacob stink.

"Figures, that asshole is always trying to start trouble. Did they throw him off or anything like that?" Jacob asked, hoping  the answer was yes, but knowing it wasn't.

"No, but he did get a stern lecture from Derek," Samantha said which was, almost, as good. Almost.

"At least its something... anything else happen?" Jacob asked as he started to feel his muscles kinda getting uncramped.

"Not really, no. We did pick up a scout we found along the way, that was who I brought in here, but other than that its been pretty normal," Samantha said with that same off smile. Dammit, he wanted to get some soap or something, but didn't dare go outside.

"Good. You better get back before someone notices you are gone. I'm going to stretch out for a few more minutes before I have to get back in my coffin," Jacob said as he glared at the damn box. Samantha smiled and nodded. She gave him a light kiss before going to the door and heading outside.

Outside, Samantha sighed to herself, hating having to lie to Jacob. However, it was for the best. If he knew all that had happened today, she would never have been able to keep him in there. He would have stormed out and made a big scene and then be on his way right back to Hope. For now, it was better for him to stay in the dark until they were past the point of sending him back. Then... then she would make sure he got his chance to prove himself.

Part of Public Address given by Mayor Browning, mayor of New Atlanta:

"My fellow citizens! It is with great pride that I inform you all that our brave soldiers have won their first victory! A fully equipped, stocked, and manned base of the Resistance, barely miles away from Roswell, was raided and then destroyed by our soldiers! Our troops drove the Resistance out of their holes and into the waiting feet and claws of the Society forces. A battle that may have taken days without our troops took a matter of hours with their help! Ladies and Gentlemen, today we have shown that we can help the Society win this war!"

[Pause for cheering]

"To that end, I have been asked by both Matriarchs to encourage anyone willing to fight for our safety to volunteer as soon as you can! They have seen that we are not helpless and are willing to fight for our peace! Let us show them that those first brave souls are not the only ones! Let us all stand up and, with one voice, yell to the Resistance that we will not hide and cower anymore! That today, they face not only the Society, but New Atlanta itself!"

[end to massive applause and cheering]

End Note:
After broadcast volunteer centers showed a 20% increase in sign ups.

Chapter 20: Marauders

January 27, 2024 6:26 AM

Derek's bellowing voice began to echo in the shed, heralding a much too early wake up call for Sanders. He grumbled to himself as he rolled over and tried to rub the tiredness away. It was still rather dark out, but the slight yellow of sunrise was moving up the horizon. Thankfully, Pyrrha proved far easier to awaken than the day before, though she still looked annoyed by it. Gabby, on the other hand, jumped right up as if it was noon and didn't seem bothered in the least, much to Sanders' annoyance.

It took about half an hour for the camp to be broken down and the supplies put away. Another ten or so minutes saw everyone on board the platform and Samantha relayed the all clear. Sanders' got Pyrrha up after a bit of prodding and she let out a long drawn out yawn as she stretched out. Finally, she moved out of the shed and the expedition got back to moving toward Lindale.

The morning air was bitingly cold and, quickly, blasted away any lingering tiredness from Sanders. He was tempted to snuggle up to Pyrrha's warm ear, but he was worried its warmth would quickly put him to sleep. Instead, he tried to puff out his fur coat as much as he could and cursed himself for losing the pants of his armor. Those would have been so much warmer than these makeshift clothing. At least Pyrrha's body heat keep his feet from freezing.

"Fuck it's cold. Sanders, do something to distract me from the cold," Gabby ordered. She squatted down to be closer to Pyrrha's heat, but keep a tight grip on her hair to keep from falling from her jarring steps.

"I could push you off, would that be distracting enough?" Sanders said in a mocking voice. He let go of Pyrrha's hair long enough to rub his arms along himself. With them warmed a bit from his heat and the friction, he grabbed Pyrrha's hair just into time for another step.

"Hehehe, very funny, asshole. We both know that if it came down to that your ass is the one who is taking a plunge," Gabby shot back with a slight grin. She tried Sanders' trick from before, but nearly fell over when she didn't grab on fast enough.

"If it was just me and you fighting, but I have a rather big advantage here," Sanders said with a confident smile. As if in response, Pyrrha's ears twitched and she gave a soft meow. Gabby rolled her eyes at that.

"Pfft, whatever. Could beat you and your pussy," she said with a confident look. Sanders almost thought she actually believed that with the way she looked, but she was probably just faking it. No way she believed she could take a catgirl on.

The two were silent for a few seconds as the sun, finally, began to crest the horizon. The sunlight was a very welcome sight, doubly so its warmth, and Sanders felt the cold chill of morning start to fade. As it did, Sanders remembered something he had been meaning to ask Gabby.

"By the way, Gabby, I told you how I wound up where we meet, but I think Pyrrha interrupted us before you said how you wound up there. Mind telling me now that we have some time?" he asked. Gabby's face seemed to darken a bit before she got a forced smile.

"Ye...yeah sure. I almost forgot about that," Gabby said with a look that seemed disappointed. Sanders was a bit confused by that till a thought hit him. Maybe she hadn't told him because she didn't want to.

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Trust me, I fully understand not wanting to relive painful memories," Sanders said, putting on his best sympathetic look. Gabby shook her head as she looked a bit confused.

"Huh? Oh no, its not painful just it's...early and I'm still a bit asleep," Gabby said as she rubbed her head a bit. Sanders raised his eyebrow in suspicion at that. Gabby hadn't looked a bit asleep since the moment they woke up, she sure as hell didn't look it now. She was, obviously, lying but Sanders couldn't figure out why. What was she trying to hide?

Suddenly, it hit Sanders as he thought back to how she had always acted. Of course, it WAS a painful memory but Gabby's pride would never let her admit that. He lowered his eyebrow and tried his best to hide his realization so he wouldn't make the memory worse for Gabby. Thankfully, she didn't seem to catch on that he had figured out what she was doing and pressed on.

"Well, I spent a few days just trying to hunt down animals for food and clothing. Once I got enough fur to keep from nearly freezing to death and made me a few weapons, spears and that sort of crap, I started heading south. Figured my best chance was to get back to I-75 and run into a Ranger patrol or...hell something. Probably not the best plan, but what else was I supposed to do?" Gabby said with a shrug. She looked out past Pyrrha's head as she seemed lost in thought for a second.

"Keep traveling for two weeks or so till I ran into a trader caravan. They weren't too friendly at first, but once I offered to trade some meat and furs for stuff, they changed their tune. Had to trade away a nice bear skin for that piece of shit gun I was using and about half my food for the ammo, but thing made it a hell of a lot easier to catch stuff. They, also, told me about the attack on the New Atlanta base and that their was a rumor that someone had escaped from the base while riding a catmonster. I...just assumed that had been Isabella's doing. Figured only she would be crazy enough to try something like that and, since they shrunk me, they might have shrunk her. Never really...really crossed my mind she might be..." Gabby trailed off as she lowered her head. She took a deep breath as her hands tightened into fists. Sanders sighed to himself and wished he hadn't brought this up.

"So...so I asked them where the Resistance met up when they planned to attack the Society, figuring Isabella would head there if she was on the run. They, of course, laughed in my face and told me there was no such thing. But, they did tell me about the Phoenixes and how they were still fighting the Society pretty regularly. Guessed they were my best chance of finding Isabella, or at least getting revenge, so I headed toward them. Took me a few more weeks of travel to get to their territory, and a bit of sneaking to get past their people, but I managed to slip through and...well you know the rest," Gabby said as she glanced toward, but not at, Sanders.

Sanders was a bit...confused by that story. It seemed too...convenient and just didn't seem plausible. He had been on the run for a good long while himself and had never seen any traders. Granted, he WAS riding on a catgirl the entire time so they might not have wanted to be seen, but still. In fact, it sounded a lot like a lie, but...but why would Gabby lie about this? Not wanting to tell a painful memory was one thing, but to outright lie to him... Why wo-

A sudden thought hit him as he realized Gabby had said nothing about someone else. Someone he had almost completely forgotten about.

"I see...so you don't know if Alice is alive?" Sanders asked as he did his best to hide his emotions.

"N-No, why would I? She went south to Savannah, remember? No way I could find her," Gabby said a little too quickly and with a deer in headlights look. Didn't take a genius to guess that was a lie. She did know, but why was she trying to hide that? Unless...

"She's dead isn't she?" Sanders said as his stomach fell out under him. Fuck...that had to be it. Gabby hadn't asked about Alice at all when she had come on and had been dancing around telling what had happened to herself. The two of them must have, somehow, meet up only for Alice to wind up dead. That would explain why it had been painful and why Gabby didn't want to talk about it. She was the type to try and keep that information to herself in order to protect Sanders.

Gabby looked a bit dumbstruck by that statement and bumbled out a few wha noises. He starred at her as she tried to form words before she sighed and shook her head.

"Yeah...yeah she's dead. It-" she started to say before Sanders interrupted her.

"I don't want to know, or want you to have to relive it. I'm...sorry for pushing you to have to say it," Sanders said as he turned back forward as the empty filling became worse. Yet another person dead because of all this...yet another person he owed it to to find Manchent's cache. How many more would be added to that number before this was over?

Gabby closed her mouth and looked away as Sanders went back to focusing on where they were going. At least...at least he could lose himself in making sure they got to Lindale as fast as possible.

They traveled in silence for a number of hours after that. Gabby seemed content to just stare off the side into nothing while Sanders tried to think of anything but the lose of yet another friend. The pain was only made worse but the fact that Alice had been the last giantess who would have taken their side without issue. With Gabby shrunk, and both Isabella and Alice dead, there was no other giantesses he could guarantee would side with them. The only other giantess he could think to maybe, and it was a big maybe, trust was Morgan. But he had no idea where she was or what she had been told about Sanders. Considering what Trent and the rest had been told, though...

Sanders shock his thoughts away as Pyrrha crested a small hill. Ahead of them was a large open field that had once been farm land back before the shrink. The forest was starting to spread into the farmlands, but hadn't taken it over completely. Dead stalks of wheat were lying in the parts of the field where the other plants hadn't spread yet and made little pockets of dull grey in a sea of brown. Pity it was not spring as Sanders could imagine this place was gorgeous when everything was blooming. Then again, this scene seemed to fit his mood far better.

Pyrrha sniffed the air for a second before heading down the hill toward the old farmland. She did her best to avoid the young, barren trees in the area, but they were too close together for her to avoid stepping on a few. They splintered and broke apart without much resistance, but did so with a good deal of noise. Sanders hoped no other ferals or Society members were nearby. The latter was unlikely this far north, but Wilderness Rangers were known for going rather far in their ranging.

They had gotten about a quarter of the way through the area when Pyrrha came to a stop. Her ears perked up a bit and shifted a little. Sanders watched them with a practiced eye, hoping that they would shoot up in excitement, meaning food, rather than flatten out, for danger. They did neither, however, as they keep twitching and shifting as if confused by what she was hearing.

"What is it, Pyrrha?" he asked as he rubbed her ears. Pyrrha gave a low meow as she tilted her head in confusion. Sanders strained to hear what she was hearing, but couldn't seem to make it out. He was about to tell her to just get moving, and hope whatever it was went away, when he managed to hear the odd noise. It sounded like...a whining noise? Yes...it was a high pitched whine-like noise that sounded like it was getting closer...it sounded oddly familiar, but Sanders couldn't place why.

"Do you hear that?" he asked Gabby as she nodded.

"Yeah...sounds kinda like...an RC car?" Gabby said. Sanders snapped his fingers and nodded in agreement. YES, that was it, it sounded like an RC car! But...what the he-

"SANDERS! GET US MOVING, NOW!!" Samantha yelled from behind Pyrrha's head. Sanders glanced back in her direction, in confusion, and was about to ask why when he got his answer.

Movement got both he and Gabby to turn to see five...vehicles, at least that is what they looked like, tearing their way through the small trees. Each looked to be an RC car that had been heavily modified and rigged into something more in line with a Mad Maxx movie. Sanders eyes widened as he noticed they were all armed with large weapons on their tops or sides. And they were coming straight for them.

"Ohhhh shit..." Gabby said as Sanders swore to himself. He turned back to Pyrrha and tightened his grip.

"Pyrrha, run. RUN!"

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"DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! Judith, Marcus, Colton, start pulling rockets out of storage! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP A HOLD ON SOMEONE! We can lose rockets, but we are not losing you!" Derek yelled over Pyrrha's booming steps and the general roar of activity. The three people he had called out nodded and unhooked from the platform. They started to move toward the storage shed with the ammo by grabbing onto one person with one hand and waiting till they grabbed someone else before moving up. They traded grips like that as they headed along, never not having a grip on someone.

"Susan, get to the rear and take command! If the Marauders try to hit the back, drop the spare fuel on them!" Derek yelled to Susan as he moved away from the command area. He keep his stance as wide as possible as he moved along the platform to Pyrrha's right side, the side the Marauders were racing toward them on. He grabbed a secured person when he could, but didn't always have that luxury. He needed to hurry and reach the Oval before Pyrrha got up to a full run or he would never get to it.

"If you have rockets, pass them forward till they reach the Oval! I want every armed rocket we have sitting by the Oval and ready to be used! Those behind the Oval, keep the spare rockets and load them as empty ones come back!" Derek yelled out as he, finally, reached the Oval. He found a spare hook and connected himself down before unslinging his laser cannon from his back. It was a good thing he had keep it in the command area as he would not have had time to dig it out, otherwise.

Derek looked down the line of the Oval and saw the soldiers on it grabbing rockets from the people behind them, checking over their weapons, or crouched down behind their metal cover in anticipation. Everyone had a launcher now, thankfully, and more were streaming in from the rest of the expedition, along with ammo from the shed. Down at the other end of the Oval, Derek could just barely make out Gerard yelling orders of his own. Derek would have preferred Susan to be in charge down there, but Darius had overridden him. At least Susan would be close in case of the worst.

"Listen up! Keep low and close to your cover! Wait for my order to fire, then keeping firing till I tell you to stop! Make sure you lead your target and, most of all, keep yourselves alive!" Derek yelled out as the vehicles began to close in on them. Derek could count five Marauder vehicles all with various weapons strapped to them. Thankfully, none of them looked to be full-sized guns or weapons, just jury-rigged mounted weapons. More dangerous than their own guns, to be sure, but not something that could put Pyrrha down with one shot like a full-sized gun.

"Henderson, I need that cannon now!" Darius yelled out, his voice amplified by the jury-rigged megaphone Ollie had made from the radio. Derek risked a glance back and saw Henderson shake his head before making a slowly rising needle with his hand, the hand sign for still pressurizing. Damn, the air cannon could have deterred this attack before it even started, but it could take a minute or two to fully pressurize. They were going to have to fight the Marauders off till then.

"Make it go faster, I don't care what it takes!" Darius yelled back in response before taking cover himself. Some people might consider that cowardice to hide while Derek and the rest fought, but Derek didn't see it that way. Darius was their leader and getting himself killed would only throw them into chaos. In that sense, it was braver to swallow his pride and keep safe than put himself, and by extension everyone else, in danger.

Derek turned back forward and swore as the Marauders began to gain on them. They were coming up on their right side and were getting closer and closer, despite Pyrrha running at full speed. Even with the platform's shock absorbers, Derek had to hold on to keep from being shaken about by Pyrrha's run. He was just glad Sanders was keeping her on all fours as they would never have been unable to fight back if they were all sideways.

Derek watched the Marauder vehicles and made sure his laser cannon was charged as they slowly moved to be parallel with Pyrrha. The five of them stayed together and lurked just outside their range, as if debating what to do. Not surprising considering they had rolled up on a catmonster that had people riding it. If he was in their shoes, he would be hanging back and wondering what to do as well.

Derek hoped that they would decide this was too much for them and pull off. Or, failing that, they would wait long enough for the air cannon to be ready. Neither came to pass, however, as the jury-rigged vehicles split off and began to move in to attack. Four came toward them while one hung back. Derek cursed as the first one came racing toward his section of the Oval. The vehicle had two large guns on its side and was falling back to get behind Pyrrha's arms.

"Open fire!" Derek yelled as a barrage of rockets went sailing toward the vehicle. The vehicle weaved and dodged most of the rockets, but two smashed into its hull and sent bits of scrap metal flying. However, the armored vehicle was still running, having only lost a bit of its armor. Derek swore as he powered up his laser to try it.

Derek risked standing as he brought the cannon to his waist. He charged it to full before sending a lance of energy into the side of the vehicle. The laser punched a smoking hole into the vehicle before a small explosion erupted out of the vehicle. His laser must have hit something important because the vehicle swerved away from them and began to slowly coast to a stop.

A cheer went up from the soldiers near him and Derek smiled as he made a mental note to add a vehicle to his weapon now. The cheer died down, however, as someone yelled out in alarm.

"TAKE COVER!" one of the people on the Oval yelled and Derek dived down just in time as a mass of bullets came flying toward them. Derek cursed as he heard people cry out in pain as some of the bullets found their target, but he only saw one or two go down. He risked a quick glance up and saw another vehicle moving toward them, this one with a large, armored turret on top. The turret had a number of guns on it that spun around to create a low-tech gatling gun and was sending a hail of lead at them to keep them pinned.

Derek swore as he looked back toward Darius. He hand signaled him for help and Darius nodded in understanding. He grabbed the megaphone before risking a quick glance out of cover.

"Gerard, Derek's side is pinned! Provide support!" he yelled before getting back into cover. Derek tried to see what Gerard was doing, but the mass of people in his way made it impossible to see. Derek peeked back out, barely avoiding a bullet that struck right near him, and saw the vehicle moving toward Pyrrha's hand. Dammit, any minute it would turn its gun from them to her. While those bullets wouldn't put her down, it would slow her and that could be just as deadly with four Marauders vehicles after them.

Derek was about to just risk a shot from his laser when a single rocket slammed into the top of the vehicle. Derek was about to cuss out Gerard for thinking one rocket would do anything when he noticed the fireball didn't go away. In fact, it seemed to spread as the vehicle began to catch fire. The turret stopped firing as the vehicle, suddenly, swerved away. The flames on it only spread as it swerved back and forth before careening straight into a large, rusted, tractor left out in the field. Derek glanced over and saw Gerard laughing like crazy as he put another of his canisters into his launcher. Derek never thought he would be glad for Gerard's pyromania, but he was now.

Derek got up and looked over the situation. Three vehicles were still in the fight, though one was hanging back away from the battle. The other two looked a good bit bigger than the first two and seemed to be old RC trucks the Marauders had turned into vehicles. Both had large turrets on top along with a number of smaller ones on their sides. They were armored to the point of looking more like virtual tanks than trucks and were, slowly, rolling up into range. Derek swore as he tried to guess where the driver was. If he could hit the vehicle just right, his cannon should kill the driver. Sadly, the thing looked like it had been designed to purposely hide the driver.

"Pour it on, Phoenixes!" Derek ordered as his soldiers got back up and fired at the approaching vehicle. Derek added his own fire and aimed for the turrets to take them out of action first. Their rockets smashed into the lead vehicle and sent bits of armor flying off, but the large vehicle seemed to be barely dented by the rockets. Derek's laser had better luck, slicing through the front vehicle's turret and causing it to stop moving completely. The second vehicle was greeted with a similar attack from Gerard's men, but, like the first, seemed barely damage. Even worse, Gerard's fire rocket didn't spread as well on the large vehicle as it did the smaller one. Rather than engulf it in flame, it only set part of it on fire.

Derek cursed to himself as he recharged his laser. Their rockets weren't doing anything to these behemoths which meant his laser was the only weapon they had. He had to find their drivers and fast. He fired another shot, but the large vehicle keep on moving closer to them and into range of Pyrrha's limbs. He swore as he fired a second and a third shot, but still it keep coming. Fuck, where was the damn driver?! He had to find him!

Suddenly, Pyrrha screamed in pain as Derek heard a loud boom come from behind them. Derek snapped around and saw the second vehicle's turret smoking from where it had fired its gun. Fuck, he had completely forgotten about it. The cannon had blasted into Pyrrha's leg and Derek could see bits of red being left behind them. He swore as he felt them slow a bit as Pyrrha tried to keep running, but her gasping and groaning made it obvious she couldn't keep this up. Derek growled as he raised his laser, ready to get revenge on the Ma-

He never finished the thought as a loud WHOOSH drowned out all other noise. Derek winced at the noise before watching in joy as the rear vehicle crumpled in on itself. The front part of the vehicle went flying up and forward while the back smashed itself into a large round ball that had suddenly appeared in its middle. The vehicle came apart in less than a second with sparks, bits of metal, flesh, and flames flying everywhere.

Derek glanced back and saw Henderson laughing as he pumped his arm in triumphant. Taylor had moved to the Oval and was already sending targeting information for the second vehicle through hand signs. The air cannon was working and still had two shots left before it needed to recharge. Just enough to finish off these Marauders.

The last two Marauders vehicles wasted no time as they broke off and began to race away from them. The larger vehicle slowly turned to move away as Taylor was getting the cannon lined up for a second shot.

"Everyone stand down! Let them go, we need to conserve the ammo!" Darius yelled through the megaphone as Taylor gave the cut off sign. Henderson throw up his hands in disgust as he shock his head in anger. Derek could understand his frustration. It wasn't everyday they had a chance to put the hurt on the Marauders like this. Still, taking out three of their vehicles, one of which was one of their larger ones, was a bloody nose. But the cost...

Derek turned and looked to see six people all laying on the platform, blood pooled around them. Thankfully, all six were still alive and looked to have either been patched up or patched themselves up during the fight. However, they were not the only ones injured. As the vehicles took off away from them and retreated back the way they came, Pyrrha began to slow to a crawl. She groaned and moaned in pain before she collapsed to the ground, sending a few people banging into the, thankfully, padded platform. She let out a low whine as she tried to rise, but stopped before giving out another painful whine.

"I want Doctor Kimberly out here ASAP and down to look at Pyrrha's wound! The nurses can treat the wounded while she is with me! Derek, you are with me, Gerard, make sure the Oval is resupplied, restocked, and re maned! William, take as many people you think you need and set up a perimeter in case the Marauders come back! Jimmy, make sure the platform wasn't damaged! Everyone else, get rearmed and ready to repeal an attack!" Darius yelled out as he came out of cover, pointing toward people for added effect. As the platform exploded into activity, Darius moved toward the ladders leading down to Pyrrha's right side. Derek unhooked himself from the platform and moved to meet Darius, weaving through people as he went. They meet at one of the ladders and Derek unlatched it and sent it down. It clanged to the ground just as a figure caught their eyes. Sanders went running past heading straight for Pyrrha's leg and looked paler than a ghost. They both looked down toward Pyrrha's leg and could see the blood already pooling out. This was bad...very, very bad.

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Sanders paced back and forth as he watched Kimberly look over Pyrrha's wound. The cannon had blasted a huge chunk of her skin off and left a massive wound on the side of her calf. The hole was, almost, as big as Sanders and was so deep he could see muscle. Pyrrha's groans of pain were getting worse as Kimberly looked over it with a worried look.

Finally, she came back over to him, Darius, and Derek. Her face was a bit pale as she took a deep breath and whipped some of the blood off.

"Its bad...really bad. I doubt she will be able to walk at all for a few days, and that is if she is treated which is, itself, a problem. There are still bits of shrapnel in her, but I could dig them out once my nurses come down. The real problem is closing and sterilizing the wound. Even if I used every bit of our medical supplies, I wouldn't be able to treat a wound this big. But if I don't treat it, it's only a matter of time till it gets infected. Once that happens..." Kimberly trailed off before shaking her head. She glanced over at Sanders and gave him a sympathetic look as she turned away. Sanders felt lightheaded as he heard the news and it took actual effort for him not to fall over. No...not Pyrrha...he couldn't lose her too.

Darius let out a long sigh as he looked down at the ground while Derek swore under his breath and looked like he wanted to kick something.

"We can't lose Pyrrha at this junction, Darius. The Marauders know we are here and those two cars that go-" Derek started to say before Darius interrupted him.

"I know, Derek...I know all to well..." Darius said as he started to pace around in thought. Sanders heard them and saw them, but didn't feel like he was even there. All he could think about was that he was about to lose yet another friend. Another person was going to die in front of him and he was going to be powerless to stop it, yet again. There had to be something he could, something to he-

Sanders nearly slapped his own forehead as his brain, finally, worked through the despair to remind him that Pyrrha was a catgirl. And catgirls could heal their wounds from eating! Dammit, he had been so busy being terrified of losing her he had completely forgotten that for a moment.

"We are not going to lose her. We just need to get her some food so she can heal the wound," Sanders said as Darius and Derek looked over to him. The coined dropped for Derek as he got a similar "oh duh" look, but Darius' look didn't change.

"Yes, but where do we get the food? That battle we had is sure to have scared off any game in this area and I doubt Pyrrha would find wheat appetizing," Darius said without stopping his pacing. Sanders cursed as he realized Darius was right. Any deer or anything like that would be long gone after all the noise that fight made. As for the wheat, he wasn't sure Pyrrha could even eat plants as all she had ever eaten was meat. Not to mention all of it was dead thanks to the biting cold of winter.

"There...there might be another source of meat we could use," Derek, hesitantly, said. He had a look on his face that made it obvious he didn't like this option, but was giving it anyway. Sanders was curious about this idea, but Darius barely glanced over at him.

"To use our own food supplies? Yes, I have been considering it from the very beginning. I have just been...loathe to do it," Darius admitted as he stopped his pacing and looked right at Pyrrha's wound. Derek didn't seem surprised by that and nodded in understanding. Use their own food supplies? That...would work, but then what the hell were they supposed to eat?

"Use our food? Are you trying to starve us all?" Kimberly said, having overheard the conversation. Darius gave her an annoyed glare, but Derek was the one to speak up.

"Its either that or wait till the Marauders come in force to kill us all. Those two vehicles that escaped will go and get a larger force before coming back. And without Pyrrha, we will be sitting ducks for them. It'll be a slaughter, not a battle," Derek said looking just as frustrated with the situation as Kimberly was. Kimberly, however, didn't back down as she turned and moved toward them, her clothing now stained with Pyrrha's blood.

"And who's fault was it that two of them escaped? We could have taken them out and not had that problem if someone hadn't called Henderson off," Kimberly said as she stopped a few inches from Darius. Darius' eyes narrowed at her as they locked stares. Great, Pyrrha was hurt and these two were having an ego fight.

"The smaller one was too far away for even Henderson to hit so there was no way to stop it. By leaving the larger one intact as well, the smaller one will slow to match speed with it. Meaning, rather than racing off at full speed back to where the Marauders are, it will move at the top speed of the larger, slower, vehicle, thus delaying their counter-attack. Now, do you wish to take command, Doctor, or do you want to help your patient?" Darius said with an annoyed tone. Sanders was a bit surprised now that he heard Darius' reasons for letting the Marauders go. He had figured it was just to save ammo, but that explanation made it sound more like a measured tactical decision.

Despite Darius' explanation, Kimberly's stare only hardened. Sanders wished Jimmy was here to break this up and was debating doing it himself when Kimberly, finally, backed down. She gave no apology or anything, just simply turned away and went back to doing what little she could for Pyrrha's wound. Both Sanders and Derek let out a sigh of relief as the stand off ended. Darius turned back to them and went back to his usual emotionless mask.

"We are in agreement then that our own food supplies are our only choice?" Darius asked with just a hint of anger still in his voice. Sanders nodded along with Derek as Kimberly shook her head in disgust. Sanders understood why Kimberly was angry, they were giving away most, if not all, their food for this. However, he agreed with Derek that there really was no choice. Without Pyrrha they wouldn't reach Lindale and they sure as hell couldn't outrun these Marauders on foot. They either got Pyrrha back on her feet, or died. As horrid as it was, the risk of some dying from starvation was better than them all being slaughtered. You couldn't save everyone... but he could save some of them.

"Once we get Pyrrha healed, I'll make sure she hunts down any packs of boars, deers, or anything like that she finds. Hopefully, we will run across enough of them to keep us all fed. Cooking them might be a problem, though," Sanders said, realizing the problem with that plan just as he said it. Pyrrha had no problem eating meat raw, but them...And cook fires were sure to draw unwanted attention to them.

"We can deal with that when we come to that bridge. For now, we need to get Pyrrha back on her feet and leave this area as quickly as possible. We have no way of knowing how close the main Marauder force might be so the sooner we leave, the better. Derek, head up and get a food line organized to bring food to Pyrrha. Sanders, make sure Pyrrha is safe to feed and, when you get a chance, come up and speak to me. We need to come up with a new route now that the Marauders know we are here. Kimberly, get the shrapnel out as quickly as you can and have your nurses report how healed the wound is. Once its he-" he was interrupted as Kimberly finished for herself.

"Tell them to stop feeding the cat, yeah I know. Now would you all leave me the hell alone so I can do my job?" she said with an angry glare back at them. Darius let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head, but didn't look back at Kimberly.

"Very well, Doctor Hambly," Darius said before heading off toward the ladder. Derek made sure to fall in close behind as Kimberly whirled around in fury. She looked about to say something, but stopped as she saw them both retreating. She turned back around and let out an angry growl.

Sanders was about to follow them, but stopped as he thought of something. He turned and opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words. Finally, he managed to spit it out.

"Thanks for helping Pyrrha. I know you don't like her or-" he started to say before Kimberly stopped and turned on him. She gave him a stern stare before turning back to her work.

"Or you? No, I don't. I think you are an idiot playing at being a hero while having no idea what a hero is even supposed to do. Hope needs a real hero and all you are is a fake one to fool the desperate. Worse of all, the only reason you are even remotely important is because of this giant cat you happen to have tamed. A giant cat that is a threat, hell the biggest threat, to everyone on this trip. However, that is all personal stuff that has no bearing on my professional obligations. Like or don't like, I am still a doctor and a doctor helps the injured and cures the sick. Now beat it before I decide to stop being a Doctor Kimberly and go back to being just Kimberly," Kimberly said without even glancing back at Sanders.

Sanders felt anger forming as she said he was playing hero. He never wanted to be a hero, it was all Darius' damn idea. Yet here she was judging him on that fact. However, it was her saying Pyrrha was still a threat that set his blood to boiling.  After all she had done for them; taking down a giantess, getting the food and wood they needed to house and feed their people, transporting them to Lindale, AND taking a fucking cannon shot, she still thought Pyrrha was a threat?! He could deal with her slamming him, but slamming Pyrrha after she had just gotten wounded defending them? In that moment, Kimberly couldn't have looked more unlike Isabella if she had tried. She might be physically similar, but the two of them were night and day in how they acted. And he had thought he wanted to get to know her...

"You are right that I am no hero, I know that better than anyone, but for you to say Pyrrha is a threat... She just took a fucking cannon shot for you and the rest of the Phoenixes and you STILL think she is dangerous?! What the hell does she have to do for you to trust her, huh? Want her to bring you back the head of the Matriarchs or deliver a shrink gun to you? Would that prove that she is on our side or would she still be a threat?! And where do you get off judging me and Pyrrha?  Neither of us seem to want to be an utter bitch about everything and pick ego fights with Darius every chance we get. Even when we are all sitting here in clear danger and in need of a plan sooner rather than later! No, let's keep arguing and fighting ourselves till the Marauders roll back up to shut us up! Some fucking Doctor you are, putting everyone here in danger just to satisfy some stupid hatred you have for Darius. Why don't you just STAY acting like Doctor Kimberly and tell normal Kimberly that we got enough problems without her adding to them?!" Sanders yelled before storming away from Kimberly.

He didn't even turn to see what kind of face she had on as he stomped his way back to Pyrrha's head. Fucking cunt, why the hell was she even here? Couldn't heal Pyrrha, constantly talking down to him and Pyrrha, and picking fights with Darius over the stupidest shit.

His anger slowly simmered down as he came around Pyrrha's head to her face. Samantha was slowly rubbing her cheek and trying to soothe her before she glanced over to Sanders. Pyrrha was starting to turn a bit paler and she gave a soft whine as she looked over toward him. Sanders' anger was snuffed out with concern as he moved over to her. He hugged her cheek as she gave a weak purr in response.

"It's going to be OK, Pyrrha. Derek is getting you some food to eat so we can heal your leg. You'll be back up and ready to move soon, just bare it a bit longer," he told her in his best soothing voice. She nuzzled a bit closer into him and purred louder in response.

"How...how was it?" Samantha asked from behind Sanders. Sanders nearly jumped in surprise from her sudden question, having nearly forgotten she was there. He got his heart rate back down before he answered.

"It...it wasn't good. That bi-" Sanders caught himself, "Kimberly, said she needs treatment if she is going to be able to walk again. But the wound is too big for her to treat." Sanders felt a bit of his anger coming back as he thought back to Kimberly. Before it could boil over, though, Samantha spoke up again.

"What...what are we going to do then?" she asked looking a bit worried about the answer. Sanders shoved his anger aside as he gave her a soothing smile to try and calm her.

"Nothing like what you are thinking. Since catgirls can heal their wounds if they eat something, we are going to give her the storied food we have. Hopefully, there is enough to heal the wound. As for us...well we will just have to hope we can hunt enough food along the way. But, its either that or we stay and wait till those Marauders come back," Sanders said as Samantha's worried look faded away.

"Oh good. In that case, they need to hurry up with that food. The Marauders could come back any minute and we are in no shape to fend them off again," Samantha said, going back to her usual demeanor. Sanders nodded in agreement, happy to see Samantha back to her usual self.

Suddenly, a loud crash caused all of them to jump in surprise, even Pyrrha. Samantha went dashing to Pyrrha's side to see what the noise was as Pyrrha started to try and get up. Sanders managed to stop her, thankfully, and rubbed her cheek to try and calm her back down. Pyrrha's breathing slowed back to normal as Samantha came back around her shoulder.

"What was that?" Sanders asked as another loud crash came from the same area. Pyrrha snapped to attention again and Sanders had to calm her back down before Samantha answered.

"It's just Derek and a few others tossing boxes down to the ground. He decided lowering the crates one-by-one with the crane would take too long so their just tossing the boxes with meat d-" he sentence was interrupted by another crash. Sanders turned back to Pyrrha to soothe her, but she seemed unconcerned with the noise now. Instead, she was sniffing the air and a bit of drool began to form on her mouth. Her stomach rumbled a bit as she looked at Sanders and gave a soft whine.

"H-Hu...Hungry," Pyrrha managed to stammer out as she gave Sanders a pleading look. Sanders patted her nose and smiled at her.

"I know. Don't worry their bringing you some food," Sanders said with a soothing tone. Samantha dashed off to Pyrrha's side again while Sanders tried to keep Pyrrha from getting antsy. It was a losing battle, though, as she keep glancing to her side where the food was.

"Pyrrha, no! Stay here and they will bring the food. You need to stay still so Kimberly can fix your leg and the people on you don't get thrown off. Pyrrha? PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled in anger. She glanced back at him for a second or two before turning to face the side where the food was. He swore as he saw the arm on her opposite side start to move and realized she was about to move, despite his protests.

"PYRRHA DON'T YOU MOVE!" he yelled as loud as he could, getting Pyrrha to stop for a second. She turned away and looked about to ignore him when Samantha came around her shoulder. Sanders let out a sigh of relief as Samantha moved toward Pyrrha with her arms full of strips of jerky.

"Are you getting impatient, Pyrrha? You should know better than that. Now be a good girl and stay or you won't be getting anything," Samantha said with a bright smile. Pyrrha's arm went back to resting as she noticed the food in Samantha's arms. She eyed in hungrily and her mouth began to open.

Suddenly, Sanders had the horrifying mental image of Pyrrha rocketing forward and swallowing both Samantha and the jerky whole. He had seen the feral from so long ago do the same damn thing.... Doc had thought he was save past those boxes... His blood ran cold as he started to move between them, but it was too late. Pyrrha's mouth opened and came forward, her tongue rolling out a bit. Sanders heart froze in terror as Pyrrha's tongue reached Samantha's legs and... stopped. Samantha wrinkled her nose a bit as she dropped the jerky onto Pyrrha's tongue before turning away in disgust.

"Ugh, we need to get you some mouth wash or something, your breath is terrible, Pyrrha," Samantha said as Pyrrha pulled her tongue back into her mouth and closed it around the little, to her, pile of jerky. She swallowed the pile without any chewing and got a slight smile on her face.

Sanders nearly collapsed in relief as Pyrrha closed her mouth. Sweet Jesus that was...if she had...if that had...fuck there...there were no words... Instead, he just flopped onto Pyrrha's cheek and tried to recover from that near panic attack. Pyrrha gave a confused meow at his sudden "hug" while Samantha gave him a worried look.

"Are you alright, Sanders?" she said. Sanders nodded and waved her off.

"Yeah...yeah I'm...I'm fine just...just the stress of this thing finally hit me," Sanders lied as he stayed pressed up against Pyrrha's cheek. Holy shit he didn't think anything had scared him as bad as that had. Samantha gave him an unconvinced look, but headed back to Pyrrha's side just the same. Sanders waited till she was gone to turn back and press his head into Pyrrha's cheek.

"Fuck...that was scary. I, honestly, thought you might try to eat Samantha...I...I actually thought that," Sanders said as he stayed pressed into Pyrrha's warm flesh.
"I'm sorry, Pyrrha. I should known better than to think you would ever do something like that. You wouldn't eat us even if your life depended on it, would you? And just after I gave a similar speech to Kimberly too... A fake hero and a hypocrite now..." Sanders said with a sigh as he glanced up to see Pyrrha's eye staring down at him.

Her head turned to the side, forcing Sanders to step back a step. Her face turned to face him directly and Sanders felt a little uncomfortable having her large gaze leveled on him like that. Before he could do anything, her tongue slipped out of her mouth and rain up his entire body, covering him in a bit of cat slobber. He whipped it off his face and had to fight back an ugh as he glanced up at Pyrrha.

"Guess I'll take that as an apology accepted," he said as Pyrrha gave him a playful smile. It looked like that jerky had helped her a little, though she still looked pale to him. Another soldier brought a large slab of salted meat over. Rather than giving it to Pyrrha, though, he handed it off to Sanders and scampered away rather quickly when he noticed Pyrrha eying the food. Just like with Samantha, Pyrrha opened her mouth and rolled out her tongue for Sanders to place the food. And, also like Samantha, Sanders thought Pyrrha needed some mouth wash, strong mouth wash...good God...

Sanders was still trying to wave away the stink of Pyrrha's mouth when the next soldier brought another slab of meat. Rather than take another blast of Pyrrha's bio-hazard of a mouth, he had the soldier just set it on the ground for Pyrrha to get. She, easily, plucked the meat off the ground and tossed it into her mouth. She swallowed it down without any fuss and gave a content smile as a bit of her color came back. Sanders smiled himself as he saw that the plan was working. He just hoped the wound was closing. Well, considering the sounds of breaking boxes, they still had a good bit of food left to try.

Samantha came next with a large amount of jerky, again. She fed Pyrrha directly and started to head off when Sanders stopped her. He had almost forgotten about Darius asking to see him.

"Samantha, do you mind staying here to watch Pyrrha? I need to go up to the platform to talk to Darius and I want to check on Pyrrha's wound," he explained to her.

"Sure, I'll stay with her," Samantha said before heading back over to Pyrrha. She started to pet Pyrrha's cheek and talk to her as Sanders headed to Pyrrha's side. There were a number of soldiers moving about the area picking up the food that was being tossed down and piling it into carts or putting it into piles.. It was making a real mess down here, but it was quicker and Pyrrha didn't care if her food was a bit dirty. Still, no one looked happy about doing this and Sanders didn't blame them, he was already dreading what little they would have tonight. However, no one looked brave, or stupid, enough to slack off as Derek's watchful eye moved between them as he helped move the larger stuff himself.

Sanders moved past the area, leaving Derek to handle the food, and moved to get a quick glance at Pyrrha's wound. Kimberly and her nurses were still working at it and they all looked covered in blood. Thankfully, though, the wound did look a bit smaller than Sanders remembered it and he could almost swear it was shrinking as he looked at it. It wasn't healing as fast as Sanders would have liked, but at least it was healing.

Having no wish to talk to Kimberly again, he left them to their work and heading for one of the ladders that had been lowered to the ground. He climbed up to the top of the platform, accepting a helping hand from one of the soldiers by the ladder, and took a second to catch his breath. The platform was humming with activity, but wasn't completely taken over with it. Near the edge of the platform, people were reloading, checking over, and piling up stacks of rockets. They would stack a large number of them up before strapping them down to make sure they didn't roll loose. Near them were a few people using bits of fabric to mop up some blood that a wounded, ...or killed, person had lost. He hoped for the former but... Jimmy and his helpers were moving along the edge of the platform as well, checking over things and, probably, making sure nothing was damaged.

While the edge of the platform was rather busy, the middle was pretty calm. Most people there were either sitting or laying down, enjoying the break time. Behind the barracks, Sanders saw Henderson and Taylor combing over the large cannon they used while some soldiers rolled a large slab of metal toward them. Sanders made sure NOT to make eye contact with them as he looked for something else to look at. A line of soldiers was going from one of the sheds to the edge of the platform and were moving boxes to the edge. They had stopped sending any over, for the time being, as Gerard and Derek got into a shouting match of whether they needed more or less.

"We don't need anymore for right now, Gerard! Keep that stuff up there till we see if she needs more!" Derek yelled up.

"Bullshit! That much food would barely fill me up and I'm not even half her size! Let's just get it all down there so we know she will be good and full!" Gerard yelled back. Sanders shook his head and let the two of them work that out as he turned to head to the command area. Darius was there and was already pouring over a map. Behind him, the skinny guy Darius had come aboard with, who STILL looked really familiar for some reason, was messing around with a strange machine-box thing he had set up on a table. He was turning a few dials and messing with a few wires as he keep a strange object hooked to the device up to his ear. It reminded Sanders of the Morse code machines he had seen the Phoenixes using in their HQ, only a lot more chaotic and jury-rigged looking, which was saying something since they had looked jury-rigged.

"What is that supposed to be?" Sanders asked, thinking it might be a radio but wanting to make sure. After all, with the way it looked, it could be damn near anything. Darius glanced up for a second but didn't answer. Instead the skinny guy behind him spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, umm... well it's supposed to be a radio, though...ummm," the skinny said before trailing off when he turned toward Sanders. Now that Sanders could see him better, he realized the guy was a lot younger than he thought he was, probably barely out of his teens. The young man got a worried look on his face as he glanced at Darius. Darius, however, didn't seem to have any interest in the conversation and keep studying the map.
"Though it's broken right now. The...ummm...fight knocked some stuff loose and...yeah," the young man said before getting back to work. The young man was really nervous about something, though whether it was Sanders, Darius, or something else Sanders didn't know. He might have tried to figure out what was bothering the young man if Darius hadn't spoken up.

"Sanders, please leave Ollie to his work. We need that radio operational if we want this mission to continue and we have more pressing concerns," Darius said as he waved Sanders over to the map. Sanders gave Ollie one last look, the familiar feeling still nagging at him, before moving over to join Darius at the table. Darius had either drawn, or had someone else draw, a rough outline of their original route to Lindale along with the general lay of the land around that path. Looking at it, they were about to head through some flat areas that had been marked as old farming land. Darius had already crossed those areas out.

"First and foremost, we need to avoid any large open areas. The Marauders relay on their vehicles for just about everything, including fighting. That means they can't go into rough terrain, such as dense woods and large hills. Therefore, we need to stick to those areas, even if it means delaying our arrival at Lindale," Darius said as he pointed out the areas he had crossed out. Sanders nodded his understanding and began to look for new routes to take as well.

It took about fifteen minutes of debating, discussing, and, at times, arguing, for them to agree to a new route. It would take them longer, probably three to four hours longer, but they would be in rough terrain for nearly the rest of the trip. Sanders would have preferred them to stay on rough terrain the entire time, but the delay was too long for Darius. So they had compromised with this plan.

"Yeah, I can live with that..." Sanders said with a sigh. He still didn't like it, but this needed to get done. Better just to agree rather than keep arguing till the Marauders came back. Hmm...he still had some questions about them too, now that he thought about it.

"Good, here," Darius said as he handed Sanders the new map. Sanders took it as he thought of those vehicles the Marauders had been using. Pity they didn't have any of those of their own. Those could be a huge boon if they were on their side.

"By the way, why did those Marauders attack us? Shouldn't they have backed off once they saw us on Pyrrha?" Sanders asked. Darius sighed to himself at that question and seemed to slump a bit.

"Because that is how they have chosen to survive. They are raiders and scavengers stealing anything and everything they can before moving on. This platform, with all its metal and other such things, is a practical treasure trove for them along with all the meat Pyrrha has. Yes, they would eat her and no they would not care how human she looks," Darius said with an actual look of disgust. Sanders didn't bother hiding his own at that last part and looked away.

"If their just raiders, how did they manage to make those vehicles?" Sanders asked, trying to get his mind off the idea of eating Pyrrha...ugh.

"Because those vehicles are all they have. Unlike the other groups in the area, they have no base or non-combatants to take care of. They all fight and they use all their resources in building and maintaining those vehicles. And having torn apart every village and town that was in the Northwest, save Rome, they have plenty of them. Which is why we had best hope we do not meet them again," Darius said as he moved to look over the activity going on the platform. Sanders got the hint and was about to head back to check on Pyrrha when a sudden increase in yelling got his attention.

Both he and Darius turned to the noise, but couldn't see what was happening thanks to the barracks being in the way. Sanders lead the way as they both headed around the building and to the area near the sheds. A crowd had formed around two figures who were yelling at each other and on the verge of blows. The sea of bodies made it impossible to tell who the two figures were.

"What is going on here?!" Darius yelled out. The shouting and yelling died out almost immediately after his voice. The crowd turned toward Sanders and Darius before splitting apart to let them pass. The people moved aside to reveal Luke and, of all people, Jacob mid grapple with each other. Both had the same deer-in-headlights look as Sanders and Darius stared back at them.

"J-...JACOB?!" Sanders blurted out in shock. Sanders turned to Darius to make sure he wasn't seeing things and saw him rubbing his temples in annoyance. The two of them pulled apart and came to attention as Darius looked back up at them.

"Sir! I was just disc-" Luke started to say.

"Shut up, Luke," Darius snapped at him as he began to advance toward the two of them. Sanders saw a bit of color start to fade from Jacob, though he keep his face a mask. What was he thinking stowing away on board? When Derek found out about this....

Darius waved Luke away and he, quickly, went to join the crowd. Darius moved up to Jacob and said something to him, though it was too soft for Sanders to hear. Whatever he had said made the mask Jacob was wearing crack a bit, but he recovered after a second.

"Someone get Jacob a weapon and some equipment. We can't do anything about you stowing away at the moment, so we will just put you to work. Gerard, make sure you find a...good job for Jacob," Darius said as he turned back to head toward Sanders.

"Yes, sir, I got the perfect job for him," Gerard said as he moved out of the crowd and put his arm around Jacob. He gave the younger man a smile that made Lutice's smiles seem welcoming. Sanders gave Jacob a sympathetic look before turning to follow Darius. He didn't like Jacob much, but he could understand not wanting to be left behind. But he was going to pay a high price for disobeying orders, and that was before his dad got a hold of him...

"Derek is going to be...mad about this," Sanders said as he and Darius headed back to the front part of the platform.

"Mad does not even begin to describe it. In fact, there is no word that would do justice to just how angry he is going to be. When you get back down to the ground, tell him to come talk to me..." Darius said with a heavy sigh. He started to rub his temples again and, for once, actually showed some emotion as he looked to want to do anything else BUT talk to Derek. Sanders nodded and thanked whoever he wasn't going to have to give that news to Derek.

Sanders climbed back down the ladders as a few people were climbing back up the others. He looked down and saw the food was all gone and Derek was directing people back toward the ladders. Sanders slid down most of the way as he hoped that meant what he thought it did. He hit the ground a bit harder than he intended, but walked it off as he headed for Derek.

"Derek, is Pyrrha's wound healed?" Sanders asked, eager for the answer.

"Yes. Kimberly and the nurses are doing a few checks to make sure it's fully healed, but the wound is closed and looks to be fine," Derek said before looking up and smiling. Sanders turned back and saw Kimberly leading her nurses toward the ladders. Sanders happiness faded as Kimberly looked at him. He was prepared for an angry glare, but Kimberly just shifted her gaze elsewhere.

"The wound is fully healed, we can move out as soon as we are all back on. Come on," Kimberly said in a monotone voice before leading the way to the ladders. Sanders gave her a confused look, but let it go as he had really no wish to speak to her anymore than he had to. Derek seemed a bit confused too, but didn't say anything. He was about to head up the ladder when Sanders remembered what Darius had told him.

"Oh right, Darius wanted to talk to you, Derek. Make sure you go see him ASAP," Sanders said. Derek nodded before starting his climb up. Sanders sighed as he wondered how well that conversation was going to go. Leaving that task to Darius, he headed to Pyrrha's head and began to try and memorize the new route Darius had given him. He was just passing Pyrrha's shoulders when a loud, "WHAT?!?!" came from the platform. He had never been so glad to not be involved in something.

Sanders came around Pyrrha's shoulder and found her licking up the last bit of food while Samantha was watching. Her ears twitched before she looked over toward Sanders. She gave a happy meow before moving over to rub against him. Sanders stumbled back a step as he was nearly bowled over by Pyrrha's cheek, but managed to keep his feet. He rubbed her cheek back as she gave a loud and happy purr.

"Well I guess I don't need to ask if you are feeling better, do I? Okay, enough Pyrrha," Sanders said as he tried to push Pyrrha's wall of cheek back. Pyrrha, however, wasn't done and keep rubbing all over him. Sanders keep trying to push her away, but he might as well be trying to push a building away. Finally, Pyrrha moved back and let Sanders get some personal space. Samantha laughed a bit as Sanders took a second to recover from the rather excessive loving on.

"She is feeling a lot better and has been eager for you to come back. What was that yelling about, though?" Samantha asked as her smiled faded a bit. Sanders sighed a bit as he wondered how best to say this.

"It...was Jacob. He stowed away and got found out. Derek just found out and, well..." Sanders said, going with the straight forward answer. Samantha, oddly, didn't seem surprised by that, but did look worried.

"Oh...I better get back there then. Do you know where Gabby is so she can take my place while I deal with this?" Samantha asked, already starting to move toward the ladders.

"Right here, been up here the whole time, Sammy. By the way, you're not bad at taking charge and making sure stuff gets done. Fun to watch you boss around that meathead and the other guys, doubly so with none of them brave enough to feed Pyrrha," Gabby said as she peeked over Pyrrha's forehead and patted it. Pyrrha tried to look up at her, but couldn't look up that high. Samantha, meanwhile, froze and seemed to be rooted to the spot she was on. She tried to say something, but only managed a stammer as her face turned beet red.

"Th-thanks," she managed before taking off toward the ladders at near to a run. Sanders, Pyrrha, and Gabby all turned to watch her go with a confused look. Sanders glanced back at Gabby who shrugged in response. Sanders shook his head as he motioned for Pyrrha to lift him up to her head. Pyrrha was more than happy to oblige and seemed eager to get moving herself. Gabby plowed her way through her hair to the back of her head to take Samantha's old position. Sanders didn't blame Samantha for wanting to stay with Jacob now. He couldn't imagine what his dad was going to do to him...

A few minutes passed before Gabby yelled the all clear from the back of Pyrrha's head. Sanders didn't even need to tell Pyrrha to get up as she did it herself. She stretched a bit before taking off a near to a run away from the area. Hopefully, that would be the last they saw of those Marauders.

Chapter 21: The Pieces Arrive

January 29, 2024  9:28 PM

Jacob groaned to himself as he sat at the edge of the camp, trying to keep warm. The cold was made worse by his legs and arms screaming in pain from the "work" Force Commander Gerard had given him. Work...bah, more like torture. He had never been so exhausted and sore in his life. If he wasn't moving rockets from one place to another, shifting some of the stuff in the sheds around, or just being told to keep moving to deliver messages, then he was doing push-ups or squats in place. All this was made worse by his dad's watchful eye making sure he didn't slack off.

 

Jacob was beyond relieved when Darius called for them to stop. By then, the sun had gone down for a good two to three hours. Jacob managed to overhear that this was not normal from a few people and guessed they were going longer to lose the Marauders. Honestly, Jacob was just glad they stopped so he could rest a bit. However, he had barely gotten unhooked when his dad had shown up in front of him.

 

Jacob...did not want to remember that "talk". Hmph...more like a fucking lecture as his dad chewed him out for at least five minutes. Finally, his dad had run out of steam and told him to get his ass to the ground. The ground offered no rest, sadly, as his dad gave him to William to keep him busy. Apparently, he was going to do more than his share of work...

 

So now he was here, having been "volunteered" into joining the watch to make sure they were not followed. Jacob had to fight not to lay down to nap and rest his aching muscles. The only thing keeping him up was his determination to prove himself. It, also, helped knowing  Luke had been placed near him on purpose. If Jacob started to look like he was slacking off, that asshole would call him out faster than he could say Jackass.

 

Jacob's stomach rumbled a bit as he glanced back toward the camp. He could barely make out the glow of the buried fires as they cooked their dinner. All of it had come from Pyrrha, who had managed to hunt down a good deal of wildlife for them and herself. Sadly, it had to be eaten right away as they had nothing that would make it last. The fire was a risk, but one Darius had judged worth it thanks to Gerard and Jimmy coming up with the firepits idea.

 

Despite the fire pits being hard to see, there was nothing they could do to stop the smell. The cooking meat made Jacob's mouth water, his stomach rumble, and his fear increase. If he could smell it, a feral could easily smell it and nothing brought them running faster than cooked meat.  Which was why Jacob was out in the forest surrounding their camp site rather than enjoying said cooked meat. Still, it was better than having to sit back in Hope, wondering if his dad and Samantha were going to just vanish into the wilderness like so many others.

 

As bad as Gerard and his dad had tried to make this for Jacob, he was still glad he had come. Considering all the trouble they had already run into, there was a good chance they were going to lose people on this mission. Now, he would be there to protect Samantha and keep an eye on his dad to make sure they came back. Not to mention give him a chance to prove that he was a hero and show Sanders up. Oh yes, he could feel that his time to shine was coming and this crap was just to make sure he was ready.

 

Jacob was jolted out of his thoughts as he heard footsteps heading toward him. He glanced back, worrying that it was his dad, but smiled when he saw it was Samantha. She was heading toward him with two smoked slabs of meat in her hands. He had never been so glad to see her in his life.

 

"I love you, Samantha," he said as he took the slice she offered him and started to wolf it down. It was still warm from the fire and Jacob nearly moaned in pleasure as it warmed him from the inside out. Samantha giggled a little as she took a bite of her own meat.

 

"If I knew all it took was to bring you some food to get you to love me, I would have made you mine a long time ago," she said as she sat down next to him. She looked out into the forest they had camped as she took a second bite.

 

Their campsite was just at the edge of a large forest. The camp itself was inside the forest while Pyrrha was laying out just outside it. Apparently, Darius had picked this place because Pyrrha could block the light of the fire in one direction while the forest defused it in the others. It was rather smart, Jacob had to admit, though he would never tell anyone that. Jacob took another big bite before looking over at Samantha. Her smile had faded away and she had a worried look on her face.

 

"What is it?" he asked her as he put down his food. Samantha glanced back at him and seemed to debate whether she would tell him or not. Finally, she turned back to the forest and gave a short sigh.

 

"I'm just worried. We didn't lose anyone today, but that was because we were lucky. Very lucky. But, that was just against Marauders, if we had been fighting the Society..." she trailed off as her face darkened. Jacob pulled her closer to him and got his best confident smile.

 

"If we had been fighting the Society then we would have given them a bloody nose too and still not lost anyone. Our air cannon can take their shields down in one shot and without their shield they are screwed, doubly so with us having Pyrrha. So don't start worrying about them," Jacob said, trying to reassure her. Samantha leaned into his chest and smiled at him, though she still looked a bit worried.

 

"Yeah...of course we would have..." she said in an unsure tone. Jacob held her to him as he wished he could do more to comfort her. Samantha had always been...less than optimistic when it came to fighting the Society. He didn't blame her considering what she had lost to them, but he wished she would not assume the worst or at least that he could do more for her.

 

"Besides, why would the Society be way up here, anyway? They all fell back toward Atlanta after we killed that Ranger patrol so they are miles and miles away from us. Not to mention Lindale is a dump with nothing of any value so why would they even go there?" Jacob asked thinking this might be a better tactic to cheer her up. Samantha looked up at him and got a more sincere smile at that. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she nuzzled into the side of neck.

 

"You are right, they don't have reason to come after us. Thank you for reminding me," she said as she hugged him tighter. Jacob returned the hug as he gave her a kiss back.

 

"I'll always be here to remind you not to worry," he said with a smile. The two of them fell silent for a few minutes as they stared off into the distance and just enjoyed being wrapped up in the other.

 

"I can take your shift on watch if you want me to," Samantha said, finally breaking the silence. Jacob glanced down at her with a smile, but shook his head.

 

"No, thanks. Right or wrong, I still disobeyed orders and have to do the time for it. Besides, my dad would just find something worse for me to do," Jacob said trying not to think of what that worse thing would be. Samantha didn't look happy about that answer, but didn't argue. Instead, she sighed to herself and pulled away from Jacob. Jacob had to fight the urge to pull her back as her welcome warmth and smell began to fade.

 

"Fine, do your time then. Just make sure you eat that meal I brought you," Samantha said as she motioned toward the meat Jacob had set aside. He rolled his eyes before picking it back up.

 

"Yes, Mom, whatever you say," Jacob said in a mocking younger voice. He took a big bite out of the meat and, purposely, chewed it at disgustingly as he could. Samantha got an annoyed look on her face and smacked him on the shoulder. He chuckled a bit as he swallowed his food down and went back to eating like normal. Samantha got back to her feet and headed back toward the camp, leaving Jacob alone to watch for any threats.

 

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Samantha did her best to look angry as she walked away from Jacob. Ugh, he knew eating like that made her squeamish and yet he did it every chance he got. If she wasn't so happy that he was out of that box, and taking his punishments well, she would have kicked him rather than slap him. She glanced back to him and couldn't help but want to stay for the night. However, he was on watch duty and she would have just been a distraction. A distraction he would have welcomed, she knew, but the expedition's safety came before their wants.

 

Samantha gave a resigned sigh as she turned back to the camp. With Jacob busy, she would just have to make do sleeping alone...again. She despised doing that, but she was far too nervous to sleep with Pyrrha and Sanders with Gabriella there. Just thinking about her made her nervous and the fact that Gabriella had praised her only made it worse. Gabriella thought she was cool...it had been all she could do not to squeal in joy when she had heard that. She could feel her face flush a bit from thinking about it.

 

"That is an odd face to be wearing after seeing your murderer. Did you finally realize what an embarrassment he is?" a very unwelcome voice said from the darkness. Samantha swore as she tried to get her face into a neutral look, but only managed a scowl. Taylor came stepping out from behind a nearby tree wearing a cruel smile.

 

"Jacob is not a murderer, Taylor," Samantha said as she glared back at Taylor. Taylor scoffed at that and shook her head.

 

"Not a murderer...that is funny because the normal definition of murderer is someone who kills someone else. Considering he got my brother killed, I think it fits," Taylor shot back with a venomous look. She moved closer to Samantha and Samantha's hands began to drift toward her knife.

 

"I still don't understand how you can think that? Booker and Jacob were best friends, do you honestly think Jacob would ever hurt him? The Society killed your brother, Taylor," Samantha said in a less angry tone. She had tried explaining this before to no avail, but figured one more time wouldn't hurt. Maybe, just maybe, she would listen this time.

 

"Because my brother was smart enough to know attacking five giantesses and a catmonster would end with them all dead. The Society might have, ultimately, been what killed him, but it was Jacob's stupid need to be a damn hero that got Booker into that mess. Which makes him a murderer," Taylor said in fury. This time was no different that all the other times, it seemed. Taylor wasn't going to listen and was just going to keep clinging to that hate.

 

"Booker didn't have to go along with Jacob. If he had stood up to Jacob and told him no, this wouldn't have happened either. Or if Rance had spoken up, or any of the other people with him. Yes, Jacob does share some blame for what happened, but so does everyo-"

 

"Don't you DARE suggest Booker had any blame for what happened!" Taylor said as she moved toward Samantha. Samantha grabbed her knife and took it out as Taylor stopped her advance. She glared at Samantha with a mixture of rage and hate before storming off back into the woods. Samantha watched her go with her knife still drawn. She waited a few minutes till she was sure Taylor was gone before putting the knife away.

 

Samantha shook her head in anger and sadness as she turned back to the camp. She hated what Taylor had become after losing Booker. It was hard to imagine that the two of them had been really good friends before... But her losing Booker while Samantha keep Jacob, and Jacob's hand in that disaster, had changed her. Now...now she was just a bitter and angry shell that only Henderson seemed to get through to. Samantha hated her because of her part in getting Jacob ostracized, but couldn't stop from missing her old friend as well.

 

Samantha lost herself in her old memories and thoughts as she headed into the camp. Most of the fires were being put out as people started to settle down for the night. She barely even noticed the people moving past as she headed for her tent. She was so lost in thought she never even saw Derek till she had plowed right into him.

 

"Huh? Oh s- Commander!" Samantha said as she snapped to attention. She tried to hide her embarrassment, but could feel that she was failing. Her cheeks were flushed red and it was all she could do not to look away.

 

"At ease, Samantha. You don't have to snap to attention every time you see me, you know," Derek said looking more amused by this incident that angry.

 

"R-Right, sorry, sir," Samantha said as she tried to salvage some of her dignity, though she had a feeling that was a lost cause.

 

"It's alright, I was looking for you anyway. I...I take it you have talked to Jacob?" Derek asked with an unsure look on his face. Samantha had always found it strange how sure and certain Derek could be in the middle of a battle, and yet completely lost when it came to his own son. She had half a mind to tell him to stop acting like Commander Derek around Jacob and just be his dad for once, but she knew that was pointless. Old dogs and new tricks...

 

"Yes...I have," Samantha said giving Derek a bit of a glare. She was still angry at him for telling Jacob to stay and forcing all these punishments on him. She was not going to tell Derek anything she didn't think he needed to know. If he really wanted to know, he should just go ask. Derek seemed to catch on to her anger, but didn't look angry himself. Instead, he just sighed and looked less like Command Derek than before.

 

"Was...was he alright? The punishments are not...getting to him?" Derek asked with a concerned look. Samantha sighed to herself at the question and wanted to tell Derek to just go ask Jacob. However, she knew the Commander would never do that, the coward, so...

 

"Yes he was fine and he was taking the punishments as well as could be expected," Samantha said with an annoyed tone. She hated when these two put her in the middle like this, doubly so when it was Derek who did it. He should know better, yet seemed to do it far more often. If he wasn't her superior...

 

"Good...good...well I need to get back to my rounds. Goodnight, Samantha," Derek said looking a little relieved. Samantha just stared at him before answering.

 

"Goodnight, sir," Samantha said, trying to get her anger out of her voice, and not succeeding. Thankfully, Derek didn't say anything about it and just keeping going on his way. Samantha didn't watch him go. Instead, she made a beeline for her tent. Dammit, where was Taylor when she needed to get out some misplaced anger?

 

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Derek waited till he was out of sight of Samantha before he sighed and rubbed his face. He didn't like having to go through Samantha to ask about his son, but Jacob would never tell him the truth if he asked. As much as he didn't like it, she was his best source of information on how his son was doing. Thankfully, it sounded like Jacob was doing well. However, he was still on this damnable mission... A mission that Derek was becoming less and less sure of everyday.

 

First it was Pyrrha's talking, or parroting as Darius liked to remind him; then the feral attack and the potential spy Gabriella joining, then the Marauders attack, then their current food problem, and now his son was here. It seemed as is everything that could go wrong was doing just that. The only thing left to go wrong was the Society joining the fray which, if William was to be believed, was very likely. This mission was going from dangerous to near suicidal and they STILL had no idea what they were even trying to find. And yet....

 

And yet what choice did they have? They were already more than halfway to Lindale and turning back would mean going through Marauder territory again. Not to mention the morale blow to the Phoenixes if they returned empty handed. Darius might find a way to spin it, but with this many people on the expedition, the truth would get out. And once it did... Derek sighed to himself as he realized they had no choice. Suicidal or not, they had to keep going. The only other option would be to give a potential death blow to the Phoenixes' morale. A truth that Derek nearly choked on knowing Jacob was here. He was all Derek had left and if he lost him too... Derek wasn't sure if he could keep going if that happened.

 

Derek heard some people moving closer and, quickly, hid his uncertainty. Whatever his personal problems, he was still Second-in-Command of the Phoenixes and had duties he had to take care of. He started moving toward his original destination, the medical tent, with his usual stern face. The soldiers nodded a greeting to him as they passed and Derek returned it, making sure to keep his thoughts from showing. Once they were gone, however, he dropped the act again and let his shoulders slump.

 

Dammit, he was going to have to lead his own son into a potential suicide mission AGAIN. To make matters worse, he couldn't show any compassion for him either since he disobeyed his orders. It had been all he could do not to rush to him when he was being forced to move about the platform while they were moving, but he knew he had to let the punishment continue. He had watched his son every second of that time to make sure he did not slip and was ready to leap to his rescue in case of the worst, but still he worried. One slip, one bump, on misstep... Once this mission was over, he was going to squeeze Gerard's eyeballs out for suggesting that punishment for his son.

 

As horrid as it had been, though, Derek knew he couldn't interfere. Derek the father wanted to stop it, but Force Commander Derek knew that it would only cause problems for both of them. It would undermine his authority and make Jacob a target for further animosity for getting special treatment. Derek couldn't afford to be a dad on a mission like this, not when it was moving closer and closer to being a doomed task. Commander Derek was needed if his son was to survive, not Dad. And Commander Derek still had business to take care of in the medical tent.

 

Pushing his fears and worries away, Derek made his way to the medical tent to check on the wounded. While Kimberly had told him that none of them were in any danger, Derek still thought it best if he checked on them. Those small kinds of things could do wonders for morale and Darius was, certainly, not going to do it. He had his reason for it, but Derek had no such issues.

 

The medical tent was made from a dark piece of cloth taken from a jacket or shirt, Derek didn't remember which. Derek could barely make out the light of the fire inside the tent that was keeping it warm while a small hole in its top let the smoke drift out into the night. During the day, that would be a problem, but the black smoke didn't matter much in the dead of night.

 

Derek pushed the tent flap aside and stepped into the welcome warmth of the tent. He, quickly, took his fur jacket off and set it aside before Kimberly stepped out from behind one of the leather curtains that separated the patients. She gave him a small smile before she moved to him.

 

"Derek, are you here to see the wounded?" she asked softly with an oddly sad smile. Derek's worry and fear began to come back as he feared someone had taken a turn for the worst.

 

"Are they alright? None of them..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it. Kimberly looked a bit taken aback by that question before she glanced down and shook her head.

 

"No...no, they are all fine. They will all recover and be fighting ready in a few days. I was just..." she stopped and shook her head as if deciding not to bother him with something. Derek was surprised with the way she was acting. He had seen Kimberly depressed before and it was, usually, a bit more...drunk than this. Granted she did have patients and tended to avoid the bottle when she did, but still. Something serious must be bothering her for her to be like this.

 

"What is it, Kimberly?" he asked as he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, but shook her head and turned away. Derek wasn't going to give up that easily, though.

 

"Kimberly, talk to me. Whatever it is, I can help you with it if you let me," Derek said as he tried to turn her back to face him. She refused to turn back to him, though and pulled away from his grip.

 

"No, no you can't. Do you want to see the wounded or not?" she said with an edge of ice in her voice. Derek knew that tone meant the conversation was over even if it meant her leaving. He frowned at the back of her head and wished he had Jason's ability to smash through that ice... In fact, he just wished Jason was still here. But Jason was dead and no amount of wishing would change that.

 

"Yeah...lead the way," Derek said, giving up on finding out what was bothering Kimberly. She nodded and lead him into the back without a word.

 

They headed into the first patient area and found the wounded man fast asleep. Kimberly checked on a few things as Derek stayed out the way. Once she was done, she fixed the covers a bit to tuck him in better and wiped a bit of drool off his face. Kimberly gave a motherly smile to the man before motioned for Derek to follow her to the next patient.

 

The next patient was a woman from Gerard's squad, though he didn't know her name, and she was still awake. While Kimberly checked her over, Derek talked to her and gave her a few kind words. He assured her she hadn't failed anyone and that she hadn't screwed up. She looked to be in brighter spirits when they left.

 

The rest of the wounded soldiers were much the same. Another one was asleep but the other three were still awake and looked happy that Derek had come by to check on them. Even better, Kimberly didn't have anything to do save check on their bandages and shift their bedding around. All of them looked well on the way to recovery and the expedition would stay casualty free...for now. Kimberly and Derek headed back to the front to let the soldiers sleep.

 

"That's everyone. Thank you for coming by to check on them, Derek, though... well it's none of my business," she said looking as if she had reconsidered something. She might not have said it, but Derek could guess what she wanted to say. It was one of the many issues she had with Darius...issues he couldn't fault her for.

 

"You think Darius should have been the one to do this," Derek said, expecting her to jump into one of her usual rants. However, Kimberly simply turned away and didn't say a word. Derek had been confused by Kimberly's mood before, but now he was downright bewildered. She had NEVER missed a chance to jump on Darius' case. Something was wrong, very wrong.

 

"Kimberly, what is wrong? Any other day you would have been chewing my ear off about how Darius failed these soldiers. What is going on?" Derek asked as he started to move around to her front. Kimberly stopped him, however, with a raised arm.

 

"Please leave, my patients need rest," Kimberly said with the same cold tone as before. Derek didn't want to leave it at that, but the cold glare she gave him made it obvious he would have too. He sighed to himself and grabbed his jacket before turning back to her. Kimberly, however, had already disappeared into the back of the tent. Derek frowned to himself before heading out of the tent.

 

Something had happened to Kimberly today, but Derek had no idea what it could be. It wasn't that people had been wounded, they were all recovering after all. Had Darius, finally, snapped on her when Derek hadn't been around? Not likely considering he never had before and she had questioned him much more...vehemently before. Whatever it was, it had hit her hard and she was not going to open up to Derek about it easily. He would have to remember to keep trying as the last thing they needed was her to start to fall apart.

 

Derek rubbed his head in worry as he headed back into the camp. He had been hoping this visit would have been a nice distraction from the mission and its problems. Instead, it just added yet another problem for Derek to keep track of. He groaned in annoyance and weariness as he made his way to his own tent. Perhaps tomorrow would see some of these problems solved rather than making new ones, though he didn't have much hope in that.

 

He was about halfway to his tent when he saw Sanders next to one of the last cook fires. Sanders took three pieces of meat from the fire before kicked over a bucket of water to put out the flames. He was about to head back toward Pyrrha when he noticed Derek. Derek keep going past Sanders and nodded a greeting to him. Sanders returned it the nod and the two of them started off in opposite directions.

 

"Commander," Sanders suddenly said getting Derek to stop and turn around.

"I...just wanted to say that you might want to go easy on Jacob. He did disobey orders, but he did it to come with you and to help us. There isn't a lot of people who would risk being severely punished just to put themselves into harm's way," Sanders said with a conflicted look. Derek was a bit surprised by those words, but managed to nod just the same. Sanders turned and headed off again as Derek rubbed his chin in thought.

 

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Sanders wasn't sure what brought that on. Gabby had told him about all the crap Darius, Derek, and Gerard had put Jacob through, but he should be glad the idiot was getting his due. However, he couldn't help but be somewhat impressed that Jacob had risked such punishment just to come with Samantha and his dad. Jackass or not, Sanders had to give credit where credit was due.

 

With his personal plea to Derek out of the way, Sanders headed straight back to Pyrrha. He had spent most of the night checking on Pyrrha's wound to make sure it was fully healed along with helping Jimmy go over the platform. So far, both looked good and ready for action, though Sanders had forgotten all about dinner. Thankfully, he had found one last fire still going and cooked up a piece for himself, one for Gabby, and another for Pyrrha. He would have offered to get one for Jimmy as well, but he found him with one already, though where he got it from was anyone's guess.

 

Sanders' heard Pyrrha sniffing the air before he was able to make her out in the darkness. He moved closer and was barely able to make out Pyrrha's massive head in the dark with Gabby leaning up against her cheek. Pyrrha began to lick her lips as Sanders moved toward them.

 

"Alright, about time. Thought I was going to have to eat Pyrrha if you didn't hurry," Gabby said as she moved up and snatched her piece from Sanders. Pyrrha didn't even glance at her as she, eagerly, waited for her own piece. Sanders tossed it a few feet away and let Pyrrha get it rather than suffer another blast from her mouth. Rather than gulp it down, though, Pyrrha started to lick the meat as if to savor its flavor. Neither Sanders nor Gabby did, however, as both began to dig into their meat.

 

"Needs...a little...steak sauce, but...other than that it's...great," Gabby said between bites. Sanders nodded his agreement and sighed to himself as he thought back to other little things he would love to have again.

 

"Be nice to have a cold glass of soda to go with it. And maybe some bad TV to watch," Sanders said as he thought back on some good times. Gabby nodded and stopped eating for a second.

 

"Have some good, properly made beer rather than this moonshine shit. Have an actual bed with covers and everything. Actually, fuck all that just some proper toilet paper would make me happy," Gabby said as she started to reminisce too. Sanders nodded his agreement on that as he took another bite.

 

"Personally, I would be happy if I just had proper tools rather than shit I had to throw together," Jimmy said from the side. Both Sanders and Gabby turned to see Jimmy appear out of the darkness and moving to join them.

 

"If you could make proper weapons with said tools I would be all for it," Gabby said as she kicked the rocket launcher she had been given. Even by the Phoenixes standards it was shit and looked more likely to explode than fire. Jimmy shrugged at that.

 

"Couldn't make top of the line military grade stuff, but I could certainly make better stuff than that. Now if I had the proper tools AND a proper fabrication center I could really make some fun stuff. But even if we did find one, which is highly unlikely, everything it made would be way too big for us. Surviving in the ruins of the old world would be a hell of a lot easier if everything wasn't a hundred times too big," Jimmy said with a depressed sigh. Sanders could imagine how frustrating it must be to need a wrench and there be plenty of them lying around, yet every one of them be useless. Gabby shook her head as she took another bite.

 

"Ye know...back when I was big I never even thought of shit like that. I guess I just figured people outside Atlanta had tools and other stuff like that because people inside had them. Guess it never occurred to me that they only had that because the Society made it," Gabby admitted with some embarrassment. Jimmy, though, just shrugged.

 

"I figure most people in Atlanta have no idea what it is like out here. If they did, I'd like to think they would do something to help us. But, considering they get all their information from the Society, they have no idea what it is like. All they see is the propaganda other bullshit that paints us as fucking monsters and the Society as saviours," Jimmy said with some bitterness in his voice. Sanders sighed at that, thinking back on when he thought the Resistance was the enemy. It seemed like it was some other life now, back when the Society were just and Isabella...and Flonne...and [i]Aviel[/i]... Sanders' hands tightened around his meat.

 

"They'll pay for it too, I swear they will. Those bastards are going to pay for every person they got killed because of their lies AND for making me think I was doing the right thing protecting them. They'll wish they'd never even thought of doing this shit when I am done with them and will be begging me to squish them just to end it. But fuck if I will, not after what they did to Isabella," Gabby said with barely restrained rage. Sanders loosened his grip on his meat as he looked at the rage on Gabby's face. If only she hadn't been shrunk...

 

Sanders glanced over at Jimmy to see his reaction and saw him look surprised. His surprise turned to a smile as he shook his head

 

"I almost half believe that when you say it. That are not a lot of people out here who still have that much fight in them. Course, we've been fighting this losing war for years now and only had dead friends and family to show for it. Kinda nice to see someone who still wants to take it to those bitches. Doubly so one who is so good lookin," Jimmy said with a weary, but sincere smile. Gabby's anger faded a bit as she looked over at Jimmy and raised her eyebrow at him. The two stared at one another for a moment before Jimmy looked away, cheeks going a bit red.

 

Jimmy turned and looked past Sanders as he tried to end the silence. Sanders followed Jimmy's eyes behind his shoulder and saw Pyrrha still licking her slice of meat. She, finally, scooped it up into her mouth and began to suck on it.

 

"Does...she usually do that?" Jimmy asked, though he didn't seem all that interested and was just trying to move the subject away from his clumsy hitting on. Sanders decided to help the guy out and answered.

 

"No, she usually just swallows whatever food is put in front of her without even chewing. However, she started doing that with cooked food a few weeks ago. I think she likes the taste of it so she is trying to stretch it out," Sanders said as Pyrrha, finally, swallowed the piece of meat down. She got a satisfied smile before stretching her back out a bit. As she did, Jimmy's eyes focused in on something near her chest.

 

"Wait, what is that?" Jimmy said as he pointed...at her breasts?

 

"Uhh...first off you mean what are those and second, are you serious?" Gabby answered looking a little angry. Jimmy groaned to himself and shook his head.

 

"No, not her breasts, that! On the string!" Jimmy said pointing again. Sanders looked around and, this time, managed to see a shape near Pyrrha' cleavage. It looked kinda like a dr-...

 

Sanders could have slapped himself as he remember what it was. Dammit, so much shit had been happening he had completely forgotten about that! Pyrrha finished her stretch and was starting to lay back down when Sanders jumped to his feet.

 

"No wait, Pyrrha. Stay there! Good girl," he said as he motioned for the two of them to come with him. Jimmy seemed a bit...apprehensive as they moved toward Pyrrha's perky breasts, but Gabby shoved him forward.

 

"They're just breasts, Jimmy, they don't bite...though I might," Gabby said as she gave him a look that made Jimmy gulp. Sanders smiled to himself as he neared the drum and saw it looked undamaged. Jimmy's nervousness at Gabby faded as he saw what it was.

 

"Holy shit, is that the ammo drum for that machine gun you brought?! Fuck, why the hell didn't you say you had this!" Jimmy said as he moved up to it and started to try and pull it down, apparently forgetting all about Gabby and the giant breasts. Sanders pushed him away before he managed to get himself crushed by it falling to the ground. He had Pyrrha lower herself down just enough to set the drum down before unhooking it from her rubber necklace.

 

"I meant to show it to you sooner, but stuff keep happening and I kinda forgot all about it," Sanders admitted as Gabby chuckled.

 

"Ha, idiot," she said as Jimmy ignored them both and looked it over.

 

"Bit weathered, but nothing I can't fix. Belt is ripped, but easy enough to repair. Ammo...still in working order. Hell, all it needs is a few little fixes and its ready to go. I got to get to work on this," Jimmy said as he lifted the drum up and started to carry it back to the camp.

 

"Cya...in the...morning," he grunted out as he moved off into the darkness toward the camp. Gabby sighed and went after him to help him carry it back. She caught up to him and gave him a slap on the rump and Sanders changed his mind on why she was going. Jimmy gave him a pleading look, but Sanders only waved. Sanders might be willing to face down a giantess, but he was not getting in the way of Gabby. He moved away from Pyrrha's chest to let her lean back down before heading over to finish his meal.

 

He picked up the meat and took a bite of it before shivering a bit from the cold. The wind was starting to pick up and sent a chill running through him. Sanders was about to grab his blanket when Pyrrha's massive hand appeared in front of him. He tried to cry out in alarm, but was scooped up before he could. His world tumbled a bit as he tried to get his bearings in her hand before being dumped back out in the cold. He stood back up just as Pyrrha's finger moved up to, softly, push him back into her cheek. Sanders took a moment to process what had happened before patting Pyrrha's finger.

 

"Next time you want to cuddle, give me some warning, Pyrrha. But, thanks," he said as he leaned back into her furry, warm, cheek. Her fingers wrapped lightly around him to give him some "covers" and Sanders ate the last of his dinner in relative comfort. With his dinner done, he nuzzled into Pyrrha's cheek and the welcome warmth of his skin.

 

"Good night, Pyrrha," he said as he gave a yawn.

 

"Goo...od night," Pyrrha repeated with a bit of difficulty. Sanders thought about worrying about that, but decided it was too late to deal with anymore shit. It could wait till morning and when he wasn't so comfortable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 30, 2024  5:04 AM

 

"-ke up..." Hmm? Did someone say something?

 

"-ake.." That sure did sound like someone, but it was probably a dream. Or maybe Pyrrha had learned a new word and was trying it ou-

 

"WAKE UP!" a voice yelled as Sanders snapped awake with a start. His hand went down to where his mace should have been, but stopped as it bumped into Pyrrha's huge fingers. He looked around in confusion and tried to blink his eyes into focus. The form of Gerard slowly came into view as his eyes cleared.

 

"Gerard? What the he-" he started to say before Gerard interrupted him.

 

"No time to explain, Sanders. We need you and Pyrrha up and ready to go now. Come on, up!" Gerard said as he grabbed Sanders arm and started to pull him away from Pyrrha. Sanders stammered out a what before Gerard began to haul him out. However, Sanders only got a few inches before Pyrrha's fingers tightened around him, pinning him back in place. Gerard cursed as he started to try and pull Pyrrha's fingers away, and failed miserably at it.

 

"Wait, Gerard, GERARD! What the hell is going on?" Sanders said, getting him to stop fighting the losing battle with Pyrrha's fingers. Gerard stopped and took a second to rub his own eyes before he answered.

 

"Fine, fine, answers first, not like we are in a rush. Ollie got a coded signal on the radio from the northern watchposts. A Society convey just passed our southern watchposts and is heading up I-75. I don't think I need to tell you where Darius thinks they are heading," Gerard said looking very impatient. Sanders sleep addled mind took a second to proce- OH SHIT!

 

"Fuck, Pyrrha! PYRRHA, WAKE UP!" Sanders yelled as Pyrrha groaned in annoyance. He yelled up at her a few more times before her fingers moved up to cover his head, muffling his yells. Sanders grumbled to himself before taking out his knife and poking Pyrrha's finger with it. Pyrrha's finger jerked away from the knife as she let out a low hiss. Sanders ignored her hissing as he scrambled out of her reach and stopped beside Gerard.

 

"I'll...I'll get her up, you should head back and help get the camp broken down," Sanders said as he tried to shake off the last of his sleepiness. Gerard nodded and looked more than happy to leave Pyrrha to him. Looking up at her huge form, he could understand why.

 

"Alright, make sure she is ready to go when we are," Gerard said as he went running back toward the camp. Sanders didn't bother watching him as he stared up at Pyrrha's huge face. Ugh...getting her up the first morning had been bad enough, but this... The sun wasn't even starting to rise for fuck's sake! But, he had to wake her or they might be too late getting to Lindale.

 

Sanders moved to Pyrrha's face and nudged her a few times.

"Pyrrha, PYRRHA! WAKE UP DAMMIT!" he said as he tried to shove her awake Pyrrha groaned a bit and her mouth opened a little. Sanders got a worried look before Pyrrha's tongue came out to lick him before going back in its home. Sanders cursed to himself as he tried to wipe the slobber off.

 

"Dammit, GET UP! I said, WAKE UP!" Sanders said as he punched her nose. Pyrrha gave a low hiss and her eyes opened a crack. They glanced down at him and Sanders started to yell at her again. Suddenly, her finger moved forward and shoved Sanders over, knocking the breath from him. He tried to get back up, but Pyrrha's finger pressed down on him and pinned him to the ground. With that done, Pyrrha's eyes closed and she shifted around a bit as she went back to sleep. Sanders had never felt so ineffective in his entire life.

 

He tried to push against Pyrrha's finger, but the huge thing wouldn't budge. Even though it was just her finger, it was still far too big for him to have any chance of moving it. He cursed to himself as he tried to find his knife. He cursed, again, when he saw it laying just out of his reach. Dammit, he must have dropped it when Pyrrha knocked him over.

 

"Having some trouble there, pipsqueak?" Gabby said. Sanders looked up and saw Gabby standing a few inches in front of his head. She looked more like the Gabby he had known from this vantage; towering, imposing, and larger than life, but still not as big as she had been. Despite himself, he couldn't help but enjoy this view a bit, though he had no time to take it in. Sanders sighed as he nodded.

 

"Yeah, I'm trying to wake up Pyrrha but...well," Sanders motioned to the finger keeping him pinned to the ground. Gabby chuckled a bit and shook her head at Sanders.

 

"So much for being the catgirl tamer, huh? Alright, let's get you out," Gabby said as she moved to the side of Pyrrha's finger. She bent down and grabbed hold of one side while Sanders did his best to grab that side as well. Gabby counted down to three and they both grunted as they strained to lift Pyrrha's finger. Sanders had to fight the urge to stare as Gabby's muscles began to bulge out a bit and her raw strength was put on display. Damn, he doubted anyone, save maybe Derek, could outmuscle her. Sanders shook his head as he tried to focus on his upper head and getting out of this mess.

 

After a bit of struggling, the two of them started to make the finger shift. Sanders slide his way to the side before rolling away just as Gabby let it fall back down. The finger tapped down onto the ground as both he and Gabby gasped for breath.

 

"Damn...that was...a good morning...workout. Who needs dumbbells with..her around?" Gabby said before shaking her arms. Sanders stayed on the ground and nodded, but hadn't gotten enough breath back to talk. It was easy to forget just how powerful Pyrrha was and how easy it would be for her to kill them if she wanted to. Sanders would have preferred not to have been reminded of that by having her finger pin him down.

 

"Alright enough...playing around," Gabby said as she took one last big breath. She moved to Pyrrha's face and grabbed hold of a bit of her hair. She dug her feet into Pyrrha's skin and started to climb up the side of Pyrrha's head, using her hair as rope. She was about halfway up when Sanders had caught enough of his breath back to stand. He moved to Pyrrha's head and got below Gabby in case she fell. He...wasn't really sure he would be able to catch her,but at least he could do...something. And it, of course, had nothing to do with the fact he could stare up at her toned rear.

 

Thankfully(or unthankfully), Sanders didn't have to get a close up of said rear as Gabby made it up onto Pyrrha's head without too much trouble. Gabby vanished from sight and Sanders moved to try and see her again. He moved around to the front of Pyrrha's face and saw Gabby walked along Pyrrha's head. She gave Sanders a wicked grin before moving to one of Pyrrha's ears. Oh no... she wouldn't...

 

"HEY! WAKE UP NOW, SOLDIER!" Gabby yelled straight into Pyrrha's ear. Pyrrha's eyes shot open as she yelped in pain. One of her hands shot up and clamped down on the ear Gabby had yelled into. Sanders spine went cold as his eyes widened in horror, only for it to go away as Gabby came staggering back up. She had managed to dodge the hand, but looked a bit shaken from how close it was. She glanced back at Sanders and tried to hide the shock with a cocky smile. Sanders just groaned in relief and annoyance.

 

Pyrrha rubbed her ear for a second before her hand moved to where Gabby was. Gabby tried to avoid it, but wasn't quick enough, this time, and it snatched her up. Pyrrha brought the hand down to her face and held Gabby right in front of her. She hissed very loudly at Gabby as the woman winced in pain from the noise.

 

"PYRRHA! Stop it!" Sanders yelled at her once her hiss was done. Pyrrha glared down at Sanders in a way she never had before and Sanders felt a bit of fear pass through him. What the...she had ne- was as far as Sanders got before he was knocked over from behind. He thudded to the ground and tried to get up, but was pushed back down as he felt one of the fingers from Pyrrha's other hand press into his back. It wasn't hard enough to hurt him, but it was more than enough to keep him on the ground. Dammit not again!

 

"Pyrrha! No, bad! Stop it, right now and let me up!" he yelled at her, but Pyrrha ignored him.  What the hell was going on and what the hell had gotten into her?! Pyrrha turned back to Gabby and opened her mouth. Sanders eyes widened as Gabby's look of surprised turned to a glare. Pyrrha's mouth closed and opened again a few times before she made a few strange noises. Finally, she took in a big breath of air.

 

"WAKE UP!!!!!!" she bellowed right at Gabby with enough force to blow Gabby back a bit. The force hit Sanders as well and caused him to jerk back before the sound nearly burst his ear drums. He clamped his hands over his ears and cried in pain as Pyrrha's voice nearly deafened him. A low ringing filled Sanders ears as the noise died down. Gabby was hanging limply from Pyrrha's fingers, her face looking the other way. Pyrrha lowered her down and put her on the ground before letting go of Sanders. She brought her hands under her chin and huffed like an angry child.

 

Sanders staggered to his feet, still a bit shaken and dazed by the sheer sonic force he had been hit with. The ringing in his ears slowly faded as noises began to come back. He moved over to Gabby and turned her over and saw blood pooling out of her ears. She blinked a few times at him and looked to be in shock. Sanders cursed as he shook her a bit, trying to get her to snap out of it. She shook her head and seemed to come back as she looked around a bit.

 

"HOLY SHIT...REMIND ME NOT TO YELL INTO HER EAR AGAIN!" Gabby yelled, before chuckling a bit. Sanders let out a relieved breath as he realized she was alright, save for the busted eardrums. He helped her back to her feet as Pyrrha glared angrily at her.

 

"I GUESS I DESERVED THAT. I FORGOT CATGIRLS HAVE MORE SENSITIVE HEARING SO THAT PROBABLY WAS LIKE USING AN AIR HORN IN SOMEONE'S EAR. GRANTED, THAT IS FUNNY, BUT IT IS A DICK MOVE!" Gabby continued to yell, apparently, unaware of how loud she was being.

 

"Gabby, stop yelling. I am right here," Sanders said as he started to move toward Pyrrha.

 

"WHAT!?" Gabby yelled nearly causing Sanders to jump. Oh great, now she couldn't hear... Fuck he should have told her to let him wake Pyrrha up. Rather than trying to talk to the deaf person, Sanders just motioned for her to be quiet. She gave him a what look, but he just shushed her. She crossed her arms in anger but keep quiet, for now. With her no longer shouting, Sanders moved over to Pyrrha.

 

"Sorry, Pyrrha, but you really wouldn't wake up. Would have preferred to try something less...direct before stooping to that, but we do need you awake. The Society are heading to Lindale and we need to get there as soon as possible. I know you are tired, but this is what we were striving for all this time. Just one last push and we will be there, OK?" Sanders said as he petted Pyrrha's cheek. Pyrrha glared at him, but her look slowly softened as he talked. She looked down at him for a second before nuzzling into him and purring.

 

"That's my girl. OK, lets get to Lindale, find what Manchent left, and make the Society pay," Sanders said as Pyrrha gave a happy meow in response. She rubbed against him a little before a voice distracted them both.

 

"A nice speech. Pity it was wasted on her," Darius said from behind Sanders. Sanders turned around as Pyrrha glanced up at him. Darius was moving toward them with Derek and a few soldiers in tow. Despite the early hours, neither Derek nor Darius showed any sign of being tired.  As always, Pyrrha pulled back a little as Darius came closer to them. Gabby followed their gaze and saw them coming as well. Thankfully, she simply stayed put with her arms crossed and didn't look interested in talking to them.

 

"Guessing you are here because of the...yelling," Sanders said, knowing full well that was an understatement. Gabby was yelling, Pyrrha had...he wasn't sure there was a word for it.

 

"Yes and no. We were heading this way before Pyrrha gave us a very...effective wake up call. I can imagine anyone who wasn't awake in the camp is now, so thanks for that. What I really came here for is to discuss our approach to Lindale," Darius said as he got a dead serious look on his face. Sanders got his own as he realized what that meant. They were not going to get to Lindale before the Society so they needed to come up with a way to slip in.

 

"Gerard told me the news. Waltzing in is out of the question, now, though we still need to try," Sanders said as Darius nodded.

 

"Indeed it is. And don't worry, we have come too far now to turn back without even trying. We will get to Lindale, it is getting in and searching it that will be...difficult," Darius said as he moved a bit closer to Sanders. Pyrrha backed away as he did.

 

"Well, if we took off the platform we might be able to slip in on Pyrrha. Have her act like she is just another catgirl wandering around the area," Sanders suggested. Darius, however, shook his head.

 

"Sadly, that isn't possible. We don't have the equipment to take it off her and putting it back on would be even more difficult. Besides, only a few of us would be able to go with her and the rest would be left near defenseless," Darius said looking a bit sad. Sanders nodded in agreement as he remembered the huge scaffolding thing that was needed to put the platform on. And leaving that many people just sitting around waiting to be found was unacceptable.

 

Sanders rubbed his chin in thought before glancing up at Darius. Darius was staring at him, as if waiting for something, though Sanders didn't know what. Or maybe it was the blood that was still leaking out of his ear. Suddenly, a thought came to Sanders as he thought of something, or rather someone.

 

"Why not send William in?" Sanders said as he remembered William was supposed to be a scout just like Lindsey. Darius frowned at that idea while Derek seemed to smirk a bit.

 

"I do not thi-" Darius started to say before Derek interrupted.

 

"Darius..." Derek said as Darius glared back at him. Darius' shoulders slumped a little before he sighed to himself.

 

"Fine, we will send William in first to check things out. Make sure you stop us somewhere out of sight, Sanders. Whatever we do, we cannot afford to be seen before we know where to search," Darius said before walking off to Pyrrha's side. Derek had a smug smile on his face and, for once, seemed happy with what Sanders had said. The other soldier fell in and followed them.

 

With Darius gone, Pyrrha relaxed and nuzzled into Sanders a bit. He patted her cheek before turning to Gabby.

 

"Can you hear yet?" he asked as Gabby rubbed some of the blood from her ears onto his sleeves. Ugh...

 

"What?!" she said a bit louder than normal, but nowhere near as loud. Guess not, but at least it was an improvement. He just waved her over and Pyrrha lifted them both up onto her head, though she eyed Gabby while she did. Samantha had to take her old place since Gabby was now useless, but Sanders kinda preferred her there anyway. It took another two or three minutes for the all clear signal to be given.

 

They still had nearly a full day before they reached Lindale, while the Society would be there in a few hours. Sanders cursed to himself as he willed Pyrrha to go just a bit faster. Every second they delayed was another second the Society got ahead of them.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Samantha had to fight off a yawn as she tried to keep her exhaustion from showing. They had ridden Pyrrha the entire day without any breaks or rest in their mad dash for Lindale. Not even their need for food allowed them to stop. Instead, Darius had ordered them to eat the last of their rations which didn't require them to stop to cook. Eating while trying to hold on was anything but comfortable, but they had endured. Still, it was better than poor Pyrrha who had to keep moving and only got to eat what was on their way.

 

Despite all that, it was still late into the night when they arrived near Lindale. Sanders stopped Pyrrha behind a small hill that overlooked Lindale to hide them and give them a good vantage point. Poor Pyrrha had flopped to the ground, utterly exhausted and unwilling to go any further. She went straight to sleep and Sanders had made it obvious waking her was out of the question. With Pyrrha down for the count, everyone else spread out around her to make a perimeter. It wasn't the best place to stay long term, but it would have to do for tonight. Even if Pyrrha had been able to go, Samantha doubted most of the Expedition could.

 

Nearly everyone was tired, sore, and hungry. Their mad dash had left them all drained and almost no one had volunteered for first watch. Derek had to pick people out for the duty thanks to that and Jacob had, of course, been picked. Samantha, however, had gotten a free pass from that duty. Instead, she was put in charge of Pyrrha while Sanders went to talk with Darius and the rest.

 

Samantha glanced back at Pyrrha and smiled at her sleeping form. Despite how huge Pyrrha was, she still looked disgustingly cute asleep. Her ears would twitch every so often and she would mumble noises as well. Samantha patted her cheek and Pyrrha instinctively purred.

 

"Poor girl. So tired you can't even stay awake. Well, you have done your part, Pyrrha. We'll handle the rest so rest up and enjoy your dreams," Samantha softly said. Pyrrha shifted a little and mumbled a little to herself again.

 

"Amaow," she said before falling back into her sleep. Samantha patted her cheek one last time before leaving Pyrrha to sleep.

 

Samantha moved to a nearby stump and was about to sit down on it when she noticed someone heading toward them. She squinted a bit and managed to tell it was Sanders coming toward them. She sighed as she debating sitting down anyway, but decided to stay standing.

 

Samantha waved to him as Sanders moved closer. Sanders, however, didn't return the wave and had a grim look on his face. Samantha stopped her wave as a bit of worry crept up her. Had they been discovered? No, he wouldn't be calmly walking toward her if that had happened.

 

"What happened?" Samantha asked in worry. Sanders looked at her and sighed before shaking his head. He looked to debate whether to tell her or not, but settled on something after a second.

 

"Darius wants groups sent out to recon the area immediately. He wanted you to be part of one of the groups," Sanders said with an angry look. Samantha, however, was surprised and...well she wasn't sure what.

She was excited because this was a chance show what she was made of to Gabby and Darius, thus moving closer to her dream. Worried, because...well the chances of running into the Society was rather high. She had been at this long enough to know just how dangerous any mission with them was. If she got herself killed and left Jacob behind... But Darius was their leader and she knew her duty.

"I'll go report to him, then. And don't worry about me, just try to get some sleep. You and Pyrrha have earned it," Samantha said with her best sincere smile. She meant it as both of them had worn themselves ragged to get them here. And that was another reason for her to take this mission. How could she let them run themselves to near exhaustion and not follow suite?

 

Sanders didn't look happy with that, but Samantha didn't give him a chance to argue. She turned toward the command tent and headed that way. She glanced back at Sanders and saw him slump with a shake of his head. He turned back to Pyrrha and vanished into the darkness.

 

The area around Pyrrha's sleeping form was nearly pitch black. The moon wasn't even half out tonight and gave the bare minimum of light to see by. Samantha could see well enough to avoid running into anything, but anything further than a few meters was hidden in the darkness. The "camp", though it was more just a perimeter around Pyrrha, was devoid of any light sources, noise, or anything that would draw attention. There would be no cooking, talking, or anything tonight save a tense wait till morning, filled with private prayers and hopes that they would not be found.

 

Samantha hadn't been the only one Darius had asked for. A large number of people, most of which were from other squads, came to the tent as well. As they approached, Gerard or Derek separated them out into four groups. Gerard sent her to the far left group along with ten others. Seven of the people were from other squads, but both Susan and Luke were sent her way. She didn't mind Susan but she nearly left when Luke came. He winked at her and it was all she could do not to punch him.

 

Once everyone was separated into four groups of, roughly, equal numbers, Derek and Gerard moved to join Darius, William, and three other people, two of which were women. They all wore fur cloaks that had been covered in mud, roots, and twigs. Their faces had been smeared in some kind of dark mud, or she hoped was mud, and had bows rather than guns. They were, obviously, scouts and William looked to have put on much the same stuff.

 

"If anyone here feels they are too tired to carry out a recon operation that can NOT be discovered, please say so now. It will not be held against you nor will anyone here judge you. We have all had a long string of days and even myself and Derek are on our last legs," Darius said with an unusually sympathetic look. In fact, as she looked closer she could see just how exhausted both Darius and Derek looked. They were hiding it well, but the signs were there and both looked in desperate need of sleep.

 

A few people looked to consider the offer and glanced between each other. Susan didn't seem fazed in the least, but Luke seemed less than sure of this. However, no one stepped back or showed any sign of backing down. Darius looked over all of them before nodding to himself.

 

"Very well, though I think some might change their mind once they hear the mission. Despite the hill behind us giving us a good viewing area, we are still painfully unaware of the current situation in Lindale. Therefore, we are sending four recon groups in each cardinal direction, that is north, south, etc..." Darius said as he looked to get a second wind.

 

"Each group will have a different task depending on which way they are going. Southern group," Darius turned to the far right group," will be lead by Hannah. Your task is simple, make sure we didn't leave a trail that could lead anyone to us, find out if the Marauders are still active in the area, and make sure the Society is not moving to cut us off in case we need to retreat." Hannah and the soldiers nodded as Sanders turned to the next group.

 

"Western group will be lead by Benjamin. Your task is to see if there is any Society activity to our west, find us a more permanent hiding place, and to secure as much food as possible," Darius said getting a nod from the group. Darius turned to the group beside theirs and gave them the same stern stare. Derek and William, however, seemed to darken.

 

"Northern group will be lead by Christa. Your tasks will be more...dangerous than the previous groups. You are to move along the western border of Lindale toward a large mountain range. From there, you are to gather as much information as possible on their activities, numbers, and anything else of importance. Once you have the information, you are to return here and report your findings," Darius said with a cold look. William coughed to himself and got Darius to glance back at him. He gave William a nasty look before turning back.

 

"It...is possible the mountain is already in the hands of the Society and that their patrols may pass through the area you need to cross. This is a very dangerous mission, but that mountain is the only place to get a complete view of the town. We need that intel," Darius said with an even colder look than before. The soldiers in the group looked between each other, but no one raised a complaint. They had all seen people be giving missions like this before, after all.

 

With that done, it was their turn. Samantha gulped down her worry and fear as Darius eyes settled on them.

 

"Eastern group will be lead by William. Your task is to move along the southern edge of Lindale and look for a route into the town. You are NOT to use it yet. Instead, we simply need its location and how best to get there. A path that Pyrrha can use as well would be best, but not required," Darius said as his eyes seemed to drift toward William. Samantha had to force herself to nod as her mind realized just how dangerous this was. They were going to be skirting the Society's lines looking for the very thing the Society will be trying to make impossible. Worse, catmonsters and fairies were undoubtedly going to be filling the area and fighting them would only draw more of them! Shit..maybe she should have backed out.

 

"There is one more thing, and this applies to all groups. If any of you are spotted by the Society, you are ordered to die," Darius said with an edge in his voice. Samantha's eyes widened in shock along with nearly everyone as that order came down. Die? He was ordering them to DIE?!?!

 

"I know that may seem harsh to you, but it is necessary to protect the rest of us. If even one of you escape, the Society will begin searching for you and will, likely, find us. If such should happen, we will all die. Therefore, your survival rests on your ability to remain hidden. With that in mind, I will ask again if anyone wishes to back out," Darius said as her edged voice became softer and kinder.

 

Samantha felt a bit of fear enter her at Darius' words. Going blind into Society territory and being ordered to die if they were spotted. This was as close to a suicide mission one could get without it actually being one. Samantha had wanted to prove herself to be tough and that she could measure up to Gabriella and Jessica...but this...

 

Wait...what was she thinking? Of course she could do this! Gabriella had faced down a feral by herself and Jessica had keep both of them alive despite having nothing but her own wits to use. Compared to that, this would be easy! She was not going to back down, not when she had finally found a mission worth risking her life for! She was going to show them what she could do!

 

Samantha didn't budge, but two people from her group, along with about five others scattered amongst the other groups, backed away. Darius nodded for them to leave and they all headed back toward Pyrrha without a word. No one in the group gave them judgmental stares or looked angry with them. How could they be? Luke looked about to follow them, but glanced over to Samantha and stayed put. Ugh...

 

"Very well, the rest of you are now under the orders of the scout in charge of your group Follow their orders as if they were my own and remember my last order. Good luck," Darius said as his stern look came back. They all saluted and nodded in understanding. Darius motioned for the scouts to takeover before he and Derek headed into the command tent. Derek gave Samantha a long, hard look before going in as well. Samantha wondered what he would tell Jacob if... Her thoughts were interrupted as William stepped forward. He looked them over as he stroked his big beard.

 

"Seen better, but seen worse too. Would have preferred to use trained scouts, but we need the few we have to lead the other groups. So, you eight are just going to have to learn to be scouts quicker than most. Don't worry, though, I've been teaching people how to be one for a long time," William said with a big, bright smile. It was kinda jarring how different that was after all the glares and stares Darius had given.

 

"First off, yes we are going in blind, but us scouts do that all the time. For us, its nothing new and I'm an old hat at it so don't go worrying yourself to death over that. Just stay alert, follow my orders, and keep hidden and we will all be back here before sunrise. Hopefully, those lucky Wester bastards will have caught us breakfast by then, too," William said with an easy confidence that made Samantha feel better about this. A lot better, actually. He made it sound so easy... She glanced around and saw the same effect on the others, save Susan who still had a cold glare on.

 

"Good, now those are some confident looks. Confidence is the first half of any fight, you youngsters remember that. Now, let's get moving so we can get this over with. I'm not as young as I used to be and I am in dire need for my bed," William said with a cheerful smile. Samantha had to fight not to chuckle at him as he motioned for them to fall in. The group did as they were told and fell into a typical spread out formation. William glanced back at them and seemed pleased with it. They moved out and got just out of sight of the tent when William, suddenly, stopped.

 

"Oh and about that order to die if you are spotted, ignore it. No one is dying on this mission, unless its me from old age, understood?" William asked with the same confident smirk. There was a moment of worried silence as everyone looked between each other. Did he just...tell them to disobey Darius?

 

"Darius did say to follow his orders like they were his own," Luke offered with a shrug. Susan glared at Luke, but he just gave her a "just saying" look.

 

"That's a good man. Now, come on and remember, no dying. Get hurt all you want, but it is going to be awfully embarrassing if this old man has to drag your wounded self back," William said as he started forward again. Samantha was more than a bit...odded out by how William acted, but he did seem confident. And he was one of the oldest and more experienced scouts they had... Samantha sighed to herself as she thought back to Jacob. She hoped William was more than just show, for their sakes.

Meeting of Phoenix Leaders: Topic-Sanders and Gabriella

 

Time: Late Night, Pyrrha has stopped for the night after fleeing Marauders:

 

Darius: "We will be stopping here for the night. Gerard, I want you to get people working on the fire pits you and Jimmy thought up ASAP. We will need to get them ready now so our soldiers can sleep with some food in their stomachs."

 

Gerard: "Yes, sir. I'll go round up some workers."

Gerard leaves.

 

Darius: "Good. We will, also, need a perimeter watch set up in case the Marauders manage to find us or the cooking food lures a feral to us. William, I want you to set it up. Make sure its far enough out to give us a few minutes to prepare."

 

William: "Right. Don't suppose you mind if I use your son, right Derek?"

 

Derek: "He's in your charge for tonight, William. Do what you want."

William nods and leaves.

 

Derek: "What are we going to do about that woman and Sanders? William can't watch the perimeter and watch them."

 

Jimmy: "How about I watch them? I need to go over the platform to make sure it isn't damaged anyway. I could ask Sanders for help and keep them apart."

 

Darius: "That will work well. Get to it Jimmy."

Jimmy leaves.

 

Darius: "Make sure you check on our wounded, Derek. We are getting close to Lindale and I have a feeling we will need everyone if we are to succeed there."

 

Derek: "Yes, sir. I'll check on them once the camp is set up."

 

Darius: "Good...and let Kimberly vent at you if need be. We are going to need her as well..."

End of Meeting.

 

Meeting 2: Topic-Radio signal

 

Time: Late into night after Marauder attack.

 

Ollie: "I'm more than sure, sir. It is the signal you said to send if a Society convey started up I-75. I made sure it repeated four times before telling you.

 

Darius: "...Very well. Thank you, Ollie."

 

Ollie leaves.

 

Derek: "What are we going to do now? There is no way we can beat the Society to Lindale."

 

Darius: "No we cannot. However, we cannot turn back either. Sanders would not accept that and we cannot afford to lose him and Pyrrha. We have little choice but to try and get into Lindale."

 

Gerard: "By the time we get there that place will be crawling with Society. How the hell are we supposed to get in?"

 

Silence for few seconds.

 

Derek: " We could see if any of our scouts could find a way inside. Maybe William?"

 

Darius: "Not William. He will screw the mission up and reveal our presence. We need someone else."

 

Derek: "There is no one else with his skill. With Lindsey dead, no one can match him."

Darius and Derek get into staring match, neither backs down.

 

Jimmy: "Why don't we have a tie breaker? Just go ask Sanders what he wants to do and go with that. We are going to Lindale mostly because of him anyway."

 

Derek:"...Fair enough."

End meeting

Chapter 22: Survival and Choices

 

January 30, 2024 11:41 PM

Samantha and the rest of the group followed William in silence as he led them closer and closer to Lindale. Despite the near pitch black night, William weaved his way through the forest with practiced ease and it was almost like he could see in the dark. A few times he had to stop to let the rest of them catch up as they tried to stay quiet yet move quickly. Each time, though, he simply smiled at them and slowed his pace a bit to let them keep up better.

 

As they moved, Samantha was worried by the lack of noise in the forest. Even at night, a forest like this should have nocturnal creatures moving about and causing some noise. Owls hooting, deer moving through the brush, etc... But this forest was dead silent andSamantha was fairly sure why. Catmonsters...

 

Time seemed to lose itself in the darkness of the forest as they keep moving. Samantha couldn't tell how much time had passed or how far they had gone when William, finally, brought them to a halt. He looked back at them with an oddly familiar stern glare, almost like Darius’ usual look. He motioned for them to hold here before vanishing into the darkness of the forest. The group looked around in worry and anticipation as they waited for William to reappear. After a few seconds of waiting, movement snapped them all around, but they all relaxed when they saw it was William coming back. He moved toward Susan and the two whispered between each other for a few seconds. Susan gave William a nod of understanding before he waved them all forward.

 

The small group moved up and further into the forest. After a second or two of travel, they slowly approached the lip of a large ridge. The ridge was bare of any trees or rocks, but rose high into the air, probably about two to three scale stories. The glow of lights silhouetted the ridge’s outline and the soft murmur of voices could just barely be heard past the ridge. They must be close to Lindale, but still a long ways away considering the volume of the voices. William signaled for them to stay back in cover before motioning Susan, herself, and one of the other soldiers she thought was from Darius' squad to him. They all moved up to William and he made them huddle together to hear.

 

"We need to get eyes up on that ridge, but its lack of cover makes staying there not an option. I need all of you to come with me so we can scan the area as quickly as we can, alright?" William said with the same stern look that looked completely at odds with his earlier smile. Everyone nodded in understanding.

 

"Good. Susan, you have the far left, Samantha, you will get the middle left, I'll take the middle right, and Nathan will take the far right. Scan the area for just a second before getting back into cover and try to remember as much as you can. Hopefully, we won't see anything but more forest and the edge of Lindale, but if you do see any Society start back immediately. The rest of us will take the hint and run back as well. Got it?" William said letting a bit of his old smile come back. They all nodded again as he gave them a thumbs up. He pulled out of the huddle and motioned them to follow him.

 

They followed him to the very edge of the woods and all four of them go ready to rush out to the ridge. Samantha took a deep breath as she got ready to look over her area as quickly as she could. She glanced back at William and waited in anticipation for him to give the order.

 

As she waited she started to hear a strange noise.. It was soft...very soft. So soft she doubted she would have heard it if it wasn't so quiet. It sounded almost like a buzzing noise, kinda like a bug flying around only not quite right, doubly so with it being winter. Samantha looked back at Susan and tapped her ear. Susan gave her a confused look before closing her eyes. She opened them and  tapped her own ear to confirm she was hearing it too. Samantha was about to look over to William when, suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind.

 

Samantha didn't dare scream, but did go straight for her knife. Her unknown assailant grabbed her arm before it could reach, however, and pulled her around the tree she had been near. She looked up at the figure and stopped fighting as she saw the big grey beard of William. He pressed both of them tighter against the tree as the buzzing grew louder and silently shhed her.

 

Suddenly, light burst into life from above the ridge they had been about to run onto to. Samantha swore inside her head as she realized just how close they had come to being spotted. If they had gone out a few seconds earlier...

 

William whispered out a sorry before pressing in even closer to Samantha to try and keep behind the tree.. Samantha might have been slightly disguisted if she wasn't busy being surprised just how fit William felt. He might have been old, but he was still just as fit as anyone else. In fact, if he had been a couple of decades younger, or her older, she might find this rather appealing. His arms were strong, yet held her gently, while his chest had just enough to it to be impressive. And that determined and stern look on his face... He almost seemed a few decades younger like this and looked more like a soldier than the old grandpa from before.

 

The light shifted around the area, scanning the treeline they were at. The soft buzzing now made sense as she realized it was the muffled noise of fairy wings. No one really understood how, but fairies could make their wings nearly silent despite how huge they were. William must have heard the buzz too and recognized what it was. The fairy scanned the tree line for a second more before the light disappeared and the buzzing slowly drifted away. William slowly moved away from Samantha before letting out a long relieved sigh.

 

"Phew...too close... getting too old for this," he whispered before patting his chest. Samantha let out her own held breath as the fairy left and she was freed from William's, not unwelcome, grasp

 

"Sorry about that, Samantha, but I couldn't risk saying anything with the fairy so close by," WIlliam said giving her an apologetic smile. The stern, almost heroic, figure from before was long gone and now William looked like the old granddad from before. Only embarrassed by having to get into her personal space. Samantha hide her bewilderment at how quickly he had changed and waved the apology off.

 

"It's fine. I should have been paying attention," Samantha said with an embarrassed look of her own. She should have been looking at William and not Susan when she had heard that noise, stupid. William patted her on the shoulder and shook his head.

 

"Now I won't have any self-criticism. You were paying attention considering you heard the buzz before I did. In fact, the only reason I heard it is because you were pointing it out to Susan. I just happened to know what that noise was is all. Lack of experience is nothing to be angry at yourself about, so no beating yourself up, OK?" William said, sounding even more like a grandad. Samantha was a bit surprised by his kind words, but managed to smile and nod. William gave her one last pat on the shoulder before motioning for their group to move back into the woods.

 

They had barely taken two steps before William snapped around and motioned them all down again. Samantha dived back behind the tree she had been using while everyone else scrambled for cover. William and Nathan dived behind the same tree while Susan slid behind a dead shrub. They had just gotten out of sight when the light came flashing back down on them. Shit, the fairy was still here! Fuck, it had just pretended to fly away to try and lure them out! This was one smart fairy...too smart!

 

The light moved over the area they were hiding in and Samantha swore as she tried to stay in the trees shadow. The others of the group did the same and were barely able to stay away from its revealing rays. Finally, the light moved away from them, but headed toward where the rest of their group was. Fuck, she hoped the others had noticed and had taken cover. Samantha risked a quick peek out to look up at the fairy and to see if it spotted anyone. She looked up at the fairy and her eyes widened in shock.

 

It was definitely at fairy, but one unlike any Samantha had seen before. It was big, even for a fairy, and looked at least a foot and a half tall, maybe bigger. Not only was it big, but it was more developed too. All fairies looked like young girls, though they were far from such. This one, though, looked more like a young teenager with well rounded hips and breasts that were probably in the B-cups in scale to its size. And then there was its face... She had never seen a fairy that didn't have a damn smile on its face, save for when it was hurt. This one, however,  had a determined stare that looked far too…stern and... human for a fairy. Samantha might not have believed it was a fairy if not for the large bug-like wings and the green antenna hair it had. She swore to herself before ducking back into cover.

 

"Holy shit," Samantha mouthed silently to herself. She bit her lower lip in worry as she wondered just what this fairy could do. A normal one was dangerous enough with their strange powers and being able to fly. This one...there was no telling what it could do. And with them so close to Lindale... Thankfully, the light went out again and Samantha risked a quick peek to watch it fly off for real this time. She let out her held breath and sank to the ground. Holy shit...what had she gotten herself into?

 

Slowly, the others began to come out, but stayed near their hiding places, probably worried that this was another trick. Nathan, however, leap away from them tree he had ducked behind with a disgusted look on his face. Susan gave him a harsh glare, but Nathan motioned toward the tree.

 

“He touched my ass!” he loudly whispered in horror. Samantha looked over and saw William come out from behind the tree, a slight smirk on his face. Susan, however, gave them both a harsh glare before motioning for Nathan to zip it. Nathan looked about to say something before Susan started to move toward him. He clammed up at that point, even going so far as to put his hand over his mouth. Susan turned the glare on William at that point, but the old man just shrugged at it.

 

Samantha got back to her feet as Susan shook her head in disguist. With them all gathered up, William motioned them back toward the rest of the squad and started to head that way. Samantha started to follow before he mind snapped back into gear. Shit, she needed to tell William what she saw. He needed to know they were not dealing with a normal fairy.. She moved up and managed to catch up with him without tripping over something in the dark. She tugged on his shoulder to get him to lean in so she could whisper to him.

 

"The fairy from before wasn't normal. It was a lot bigger and more...developed. It looked more like a teenager rather than a child. And it wasn't smiling, it looked...like it was thinking," Samantha whispered into his ear. William turned to give her a studying look, as if hoping to see it was a lie. It was no lie, though, and William looked to see that as he cursed. He rubbed his beard he thought before mouthing a thanks. He moved a little faster and urged the others to move quicker too. As they went, Samantha could almost swear the buzzing was still there... In fact, she knew it was and the others noticed it too. William looked above them as he keep rubbing his beard.

 

Samanta was sure William would stop, but he keep pressing forward back to where they had left the other four people. The buzzing wasn't stopping either, quite the opposite as it seemed to get louder. The others looked to notice it too and were starting to look around in worry. Yet onward William went. Didn't he hear it? Didn't he hear just how loud that buzzing was getting!? It had to be getting closer and closer and still he went on as it got loude-...wait...

 

Listening carefully, Samantha realized the sound wasn't getting closer, just louder. The fairy was making its wings louder, but wasn't closing in on them. But...why would it do that? What point was there to make itself more noticeable? Unless...unless it was trying to freak them out. But...there was no way a fairy was smart enough to do something like that. A normal fairy anyway, but this one wasn't normal... And she had just told William that it looked like it was thinking. Oh fuck, what the hell was chasing them?

 

Finally, the other four of their group came into view. They looked to be on the verge of losing it from the noise, but William motioned for them to stay calm. Luke looked about to talk, but William clamped his hands over his mouth. He placed his finger over Luke’s mouth before locking it, the sign for complete silence. They all nodded as William let go of Luke’s face and motioned for them to huddle around him.

 

William signed their orders without making a single sound. They were to stay in close formation and ready to dive for cover at a moments notice. There was to be no sound for any reason and all communication was to be in sign form. Most importantly, they were to carry out his orders without question. His grandfatherly look was completely gone as he gave his orders, replaced by a cold and stern glare. Everyone nodded their understanding, looking more comfortable now that William had taken full command. He motioned them to follow him as he moved out.

 

William lead them back toward the camp, at least Samantha thought that was where they were going, and it seemed as if the buzzing was getting softer as they went. However, it began to pick up volume as William called a halt. He looked back at them before looking up into the air as the buzzing keep up. Samantha tightened her grip on her launcher as everyone started to hold their breath.

 

Suddenly, William motioned them down and everyone dived into cover. Barely a second later, the light came back on and illuminated a part of the forest, though not the part they were in. Still, it was far too close for comfort and the fairy swung it over them more than once. This time, everyone got a look at the fairy and all of them, including Susan, looked stunned by it. Shit, what was here that was so important that the Society would break out a new weapon like that?

 

Samantha risked a glance at William between the sweeps and saw him giving the fairy an angry glare. Samantha could understand his frustration as they couldn't go back to the camp with it tailing them. After a few more seconds of the light moving through the forest, the fairy switched it off and moved away from them. William wasted no time in signaling them to follow him as he got them back to moving in another direction. People exchanged worried glances, but William didn't give them a chance to do more than that as he motioned them to move quicker.

 

Despite their sudden change in direction and speed, the buzzing seemed to stick right on them. William doubled back a few times, changed direction for no reason, and even headed back to where they had started, and still the buzzing followed. Sometimes it would decrease in volume and it looked as if they had finally lost it, only for it to come right back everytime. Every so often, William would motion for them to hide and a second later the light would come on. It was never right on top of them, but was too close too many times to be just coincidence. Samantha couldn't understand how, but this thing was tracking them despite every trick William was throwing at it.

 

They tried moving faster, they tried moving slower, they even tried stopping for a few minutes and still that damn buzzing was there. William, even, managed to catch a deer and set it off in the opposite direction to try and lure it away, but to no avail. The fairy never saw them, but it never lost them either. And that damn buzzing...constantly, constantly buzzing that set them all on edge and wouldn't let up…Its volume constantly changed and they fairy looked to be purposely switching on its light at different volumes. They were never safe, even when the buzzing sounded far away.

 

Samantha rubbed her eyes and had to fight back the urge to let out a long yawn. They had been at this for...hours? she wasn't really sure anymore. The others, including Susan, were looking just as exhausted as Samantha. Even William was showing signs of running out of steam and was stroking his beard like mad. This was bad...even if they could keep avoiding the fairy, eventually they would be run ragged and it would be all over. Or, failing that, the sun would rise and there would be no more places to hide. They had to ditch this mutant fairy soon or none of them were getting back, but how?

 

Samantha couldn’t fault William for it staying with them. He had done so many crazy maneuvers, she had no idea where they were. Yet still the buzzing keep on them. Still it sounded like it was right on top of them. Still it didn’t lose them. Still the ever present pressure of being found was there...

 

They had doubled back over their double back after having doubled back on a random turn...or something, Samantha wasn't sure anymore, but the ever-present buzzing had followed right along. Samantha was fighting off another yawn when she heard a noise that was not the damn buzzing. It was...something else, something...oh God no...

 

Samantha moved up to William and tapped him before putting her hands above her head. William stopped rubbing his beard as his eyes widened. He stopped to listen for a second and, sure enough, the sound came again. William's shoulders slumped down as he shook his head. Sniffing...loud sniffing...a catmonster. Whether it was feral or with the Society didn't matter. It had their scent now and was heading toward them. There was no way out of this. Ditching a catmonster that had your scent was a feat in an of itself, doing it while trying to lose a fairy that had proven to be unlosable... This was it. There was no getting out of this. They could maybe delay their deaths, but with both monsters after them it was only a matter of time.

 

The others stopped as they moved up and Samantha gave them the bad news. They all reacted to the news as one would expect. Most just slumped over, accepting the inevitable. Susan silently cursed and shook her head. Luke just stood there, seemingly in shock before rubbing his head. All Samantha could think about was poor Jacob. He would never know what happened to her and would be left all alone...Dammit, she should have said no to this mission or demanded Jacob come too. After getting so angry at Derek for leaving Jacob, she had done the same damn thing...she just hoped he could forgive her, even if she didn't deserve it.

 

The sniffing came again, only louder this time, and Samantha sighed to herself. She took in a deep breath and unslung her launcher. She might be about to die, but she was going die like Jessica had, fighting. She sure as hell wasn’t going to roll over and accept death, she was going to leave some scars in testament to herself if nothing else. Susan and a few others saw her and took out their own weapons. Death would take them kicking and screaming too, and Samantha smiled at them. William glanced at her and looked about to tell them to stop, before his eyes lit up. His beard spread out as a big grin came over his face.

 

William, excitedly, motioned for Samantha's launcher and she, apprehensively, handed it over to him. He took out the rocket that was inside it and set the launcher aside. He messed with the warhead, moving a few wires and other stuff, for a second before smiling to himself. Samantha tried to see what he was doing, but the darkness made it impossible to make out. With... whatever had been done finished, he opened his coat and took out a large slab of salted meat he had, apparently, being saving. Luke seemed about to say something before Nathan clamped his hands over his mouth. Luke glared at Nathan before motioning toward the meat in a "what the hell" manner. Susan gave William a confused look as well as he held up his finger to ask for a minute. He placed the meat onto the warhead before taking a bit of rope he had and wrapping it onto the rocket.  He looked over his meat missile before smiling and poking a few holes in it. A bit of blood and some of the smell began to waft out, causing the sniffing of the catmonster to increase. Oh great, now the catmonster was going to find them faster, and yet William looked pleased.

 

William shoved the meat rocket into the launcher and raised it up toward the sky. Samantha and the rest gave him a stunned look as William got a smile on his face. What in the hell was he doing?! Susan looked about to move to stop him, but wasn't quick enough.

 

"Hey, over here!" he yelled out as all of their jaws dropped. Fuck, he had just gave their position away! And one rocket wouldn't take down a fairy, much less a giant mutant one! And what the hell was the meat for?! Before anyone could stop him or say something, the bright light flashed down right onto them. Samantha blinked and tried to look up at the fairy, but couldn't see past the harsh glare of the light. William, however, spun around to the light with a big smile.

 

"I see your check, and give you a Checkmate!" he said before firing the rocket straight toward the fairy. Samantha swore as she wondered if William had gone senile from old age. The fairy would just blow that rocket off course with her powers and it would miss completely. William SHOULD know that, but then again he should, also, know not to have random meat on him. Samantha blinked some of the glare away and saw the fairy raise its hand. Dammit, that old fucker had made it where she couldn't even die figh-

 

Her thoughts were interrupted as the missile exploded mid flight, sending a spray of shrapnel and meat flying straight into the fairy. They fairy yelled in surprised as the meat splattered all over her chest and the light moved away from them as the fairy moved away from them a bit.

 

"What th- Oh gross!" the fairy said as it looked to debate between wiping the meat off or it being too gross to touch. Samantha and everyone else stared up at the disguisted fairy and wondered if this was his bright idea, splatter the fairy with meat to make it too grossed out to chase them... Yep, he was just an old crazy fart and Samantha wished she had never thought he was appealing in anyway. Some grandfather...

 

"What the bloody hell are you all doing?! Stop staring and RUN!" William said as he took off to the side. Samantha was tempted just to stay, but William still had her launcher. With an annoyed growl, she took off after him, intent on getting her weapon back before she died. Maybe even use it on him for wasting one of her missiles. The others followed after her since there was really no other choice save to stay and die.

 

"HEY! Come back!" the fairy yelled as it started to fly after them, the flashlight shining down on them. Samantha cursed as she sprinted through the oddly lit forest, trying to catch the speedy William. What the fuck was the point of THAT?! The fairy hadn't even been distracted for a second before it came after them and now they were all as good as dead. The fairy leaned down as she flew after them and her free hand began to come down toward them. Fuck, she wouldn’t even get to use her damn launcher now!

 

"Dammit, William, what happened to not getting killed?!" Luke yelled as he tried to pump his legs faster. The rest all glared up at William but looked too busy running to cuss him out.

 

"Still in effect, old boy! Just keep running and don't stop for an-" his voice was drowned out as a booming meow echoed through the forest. Samantha glanced back as the fairy turned to the side and got a shocked look. Suddenly, a catmonster came pouncing out of the forest, flying over their heads, and crashed into the fairy. The two of them crashed back into the ground sending a huge quake through the ground. They group barely managed to keep their feet as they suddenly found themselves sprinting through a pitch black forest in the middle of an earthquake.. Behind them, the fairy cried out in pain as the catmonster let out another rumbling meow.

 

"Get...OFF ME! OWWW!" the fairy yelled as Samantha heard the two of them starting to fight. Samantha had to slow down as she began to bump and trip into things in the forest and could hear the rest doing the same. Just a few yards ahead of them, though, she could just make out William's figure.

 

"HAHA, maybe I'm not out of the game just yet. Make sure you remember that tactic next time you are caught between a fairy and a catmonster!" he said as his shoulders bounced up with his laughter. Son of a bitch...he had used the meat to make the catmonster and the fairy fight. The catmonster had smelled the meat on the fairy and now that the fairy was food… Samantha wasn't sure if William was a genius or just a lucky idiot. To be honest, she didn't really care at that moment.

 

Behind them, they could hear the fairy and the catmonster fighting. The fairy grunting and cried in pain and exertion as the catmonster hissed and meowed in response. Soon, the sounds of wind being blasted around along with the crashing of titanic bodies into the ground drowned out all other sounds. A battle of monsters was happening behind them, and they needed to get as far from it as possible. William took the lead again as they moved as fast as they dared back to camp. They hadn't succeeded, but at least they were alive.

 

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Sanders rubbed his eyes as he tried to focus on what was going on. Despite Gabby assuring him that he had sleep for six hours, he sure as hell didn't feel like it. He fought off another yawn as he tried to focus on what the soldier in front of Darius was saying.

 

"-und no sign of Society activity. We did find large amounts of animals and other wildlife that looked to have been displaced by the Society moving into Lindale along with plenty of abandoned buildings., however," the soldier said. Sanders shook the cobwebs out of his head as he tried to focus on what was going on.

 

He was inside the Command tent with Darius and the rest of the Phoenix leadership, minus William. Darius had called him here once two of the scout groups had reported back. The soldier in the middle of the room giving the report was a runner sent by the Western group. They were still exploring, but had sent this guy back with an update on their progress. Behind him was the Scout who had lead the southern group who keep at parade rest.

 

"Did Benjamin send a map with you?" Darius asked as he tapped his finger on the table in thought. The soldier nodded and took out a rolled up bit of scrap paper from his jacket. He handed it to Darius who set it aside.

 

"We'll look at it once we hear from Hannah. Thank you, Holland, go get some rest," Darius said with a dismissing wave. Holland nodded and rushed out of the command tent, looking eager to carry out that order with a big yawn. Everyone else, save Darius, looked to want to take that order as well. Derek rubbed his eyes a bit while Gerard slapped himself a little. Jimmy simply yawned and shook his head. Sanders didn’t bother looking to see what Kimberly was doing.

 

Hannah moved forward once Holland was gone and gave a short salute to them. Darius nodded for her to start as Sanders tried to pinch himself more awake. It worked for a second, but not much longer.

 

"Sir, we were successful in finding the Marauders and getting an estimation of their numbers. They are a few miles outside of Lindale and look to be holding back to keep from attracting Society attention. I saw at least thirty or more vehicles ready to engage and many were patrolling the southern edge of Lindale. I find it highly likely that they are looking for us, sir, and are waiting for us to attempt to leave Lindale. It would, therefore, be unwise for us to attempt any movement to the south," Hannah said in a crisp, military-like tone. Sanders blinked a few times at her demeanor and wondered if she had been part of the military before all this.

 

Derek swore to himself at the news as Darius shook his head. He looked saddened by this development, but didn't look at all surprised by it. Sanders supposed he should be concerned too, but couldn't help but be grateful. With the Marauders just waiting for them to try and escape back to Hope, retreat was no longer an option. They would have to stay and the longer they stayed the more time Sanders had to find what Manchent had left. Once this meeting was over, he might go do just that.

 

Darius dismissed Hannah and she gave a crisp salute before heading out of the tent. No sooner had she left did Derek let out a long drawn out sigh.

 

"Damn Marauders cut off our retreat. Now what are we going to do?" Derek asked as he rubbed his face in worry.

 

"We could just smash through them. Find where they are weakest and burn through," Gerard suggested with a smile. Derek rolled his eyes at that suggestion as Darius ignored them both. Jimmy simply rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair while Kimberly remained silent in her corner. Sanders wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but he was glad it had.

 

"That would end badly. Pyrrha has already shown she can't outrun their vehicles and if they take her down, again, while chasing us..." Jimmy added in before shooting his head with his fingers. Gerard looked to want to debate it, but couldn't come up with a good comeback for that.

 

"We cannot stay here, either. The Society will find us, eventually, if we cannot find a place to hide. And, even if we do avoid them, the Marauders are sure to move in once they are gone. We need a place to lay low till they both leave, which means we need a place with lots of food and lots of hiding places," Darius said to no one in particular. Sanders, at first, didn't like this plan, but then again... If they had a place that was secure and hidden, he could take Pyrrha out to look without having to worry about them. Wasn't perfect, but it might be the best he could do till they got word back from the Northern and Eastern scouts. If- no they would come back. They had too.

 

Sanders glanced back at Darius and saw him take out the map Holland had brought. He unrolled it and spread it out on the table. Seeing nothing else to do, Sanders headed over to look at it as well.

 

The map was beyond rough and had the barest of bare bones markings. From what little Sanders could make sense of, the area had been a mostly rural area of the small town, farms and that sort of thing. A few houses were scattered about the area along with a few roads going about the place. The map ended when it reached a highway going south and north. To the north was written Rome while the south was marked with Cedartown. Oddly, Cedartown's name had a skull and crossbones by it.

 

"What's that for?" Sanders asked as he pointed out the mark. Darius glanced at it and, for a split second, his mask slipped into fear.

 

"To mark that we don't go there. No one goes there, not even the Society," Darius said with an edge in his voice. No o- fuck Sanders knew what that meant. It was one of those areas, the off limit places where people went to disappear. Sanders had to suppress a shudder of his own as he thought about his own close encounter with one. That had been before Flonne had joined the Ranger squad and that mission...actually he didn’t want to think about it.

 

Looking for anything to get his mind off that horrid memory, Sanders noticed a drawing of a large building on the map. It was rather far from Lindale and looked to be kind of out in the middle of nowhere, yet looked far too large to be a house and didn't look like the other badly drawn barns.

 

"What about that?" Sanders asked as he pointed it out to Darius. Darius, however, was already looking at it seemed just as confused by it as he was. He shook his head as Derek and Gerard came over to see what they were talking about.

 

"A warehouse maybe?" Gerard suggested as Derek sighed to himself.

 

"What would a warehouse being doing out in the middle of nowhere? No, its probably just something they misdrew," Derek said with a dismissing wave. Gerard gave him a glare and opened his mouth to fire back.

 

"Its Lindale Middle," Kimberly suddenly said from the side. Everyone glanced over to her as she looked over the map with a cold and uninterested face.

"W- I used to live here a few years before the shrink. It was so long ago, though, that I didn't bother bring it up, but I do remember the middle school was way out of town. Had to...do things there," Kimberly said as she turned to head back to her corner. Derek got a worried look and was about to go after her when Darius put his hand on his shoulder.

 

"Derek, leave it. This school might be our way of avoiding the Society and the Marauders. We wi-" Darius started, but Sanders stopped listening. He looked back at Kimberly and keep getting an odd nagging feeling. Something about what she had said...or...

 

Sanders blinked as for, just a second, Kimberly looked like Isabella again. Dammit he hated how much they looked alike. It wa-...wait...

 

Isabella mouthed something to him, but he couldn't understand...

 

Sanders eyes widened a bit as he remembered that. She had mouthed something to him, but he hadn't been able to understand it. Could it be... He went over to Kimberly and tried to keep his face as passive as possible, he didn't want to look desperate to her. She gave him a cold look as he came closer.

 

"Cou-...could you repeat the name of that school?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even. Kimberly's cold stare turned to a confused one as she studied him.

"Please, its important," he added. Kimberly stared at him for a moment more before sighed to herself and shrugging.

 

"Lindale Middle," she said, once again looking more like Isabella. No, it was too fast!

 

"No, slower like...like you are trying to get someone to understand who can't hear," Sanders said, giving up on trying to keep his anxiety and excitement off his face. Kimberly gave him an even more confused look before shaking her head.

 

“I don’t know what this is about, bu-”

 

"Please! Trust me, this is important!" Sanders begged as Kimberly turned back to him. She didn’t look happy about being interrupted, but sighed to herself as she shook her head..

 

"Lin-dale Mid-dle," Isabella mouthed just before telling him thank you. He pulled the trigger.

 

That was it...that was what she had been mouthing to him...Lindale Middle...it was Lindale Middle which meant....Which meant what Manchent left was in Lindale Middle!!! Sanders couldn't help himself as he hugged Kimberly.

 

“That’s it, that’s it! Thank you Kimberly!” he said with with a happy laugh. He let her go as she stared after him in complete shock. Darius and the others had turned to him in confusion as well and backed up a little as he rushed to them.

 

"I know what she meant, I know what Isabella was trying to tell me!" he said, as if any of them had any idea what that meant. All of them gave him a weirded out look and Sanders gave an annoyed sigh as he tried to calm himself down to explain.

 

"OK..OK... Just before I killed my Captain, Isabella, she was mouthing something to me. I figuring it was a clue as to where Manchent's thing could be found, but I never could figure out what she was saying. Kimberly, though, looks a good bit like Isabella, enough that I was able to figure out what she was trying to tell me. She was saying Lindale Middle. Which means Manchent’s thing, or at least a clue to its whereabouts, is there!" Sanders said as everyone looked at him in confusion, then curiosity, and then surprise.

 

"Are you sure?" Jimmy asked with a stunned look. Sanders nodded before turning back to Darius. Darius seemed, for once, at a loss for words. He looked about to say something when, suddenly, the tent flap burst inward as a soldier came rushing in.

 

"SIR! One of the last scout grou- or rather people came back, sir!" the soldier said, oblivious to what he had just interrupted. Darius shook out of his stupor and turned to the soldier, getting his usual mask on at the same time.

 

"What do you mean people?" he asked before raising a hand to stop Sanders from interrupting. Dammit, they didn't have TIME for this! They knew where Manchent's thing was!!! They needed to go!!

 

"Well...only one of them is back, sir. And he is...hurt, badly," the soldier said with a worried look. Kimberly sprinted out of the tent as soon as he was done and was followed by Derek.

 

"Lead the way," Darius told the soldier who saluted and started out. Sanders cursed inwardly at this happening at the worst time. Still, he couldn't help but be worried about whoever had just come back. And a man had come back...not William and not Saman- oh God no. Sanders went after Derek and Kimberly, his need to get to Lindale Middle forgotten in favor of worry. Shit, how could he have forgotten about the scouts still being out there looking for a way into Lindale?!

 

Sanders managed to follow them through the darkness, leaving the soldier, Darius, and the rest behind. There was a large amount of people gathered next to Pyrrha’s leg and both Kimberly and Derek were heading there. Sanders followed and came up to it a few seconds after them. He managed to push his way forward till he saw the man...or what was left of him.

 

The man's entire right arm was gone, just ripped completely off. His right side was covered in huge gashes and claw marks and it was a miracle he was even still awake considering all the blood he had lost. The blood soaked nurses near him were shaking their heads while Kimberly was whispering something to him as she cradled his body. Derek knelt nearby and waited for the man to stop gasping for breath.

 

"Devin, Devin, can you talk? What happened?" Derek asked as he leaned a little closer. Devin took a gasping breath as he tried to answer.

 

"Ca....cat....monsters....Got...half..mountain...C-Ch...rista...eat..." he stopped as he coughed up a bit of blood. He started to cry a bit as Kimberly shhed him and started to wipe away his tears.

 

"Shh...its OK...its OK. You did good, you did good. Don't worry about them, just rest," Kimberly said before cradling him closer. Devin stopped crying as Kimberly took his remaining hand in hers and held it tight. Devin gave a few more gasps for breathes before his head lolled to the side. Derek shook his head as he looked away while Kimberly pushed Devin's dead body away.

 

"Get a body bag and make sure you write his name down," Kimberly told her nurses as two of them went running off to the ladders. She sighed and rubbed her face before turning back to the small crowd that had gathered. She gave them an angry glare.

 

"The show is over, GO AWAY!" she yelled as the group scattered like fish from a pebble. Sanders stayed where he was as he wondered if Samantha was in his group. Darius and the rest arrived a second later and Darius moved to the body.

 

"Devin...one of mine that I sent north. Shame, he was a good soldier. Did he tell you anything before..?" Darius asked as if he was just asking for a drink. If that bothered Derek, however, he didn't show it.

 

"Not really. Sounded like they were attacked by catmonsters before they got to the mountain and that Christa was eaten. Guessing he is...was the only survivor," Derek said with a long sigh. Gerard kicked the ground in anger as he moved off to cuss to himself.

 

"Seems we won't be getting any intel from the mountain or be staying here any longer. Derek, get everyone ready to move out, we need to get out of here before his blood trail leads those catmonsters to us," Darius said with an annoyed sigh. Sanders snapped out of his shock of seeing the poor man bleed to death as he thought about something.

 

"Wait, we can't leave. William and his group haven't come back yet!" Sanders said as he turned to Darius. Darius turned to Sanders and gave him an emotionless stare.

 

"I am very well aware of that, however...I think we both know why that is," Darius said as his eyes went back down to the dead man. Sanders anger flared at that as he narrowed his eyes.

 

"We don't know that for sure and if they are alive, we will be leaving them to die! We can't do that, right?" Sanders said as he looked around for someone to side with him. Gerard, however, had wandered off, Jimmy simply looked away, Derek lowered his head to the ground, and Kimberly just gave him a cold, angry stare. She mouthed, “Just a doctor”, to him before turning away. Holy shit...they...they honestly were OK with this.

 

"We don't have a choice. A catmonster could be sneaking up on us right now and we would not know it. We have to leave before we are all killed," Darius said as he stared at Sanders. Sanders tightened his fist and was about to argue when a thought entered his head. Lindsey... He had tried to save everyone there too and how had that turned out?

 

"You said it yourself that you know where Manchent's legacy is now. We have come too far to let concern for a few stop us from saving the many. We have to go, now, or we put everyone here in danger. And if we are found and followed to Lindale Middle, all the sacrfices of all the people who got us here will be meaningless," Darius said with an unyielding stare.

 

“I can’t force you to make Pyrrha move, so the choice is yours. Do you risk everything for eight people, or doom eight to make sure we find what your Captain and Manchent gave their life to protect?” Darius asked with a stare that sent chills down Sanders spine.

 

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January 31, 2024 6:32 AM

 

Samantha gasped for breath as she tried to keep running. Only a..little further and...they would be back. The sun was already starting to rise over the horizon and everyone, even Susan and William were beyond exhausted. They had spent so many hours trying to lose that damn fairy and had moved around so much, that they had gotten lost in the tangle of trees. Finally, though, they had found the hill they had hide behind and now...now it was almost here. She couldn't wait to just flop down and sleep.

 

"Fuck...finally. Oh they better let us use the barracks to sleep after this shit," Luke said as he rushed to the front of the pact. Neither William nor Susan told him to wait for them as they all walked that last few feet to where the camp was. They just had to round this hill and Pyrrha would be there along with Jacob and everyone else.

 

Luke rounded the hill first and stopped dead in his tracks. Samantha wondered what was up with that till she rounded it too. Pyrrha was gone...the camp was gone...everyone was gone...

 

"No...no...nonono... They...they couldn't have...they wouldn't have..." Luke started to say as he collapsed to the ground. William and the rest came around the corner next and he let out a long sad sigh.

 

"He could...he would...he did..." William said as Samantha fell to her knees. She stared at the empty field that Pyrrha had been laying on...the perimeter where Jacob would have been on guard...the spot the tent had been when they had been given this mission. All gone...

 

She was so stunned, that she almost didn't hear the voices as they started to drift through the air. Almost didn't feel the rumbling ground as massive feet began to move toward them.

 

"The catmonsters keep wanting to go this way, maybe we finally found something to play with," a booming voice said.

 

"I hope so, I have been wanting to try out this new way Lutice taught me to kill tinies. Slowly step on them bit by bit till their heads pop like a toothpaste top," the other voice said before the air was filled with laughter.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Sanders glanced backward yet again as his guilt gnawed at his conscious. He had left them...he had left them to die and yet...what choice did he have? They had left barely minutes before Pyrrha's ears perked up and she gave a low hiss. A catmonster had followed Devin's blood trail and would have found them if they hadn't left. Pyrrha would have won the fight, he had no doubt, but there was no telling how many people would have got caught underfoot. And if a giantess had heard the fight or a fairy went to report it... But still...they had left them.

 

Rubbing the small whistle in his pocket, Sanders tried to fight off the guilt. There was nothing he could have done and staying would have just got more people killed. Hell, Samantha and William might have been killed out in the field and never made it back. And they might be able to survive out there...maybe... Sanders had to fight off tears as he tried not to think of Samantha petting Pyrrha or William rubbing his grey beard. They had left them...and hadn't told Jacob...dammit what had he done?

 

A satisfied purr from Pyrrha snapped him out of his internal anguish. Pyrrha was moving along on all fours, but was using her right arm to shovel a large amount of animals into her mouth. The Western scouts had been right about the animals, they were everywhere and Pyrrha had an effortless time catching up a feast for herself. She was still stuffing her face as they moved closer and closer to where Lindale Middle was. Lindale Middle...he needed to focus on that now and not...not what he had been convinced to do. Their deaths had to mean something and that meant he HAD to find what Manchent had left. He just...just had to now...he couldn’t...wouldn’t live with himself otherwise… He had left them...

 

Pyrrha, finally finished her massive meal and licked her hand clean before giving a loud burp. Sanders shook his head at her lack of manners before patting her ear. Pyrrha gave a soft purr in response...but even that didn't help. Dammit...how could he have left them?

 

They crested a small hill and Sanders sighed as he looked down from the hill. Lindale Middle was only a hundred or so yards ahead of them...standing huge and silent in a sea of slowly crumbling pavement and rusted wrecks. Thankfully, none of the cars looked to be in any sort of drivable condition and Sanders didn't see any sign of the Society. At least...at least that was something.

 

"Let's go, Pyrrha," he said as Pyrrha gave a short meow in response. They headed down the hill and to the large parking lot in front of the old middle school. Old cars and trucks lined the area, still parked in the spots they had been ten years ago. A few had crashed into others or looked to have just rolled to a stop somewhere, the poor drivers trapped inside them when the shrink hit.

 

As they moved past the parking lot, they came to the pick-up/drop-off area in front of the school. A few rusted buses were scattered about the area, their cargo long gone and dead. Sanders wondered how many kids had been trapped in them, screaming in terror and fear before hunger or thirst took them. As horrid as a thought that was, the crumbling remains of backpacks and books were far worse. Even from high up on Pyrrha's head, he could swear he could see blood stains leaking out from under them. Kids...crushed by their own school supplies... he could only imagine the terror and panic that must have gripped this place. Never before was he more glad he had been out with his family when the shrink had hit. Being trapped somewhere like this, miles and miles from your family with mass panic all around you… It would be like being left in enemy territory...he had left them...

 

Pyrrha's ears lowered as if feeling the sorrow and loss of this place. Sanders rubbed her ears to try and cheer her up, but she didn't respond. Behind Pyrrha's head, the platform with the others was just as silent as they were. He could imagine the people on the platform were reflected on the same thing as Sanders...or reliving their own horrors from that day. He wondered if any of the others who knew what they had done were feeling as torn as he was. He figured at least one was not...

 

Passing the solemn sight, Pyrrha slipped through the broken doors and into the school itself. Dust and debris littered the floor and gave it an almost carpet like appearance. To the right was the door leading into the school's office, barely hanging from the wall by a single hinge. To the left was an old trophy case that was so covered in dust that Sanders couldn't see inside. Forward lead to the hallway which split off to the right and left.

 

Sanders was here, but had no idea where to look inside the school. Isabella had said to come here, though, so something had to be here. Maybe...maybe she had left a clue somewhere. Yes, she had to have had. He had come to far and...lost too much to give up now.

 

Sanders got Pyrrha to move through the area and had Gabby ask the people on the platform to look out of anything odd. They moved about the area, but nothing looked out of place or disturbed. Even worse, any tracks Isabella's footprints had made in the dust had been blow away or purposely destroyed, probably the later since anyone could have followed them. Dammit, there had to be SOMETHING she had le- wait...

 

Isabella had gotten rid of her footprints to hide her path. Anyone, even a giantess, could have found that. But Sanders and, at the time, Aviel were not giants… OF COURSE!

 

"Pyrrha, down!" Sanders said as Pyrrha gave him a confused meow. He stomped his foot on her head to get her to hurry up and she grumbled a bit before raising her hand. He had climbed onto the hand just as Derek came out of Pyrrha’s sea of blonde hair.

 

"Sanders? What are you doing?" he asked in confusion, brushing some hair out of his face.

 

"Isabella wouldn't have left a clue a giantess could see, after all she didn't want the Society to find this. But maybe she left a clue that someone our size COULD see," Sanders said with a smile before Pyrrha lowered him down. Derek moved to Pyrrha's forehead to watch him, Pyrrha looking a bit annoyed with him being there, as he was placed onto the ground.

 

Sanders had to wave the carpet of dust away and coughed a bit as some of it got into his throat. Once enough of it was gone that he could see, he looked around the area for something out of the ordinary. He scanned the room, but didn't see anything until he looked toward the lockers ahead of them. There, just under the lip of the lockers and out of sight of anyone looking at or down at them, was a small arrow drawn in permanent marker. It was pointing to the left and Sanders smiled as he had found her clue. He was close now...

 

"Pyrrha, up!" he said in excitement as Pyrrha plucked him off the ground. She put him back on her head and Sanders made sure to get a good grip.

 

"Well?" Derek asked as he tried to imitate Sanders grip on Pyrrha's hair.

 

"There was an arrow written below the lip of the lockers. Isabella left us a trail. Pyrrha, go left!" he said as Pyrrha meowed and headed off down the left hallway. Derek had a bit of trouble holding on, but got his legs soon enough. He relayed what happened to Gabby who sent it down to Darius. They were on their way to the prize.

 

From there came an easy pattern to follow. They would go down the hallway till they reached an intersection. Sanders would be lowered down and find the arrow. Once he found it, Pyrrha would pick him back up and off they went again. They went like this down four intersections before coming to a dead end hallway.

 

Pyrrha slowed as she went down the hallway, glancing back and forth between the massive doors. They all looked to be leading into classrooms, but the doors were closed tight. Considering the dust and rust on the doors, Sanders doubted they had been used since the Shrink Disaster. Sanders was beginning to worry if he had been wrong or had missed an arrow when Pyrrha's ears perked up. She moved to a door near the end of the hall that looked to be cracked open a bit. Sanders and Derek leaned forward to get a better look into the ro-

 

"Well?" Gabby said suddenly, causing both Sanders and Derek to jump a bit. They both glared at Gabby who giggled at having scared them both.

 

"Dammit, Gabby, I nearly jumped off Pyrrha's head because of you. What are you doing up here anyway?" Sanders asked, trying to get his heart rate back down from manic.

 

"I was bored sitting back there so I came to see what was going on. So, find anything?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

 

"We might have if you hadn't interrupted us," Derek grumbled out as he turned back to look into the classroom. He didn't get a chance to get a good look as Pyrrha's ears shot straight up. She gave a curious meow as she pushed the door open enough for her to get through.

 

"Pyrrha? What is it?" Sanders asked in confusion. Pyrrha didn't answer as she moved into the classroom. The classroom looked like any other with old desks, some fallen, some fallen apart, unused chalk boards, and crumbling posters scattered about. Sanders saw clear signs of some of them having been cut into by shrunken people, but most looked to have simply rotted away. Near the back was a plastic desk that still looked relatively intact. Pyrrha headed toward it as her tail slowly rose up.

 

"Pyrrha, what the hell has gotten in to you? Sto- WOAH!" Sanders said as Pyrrha moved to the desk and began to stand up. Derek swore as he grabbed a chunk of hair as Gabby grabbed Sanders. Sanders felt his stomach drop to his feet as Pyrrha rose to her full height and, just barely, crested the top of the desk. Sanders took a second to recover before smacked Pyrrha's ear.

 

"Dammit, Pyrrha, give us some warning when you do that! You bet-..." Sanders stopped as he noticed movement in front of Pyrrha. Standing a few feet from Pyrrha's face was a woman in clean, non-animal fur, clothing. She was clutching a little girl dressed much the same to her chest as they both stared at them in terror. Behind them was a large building Sanders recognized as a Society prefab shelter along with a number of Society crates. A massive water bottle sized for a giantess towered over it and had a large cap in front of it to collect the water.

 

Sanders looked over this in shock as he turned back to the woman and child. The child looked terrified by them until she looked at Sanders. She blinked a few times at Sanders before pulling on the woman's dress and saying something to her. The woman looked at her and then at him before her eyes widened.

 

"S...Sanders Cutter?" she stammered out in disbelief.

Chapter 23: Sacrifice and Legacies

January 31, 2024 6:35 AM

Samantha stared up to the sky in the direction of the booming voices. They were dead...there was no where to hide...nowhere to run...no reason to even try...they were doomed, and hope was a luxury they were not afforded. If it had just been one giantess, they might have had a chance. But two giantesses and two catmonsters? No...there was no hope here.

 

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that mute acceptance was the way to go. They were all so tired and exhausted from nearly two straight days without sleep that fighting was just...out of the question. Dammit, she had wanted to go out fighting, but...what was the point? Against two giantesses and two catmonsters, she would be lucky to even get a shot off. The only one who stayed standing was William. The old man scanned the area, as if looking for something, anything, useful. Samantha shook her head and looked to the ground. What was the point? Nothing they found would keep the catmonsters from smelling them and once they did...that was it.

 

"Bloody hell yes, come on, we still have a chance!" William, suddenly, said as he ran off to the side of their old camp site. They all looked up at him, but no one followed him. Samantha gazed after him and thought about just ignoring him...but he had gotten them away from the fairy. And Jacob...if she gave up here...no NO! Samantha tightened her fists and forced her exhausted body to stand. She grunted in effort and started after William, the others staring in wonder at her.. Not long after, she heard Susan do the same and, slowly, the rest came along too. One of them, however, didn’t move at all and just watched them go.

 

Samantha saw William move to a an odd pile of dirt and start to dig into it. She thought it looked like a hastily dug grave, but maybe it was just made to look that way. Had Darius left something for them after all? Hope began to come back to her as she moved over to help William dig. The rest joined in, too tired to question what was going on, but looking more hopeful than before.

 

The booming steps were getting far closer now and the group started to dig with frantic abandon. Finally, William smiled as he seemed to hit something and began to pull it out. Samantha reached over and felt plastic as she tried to pull whatever it was out as well. With one big pull, they yanked the object out, and released a smell that nearly caused Samantha to throw up. The others moved away as the smell hit them, but William only smiled.

 

"Yes, we might just live through this yet, lads and ladies," William said as he pulled open the plastic bag to reveal a dead and starting to rot body. Samantha had seen dead bodies before, but not ones that had started to rot. The sight would have made her lose her lunch if she had any. Instead she just dry heaved along with most everyone else. At least the dead man wasn’t someone she recognized.

 

"What the hell are we supposed to do with that? Gross out the catmonsters?" Luke asked as he hide his nose from the smell with his fur shirt. William smiled at him as he reached into the dead body. Sickening noises came out of the body as William moved his hand around, causing more dry heaving from everyone.

 

"That's exactly what we do. They like their meat fresh and not slowly rotting. So if we smell like rotting sacks of meat..." William said before smearing a bit of the...there was no word for it, onto him.

 

"They won't come after us," Susan finished as she knelt down and began to rub some of the disgusting fluids onto herself as well. Despite her best effort, it was obvious she was barely keeping from dry heaving herself as she started to splatter the...fluids onto her. Samantha dry heaved some more just thinking about having that stuff on her, but the sudden increase in volume of the footsteps made her get over it. She reached into the body, nearly throwing up for real when she felt the organs, and pulled out gunk for herself.  

 

They all rubbed as much of the stuff as they could get onto themselves, despite their constant gagging. Samantha would have preferred to maybe get some more, and yet not, but the footsteps were far too close to risk being out in the open any longer. William motioned them back into the woods and they took off to hide.  As they ran, Samantha gave one last look at the guy who had stayed behind and saw him simply stare at them. He made no move to follow them or anything, just sat there having completely given up. Samantha wanted to help him, but there was no time. She got into the forest barely seconds before the giantesses faces appeared over the hill and slid behind a nearby tree.

 

"That's wierd... looks like the trees have been crushed down over there," one of them boomed out as she pointed toward where Pyrrha had sleep at.

 

"Probably where a catgirl decided to take a nap, lazy things. Alright we are here so go find us something to play with," the other said, her voice shaking the air a bit. Samantha tried to bury herself as deep into the brush and foliage as she could, but the winter had made most of it nothing but bare branches and naked trees. Dammit, if they even glanced in their direction they might spot them. She cursed as she watched two catmonsters climb over the hill and begin to sniff the air. Almost immediately, one started heading straight toward where their left behind man was. Samantha swore as she turned away, having no wish to watch this.

 

There was no scream or even the sounds of a struggle. Just a happy meow and that gut wrenching gulp. Dammit...She didn't have time to mourn him, though, as the other catmonster began to move toward them. It sniffed the air and moved closer and closer to them. Samantha pressed herself so hard against the tree that she might have been trying to meld with it. The catmonster sniffed and sniffed...before giving out a slight hiss. Her ground shaking footsteps began to move away as the other sniffed the air. It gave the same hiss and its footsteps began to get softer. Samantha risked a glance out and let out a relieved sigh as the catmonsters moved away back to the giantesses. Holy shit...William's plan had worked again.

 

"What? Is that it? You drag us all the way out here and don't find anything?!" one of the giantesses yelled out in anger. The other rolled her eyes and...oh god started to move toward them!

 

"Stupid things probably didn't look hard enough," she said as she stepped over the hill and started toward them. Samantha's terror only increased as the other did the same and both of their massive, booted feet began pounding toward them. Samantha had to fight ever urge in her body not to flee, but if she moved out of cover, their damn visors would spot her and they would all be dead. She had to stay put and hope that they didn't come all the way forward or take a close look at the edge of the forest. If they spotted even one of them...

 

Samantha cowered in fear as the footsteps got louder and the ground shook more and more. Limbs of trees began to be shaken loose as the giantesses moved closer and closer. Samantha had to fight not scream as the shaking nearly sent her sprawling out into the open and a fallen limb barely missed her. She dug her hands into the trees bark as she held onto it and tried not to be shaken out into the open.. And then the world was, suddenly, plunged into darkness. Samantha, slowly, looked up and felt terror grip her. The sky had been turned into the bottom of a massive boot and it seemed to be moving agonizingly slowly. She willed it to keep moving, but braced herself for it to come crashing down. She got ready to run, but relaxed as it passed over her. She looked down and the fear came right back, but not for herself.

 

Nathan sprinted out of his hiding place and made a mad dash for the edge of the boot. He had barely gotten two steps when the boot came crashing down. Samantha screamed out to him, but her voice was lost as the boot blasted out. The boot smashed into the ground with so much force that Samantha was nearly blasted backwards by the wind and the sound blew her eardrums completely out. Bits of debris and other things went flying past her, some hitting her but most missing, and she was thrown from her feet by the massive earthquake. Samantha had just started to recover when another massive impact rocked her world and sent her view tumbling into sheer chaos. Her sense of up and down was gone as she flailed on the ground and tried to grab onto something to stop herself from being thrown around as yet another earthquake rocked the area.. Despite the chaos going around her, the entire affair was silent and all she hear was the ringing of her ears and her own inward curses.

 

Finally, things calmed down and she managed to stop herself. She rolled into a nearby brush to take cover and looked around to get her position. A massive boot was only a few scale yards away, broken trees and plants sticking out from beneah its massive sole.. Samantha risked a glance up and could see the giantess, hands on her hips, scanning the area. Thankfully, she seemed to be looking out over the forest rather than down at her feet. To her left,  a bit further off, she could see the other giantess doing the same. They were talking to each other, but her blown out ears couldn't hear anything.

 

Samantha looked around for the others, but couldn't see them anywhere. Either they were hiding like her or... No, she wouldn't think like that. Just because Nathan was unlucky didn't mean everyone else had been. For now, she needed to focus on herself and get away from this giantess before she started moving again. Samantha didn't dare stand, but got up on her hands and knees and started to crawl from cover to cover.

 

She had put a few more scale yards between her and the titanic boot when it began to shift. Samantha froze as the boot moved and felt her fear rise to new levels as she saw it was coming right toward her! Samantha cursed as she leapt to her feet and took off running from the approaching shadow. Despite her best efforts, the shadow began to settle over her and her legs, already exhausted, just refused to give her the speed she needed. She didn't dare glance back as she tried to get just a bit more out of her legs and cursed as they just refused to give anymore. She begged anyone, or anything, to give her just a bit more speed as the edge of the shadow was just a few feet more. It had stopped moving and she knew it was coming down, just a few more steps...

 

Suddenly, she felt herself shoved forward and yelped a bit as she was pushed that last bit she needed. She glanced back to see Luke standing where she had been, his arms out from where he had shoved her. She gave him a shocked look as he smiled. Suddenly, the boot crashed down on top of him and Samantha was blown forward by the impact. She screamed from the impact and the lose before she looked up to see a limb coming straight toward her head. And then she saw nothing...

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Derek turned to Sanders in surprise after hearing the woman say his name. Derek was going to ask what this was all about, but stopped when he noticed Sanders’ face. He looked just as confused, if not more, than Derek was. Derek wasn’t sure if that was good or bad...

 

"Umm...y...yeah I'm Sanders Cutter. How...do you know that?" Sanders, finally managed to ask. Derek looked back toward the older woman and the child. The woman’s look of excitement seemed to dim and turn to confusion..

 

"Didn't...didn't Isabella send you here? She should have told you about...us...and where is Aviel?" the woman said as she started to inch away from them. She knew Isabella and Aviel as well? What the hell was going on? Whatever it was, letting them escape was not an option, considering how much they seemed to know. Derek got ready to leap down after them if it came to that.

 

"Wait, you know Isabella and Aviel too?" Gabriella asked, before Sanders could say anything. The woman stopped backing away as she looked at Gabriella and then over to Derek with a suspicious look.

 

“I’m not going to answer anything else till I know who the other two are,” the woman said as she backed up a few more inches. Dammit, if she backed up much more, Derek would be forced to go after her. It didn’t look like there was anywhere to go, but Derek wasn’t about to risk that being wrong. Sanders held his hands up to try and calm her down.

 

“OK, ok… no need to get all panicked or anything. The big guy next to me is Derek, he is with the Phoenixes and they helped me get up here to Lindale. The woman is an old friend of mine and Isabella’s, Gabriella. Do you mind telling us who you are?” Sanders said in a calming voice. The woman’s eyes narrowed when Sanders mentioned the Phoenixes. Seemed she had heard of them, though it didn’t look like it had been good. Her reaction to Gabriella, however, was nearly one of shock. The little girl’s eyes widened as well as she looked about to say something before the woman quieted her.

 

The woman said something to the little girl before sending her, grudgingly, running toward the building. Pyrrha’s ears drooped as she ran off, but she didn’t make any noise. With the little girl gone, the woman turned back to them and moved a bit closer.

 

“I am Madysen a...friend of Isabella’s as well. Please, tell me what happened to her,” the woman asked, hell, almost begged them. Gone was her suspicious looks to be replaced with just longing and begging. She must have been a friend to want to know that badly.

 

"I’m...sorry, Isabella is dead. I...couldn't save her and...she never had time to tell me anything before..." Sanders broke off as he looked away. Madysen didn't look that surprised, but her shoulders slumped all the same. She looked away and raised her hand to her face to rub some tears away. Before she could turn back or say anything, a voice yelled out.

 

"You're LYING! Aunt Isabella wouldn't have died! She was too big and strong and tough to die! You stupid, stupid LIAR!" the little girl yelled from one of the windows, tears starting to form on her eyes..

 

“CHRISTINA, GO BACK INSIDE!” Madysen yelled as she wheeled on the little girl. Christina, yelped and vanished into the house faster than she had appeared, again causing Pyrrha’s ears to droop. Madysen turned back to them and took a deep breath as she rubbed her face. Having collected herself, she looked back up at them.

 

"If...if you are Sanders then you will have proof of that. Isabella said you would have a picture you were thankful for. Do you?" the woman asked as she set her face into a steely gaze. Derek knew that look well, he had seen it more times than he could count, and worn it a few times as well. This woman was ready to fight and die if need be. Derek didn’t know what had brought this change, but Sanders better have what she wanted or they would be lucky to get anything out of her.

 

Sanders looked up at her and looked confused, for a second. Then his look changed to one of realization and he let out a long sigh. He reached into his armor and pulled out a small, slightly bent and damaged, picture. Part of it was ripped off, but most of it was still intact and visible. Derek didn’t get a good look at it, however.

 

"Yeah...I do have one. I can show you it, if you want," Sanders said as he lifted it up for her to see. She glanced at it and her eyes narrowed.

 

"First Aviel wasn’t here and now she is ripped out of the picture. Why? What happened?" she asked giving Sanders an even more suspicious look. Fuck, this might not go well. Derek shifted a bit closer to the edge of Pyrrha's head and grabbed a bit of her hair to get ready to slid down. Sanders kind look changed to a hard stare as he turned the picture back to himself.

 

"Because she betrayed me, Isabella, and everyone else who is trying to fight the Society’s evil...by joining them fully," Sanders said with barely contained fury. His free hand clenched into a fist as he said that and it looked like he had to fight not to do the same to the picture. Madysen, this time, looked genuinely surprised and blinked a few times in confusion.

 

"Wh-what? Betrayed you and Isabella? I..." she stopped as she looked back down at Pyrrha and then back up to Sanders. Her shocked look faded away to turn back into one of suspicion. Dammit… were they going to have to drag a dead giantess in here to earn her trust? What the hell was she trying to protect? If it was the little girl, she was doing a bad job of it considering she had reappeared in one of the windows.

 

"If she is the one still with the Society, why are you riding on a catmonster?" Madysen demanded with a harsh glare. Sanders shook off his anger as he looked down at Pyrrha's head.

 

"Because..." he stopped before letting out a sigh, "its a long story... The short version is because I managed to tame her and she was the fastest way to get to Lindale." Derek groaned inwardly at that explanation. Even knowing it was the truth, it still sounded like bullshit. A tiny taming a catmonster was complete bullshit, or at least it HAD been. Madysen seemed to agree and her eyes only narrowed further. Gabriella, groaned in frustration before moving forward.

 

"Look, Madysen I don't know what happened or what secret Isabella gave you that made you so damn paranoid, but come ON! Do we LOOK like we are still with the Society?! We're all wearing furs, we look AND smell like we haven't bathed in months, and our 'weapons',” she paused her yelling long enough to hold her own launcher up, “would look better if they were made of duct tape!"

 

The shitty gun she had gotten did, indeed, look like utter shit, but they were not about to give a potential threat a good weapon. And it was starting to look like that had been a good idea, though not for the reasons they had intended. Threat or not, her argument was better than Sanders. The three of them certainly did not look like people from the Society. Hell, they looked about as far from that as possible.

 

"That...could be faked," Madysen said, though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that than them. Gabriella didn’t let her have that, though as she keep up the pressure.

 

"Oh some of it could, but the fucking unwashed manstank these two have sure as hell couldn't. We can send Roidman or Sanders without any weapons to you so you can get a good whiff yourself if you don't believe me, but trust me you probably don’t," Gabriella shoot back. Derek glared back at her for the hulk comment and had to fight off the urge to call her Roidgirl. Getting into a word duel with her wasn't going to help this situation, even if it was tempting. Sanders, though, just sniffed his pits and wrinkled his nose after doing so.

 

Madysen seemed to consider that for a second as she glanced between them. After a few seconds she deflated a bit and shook her head.

 

"That...won't be needed. I suppose if you were part of the Society, you wouldn't have bothered with the deception. And Gabriella certainly is...intense like Isabella said she was. You three can come down, but keep that....cat away from me and my child," Madysen said as she gave Pyrrha a suspicious look. Pyrrha's ears drooped a bit at that, almost as if her feeling were hurt. Ridiculous, of course, but still… Derek shook such thoughts away and focused on the now.

 

“See I get shit done unl- wait intense?” Gabriella said before stopping at the edge of Pyrrha’s head to look at Madysen. Sanders didn’t let her get any further with that train of thought as he shoved her along.

 

The three of them climbed down from Pyrrha's head and reached the bottom right as someone else reached the lip of the desk. Darius climbed up onto the desk from Pyrrha's hair and gave them all his usual cold stare. Madysen saw him come up and drew back a bit, looking unhappy with a fourth person being added.

 

"Maybe you two should go ahead and talk to her while I bring Darius up to speed," Derek suggested. Darius raised an eyebrow at him but the other two nodded and headed off. Derek spent a minute or two bringing Darius up to speed on what had happened. Darius listened carefully, rubbing his chin every so often, before nodding he understood once Derek was finished.

 

"I see...This may be a...worrying development," Darius said as he glanced toward the woman who was listening to Sanders explain something, most likely the details of Isabella's death.

 

"How so?" Derek asked in confusion. He tried to see what was worrying about this, but couldn’t see anything.

 

"The way Sanders describes Isabella makes her out to be much like Sanders himself, selfless and caring for others. By itself, there is nothing wrong with this, but it may be why she told Sanders to come here. There is a chance she simply wanted Sanders to rescue this family and they have no information for us," Darius said as he tapped his chin. Derek hadn't even considered that possibility and it filled him with dread. All this way just to save a mother and her child… He looked back at Madysen and then to the window Christina was looking out. As he did, though, he saw a few things that might be some decent consolation prizes.

 

"They do have a good number of Society equipment, tools and that sort of stuff. I know Jimmy would love to get his hands on that stuff. Not going to win us the war, but it would help," Derek said. He didn't bother saying it was still not worth the lose of his soldiers, knowing full well Darius wouldn't care. Darius nodded at that, but didn't look pleased.

 

"It is something and we could say it is the cache Manchent left for us. If nothing else, it will keep us from coming back empty handed and our morale from plummeting. That will keep us in the fight and that is all that truly matters," Darius said before moving toward Sanders and the woman. Derek sighed to himself and some part of him wanted to disagree with Darius, however that part seemed to be getting quieter and quieter as he let his people die. It was for the greater good after all...and his son was still safe...

 

Derek followed after Darius and they moved up just as Sanders finished telling his story.

 

"-would have been eaten if Pyrrha didn't happen to be in the cage as well. She saved me from the other one and helped me escape. Me and her have been with each other since," Sanders finished as he glanced back at Pyrrha, who was looking around like she was bored.

 

"So that's why you ripped Aviel out of that picture...I want to think you are lying, but... I can't help but believe you are telling the truth considering Gabriella is here and..." Madysen drifted off as she looked to the side, thinking about something. Sanders looked up and got a curious look.

 

"And what?" he asked, snapping Madysen out of her thoughts.

 

"It's..." Madysen paused as she looked at Darius and Derek, "something personal and best talked about alone." Derek wasn't sure what that was about, but figured it was none of his business. He understood about wanting to keep personal stuff between those involved. Before Sanders could ask any more about it, Darius spoke up.

 

"Then we will leave it at that. I know we have just arrived and are still strangers to you, but I must ask if you would be willing to allow my soldiers to rest here and take some of your food and water. The trip from Hope has been a long one and our constant need to avoid the Society here in Lindale has left us little time to rest and gather food," Darius asked with an unusual pleasant smile. Derek thought it was a bit early to be asking for such things, even if they were in bad need of both. Then again, the question would have come up at some point and getting it out of the way would be one less thing to worry about.

 

Madysen gave Darius a cold stare and looked more than a bit angry about Darius' question. Sanders had a similar look and looked about to apologize till Madysen held her hand up. She let out a long sigh and nodded.

 

"Fine, take what you want. It's not like I could stop you, anyway, damn groups are all the same" Madysen said before grumbling out the last part. Darius' smile didn't fade as he nodded a thanks despite the words and the harsh glare Madysen was giving him.

 

"Thank you. Dere-" was as far as Darius got before a sudden rumbling silenced him. Derek swore as the desk began to tilt to the side. He knelt to the ground and tried to grab onto the ground, but the plastic desk didn't give his hands anything to hold onto. Just as the tilt began to cause him to slide, the desk started to tilt the other way and Derek had to push himself back to keep from falling over. The others were having just as much trouble and both the woman and Sanders lost their footing. They fell to the ground and began to slide away from them, all while their hands and feet scrambled over the ground to find a handhold. Thankfully, they didn't get far before the desk tilted back the other way, though not nearly as far. Slowly, the desk began to settle back into a standing position and Derek had less and less trouble staying up.

 

Finally, the desk came to a stop, though Derek remained brace incase, whatever happened, happened again. After a second or two of silence, Derek risked looking around to see if everyone was alright. Darius had slide a few feet away from Derek, but was still standing and looked rather annoyed. Gabriella hadn't budged at all, and started over to help Sanders up. Sanders was on the ground and groaned to himself as he clutched his stomach. Derek had almost forgotten Sanders' motion sickness, but it was on clear display now as his face started to turn green. Madysen was already getting back to her feet and started toward her house. She smiled as Christina peeked out the door, looking a little shaken by the earthquake, but unhurt. A few crates had slide around and the cap at the edge of the bottle had shifted away from the hole, but nothing looked damaged or anything. Still wh-...dammit...

 

Derek got his answer as he looked behind him and saw Pyrrha still peeking out above the lip of the desk, but with her hands now off the edge. Damn thing had tried to climb up, he bet, and had nearly tipped the whole desk over. They were going to need someone to keep an eye on her while they were up her or risk her trying something like that again. And next time she might not stop in time.

 

Unfortunately, Madysen looked to have drawn the same conclusion and glared at Pyrrha in anger. She turned toward Sanders and didn't even wait for Gabriella to haul him up to lay into him.

 

"I told you to keep that...monster away from us! That thing nearly killed us trying to get up here and I won't have it anywhere near my home anymore! Either it goes or all of you do!" she said with a look that made it obvious that wasn't a request or a threat. Sanders got to his feet and nodded to her, but held up a finger to ask for a minute. He groaned again as Gabriella rubbed his back to try and help his sickness. As she did, Darius moved over to join them.

 

"I am sure what Sanders wants to say is that we will make sure Pyrrha stays away, from now on. However, our soldiers are all riding her and need a way up here and she-" Madysen butted in once again, making Darius' smile twitch a bit.

 

"They can use the lift like we do then. Its behind the water bottle. And until that...monster is gone I won't tell you a damn thing. I owe Isabella a lot, but I won't have it put my daughter in danger again," Madysen said with a glare at Darius. Darius didn't bother keeping his smile and went back to his usual look. He motioned for Derek to come with him and started back toward Pyrrha.

 

"That woman is beginning to vex me. She had best hope she has some useful information," Darius said once they were out of earshot. Derek had to fight off a smirk as he wondered if she was the one who needed to worry about that or not.

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January 31, 2024 6:35 AM

 

Jacob let out a long, drawn out yawn as the last few people began to climb down from Pyrrha. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, no one seemed keen on telling him, but he had gathered enough for passing conversations that they had found a place to rest and get some food. All that sounded great, but Jacob had, unsurprisingly, been picked to stay on Pyrrha to "guard" her. Exactly what the fuck they were guarding the huge thing from was the real question.

 

Despite his tiredness and rumbling stomach, Jacob still managed to watch everyone as they got off. Most of them were strangers he didn't know, but people from his squad were scattered in among the strangers. However, despite keeping a close eye out of her, he never saw Samantha head down the ladders. That was odd...she would have made a point to come by and tell him she would save him some food or at least give him a hug. In fact, now that he thought about it, he never got mocked for having to stay by Luke, something that asshole would NOT have passed up. And he hadn't seen Squad Leader Susan either...actually, he hadn't seen any of them since they had arrived in Lindale.

 

Jacob got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and looked around for someone who might know something he didn't. He spotted Gerard's squad leader moving toward Pyrrha's head, now that everyone was off, and headed after her. The woman was just starting up Pyrrha's hair when Jacob reached her.

 

"Squad Leader...uhh," Jacob stopped as he realized he had forgotten her name. Shit, that was a great start to asking for a favor.

 

"It's Marketa, Jacob, what is it?" she asked as she slide back down and turned to him. Jacob was a bit surprised at how...good she looked. Her brown hair was curled into strands going down to her shoulders and her black skin looked like it was carved out of onyx. She was a few scale inches shorter than him, but her confident look made it seem like she was the taller one.

 

"Umm...ye-yes, sorry ma'am. I was...just wondering if you had seen Squad leader Susan or Samantha," Jacob managed to stammer out. He had not been expecting the Squad Leader for someone like Gerard to be...well sexy.

 

Marketa raised an eyebrow at his stammering, but didn't seem angry about it. Once he got his question out, her slight smirk vanished and was replaced with a bit of concern as she turned away.

 

"Actually...no I haven't seen either of them. Last I saw them was yesterday when Darius called some people to come meet with him...Come to think of it I haven't seen Nathan since then either..." she said as she looked to the side in thought. Jacob's bad feeling had turned from a feeling to an assurance. Something had happened...something bad. He must not have hide his revelation as well as he thought as Marketa took one look at him and changed her tone.

 

"I am sure they are fine, though, and they will return soon enough. Go back to your post, Jacob, and don't let this distract you," Marketa said with a reassuring smile. Jacob didn't return it and didn't even watch her as she ascended up Pyrrha's hair, despite the wonderful view of her rear. Instead, his mind was focused on one thing, Samantha was missing.

 

Jacob turned back and looked over the area. His eyes locked onto where the barracks was and he stormed off to it. Marketa might not know what had happened, but he knew someone who would. And by God they were going to give him some answers.

 

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Sanders couldn't help but frown as he watched Pyrrha head out of the room. He didn’t like that she was being watched over by someone who had no experience doing it. However, with Samantha...gone and both him and Gabby unwilling to miss hearing what Madysen had to say, there was really no other choice. The only other person with any experience with her was Jacob and...yeah.

 

Pyrrha stopped at the door and glanced back to stare at Sanders. Sanders gave a short wave to her and Pyrrha gave a short smile in return. Then she turned and headed out onto the mission Sanders, hoped, she understood. There was no mistaking she was far smarter now, but did she really understand what she was supposed to do? If she didn’t, Sanders would have to rely on Jacob...ugh.

 

"Alright, Pyrrha is gone. Let's go see if Mrs. Paranoid will finally tell us something useful," Gabby said as she smacked Sanders' shoulder. Sanders had to fight not to rub his shoulder in pain and turned to follow Gabby to the house. Around the area the rest of the Phoenixes, save the small group that had been left with Pyrrha, were scattered about. Most were sleeping or trying to while a few were munching on the MRE's that Madysen had stockpiled. None of them gave Sanders or Gabby a second glance as they weaved their way through the mass.

 

Finally, they arrived at the pre-fab house and headed inside. The inside was rather spartan with no decorations or anything of that sort. However, it did have a large table for them to sit at and a big open area for other things to be set up on. Six doors lead off to different areas of the structure, though Sanders was pretty sure two of them would just lead outside. Perhaps they were for other modules that this one did not include? All the doors were closed, however, leaving Sanders to simply guess what was behind each one.

 

Madysen was looking out the window at all the people that was now crowding the area. She looked less than happy about it, but didn't say anything. Darius was sitting at the table and was looking through some papers, actual papers for once rather than scraps, that Sanders figured Madysen had given him. Jimmy was sitting beside him, but was too engaged in looking at the proper tools Madysen had to pay any attention to Darius.  The scrawny kid who had been running the radio, Ollie, had set up his jury-rigged radio in the corner and was fiddling with it. Kimberly and Derek were talking in the open area, but both fell silent as Sanders and Gabby entered. Kimberly gave Sanders a cold stare which Sanders returned.

 

"Pyrrha is gone and won't come back till tonight," Sanders said as he looked over to Madysen. He tried to look as nice as he could, but Madysen didn't even glance his way. Instead, she keep staring out the window, lost in her own thoughts.

 

"Mrs. Orinda, we have sent the catmonster away, as you asked. Now, if you would be so kind, we would like to know what it is that you know," Darius said in a oddly polite voice. He had that same, out-of-character smile that he had before and looked passibly pleasant. Madysen gave no response for a few seconds. Finally, she turned around and stared at Darius.

 

"One last thing before I tell you what I know. Could you tell me what it is like to face a giantess?" she asked as her eyes narrowed on Darius. Sanders raised his eyebrows at that and glanced back over to Darius. Darius' face didn't shift or change in the least as he stared back at Madysen. Actually...did his smile just get slightly bigger?

 

"No, I could not and not because I have not faced them, I have more times than I care to remember. I cannot because there are no words to describe it. How does one describe having a skyscraper chase them, intent on killing them? How could you explain to anyone what it is like to see friends simply cease to exist after being crushed by a shoe? Or have the ground thrown up around you from something as simple as a stomp? Or being blasted off your feet by just a scream? Or feeling so utterly powerless, so insignificant, that you simply stop trying altogether? You can't, no one can. These are things you have to experience to truly understand them," Darius said as his face turned back into his usual emotionless mask. Kimberly moved a bit closer to Derek as Darius talked and Derek wrapped his arm around her. Jimmy set the tools aside as he took a deep breath while Ollie seemed to become even more engrossed in his work.. Even Sanders felt a chill run through him as Darius gave his answer, remembering how utterly helpless he was to stop Angela. Gabriella was the only one among them who seemed unaffected.

 

Madysen and Darius stared at each other for a few seconds. Finally, Madysen let out a soft sigh that sounded like a cross between relieve and acceptance. She looked back up at Darius and her face softened a bit.

 

"A good answer and one a Society member would be unlikely to give. I am sorry for the final test, but after seeing what Manchent left...Well, you will understand my paranoia when you see it for yourself," Madysen said as she seemed to brighten a little. Darius' mask chipped for a split second as he looked surprised, along with everyone else. What Manchent had left....so it WAS here!! Isabella DID find it!

 

"So it is here?! Manchent's legacy is here?!" Sanders asked as he felt his heart leap for joy for the first time in a long time. Only to come crashing down as Madysen shook her head.

 

"Yes and no. It isn't here, as in right here, but it is in the middle school. Originally, it was back in the old mill, but Isabella and I were worried someone might follow the same clues and find it. Someone from the Society. So, we moved it here to the other side of the middle school, in an area only shrunken people can get into," Madysen explained with a small, proud smile. Sanders could have hugged her at that moment, but resisted the urge. He HAD found it...Manchent's legacy and the thing that had turned Isabella against the Society... He hadn't failed them... Sanders tried to hold back the tears, but couldn't as he felt the weight of their lives lift off him, at least a little.

 

Gabby patted his shoulder, looking to be fighting off tears of her own, as Madysen gave him a confused look. The rest, however, seemed to understand where his tears were coming from.

 

"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm not sad or...anything. It's just...I've been looking for this for so long and now...I finally found it...I didn't fail Isabella or Manchent...Thank you so much," Sanders said through gasps. Fuck, he was so damn happy. Madysen's confused look turned into an understanding smile and she chuckled a little to herself.

 

"You really aren't with the Society. Thank God...and thank you for not giving up, Sanders. Isabella would have been proud that you made it here after everything," Madysen said as she gave Sanders a light hug. Sanders returned it and started to try and get himself back together. Her words, however, made it hard as old memories of Isabella began to bombard his mind. She would have been proud of him... Both Derek and Jimmy had smiles on their faces at the scene and even Kimberly looked to be having to fight not to smile. Darius, however, simply watched as impassive as ever.

 

"I am glad that you have found some peace with your past, Sanders, but we need to get back to the present. Madysen, I assume you have seen what it is that Manchent left behind. What can you tell us about it?" Darius asked, trying to get things back on track. Sanders let Madysen go and tried to get his crying under control. Madysen gave Darius an annoyed look, but answered nonetheless.

 

"It is a shrunken-sized computer," she said as she glared at him, obviously leaving important things out. If Darius was bothered by this omission of information, he gave no sign.

 

"A...A COMPUTER?! That is our size?!" Ollie said in shock and excitement. Sanders didn't think he had ever seen the scrawny boy look so excited or animated. He quickly turned to face them to listen.

 

"Fuck, how the hell did he manage to build that without the Society finding out?" Jimmy said in surprise and awe. Sanders was equally as impressed as nothing the Phoenixes had was even close to the complexity of a computer. Then again, this WAS Gregor Manchent and he would have access to proper tools and equipment. Still, building a computer and managed to hide it way out in Lindale with no one in the Society finding out was more than just a feat.

 

"Probably the same why he managed to contact us and set up his own escape despite being monitored near 24/7," Derek said looking less shocked that Manchent had managed something so impressive.

 

Sanders felt a bit of guilt punch into his stomach as he remembered their assault on that train. How many lives would have been spared if they had just failed? Some part of him knew it wasn't his fault as he could never have known what his actions had set in motion, but it was sweep away by the waves of guilt hitting him.

 

"How he managed it is not important right now. What is important is what is on this computer. Society intel? Weapon designs?" Darius asked as he keep staring at Madysen. Madysen's annoyed look faded as her face darkened. She glanced away for a second as she shook her head.

 

"No. The computer contains the truth. And our last hope."

 

Diary of Madysen Orinda:

Day 1: I have no idea what the date is, things like that have become so...unimportant now. I know it is winter and I believe it is close to Christmas, but beyond that I can only guess. That isn’t important anyway. What is important is what happened today. I wish I could write it all down in detail, maybe writing it would make it less...something. But I can’t...the risk of this being found is too great. Instead, all I can say is I found out the truth today. The truth about the Society, the Shrink Disaster...everything.

 

I tried to talk her out of it. I told her it was foolish, but Isabella wouldn’t listen. She loves her two friends like their were her own kids… I can’t blame myself, I know she wouldn’t have stayed no matter what I said. I wouldn’t have stayed if it had been Christina. Please, Isabella, stay safe.

 

Day 3: Still not used to having a diary and forgot to write in it yesterday. Not even sure why I am bothering to write in this. Maybe it’s just because of everything that has happened. Still hard to believe how well off we are now. Before Isabella came, I was sure we were going to starve or be found by the Marauders. Now, we have enough food and water to last for years, a home that isn’t made of just whatever we managed to scrape together, and actual clothes. I actually washed clothes today too...I don’t think I have done that since the Marauders came.

 

Isabella please be safe. I owe you too much for you to die.

 

Day 6: Trying to keep myself busy now so I don’t worry about Isabella. It works to a point, but I can’t seem to stop going to look at that picture she left. Christina likes to look at it too and keeps asking when she will get to meet the fairy. Of course I tell her soon, but I can’t help but wonder that myself. Normally, the thought of one of those flying monsters coming here would fill me with dread, but I would be overjoyed to see the one in that picture. At least then I would know what has happened. I shouldn’t worry, though. It hasn’t even been a week yet. I’m sure she is fine.

 

Day 12: Christina found parts to a tractor in some of the crates today. I’m not exactly the most handy person when it comes to this, Thomas did most of that, but trying to get it to work would be a good distraction. I took all the parts down with the lift Isabella installed and set up a little “garage” in part of a ruined desk.

 

It has nearly been two weeks now and it is getting harder and harder not to worry. Isabella should have been back by now, or at least sent word. Christina is starting to figure that out too. She spends a lot of time at the edge of the desk, looking toward the door. I don’t know what to tell her…

 

Day 17: I found the instructions to build the tractor... Apparently, everything I did up till now has been wrong and it is a wonder I didn’t ruin it completely. At least that realization got Christina to laugh, though not for long. She spends less time looking at the door now. I think she is giving up hope...just like I have. I told her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn’t listen. Now I’m the only one left to guard the truth… I just hope at least one of the people in that picture is still alive. I don’t dare trust anyone else. If that co *illegible. Lines have been roughly erased*

 

Idiot, don’t write anything down about it again!

 

Day 26: Forgot all about this. Got the tractor working and explored around the area a bit. Its not very fast, but at least I don’t have to walk everywhere now. And it can haul a lot of stuff. Pity none of the crates had any weapons. I could have tried to hunt if it did and use the tractor to haul back the meat. These pre-packaged foods are good enough to survive off of, but both me and Christina are sick of them. Going to see if I can find a place to use the other farming equipment whe- * rest is roughly erased*

 

Day 36: Isabella isn’t coming back...I just have to accept it.

 

*the rest of the entries are illegible and appear to have all be roughly erased or marked out angrily.

Chapter 24: Fury of the Present, Curse of the Past

January 31, 2024 8:03 AM

Jacob headed to the barracks, having to fight to stay balanced as Pyrrha's footsteps rocked the platform. He went inside and hooked his belt into a hook on the ground. Inside, Gerard was shooting the breeze with the last two people Jacob wanted to see, Henderson and Taylor. Both of them gave him an angry sneer as Gerard turned to him.

 

"Jacob, finished with your work already? Guess I am going to have to give you some real ballbusters now," Gerard said with a smile as he got to his feet. Jacob tried to keep his face a steely stare as he took a deep breath.

 

"What happened to Samantha?" he demanded as he shifted to absorb another quake from Pyrrha's steps. Gerard barely twitched from the quake and just stared at Jacob for a second. Finally, he shook his head and mumbled something to himself.

 

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just go back to your post and you can ask daddy all ab-" was as far Jacob let him get before he interrupted.

 

"WHAT happened to her?!" he demanded again. He unhooked himself and began to move closer to Gerard as Henderson and Taylor both got surprised looks. Gerard's slight smile faded a bit and he let a sigh.

 

"I'm not going to tell you, so just go back to your post. Just wasting mine and your own time," Gerard said before turning away from Jacob with a dismissive wave. Jacob’s anger flared white hot as he saw his concern, and Samantha's life, casually brushed away like it was nothing. That...fucker was just waving her away like she was nothing! Fucking BASTARD!!!

 

Jacob charged across the room, keeping his balance through sheer will, and went to tackle Gerard to the ground. Both Henderson and Taylor had just enough time to look surprised while Gerard only started to look back when Jacob smashed into him. Gerard let out a stunned cry as Jacob plowed into him and sent them both tumbling to the ground, along with the chair Gerard had been in.. Jacob reared his fist back as he got ready to smash the back of Gerard’s head in.

 

"Don't you fucking DARE brush Samantha off like that!" Jacob yelled before punching Gerard head and burying it into the padded floor. Gerard grunted in pain, but recovered far faster than Jacob had thought possible. His elbow came flying backwards and smashed into Jacob's face. Jacob cried in pain and jolted backwards before being thrown off Gerard's back. He crashed to the ground and had just enough time to blink the stars away before Gerard wheeled around. Gerard raised his fist and brought it flying toward Jacob's head, but Jacob managed to shift just enough to get out of the way. Gerard's fist sank into the padded ground as Jacob kicked out and sent Gerard reeling backwards.

 

They both leap to the feet and came up in combat stances as Henderson and Taylor got to their feet as well. Taylor looked about to jump in to aid Gerard, but Gerard shot her a look that made her back down. With her and Henderson backing away, Gerard turned back to Jacob.

 

"Alright, boy, let's see just how badly you want to save your fuck-buddy. If you can beat me, I'll tell you everything. But, if you lose, I'll kick your ass AND tell your dad about how you sucker punched me. I’m sure he will come up with some inventive punishments...and if not I sure as hell can," Gerard said as he licked his lips as if in anticipation. Jacob, however, barely even noticed as his rage was still burning through him. This was just a fucking game to him, wasn't it? Samantha's life was on the damn line and he wanted to play GAMES!?

 

"Just shut UP and tell me what I want to know!" Jacob yelled before rushing Gerard again. He tried to throw a punch at Gerard, but Gerard side-stepped it with ease and sent Jacob stumbling away from him. He swore as he came back at Gerard, but stumbled away again as Gerard slipped away. FUCK!

 

"All that anger would be great to have if you could actually hit. Too bad you are shit are channeling it," Gerard taunted as he slipped away from another punch by Jacob. Dammit, he was avoiding everything Jacob threw at him and wasn't even fighting back! He was just toying with Jacob! Jacob rushed him again, but tried a kick this time. He was about to smile as it looked like he had connected, till his foot stopped dead in its tracks. He tried to pull it down, but Gerard had it tightly gripped in his hand.

 

"My turn," he said before pulling Jacob toward him. Jacob swore as he stumbled forward, the rocking of Pyrrha's steps making it near impossible to stay up. Gerard raised his fist and smashed Jacob's right in the face and sent him crashing to the ground. Jacob cried in pain again as he clutched his face and felt the bruise already starting to appear. He swore in fury as Gerard stood over him.

 

"Never going to get anywhere if you don't learn to use that anger properly. Sure as hell are not going to save Samantha," Gerard said with a cruel grin. Jacob's fury came back in full as he pushed his pain aside. He started to rise to his feet, but a quick kick from Gerard into his side sent Jacob reeling back down. Fuck, he was losing and if he lost Samantha… No, no, no, NO! He would NOT fucking lose!

 

Jacob had to fight himself back to keep from trying to stand. He needed...needed to think...channel that rage...dammit he HATED taking this fuckers advice, but Samantha’s life was worth swallowing his pride. Gerad was too good for Jacob to beat in a straight fight so...so he needed an unfair fight.

 

“Giving up, boy? Decided your girlfriend isn’t worth the pain?” Gerard taunted, but Jacob ignored him. He had to think of someway to turn the tables on Gerard. Something...another rumble from Pyrrha’s steps gave him his answer. Jacob started to act like he was going to stand and hoped he was timing this right. Just like before Gerard kicked out at him, but this time Jacob was ready.

 

Jacob grabbed Gerard’s foot as it came to him and rolled a bit to lessen the blow. Gerard swore as Jacob pulled on his foot, but managed to keep his balance, at least till another quake shook the platform. The quake caused Gerard to shift a bit too much to the side and he swore as Jacob managed to pull him off his feet. Jacob didn’t waste a second as he rolled onto Gerard and stopped at his target.

 

"How's this for channeling?" Jacob said before reeling back and smashing his fist as hard as he could into Gerard's groin. Gerard eyes bulged out as he let out a silent scream of pain. He tried to double over, but couldn’t thanks to Jacob being on top of him. Jacob’s fury was not spent with that blow, though, and he smashed down a second time, putting every ounce of rage he had into it. Gerard was either in shock or his mind simply refused to process the pain, as he didn’t even shift from the blow. Jacob smiled as he knew he had won. But he had no time to celebrate.

 

Suddenly, Jacob’s peripheral vision caught Taylor's foot flying toward him. Jacob shielded his face with his arms, but gritted in pain as her kick smashed into him sending pain shooting up his arms. He rolled away and back onto his feet, but Taylor followed him and went right back onto the assault. She feinted right and went left and Jacob barely managed to avoid the punch. She looked to start going for a second punch, but instead lashed out with a kick that sent Jacob stumbling back into a bed. Jacob swore and rolled over the bed to break Taylor’s assault.

 

Taylor swore and shifted around the bed. The short break had given Jacob enough time to get ready and he took up the fighting stance his dad had taught him. Rather than wait for her, he went on the assault. He swung a hard left for her head and cursed as she ducked under it. He leap back to avoid her counter-punch and nearly stumbled as the ground shook again. Jacob growled as he saw Gerard starting to recover and realized his time was slipping away, it was time to end this damn thing.

 

Jacob rushed forward and swung an uppercut at Taylor. Just like he had hoped, she dodged the punch and went straight for the counter. She swung a left hook toward him, and got a shocked look.

Jacob caught her fist with his own and stopped it dead in its tracks. Taylor had just enough time to get a worried look before Jacob reared back and head butted her square in the temple. Jacob's world burst into stars from the impact, but Taylor was sent reeling from the impact. She stumbled a bit as another quake shook the ground and was left completely open. Jacob rushed in and reeled back for a gut punch, but stopped as the clicking of a gun’s safety echoed through the room.

Jacob looked over and saw Henderson with a rifle leveled at his head. Henderson was glaring at him with sheer rage on his face and looked seconds away from pulling the trigger. Taylor shook her head and finally recovered enough to see what was happening. She smiled and reared back before smashing Jacob's face with a punch of her own.

 

"That's for fucking headbutting me you fucking asshole," she said as Jacob stumbled back, but managed to keep his feet. He wanted to retaliate, but Henderson's gun followed him backwards. Fuck, he should have kick their asses before he got to Gerard.

 

"Pu...Put that...gun down," a voice said from behind Taylor. Jacob risked a glance over and saw Gerard pulling himself back to his feet, though still looking to be in serious pain.

 

"But sir he attac-" Taylor started to say before Gerard interrupted her.

 

"I said...put it down!" Gerard said, this time sounding more like himself and with a glare. Henderson lowered the gun, but keep his finger near the trigger. As much as Jacob would have loved to punch his face in, he knew Henderson was too quick for him. He would be shot before he even got a step, but Henderson was unlikely to disobey Gerard. Gerard was not known for being kind to those who defied him.

 

Gerard moved over, still grunting a bit in pain, and got between Jacob and Taylor. He gave Jacob a cold stare for a second before chuckling a bit.

 

"Well, you did beat me so I guess I have to tell you what happened. Just wish you had gone for the face instead, damn..." Gerard said as his stare turned to a slight smirk. Jacob, Taylor, and Henderson all looked equally shocked by that sentence and it took a second for each of them to recover.

 

"But..but he cheated!" Taylor said as she gave Jacob a venomous look which Jacob returned in kind. Gerard just scoffed at that and waved her off.

 

"Cheated? The only thing we agreed to was if he beat me I told him what happened. We never set any rules for how or anything like that. Besides, cheating is how we Resistance fight, ain't it?" Gerard said with a grin. Taylor opened her mouth as it to debate that, but closed it as she realized she had already lost. Jacob gave her a triumphant grin and had to fight not to laugh in her face. She stormed out of the barracks, but Henderson didn't follow her. Instead, he put his gun away and moved off to the side.

 

"And people say you have an anger issue... Ohh...give me a second. Those punches...really did a number on things..." Gerard said as he, slowly, sat down in one of the chairs. He grimaced as he settled down and bent over a bit as he groaned. Jacob might have felt sorry for him if he didn't remember his brushing off of Samantha and all the other shit he had just did. Considering that, he deserved the pain.

 

"Enough stalling, tell me where Samantha is!" Jacob demanded with a scowl. Henderson looked about to say something, but stopped as Gerard chuckled again. He looked up at Jacob with a pained grin.

 

"Fine, fine, not like my balls nearly got punched in or anything," Gerard said before leaning back in his chair.

 

"Samantha was sent out with William and a few others to scout out Lindale. They were supposed to find us a way into the town so we could look for whatever Sanders brought us here to find. They, however, never made it back in time. We sent another group north, lead by Christa, to get some eyes on the town from a big hill. Only one of her people made it back, though, half-eaten by catmonsters. Guy should have just let them have the rest, as he had made a blood trail leading right to us. Darius made the call that we needed to leave before the catmonsters that attacked him showed up, so we did," Gerard said without a hint of remorse or regret. That...that bastard...and Darius...he had LEFT THEM!!! Gerard must have seen the rage come over Jacob's face because he chuckled and shook his head.

 

"Get mad all you want, kid. Won't change the fact it was the right call. If we had stayed, those catmonsters would have attacked us and killed far more than the eight people who went with William. Eight lives lose out to thirty plus every time, no matter who is in that eight," Gerard said with a harsh look that made Jacob's rage stall a bit. He...he was wrong. Sacrificing eight people, no matter how many it saved, was still wrong! It still meant eight people had to die...but...NO, no he wouldn’t think like that!

 

"It wasn't the right call, it was the worst call! You can try to come up with whatever excuse you want, but it doesn't change the fact you left people to die!" Jacob said as his hand clenched into a fist. He wanted to punch that smile off Gerard, but held his rage back for now.

 

"Is it any worse than your call to get your entire group killed just to save a few people?" Henderson, suddenly, spoke up. Jacob whirled on him, but Henderson didn't budge as he stared at Jacob.

 

"Considering their choices keep most of us alive whereas your choices got everyone killed, I don't think you are in a position to judge them. In fact, maybe you're the one in need of judging, amigo," Henderson said as he poked Jacob's chest with his finger. Jacob's rage flared up again and it was all he could do not to smash Henderson's face in. He keep it under control, however, as he growled out a response.

 

"I did what was right. I did what a good person should do. I didn't leave people to die out in the woods without any help or anyway for them to find us!" Jacob said into Henderson's face. Henderson tried to glare back at Jacob, but his angry look started to crack. He looked to be trying to think of a comeback, but was drawing a blank. Gerard, however, began to laugh even harder. He slowly got back to his feet and seemed to have recovered from his low blow.

 

"Did what a good person should do? HAHA, funny, kid. Why don't you go ask Jason how well that works out, oh wait you can't because he got himself killed trying to be a "good" person. The sooner you get that idyllic crap out of your head the better cause out here, that stuff don't work. All you are going to do is get more people killed trying to take the moral high road," Gerard said with a mocking smile. Jacob turned back to Gerard and shot him the most hateful glare he could manage.

 

"Idyllic crap? You think trying to save people is just idyllic crap?! What kind of fucking monster are you?" Jacob asked in rage. He had hoped that would cause Gerard to react with anger, but the scarred man only chuckled again.

 

"One who was made by this monster of a world we live in. As much as I would love to keep discussing this, I can see a lost battle, so why don't we settle this the proper way. You want to go save Samantha so bad, fine, let's go save her then. You convince Pyrrha to take us back to where we camped and we can go look for her," Gerard said with a shrug. Jacob blinked in surprise at that sudden change and felt his anger cool a bit.

 

"Just...just like that?" Jacob said, wondering what the catch was. Gerard smiled and nodded.

 

"Just like that. Only, there is one thing. Make sure you remember who decided to go on this mission. Be a real shame if it wound up like the last mission you lead..." Gerard said with a grin that looked almost psychotic. Despite himself, Jacob couldn't help but feel a bit of fear hit him from that smile and the memories of that mission... He had made the right choice, he knew it, but...but... Was Samantha really worth the risk of all their lives? What was he thinking? OF COURSE SHE WAS! And it wasn't just here, Gerard had said William had gone too and he was important!

 

Jacob turned away and headed out of the barracks without a word. He had had enough when it came to talking to Gerard. He paused a second as he tried to shake of the doubt that Gerard had put in him. Was... was this really the right thing to do? Bah, of course it was, what was he worrying about?

 

"Jacob," Henderson said from behind Jacob as he came out of the barracks after him. Jacob groaned inwardly and turned to face the annoying hispanic. He swore if he poked fun at him with some damn spanish words... Henderson opened his mouth to talk, but stopped and looked away before turning back.

 

"I think you are an idiot for getting those people killed back then, but...that doesn't mean you are wrong all the time. You're right, leaving Samantha, William, and the rest to die was wrong and we need to go save them if we can. Just...make sure you don't get us killed doing it and make me regret telling you that," Henderson said with the barest hint of a smile. Jacob was so taken off guard by that that he didn't even manage to look surprised. Instead, he just numbly nodded as Henderson turned and headed back toward the cannon. Jacob wasn't sure if he was happy, stunned, or just...confused by what had just happened, but he knew it was...kinda nice to hear that he was right for once.

 

He shook off the feeling as he turned to face the back of Pyrrha's head. He needed to focus on getting up there and getting Pyrrha to do what he wanted, rather than what had just happened. He sighed to himself as he rubbed his head and wondered just how the hell he was going to get the catmonster to understand. And even if he managed that, how he was going to get her to go along with him, the guy who had shot her... Fuck...

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Pain...pain came first, stabbing and pulsing and seeming to make up the entire world. How long it ruled alone, she could not say, but it was, slowly, joined by others. An odd feeling at first, not pain and yet was... hunger? Yes it was hunger and..tiredness. She, she? yes she, was hungry and tired. And her head, why did her head hurt so much?

 

Samantha groaned to herself as she forced her eyes open. Above her was a clear blue sky with only a few hints of clouds. The beautiful sky seemed to make her head hurt less and she smiled a bit at the sight. She rubbed her head and was relieved to find the pain subsiding. Whether it was because of something she did or just that it no longer was all she felt, she couldn't say. She, also, found a large knot near the top of her head. At least the mystery of her headache was solved.

 

Samantha started to try and sit up, but was stopped by a gentle, yet firm, hand on her shoulder. She looked to her side, wincing a bit as the movement made the pain come back. William was kneeling down beside her, a smile nearly hidden by his big beard. He pushed her back down as he brought a damp cloth up to her head.

 

"William? What happened? I..." she started to say before memories began to flood back. Their arrival at the old camp site, William's plan, them hiding, the giantesses coming for them, Luk-OH GOD!

"LUKE!" Samantha yelled as she tried to bolt upright, but was stopped as William held her down.

 

"Samantha, look at me. Calm down and just relax. It's too late to do anything for him and you are still hurt," William said in a calm and soothing tone. Despite his words, Samantha felt anything but calm and soothed. She tried to wiggle out of his grip so she could get up and look for Luke, but William keep a tight grip on her.

 

"Let me go, WIlliam! I need to go look for him to-" she stopped as a spike of pain went through her head and drove her down faster than William could ever have managed. She winced in pain and gasped as it, far too slowly, subsided. William brought the cloth back over and put it on her head again.

 

"That is why I told you to keep calm. You took a nasty blow to the head, Samantha, and probably have a concussion. You need to stay put and rest, not get all worked up over things you can’t change," William said as he keep his hands hovering near her shoulders in case she tried to rise again. Samantha took a few deep breaths as the pain went back to its original level. As much as she wanted to get up, the massive shot of pain had taught her to listen to William. Instead, she tried to piece together more of what happened.

 

She remembered nearly being crushed, but feeling herself be pushed forward. She had looked back just in time to see... Samantha closed her eyes as everything came back now. Luke had...pushed her to safety only to be caught under the boot himself. He had sacrificed himself to save her... No...

 

Samantha didn't bother trying to hide the tears as they started to come. She raised her hands to try and wipe them away, but they came faster than she could wipe them away. William knelt over her and patted her shoulder, but said nothing. She didn't want him to die for her, not after she had rejected him so many times. How could he sacrifice himself for her after all that?! How could he do it with such a calm look on his face? How could he...how could she have let this happen?

 

"I know you are going to start to blame yourself for this, everyone does, but try not to. Luke's death was no more your fault than Nathan's," William said, as if reading her mind. Samantha moved her hand enough to look at him and saw him give her a knowing smile. Samantha didn't return it as she turned away from him. Not her fault, of course it was! If she hadn't been standing where she had been or moved to the side of the boot or..or...done...SOMETHING else Luke would still be alive!

 

William sighed to himself and patted her shoulder again. She heard him stand up and move off a few feet before sitting down. Samantha didn't bother looking back, having no wish to see him or talk to anyone. Instead, she went back to her grief and guilt of getting her friend killed.

 

She might have stayed like that for...hell she didn't know, if she hadn't remember Susan and two others had still been with them. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes and looked around to see if they were around. The only thing to her right was William and bare trees. William looked up from the piece of wood he was carving to watch her, but didn't say anything. Samantha turned to her other side and was saw a man laying a few feet away from her. He was either asleep or unconscious and looked to be bad shape. Actually, horrid shape considering his right leg was gone. Blood soaked bits of clothing was all that was binding his stump and an unhealthy tint was starting to take hold of the rest of his leg.. Oddly, she was positive he hadn't been in their group, but did have Phoenix gear.

 

"That's Jenkins. He was with the group that went north. Also a good reminder of how lucky we are even if we don't feel like it," William said, apparently having seen her take notice of him. Samantha glanced back at William in confusion and had to fight not to try and sit up again.

 

"The group that went north? You mean the one Christa lead?" Samantha asked as she tried to rub the last of her tears away. William nodded before speaking up again.

 

"Yes. After the giantesses left and we found you, Christa and the two survivors of her group showed up in the camp. We joined together and headed west to put some distance between us and Lindale. We stopped here after a few hours of travelling to let you and Jenkins rest. I volunteered to keep an eye on you two while the others headed out to try and find some food or signs of the main force," William answered as he went back to carving...something out of the wood he had found. Samantha almost nodded, but stopped as her head preemptively flared in pain. Instead, she just turned to face the sky again and thought about what she had heard. It was good to hear that everyone, save Nathan and Luke... had survived the giantesses. And they had Christa and tw- well one, considering Jenkins, other person to help them survive.

 

Samantha was about to ask something else, but her stomach decided to make itself known. She blushed a bit as she grabbed her stomach as if to silence it. William chuckled at that before his own seemed to respond in kind, getting him to let out a hearty laugh.

 

"Seems we both need them to hurry up with our order. I wish I had something to offer, but all I can make is a wood burger," William said as he held the piece of wood up like it was a burger. Samantha couldn't help but giggle at that and, for a second, forgot about what was happening. Her smile faded, though, as reality set back in, along with her dull headache.

 

"Yeah, that joke wasn't much of one. Though I do have something else I can offer. One thing us old men have a lot of, besides hair in odd places, is stories. I got the perfect one for you, too, how does that sound?" William asked with a pleasant smile. Samantha gave him a "seriously" look which made him frown.

 

"Now what is that look for?" he asked as he crossed his arms. Samantha shook her head and sighed to herself.

 

"We are out in the middle of nowhere, starving, and probably being hunted by something and you want to tell a story. Nathan and Luke are dead and..." Samantha trailed off as she turned away from William.

 

"All the more reason for one. We both need a distraction from this mess. And, honestly, do you have anything better to do?" William said with, Samantha imagined, a smug smile. Samantha sighed at that and, sadly, couldn't come up with a good counter-argument for that. She was stuck here unless she could stand up. The slight pulsing of her head told her that was unlikely.

 

"Fine, tell me a story," Samantha said as she turned back to face William. He gave a big smile and sat up a bit.

 

"Good, good. Just think of it as paying me back for hauling you all the way here from the camp, us old people love nothing better than young people listening to us. Let me think...yes why not the story of how the Phoenixes got started, and no I don't mean the fake one that you have already heard. No, I think you need to hear the real story of how it all started and how Darius wound up in charge. Kinda on-topic with us being stuck out here," William said with the same smile, though something about his face shifted a bit. It seemed almost...sadder? darker? It was hard to tell. The real story of how it started and Darius... Samantha wasn't sure she wanted to hear this now, but William was already starting..

 

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You know the basics of how the Phoenixes started, yes? The Society attacking without warning, eleven brave survivors from various villages coming together to make the Phoenixes, etc... All of that is true enough. There were eleven of us at the beginning and we did call ourselves the Phoenixes. However, the story that is told does diverge a bit from the truth.

 

Back then, the Phoenixes were lead by Jason Hambly, the husband to Kimberly. He was a great bear of a man, nearly as big as Derek, and had a heart to match. He never turned anyone who needed help away and made his mission to save as many people as possible from the Society. His confidence and charisma inspired people to hope and helped to swell the ranks of the Phoenixes. He was the first into any fight, the last to leave a battle, and would take on giantesses by himself if necessary. He was, in every sense of the word, a hero. However, he was still all too human...

For all his good qualities, his bad ones were damning. He had no tactical sense and spared few, if any, thoughts for the future. He could inspire people, but didn't know what to do with them. He was the first into a fight, but never thought of escape. He rescued everyone he could, but never thought about the cost. Soon enough, the villages we saved were gaining us fewer and fewer people as the villagers who couldn’t fight had to be sent away. We didn’t have Hope back then, in fact we had no home base so we were forced to send soldiers to escort the young, sick, old, etc… to other groups that did have places for them to hide. Our numbers began to dwindle faster than we regained them, and I began to fear for our future.

 

For a time, I tried to keep Jason reigned in and provide him with the tactical knowledge he needed. It worked, for a time, but the job was...exhausting. Jason made every choice to leave people an excruciating task and would be furious for weeks at a time, even if saving them would have cost us everything. Worse, his inability to see things from a tactical standpoint often made it a struggle to get him to understand the big picture. To him, saving people was all that mattered rather than making a group that could oppose the Society long-term. This was all a rescue mission, not a war of survival.

 

I may have been younger back then, but I was still too old to keep that fight up. I knew I had to find someone else to take my place in case...well us old men do tend to die. As I began to look, however, I came to the realization that there was almost no one qualified for the job. Lindsey was, perhaps, the best candidate, however she was our best scout and I was loathe to put her to another task. General Holmes, though he was just Holmes back then, was another I looked at, but he was far too similar to Jason to work as a counter-balance to his need to save everyone. Those two became the usual pattern, either the person was in a role that fit them too well or was simply not willing to counter Jason, or just lacked the skill needed. I had almost given up when I meet with Derek.

 

Derek failed as well, he simply didn't have the head for grand strategies and such, but did give me a glimmer of hope. When we talked, he mentioned how Darius had changed so much. From a notorious criminal, to a well liked part of the community, to a broken man barely able to get himself out of bed. That innocent comment set me on my course.

 

From Derek I learned that Darius had once been a criminal, and a very successful one. He had travelled all over the north-east Georgia area doing various non-violent. Despite never killing anyone, he still became notorious to the Police in the area thanks to his ability to slip away. Derek had been a cop in Alpharetta and had tried to catch Darius more than once, only for him to escape every time. Darius gained a reputation for always being two steps ahead and only became more elusive when his sister joined him. The two were all but impossible to catch and could vanish from towns in a matter of hours, only to reappear miles away having already done a new crime.

 

This got my attention as such perfect escapes and well executed crimes demanded a brilliant mind. I talked to Darius many times and found that he was, indeed, a genius. Even better, he agreed with me that Jason’s current goals were short-sighted and doomed to fail. However, he still had a major problem. The lose of his sister had sapped all of his will. He showed promise, but would never do more than that if he couldn't find his fire. Even if I taught him ever trick I had learned in my...original profession, it would mean nothing without the will to use them. I was not going to give up so easily, though. I saw a great future with Darius as the brains and Jason as the heart of the Phoenixes and I was not going to let it die so easily.

 

I tried being kind and supportive as I taught Darius what I knew, hoping the activity and support would help. I even began to bring him into the meetings of the leaders to see how things were done. Darius listened and learned, but still there was no fire in him, no passion. Fear began to take hold of me as I worried if he would ever snap out of this. Seeing support and kindness not working, and being an utter fool, I tried a different approach...

 

I...I tried being cruel. Rather than show support, I was critical of everything he did. Rather than assure him he would see his sister, I reminded him how he had watched as she had been taken, how weak he was. It was...painful to do, but I thought it worthwhile when I saw some passion appear on Darius. Slowly, he began to show more and more life and I keep teaching him. He absorbed everything like a sponge and was soon outpacing me in fake battles. It wasn't long before he could best me even when I had the odds stacked in my favor. Better still, at least from my point of view, he was pragmatic and rational with his tactical decisions. I had to fight not to beam in pride when he began to ask why we were risking our best troops to save villages with, maybe, three or four fighting people. Darius had learned from me well...and then...and then everything fell apart…

 

Rather than work with Jason, Darius took to openly defying him. He was constantly critical of all of Jason’s plans, second-guessed everything he did, and began to sow seeds of doubt in Jason’s leadership. Jason did not take the challenge to his authority well, doubly so with Darius openly stating saving people was a fool’s errand. Rather than come together to make the Phoenixes better than ever, the two of them became bitter rivals and a deep seated animosity grew between them. And I….I did nothing...until that day came...

 

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March 5, 2018 6:21 PM

 

William sighed as Jason got up to pace about again. The big man was not big on patience and Lindsey's scouting mission was taking longer than usual. That did not bode well, but Jason was either unaware, or didn't care. Knowing their leader, probably a mix of both. When lives were on the line, Jason tended to forget everything else.

 

William understood why Jason was so worked up. The village they had found was one of the biggest they had seen, and yet seemed completely unaware of the Society's rampage. Worse, they had built their village in a defensible position with only one entry/exit. While that would have been great if they were attacked by people their size, a giantess could just walk right over their defences. Jason might have still gone charging in if he and Darius hadn't stopped him and got him to agree to scout the area first. William still prayed to what was left of England that Lindsey was just running a bit behind...yet knew the chance of that was close to bugger all.

 

"This is taking too long. Derek, go get the soldiers and let's get this started," Jason said as he spun around to Derek. William swore in his head and started to try and craft a lie, something, to keep Jason from risking them all. Before he could, though, Darius spoke up.

 

"You are going to get us all killed if you do that," Darius said in a cold voice that seemed to be becoming his usual tone. William didn't like it, and REALLY didn't like Darius picking a fight with Jason. Darius was smart enough to know Jason despised when he said things like that, doubly so when others could hear. Hell, that boy was starting to make him wonder if bringing him into the main leadership had been a bad idea.

 

Jason slowly turned back to Darius, an annoyed glare on his face. William pushed off the tree he had been leaning on and moved toward them to try and stop a potential fight before it broke out. He seemed to be doing that more and more these days. Dammit, how could things have gone so wrong?

 

"Darius, we do not know that. Lindsey could be lagging behind for all kinds of reasons. That said, Jason I think it best we wait for her. She might find us another way to get people out of the village or find there is no giantesses around. Our people are tired and that village probably has enough space for us to stay. A rest would be good for all of us," William said, hoping to placate Jason with his concern for the other Phoenixes.

 

Jason turned the glare at William, but it softened as William brought up the other Phoenixes. Jason gave Darius another glare before sighing and shaking his head in anger. Despite the look, William knew he had gotten William to come around.

 

"Fine. I'll give her two more minutes, but that is all," Jason said, getting a relieved inner sigh from William. It wasn't much, but it was something. And he had stopped Darius and Jason from going at it, again. Derek looked just as relieved as he gave a nod of thanks to William. Thus far, Derek had managed to stay out of these fights and looked to be staying in that position, but hated them nonetheless.

 

They all waited a few more minutes, though with watches and clocks being a thing of the past William couldn't say if it was two or not. Far too soon for William's liking, Jason turned back to Derek. Before he could speak, however, another voice cut him off.

 

"If you were just going to go ahead and do whatever without my information, why bother sending me?" Lindsey said as she, suddenly, appeared out a few bushes nearby. William had never been so glad to hear her voice, despite nearly jumping from her sudden appearance. Both Derek and Jason looked taken aback by her sudden arrival, but Darius managed to hide his shock. Jason stammered a bit before getting his composure back.

 

"I really wish you would stop doing that. Bad enough having giant women to worry about, I don't need sneaky normal-sized women added to it," Jason said with a slight smirk. Lindsey shrugged at that and gave her own cocky smile.

 

"What can I say? I like surprising people, their faces are just too great," she said before her smile faded away. She got a more serious look as she moved closer to them.

 

"But I don't like this kind of surprise. I found a big hill to look out over toward Atlanta and saw two giantesses heading straight for us. Their ten, probably less, minutes away from us. Worse, their making a beeline for this village. They know it's here, no doubt about it," Lindsey said with a sad tone. William closed his eyes and swore as he realized what that meant. There was no way to save this village. There was simply too many people and too little time to get them out. Their best bet was to pull back before they got caught in the slaughter. He was about to reach to pat Jason on the back in comfort when Jason spoke up.

 

"Then we still have some time. Derek, get the men ready to move out. We need them in position ASAP. I'm goin-" Jason started to say, leaving William stunned. Before he could finish, and before William composed himself, Darius spoke up.

 

"You can't be serious. Lindsey just told us two giantesses are heading straight for that village and you want us to throw our best people at them? They would be hard pressed to hold off one long enough to evacuate a village that size, but two? We would be better off leaving them and saving our strength for a battle we can win," Darius said in anger and disbelief. William swore to hell again as Darius made a bad situation worse. He might have been able to talk Jason out of this, or at least take so long that they had no choice but to leave, but now... He needed to get the others out of here before this got worse and Jason’s leadership was dug out by Darius.

 

"Lindsey, Derek, head back to the rest of the group, we'll be along once we sort this out," WIlliam said, as he motioned for Jason to hold his tongue. He gave William a furious look, but stayed silent as both Lindsey and Derek headed off. Both looked rather glad to be out of the firing line and moved a bit quicker than usual. No sooner had they vanished did Jason lay into Darius, moving up to tower over the smaller man.

 

"I have HAD IT with your shit! I said we are going to save these people and, dammit, we are. I am not going to leave them to die simply because you, or YOU," he pointed at Darius then William, "tell me its not tactical or too risky. Fuck you and fuck your tactics. Those are people, PEOPLE down there that are going to die, fucking DIE, if we don't do something. Now either you get with the damn program and help me save them or get the fuck out of my group." William didn't need to look at Jason to know he was furious. If there was one thing he hated above all else it was people telling him to let people die. He just hoped he was still willing to listen to reason.

 

"Yes, we are all aware of that, but we have people here as well an-" William started to say before Darius cut him off.

 

"That makes two of us then. I have had it with your stupidity and need to be a damn hero. If you want to go out in a blaze of glory, fine, but don't drag the entirety of the Phoenixes down with you," Darius shot back. Bloody fucking hell, why was Darius not shutting up?! Jason's face twisted into rage.

 

"You fucking BASTARD! I am doing this to save people, not for personal glory you fuck-" Jason moved forward and looked about to punch Darius when William threw himself between them. Dammit, no this was all wrong! They were supposed to work together not be at each other's throats!

 

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU! This isn't helping anyone!" William said holding Jason back from Darius. Jason pushed against William, but only enough to show that he was. Darius, however, stood his ground and didn't make a move to defend himself or attack. Finally, Jason spun away and walked a few steps away as he took a deep breath to recover.

 

"We are going to save those people and that is final. William, go tell Derek and the others to get into position and have Kimberly bring the rest to help me evacuate people. Darius, you...you can go fuck yourself and die in some hole," Jason said as he shot a glare back at Darius. With that he turned and stormed off toward the village without another word. William tried to say something, but Jason had vanished before he could get more than half a word out. He swore outwardly as he rubbed his head in frustration. There was nothing for it now...dammit.

 

“Darius, why would yo-” William started to say before Darius spoke up again.

 

"Do not obey those orders, William. You know just as well as I do that you will be sending our best to die for people who either can't or won't fight," Darius said getting William to turn back to him. Darius regarded him with a near emotionless stare, but William thought he saw a bit of...hope? Longing? William turned away as he stared after Jason. He sighed and shook his head.

 

"If I do that, Darius, I will be dooming Jason to death," William said, figuring that would put an end to this. Surely Darius could see that as well. Jason wouldn’t be dissuaded, not now anyway thanks to Darius. And leaving him to die was not an option.

 

"Yes, but that is just as well. Jason would have gotten us all killed or left the Phoenixes crippled before long thanks to his...obsession with saving everyone. We will be better off without him," Darius said as if he was simply stating facts from a book. William turned back to him in shock as he stared at Darius. He...he had to have heard that wrong.

 

"Darius! Jason has problems, I will admit, but he means well and-" William started before Darius interrupted.

 

"And would still have damned us all. Good intentions are fine enough in stories, but this is war. And war demands sacrifices to be made, you of all people should know that. Jason is not willing to make said sacrifices and that will destroy the Phoenixes as well as any giantess. Someone else needs to take over, someone willing to make those sacrifices," Darius said as he moved a step closer to William. William had to fight not to take a step back, stunned by what he was hearing. How..how could Darius even CONSIDER this?! No, no he was just angry at Jason and letting his temper cloud his judgement.

 

“Darius, I’m going to forget you said that and we won’t speak of this again. We are NOT going to leave Jason to die simply because he doesn’t think like us. Now let’s get back and try to salvage something of the mess you helped make,” William said, slowly and as calmly as he could. He turned away and started to try and leave, but stopped as Darius grabbed his shoulder.

 

"William...please. You taught me what is needed to win this war, you taught me this IS a war, not matter what anyone else might say. So help me make the right choice to win this war and save my sister," Darius said in a pleading voice. William turned back and, for a second, saw the same broken and lost young man he had first started to train, the one shelled by his despair. William turned back to look at the village and felt himself torn in two.

 

If he sided with Darius...he would be dooming Jason to death. Jason was a fool and, at least in part, Darius was right about him dooming the Phoenixes. But he didn't deserve to die for that, and certainly not like this. It had been his courage and his charisma that had made the Phoenixes into what it was and without him, there never would have been Phoenixes. William could still remember that day the eleven of them had been together, the way he talked and the hope it had ignited into them all. He was a great man...hell probably one of the best William had ever known...and Darius was asking him to let him die, no, to murder him.

 

But...Darius was right that Jason would doom them, eventually. Hell, this could be that doom already. If those two giantesses broke through and got to the village, anyone inside was dead. Their losses could utterly cripple them and end any hope of them being a force to counter the Society. And, perhaps worst of all, Darius would undoubtedly leave. Not only would that leave them without one of their best minds, but WIlliam had grown rather close to the younger man. He didn’t want to see him leave, but...murder? Darius understood this was a war and had the potential to be a great leader...but was that worth letting Jason die?

 

William closed his eyes and knew the answer he had to pick. No... it was not worth this. Jason was a fool, a loud-mouth, and could be infuriating, but he did not deserve to be left to die. After this, he would have a serious talk with Jason about their future and try to put the idea of him stepping down forward, but that could wait. The Phoenixes needed Jason and Darius would have to accept that.

 

"I won’t leave Jason to die, Darius, and the fact that you would disappoints me in more ways than I can say,” William said as he turned a hard glare toward Darius. Darius’ face darkened and his emotionless mask came back over his face.

 

"So you think I am wrong, then?" Darius asked, his face darker but not angry. If anything he seemed...at peace with it, though still saddened. William shook his head at that, though.

 

"No... you are right Jason will doom us, eventually. But I can't just leave him to die, not like this. He does not deserve that after everything he has done for us and so many others," William said as he stared at Darius. Darius stared back for a second before sighing and looking away.

 

"I see...very well then," Darius said as he looked to deflate. William turned back to head toward the camp, but only got a step before pain erupted from the back of his head. Suddenly, the world went black.

 

William didn’t know how long he had been out, but it couldn’t have been more than a few moments. He groaned as a slight headache nagged at him, but he pushed it away as he tried to remember what had happened. He had been talking to Darius and...yes he had told him he wouldn’t leave Jason to die but...everything was blank after that. What the hell happened?

 

Getting to his feet, William had just enough time to look around before an all too familiar rumbling shook the area. Foot steps...giantess foot steps. Oh no, he had never told Derek to get into position! William took off at a full sprint toward the camp site and hoped there was still time for them to get ready. If those giantesses reached the village first...

 

He pushed his worries away as the camp site came into sight and… he found nothing. William looked around in stunned wonder and found no trace of anyone. Everyone and their belongings had gone. Had Darius gone and told them to move out or had Derek taken it upon himself to do it? And why had Darius just left him there? Dammit, what was going on?

 

William might have headed to the village if something hadn’t caught his eye. He moved to the edge of the camp leading away from the village and was stunned by what he found. Tracks, lots of them, moving AWAY from the village. What the hell?

 

Suddenly, a gut-wrenching realization started to form in his head. No...no he wouldn't...he couldn't...by God yes he would and could...William tore off through the brush, following the tracks as he tried to catch up. His mind spun in circles as he tried to find some other explanation, some other person who could have done this, but there was only one who came to mind. How could he have not seen this coming?! How could he have let his guard down?!

 

William started up a hill that the tracks had gone up when he felt the first full on tremor. Oh sweet Elizabeth no... the giantesses were here and no one was there to stop them. Jason was all alone and...no... William charged up the hill, and nearly plowed over a Phoenix scout who tried to stop him. William slowed just long enough to ask a question of the confused man.

 

"Why did you retreat?" William demanded as the man stammered out a confused greeting.

 

"Hel-... What? Did...Jason not tell you? He told us all to fall back while he got as many out of the village as he could, Darius said so," the scout said, dispelling any doubts from William's mind. By God, what had Darius done?

 

"Where is Darius?" he asked, trying to hide his fury. He wasn't sure how well he managed it, as the scout still looked odded out, but pointed him to the top of the hill. William took off up it as the rumbling steps began to get louder, and louder.

 

William crested the hill and found Darius, alone, at the top. He was staring down at the top of the village which could barely be seen. Behind it, the massive forms of two giantesses were walking their way closer and closer. By now, it was far too late to do anything. Anyone they sent would arrive long after the carnage. The village, and everyone in it, were doomed.

 

"Darius...how could you? How could you-" William started to say before Darius cut him off with a harsh glare.

 

"How could I do what needed to be done? How could I make the choices you were too weak to make? Quite easily, actually. I thought I might feel something more...profound lying to them all and knowing I was damning Jason. Instead, all I got was a bit of guilt...easily ignored," Darius said before turning back to look at the village. William felt like he had been slapped with that answer. Just a bit of guilt? He had just signed an entire villages death warrant along with Jason's and he had was a bit of GUILT?!

 

"That's it? Dooming a village only got you a bit of guilt?" William asked as he moved closer to Darius. Anger began to form in him as he moved up. Darius didn't even turn, just shook his head.

 

"Dooming? I had nothing to do with that. That village was doomed before we got here. Even if we had, by some miracle, held the giantesses off long enough to get it evacuated, where would we take them and, more importantly, hide them? The Society would have been on our trail in moments and even I can't hide that many people. No, that village was dead before we even got here. The only question was would we die with them..." Darius trailed off as he looked back at William, the glare back on his face. William tried to keep the glare up on his, but his mind began to realize the Darius was right.

 

Even if they had gotten those people out, the giantesses would know they had run. They would have given chase and hiding that many civilians, many of them with no experience staying hidden, would have been all but impossible. Jason would have sent them to defend them...and they would have died. And William...William had been too busy focusing on keeping Darius and Jason from each other’s throats to see that. But Darius had...

 

"Jason decided that he would die with them. A stupid choice, but his to make. However, I was not going to allow the Phoenixes to be wiped out because of his stupidity. We have some of the best soldiers of any group and the potential to be a force capable of opposing the Society. I was not going to let him, or you, waste that for morale reasons that have no place in war. My sister is too important for that!” Darius said as he turned to face William.

 

Behind them, one of the giantesses let out a short giggle as they came within sight of the village. Their booming steps were loud enough to drown out nearly everything and the earthquakes were shaking the leaves and knocking loose branches down. Darius ignored them, however, as he coldly regarded William.

 

"However, I could not bring myself to get rid of you, so now you have a choice. You know I lied about what Jason told us to do. You can, easily, tell everyone about that and there is nothing I can do to stop you. Of course, the others are likely to kill me in revenge for dooming Jason, at least if Kimberly has anything to say about it. However, with both me and Jason dead, the Phoenixes would need a new leader. Perhaps you or some of the other officers would lead it more morally, but we both know none of you have my skills or intellect," Darius said without even a hint of arrogance. He was not bragging, simply stating facts. William’s fury had burned out at this point as he realized just how blind he had been. This...this couldn’t be the same young man he had taught...and yet there he stood. And the horror did not end...

 

"Which leads to your second option. Say nothing and let me lead the Phoenixes. I, unlike you and many others, can make the sacrifices that need to be made to win this war and, most of all, have the qualifications to lead. But, that would mean letting Jason's death go unavenged and leaving me to lead as I see fit. I wouldn’t blame you for either choice, but I can tell you that me leading is the best chance we have of winning this war. The choice is yours, William," Darius said as he turned back to watch the beginning of the slaughter. William could almost swear he could hear the screams of panic as the giantesses began to crush the village. Dust and bits of buildings began to fly through the air. The giantesses only laughed more as blood stains began to appear on their boots.

 

William stood there for a moment, too stunned to think or do anything. He felt like every hope and dream he had for Darius had been smashed apart in less than a second and now...now he felt just as empty and hollow as Darius had been when he had first meet him. He had tried to make a hero...and had made a monster. A monster who had just doomed their hero and left them with no choice but to side with him. William could not take over...not after this and the others...all the reasons why he had not picked them were still there. William shook his head and could only manage to get out one word.

 

"Why?" he asked.

 

"Why?" Darius parroted as he glanced back. Slowly, his mask shattered to be replaced with a  darkened and depressed face. His shoulders slumped and he looked down at the ground..

 

"Because you were right. I did fail my sister. I failed her completely and utterly. I'm her big brother...I should have protected her or...or at least tried. Instead I...I just laid under that rubble and watched as they took her. She looked at me just as they were taking her and..." he stopped as he took a deep breath, obviously fighting back tears.

 

"I will not fail her again, William. I WILL save her. But to do that, I need an army. An army capable of fighting the Society and winning. The Phoenixes are not there, not even close. But they will be, no matter what it takes, no matter how many Jason's I have to leave behind, no matter what sort of horrid choices I have to make, I WILL make them into a force capable of crushing the Society and I WILL save my sister. And when I do, this world can burn for all I care. Now...go tell everyone what happened or start hardening your heart,," Darius said as he put his mask back on and turned back to the carnage. William stood there as realization washed over him. This...this was his fault... He had pushed and pushed and pushed till something in Darius broke. Darius was a monster...a monster William had made...

 

William fell to his knees as he watched the giantesses slaughter the few people in the town, one of which was Jason. He turned away and felt tears begin to stream down his face as he silently begged Jason to forgive him. Not just for this...but for the choose he was about to make. What other choice did he have? And all the while, Darius stood there and watched without the slightest look of guilt.

 

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Samantha stared at William in silence as he finished his story. She...had no words for how she felt. Confused, betrayed, angry, sad... all of them were just mixing around like clothes in a washing machine. All she could do was stare at William's ashamed and regretful face as he let out a heavy sigh. Finally, a question slowly emerged from his turmoil-locked mind.

 

"Wh-..why did you tell me that?" Samantha asked as she tried to shift through her emotions and thoughts. She had known Darius was not a kind man, but had not...had never... William looked up and gave her a sad smile.

 

"Why? Fair enough question. Obviously, I did not tell anyone what really happened that day, otherwise Darius would likely be dead and certainly would not be leading the Phoenixes. So why tell you now? It is, to be completely honest, quite simple. Because someone needs to know the truth in case the worst should come," William said as his sad smile gave way to a serious look. Samantha's mind began to settle and process what she had heard, but still gave William a confused look. She didn't say anything, though, figuring William would continue.

 

"I have been watching Darius for a long time now and have come to a...realization. Despite what Darius is, despite the...monster I turned him into, he is still the best, perhaps only, chance we have of defeating the Society. Without his tactical knowledge and...willingness to do what is needed, I doubt any attempt to defeat the Society will succeed. He was the one who made the watchpost system, he helped pioneer out giantess and monstergirl tactics, and he has never let us suffer a complete and utter defeat till the Manchent incident. However, Darius is not our ally, not completely. Ultimately, all he cares about is saving his sister. For now, that requires the Society in Atlanta to be defeated as he has no way of getting into their base otherwise. But, if a way should reveal itself for him to reach her without defeating them..." William trailed off as he gave Samantha an expectant look.

 

"He'll abandon us to save her...and flee once he does," Samantha finished, remembering Darius' words. William's reasons for telling her, and not telling everyone else, were becoming slightly clearer, but something still bothered her.

 

"I understand why you didn't tell everyone, but why tell me? Wouldn't Susan, Derek, or Sanders be a better choice?" Samantha asked, confused as to what made her special. William smiled at that and gave a soft chuckle.

 

"Partly because you don't understand what makes you special. Humility certainly helps, but there was more to it. I needed to tell someone who was smart enough to know the advantages Darius brings and was not blinded by their morals, yet still had them. Someone like Jacob or even Sanders, to an extent, would turn on Darius the moment they heard the truth. Whereas someone like Gerard or General Faine would not care in the slightest and brush off my warnings. I doubt even Derek would be able to work with Darius as readily as he does if he knew the truth, though I expect he has had suspicions. I think, and hope, that you are the middle ground I need. That you can see the need for Darius' help, but are not so cruel as to dismiss his lack of morals," William said with a hopeful and kind smile. Samantha felt a bit of blush come on her face, embarrassed by the praise. She...she...wait no, she couldn't be it.

 

"But...but I'm just a grunt! What am I supposed to do if Darius does betray us?" Samantha said, suddenly feeling very UNready for this. This..this was way too much too quick. Suddenly being told your leader is a potential threat and you had to make sure he didn't screw everyone...she didn't want that kind of pressure! Then again...

 

William chuckled at her protests and shook his head. He leaned back against the tree he had been sitting next to and sighed to himself.

 

"I have a good eye for people who are more than just grunts. I highly doubt you will stay in that position for much longer, doubly so with us moving to fight the Society. People are going to die, officers as well as grunts. I would not be surprised if you wind up in charge of a squad by the time we head back to Hope," William said before pausing as his smile faded a bit,

"As for what to do, I cannot say. There are simply too many variables and possibilities of how such a turn of events could come about to give you instructions. However, I can say that your best resource is your charisma. You have a natural charm, Samantha, much like Jason did. Use it to your advantage and make sure you stay well-connected to those with power, like Sanders.  Those connections could save you and the Phoenixes from disaster. But most of all, never forget that Darius is not on our side. Watch him and always be prepared, and listen for anything that could lead him to his sister without the need of the Phoenixes."

William's face had gone back to stern and serious as he had spoken and he stared at Samantha for a second. Samantha nodded and William's stern face melted back into his usual easy smile. He went back to carving his wood, and looking as if he hadn’t just had a talk like no other.

 

Samantha turned away and stared up at the sky for a few minutes as she thought about all this. William had said she would be an officer...before that would have sent her sky-high, but now...now she would be an officer under Darius. And Darius was no longer their leader, leading them to victory, but a potential threat that could damn everyone. Then again, considering they were still lost in the woods, potentially left to die, all this might not even matter. They could, easily, all wind up dead and no one would ever know the truth about Darius till it was too late. That filled Samantha with dread and she turned back to William.

 

"But what if we die out here? Who is going to warn Sanders and the rest about Darius?" Samantha asked in worry. She was confused as William chuckled a bit at that and stopped his wood carving.

 

"Do you remember how I said you were well connected? Do you, honestly, think either Sanders or Jacob would leave you out here to die? Or Pyrrha for that matter? No, I have no doubt that some, if not all, are coming to try and find us right now. In fact, I would be shocked if we had to spend another day out her-" William's words stopped in his throat as his eyes widened a bit. He closed them and groaned as his face seemed to lose all color. Samantha was going to ask what it was till she heard it too.

 

Sniffing...catmonster sniffing…

 

Excerpt of Study on Old Resistance tactics:

 

While much of these tactics have become disused by Resistance groups, I still feel it is worth studying this old tactics. Understanding the thoughts and reasons behind such tactics will give us a better understanding of Resistance soldiers thoughts. And if we can think like a Resistance member, we can plan for what they will do.

 

Original tactics:

During the early days of our war against the Resistance, there were few things they could use against us. A few of them managed to make guns or other such weapons, but most were more muskets than proper firearms. Such weapons were useless against out shields and, at best, were distracting. Ironically, this was their first tactics.

Typically, Resistance groups would send a screen of soldiers out to fire on us to try and distract our soldiers from their task. Using the woods and other things to hide from sight, they would take turns firing at a soldier before hiding to avoid their inevitable death. This tactic was less than ideal and, often, proved fatal. At best, the tinies could distract a soldier for a few seconds, but most began to learn to ignore the weapons and focus on the mission.

Chapter 25: Truth and Hope

January 31, 2024 8:16 AM

The group was silent for a moment after Miranda's answer. The truth and their last hope... Sanders was beginning to understand why Miranda had been so cautious before. If that was true, then telling the wrong person could doom them all.

 

"Well don't leave us in suspense, what does it say?" Gabby asked looking rather excited. Miranda, however, shook her head.

 

"It's...too much to tell really and trying to explain it won't do it justice. I'll need to take you to see it. Besides, there are some technical files you will all want to see on it, anyway," Miranda answered, getting an annoyed look from Darius and Kimberly.

 

"And how do you propose we get to it? Pyrrha is gone and walking will take far too long," Kimberly asked as she crossed her arms. Miranda turned to her with a confident smile.

 

"With the tractor I built. We can use the lift to get down to it and the wagon that came with it to transport all of you. However, the wagon doesn't have enough space to carry everyone. At most, it could hold, maybe, thirty people," Miranda said as she smirked at them. Both Jimmy and Ollie’s eyes lit up at that while the rest of them looked taken aback, Kimberly in particular. Darius, however, simply nodded and looked over to Derek.

 

"Derek, go round up the best people we have and meet us down on the ground. Miranda, if you would," Darius said as he stood up and motioned for her to lead on. Miranda nodded, turned and headed outside as everyone snapped out of their surprise and fell in after her, save Derek who went off to round up some soldiers.

 

Miranda lead them to the lift and they all piled on. Jimmy spent the trip down taking notes and generally marvelling at the lift. Everyone else simply waited for the lift to reach the ground. Once on the ground, Miranda took the lead again and started toward a slowing rotting desk that had fallen over at some point. As they got closer to the fallen desk, Sanders glanced back at the lift and thought of something that made him worry. He moved forward a bit to catch up with Miranda.

 

"Are you OK with leaving your daughter here?" Sanders asked her, worried Miranda might be putting their needs above her daughters. Miranda looked over and gave him a calming smile.

 

"I've left her alone here plenty of times. The hallways here are deathly silent to the point that any noise echoes into this room. The loud footsteps of a giantess would be heard long before she got anywhere near here and Christa knows where every hiding place is in here," Miranda answered, putting Sanders' fears to rest. He nodded in understanding. Good...he didn’t want to feel he had forced her away simply because she felt she owed Isabella or him.

 

"And yet you didn't seem to hear Pyrrha coming," Darius spoke up, getting Miranda to shoot an angry look back at him. Sanders added his own angry stare, but Darius simply stared at them with his usual emotionless mask. Miranda turned away and huffed a bit.

 

"That is because your catmonster was trying to be quiet. Normally, they stomp around just as much as any giantess since they don't think there is prey in here," Miranda said with an odd tone in her voice. Sanders couldn't help but wonder who she was trying to convince of that. Still, most of the Phoenixes were staying behind and, up on that desk, would have good ground to fight a catgirl. Pyrrha barely reached the top of the desk and she was taller than most catgirls. Christa should be safe enough along with those that were staying behind...at least he hoped.

 

“Not like a giantess or catgirl would know to look here, anyway. Took us forever to get here and we knew where we were going,” Gabby added in with a confident smile. Miranda nodded in agreement and seemed to relax a bit more. Gabby was right, it had been a long trek getting here and none of the Society was even in this area. Still, it paid to be prepared.

 

They were silent for the last bit of the trek to the ruined desk. Miranda motioned for them to stay back while she headed into the shelve that had been built into the desk. It was rather dark inside, but Sanders could still make out the shape of a large vehicle of some sort along with other things, probably parts and such. Miranda moved to the vehicle and climbed onto it before starting the engine. Its headlights came on as the tractor rumbled to life, causing all of them to wince at the sudden light. They backed up a few steps as Miranda drove the tractor out of the desk and into sight.

 

Like Sanders had figured, it was the same, or at least very similar to the, model his family used on their farm. It looked like a normal tractor one would have found on a farm from before the shrink, only shrunken down to their size. It had a dulled red paint job, but no real ornamentation having been built for work, not style. Behind it, the tractor was hauling a large open wagon with a similar paint job. It looked big enough to fit them all, though its lack of seats was going to make it rather uncomfortable, and had rails raised above the platform to make sure none of them went flying out. Everyone seemed rather impressed with it save for Sanders and Gabby who had seen such things before. Jimmy, however, could barely contain his excitement as it drove out into sight.

 

"Holy shit a fully functional miniature Society vehicle! When you said you had a tractor I thought you meant like a jury-rigged one, not an actual tractor tractor! I have wanted to get my hands on a miniature Society vehicle forever! Please tell me you'll let me take it apart once we are done," Jimmy begged as he started to study the tractor's every detail, taking notes as he went. Miranda gave him a look that screamed no, which deflated Jimmy faster than Sanders thought possible. Still, he keep at his studying till Darius sighed and rubbed his forehead.

 

"We can study the tractor later, Jimmy. For now, we need to stay focused on the computer. Everyone get on board," Darius said trying to get them all back on task. Everyone snapped out of their awe and climbed into the wagon. Sanders made sure to sit as far from Kimberly as possible and she seemed perfectly happy with that. With everyone on board, Miranda drove them back to the lift to pick up the rest.

 

By the time they got there, Derek and the soldiers he had picked out were waiting for them. There were, probably, twenty-something soldiers in all with various equipment. Most had rockets, but a number had rifles as well. As they pulled up, Derek managed to keep his surprise at the working tractor in check, but most of the soldiers stared in open wonder. Sanders didn't really get what was so surprising, but then he had seen such things before back in Atlanta. He supposed for them, seeing a non-jury-rigged piece of junk vehicle was a spectacle worth gaping at. A few shouts from Derek got them to recover from their surprise and the soldiers all piled in. Just as Sanders had figured, everyone fit, though not comfortably. Sanders had to keep his legs tucked into him so as not to take up too much space, while poor Derek was so huge he had to ride on the tractor itself. Still, everyone managed to get on board and Miranda got them moved toward the exit once everyone was settled.

 

Despite being just a tractor, the vehicle was rather speedy. It was nowhere near as fast as Pyrrha, but a lot faster than them walking. Sanders had picked a spot near the front so he managed to overhear Derek ask Miranda a question.

 

“How long will it take for us to reach the computer?” he asked, just barely getting over the rumble of the engine and the idle chatter.

 

“Thirty minutes, give or take a few minutes,” Miranda answered as she drove them out of the room. Derek groaned at that and didn’t look at all happy about it. Considering he was, literally, hanging onto the side of the tractor it wasn't hard to tell why. Sanders, though, was rather glad for that as he was feeling his lack of sleep starting to catch up with him. A quick nap might not be a bad idea.

 

Having been a Ranger, Sanders was used to sleeping in odd places and with lots of noise. He had fallen asleep more than once on Isabella's shoulder and that had been far less comfortable and a lot louder. Sanders nudged Gabby and motioned to her that he was taking a nap. She nodded before turned to look out of the wagon to keep watch while Sanders did his best to get comfortable. Despite the lack of any real comfort, Sanders managed to slip into sleep without too much trouble.

 

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Sanders smiled as he walked up to the computer. Finally, after so long, he had found it. He had found what both Manchent and Isabella had died to protect. He just wished he could tell Isabella...

 

"I know, Sanders. Don't worry," a familiar voice said from behind Sanders. Sanders whirled and felt a wave of shock, joy, and despair run through him. Isabella stood behind him, shrunken to his size. Sanders didn't understand how she had got here, but didn't care as he felt tears run down his face. He tried to say her name, but could only get out a gasp for air. Isabella seemed to understand, though, as she smiled at him and spread her arms to him. Sanders didn't need any other invitation.

 

Sanders embraced Isabella and couldn't help but cry in her shoulder. Isabella patted his head and shhed him as she returned his hug.

 

"Shh, no need for that, Sanders. This is a time to be happy, you finally succeeded," Isabella said as she hugged him closer to her body. Sanders did his best to dry his tears as he smiled in joy, though a bit confused why he wasn't having to bend down anymore to hug Isabella. He soon stopped caring about that as Isabella pulled his head down into her cleavage. The thump of her heart and the warmth of her took away all his fear, worries, and sorrows. He barely even registered that his feet were having a tough time reaching the ground or that he couldn't quite get his hands all the way around Isabella's back anymore.

 

Sanders wanted to stay like that forever, doubly so when Isabella placed a small kiss on the top of his forehead. He was in heaven...and he deserved it. The warmth of Isabella’s body...the utter and complete safety of her large arms, the slow thump of her heart, everything was perfect.

 

"I wish you could stay, Sanders, but there is more to be done. Things are not over," Isabella said. Sanders didn't want to listen so he just buried himself further into her large breasts and enjoyed their warm-...hmm, they seemed colder than before.

 

"Sanders, please," Isabella asked and Sanders sighed inwardly as he pulled his head out of her breasts to look u- THERE WAS A HOLE IN HER HEAD!!!

 

Sanders jerked back from Isabella, suddenly finding himself on the ground and Isabella back to her normal size. The color had drained from her features and blood was slowly pouring out of the bullet hole in her head....the same bullet hole he had given her...

 

"Oh God...Isa-" Sanders started to say, but stopped as Isabella pushed her cold, clammy, finger into his lips.

 

"I know, Sanders. My death was never your fault. It was theirs," Isabella said as she pointed behind him with her other hand. A deep rumbling came from behind Sanders and a wave of fear washed over him. He didn't want to turn, but Isabella's eyes demanded he turn. He slowly turned his head and the fear turned to utter dread.

 

Towering above them both was Angela and Cathrine's torsos. Angela giggled down at him and made a kissy face toward him while Cathrine simply looked down at him like he was some kind of offending fly. Sanders felt an odd sense of deja vu before he realized he was on the table again, the same table where....OH NO! Sanders spun, but found Isabella gone from where he left her. He spun back just in time to see Angela pulling her up to her mouth.

 

"No, STOP!" Sanders yelled to no avail. Angela didn't even look at him as she brought Isabella up over her mouth and dropped her in like she was a piece of candy. Sanders screamed in horror as Isabella vanished and Angela swallowed with a satisfied ahh. Sanders fell to his knees in shock and despair as Cathrine's hand started toward him. Sanders looked at it and gritted his teeth as he pushed himself back to his feet. No, he wouldn't just give up dammit! Not after they had killed her AGAIN!

 

Sanders turned to run, but stopped dead in his track as he came face to face with Aviel. Aviel looked slightly up at him with a cold glare while Sanders stared in wonder to see her back to her normal height.

 

"Its pointless to resist, Sanders. You've already lost. You lost the moment you hesitated. And now..." Aviel said as a very unlike her smile spread over her face. Sanders was confused for a moment before fear began to grip him as Aviel's eyes became level with his...and then above his. Sanders backed up as Aviel began to grow, and grow, and grow. Her breasts past his head, then her stomach and still she grew. Sanders slow steps back turned into a full on sprint as her hips moved past his head yet her growth only seemed to speed up. He swore before coming to a stop as he noticed four massive feet blocking his path. Sanders looked up in terror and saw Angela and Cathrine looming over him, their feet making a massive wall to block him. Angela laughed at his sheer insignificance while Cathrine placed her hands on her hips.

 

Sanders turned to run back, but stopped as he came face to shoe with Aviel's shoes, now grown so large to be nearly buildings to him. Aviel had stopped growing, but had grown just as large as Cathrine and Angela. She looked down at him with the same glare that she had given him just before dropping him into that catgirl pen.

 

Sanders cursed as he looked around for a weapon, but nothing was around, just empty table. He swore and took off to the right to escape, but was thrown back as a massive foot crashed down with enough force to blast him back and blow out his ears. He struggled to his feet and looked up to see a sight that filled him with dread. Lutice moved to block his path with that same demented smile she wore.

 

"Hello, Sanders, remember how I said I would be angry if you left?~" she said in a playful tone that made Sanders blood run cold. Sanders whipped around to run the only way open to him, but stopped as the only sight more terrifying than Lutice greeted him. A catgirl...on her hands and knees slowly moving toward him...Only this one was gigantic, nearly as big as Aviel and the rest. Sanders backed away in terror as the catgirl licked her lips. The giantesses above him began to chuckle as the catgirl moved closer and closer.

 

"You never should have fought us, fool," Cathrine said as she crossed her arms.

 

"You can't hope to stop us as utterly weak and tiny as you are," Angela agreed before laughing again.

 

"You couldn't even stop me when we were the same size, and now you think you can win with such a disadvantage?" Aviel asked with an utterly disgusted look.

 

"You should have just stayed in my panties and been a good little slave. I might have even let you live to a ripe old age," Lutice said with a sad smile before shrugging.

 

"And now you will die just like all your friends," the catgirl said in Pyrrha's voice before lunging toward him.

 

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"NO!" Sanders yelled as he shot up. Gabby and a few of the nearby soldiers turned toward him in surprise as Sanders gasped to catch his breath. He had...it had...a dream, no...a nightmare...just a nightmare. Sanders felt a wave of relief wash over him as he remembered where he was, only for it to be replaced with embarrassment once he noticed all the people looking at him.

 

"S-Sorry I...I just had a bad dream," Sanders said, unable to think of a believable lie. Gabby smirked and snorted before turning back to look out the wagon. Sanders worried the others would do the same, but was surprised that none of them did. In fact, they looked more sympathetic than judgemental.

 

"Don't worry about it, Sanders. We all get them," a guy sitting next to Sanders said. A number others nodded before turning away as if reliving their own nightmares. Sanders was surprised by that response, however, once he thought about it, it made sense they could relate. He could imagine most of them had unpleasant dreams as well considering all the horrors they faced on a daily basis. However...that dream...

 

He had hoped that he would be able to free himself from some of the weighty responsibility that he had taken unto himself. That finding Manchent's legacy would free him, at least in part, from the burdens that were bearing down on him. That nightmare had reminded him that finding the computer was only part of his task. Angela, Cathrine, Aviel, and Lutice were all still out there, killing and abusing their power. As long as they were alive, he couldn't consider himself freed or anyone truly safe. He owed Isabella, Manchent, and everyone else they had murdered to see this to the end. Heavy though the burden was, he had to keep carrying it till they all paid for their crimes.

 

With his resolve hardened, Sanders turned to look out the wagon along with Gabby. The scenery left much to be desired and didn’t help Sanders’ mood. Old, slowly falling apart hallways with fading posters still stuck to their walls. Old clothing slowly rotting away along with shoes that were nothing more than soles. Books with the knowledge they once contained all but ruined by mold and disuse. Lockers standing as mute sentinels to the slowly fading signs of those that used to use them... Sanders turned back to sit in the wagon rather quickly.

 

Finally, Miranda yelled something back to them, though the exact words were lost to the chatter and engine. Sanders straightened to look ahead of them and saw a massive pile of rubble blocking the way into another hallway. Bits of plaster, cement, lockers, and other debris covered the entire hallway creating a literal wall of junk reaching nearly to the ceiling. Sanders couldn't help but wonder what was so special about this dead end. To his surprise, Miranda headed straight for it.

 

Miranda slowed the tractor to a stop next to the giant pile of debris before turning it off and climbed down. Derek followed after her and looked to have to stop himself from kissing the ground in joy of being off done with the ride. Sanders and the rest of the Phoenixes climbed down too, figuring Miranda must have a reason for them to stop here. Gabby hopped down and starting to stretch along with most of the others.

 

As Derek got the Phoenixes to spread out from the tractor, Sanders headed to Miranda to ask why they stopped. Darius beat him to her, however.

 

"You hid the computer in this rubble?" Darius asked, making Sanders want to slap his forehead. OF COURSE, where else would someone hid something they didn’t want found, ever? Unless the Society dug up the whole area, they would never have found it in there. Miranda nodded making Sanders feel stupider....more stupid, DAMMIT!

 

"Yes. This hallway collapsed a few years back thanks to a tornado. Isabella thought it would make the perfect hiding place so we buried it in the rubble. I can lead you to it, but...well this IS our last hope so,” Miranda said as she eyed the others with some suspicion. Sanders thought Darius might take offense to that, but if he did he never showed it. Instead, he just nodded and turned to the Phoenixes.

 

"Derek, Jimmy, Kimberly, Ollie, you are with me! Everyone else, take cover in the rubble and keep your heads down. There is to be no fire unless you have been made, we don’t want anyone to know we are here if we can avoid it," Darius ordered. A general yes, sir came from the Phoenixes and the soldiers all began clambering into the rubble to find places to hide. While the soldiers got ready for the worst, Kimberly, Derek, Jimmy, and Ollie all came over to join them. Gabby, despite being uninvited, came right along and had a look that just dared anyone to say anything against it.

 

“You can trust these people, they all have very good reasons to want to see the Society defeated, though,” Darius said as he gave Gabby a raised eyebrow. Gabby shot a glare at him and looked about to say something, but Sanders stopped her.

 

“I can vouch for Gabby. We can trust her too,” Sanders said getting a slight smile from Gabby. Miranda stared at the group and looked to debate whether to let them go or not. Finally, she nodded.

 

“Fine, let’s go. Make sure you stay close, this place can get rather confusing,” she said as she motioned for them to follow.

 

Miranda lead their group to a small crack near to where the soldiers were taking positions at. She squeezed into the hole and they followed after her, save Derek who had to find an alternate route being so large. Derek linked up with them a few feet ahead, finding a place he could drop down to them, and they continued onward. Miranda had been right that the rubble started to become rather confusing. Twists and turns seemed to lead off in every direction and it wasn’t long before Sanders was hopelessly lost. Despite the maze-like passages, Miranda forged ahead with the confidence of someone who had done this many times before and only paused once or twice as she debated which way to go. After a minutes of walking, Miranda climbed up a piece of rubble and smiled back at them.

 

"Up here," she said as she helped them up one-by-one. Sanders clambered up with Gabby's help and was shocked to see another prefab building, though this one was completely buried by rubble. A few pieces of rocks and other stuff was scattered about its front, but the door leading inside was unblocked and just waiting to be opened.

 

“Woah...did Isabella dig this place out?” Gabby asked as she looked over the area in wonder. Miranda smiled a somewhat sad smile as she nodded.

 

“Yes. She dug out this little spot by hand before putting the prefab building holding the computer in it and reburying it,” Miranda said with a bit of pride. Gabby shook her head and a bit of sadness flashed across her face. Sanders missed her too...

 

Miranda lead the way as they all headed to the building. Sanders could see everyone getting rather excited seeing their objective so close at hand. Even Darius' usual mask had some cracks that showed a slight smile as they neared the door. Miranda punched in a code on the keypad next to the door and the door's lock clicked open. She pushed the door aside and lead them into the building.

 

Sanders stepped in and found the building completely empty save for a desk and a....computer. Not a jury-rigged, rusted, and barely functioning computer like Sanders expected. No...a real honest to goodness computer... While it had not been designed with the same aesthetic look most home computers were, it was still a wonder of engineering. In fact, it looked closer to a computer that would have been designed for industrial use, where looks and such were unwanted. Its screen didn't have so much as a scratch on it, the parts that were showing from the tower looked to have all been meant to do what they were doing, and the whole thing just looked...like a real computer. It even had a keyboard and mouse! Sanders couldn't help but marvel at the expertly made machine, but Jimmy and Ollie were beyond awed and nearly inthralled.

 

"Sweet Jesus, look at this! I...I would swear it had been made back before the shrink disaster if I didn't know it hadn't! He must have hand-made most of these parts for them to fit so well together, but you would never know it from looking at it. I...I don't think I could even come close to making something like this! And...holy shit are these fusion batteries?! I've only seen these used for the Society's shields! How did he get these or...fuck did he MAKE THEM?! Goddamn, it's a masterpiece!" Jimmy said as he looked over the computer, but never touched it. He looked like he was afraid he might break something if he dared to lay his hands on it. Ollie, however, moved right up to it and rubbed his hands over the keyboard.

 

"Woah...the letters were cut into the keyboard's plastic by hand. And some of this circuits I recognize, their from cell phones and tablets. He must have rewired and modified their circuitry to work together...I have trouble just getting radios to work and he built a fully functional computer out of stuff that was never meant to work that way, AND made it look like it should work..." Ollie said as he looked over the computer. At the last part, though, the young man's face darkened and his shoulder drooped for some reason. Before Sanders got a chance to wonder about that too much, Darius spoke up.

 

"It certainly is impressive, but I am more interested in what it contains," Darius said as he glanced over to Miranda. Derek and Gabby nodded their agreement and Sanders had to admit he felt the same way. The computer was amazing, but ultimately pointless if what it held was useless.

 

"You could have just asked rather than be snide," Miranda shot back at Darius before she shooed the two awed Phoenixes away with her hand. Darius simply crossed his arms over his chest in response. Miranda pressed the power button on the tower of the computer and it hummed to life. Its screen flickered a few times before coming on completely. A few words scrolled across it, moving too quick for Sanders to read, before it seemed to turn off again. Suddenly, the screen lit up again as a sentence appeared on it.

 

"What do you seek?" the screen asked. Miranda quickly typed in her answer before anyone could take a guess.

 

"The truth."

Miranda hit the enter key and the screen flicked off. The computer hummed for a second as Miranda stepped away to let them all see the screen. Everyone moved closer to try and get a better look at the screen as it, slowly, came back to life.

 

"This is what Manchent left for us to find, and what turned Isabella against the Society," Miranda said as the image on the screen came into focus.

 

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Gregor Manchent appeared on the screen. His old and run down form looked nearly identical to the way the group remembered him looking before he died. Around his neck was the collar that set Sanders blood running cold. This couldn't have been recorded long before the train incident... Behind him looked to be a workshop of some kind, though it seemed rather unused and worn down, much like Gregor himself. Gregor let out a long sigh as he turned to the camera.

 

"If you are watching this...then I am, likely, dead. While I wish I could say that was an unlikely outcome, I know that the opposite is true. What I am about to do will, likely, result in my death. I wish… I wish there was some other way, but..." Gregor stopped as he seemed to drift away. He reached down and brought a bottle up from the floor. He looked about to pour the liquid into a cup before reconsidering and just drinking it straight from the bottle. He took another deep breath before turning back to the screen.

 

"What follows are recordings, recording me and my friend and colleague, Henry Martin, made during our time working with the Society before...before all of this. These recording will show you the truth that I learned thanks to Martin's bravery and...sacrifice," Gregor said before taking another long swig from the bottle. He let out another long sigh before turning to the camera with a stern look.

 

"But you will not just learn the truth, you will learn of the one hope we still have. The Society CAN be defeated, and this video will show you how. But, that hope will be snuffed out should this fall into the Society's hands. You MUST protect this computer, you MUST keep it away from them! Without it, there may not be another chance of victory. Listen to the recordings, learn the truth and understand that you may very well be the last hope anyone has of being free of their corrupt rule. I am sorry for putting this one you, but there is no other way. Hopefully, I will be there to share it with you, but..." Gregor said with an intense look. The look faded as he glanced away and took another swig.

 

"Some...some of the records we made are not in this main file. They have no relevance to what you need to see, but are in the computer if you want to view them. I, also, have removed the dates and some of the names from the recordings to protect people from retribution in case...the worst should come about," Manchent said as he slumped into the chair he was sitting in. He looked back to the camera.

 

“I know it is a lot to ask, but please...do not let Henry’s death be in vain. Do not let them get away with their crimes. Even...even her…” Manchent begged as he lowered his head. The screen, suddenly, turned off and a few words scrolled across the screen, again too fast to read. Finally, the words vanished and the screen came back on.

 

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The image was fuzzy for a second before resolving into the face of a man, a man none of them recognized. The man looked at the screen, or rather the camera capturing the video, and frowned a bit. His face was so close to the camera that it was near impossible to see anything behind him. His brown hair was unkempt, messy, and covered in grease. He had a large beard and his clothing looked to be nothing more than tattered rags.

 

"Is it recording?" the man asked as he looked off to the side.

 

"It shouldn't be," a voice that sounded slightly familiar said. The man's frown deepened as he turned back to the camera and began to adjust something behind the lens. He swore just before the video cut out.

 

A second passed before the video came back with a new man staring at the camera. This one everyone recognized as Gregor Manchent, only looking far younger than any of them remembered. Not only that, but he was just as disheveled and nasty as the man before.

 

"Just had to keep messing with it didn't you," the younger Manchent said with a slight smirk as he adjusted a few things past the lens as well.

 

"I don't want to hear it Gregor. OK...yep I'm getting a signal from it now. We're recording," the man from before said. Manchent smiled as he sat down some tools he had before touching something on the camera. Once again, the video cut out.

 

It came back with the other man looking at the camera, looking far more regal and official like. His rags were straightened a bit and his hair looked to have been watered, though was still far from clean. The area around him looked like a warehouse where various junk was being stored. Most of it seemed far too big to be of any use while the rest had just been throw together. The man seemed to glance off to the side for a second before nodding and turning back to the camera.

 

"Greetings to whomever may be watching this. I am Professor Henry Martin, professor of historical knowledge and dabbler in genetics, engineering, and just about everything scientific. My partner running our rather ad-hoc recording software is Gregor Manchent, a some what knowledgeable fellow of engineering and programming," Martin said with a slight smile as he nodded.

 

"Some what knowledgeable? Who was it that designed this software and got this camera working again?" Manchent said from off to the side. Martin looked in the same direction and smirked a little more.

 

"Our good humor aside, we have decided that so much knowledge has been lost thanks to the Shrink Disaster, that we owe future generations to record our findings so as to help restore it. Both myself and Gregor are experts in our fields, even if my skills are mostly self-taught, and feel that a documentation of our experiments, and the trails we faced due to the Shrink Disaster, could be of great interest to later scientists. As such, we will be recording all our progress on our experiments or projects along with giving detailed accounts of any problems we have run into. It is our hope that these videos will prove enlightening to those who did not live through the Shrink Disaster and for others who may wish to reproduce our experiments," Martin said with a pleasant smile. He nodded again and waited a second before looking over to the side.

 

"Is...is it off?" he asked before the screen cut.

 

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The screen came back to life and Martin reappeared. He looked to be in the same warehouse as before, though some of the junk had been removed and replaced with things that looked somewhat like parts. He was working on something off the side as he talked.

 

"This is going to be my first solo video. Since I studied a great deal of genetics in my spare time, I decided I should look into the genes of the giantesses," Martin said as he finished with whatever he was doing and turned to face the camera fully.

 

"According to the Society, the reason they were immune to the Shrink Disaster was thanks to a specific gene they have. I will admit I find that a bit...hard to swallow, but people shrinking to barely an inch would have been too before this and...well," he motioned around him before shrugging.

 

"So I am going to attempt to get some samples from shrunk women and samples from giantess women to see if I can find that specific gene. If I can, it might help us find a cure for the shrinking, or at least a way to make sure newborns are immune to it. Not sure how well that would work, though...Bah, one problem at a time. First and foremost, I need to get some samples," Martin said before reaching up and turning off the camera. The screen, quickly, came back on to show Manchent sitting in the same place.

 

"While Henry is doing his genetic work, I am going to see if I can help redesign some of the building of Atlanta to accommodate shrunken people. That way, I should be able to use the existing infrastructure to get working water, heat, electricity, and the rest into the homes. That would go a long way toward getting people a sense of hope and lessen some of the deaths due to exposure and other things," Manchent said as he picked up a part he looked to have been working on. He reached up and turned the camera off soon after that.

 

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Manchent reappeared with a big smile on his face. Oddly, he looked far cleaner than he had and the clothing he was wearing looked somewhat like real clothing, unlike the rags from before.

 

"My project has been moving along faster than I anticipated. Part of that is owed to the Society who took notice and are now lending me what aid they can. A scientist that works for them, Valery, has been working alongside me to get the designs fully finished while other giantesses are clearing the rooms I want to use. I must admit I was shocked how knowledgeable the Society is on...well everything really. I had thought their name was simply a title, but they have proven to be on the cutting edge of their fields. With Valery's help, I think I will have a prototype within the week and actually working houses in a few months. Once I do, I’ll be sure to report their effectiveness," Manchent said with a bright smile. He looked off to the side and said something the camera didn't catch before standing up and moving aside.

 

Martin appeared and sat down where Manchent had been. He had shaved off his beard and his hair had been properly washed. And, just like Manchent, his clothing looked far better than they had.

 

"I haven't been sitting on my laurels either. I have obtained about fifty to sixty samples of shrunken women to use as my control. Now I just need to get some giantess samples and then I can start worrying about how to map their DNA without the proper equipment," Martin stopped at that and rubbed the back on his head.

"Granted that is going to be a bitch to fix, but I am sure Gregor and myself can come up with something. I do wish there were other genetic experts I could talk to, though, to at least get a second set of eyes to look at the data I get. Sadly, it seems all of them were killed or vanished in the Disaster along with so many other experts… Well, just have to make due, like we always have to now," Martin said with a sad sigh. He managed a slight smile before reaching up and turning the camera off.

 

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Again, the screen came back showing Martin again, however with a very different look. He looked annoyed as he rubbed his hand through his brown hair.

 

"The Society is starting to annoy me. I have asked them multiple times for samples from giantesses, but they just keep giving me the same answer. It is like they are TRYING to drag their feet about this! I understand that Gregor's housing project is more important than this, but how hard can it be to get a single hair off one of their people?!" Martin yelled before turning away from the camera. He paced backward away from the camera as he rubbed his head in frustration. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back to the camera with a smile.

 

"Then again...maybe I don't need to ask them for it...I think I'll go visit Gregor's project and see all those lovely giant ladies. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind talking to me for a few seconds," Martin said with a smirk before flipping off the video.

 

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Once again, the video returned with Martin staring back at the group. This time, however, he wore a large smile on his face. Behind him, Manchent was digging through a large pile of parts looking for something and tossing the stuff he didn’t like.

 

"My idea working perfectly. I managed to snag a good bit of samples from the various Society workers. Not exactly sure how many individual ones I got, but I figure a small test sample won't hurt," Martin said with a smile. His smile faded though as he let out a sigh.

 

"Now comes the hard part, though, figuring out someway to test the DNA of the samples. Manchent and myself made a few prototypes of machines to do that, but none of them are accurate enough to do what I need, and those are the ones that work at all. As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to need proper equipment for this. And the only people who have that kind of stuff is the Society," Martin said with an annoyed groan. He rubbed the back of his neck in thought as he looked away.

 

"After the sample thing, I am loathe to tell them what I want that kind of equipment for. If giving me hair was too big of a hassle, giving me specialized instruments is, obviously, off the table... Though maybe..." Martin trailed off as he rubbed his chin. He paced off the screen as Manchent stopped his digging to look up. Suddenly, Martin reappeared with an excited look.

 

"Of COURSE! I'll just lie! If I tell them it is for research into the affects the Shrink Disaster has had on bacteria and viruses, they might be far more inclined to assist me! Even better, I have wanted to look into that subject, anyway! It's perfect!" Martin said before clapping his hand and giving a short laugh.

 

Manchent, however, shook his head at that and got a worried look.

 

"Henry, that might not be the best idea. I know I would be pissed if you starting using that kind of equipment for your own personal projects," Manchent said as he tossed a part he had dug out back into the pile. Martin just dismissed him with a wave.

 

"Bah, they'll get over it. Now I need to go practice my pitch," Martin said before turning off the camera.

 

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The screen came back with a very different sight. Instead of the rusty, scrap-filled, dirty warehouse from the previous videos, the background was of a shiny, clean, and neat lab complete with proper tools, equipment and everything. The camera viewed the area for a second before Martin appeared from the side with a wave of his arm and a big smile.

 

"Ta-da! Like it, cause I sure as hell do! Gregor pulled some strings in the Society and not only got me set up in one of his newly redesigned buildings, but had it furnished with the latest in shrunken lab equipment!" Martin said before turning to a table behind him. He grabbed a microscope off the table and held it up for the camera to see.

 

"Do you see that? That is a proper microscope, not like the piece of shit one I was using that was really just a glorified magnifying glass. I even got chemicals and baths and...fuck everything I need and then some!" Martin said in a giddy glee. He set the microscope down before sitting down in front of the camera.

 

"Alright, enough showing off, back to buisness. With this lab I can, finally, start my tests on the samples. Of course, I'll have to be careful about when I do said experiments as the Society made it clear they didn't want me looking into it. Bit odd, but they're probably just worried some self-taught history professor might show them up, I know I would be. Thankfully, I managed to find two assistants to work in the lab with me. Their a couple that used to work at the CDC here in Atlanta, that's Center of Disease Control for those that don't know, so their experts in bacterial and viral sciences. Good thing too as I'm a bit rusty on that subject. Anyway, they'll be doing the official research while I do my hush hush stuff. Next report I should have some data to talk about," Martin said with a smile. He looked off to the side and said something the camera didn't catch before moving aside.

 

Manchent appeared and sat down where Martin had been. He looked far better groomed than he had in any of the previous videos and was wearing proper clothes. He had a giant smile on his face and seemed almost giddy with excitement.

 

"While Henry is doing his 'work', I am going to take a break from my projects here in Atlanta to visit the areas outside the city. Apparently, a number of villages have formed outside from the survivors of various other communities. I can only imagine the living conditions there, which is why I am going to try and help them get back some semblance of normalcy. Even if that means just telling them where and how to dig a well, it will still go miles for getting these people back on their feet," Manchent said with a slight edge of determination in his voice. He paused as he  looked away and blushed a bit.

 

"I'll...also be going with a giantess guard so I won't have to worry about any of the dangers out there," Manchent said as his smile seemed to spread at that.

 

"No one will blame you if you just admit that is why you are really going," Martin said from the side in a mocking tone. Manchent's smile vanished as he shot an angry glare toward where Martin was, which only got mocking laughter in return. Manchent turned back to the camera and shook his head.

 

"Anyway, because I am going to be gone, I won't be recording any logs. Once I return I'll give a full description of the trip. Till then, I leave you with Henry, you have my sympathies," Manchent said with a smirk. The camera just caught a “hey!” from Martin before it cut off.

 

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Martin appeared and was looking through a number of pages he had in his hand. He had an annoyed look and glanced over to the top of the camera.

 

"I've done all the tests on the DNA samples I gathered. I thought I had twenty, maybe thirty, different giantess samples. Turns out I only had ten. Worse, I haven't find any real leads from those ten. There are a few gene sequences that they all share, but some of the control group has them as well, ruling those sequences out. That said, it is very likely that the immunity gene is a complex combo of a number of different genes set up in just the right order, so its unlikely I would be able to notice it with just ten samples," Martin said before tossed the papers away with a frustrated sigh. He turned back to the camera and gave it an annoyed look.

 

"Which means I need more samples. Of course, with Gregor gone, I have lost my best way to get said samples. Just like him to be gone when I need him," Martin grumbled before turning away from the camera. He tapped his finger against the desk for a few seconds before turning back to the camera.

 

"Guess I am just going to have to get the samples the hard way. Wish me luck," Martin said before reaching up to turn off the camera.

 

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Martin reappeared, but looking very different. His head was buried in his hands and his hair looked completely disheveled. A bottle with some brown liquid was sitting just inside the sight of the camera and was about half-empty. Martin, slowly, looked up and let out a heavy sigh.

 

"I failed to get the samples...worse, I got caught trying to get them. The Matriarch was not happy...not at all. She gave me an earful and then banned me from going anywhere near a giantess. Can't go to their base, to a site they are working at, nothing. Fuck," Martin said as he banged his hand against the table. He reached over and took a swig of the liquid before letting out a belch.

 

"Hell, they even threatened to kick me out of this lab. Only reason they didn't was because of the research my assistants are doing, which they claimed was all mine," Martin said as he shook his head and sighed again.

 

"I owe the Wolffs big time, now. Need to do something nice for them...maybe get their daughter something..." Martin said before switching the camera off.

 

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Manchent appeared first this time and looked a bit grimy and dirty, but had a big smile on his face, nonetheless.

 

"My trip out of Atlanta was wonderful and was the kind of break I needed. Surprisingly, many of the villages outside Atlanta are, actually, quite well off. Most have clean water they can get in some form and make use of whatever technology they still can. Most of my time was spent just improving their existing infrastructure: improving flow from aqueducts, making better wells, helping them design proper plows, that kind of thing. There were a few that were in just horrid conditions, but they were by far the minority," Manchent said with a relieved smile. Manchent let out a content sigh as he took a sip from some water he had nearby.

 

"Still, I can think of many ways it could be better, and one way in particular sticks out. I am going to go put forward a new project idea to the Society, one that will change everything, not just for Atlanta, but for everyone. If this works like I want it too, I'll be able to help those people far more than any number of trips out there would. I’ll go into the details later, once I have them worked out," Manchent said with a confident and eager smile. He nearly leap up from the chair before striding off out of the camera's sight.

 

With Manchent gone, Martin appeared and sat down in the same chair. Unlike the last video, Martin looked rather happy and seemed to be in a far better mood.

 

"Gregor has more than made up for being gone when I needed him. He was able to get me in touch with a researcher in the Society named-"

Suddenly, the screen cut out and turned the static. Before anyone could react, however, it went back to normal.

"-has agreed to help me get the samples I need. Apparently, she is just as interested in a potential cure as I am, but has been too busy with her own research to look into it. All I have to do is report my findings to her and she will make sure I get what I need," Martin said as his smile spread again. He clapped his hands together and made a pose.

 

"Back in action, baby...OK, I need to see if I can edit that out," Martin said before cutting the video.

 

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The video returned to show a frustrated Martin rubbing his head in thought. He tossed a page he had in his hand behind him and shook his head in annoyance.

 

"Well,-" again the video cut to static before coming back just as quickly.

"-did her part. She managed to get me forty new samples, bringing me up to fifty. Not a great sample size, but enough to get a decent read on these genes...Or it should be," Martin said as he shook his head again and turned to pick up the page he tossed.

 

"I have run the samples through the tester three times, THREE, and gotten the same result every time. I cannot find any gene sequences that the fifty giantesses share that the control doesn't. Sure there a few that get close, but even just one that doesn't have it is enough to debunk it. Fuck..." Martin said before tossing the paper away again. He rested his head in his hand and rubbed his forehead. He lowered his hand and looked off to the side for a second.

 

"Maybe I'm not as good as I thought. Dammit, I wish at least one geneticist had lived through the disaster. At least then I would have someone to compare notes with or to make sure I am doing this right. But they didn't..." Martin said with a heavy sigh. He lowered his head toward his lap before slowly raising it back up. He rubbed his chin in thought as his eyes narrowed a bit. He turned back to the camera and got a worried look.

 

"But they didn’t….I need more samples...but I don't think getting them from a giantess is such a good idea. I'm going to have to get them myself. I hope I am just being paranoid, but..." Martin said as his worry faded to be replaced with a grim determination. He turned to the side and yelled something before giving the camera an odd look and standing up. Martin walked away and the camera is left alone for a second. Finally, Manchent appeared and sat down, looking happy, but worried.

 

"My rail project is going along nicely. The Society have put a lot of resources into it and are helping me every step of the way. Still, everytime I bring up the second part of the project, the Matriarch seems to change the subject. It is starting to worry me if they are going to follow through with the entire thing," Manchent said as he turned to the side and got a worried look. He shook it off, however, as he turned back.

 

"I have, also, been trying to go back outside of Atlanta, but the Society keeps stonewalling me there too. Though, to be fair, I understand where they are coming with that one. I'm sure they want the rail line done ASAP and me constantly going out of Atlanta is only slowing things down. Still, I can't help but feel the people out there need me more than anyone in Atlanta. Think I'll try Cathrine and see if she can do something,"  Manchent said before moving to cut off the camera.

 

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The video came back with a very worried Manchent rubbing his head in frustration and worry. He shook his head and gave long, slow, sigh.

 

"Henry was arrested. Apparently, he was caught trying to get more DNA samples from giantesses. Normally, I would just call him an idiot, but...but the Society put him in their OWN jail, not the community one. And looking at the researcher he has done thus far...This doesn’t..." Manchent trailed off as he went back to rubbing his head.

 

"I managed to talk Cathrine into taking me out one last time. When we do, I am going to use the insurance I have been building with parts I borrowed from the rail project. I...never thought I would have to use it for this reason, but… better to be safe," Manchent finished as he turned back to the camera. He gave it a worried and sad look before cutting it off.

 

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Manchent reappeared a second later. He looked around as if to make sure no one was around before bending closer to the camera.

 

"The insurance is in place. I had some of the locals distract Cathrine long enough for me to slip away and hide it. Hopefully, Henry and I will be laughing about this in a few months and I can go back and get it, but..." Manchent paused as he glanced away.

 

"But with the way Cathrine acted on the trip, the rumors I heard of villages vanishing, and the sounds I could swear were battles that we heard on occasion... Something is going on, something, I fear, that is very, very bad. And this sudden splitting between Swords and Shields is not going to help. Militarizing even part of the Society is a dangerous change, one that fills me with dread," Manchent said as his look darkened. He reached up and cut off the video.

 

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Martin reappeared, finally, as the video came back. However, the middle-aged professor looked like he aged years from the time he had last been seen. His eyes were sunken while his body seemed shrunken and thin. However, his face was set into a grim determination that seemed to have only been hardened by whatever had happened to him.

 

"The Society jailed me when they caught me the second time. They...were not kind to me, far from it. There were many days where they 'forgot' to feed me and their 'questioning' was...brutal," Martin said as his look seemed to falter for a split second. However, it hardened again almost instantly.

 

"Officially, I was imprisoned for 'theft of Advanced Science Society property', which is utter nonsense. The real reason was that I was investigating something they didn't want me to, and I am almost positive why. Still, I am loathe to tell Gregor, or anyone for that matter, until I am absolutely sure," Martin said before reaching behind himself. He picked up some things from the table behind him before bringing them up to the camera. They were strands of hair, only giantess-sized.  Martin smiled as he put them back.

 

"While my time in jail was horrid, it gave me plenty of time to collect samples from my captors and tormentors. I am positive I managed to get another twenty samples and that will give me enough to be sure of my theory. And with this lab which, technically, I shouldn't be in but my assistants have conveniently forgotten, I will have them all run within a few days. And then...then there is going to be reckoning for those oversized cunts," Martin said with a look of hatred. He cut the video as he started to turn back to the strands.

 

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The video came back to show Martin looking intensely at the camera. His hair was almost as messy as it had been when they had first seen him and his clothing looked like the same clothing he had worn in the last video. Despite his intense look, the signs of exhaustion and sleep deprivation were plastered all over his face.

 

"I ran the tests. I had twenty-one new samples rather than twenty I thought and I ran every one of them...And not one had any signs of a shrink immunity gene. The only genes all the giantesses shared were the same ones that the control shared with them. The giantesses are not immune due to some freak accident of genetics bu-"

 

Suddenly, the sound of door being kicked in interrupted Martin's words. Martin glanced away from the camera as shoots came from the distance. A woman screamed for a split second before a loud gunshot silenced her. Martin swore as he ducked back down as more gunshots erupted. Equipment, beakers, and other stuff exploded behind Martin as the bullets smashed through them. Martin cursed as a bullet punched through his shoulder and he fell down out of sight of the camera. More shouts came from the distance along with a few more gunshots.

 

Martin's hand reappeared at the edge of the desk. He managed to pull himself up as he looked at the camera, blood pouring from his wound. He looked about to say something, but never got the chance as a massive fireball sweep through the area. The brief sound of an explosion nearly deafened them all before the camera cut to static.

 

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The screen was silent for a long time after that. A few started to think that was the end, but just as they were about to say something, the screen turned back on. The lab was gone and had been replaced with a workshop. Tools, parts, and a few large things that looked to be incomplete projects were scattered about. A radio was playing in the background while a devastated Manchent sat in front of the camera. He had his face hidden behind one of his hands and looked to be fighting not to cry. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to look at the camera.

 

"Henry....Henry is dead. Killed by...by Resistance terrorists. The Society and Cathrine are looking into it, but..." Manchent managed to say before lowering his head back into his hand. He stayed like that for a few seconds before looking back up.

 

"I helped them. I built aqueducts, wells, defensive walls, crops, irrigation canals, anything and everything I could that would help them and what do I get in return? I get my best friend killed by the very people I have been speaking up in defense for and spent months helping, AND get a poor girl orphaned? I...I don't even know if I'm angry because I just feel...numb," Manchent said as he tightened his eyes to hold back tears. He rubbed his hands over his eyes before turning back to the camera with an emotionless stare.

 

"I am going to find out who did this, though. I am going to find out which of them killed my best friend and make sure Cathrine kills them in the most painful way she can. My insurance should have saved the last few moments of Henry's life and, maybe, there is a clue there to who attacked them. I just need to make a machine to access it long distance. I should have that done in a week, less considering how motivated I am," Manchent said with a stare that seemed somewhere between uncontained rage and blank emptiness. He reached up and snapped the camera off.

 

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The camera turned back on to show a concerned Manchent. He gave the camera an odd look before starting.

 

"I watched the last report Henry gave. His findings are...worrying on many levels, but I will deal with that later. Right now, all I want is the people responsible," Manchent said before looking away with a sigh.

 

"Sadly, the video doesn't give much clues as to who could have done it. None of the attackers come in sight of the camera and Henry never gets a chance to say anything about them. I wish I could ask- *static* -how things are going, but she left for the Society's HQ and none of the other giantesses seem to want to talk about it. Dammit...there has to be something I can use on this video, I just have to figure it out," Manchent said with a determined look. He turned off the camera.

 

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The video came back to reveal Manchent staring at the camera as if numb to everything. He was silent for a moment before starting.

 

"There was a clue in the video...the gunshots. I had an old expert in firearms listen to the shots, hoping he might narrow down what kind of weapons I was looking for. He told me....he told me they were modern firearms," Manchent said as he keep staring at the camera. He blinked a few times before starting again.

 

"The expert was just as...confused as I am, but he was positive on what they were. The Society has never given shrunken guns to anyone and the Resistance does not have the tools or facilities to make modern firearms. Not only that, but I had a demolition expert look at the lab when the giantesses left the scene. It was a controlled blast, the kind that could only be done with high explosives. While it is possible the Resistance got that, why use it on Henry's lab? There are far better and more vulnerable targets," Manchent said as his eyes started to narrow.

 

"And now...now- *static* -has cut me off completely. Ever since she has returned from the HQ, she has refused to see me outside of official business and talks about nothing save business. She even had the nerve to tell me to forget about Henry's death and just focus on my work...How..." Manchent stopped as he raised his fist. He looked about to smash it down onto the desk, but lowered it down as he stewed in anger.

 

"Constantly trying to stop Henry to the point of jailing him, the lies about the genetics, the oddly targeted Resistance attack, the use of modern equipment that the Resistance shouldn't have, suddenly cutting me off from everyone including- *static*-, AND- *static*’s -sudden change! I can't deny it any longer. The Advance Science Society is hiding something...and I think I know what. I have toyed with the theory before, both me and Henry did, but we never gave it serious study. Now, though, it seems far more likely. Still, I need to prove it. And...I think I know how, though it will take some time to do," Manchent said as he started to rub his chin. He turned the camera off as he started to grab some tools.

 

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The camera came back on to show Manchent holding a remote while he stood next to a large machine of some kind. Some time must have passed between this and the last video as a few more lines had appeared on Manchent's face. He sat the remote down before picking up a wrench and going back to work on the machine.

 

"I...I have been using parts from the rail project to help build this machine. Once it is...finished, I should be able to access satellites information and, more importantly, view their event logs," Manchent said, stopping every so often as he strained to tighten something.

 

"Considering the Shrink Disaster hit the entire world, it stands to reason that it used satellites to spread the energy over the entire planet. Assuming I am right, viewing the event logs on the day of the Shrink Disaster should allow me to follow the beam back to its origins. Whichever satellite was hit first, had to be over the origin of the shrink beam. And if that is not China, then I will have proof that the Society is lying," Manchent said as he started to dig through a large pile of parts.

 

"Hopefully, I can spread that news far enough to make it impossible for them to contain it and they will have to come clean. Then, God willing, we can stop this damn madness before it spreads any further than it has. I am sure- *static* -will come to her senses if I can prove this as well...she has to," Manchent said before finding the part he wanted. He walked back over, picked the remote up and turned the camera off.

 

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The feed returned to show Manchent staring, numbly, at the camera. He lowered the remote and slid back into his chair.

 

"Yabaize..." he managed to say before his eyes, slowly, shifted away.

 

"The origin of the beam that started the Shrink Disaster....is Yabaize...The same Japanese town that the Society's HQ is in...They did it...Those monsters did it… I didn’t want to..." Manchent trailed off as he went back to staring off into the distance.

 

"She knew...she..." Manchent said before tears began to run down his face. The camera feed cut to static.

 

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The feed returned to show Manchent looking more in control of himself. His eyes were still red and he sniffed every so often, proving he had been crying. He whipped his nose with a cloth before starting.

 

"I...I have used the machine three more times and compared the times of events each time to make sure I was right. Every one of them shows the satellite above Yabaize as being the first satellite to be hit by the shrink weapon. China isn't hit till a half second later, making it impossible for it to be the source of the beam. Taking this and all that has happened, I have to accept that the Shrink Disaster is the work of the Advanced Science Society. It fits together too well to be just coincidence," Manchent said before lowering his head. He looked about to start to cry again, but sucked in a big breath to fight off the urge.

 

"The... the real issue is what to do with this knowledge. The most obvious option would be to reveal it, however...however, I fear for the Society's reaction to this. The Shrink Disaster killed hundreds of millions, perhaps even billions, of people when it happened. If the Society was willing to kill that many innocent people to gain power, I have no doubt they would be willing to kill tens of thousands more to keep said power. If I spread this information to the populace, I fear the Society will exterminate everyone in Atlanta to keep it from spreading beyond the city," Manchent said as his shoulders slumped into despair.

 

"However, I...I believe that not everyone in the Society knows this. I doubt such a secret would stay hidden long if everyone in the organization knew it. Most likely, only those high up know the truth while the lower ranks are just as blind as us civilians. Still, that doesn't help me either as I have no way of knowing who in the Society I can trust. If I tell the wrong person, they will kill me and the truth will die as well. And even if I did guess right on who I could tell, what good would it do? That giantess would be in the same position I am of not knowing who to trust and who to be wary of. She might be able to rally a few close friends to her cause, but there are hundreds of giantesses of unknown loyalties and a few are sure to know the truth. A small handful would, easily, be crushed. Worse, all the Matriarchs would have to do is call in support from other Society forces and any revolution would be put down before it even started. Dammit..." Manchent said as he buried his head into hands in despair and frustration. He stayed like that for a second before looking back up.

 

"Still, I have to try to do something. I need to find someway of fighting them, someway to free us from their control without allowing them to get a message to any other forces. And someway to let us shrunken people fight them on more even terms. A handful of giantesses couldn't defeat the hundreds of others, but a handful supported by thousands of shrunken people who can hurt a giantess..." Manchent said as he started to rub his chin.

 

"I will need to think on this for awhile. I am positive, though, that there is a way to do this. I just have to find it," Manchent said as his shoulders straightened and he got a more determined look. He turned off the camera.

 

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Manchent reappeared as the video came back. He looked a bit older with long lines and a bit of grey hair appearing. Not only that, but his clothing and general look was more haggard and run down than it had looked ever before. Still, his face was set into a grim and determined scowl.

 

"I've made some progress in my attempts to find a way to defeat the Society. I have been attempting to hack into their systems using a machine I built, but it has been slow going. Doing such while not being caught is proving more challenging than I had thought and the Society is guarding their secret files very well. Still, I am making progress and I hope to have something in a few months," Manchent said with a slight smile. It faded however as he turned to look behind him. He sighed before turning back.

 

"The rail system is finished...or rather the first part of it is. I had, originally, envisioned it going all over Georgia to link the many scattered communities to Atlanta. The Society, however, has no interest in that, at least not yet. Considering the rumors I have managed to hear from those few who dare to venture out of Atlanta, it is easy to see why. Their campaign of slaughter that they dress up as self-defense is still raging and hundreds of people die to them everyday.... Dammit...I should have done more for them, should have made them underground shelters or..." Manchent stopped as he lowered his head and ran his hand through his hair. He let out a long sigh and moved his hand to turn off the camera, but stopped before he did. He glanced up at the camera and slumped in his seat.

 

"I...I tried talking to- *static* -yesterday... She...she has fallen completely to them. I thought that we...that maybe..." he stopped as he looked away and got a look of complete despair on his face. He, slowly, shook his head.

 

"But that is over now. She has picked her side and I have picked mine. I need to hurry before any sympathies she may still have for me run out. I don't think I have much time," Manchent said as he cut the video, for real, this time.

 

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The video returned to show a very different Manchent. He, once again, seemed older than he had before. The lines and grey had almost reached the point they were at in the first part, but hadn't quite gotten there. However, rather than a depressed and beaten look, he was smiling and looked completely revitalized.

 

"I did it! I managed to hack into the Society's systems! Even better, I got a file that could change everything! I was caught getting it and did have an...encounter with the Matriarchs, but neither Angela nor Cathrine were going to break me. As far as they know, I got nothing from their systems. Still, it cost me my freedom as I am now under house arrest and have a guard to make sure I stay here, but it is worth it. Because I have this," Manchent said as he raised a piece of paper up to the camera for it to see.

 

The paper had a great deal of technical jargon written on it with most of it seeming to be in some odd language. The picture, however, looked like a gun of some kind, a gun that Sanders recognized.

 

"The encryption on this technical readout is difficult to crack, but I have managed to decipher enough of it to learn what this is. It is a shrink gun, a portable version of the weapon used to shrink the world that is capable of shrinking anyone, or anything. This...this changes EVERYTHING! If I could get my hands on one, I am sure I could reverse-engineer it and make more of them. With enough of these, we could bring the Society here in Atlanta to its knees without even having to fight them! Who needs real guns when we can just shrink the giantesses down to our size and use the swords, maces, and such they give us to force them to surrender? Without their huge size, they are just as easily killed as anyone else, after all! Even better, they won't be able to use their own radio equipment to send a distress call out if the controls are too big. A few spec-ops sneaking into their radio room would cut them off from any help!" Manchent said as he practically jumped up and down in excitement. He put the paper down as he took a deep breath to try and calm himself.

 

"Still...still, there are some problems. First and foremost, I need to get one of these weapons. Considering how dangerous it is, I would guess they are guarded very tightly and are rarely removed from where they are stored. It is a good thing that I had a hand in building the Society's base and made sure to leave a chink in it, just in case of something like this," Manchent said as he smiled to himself.

 

"When the Society was sealing off all the entrances shrunken people could use to get in, I made sure one of the pipes leading into the base was mislabeled. According to the base outline, the pipe is only .01 inch in diameter, far too small even from a shrunken person. However, it is actually 1 inch in diameter making it perfect for shrunken people. Even better, it is in a hard to see area that the Society is unlikely ever to find. Using that pipe, I could get into the air ducts of the base and make my way to the armory or any other secure areas," Manchent said with the same smile. However, once he finished, his smile faded a bit.

 

"There are some issues to work out, however. First and foremost, the air ducts are dangerous. If the air or heat is on, anyone inside them would be blown away or cooked alive. I need to find a way to shut them down. Also, even if I could get past that, the shrink guns are sized for a giantess. I would stand no chance of moving one on my own. I need people to come with me, people skilled enough to reach the pipe, make their way through the ducts, get the gun, get it out and, finally, to a save area all without being seen. That kind of mission requires skilled professionals, the kind that I doubt I will find in Atlanta," Manchent said as he sighed. He rubbed his chin as he thought for a second.

 

"I think it is time to call in a few favors," Manchent said as he turned off the camera.

 

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The video resumed and showed Manchent looked almost exactly as he had in the first video. He looked far more haggard and seemed to have some bruises on him, but still looked unbroken.

 

"I managed to get a message out of Atlanta and to a man I know I can trust. His name is William and he helped me a great deal during the years before all of...well this. He is a good man, a wise man, and is part of a Resistance group I hope has the skills I need to carry out this mission. Still, I dared not tell him everything I know, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Instead, I just told him I need him to get me out," Manchent paused as he groaned a bit as he messed with something around his neck. He bent his head back to reveal an object around his neck that was all too familiar to Derek, Sanders, and Ollie.

 

"Unfortunately, getting the message out meant I had to break my house arrest. The Matriarchs were not pleased and Angela had this bomb collar placed on me. Thankfully, I figured they might so I told William to make sure they had a way to deal with one when they did come for me. I am sure Angela and...Cathrine would rather just kill me at this point, but the rail system still has a few bugs they need fixed and my own celebrity status is giving them pause. Still, I am sure it is only a matter of time now before I wind up dead. Therefore, I am going to send all the technical data to my insurance. That way, should the worst happen, it is there for whoever comes to carry on," Manchent said before taking a deep breath and looking down.

 

"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..." he 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.

 

"Replay video?" scrawled across the screen.

Chapter 26: Truth: Bringer of Despair, Harbinger of Loss, Ignition of Hope

January 31, 2024 9:21 AM

As the video came to an end, the room feel deathly silent. Everyone simply stood in silence, staring at the screen which had turned everything they thought they knew upside down. The Society...the Disaster...Manchent's plan...

 

Suddenly, the silence was broken as a loud bang echoed through the room. Sanders and most of the rest, save Darius, jumped at the sound and turned to its source. Gabby stood next to one of the walls, her fist plastered against it. She had hit the wall so hard that a bit of blood began to trickle down her fist. She pulled it away and turned back to them with a look of total rage and disgust.

 

"Those...fuckers, no...monsters, no.....fuck I don't even have a WORD FOR THEM! I protected them...served them...did as they told me because I thought they were trying to save the world and instead... Instead those fucking murderous, shit-hole monsters were the reason the world needed saving in the first place! They killed billions of people and slaughtered thousands more, and for WHAT?! POWER?! God DAMMIT!" Gabby said as her face twisted into an even angrier glare before she smashed her other fist into the wall.

 

"DAMMIT! I AM GOING TO KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM AND MAKE SURE ITS AS PAINFUL AS POSSIBLE! THOSE GODDAMNED MONSTERS!" Gabby said as she began to shake in fury. As the shock of the video, and Gabby's punch, wore off, the anger and fury began to spread. Derek's face turned into a glare as he looked off to the side.

 

"Benjamin, Donald, Regina, Chris, Jeremy... nearly everyone in the force and in my neighborhood died in that disaster. And all their deaths are the Society's fault..." Derek said as his fists clenched together so hard they began to shake. Kimberly got a look of utter disgust and horror as she raised her hand to her mouth.

 

"All those people who were hooked up to machines in the hospital...the people in surgery...how could they..." she trailed off as she closed her eyes as if to fight of the memories.

 

"My family was on a road trip when the Disaster hit...those fucking bitches cost me my family," Jimmy added as he joined in the fury that was beginning to fill the room. Even Darius was not immune to it as a bit of a scowl began to crack his mask. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes was enough to see that he had lost people to the Disaster too, everyone had.

 

Sanders, however, couldn't join the rage. He was angry, more than angry to be honest, but his guilt was overriding it. After hearing the videos, there was no more denying it. Sanders had gotten Manchent killed... If he hadn't come to help Aviel, or just fought a little less, or... or...

 

"Sanders, why do you look...sad?" Miranda asked as Sanders realized he was letting his emotions show through. He tried to hide the sadness and guilt, but it was too late. Everyone had turned to him and was staring at him in confusion. Sanders sighed as he looked off to the side.

 

"Because...because Manchent dying was my fault. If I hadn't worked so hard to 'save' him from all of you, then he would still be alive. You would have found this long ago and would have Manchent here to help you. But..." Sanders trailed off as he closed his eyes with a sigh. The room was silent for a second until someone else spoke up.

 

"No...Manchent's death is my fault," Ollie said in a sad voice. Sanders had almost forgotten he was here he had been so quiet. As everyone turned to him, he shrank back a bit and blushed, but continued.

 

"I...I had the jamming device keeping the kill signal from reaching his collar. But when...when Derek was tossed off the train and I was facing the fairy and that red-haired woman alone I...I ran... I knew I was dooming Manchent, but I...I was just so scared," Ollie finished as he dropped nearly to the floor. Sanders looked up at Ollie and, suddenly, realized why he had always seemed familiar. He had been on the train too. Yes, he had been in the car he and Aviel had fought through, but had managed to slip away from them. And Sanders was pretty sure he had been in the car Aviel and Derek had fought in, though he might just be imagining that. Derek had knocked him out pretty much the moment he got in...

 

Shaking off those thoughts, Sanders was going to assure Ollie that it wasn't his fault. He knew Aviel better than anyone here and she would have run him through if he hadn't left, probably wrecking the device in the process. However, Kimberly beat him to the punch. She moved over to Ollie and pulled him up a bit before giving him a light hug.

 

"It is not your fault, Ollie. Even if you had stayed, the Sanders' old partner or the fairy would have killed you. And when they did, they would have damaged the jammer and doomed Manchent either way. We lost Manchent the moment those So-" Kimberly paused as she glanced up at Sanders as if to reconsider, "we failed to stop Sanders and his Ranger allies from getting onto the train." Sanders was more than a bit surprised by Kimberly's words. He had figured she was going to dump all the blame onto him, but had, instead, put it more on the Phoenixes. Not only that, but her words looked to have cheered Ollie up a bit too, though that might just be thanks to the larger woman's hug.

 

"Enough. The blame for Manchent's death is divided among everyone who was there, or had something to do with it, equally. I should have sent William like Manchent wanted me to, Derek should have guarded him better, Ollie should not have left, Sanders should have let him escape, I could go on all day. No one person has all the blame for Manchent's death nor should they feel they do. Now, we have far more important things to discuss than who is to blame for a deed long done so let us focus on them," Darius said as he rubbed his temples in annoyance. Kimberly released Ollie, who seemed a little disappointed, as everyone turned back to Darius. Sanders was a little annoyed with him just dismissing their guilt over Manchent like that, but he was right. They did have more important things to talk about. Sanders tried to put his guilt on the backburner while he focused on Darius.

 

"Gabriella, you were part of the security forces for the Atlanta base, correct?" he paused long enough for Gabby to nod, "Then you would know much of its layout. Do you think you could guide us through the base once we get inside?" Gabby crossed her arms and took a second to think before she answered.

 

"Well...sorta. The problem is I know the way to places going through the giantess hallways. The shrunken hallways and the vents don't exactly follow them perfectly, though. I could, probably, get us to the armoury and the comms room, but it might take me a bit of guess work. Also, there were places in the base I wasn't allowed into so any of those places I would be just as lost as you would be," Gabby answered. Darius' look darkened at that and he seemed almost pissed at the answer, but the look passed so quick Sanders thought he might be seeing things. Miranda cleared her throat at that to get everyone's attention.

 

"There is a rough outline of the base on the computer that Manchent made. It doesn't have all of it completely mapped out, but it does have the paths going to the armory and the communication room highlighted. As long as they are still accurate, they should lead you right to the important rooms," Miranda said as she motioned to the computer. Both Darius and Derek's look brightened at that.

 

"Excellent! Ollie, pull up that map," Darius ordered as he moved toward the computer with Derek. Before they reached it, however, Miranda moved to stop them. Both of the men gave her a confused look.

 

"I'm sorry, but there is something else on the computer. Something...personal...to Sanders," Miranda said as she glanced over to Sanders. Sanders was taken a bit off guard by that till he remembered what Miranda had said back in her house.

 

"You mean the message Isabella left?" Sanders asked as a mixture of emotions ran through him. He was excited to hear what Isabella had left as her last will and testament, and yet terrified and sad to admit that it was that...

 

"Yes, she left it for you and...the others. I know the other two are not here, but...well I think you need to listen to it. If that is alright," Miranda said before turning a slight glare to Darius. She had framed it as a question, but the look she gave made it seem more like a demand. Darius' eyes narrowed a bit, but Derek's look softened. He nodded in understanding before speaking up.

 

"We don't need the floor plan right now, anyway. We'll go outside and talk about our next moves while you give Isabella's message to Sanders," Derek said with a slight smile. Miranda returned it and gave a nod of thanks. Darius glanced up at Derek with an emotionless stare, but didn't argue. He turned to the door stared toward it along with the others. Sanders mixture of excitement and apprehension must have been on his face because Jimmy patted Sanders' shoulder before giving him a sympathetic look. Even Kimberly seemed to give him a slight reassuring smile, though he had probably just been seeing things.

 

Sanders watched them go and turned back to the computer once the door closed. A message from Isabella...he didn't think he would ever hear her talk again and now...Fear and joy mixed in him to form a mass of contradictory emotions that Sanders had no idea how to deal with. Gabby, though, just wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pushed him closer to the computer.

 

"Come on, let's hear what Cap's last words were. Can't be anything we can't handle after everything else, right?" Gabby said with a cocky grin. Sanders tried to return the smile, but only managed to not frown. Miranda gave her an apprehensive look, but Sanders reassured her.

 

"Gabby can stay. She was Isabella's best friend and deserves to hear this as much as me," Sanders said as he tried to keep his emotions pushed down. It was hard, though, as he keep seeing those last few seconds over and over again.

 

"Thank you..." BANG

 

Miranda nodded and went to the computer. She pushed a few keys and the computer screen changed to a new image. It looked much like a typical desktop, though a lot rougher and bare-bones. Miranda selected a file labeled Isabella and opened it. The screen went dark again as Miranda stepped away from it.

 

"There wasn't a camera with the computer so there is no picture, but it did have a mic to record her words," Miranda explained as the computer began to hum to life. Sanders emotions hit a fevered pitch as the computer speakers came to life.

 

"Hello, my soldiers. I am...recording this in case... In case the worst should come to pass. I...I know what I am going to do is dangerous and, most likely, foolish, but I have no other choice. Miranda will have shown you Manchent's videos before this, so you have seen what I have. And you will know the implications he made of Cathrine, that she had...fallen. I...I cannot bring myself to believe that. Cathrine was mine and Alice's giantess mentor while we were still shrunken. She was a great and noble woman, constantly telling us never to forget that even small people were still people. She... She..." Isabella trailed off as she took a gasping breath.

 

"She can't know about this, she just can't. I refuse to believe she knows that the Society caused the Shrink Disaster and does NOTHING! The woman who trained me would have done everything in her power to stop this and I will NOT believe that she has changed so much! I JUST WON'T!" Isabella said as anger began to come into her voice. She stopped for a few seconds, filling the room with silence.

 

"I...I am going to tell her what I learned here today. Do not worry, I will tell her nothing of Manchent's plan, or the location of this computer, but the rest... I have to give her the benefit of the doubt that she is just as blind to the nightmare that the Society is as I was. I owe her that much for all that she did for me," Isabella said as the sadness returned. Sanders barely held back the tears as he lowered his head. He knew how this ended...it ended with Cathrine betraying Isabella. She had trusted her so much and- Suddenly, the sound of flesh hitting flesh got Sanders to look up and he saw Gabby had smacked her fist into her hand in fury.

 

"That fucking bitch...Isabella trusted her and she stabbed her in the back for it. That fucking cunt is dead when I get my hands on her," Gabby said as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation. Sanders' own anger shot up as well as he thought of the crushed look Isabella had. She had trusted that fucking bitch and she had doomed her to die. Before his anger hit critical, however, Isabella spoke up again.

 

"Sanders," Isabella said as Sanders head snapped to the computer, a mass of old memories flooding his brain at the same time. All it took was a word and...Sanders had to fight hard not to cry.

 

"I should have listened to your misgivings more. I...I dismissed them far too easily and wanted to simply bury my head in the sand rather than look at the warning signs that you saw. Out of all of us, you were the one who saw what was happening the clearest. Your kind heart and strong moral code let you see past the Society's lies in a way so many others failed to do, including me. Sanders, trust that heart of yours. It has not steered you wrong and it won't start now. Trust yourself and follow that path that you know is right. More importantly, make sure to keep Flonne and Aviel on it as well, doubly so Aviel. The temptation to fall to the easier, less morale path, will be there, but I know you will resist it. I have faith in you and your sense of right and wrong. Stay true to it, Sanders, and keep Aviel and Flonne true as well. I love you, Sanders Cutter, my little hero. Stay true, and stay safe, " Isabella said with such kindness and sadness that Sanders could picture the big, sad, smile she would have had saying it.

 

Sanders, finally, broke down into tears as the wound of Isabella's death was cut wide open again. She had faith in his heart and called him her hero... but that heart... and what he had done to her... He touched the whistle in his pocket as another wave of sadness hit him, nearly driving him to his knees. Gabby keep him up, however, and patted his shoulder, but that did little to comfort him. He was so wrapped up in his despair that he barely heard Isabella move on, oblivious to the sadness wracking Sanders.

 

"Aviel, I know I was hard on you, and I hope you can forgive me for that. But please, understand that I did it because I love you, just like I love the others. When I looked at you, I saw something that made me afraid, more afraid than anything had ever made me before. I saw my younger self, myself when I was arrogant and so completely obsessed with my goals that I ignored everything else. I know I told you that my husband died, but I never told you exactly how. I think...I think you need to hear if you...you are to understand why I wanted to stop you from going down that path so badly," Isabella said as she started to sniff and gasp a bit. It was obvious she was fighting off her own tears and Sanders tried to keep his own down so he could listen better. But the wound now being so fresh, it was beyond difficult.

 

"I was once part of the Swords. When they were first made, I joined them, despite Cathrine's objections. I wanted to make a difference and I thought that fighting the Resistance was the best way to do it. They were a threat to the city we had worked so hard to make, a danger that could send us back to the horrible days before the Society. And now...and now I realize all I did was murder innocent people. All to help the very people who had destroyed the world...I...I..." Isabella trailed off as the sounds of her crying started. The audio cut for a second before coming back with Isabella taking a few sucking gasps for air. She got herself under control before continuing.

 

"While I was part of... the Swords I...I killed people. At first, I hated doing it. I felt sick and... and wrong when I was forced to do it, but as time passed things... changed. I started to...enjoy it to... validate the need for them to die. The power, the...rush of the kill, the...the excitement of knowing you could kill a person with nothing more than your foot or toe, it was...addicting. And it was so very easy to stop seeing the Resistance as people and just...just vermin in need of extermination. Soon I wasn't just enjoying it, I was revelling in it. I liked, no, I LOVED to kill the Resistance members. Watching them flee from me like scuttling little bugs, laughing as their weapons just bounced off my shield, finding new ways to kill them to spice up the fun, I loved every part of it, and," Isabella's tone had become almost excited itself, but it faded to sadness as she continued, "...and I didn't even realize the kind of monster I was becoming. I, honestly, still thought I was doing this to save the world. That by slaughtering those hundreds of people I was, somehow, going to make the world better... I was so corrupted by the power, that I enjoyed killing and thought I was right to do it. Until...until..." Isabella trailed off as her crying started to come back. The audio didn't cut out this time, however. Instead, she sniffed and took a deep, steadying breath before continuing.

 

"We were sent to a village that was supposed to be a Resistance staging area. Our orders was to whip it out and kill anyone and everyone in the village. However, I thought something was wrong when we arrived. The village was out in the open and the people didn't flee as we approached. I had a feeling something was wrong, but...but..." Isabella paused for a second as she blew her nose.

 

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October 8, 2020 4:20 PM

 

Something wasn't right. Isabella unzoomed her visor and frowned to herself. There was no way those villagers hadn't seen or heard their approach by now, yet they were not reacting. No people rushing to escape, no idiots rushing out to try and "fight" them, not even panic or worry. They were just carrying on like nothing at all was wrong when everything WAS wrong. What the hell?

 

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Isabella asked Monet. Monet looked down at her wrist computer and half shrugged to Isabella.

 

"This is where it is pointing us and there are no other villages anywhere near here. Still, this is weird. Why the hell are they just sitting out in the open like that?" Monet asked, looking just as unsure as Isabella was. Isabella's frown only increased at that point. The Resistance might be damnable anarchists trying to destroy everything good the Society had built, but they were not stupid. Being out in the open like this was just putting a giant target sign on themselves, and yet there all their buildings sat just waiting to be stomped.

 

"Are we going to do this mission or not? The Matriarchs say this is a Resistance base and to waste it, so let's waste it already. Besides, they COULD just be trying to look like a neutral village to throw us off," Cathy said as she crossed her arms in annoyance. That was, also, a good point. That did sound like something the Resistance would do...and orders WERE orders... And if they went back now it would mean they would not have any fun at all today...

 

"Cathy is right, they are just trying to act normal so we will ignore them. Let's go teach them why that doesn't work. Ladies, we are going to bury some Resistance," Isabella said as she shoved his misgivings away. This had to be a Resistance outpost and, even it wasn't, it was probably only a matter of time till it was. Better to get rid of it now than wait for it to launch an attack on the innocent people in Atlanta. Not to mention, Isabella hadn't had a good rampage in a few weeks. Not that that was the reason, of course not.

 

Monet still looked a bit unsure, but Cathy didn't need to hear another word. She fell in beside Isabella and started to rub her hands together. Monet joined them soon enough and got her own look of anticipation. She, like Isabella, hadn't enjoyed this for a long time, but it was started to grow on her. She would get over the horror of killing given enough time and seeing enough of the evil of the Resistance.

 

As their footsteps brought them closer to the village, Isabella waved them both away. They rushed off to either side so as to create a semicircle around the village so they could come at it from three directions. By that time, the villagers were starting to look nervous and gathering together in worry. That damn doubt began to nag at Isabella, but she shook it away. She knew what she was doing and this was the right choice. These damn Resistance monsters deserved to die and she was going to make sure they did.

 

Isabella stopped a step or two away from the outer limits of the village. Far below her, she could see the tiny forms of the people starting to move away or heading toward their homes. Idiots, as if those tiny wood buildings was going to protect them. Most were not even as tall as he foot. Hell, she could have just fallen down and flattened a good third of this village with her body. But this was a military operation and was going to be carried out like one. She could have fun after the place was wrecked.

 

Isabella looked up to make sure Monet and Cathy were in position. Both were waiting for her order and she gave them the nod to begin. A big smile spread across Cathy's face as she raised her foot up and sent it crashed down onto the nearest house. Bits of wood and dust went flying everywhere as he foot turning the building into nothing by kindling. Monet didn't smile, but still kicked a building apart before stomping on what was left of it.

 

The screams of terror started then, just barely loud enough for Isabella to hear.  She couldn't help but smirk at that and thought of crushing the houses near her, but got a better idea as she looked ahead. A large "street" cut through the village and was lined up almost perfectly with her. People were fleeing down it in droves and Isabella got a wonderful idea. She smiled as she looked up to the sky, deciding she wasn't even going to look. She started forward and decided not to look till she hear her crush wood. She wanted to see just how many she would crush just by walking.

 

She could almost feel the people her boots were crushing, though that might have just been her imagination. She heard Cathy chuckling at her as she stomped forward, crushing Resistance fighters as she went. Screams of terror preceded her while screams of pain and lose followed her. Isabella couldn't help but feel that wonderful rush at the sheer power she wielded. She wasn't even paying attention to what she was doing and she was still winning! Her rush, though, was brought to an end as she heard the crunch of wood under her foot.

 

Isabella sighed and looked down to survey the carnage. She hadn't reached the buildings on the far side of the village, though, and a number of people were still running in front of her, some glancing back, but most just running full out. Isabella raised an eyebrow at that and bent forward to get a better look at what she had stepped on. It looked to be a wagon, but one that was a good bit larger than normal. Odd...it looked kind of...

 

Suddenly, a wave of panic smashed into Isabella. No...no... it couldn't...it was just a coincidence, it had to be! Isabella bent down lower and moved her, suddenly, trembling hand toward the wagon. It wasn't his, it wasn't his, it- She lifted it up and turned it around. There, on the front, was the bottlecap of her favorite drink...the same bottlecap she had put on Jeremy's wagon...

 

Isabella eyes widened in terror and fear as her mind reeled and tumbled. No...no, Jeremy...where was he? Jeremy?!

 

"J-J-Jeremy?" Isabella managed to say as she looked around her feet for any sign of him. All she saw, however, was wounded people trying to crawl away or others coming to help them escape. No one waved to her, or yelled up to her, or berated her, or...or...or....

 

A man struggling to limp off caught Isabella's attention and she lowered her hand to stop him. He turned back with a look of utter terror as Isabella knelt down to him.

 

"Where...where is the trader that...that used this wagon?" Isabella asked, trying to look more intimidating than she felt. The man looked at the wagon and then back up to Isabella. He then pointed...right at Isabella's feet. Isabella looked where he was pointing and a tidal wave of terror hit her. The fear was so bad, that she dropped the wagon to the ground and nearly collapsed on the spot. She caught herself, though before she fell and crushed the man who had answered her. She let him go as she looked at her boots. Tears began to flow out of her eyes as she tried to work up enough courage to move her foot.

 

Finally, she lifted it up and slid back to look at the spot where her foot had been. The other half of the wagon was there, flattened completely and utterly. And in the mess of wood and supplies was a red smear... along with an all too familiar jacket...

 

Isabella fell forward onto her knees. She moved her hand toward the smear and lifted the tiny jacket up. There was no mistaking it, even as damaged as it was. It was his...it was Jeremy's. And that stain....

 

"No...no...NO!!!" Isabella screamed as she fell forward onto the stain that had been her husband. She had seen him just three days ago, heading out on a trading mission. He had kissed her on the cheek and made a bad joke about how he would need a bath after she returned the kiss. They had sleep together the night before and Jeremy had never even worried about her crushing him. He had fully and completely supported her when she decided to become a giantess, even if it meant they would be worlds apart. He had said he would be wait however long it took for her to finish her duty and would be willing to make their family when she was ready. He had been her future, her soulmate, her lover, her future father of her children, her everything...

 

And now he was a stain on the ground and on her boot all because she had wanted to have fun. All because she had ignored the signs. All because of her own sick lust for killing.

 

"Jeremy...JEREMY!!! NOO!!!!!" she cried out again as she cried into that stain on the ground. She didn't care that the screaming of terror had stopped. That the other two giantesses had stopped to gape at her, that the tiny people still left alive were unsure what to do. All she cared about was gone...her dream...her children...her husband...and it was all her fault.

 

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Isabella yelled in pain before starting to sob again. The audio cut completely at that point leaving the room oppressively silent. Sanders stood there, completely stunned with what he had just heard. Isabella, the woman who had seemed almost like an angel...had enjoyed killing... and wound up killing her own husband and her dreams. My God...no wonder she had changed so utterly and completely. Her dream of having a family, literally, crushed by her own foot... Suddenly, all of Sanders sadness and despair at his own problems seemed so insignificant. How had she even managed to keep going?

 

"Her own husband...Isabella..." Sanders managed to say as he slowly shook his head. Miranda simply looked to the side, most likely having already heard the sad tale. Gabby hung her head down and her shoulders slumped in a rare look of depression.

 

"Isabella...you never told me...dammit why didn't you say something?" she said as she shook her head. Before any of them could get anything else out, the audio came back. Isabella sounded as if she had gotten herself back under control as she started again.

 

"Now...now you see why I didn't want you following me, Aviel. I...I have gone down the path you are trying to take before...and it cost me everything. Aviel...there are no words to describe the pain, loss, and despair I felt that day, and there never will be. I have never, and can never, forgive myself for that day. Please, don't make the mistake I did. Don't give in to the lust for power and revenge. It will only destroy you in a way that you never thought possible. You are strong, Aviel, stronger even than me. Use that strength wisely, to protect not to harm. Learn from my mistake Aviel...please. Let...let that day have some good that came out of it...for...for mine and Jeremy's sake," Isabella said in an almost pleading voice, it breaking a bit near the end.

 

Sanders shook his head and sighed as he thought back to Aviel. Normally, thinking of her would make him furious. Now, though, it only made him sad. Isabella had fought so hard trying to keep Aviel from falling to her lust for power, from making the same mistake. And had failed... Worse, this one plea that may have gotten through to Aviel, had never reached her. She had fallen before it could and now...now she was following the path Isabella had worked so hard to keep her off. That stupid bitch...she had disgraced Isabella's memory completely and utterly... The recording didn't know that, though, and keep right on going.

 

"And finally, Flonne. Flonne, you are the one I am most sad to leave. Hearing about the evil the Society is capable of makes me more sure than ever that you are not just a clone. I wish...I wish I could be there to help you find the answer, but... but if I am not then trust Valery. She is a good friend of mine and will be just as disgusted by the Society as I am if you are just an innocent girl turned into a weapon. And, please, if that turns out to be true, do not despair. Whatever you may be, clone or not, know that I love you either way. No matter what you might be, it will not change that. You were...were like the daughter I could never have and I...I am so thankful I got to spend time with you. You are...big Flonne and will need to protect Sanders and Aviel. Keep them safe and...and if you ever feel lonely just remember that they are there with you. I know they will agree with me when I say they feel like your older brother and sister. And if they are not there, then just think of me and the love that I have for you. Even if I am not there, the love will be," Isabella said sniffing a bit.

 

Sanders' shoulders slumped as he thought of Flonne. She had been like a sister to him...and odd younger sister who was something like ten times his size. He should have saved her...should have found her and got her out. Now...now he had no idea what had happened to her. Had she been killed? Did Aviel have her? Had she filled Flonne's head with lies? Sanders didn't know which was worse... The poor, innocent fairy...dammit how could he have left her?!

 

"And that goes for you two as well, Sanders and Aviel. Even if I am gone, my love will find you and keep you safe. Please, do what I failed to do and stop the madness of the Society. Use Manchent's plan and end this nightmare. I know the three of you, together, can do this, I have absolute faith in that. And Aviel, I know you are smart enough to figure out who really killed your parents. Please, do not let your wrath consume you. Saving everyone must come before your revenge. Turning into the Society to defeat them will not stop this. Trust Sanders and Flonne, Aviel. Keep on the correct path and get your revenge by dooming the Society's plans. I know you will, because I trust all of you. I am...am so proud of all three of you and I...I... will miss you so much...Goodbye," Isabella said as she started to cry again. The audio stopped as the screen flicked back on to ask if they wanted to replay the video. Sanders, however, barely noticed as he narrowed his eyes in thought. Revealed who really killed Aviel's parents? What di-

 

The coin dropped as Sanders realized what Isabella meant. Martin's assistants...he said they were a couple named Wolff...as in their last name. Aviel's last name was Wolff. And she had said her parents were scientist AND had been killed in a Resistance bombing.... It all fit together too well to be coincidence which meant...

 

Sanders lips curled up a bit as he thought about that. Aviel's parents...and that was why...when in fact... Sanders chuckled once, then twice, as the thought keep whirling around. Soon he was laughing as he covered his face with one of his hands. Both Miranda and Gabby looked at him as if he was losing his mind, and they might be right too. Sanders didn't really know why he was laughing, but he did know he couldn't stop.

 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gabby asked as she took a step away from Sanders. Sanders had to fight to get words out between his laughs.

 

"HAHA, its just that, HAHA! Aviel, hahaha, Aviel betrayed us, hahaha, to side with the, hahaha, same people who killed her parents! HAHAHA! Isabella, hahaha, put her faith in the three, hahaha, of us , hahah, and its just, hahaha, just fucking me! I'm all that is left, HAHahahaha...ahhhhh," Sanders laughter died away and turned into sobs as he collapsed to the ground. He was all that was left...Aviel had betrayed them, Flonne was lost, and Isabella had died hoping the three of them could stop this. And the only one who got here was him... She emptied her soul onto the recording and only one of its original receptions would likely ever hear it. It wasn't fair... it wasn't fair... ISABELLA DESERVED BETTER! She deserved more than just one of them!

 

"It's just me...I'm all that is left...I failed Isabella...I was supposed to keep them on the right path and instead..." Sanders said as his tears started to drip onto the floor. Sanders started to beat his fist against the ground as he cried, trying to take his anger out on it. He might have stayed doing that if two arms didn't wrap around him and pull him up. Sanders turned to see Miranda sitting next to him with a sympathetic smile.

 

"You didn't fail Isabella, Sanders. Far from it. Look outside," Miranda said as soothingly as she could. Sanders didn't want to play games, but did as he was told. He glanced out the window and saw the others deep in discussion. He turned back to Miranda with a shrug, not understand what she was getting at.

 

"Manchent had been trying to get those people to know his plan. He wanted their help to carry it out and you brought them here. Yes, you have lost Aviel, but just you and her would not have been able to use Manchent's plan. They can," Miranda said with a smile. Sanders stared at her and thought about that. It...it was true. Even if he and Aviel had heard the plan, the two of them, alone, would be hard pressed to carry it out. But the Phoenixes...they had the numbers and the skills to pull this off.

 

"And OK so we don't have Flonne, but so what? We got Pyrrha instead which, to be bluntly honest, is better in my book. Much rather have a catgirl that is a threat to a giantess than a fairy who is a mild annoyance," Gabby added in, squatting down beside him and clapping him on the shoulder. She...she was right. Pyrrha was a lot bigger than Flonne and capable of doing much more damage. Not to mention being a great transport. Flonne wouldn't have been able to get even half as many people here.

 

"You haven't failed anyone, Sanders. In fact, you succeeded completely and utterly. You brought the group of people who needed this information here and managed to tame the one monster capable of going toe-to-toe with a giantess to give them an even better fighting chance. Isabella would not be disappointed, she would be beyond proud," Miranda said as she wrapped her arm around Sanders along with Gabby's. Sanders looked down at the ground and thought about that. It...it was all true. The Phoenixes HAD been who Manchent had tried to get originally. Pyrrha WAS able to fight a giantess. He may have lost Aviel and Flonne, but he had gained other allies. And, in a sense, they were better allies. He...he...he hadn't failed. Miranda...Miranda was right.

 

"You're right," Sanders said as he tried to rub the tears out of his eyes. He had been so blinded by his despair of hearing Isabella and losing Aviel and Flonne, that he had forgotten what was really important. Losing Aviel and Flonne was sad, but not the end of their hope. Far from it. He had gathered up other allies and still managed to get here. He HAD found the right path, even when Aviel had turned away from it. He had found it even without Flonne's help. He...he couldn't give up. Isabella hadn't, even after killing her own soulmate. How could he say he was honoring her memory if he wasn't willing to keep going as well? No, he was going to keep going, with or without Aviel and Flonne.

 

"I'm sorry. I...I let my emotions get the better of me and-" Sanders started to say as he rubbed his eyes. He stopped as Gabby slapped his back with enough force to nearly knock the air out of him.

 

"Ehh, we all have times where we fuck up. Don't worry about it, just don't do it again," Gabby said with a big smile as she stood up. Sanders had to fight not to wince at the impact, but managed to keep it in as he nodded. Miranda smiled and gave him a light hug which was far more welcome.

 

"Believe me, I know how easy it is to get lost in despair. You don't need to apologize," Miranda said as she got up. Sanders got to his feet then, as well, and made one last attempt to hide the fact he was crying. It was likely a futile effort, but he still tried.

 

"Alright, let's go see what Darius and the rest have cooked up and get back to making the Society pay for what they did," Sanders said as he lead the way out of the house.

 

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Derek followed after Darius as he lead them a few feet from the building. With nothing to do but think for a few seconds, Derek's anger began to reignite. He keep thinking of his old police buddies, the neighbors that used to come to his cook-outs, old friends he used to go drinking with, everything that had been his life before this...all gone. All thanks to the same damn people who had taken the love of his life! Was destroying the world that he loved not good enough?! Did they have to crush him utterly and completely before they were satisfied?!? His rage came back full force and then some as he thought of all the people he would never see again. All the good people he and Darius had to send to die. All the death and lose and-

 

A touch on his shoulder nearly caused Derek to whirl around to strike the person out of sheer rage. He stopped himself, however, as he realized the hand was a female's. He blinked away the blinded red of his rage and saw Kimberly staring at him with a worried look.

 

"Are you alright, Derek? You were shaking and your hands," Kimberly asked, concern in her voice. Derek looked down at his hands and saw a bit of blood in them.  In his rage, he had tightened his hands so hard that his nails had dug into the skin causing them to bleed. Derek took a deep breath to try and calm himself as he loosened his fists. He tried to force a reassuring smile to his face, but he was just too furious to get anything more than a frown.

 

"Yes...yes I'm fine. Just...just angry is all," Derek admitted as the group came to a stop a few feet from the door. Jimmy snickered at that and shook his head.

 

"That is an understatement, for all of us. Fuck, I knew the Society was bad but...dammit that Disaster killed billions," Jimmy said with a slight smirk that vanished once he got to the second sentence. He shook his head in disgust as he glared at the ground in anger. Derek's own anger began to come back and he had to fight not to tighten his fists again.

 

"Indeed, I think we are all beyond angry at this revelation, and a bit stunned. However, as horrible as the truth is, it does give us one of the best advantages we could ask for," Darius said with a slight smile on his face. Derek was a bit confused how learning of the mass murder of billions of people was an advantage. Kimberly looked equally puzzled and a bit angry herself.

 

"How does that....horror give us an advantage? If anything, it shows us just what kind of monsters we are fighting," Kimberly said in an angry tone, though it didn't seem directed at Darius. It looked like her worry for Derek had been forgotten in favor of her anger at this revelation. Darius' smile didn't fade as he turned to her.

 

"Exactly. That video shows the true nature of the Society, a group hell bent on gaining complete control of everyone through any means, including genocide. Knowing that, it will be rather hard to convince oneself that hiding or natural defenses will keep you safe forever. Add in the anger of realizing every person you lost to the Disaster and the horrors that came after are all the Society's fault and..." Darius trailed off as he raised an eyebrow at them. Derek narrowed his eyes at Darius' words, but it didn't take him long to see what he was getting at. He got a smile, himself, before he spoke.

 

"And, suddenly, you will want to fight the Society either to get revenge or just to survive. Now, you have to accept that it's either fight and maybe survive or just wait to die," Derek finished as Darius nodded at Derek's correct answer. Jimmy crossed his arms and looked to think on this while Kimberly's angry look softened a bit. Soon enough, a look of realization appeared on Jimmy's face.

 

"I get it. We show that video to the Romans, or hell any Resistance group, and most of them will be so pissed off that they will be itching to fight. And the ones that don't get the revenge bug will still agree to fight because it will look like the only way to have any chance of survival. Which means, we get a bunch of new allies, including one with the biggest and best equipped army around," Jimmy said . Darius nodded in agreement as his slight smile spread a bit. Even Kimberly couldn't help but get a happy look, despite her attempts to hide it.

 

Derek smiled as well at this idea. Since the Romans never had to worry about hiding, they had built actually factories and other industrial buildings in their city. Because of that, Roman stuff was, pretty much, the best shit you could get and their army used only the best of that already high grade stuff. Granted, they were not as experienced as the Phoenixes in anti-giantess tactics, but their numbers and equipment would still be a massive help. Add in the other Resistance groups scattered about and, suddenly, they had an army the likes of which had never been seen before.

 

"Indeed and there are other large groups we could bring in as well. One, in particular, has something...unique to bring to our newly made Allied army," Darius said as his smile turned into a slight smirk. Derek and Jimmy both raised their eyebrows in interest at that. Did he mean the Elves? Derek wasn't so sure even that video would get them to come fight and, even if it did, he didn't really see anything unique they would bri-

 

"No...you can't mean the Marauders," Kimberly said with a shocked look, interrupting Derek's thoughts. Derek's eyes widened as he turned to Kimberly then back to Darius. That couldn't be it. But the look on Darius's face made it obvious that it was. What the fuck?!

 

"Have you lost your mind, Darius?! The Marauders are just serial killers and raiders! They would kill us long before we ever got a chance to show them the video and, even if we did show it to them, they would just kill us anyway! They don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and they sure as hell wouldn't help us!" Darius yelled in disbelief. How could he even CONSIDER talking to those maniacs? Kimberly looked in agreement, but Darius' smirk didn't fade a bit. Dammit, what was that crazy idiot thinking now?

 

"Which is exactly why they would care. We have, already, established that this video proves the Society will come to destroy any group not their own in time, which includes the Marauders. Self-preservation will get them to join and, let us not forget, they are still people. People who, undoubtedly, lost friends and loved ones to the Disaster. Killers and raiders they may be, but they will be OUR killers and raiders. Also, their vehicles and skill at raiding would give us the perfect distraction for our attempt to reach the pipe," Darius explained as if he was lecturing a kid. His tone only made both him and Kimberly look more angry...still...

 

Derek wanted to debate that, wanted to question Darius' logic...but couldn't. It all made enough sense to be worth the risk to try, doubly so since they would be perfect for causing a distraction. Give them some Roman tech along with some of their own scouts and they would be the perfect hit-and-run strike force. They would have the Society running themselves ragged trying to chase them down, giving them the perfect opportunity to reach that pipe. And the sheer outrage of knowing the Society was to blame for damn near everything might be enough to get them to go along with it. Fuck, he was coming around to the idea and couldn't stop himself. Worse, from the look of her face, Kimberly was too.

 

"It...could work, though it still assumes they will even let us talk," Kimberly said, finding the one problem with the plan. Derek could have hugged her for that, but keep himself in check. Darius, though, didn't look concerned as he answered her.

 

"They will let us talk if I go to them, unarmed, and only bring two or three people. Sheer curiosity will make them want to listen, or just the idea of using me to get supplies from us. Either way, it will be easy to show them the video once they take me to their leader," Darius said without missing a beat. Dammit... Derek really REALLY wanted to say no to that plan, but it could work. Killers and raiders the Marauders may be, but even they knew when someone was more useful as a hostage. And Darius would be a great hostage to have. Fuck...he HATED when Darius had a plan that didn't have holes in it. Worse, Kimberly just rolled her eyes and shrugged at that idea. She wasn't about to argue with a plan that would put Darius in danger and Derek was drawing a blank on reasons that would convince Darius NOT to do it. Dammit...

 

"It is a risk, but the gain from acquiring a shrink device is...well nearly limitless and well worth the risk to my life," Darius said as if to try and calm any lingering doubt. Derek sighed at that, but let it go. He had learned when to admit defeat when it came to plans with Darius. Jimmy, however, narrowed his eyes at Darius before speaking up.

 

"Almost limitless? Seemed kinda limited to just shrinking those bitches down to eye level which, granted, is awesome, but not exactly limitless. Unless... you got something else in mind?" Jimmy said as he raised his eyebrow, obviously interested in what that something else was. Both Kimberly and Derek brightened up at Jimmy's words, both being interested as well. Darius looked between them and, holy shit he was SMILING! Darius hadn't really smiled since his sister had been taken!

 

"Do you remember what Manchent said about the shrink device? That it could shrink anyone, OR anyTHING," Darius paused as they all nodded. His smile spread a bit before he continued.

"That means it could shrink real tools down to our size, or cars, or weapons, or anything we could think of. All the weapons and vehicles that are stored in the old National Guard armory in Rome would become more than just oversized dust collectors, and they would be the tip of the iceberg. If we got to the old Air Force base in Atlanta..." Darius trailed off as his smile spread just a bit. No one needed him to finish that thought. The old military base was full of old vehicles, weapons, and other things that had been left there since they were all useless. The old planes, tanks, and other such was all too big for anyone to use, and the Society didn't need any of it. But if they could be shrunken down to their size along with the tools to fix them... Sweet Jesus...

 

"That is why you want the Marauders and the Romans. If the Marauders can operate those jury-rigged pieces of junk vehicles, they shouldn't have too much trouble figuring out modern tanks, jeeps, and other stuff. If we have them drive while our people, who know where to hit a giantess, use the guns and cannons, we would have a force with enough firepower to fight them in a straight fight! Which means we could attack their base! And while we and the Marauders hit the giantesses, the Romans can clear the shrunken hallways of anyone loyal to the Society since they are experienced at fighting other shrunken forces. And even if the Society break out the guns for their shrunken fighters, we'll have modern weapons as well! Holy crap..." Derek said as Darius' plan came into focus. Darius nodded before speaking up.

 

"Indeed. And thanks to the building plans Manchent has on the computer, and Gabriella, we should be able to sneak into their comm room and make sure they cannot call for help once we attack. With our superior numbers and greatly increased firepower, it is very possible that we could attack and overrun the Atlanta base. We could...win this war and free ourselves from the Society," Darius stated as his face brightened a bit at the words. Derek had figured that as well once he understood the plan, but actually hearing it said was...there was no words.

 

All of them, even Kimberly, couldn't help but smile at those words. Hell, Derek was having to fight not to tear up at them. For so long they had been fighting for simple survival, to keep their people safe for a few more days. Victory had been nothing more than a pipe-dream they told the civilians to keep them calm and their spirits up, but everyone here had known the truth. There was no chance of victory, no chance of success, no chance that the nightmare would end. All they could do was delay it and hope that tomorrow wasn't the day it came. And now...now there WAS a chance. Now they had a plan, a plan that COULD bring them victory. Suddenly, the long night seemed to be giving way to the dawn of hope and all of them basked in its glow. They could win... Derek had to fight not cry from the sheer joy of this moment, of feeling real hope after so long. Jimmy hid his face away for a second while Kimberly actually did start to cry. Derek pulled her close and let a few tears of joy go across his face as well. They...they could win...THEY COULD WIN!!!

 

Before anyone else could say anything, the door of the pre-fab building opened. Derek and Kimberly pulled apart and started to rub their eyes as Sanders lead Gabriella and Miranda out of the building. Derek tried to hid that he had cried and got back into a normal stance. However, he stopped when he noticed Sanders face. His eyes looked a bit swollen and red, like he had been crying himself, but his face was set into a determined look that seemed, oddly, at peace. Derek couldn't help but wonder what Isabella had said that had made him look so ready to do anything and everything to win, yet sad at the same time.

 

"You alright, Sanders?" Jimmy asked as the three of them joined the rest of them, looking to have hid his own crying far better than the rest of them. Sanders rubbed his eyes as if trying to rub away the evidence before he answered.

 

"Yes, better than ever in fact. Mind catching us up on what you have been talking about?" Sanders asked as he turned to look at Darius. Darius nodded, having no hint of any tears at all, and gave a brief summary of what they had agreed to. Miranda seemed stunned by the idea of using the Marauders, but didn't voice any objections once Darius explained his reasoning. Both Gabriella and Sanders, however, just listened and never made a move to interrupt. Once Darius was finished, all three nodded in understanding.

 

"Good, now that we are all on the same page, there is one other thing we need to agree to for this plan to work. We must all agree to tell no one else about the plan. No one," Darius said as his face turned into a harsh glare. Derek was a bit taken aback by the sudden shift, but thought he knew why. Gabriella, however, didn't seem to have made that leap of logic.

 

"What? Why?" she asked in confusion. Darius turned his stern glare toward her before he answered.

 

"Because if the Society finds out about the plan; they can, easily, ruin it. All it would take is for them to seal the pipe Manchent hid or to move the shrink guns to a new location to ruin everything. Therefore, we cannot allow them to know ANYTHING about this plan. While capture and interrogation are unlikely, considering the Society's usual methods, it is still a danger we must take into consideration. As is...betrayal," Darius explained with the same stern glare, only faltered a bit at the last part. Eyes widened all around at that word, including Derek's own, but Darius waved them all down before anyone said anything.

 

"Stop, I am not accusing any of you. If I thought anyone here was a potential traitor I would have already killed that potential threat considering what is, now, at stake," Darius said with a completely blank face. Kimberly, Jimmy, and Derek were not surprised by that in the least and all calmed down, but Sanders, Gabriella, and Miranda were taken aback by how casually Darius said it. Darius didn't give them a chance to recover as he keep going.

 

"While I might not fully trust all of you, I do believe that all of you have lost enough to the Society to have no wish to aid them. Therefore, you can be trusted to keep this secret with you to the grave. However, I cannot be so sure of others you might tell, doubly so when we begin to recruit people from the other Resistance groups. Some of them may be desperate enough to try and sell us out to the Society, hoping they will show them mercy for it. I have no doubt everyone here and in the Phoenixes knows the kind of 'mercies' the Society gives, but others might blind themselves to that fact. That is why we cannot let this information spread. We must keep it to as few people as possible to limit the chance of it leaking. Understand?" Darius said as his face softened a bit, but still keep an edge of harshness to it.

 

Derek fully understood where Darius was coming from and quickly nodded. Darius had every reason to worry as traitors were not unheard of, even in the Phoenixes. Still, he wasn't so sure if he would trust everyone here, specifically Gabriella. The others in the group nodded in understanding to Darius rather quickly as well, except for Gabriella. She looked off to the side, as if debating something, before turning back. It wasn't till Darius started to glare at her, and Sanders nudged her, that she snapped out of whatever she was doing and nodded. It was beyond obvious she was hiding something and that worried Derek. Still...that anger she showed inside was genuine...or one of the best performances Derek had ever seen. Before he could think on it further, Darius spoke up again.

 

"Good. Now that we all have an understanding, we need to put our plan into action. Miranda, would I be correct in assuming the computer is designed so that it can be moved?" Darius asked Miranda. The woman looked a bit surprised by that question, but recovered quickly.

 

"Huh? Oh, uh, yes, yes it is. How did you know?" Miranda asked in confusion and a bit of wonder.

 

"I figured Manchent would have made it mobile to help keep it hidden. Ollie, go with Miranda and help her get the computer ready to leave. We are going to need it if we are going to show that video to the other Resistance groups. Once that is done, we can head back and start planning how to get the Romans to let us show it to them," Darius said, reminding Derek that Ollie was still here. He had almost forgotten all about him he had been so quiet and withdrawn. Ollie nodded and headed to the building, but Miranda stayed where she stood. Ollie slowed to a stop as Miranda looked down at the ground as if debating something. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up to them.

 

"Before...before I do that I want to make something clear," she said in a torn tone as she glanced over them, pausing a bit at Sanders.

"I...I won't be going with you once you leave this school. I do owe Isabella everything and I know you are going to fight the same enemy that torments my dreams, but... I have a child and safe home and... and I cannot leave it or take my baby into danger. I'm...sorry," she said as she lowered her head in embarrassment. Most of the group just gawked at her, including Derek he was ashamed to admit, but Kimberly didn't miss a beat. She walked up to Miranda and wrapped her arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

 

"There is nothing to apologize for. In fact, you would have only needed to apologize if you HAD come with us. You and your daughter have done more than enough just keeping this bit of hope safe. We'll take care of the Society, you just make sure your daughter lives to see the world turned back to normal," Kimberly said in a kind tone that made Derek smile. Sanders annoyed look at Kimberly softened to one of gratitude as he patted Miranda's shoulder. She looked between Kimberly and Sanders before looking back to the ground. She nodded a thanks to them before whirling and moving toward the building, moving a bit faster than normal. She whipped her hand over her face as Ollie started after her. Derek gave Kimberly an approving smile for her kind words which she returned.

 

"Th-thanks for that," Sanders said to Kimberly before moving off to the side with Gabriella. Kimberly nodded before looking down a bit as if ashamed of something. Derek moved to her to ask what was wrong, but she stopped him and just leaned into him, instead. Derek decided to just leave it at that.

 

It took Ollie and Miranda a few minutes to get the computer broken down and ready for transportation. Miranda came out first, looking to have gotten herself under control from before and with part of the computer strapped to her back. Ollie followed her with the rest of the computer slung to his back with a number of straps. Apparently, Manchent had put straps and other such things onto the computer to allow it to be easily carried around like a backpack. While one person could, technically, carry the whole thing, Miranda and Ollie had decided splitting it between them was a better option as it was rather heavy.

 

Both Ollie and Jimmy might have spent another few minutes just talking about the straps and the foresight to put them on, but Darius nipped their discussion before it got too far. With the computer ready to move, Miranda lead them back through the damn maze.

 

Derek groaned as they started through, his slight claustrophobia making him rather uncomfortable in the tiny passages. Thankfully, Miranda lead them on with the same confidence from before and Derek was, mostly, sure they were not lost. The trip was uneventful...at first.

 

Derek wasn't sure how long they had been going, but DID know it had been too long for him. Miranda was leading them through a small passage that Derek barely managed to get through without bumping his head. They were about halfway through it when Miranda, suddenly, brought them to a stop, much to the annoyance of Derek.

 

"Why are w-" he started to say before Kimberly shushed him. Derek glared at the back of her head till he felt and heard something too. No...it couldn't be, not now, not here. It had to b-

 

Booom...

 

Derek's heart fell into his stomach. It was...footsteps, giantess footsteps. The rhythmic rumble was all too familiar to Derek and he knew there was no mistaking it. A giantess was moving through the area and, considering the way the sound and rumbling was getting worse, was coming toward them. Dammit no no no NO! Why now of all damn times?!

 

"We need to move, Miranda hurry!" Darius said, a bit of worry breaking through his usual calm tone. Miranda nodded and took off forward with the rest of them following close behind.

 

Miranda got them moving at a much faster pace down the narrow tunnels. They rushed through the narrow passages and over and under fallen debris as fast as they could go. All the while, the rumbling got worse, and the booming became louder. Bits of dust and loose rocks started to rain on them from the shaking and Derek's anxiety only got worse. Dammit, if they came this far only to be buried alive... Finally, Miranda lead them down a path that ended at a small hole leading out of the debris. However, the rumbling was so great that just walking was hard, and the noise was beyond deafening. The giantess had to nearly be on top of them. Still, they forged ahead, stumbling their way toward the exit.

 

"This way!" Miranda said as she started to head out, seemingly unaware of how close the giantess was. Derek cursed to himself before grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back inside. Just in time, too, as a massive boot came smashing down right in front of the exit. A colossal earthquake caused by the boot nearly knocked them all off their feet, though only Ollie wound up on the ground. Jimmy helped him up as the rest tried to recover from the quake and blast of noise.

 

The ringing in Derek's ears from the impact began to die away as the giantess' booming voice erupted from above them. Slowly, it turned from just noise to understandable words.

 

"-ou sure this is the right place?" the giantess asked in a voice that sounded sorta familiar. A softer, but still far too loud to be normal, voice answered her. Shit she had a fairy too...great...

"Yes, Aviel, I am sure," the fairy said, also sounding somewhat familiar. Aviel? Wasn't that- His question was answered as Sanders gasped in shock and surprise. Derek turned back to him and saw a stunned and terrified look got over Sanders' face. There was no doubt, now, who was outside. Aviel, Sanders' ex-partner. The red-headed bitch who had stabbed him on the train and used his son as a hostage. She had been a dangerous one when she was their size, having slipped away from him twice and nearly killing him once. And now...now she had a 600ft advantage and was blocking their only escape.