Isa froze for a moment not looking up from what she was doing. The defender didn't seem to be hostile just yet but there was a town to their voice that scared her. She needed to keep her emotions in check if something went wrong she could burn down the whole camp and compromise the mission. Some quick thinking needs to be done whether she was going to burn this person alive or maybe Tyra could help her from afar.

Alexandria looked over from her hiding place to see what was going on. There was no way she could get to them in time to help out without causing a scene. She was hoping that Eve would be there at any moment. If Eve showed up she could diffuse the situation as a fellow defender and get Isa out of trouble.

Tyra looked down the scope of her rifle surveying everything on the island as she did her scan she stopped to see Isa was in a bit of trouble. A shot fired even from that distance was going to make a noise and there was no way they could play it off if something else. She backtracked to see exactly where Eve was and how long it might take her to get there. If Eve was too far away Tyra had a decision to make.

Running through the options in her head Alexandria came to two possible conclusions; she could walk over there and act like a defender to get Isa out of it, or she could shift into one of her smaller animal farms and chase the defender off. Both of those choices carried risk with them.

Eve had just entered the second camp. She was going to do her normal surveillance when a light started to hit her in the face. She tried to pull up her hood and block it but it became pretty persistent. She looked over in the direction the light had been coming from and it was from Tyra's scope. Eve made the signal to show Tyra that she understood something was wrong.

Tara smiled, glad to see Eve was paying attention. She was going to use the light from the scope to guide Eve to where she needed to be. This was the only way she knew how to help Isa without blowing the mission.

The light started to move in a certain direction Eve shrugged and followed it to see what the issue was. When she came to the end of the trail she found one of the defenders standing over Isa trying to figure out what she was doing there. Eve let out an exasperated sigh and walked over tapping the defender on the shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing messing with people at the border of the camp?" Eve ass in a slightly authoritative tone. The defender turned around to look at her with a questioning expression on her face.

"Do you know this person who seems to be trying to set the camp on fire?" The defender put their hands on their hips waiting for response.

Eve invaded the defenders personal space getting right up into her face. "The fact that you're here and not doing your sweep like you're supposed to do means that you're wasting time there's a fire at the other camp which means this camp should start making preparations to evacuate to the main base camp." Eve was going to say more but the defender held up their hands and backed off a little bit.

"I wasn't aware there was an order to evacuate. Is that why you're here to give that order?"

Eve rolled her eyes. She really hated these people. It was no wonder Fina was putting them up like cannon fodder because executing them the traditional way would just be a waste of time. "How about you go and let everybody know, get all the supplies that you can carry and get to the main base camp? I will deal with this situation!" Eve was making sure she was being authoritative and putting a question in there to keep the defender from lingering any longer.

The defender shrugged, clicked her tongue and walked away to complete the task. Eve shook her head looking down at Isa offering her hand to help her up. "You really need to be more aware of your surroundings. I'm sure Alexandria is close by, how about you go join her and once I get everybody out y'all can make your way to the main base camp there's no more need for a fire here."

Isa nodded a bit disappointed in herself. She knew there was no way that she could account for everything but all she had to do was double check just once and she would have seen that defender and had been able to hide and do what she was supposed to do.

Alexandria was glad that Eve appeared when she did since now she didn't have to make a tough decision. She could tell by the look on Isa's face that she wasn't happy with herself. She made a mental note to talk to Isa later about what had happened to assure her that even the best make mistakes sometimes.

Eve turned to leave, making sure that no one else noticed what was going on. Even though the second encampment wasn't set on fire like they had planned it was always another way to get the job done. She went around the camp and made sure that things went smoothly so that Alexandria and Isa could make their way to the main encampment.

Alexandria and Isa made their way to the main encampment. The signal for Valentina and Lyric was supposed to be the second fire but without that signal now someone else had to let those two know it was their turn to start moving forward since they needed to get there before Alexandria and Isa did.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Eve managed to evacuate the second encampment and on her way out she put her right hand up into the air and held up two fingers and stayed there for a minute. Once you felt like the message was received she moved on following the small caravan making its way towards the main encampment.

Tyra had kept a concerned eye on Eve the whole time since part of the plan didn't go according to what they said out to do. She noticed the signal from e ve two fingers in the air for a minute meant that she had the signal Valentina and Lyric to move forward. Tyra shifted her position moving her scope and her rifle to locate Valentina and Lyric. She was able to find them rather quickly since they had not left their position yet looking in the direction that the second fire was supposed to start.

She positioned the sun behind her and moved her head so that the sun shone through the scope. She aimed the beam of light towards them. Tara is trying to set one of the small reeds on fire which was going to be the signal in case the second fire had not been started at the second encampment.

The beam hit one of the reads and smoke spiraled up into the air. There was a slight sound and then a small flame like a candle burned on top of one of the reeds. Lyric heard the pop and looked up to see the small flame. She could also see the beam of light that was starting to fade looking back towards Tyra's position. "It seems it's time to go and the second fire didn't start as planned. We need to move Valentina quickly." They both jumped up making their way quietly but quickly towards the main encampment on the center of the island.

Eve was the first one to make it to the main encampment and as the gate shut behind her she noticed that there was a rampart they went all the way around the main structure of the camp, even the gates. They had a solid plan but this changed things if they wanted to keep the structure intact to use in the future. She knew that Tyra could see what was going on but the others could not. She needed to find a place to let them know what was on the inside so that when they did assault the area it was easier.

Lyric and Valentina made it to the encampment first according to plan. Valentina was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer mass of the main camp in front of them. The feeling was more of excitement than fear since it was another test of her abilities. They stopped at the tree line and waited once Alexandria and Isa arrived they could begin to figure out how to get inside.

Alexandria and Isa were a little bit behind the others. Thankfully they were able to make it there before the sun started to dip below the horizon. They met up with Lyric and Valentina finding a larger spot to conceal the four of them.

"It would seem the main encampment is a bit more heavily defended than we first thought. Has there been any word from Eve or Tyra yet?" Alexandria asked as they all settled into their hiding spot.

Lyric let out a small sigh. "We haven't seen anything yet but this is going to take some doing for us to get in there without sounding an alarm right at the beginning."

Isa listened to what was being said and then looked back at the encampment. She knew no one wanted to see it set on fire since they wanted something there that they could build upon so they didn't have to start new structures from scratch. Of course there had to be a way that she could cause damage that was fixable and also allowed them entry without being detected right away.

"Stopping time for this many people in order for Eve to open the gate is going to be extremely taxing. I could try it but there's no guarantee how long I could hold it." Valentina added scratching her head to see if she had any more ideas up there that she could bring to the surface.

Isa's eyes widened, she had an idea and it was something that would cause minimal damage allowing her to use her power and get them inside without being detected. "If I could figure out an area of the wall that was concealed and not important I could melt a hole in the wall big enough for us to get through so that we can slip in undetected, start the rest of the plan and not destroy the structure in the process."

Alexandria smiled. It was awesome that Isa was able to acclimate herself to the crew so quickly. The idea she proposed had merit as long as she could carry it out without setting fire and signaling the defenders inside. "So Isa, how are you going to pull this off? We need to make sure that we don't alert anyone inside until the right moment."

"Well if I can get my temperature up to a melting point that doesn't cause any smoke I can make us a door. Of course I have to have complete and full concentration in order to do it." Isa was proud of herself and she was even happier that Alexandria was up for her idea even though she still didn't have full control over her abilities without her suit.

There was a chance she was ready for this and a very small chance it would fail. Alexandria didn't see any other ideas at the moment. Plus they didn't have enough time to figure it out before it got dark. "If you believe that it can be done, we will support you."

Isa breathed a sigh of relief and started to get ready in her head to figure out the best way to make the hole. Now it was time to locate a suitable spot to carry out her plan. "Alright, how do we go about finding the spot we need without being detected?"

It was Valentina's turn to have an idea. "If I slowed down time at each spot just for Isa there would be little to no negative effects." She smiled glad to have made a contribution that would help them get inside.

Alexandria was proud of how everyone was working together. It would be nice if there was a way to get word to Eve about the plan. Of course Eve was pretty good under pressure and could adapt to almost anything. "Alright Valentina will go with Isa to help find a spot for us to enter. Lyric and I will keep y'all covered from the treeline just in case someone comes out."

Everyone nodded in agreement as the two teams split up to perform their tasks. If this worked out they were one step closer to taking a large piece for their new empire.