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Evanescent Shift
Forty-Two: The Infiltration Begins

Forty-Two: The Infiltration Begins

Jay clear his stack of sheets and his communicator from his vicinity, unfurling a large map in its place. The map depicted a map of Yeupis. In the northern portion’s southwest quadrant, located far inland was a patch of brown that was distinct from the greenness that made up the mostly inhabited part of north Yeupis, not accounting for the unmistakable, vast alabaster Glacial Lands which had almost no population. This brown patch known as the Barrens was once home to safe trading routes between the north and south before Emperor Haldor had constructed the mountains between them. When that happened, any tiny village built to support the travelers became abandoned and so did all human life within it. But then why was Jay pointing at a spot in the middle of the Barrens?

“There are two major facilities that belonged to the Titanians in north Yeupis in the past,” Jay explained. “Our friend Aulis had been to both during his time in the Free Army, although they didn’t have the tech to capture them. One was somewhere deep into the Glacial Lands and the other's in this very spot I’m pointing to.”

Anwen recalled her years of living in the base she and Gareth had come to call home for a time. If that was just a warehouse, how much bigger and more important was this facility that Jay spoke of?

“So this place is important?” Stefan guessed.

“It may be the only thing we can use to stop the Angels’ advance on north Yeupis.” Jay explained, his tone so grim that Ivan shuddered.

“So we have to capture it.” the young man guessed.

“The facility possesses weapons with capabilities that can blow battalions worth of Titanians into smithereens on the other side of the continent,” Jay said, gesturing to the eastern shores of north Yeupis, hundreds of leagues from where they were in the Barrens. “It’s a battle of who can get there first. With the information you gave me over the call, Ivan, I estimate that we have 24 hours to reach it given that they want to reach the zone you were in in 48—no, 46 hours. So if we can hold the facility until then, they won’t be able to head further north, and we can thwart their plans.”

“If we seize the facility,” Leon spoke, “Would it be possible to recapture Marius?”

“I have no doubt.” Jay nodded. For the first time in the encounter, the worn-down man offered a smile, a glimpse of the rowdiness he harbored until the Anbieter’s passing.

The only thought that could’ve eased Leon’s anxious mind was that he would finally have the chance to give his grandfather a proper burial. He was grateful that their last interaction had ended on a good note, unlike the ones before.

“What’s the plan?” Ivan asked, itching to jump into the action.

“This ain’t going to be a quiet infiltration. We need to show them full force—show them we’re not something to be messed with when they show up. 700 Black Shield, 300 Free Army and 3,000 Anti-Imperialist swarm it from the north, east and west. Half of each stay outside, half of each raid the inside and look for the control centre. The control centre will power up the buildings all at once and get everything going. Vigdis will be the one spearheading that effort, but she will need three people watching her blind spots—they’ll need to be her eyes and protection.”

“Question.” Ivan raised his hand.

“Shoot.” Jay nodded.

“Will 4,000 soldiers be enough?”

“It won’t be,” Jay admitted. “Using the Shargara garrison as a reference, we estimate there’ll be at least 3,000 Titanians trying to take it back. That’s on the lower end of our guess range.”

Is this guy out of his mind? Ivan thought to himself. This mission itself is impossible. We lost so many in Shargara and now we have to scrape together whoever’s left. He better have an incredible explanation for it.

“How would that be possible?” Ivan asked, being careful not to let his emotions spill out.

“Speed is the name of the game here,” Jay said. “There might not be a lot of us, but in us we have a lot. I’ve now heard from everyone I need to, and the three soldiers I need for Vigdis’ task are Vi, Valto and Stefan.”

Jay quickly assigned duties to everyone else present. Anwen would stay with Jay at their temporary base, maintaining communications. Leon would go with Stefan and Ivan and stay on standby to treat casualties. Ivan would be one of the 4,000 soldiers storming onto the facility grounds. In fact, he would be leading one of two flanks of the battle formation, rushing southwards from their northern position. The leader of the other flank was a Free Army soldier named Goran Habich; a former raid leader personally recommended by Aulis Bakken.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The young doctor saw the dejection in Anwen’s face as she walked them to another, smaller Craft that Ivan was trained to operate during Stefan’s time away from the Black Shield.

“Cheer up, Anwen,” he smiled. “We’re going to make history tonight.”

“I know that,” she sighed. “I just hate being separated from… from…”

“Who? Me? Ah, you used to only see me once a year for a couple weeks at a time! That can't be right.”

“Of course not you!” she snapped.

Leon seemed to guess the name of the person Anwen’s mouth just refused to utter. He looked behind his shoulder to see Stefan and Ivan trailing them, ignoring his and Anwen’s conversation and having their own.

“It’ll only be for a day.” Leon winked.

Ivan, Leon, and Stefan were instructed and aided by the use of an onboard navigation system to travel south about 10 leagues south to a spot that was relatively close to the facility, only a short marching distance away. It was much more crowded than Jay’s base as this was the staging ground from where they would launch their assault. Tents, Crafts, and hundreds of soldiers littered the area. And this would not be all. The Black Shield had till midnight to gather at the grounds. Many more warriors were to arrive in the coming hours.

Ivan, Stefan, and Leon were guided by other soldiers to tents in which they could gather their necessary equipment.

Leon was met by Detlef inside a tent reserved for medics. On tables lay spools of gauze, bottle of antiseptic, towels, basins, and tools to cauterise open and infected wounds. The slightly older medic was seen disinfecting a tool to seal wounds and reduce infections. Leon had noticed a difference in him compared to several months earlier. He had been gradually overcoming his social anxiousness, learning to stand up for himself more. It seemed to have all gone down the drain. Leon suspected it had to do with his two fellow Glacial Landers turning out to be traitors, but there ought to have been more to it.

“The others medics and I decided there’s gonna be a new system to select and treat the wounded,” Detlef explained, his voice uncharacteristically professional and lacking vibrance. Detlef had immersed himself in his work to escape the grief of that day, much like how Leon behaved after his grandmother Isabel’s loss. However, the difference was that Leon had a network of close people to support him. The same couldn’t be said for Detlef. “After everything that happened on that day, we need to cut our losses."

The system was simple, but the implications were bleak. Evacuated soldiers would be placed in three categories: those who required immediate treatment, those who could wait a few hours for it, and those whose injuries were untreatable and could not be saved. Detlef called it the triage system.

“What matters is that we at least try to save them,” Leon said with determination. “I know we can’t help everyone, but we need to try. If they have to die, they should die surrounded by people who did all they could.”

“Your grandfather must’ve taught you well.” Detlef admired.

“He did.” Leon nodded, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

“Well, anyways,” Detlef said after an uncomfortable silence, replacing the cautery equipment in its respective containers before heading for the tent flaps. “I have other things to be doing. I’ll see you around.”

“See you, Detlef.”

Leon found free space at the back of the tent and decided to lay down for a bit and close his eyes. There would be no sleeping that night, and he had to get as much rest as he could so he could perform well and not complicate any already serious injuries. As his surroundings faded peacefully into darkness, colors and shapes started taking form before him. They settled into things he recognized—trees, meadows, horses, houses, streets, the calls of sparrows welcoming a warm new dayspring. All of these seemingly normal phenomena stood out with one condition—tranquility. There was no war, no having to stay on one’s toes for every waking hour, no fear of Light Pillars suddenly piercing from the heavens to wreak havoc on innocent men, women, and children. Such scenes could only be seen in dreams at that point.

And out of nowhere, a dark apparition appeared in the middle of his sight, hovering above him. Leon scrambled to get himself into a seated position, the figure reacting by taking two quick steps back. It took a moment, but Leon realized he was awake again.

“Did I frighten you, Leon?” the voice of the figure spoke apologetically. The figure had a cloak on that was only discernible by a single lamp in the tent, otherwise Leon would’ve mistaken it for a phantom. Their face was concealed under the Black Shield’s hallmark mask. Leon quickly realised who it was.

“Didn’t I tell you not to wear that getup inside?” Leon groaned as he rubbed the weariness out of his eyes.

“But this is a tent.” the mysterious young woman known as Vi answered.

She does have a point.

“Well, anyway, why are you here? Have you rehearsed your role with Stefan, Vigdis and Valto?”

Vi silently nodded. Leon sensed the level of preparation she permeated. She was ready for anything.

“The assault will start in one hour,” Vi said. “I only had one question I wanted to ask.”

“A question?” Leon raised an eyebrow. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Is your brother in-law doing well?” she asked innocently, her uncovered hands folded and held against her midriff.

When Leon had gone to treat Liam the other day, Vi had only wished him a safe trip and to return timely. Their dynamic of her serving him as her master had remained no matter how much Leon simply wished for her to see him as a comrade and equal. There was nothing in Vi’s heart that suggested any affinity or any care for anyone but her master. So why was she asking how a man she had never even met was faring?