Sanctuary's people couldn't leave. They couldn't run. But they could prepare.

The 'ports - Reid was not a fan of the nickname that had already spread throughout Sanctuary - from the other beacons were sorted into groups within the first two hours. Those groups were either rolled into the reserve defenders, put to work on general chores and labor, or had been deemed as 'sideliners' that would need to stay out of the fighting as much as possible. The only things that allowed the quick work were the rapid response of Sanctuary's young military hierarchy, the 'ports current... 'natural tendency' to follow orders, and Marlene's identify skill. Her range with it had improved, and she quickly picked the capable out from the masses.

Those with enough power or with combat skills were added to Sanctuary's reserve fighters. Anyone generally strong or capable was put onto a work team - and they mostly moved around supplies. The rest were true refugees. They couldn't fight, or didn't seem able to. They might be capable of work, but didn't seem capable of following orders or working under pressure. Those people were shuffled into temporary accommodations, fed, and clothed. Reid chose not to think about how deeply they'd be cutting into the food reserves just to respond to the new residents.

The area was alive with activity. Every path and every structure seemed to have constant flows of people moving about. Reid only recognized some of them - but the new officers seemed to be everywhere. They quelled small fights, led their troops on jogging patrols of the area, and worked to integrate new fighters into their ranks - all at a lightning pace. It was a true compliment to Sara and Marlene's system that things had gone as well as they had. But Sanctuary wasn't equipped to truly house and handle everyone.

Reid frowned and thought about his daughter. An hour into the mess, Sara woke up from Susan's induced rest - and went right back to having issues. Susan had fairly quickly figured out that the presence of Reid - or nearly anyone else - had a negative effect on Sara's mental state. Reid was worried about his daughter, but kept his distance. They'd never encountered a situation where Sara was trying to think about so many potential outcomes and needs at once, and she needed time to get used to processing that much information. Based on her inability to keep things straight when around others, there was a component of emotional control that also had a significant impact on what she was able to do. Understanding it didn't make Reid feel any better.

Sara's major decisions so far boiled down to a single formation. All of Sanctuary's people-carrying vehicles were set up in two large groups. Food and supplies were split between the two - as were defenders and the 'ports. One group sat in last stand field, pointed towards the rear gate. The other was in the area by the front gate. The idea was that there would be multiple routes for escape, depending on where the enemy was teleported to. Sanctuary's forces would essentially be split between the two options, and whichever was better positioned could, if nothing else, get free of any overwhelming attacks. The defenders had added another dynamic, as well - rapid response units. Each group had a handful of the more reliable pickup trucks and 4-wheel-drive vehicles set up with dedicated drivers on standby. The vehicles would stay close to the main formations and the defenders, then ferry them to wherever the fighting was thickest. That way, even with the split refugees and supplies, the fighters could end up precisely where they were needed.

The last piece were the mobile scouts. No one had started yet, but as they neared the enemy teleport time, defenders with good perception would take off on ATVs and dirtbikes to perform roving patrols. Their entire purpose was to ensure the enemy didn't surprise the defenders by attacking the unmanned sections of the perimeter.

It was early afternoon when Marlene came to get Reid. Sara needed to see him.

#

The walk over was awkward and mostly quiet, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the destination.

The room was small, but not cramped. A square table took up the majority of the space, and a large drawn map of Sanctuary sat on it. A half used eraser kept one of the corners from curling up. There was a large stain that covered part of last stand field. A cluttered mess of symbols and letters represented people, vehicles, and supplies. Another set of numbers showed where officers and their units should be. A scribble that looked like "Population" sat on the far side of the map from Reid, above four unreadable digits.

Sara didn't lift her eyes to meet Reid or Marlene when they entered. She had one hand clutching her forearm, while the other gripped the table with white knuckles. Her skin was visibly pale, and her eyes were red and puffy. Reid fought back the urge to run over and hug her. Neither of them needed Pathfinder to go haywire again - so he awkwardly and uncomfortably stayed back.

Marlene looked between them, walked over to the map, and broke the silence.

"Neither of you are going to like this, but you need to listen all the same. You are our strongest fighters. I've been identifying everyone from the other beacons. Some are good - they might be able to hold back something pretty high level - maybe a 9 or 10 all on their own. But none of them are going to be capable of fighting off anything stronger than that. Heck, they'll probably struggle to hold bigger beasts back, let alone take them down." She gestured between Reid and Sara. "But you two are strong enough to stop or slow down just about anything I can think of. Reid, you smashed through everything the waves tried to kill us with, and I'm starting to believe nothing can stand up to you. Sara - you might not be as physically strong as your father, but you have a natural grace and ability that can probably kill anything they throw at us." She audibly sucked in a breath through her nose. "We have two groups, and two outstandingly strong individuals... I'd rather not separate you two, but... I think you understand where I'm going with this."

Reid's boosted perception had been around for a while. He'd gotten a bit better at understanding how people he didn't know were feeling. He could pick out the best time to ask Mark for a favor. But after Sara had become Sanctuary's leader, Marlene's face went back to being a stoic mask that kept her emotions hidden. In this room, though, there was no mask.

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Marlene stared at Sara like a mother looking at her daughter. She looked like Susan did whenever she'd have to teach Sara about one of the sad truths of the world. Marlene's eyes longed for a simple solution to their problem that didn't exist. Her mouth twitched with the idea of reassuring words - but couldn't speak them. Her face carried every ounce of pain that came with knowing something bad was going to happen - and knowing there was nothing they could do to stop it. She looked caring, and helpless. She looked like she was suppressing the urge to hug Sara.

His daughter had so much going for her. She was strong, and bright, and capable. But this was a shit situation, and she was overwhelmed. Throughout Marlene's talk, she still hadn't lifted her head from the table. Maybe Reid couldn't reassure her here either, but he could do something else - he could lighten the load. Sara was struggling with a host of decisions, and she didn't need to. There were other people here to carry that burden.

"I think Marlene is right." The words fell out of Reid's mouth. Marlene's eyes went wide and thankful as he continued. "Sara should be up in the field with Marlene and most of the guards, and I can take the front gate. From the field, you'll have a better line of sight to know what's going on, and any changes we need to make. We'll have walkie talkies on us to help with communication, and if we need to, either one of us can call for a retreat to regroup with the others. It's a good plan, and it's what we're going to move forward with, no matter what anything else says."

Sara's eyebrow twitched at the last sentence. Marlene jumped back into the conversation.

"Right. Reid and I need to work out a few more details, so Sara - why don't you get some rest while we do? You need to eat something too, right? Here -" Marlene opened the door and waved over a guard. "Why don't you go get something to eat, and then head to the cot we have set up for you? It's in a quiet room."

Sara took a few seconds for the words to register, then slowly rose from her seat. She shuffled over and gave Reid a quick hug, then left the room. The entire time, she hadn't said a word.

Marlene closed the door, and fell into a chair. She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands and groaned. "She's already blaming herself. Nobody's dead yet and she's already carrying around the guilt of not doing enough to save everyone. When it actually happens, it might break her. Too much will happen all at once. The first person's going to die, then the second, and then it's all going to feel like it's gone sideways even before it actually does. She's strong, so she'll recover, but it'll take time. And she'll hate herself for the rest of her life doing it. Going through all that, this young... People aren't supposed to need to make these kinds of decisions so young. They're not supposed to experience this much death and uncertainty and grief. They're not supposed to lose people. Sara will live through it, I know, but she's not going to come out the other side the same."

Reid pulled a chair out and sat on it sideways. Requiem didn't go well with any chair that had a back to it.

"Sounds like you're speaking from personal experience."

Marlene snorted, then gave Reid an appraising look. "You know, you're not a bad father, Reid. Heck, you might even be a good one. You do like fighting too much, and you're not always a good decision maker, but at least you try." Marlene paused, and looked at the door. "But Sara loves you. She loves you and Susan so goddamn much. Not so long ago, I thought she'd end up a better and stronger person if I could let her grow without you influencing her. That was wrong. I was wrong. She relies on you more than she lets on, even if I think she's capable of going on by herself."

Marlene leaned forward on the table and tented her hands.

"She almost made me swear not to tell you this. I'm still not sure if it's the right thing to share. But you should know. After she woke up, Sara knuckled down hard on controlling Pathfinder. She did a hell of a good job of it, too. And she started sorting out all the information and writing down all the paths. She looked at how to make specific groups live, how to escape, or win."

Reid felt a cold knot form in his stomach.

"She didn't find it, Reid. She didn't find a path where we beat the Crimson Titan. There are only options where we might survive a bit longer than others. The only ones where most of us survive are when we run and escape. But we lose people in every scenario. She doesn't know how to save everyone. And that's killing her." Marlene paused, and stared at Reid. "Reid, she didn't find a scenario you escape."

The knot froze completely. Then, something else flexed within him and the knot broke apart.

Reid rejected the very idea of it. Predestined to die? Fuck that. Reid had navigated through the apocalypse with a stupid high chance of dying hovering above his head the entire time. He'd fought for his life, killed beasts and men, and made his way back to his daughter. If the system wanted him dead, it was going to be disappointed. Reid set his jaw.

"I'm not going anywhere. No matter what Pathfinder thinks, it's wrong. I'm going to kill the Titan, and I'm going to save as many people as I can. I'm going to keep as much weight off my daughter's conscience as humanly possible."

Marlene's face was stern. "Don't. Don't make empty promises, Reid. Just because I survived it doesn't mean Sara needs to. Losing a father... don't make her go through that. I made you a promise to keep Sara safe and prioritize her, Reid. I promised to do that over everything else. I want you to make me a promise, right now. Promise me you're not going to lose yourself in the fight. Promise me you're not going to do some well-intentioned, stupid thing that ends up with you hurt, or worse. You need to be selfish for what's coming."

The chair scraped the floor as Reid stood. "I understand what you're asking, Marlene. But I'm not your father, or whoever it was that let you down. And I'm not going to let Sara down. Now, I need to go selfishly make myself some armor, and then get some rest."

#

Reid wished later on that he'd put on a lopsided smile, or done something else to soften his words. Marlene was showing a human side to herself, but Reid was too angry and determined to see past his own emotions. He swore when the train of thought caused him to make an error on a pauldron. It was the last piece of armor Reid needed to finish, and then he'd finally be able to sleep. Or, rather, he'd finally be able to try and sleep.

Reid wasn't delusional. He, like everyone else, had seen the enemy forces counter. People were going to get hurt, they were going to die. Sanctuary's preparations would help them fare better than they would otherwise, and anything Reid could do to empower himself would, likewise, increase survivability for everyone around him - and himself.

Reid paused for a moment at the finished piece, then set his initials into the pauldron with large block letters. The armor was simple, thick, and hopefully effective. Reid didn't have time to make it a growth set - and honestly didn't know how much effort that might take. So instead, he had a series of armor pieces that looked quite a bit like a sci-fi armor suit, all blocky and thick. The most notable piece was the pauldron he'd just put lettering on. He stared at the "R.O.C.", then put a matching set of letters on the other pauldron. Reid had his weapon. He had a set of uncommon bone armor. The enemy would be here tomorrow. They would be tough.

But Reid was going to win.