The High Council was not as majestic as the name would suggest. The members were veterans in the Big War, the ones that had survived several battles and had managed to survive by sheer luck,  between 30-50 years old. Which meant they were among the oldest inside the tower. Alexa looked around the room, only two of the five members of the High Council were graying, the others seemed in the prime of their youth. She glanced at her grandma among the ranks, but she knew better than to expect mercy from her. When she spoke in the Council, she was a council member, not a familymember. 

"So you came up with a good strategy to save your squad, " Bogdan said brusquely. His bald head  crowned with gray hair that sprouted in different directions. The man had listened quietly, raising an eyebrow here and there, but refrained from asking questions.

"And still half your squad is dead." 

Alexa winced, as if every word was a strike from a whip. She shuffled her feet, unsure what to say and whether she was supposed to say anything. Instead, she stared at her feet and waited for the next lash of the whip.

"Do you understand the predicament we are in?" He asked her "Do you understand how precarious our survival is at this moment? Do you know how heavy a loss this is to us? We lost seven soldiers and a transporter that we will need in the future." 

His voice held resignation. Resignation to the future that didn't seem bright. His voice said he was done fighting, done losing the people he cared for. None of the High Council seemed to have heard, at least their faces were smooth.  

"What else, do you have to report?" Bogdan fixed her with a stare and she straightened her back, squared her shoulders. Her bowels untied, she felt the anxiety flush away. She expected to be chastised or heavily punished. Perhaps what happened at the tower, had softened their judgement of her failure.

"Blinding the Hunters works, even after repetition." Alexa said, "But, it seems the machines are  clustered. As soon as one goes down, the others will come to investigate. To me, it seems the first has been established before our return, the second is something that can cause a lot of issues."

She shot a glance out of the window. Several destroyed hunters still burned amongst the rubble of the battlefield.

"If you ask me, the machines are trying to force us to make mistakes, allowing them to find a way to deal with this tactic." She added softly. 

When they arrived at the tower, the already shaken crew had been shocked again. Huge metal skeletons , defensive turrets and burning tanks had greeted them while they soared across the desert towards the tower. The battle had ended before they arrived, but the Scav had paid a heavy price.

Portable turrets had been torn to shreds, countless of lifes had been lost in the fighting. But that was not the worst part.

As soon as the first hunter showed up, the tower should have dissected. The hundreds of aircraft that were the tower scattered in all directions to prevent the machines from knowing where they were and prevent them from striking in their heart. With five Hunters and three Scouts inbound, the High Council decided to fight. To use the new found strategy and to stand their ground, discarding the regulations that required the tower to move. Once the battle was over, the tower had been molten together on crucial locations, grounding the Scav, perched on the foothills of the Planina mountains. 

"Yeah, it seems they were," Vania said. "And now we are stuck. We might be able to hold off more Hunters and Scouts, but if they attack in full power..." 

"Therefore we will evacuate the tower." Victor stepped forward, his dark hair in a long braid. His beard was trimmed around the edges. Alexa always thought he looked like a little pompous, a man that cared too much how he looked. His clothes were colorful and richly decorated. 

"The Mumy Pact has accepted our request for refuge, as long as we will fight alongside them against the machines. Its unfortunate we can no longer bring the tower, but I assume the Mumy Pact will shelter us anyway. We will have to bring all our forces and our artillery. We might be able to hold  in unity."

Ever since he joined the High Council, Victor had publicly spoken of unity, of working together with other races, to bury the differences and come together. Most Scav had laughed at the idea, ever since the Big Crash, the world had been on fire. Skirmishes among the races were the norm, it would never change. He had always been passionate, even now, when the Scav didn't have a choice but to accept shelter from another race. That, or be destroyed. 

The other Council members did not seem as pleased as he was. Vania had obviously not meant to say that. She bristled and smoothed her skirts and didn't manage to keep face smooth. Bogdan's smile turned sour and Zornitsa and Georgi's face wore grim expressions alike. Surely, they didn't like the idea of being sheltered, nor the idea that they'd be dependent on the mercy of the Mumy Pact. The Myln and the Murn had not been very friendly towards the Scavs in the recent years, though none of them was old enough to remember what it had been like.

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"We haven't officially decided upon that." Georgi bit of the words. His dark hair was very short, a few milimeters of hair. He was shaven clean and wore the same uniform that Alexa wore.

"But, we have no other choice," Victor replied. He looked annoyed and resigned, they obviously had this discussion before, his voice was one of reason and patience. The rest of the council held silent, but looked at her feet. 

"Have we ever tried to send an envoy to the machines?" Alexa couldn't help but burst it out. She and her grandma had discussed this often. Perhaps that communication could deliver them from this predicament, could safe them for utter destruction.

"We have, none ever returned. " Victor bit. "Do you really think we prefer to see our race falter, than to find a resolution?." He looked at her." No , we will not send another envoy and weaken our position even more. We will have no choice but to allie with the others and hope, no pray, that we can stand the machines together. We might even have to ally with the others, but we will not go down without a fight. Will not falter in the face of destruction and will not give up when there is a sliver of hope on the horizon" The passion in his voice, the fire made her want to join. 

"But, what if I and another person would travel into the territory of the machines. We do not need to send a force, do not need to endanger a small fraction of the forces we are losing on a weekly basis?" 

Perhaps we can find another solution, perhaps we can find the center of their forces, come back and strike at the heart of the machines. We cannot give up, but can we afford to ignore other options?

What if we need to strike at the heart of the machines..-

"No" Victor interrupted her crudely. We will not risk more resources on useless missions, will no longer waste it on hope with no cause. Our only hope is the unification with the Mumy pact and from there, with the others that are fighting the machines."

Alexa looked around the room and though the others, she saw the others nodding and agreeinng witht he words of Victor. 

Bogdan stepped forward. "We just lose half a squad cause you didn't take care of them and now you want to tell us what we should do? You should be on your knees, begging for forgiveness! You should be happy we talk to you as we have so far. You turn the world upside down, we are the High Council, we do not explain our decisions to the likes of you." He bristled with anger.

She opened her mouth to object, but Vania interrupted her. "We hadn't decided what to do with you yet. But you insolence keeps growing, despite your own failure. We were willing to forgive the grave mistakes you made, dismissing it cause of your inexperience and forced command. But what are we supposed to do with you now?" 

Vania held up her hand and looked at the others. "I suggest we strip her of her rank. She has shown to be unable to hold her own command and is obviously prone to insubordination. I suggest we put her out of service before she throws are orders into the wind and invites a catastrophe." 

Hand shot up, her grandma bristled with contempt. 

"just cause someone disagrees with you, you want to dismiss their value? Cause someone might see another way and willing to object to us, you will throw the service away? What nonsense is this? Though my vote may not be needed, I will NOT support this kind of decision making, isn't that was makes us Scav? Isn't this what makes us a community. Though she may be right, will we be blinded for anything else than our own truth? Even though she is convinced of something else, should we refuse her service" Her face turned red underneath the white hair.

"No! I do not say this cause she's my kin, Bogdan." She spat at the graying man. "We cannot ignore reason cause we are too busy looking down our own noses." 

" No matter" His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed his anger. "The lesser consensus stands."

His voice was cold as he turned to Alexa.

"As of now, you are demoted. Please take off your squadleader pin and leave them on the table. We will discuss whether any further disciplinary action is needed in the morning. You will report to Captain Tamarov in the morning for your reasssignment. And remember, not a word about the evacuation till it has been announced.' 

He clapped his hands. "now go!"