Garth couldn’t help but smile as he saw another group of refugees break the tree cover on their way to Nierburg’s gate. It had been almost three months since he’d arrived, and while he often wondered how his friend was doing, the evidence before his eyes was more than enough proof he was doing just fine. It was only a handful of refugees at first, but now a regular stream were arriving, all speaking of a mysterious healer who tended their wounds and led them to safety. He and Terrance were manning the gate itself, with Joseph and Mary Ellen manning the tower with Johannes in reserve.

He didn’t have a lot of hope for his squad actually having to deal with trouble, but he was making do with what he had. Joseph was a pudgy twenty-something who was still finding his place in the world, Mary Ellen had been trying to get into Central Administration but had been rejected, and Johannes was sixteen and had just awakened and been told to take the healer class, which he wasn’t any good at.

Terrance was the most competent of the group, but also the one Garth trusted the least. In the last several months of training, Garth got a familiar impression to the one he’d gotten with Kyle. The man was holding something back. All his training with Kyle had helped Garth to see when somebody was intentionally holding back. The man was a damn good actor, but he still felt too comfortable for somebody claiming to be a novice. The way he carried himself when he thought Garth wasn’t watching led him to believe that he had more up his sleeve.

Either way, so long as the man did his job and didn’t put the rest of the squad in danger Garth wasn’t going to pry. At least not yet. Approaching the leader of the caravan, he began the lengthy process of sorting and organizing before letting them into the city.

~~~

Victor DeRosa was having a bad day. His morning tea didn’t have enough cream, the biscuits were too dry, and he had a never-ending stream of refugees pouring into his city. When he was designing his plan for the new Nierburg, he had given a lot of thought as to the risks he’d need to take and prices he’d need to pay to achieve his goals.

In his original prioritization for the city, he’d counted on the deaths of tens of thousands of unawakened when the chaotic mana needed to disperse, instead focusing resources on the awakened population more crucial to the defense and development of the city. The reports of banditry and raiders in the lawless lands to the southwest had been well within his expectations, and he had planned for the Central Defense defectors in the area to thin out and limit the number of refugees that would be arriving at his city’s doors.

This in turn would give Nierburg an opportunity to stabilize its foundation and grow into the power center that it needed to be. Instead, the number of refugees seemed to be spiking, and from the reports he’d gathered it was mainly due to the efforts of one man. How long do you plan to be a thorn in my side, Mayhew? Others might have viewed it differently, but Victor knew that the motivation was unlikely to be altruistic.

No, this man had a vendetta against DeRosa and Nierburg, and was planning to stuff them to bursting with worthless refugees, draining their resources and leaving them weak to an eventual attack. Truly a masterful plan, but against Victor’s superior intellect it was a plan doomed to fail.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Activating his Communication Array, he connected with Central Administration. They’d been working on a project for him, and it was about time to put it to use.

“Councilman DeRosa, sir! How can I help you?”

The image of a frail, liver spotted old man appeared in a projection from the array, and Victor found himself irrationally angry at the image of the weak old man in front of him.

“Mr. Dross, pull up the maps of the bandit activity to the southwest.”

The man nodded, fiddling with the array on his end when the larger map overlay also began to project. Victor’s modifications to the mana network gave him a good estimate of the numbers in the camps and the relative power of the groups, with two groups notably stronger than the others. The Duilleag raiders had the strongest mana signature and stronger numbers, but they had been relatively quiet, with slow growth and no major excursions or changes that their sensors could pick up. The second, however, was a group of three awakened Central Defense defectors, with more and more of the smaller bandit groups being absorbed by the day. The three leaders had originally been acting independently, but now were beginning to collaborate, likely in light of the Mayhew brat.

The men were each independently powerful, but they didn’t have the eye for logistics that Victor did. He could hardly blame them, as his extensive training and exposure to six-sigma methodology made him see the world in a much more efficient light. He estimated that they would be confronted with the reality of a food shortage sooner than later, and with the hydroponics division up and running Nierburg would have fresh produce to spare. It wouldn’t take much negotiating to have them lined up and eager to put an end to the pesky upstart and get Victor’s vision back on track. They’d need to be eliminated too, of course, but in due time. A smile touching the edges of his mouth, Victor spoke.

“How long would it take to make contact, Mr. Dross?” The man’s grey eyes grew distant as he thought, finally responding.

“Depending on the resources you’re willing to invest, we could get a message to them in just a couple days. Likely more to negotiate terms if we want a more robust conversation.”

“See that it gets done.” With that, the old man nodded and the Communication Array was cut off.

~~~

Gregory Valentine was in the training yard, squaring off against his three functional awakened lieutenants. Susan was still alive after their initial confrontation with Crystal all those months ago, but her injuries prevented her from doing much other than maintaining the earthworks. With the lack of better resources at his disposal, he found her to be sufficient.

Cornelius charged him with a large wooden axe, live weapons being stowed. Gregory easily sidestepped his swings, maneuvering his opponent to prevent Tucker from having a clear line of sight to take a shot. Cornelius’s proximity meant Carlyle wasn’t able to use any skills, and he stood off to the side as well waiting for an opportunity. With a surge of mana Gregory knocked Cornelius back as he closed the gap between himself and Carlyle, grabbing the scrawny man’s neck in a vice between his bicep and forearm.

He held the smaller man between himself and Tucker as three shots rang out, the rubber bullets hitting Carlyle’s stomach with loud thuds. The young man tried to scream in pain, but the hold was too tight. Gregory knew he’d need to discipline Tucker for that later, but the thought was cut short as he felt his arm and torso begin to burn, Carlyle activating some sort of body enhancing skill. Gregory smiled as he drew his training weapons, when a soldier ran to the yard.

“Sir! We received an encrypted message from Mr. Flotsam, marked top priority!”

With a disappointed sigh Valentine sheathed his practice weapons and began to head for the basement headquarters. Mr. Flotsam had been keeping them in the know with the events transpiring in Nierburg, and the plan had continued to be to wait while Nierburg handled its refugee crisis and bandit problem, only looking to take action after they’d been sufficiently weakened. For a missive to be marked top priority, something was shifting with that dynamic. One way or another, Gregory was confident that Liberation would find a way to come out on top.