Back at the Outpost, Chal'ac was more than a little annoyed. She'd been out hunting when the village’s hunters arrived, acting like scouts for a raiding party. She hadn't known what was happening and decided to get more info before committing to anything. Hiding in the shadows, she avoided most with minimal difficulty, but that all went up in smoke when a new presence crept up behind her. At first, she thought it might have been Lon'thul, since he was the only one she knew that could sneak up on her like that, but this presence was more...intimidating.

Appearing out of the shadows cast in the underbrush walked the hunting chief, Dek'thul. For a split second, Chal'ac thought she was about to die when instead, the large male grinned mischievously. "It's Nala'ac's brat! I've seen you around, but we never had much chance to talk. Your father was a good hunter. The lodge won't be the same without him."

Chal'ac gave the hunting chief a stoic expression that was totally at odds with the near panic she was trying to lock down. "As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I doubt you're here to talk about my father..."

Dek'thul threw back his head and laughed. "Right to the point! Just like your dad! Well, you're right. I'm here to talk to you about something different. Just a bit ago, I had a little conversation with my son, and now I gotta go escort Lord Angles as he meets with the Outpost's representatives. But first, I wonder if you could do me a little favor..."

Lord Angles was here? That was news to Chal'ac. To her knowledge, he never left the village. That meant something big was about to go down, and here was Dek'thul, throwing her into the middle of it all. She didn't like the implications.

It didn't look like he would give her much choice as he continued without waiting for a response. "My son is a decent hunter, he might even rival me one day, but he has no idea how this world works. Maybe I coddled him too much growing up...but that's not important. What is important is that I'm worried he will go do something stupid, like defy our village lord. If he does, I want you to make sure he comes back to the village, where I can knock some sense into him before he angers the wrong people. Trick him, knock him out, or sleep with him, for all I care! Just get him back to the village. I'll make sure you are very well rewarded if you do." His expression almost imperceptibly darkened. "And if he doesn't come back, you probably shouldn't either."

Immediately after the not-so-subtle threat had been issued, Dek'thul shifted back to his usual jovial self, waving amicably as he faded back into the foliage before Chal'ac's eyes. "Well, anyway, I'm sure you can handle things from here! Don't let an old male like myself tell you how to do your job! Just a matter of time before ambitious youngsters like you two put me out of business!" With that, he was gone.

Chal'ac shook her head at the memory. How had he done that? Even as she'd listened to his words, her eyes had told her he was nowhere to be found. She knew she was one of the better hunters in the village, but this father and son duo were leagues ahead of her, and it annoyed her. She had to fight and scrabble every minute of every day to get as good as she was, so watching that idiot Lon'thul just waltz past her because of the luck of some weird family trait galled her.

To make matters worse, she now had to figure out some way to save him from himself. Just what had Dek'thul meant when he said, "If he doesn't come back, you probably shouldn't either"? Did that mean she had to keep him alive, too? Was she now nothing more than some glorified babysitter to that immature idiot?

With a sigh, Chal'ac pushed away from the wall. It didn't matter. The world wasn't fair. She knew that as well as anyone. She had a job to do, and she'd best get to it... But first, she had to find that elusive, churlish-brained hunter!

*  

To'brel was still shaken. There was so much to take in, so much to understand, so much to process, so much to accept... In such a short time, his world had been turned upside down. He was simply sitting in the corner of a room while the future of this place and everyone inside its walls, including himself, was being decided by a group of people sitting around a fire.

Even Lon'thul looked uncharacteristically grim. "Well, that went about as poorly as it could have! At least we all got out alive, but still..."

Lady S'haar didn't look particularly pleased either. "That was unexpected. We all knew Lord A'ngles was behind everything, but to have him come out like this... He must be confident of his victory. Angela, can you give me a more exact estimation of how many argu'n he brought with him, now that the majority of his force has arrived?"

The metallic goddess tilted her head as if thinking. To'brel still couldn't believe this was the female he'd spoken with on his first night here. Of course, he didn't fully understand why she was called The Dragon, but then again, when a goddess tells you she's a dragon, it was probably best to take her at her word.

He barely had time to finish his own thoughts before Lady Angela responded. "I'm not sure how many are actually combatants, and given the limitations of my scanning ability, what with the transceiver located near the cave and the more limited sensors in this body..."

Lord Jack interrupted her by saying something unintelligible, which Lady Angela acknowledged before continuing. "My rough estimation would place the invading force close to three hundred argu'n."

The room grew quiet. To'brel wasn't sure how many guards the Outpost had, but based on what he'd seen, he estimated it was somewhere between twenty and thirty. Against three hundred, even with the benefits of the palisade walls, there was hardly enough to slow down such a force. Where had they even gotten that many guards or fighters? Even with two villages at their disposal, it didn't add up...

With a sinking feeling, To'brel realized what he must do. "You can't... I can't let you... I should go back out there and give myself up..."

The whole room looked over at To'brel with expressions ranging from grim to...amused? Lon'thul smiled. "Oh, it's not as hopeless as it sounds. Trust me, you've barely scratched the surface of what our resident wizard and goddess are capable of! Why, I bet if they wanted to, they could simply make every argu'n out there disappear!"

No one seemed to think the hunter was very funny, and it looked like Ger'ron was going to say something when Lady Angela spoke up. "Well, he's right. We could."

That was a terrible joke. Even worse than Lon'thul's. To'brel wondered why no one was laughing or dismissing such an absurd statement. Instead, everyone seemed to be taking her seriously. Every expression in the room somehow turned even more grim as the goddess continued. "Honestly, it wouldn't even be that hard. Give me about thirty minutes and access to the ship, and I could put together something that would pretty much instantly wipe out every invading argu'n outside the walls and take out a good chunk of the forest in the process. If that's what you want..."

The room was utterly silent as everyone took in the enormity of what she'd said. Lon'thul looked sick just thinking about it.

Finally, it was S'haar who broke the silence. "Lord A'ngles may be a scheming, power-hungry wolgen at heart, but those who fight at his behest are not. They are our families, neighbors, and even our subjects." She nodded to To'brel, who looked a little sick at the idea. "I don't know if we can win without such a terrible weapon, but I refuse to win with one. I'd rather fight and die to an argu'n than contemplate something so monstrous!"

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Jack grinned and nodded. Even Lady Angela's voice suddenly sounded more cheerful. "Good! I would have refused anyway, but I wanted to confirm what kind of battle you were willing to fight. You know Jack and I have many technologies at our disposal, but I wanted to make it clear, no weapons of mass destruction. Though I have to say, I disagree entirely with your statement about dying to a man. I might not be able to save everyone, but I'm going to give it my best shot! Your goddess of death will have to wait a little longer for our company, Jack!"

Wait, Lord Jack knew another goddess? A goddess of death? Lady Angela had weapons that could kill hundreds of people? He wanted to believe they were speaking figuratively, or even simply exaggerating, but the young noble feared they were being honest and forthright. To'brel thought he'd had some idea of the level of insanity of this place, but every moment his understanding was shattered by a new discovery.

The master guard, Ger'ron, spoke up from his side of the fire. "Maybe so, Lady Angela, but Lady S'haar pointed out something that I'm not sure you've properly considered. Outside the walls are the friends and families of almost everyone here in the Outpost. It's a hard thing to ask them to fight against their loved ones. Too hard. I'll always be indebted to you for saving my life," The old guard looked down at his odd metal leg. "in more ways than one, but as impressive as you may be, to the average guard or worker, you're just another noble. When the time comes, many will be unwilling or unable to fight. Others will simply defect. As much as I respect everyone here, we can't hold the walls on our own."

The room grew silent as everyone considered the old guard's words.

*  

S'haar was troubled by Ger'ron's statement. There was more to it than he was saying. Even if they could hold the walls, the death and destruction it would take to do so would turn many, if not everyone, in the Outpost against them. This battle was unwinnable not because they were incapable of defending themselves but because, in doing so, they'd lose the support of everyone currently making this dream possible. What was worse, she was sure A'ngles was aware of that. Why else would he make a bold and direct move against them now?

So what then, do they just roll over and hand everything over to A'ngles like he's asking? With Jack's knowledge and S'haar's skills, she had no doubt A'ngles would allow them to stay on and probably even live relatively comfortable lives. But given A'ngles' pattern so far, S'haar had no doubt the village lord's next move would be to take the manpower of the two villages and the Outpost's resources and technologies and use them to subjugate every other village within his reach. And S'haar didn't particularly enjoy being a pawn in someone's world domination scheme. But then what other option was there?

That was when Tel'ron burst into the room, looking annoyed at the interruption to his work. "Why are all my metal workers missing? We can't get anything done like this!"

S'haar looked at Jack, who returned her bemused expression. It was Fea'en who spoke up this time. "Lord A'ngles is besieging the Outpost. We sent runners to tell you what was going on. If you couldn't be bothered to break away from what you were doing long enough to listen properly, that's on you!"

Tel'ron didn't back down. "I listened. I'm making and repairing weapons, or have you forgotten? Every weapon I can ready is one more properly equipped fighter to hold the walls, unless we suddenly developed a surplus of equipment I'm unaware of?"

Fea'en wasn't about to give in to some young pup and returned fire. "That's all well and good, but what use are weapons if we don't have hands to hold them! Not everyone is as attached to this place as you. Many of them are perfectly willing to go back home and start over, if it means avoiding an unwanted fight!"

That was when Angela stood up, attracting everyone's attention. "That's it! We have to start over!"

Everyone looked as confused as S'haar felt. Angela continued. "Listen, we can't hold this place without unacceptable losses. I think that's clear at this point. Even if we convince everyone to stay and fight, and somehow win, we'll take so many losses that rebuilding will be impossible, so instead, we tear it all down and leave!"

S'haar couldn't believe what she was hearing. After everything they'd been through over this last year together, Angela suggested they leave it all behind? "But your ship is stuck under the mountain! We worked so hard to save you and get you and Jack home! We can't just abandon that!"

Angela shook her head. "But I'm already saved! And what's more, Jack and I are already home! And no, I'm not talking about the ship or even this Outpost. I'm talking about here with you all." She looked over at Em'brel and Sare'en in the corner, then over to Lon'thul leaning against the wall deep in thought, and finally to Ger'ron and Fea'en warming their bones by the fire. "Wherever you all go, that's our home! Who cares if it's in the shadow of this mountain or not? We can rebuild and start over. What we can't do is replace any of you! What's more, by showing everyone we're willing to give up as much as we're asking them to, we're more likely to win even more of them over to our side!"

Jack nodded cautiously. "I agree with you in concept, but I don't think Lord A'ngles will let us just pack up and leave. Anything we leave behind will be used against us or other villages. And even if we're willing to part ways with our ship, we can't let it fall into A'ngles' hands. I doubt he'd be able to learn a whole lot from it, but anything he did would be too much!"

Angela turned to Jack. Even though her face was relatively emotionless, her voice was filled with mischief. "Listen, you just worry about getting everyone and everything packed and ready to leave, while also buying me some time. A day or two, at most! I'll worry about how to make sure this whole endeavor sets A'ngles back significantly and with minimal loss of life to boot!"

S'haar felt a slight hope, though admittedly, it was tinged with all sorts of misgivings. It felt wrong to up and leave this place, despite what Jack and Angela said. More than anyone other than the siblings, she knew that what they were giving up by walking away from that ship they'd called home for so long was enormous. As happy as they might be here, they were giving up even the hope of someday returning to the stars in the heavens. Instead, they were essentially dooming themselves to never seeing another human or AI again for as long as they'd live. She wondered if Jack realized the full price of what he was volunteering to do, even if there was no other viable option S'haar could think of.

As S'haar looked down at the small male who'd crash-landed into her life less than a year ago, he smiled comfortingly back to her. That smile might seem simple to many, but S'haar could read him well enough to see the wide range of emotions hidden behind that fragile expression. Fear, anxiety, hope, determination, anger, love, and even courage. She smiled back at him. Not so long ago, Jack would have flinched back from such an expression, but instead, he leaned in close and gave her a sideways hug. Through the hug, he offered strength while also drawing encouragement. It energized S'haar while also allowing Jack to cool his nerves and find the courage to do what needed to be done.

Most everyone in the room watched the pair, taking their own encouragement at the sight of such simple love and affection in the middle of everything going wrong. Not long ago, that attention would have been enough to make Jack want to run and hide, but instead, as they drew apart, Jack turned to Lon'thul. "What about it, meat for brains? If we're going to pull this off, we'll need the best hunter around to help us find our way through the wilderness. Someone who can give even the great Dek'thul a run for his money! Think you're up for the challenge?"

Lon'thul, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet since his father had called him out in the skirmish over To'brel, finally stirred as if waking up from a deep sleep. It took a few moments as he seemed to consider everything spoken about recently. As far as anyone could remember, this was perhaps the first time the hunter had taken the time to really think before speaking.

After another moment or two of tense silence, Lon'thul slowly grinned. "Well, if such a slow, small, frail," S'haar cleared her throat, warning him to stop insulting her male. Of course, Lon'thul didn't seem to hear. "handicapped male is willing to brave the wilderness. I'd have to be an absolute monster to leave him on his own to die out there! You'd all be lost without me!"

Something in his energy bled through to everyone as they stared, looking around with hope. Finally, it looked like they had a real chance to pull this off. Even Jack's grin grew bolder as he returned the hunter's newfound determination.

Something of the energy must have even gotten through to Grim, who stood up from his resting place to howl into the night. S'haar wondered if the sound would carry over the walls to A'ngles' camp and what they'd think if they could hear it.