Yelling arose, here and there. Quickly, James and company took position of their opposition. The emplacements were facing upwards toward the figure in the three story structure. The Lieutenant eager to order fire on the sniper, the soldiers cocking back the chamber with the chink and crunch of metal locking into place.

However, as James faced and looked toward the figure, he noticed that it was in fact not holding a rifle of any sort, but of some sort of long range scope for viewing.

Terem! thought James, it's gotta be him.

"Stand down everyone! Put down your weapons!"

"One sniper Commissioner? He's scouting us!" said the Lieutenant, "Lets end the fucker now!"

James made a quick stride toward the Lieutenant and reached for his collar. He stood, leaning slightly backwards, in shock of the sudden action. James stared into him, gripping his neck tightly. He then said,

"That 'fucker' is the very field diplomat to the HOMC himself. I suggest you swallow those recent words with regret and make smarter decisions. I will not tolerate such erratic behavior."

The Defense Ordinance troops gazed back at James, and they stayed quiet hunkered down with their rifles and emplacements trained on the three story structure. James released the Lieutenant and faced out toward the troops.

"Stand down. Terem come here!

And sure enough, it was Terem Stult, poking his head out from a strut on the roof of the building. He looked quickly  down below from side to side at the men below. He then made his way down from the war torn structure.

"How did he pull off getting away from us?" Said James facing out to his personal guard.

"He must have been behind all of us heading out over here." Said Vienen.

"Well being around him for awhile, he tends to set out on his own to establish formality on the situation or mission. He probably wanted a head start." Riley said, looking at others with knowledge.

It was quiet. James looked out to the rest of the groups and especially the lieutenant.By this point he had let go of his neck and walked forward toward the structure awaiting Tarem Stult to come out. The bliss of the chill air swept over all of them, mixed with the dense soot of the burning from near and far structures. The clouds hung low, the winds were quite strong coming from the breeze of the beach.

Before, Korris had always been a wonderful place to visit. Many from all places of Aeria came not so much for the weather, but the scenery and architecture. Some of the most magnificent buildings had been constructed here, but sadly in these times, many had lain in waste,ruble, or tainted with the punctures of bullets, smears of ash and blood.

This place was a port city, a place where many people of different walks of life met and socialized. James had been here a few times, and it was during his course of training with what they called at the time the "Early Elites." From recent events,and due to horrid leadership, the West D's were in desperate need of assistance.

Standing out with a strict posture, James observed Terem Stult arising from the ruble of the lower levels of the building. Terem with eager expression to speak, tripped on a row of re-bar in embarrassment. He stumbled back up and stood front and center in front of James.

"I apologize sir, I- I.."

"What are you doing Stult?" Said James with a stern tone.

"I went to get a head start on retrieving that field observation, there was so much to see! There are opportunities of engagement within the closer parts of the shores. There is obvious movement and activity of Septem Sympathizer groups and Septem Spec Ops units. Ships hoarding in supplies are coming in from what I believe carriers out off in the waters. They are supplying their offensive."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Great info, but don't leave my side without my consent. Especially now since you're with me."

"Yes sir."

James turned around to face all of the Defense Ordinance troops and Personal Order Guards. The wind had picked up a bit and in order, the long coat James had worn flayed and swung to the current. He made his announcement.

"Today, we attack. Today we take back Korris."

He walked quickly to the center of the make shift base and made a notion for the Lieutenant to follow, the Personal Guard swiftly followed behind as well as Tarem Stult.

They reached the table of operations and James began the discussion.

"Tarem would you please do the honors."

"Yes sir," Tarem walked closer to the table and placed a hexagonal shaped device in the center of the table. He pushed a particular button of which made the object blink twice in a green light. Out flashed a screen hovering above the table giving a mapping layout of Korris and other sectors.

"Ah yes, it is here now we make our move. Our first order of business will be to extract out any of those Defense Ordinance troops. We gotta come in hard and fast, pull out quick. We need to recon that area."

"With 92 available men, our options are a bit limited. We really need to think this one through." Said Hanid while looking out to the others.

"We aren't going to need them all. Just enough to get the job done." Said James," We'll utilize 3 of the MACs all of which are 762's, and 1 Prypylon. That should be enough. 45 men should handle this well."

The group nodded and understood the task. James swiped the digital map towards his right to get a view on the headlands.

"Alright, assuming that the extraction of the missing Defense troops is a success, we carry on forward toward the headlands to take back our installations."

A few looked at James, and Riley commented,

"Sir, shouldn't we gather stable grounding before we push on?"

"The HOMC hired me for a purpose guardsman, I'll be making decisions."

Riley nodded and James continued,

"Lieutenant Banks"

"Yes sir"

"After the extraction, you gather your men and set up defense emplacements near that area to gain ground, in case of counter offensive."

"In case? There will be a counter offensive, there's probably a carrier out in the ocean right now shipping to and from supplies, and other tech." Said Tarem Stult," The fog hangs low, especially out closer to the shores. I could not see the carrier itself, but I'm sure of it being there. Aircraft had routinely flown in and out of the fog."

"I understand Tarem. There will be some form of aerial engagement, which is why my proposed second wave will bring the remaining Prypylons, Defense Ordinance troops and MACs equipped with RFS to continually push back Septem forces."

"I just hopes this works." Lieutenant Banks stated.

"It will, and hopefully this redeems you of your questionable actions." Said James with passion.

James reached out to the center of the table and pushed the button again which made the device retract its digital screen. All six of them stood around the table, and James gazed at all of them for their reassurance.

"Well then. Lets go."