“Team 7 start reinforcing the Noyb’s.” Harlev ordered and then pointing at another one of the commanders, he ordered, “Team 18 start harassing the Pobis family once the Orpus start attacking them,” as the situation ensued the reports kept on coming from every corner of the Layer, which he read and analyzed, giving out additional orders to make sure everything headed towards the desired direction.
When they arrived on this Layer, the skirmish had already heated up, almost on the verge of erupting into a full-blown war between the families who had been enduring for quite a while now. With the rapid progress of the settlement now over and it taking longer and longer for each expansion, the fighting for the resources had started despite everything looking calm on the surface. It was just that they never had a good cause to start a war but now they had, and a solid one at that so they did not pull back any punches.
In the midst of this chaos, Harlev and his men could meld into the forces of various families with minimum efforts spent on camouflaging. Taking advantage of that anonymity, Harlev had his men spread all over the Layer, some mixing into the families, while others acted as surveillance personnel, reporting about each and every change that occurred in the circular Layer of 10 kilometers in diameter.
“Sir, Noyb’s have started suffering considerable casualties. They may not be able to survive for much longer like this. The balance will be broken if we don’t do anything.”
“The moment Vissbl’s absence was noticed by the other families, this outcome was to be expected rather it would be problematic if they survive for much longer. What we need to do is to take advantage of their destruction. Team 9, you are to strike the Layoca family castle the moment Noyb castle’s formations are destroyed. You can use the explosives,”
“Orders received.”
It was a constant play of juggling many different variables and many different aspects. Using the information at their disposal to slowly chip away at the power of these families by carefully controlling the intensity with which they fought amongst one another. They did forget to pour fuel over the war, to make it rage even harder. Having multiple Data Stones worth of data upon each family, it was not difficult to achieve what they had. It was not a miracle, it was the result of tens upon tens of cycles of desperate struggle.
“Send me the reports,” Harlev ordered, and as he looked at the hologram that popped in front of him a moment later, he said, “Huu, less than expected. Good.”
Upon hearing this, his subordinate smiled and said with excitement pliable in his voice, “Everyone is giving their all, sir. Despite them not showing it outwardly, they have been waiting for too long for this moment.”
Looking at the man smiling so brightening, maybe it was because his settlement was next on the list to visit, Harlev said, “This much is not excellent, it is only expected. If even after all the time we have spent, if we had not achieved this much then it would have been better to kill ourselves than ever dream of revenge.”
As he said that, his fingers curled into a fist, nails cutting into his flesh. Blood flowed, from the wound onto his nails, running down on his fingers and then dripping onto the ground. It fell down but oddly slow, like it was drifting down rather than falling down. The nails dug even deeper but Harlev tried to keep the memories at bay, to stop them from exploding out. He would only let them out when the day for his revenge arrived, a day which was still some time away.
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Being leaders, they would have their revenge at last, that was what Revensol had ordered. But what was a little more wait after all this time? What was a little more wait when all of them could finally see the end of this miserable life? He could endure for a little longer, just like many others around him could.
***
“Are you out of your mind, Ranarge! Delay the supply delivery? Has your mind finally frozen always staying so close to the gates?”
“Calm down and listen to me dammit! Each and every one of you comes here and keeps fucking over me. Do you think I am your servant or something!? If you really have guts then go and shout at those guys like you have been doing at me,” Ranarge shouted, arm pointing back at the row of arms warriors suited in metallic body armor, standing there without any moment even though they most certainly heard the conversation.
Seeing the woman suddenly going silent, a scowl on her face he took a deep breath and once again started speaking, his voice lower, calmer.
“External outposts can wait. They still should have a few month's worth of supplies but at the moment those guys have taken over the place and closed the gates. You should have gotten an idea of what's happening in the upper layers so don’t go about antagonizing those guys unless you want those rifles to be pointed at your head.”
The scowl on the woman's face had grown more vivid but seeing that she had not interrupted him mid-way, he knew she was being convinced, and even if she was not, what could so do? Shout at those monstrous people? He did not think so. Even this far away their pressure was no joke, so much so that those harvesters who had to go on expeditions decided to delay a little rather than create meaningless conflicts.
“Keep in mind that I will be the first one to use the gates once they become accessible. Don’t bitching about them being used for too long because I will have to send multiple teams and a much larger quantity of supplies. Damn you and damn them!”
After saying that, the woman left but the scowl on Ranarge’s face did not diminish as he could already see another annoyance coming his way. If it had been a normal day, he would have been able to handle them all calmly, but with worries about Inero-ie and the current situation, it was getting difficult to manage.
***
Though many could be seen walking to different subsectors in the pathways between each sub-sector, not many people actually used them. The only reason they seemed crowded was due to the large number of people in the settlement. Each small part of an almost million-strong population was bound to be large. But at the moment, even that small part that walked through those paths was nowhere to be seen. Only intense fighting filled the pathways as two groups constantly tried to gain the upper hand.
Suddenly, an alarm rang throughout the Layer, in all of the Layers except the topmost Layer where the fighting continued unabated, the five noble families fighting with a mad fervor.
Some time passed and those fighting tried to disengage, knowing what the alarm signified. In some places, they accomplished it successfully but in others, they failed to do so before it happened.
From the Central Tower emerged a wave of dense Qi. Such was its density that it would have solidified instantly if not for the power exerted upon it by the tower. Remaining liquid under the tower's power, the Qi kept flooding out, making its way into the pathways, soon submerging everything including those that had been unable to make their way into any subsector. Soon, from the floor to the ceiling, all Layers were filled with Qi except the topmost Layer.
Time passed and for those that had been caught inside the Qi, their desire and their intent exploded without control and soon they were no more, becoming a part of the Qi that remained there until each and every inch of space lit up with weak light. Light so weak that it was devoured the moment it extended a few centimeters away from the origin. Innumerable formations etched on the floor, the ceiling, and the subsector wall were activated, and with it came an intense consumption of Qi but the Tower kept flooding more.