The next morning, the Aldecaldos were parked by the bridge before I got up.

No one had thought to wake me up. Maybe they just figured I needed the sleep.

Alina hadn't added them to the exceptions list yet, she just kept the cannons from targeting them.

I cast a quick Cleanse and tried to put myself in order before walking over to them.

Then I had Alina add them into the allies list.

To say they freaked out was an understatement, most of them were half in their cars before I could get their attention.

Sally had her monster of a rifle aimed at me before she realized who she was targeting. Awkward.

"I said I solved the spying problem!" I had my hands up and they stayed up 'til she lowered her aim. I was still grinning though. Her face went through a thousand emotions before settling on relief and joy. That smile would live in my mind forever. I'd never seen anything so beautiful.

She dropped her rifle ran over and tackle hugged me. Thankfully my increased strength let me absorb her energy. I returned the hug firmly but carefully. She smelt of gun oil and synth leather.

Oh that felt nice. She genuinely missed me. Her warmth bled into me filling me with a sense of belonging.

A moment later Megan had joined in. She wrapped her soft arms around us, trying to squish us. She smelt of some perfume, cinnamon and clove and something else I couldn't identify.

I was melting inside. Her face carrying a cocky grin that also plucked my heartstrings. I had never felt so... loved.

Is that what this is? This fierce concern and protectiveness that burned deep inside me. This desire to never part from them again. Seemed awful quick. Yet I couldn't imagine not wanting to be right there, right then.

"We saw the explosion, we were worried they had killed you. We checked and couldn't find you, but we saw your tracks, we knew you had gotten away. Then we were worried you were going to cut us out." Megan started talking real fast. Sally just buried her face deeper into my neck.

It took me a second to parse what Megan had said.

"What? Cut you out? Why the fuck would I do that?" I really didn't understand the female mind. I slipped an arm around Megan's softer frame squeezing her gently.

"Some noble idea of protecting us." Amanda chimed in from the sidelines where she was watching with glittering eyes and huge knowing smile.

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"Darlin' you ain't joking, this danged fool has been working himself to the bone trying to get the place ready for y'all." Raynor had snuck up on the scene while I was distracted. Well he had just ambled over, but I was really distracted. "Been awhile since I'd seen anyone so focused on fixin' things."

"Umm... " I was starting to get a little uncomfortable with everyone watching us. Even some of the Probes had stopped their tasks and were scanning us. Lumi was nearby with a wolfish grin. And Faergin was dancing close by while a few Nomads were looking at him in shock.

I didn't really like being the center of attention for too long. Short bursts are great but this was getting weird.

"Shhh." Sally vocalized just holding me like she never wanted to let me go. Okay, suddenly I could just let it all go, and nothing else mattered. They were my world in that moment.

Megan hummed some song she liked while we all just stayed like that.

I really had no clue what to do now. So I just gave up and followed their lead.

When the hug ended I no to desire to say anything. Neither did they.

So, I led them over to the warehouse where the Probes had been storing the rations every morning. I grabbed a pull cart that had been put together by a builder and filled it with ration pouches. We brought them back to the camp the Aldecaldos had already set up and handed them out.

I should mention that the rations weren't "rations". They were stasis locked meals, preserved at the peak moment of their preparation. As these were labeled "High Quality" they were pretty damned good meals. However they weren't labeled as to what meal was inside, so you got what you got.

Today I ended up with a gravy coated country fried steak served with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. A cup of rich dark roast coffee was also in the pouch. They was dimensional bullshit I could get behind. That was a jackpot as far as I was concerned.

Sally had a prime rib with some fancy sauce, steamed vegetables and a couple of rolls slathered in honey butter. Her drink was a glass of red wine. A little too much for breakfast but tasty looking anyway.

Megan's meal was a whole 14' pizza with all the meats and some veggies too with a side of buffalo wings. She got a tall glass of soda. That also looked good.

I saw them trade meals. They took bite of each others and even grabbed a few bites of mine as well. I didn't mind.

While we where eating, I explained what I did with the Pylons. They seemed to actually listen and liked the idea of being able to work right under someone's nose while they had no clue.

"Any plans to make it mobile?" Sally probably wanted it for her truck.

"Sure, some of the Khalai tech already has that feature, I just have to figure out how to adapt it." I nodded and explained how I was trying to get it down to something you could strap on your belt.

Then I went into how I had used Megan's idea of tunneling and Project Underbridge. The plan to have hidden wells and reservoirs was really exciting to them.

"If you achieve nothing else, that alone would change the power dynamic in the badlands. We'd always be able to get away and be able to hide in the most remote areas." Megan was plotting how best to take advantage of all I offered.

After we were finished eating, I walked over to Amanda who was talking with Raynor.

Hmm. They seemed to be hitting it off. Interesting.

I asked Amanda if she could formally agree to an Alliance between New Lordaeron and all the Aldecaldos. She said she would needed to call up a couple of folks and get their opinions but if they agreed we could work something out.

I nodded. It would be a quick solution to the one quest.

In the meantime, I decided to show Sally and Megan around while telling them my full story.