"Are you sure that the discretion is worth the extra time?"

"Pretty sure. And if the charted course is somehow compromised, you guys will be able to let us know."

"Tsk, you're becoming a true intelligence agent, using us as bait."

"I'm trying to do the opposite, but I won't deny that you guys getting attacked will give valuable intel on Scourge operations. Still, don't be too obvious. We still have a mission to carry out."

"Of course. It's not my first mission, kid. Don't worry about us."

Pollux waved me off. I could understand his concerns but regardless, his route would either succeed in staying subtle or draw out anything that might compromise the actual task force.

His route to the surrounding areas around the eastern crossing would take around 4 days to traverse. They would be going even deeper than the Snow Doves did, and he would be out there for weeks.

On one hand, spending so long traveling increased the chance of getting seen in general. On the other, the route I chose was discreet, never used by the Scourge nor our soldiers, and should be completely safe. If all went well, when I left with the infiltrators, we'd use that route as well and slip through with just as much subtlety.

I watched as Pollux and two of the Pathfinder squads made their final preparations. Pollux was good at collecting information since he would usually work with Polly before I arrived. I didn't believe he'd have any issues collecting more than enough intelligence while he was out there awaiting our arrival.

They were armed with three Steeds as well, giving them plenty of food, supplies, and space. They weren't supposed to fight anything. If they encountered anything, they would collect intel and go the opposite way. All they needed to do was observe.

I had already briefed everyone thoroughly. They all knew that this was a pretty dangerous mission despite merely being recon. However, there was a lot at stake. With every day, my bad feelings grew, especially as more intel was brought into the Treehouse. The Scourge wasn't here to mess around and I had a feeling that they were rather confident in bringing the base down.

Polly was right. This was rapidly becoming a war of intelligence. We needed to be able to see what they were trying to do ahead of time, or risk falling to sudden attacks of overwhelming force. Anarchy was an extreme example, but it was also only the tip of the iceberg.

What Anarchy did for me though was help me understand just how extreme things could get, and the conflicts befalling the Treehouse were far from hopeless. Any upcoming attacks could be thwarted, with relative ease, so long as we could collect enough intel.

I had slated Pollux to check out a few key areas on his way, not to mention how his route would ensure that the route itself wasn't being used by the Scourge in the same way that I was about to use it. Jasmine and I had already drafted more missions for both him and the generals at the Treehouse.

There were several moving pieces in play, and I felt like I was at the center of it. Under normal circumstances I'd feel a bit overwhelmed. I'd never taken on responsibility like this before where my words could dictate the lives and deaths of entire platoons. I was putting the Pathfinders at stake with my main mission while pulling on the manpower of the Treehouse, putting them in precarious positions in order to find more of these Bombardos. There were chances that they could be wiped out if I sent them into the wrong places in the wrong ways. I was being cautious, but this danger was a part of the job. I had to accept what could and would happen.

It was necessary. I was being thrown into the deep end with the authority that Polly and Jasmine were giving me, and while Jasmine had repeatedly approved of my thought processes and mission plans, I still didn't feel entirely confident since this was my first time doing any of this. Still, nobody else was making the effort, so I took it upon myself. I'd do what I could.

With all that in mind, under the cover of darkness, Pollux along with Squads 1 and 2 deployed. The three Steeds sped through the gates and disappeared onto the route I gave them.

Now, everything was in their hands.

I glanced to my side as someone approached. It wasn't Jasmine, but Amary. She had been with the other squads and only recently arrived from the Stronghold.

"Hey John."

"Hello."

"You've been mighty busy lately. Is everything going alright?"

"For now it is. Unfortunately I have a feeling that my work won't ease for a while. How are the other two squads?"

"Getting comfortable over in the tent area."

She glanced over at another side of the base where they had set up camp.

I nodded, opening my mouth to speak again before getting interrupted by another call.

"John!"

It was Jasmine, who flagged me down. I waved to Amary.

"I gotta go."

"Mm. See you…"

I left her side and jogged over to Jasmine. It was apparent that Amary wanted some of my attention the way she sought me out, but my focus was elsewhere. I didn't need to make good friends just for it to turn into a one sided thing. My busy schedule aided me in keeping my distance.

Jasmine and I walked into the headquarters.

After having some meetings with Brigadier General Hristo, Alois' cowed aide, we managed to get the green light for two recon missions. If they yielded any fruit, we could continue based on the collected information. If not, they wouldn't waste any more time with it. That meant I had to choose two locations to get looked at, and choose wisely.

Thankfully there were a few locations that I had a good feeling were housing those Bombardos. So we were quick to give him those locations and arrange the missions.

Now, we just had to brief the two squads who would be carrying the missions out at the same time.

I wanted to launch the missions as fast as possible because every day that passed was another

chance that Alois would find out about them and interfere. Not only that, but our intelligence wouldn't remain valid forever.

Since both Jasmine and I were here, we could monitor both recon teams side by side.

The two of us walked into the briefing room where both squads resided.

I could sense their power level before even opening the door. Each squad only had one Authority 6 soldier. The rest were either Authority 5 or 4. Pretty weak. Hristo wasn't giving us much to work with but since this was just a recon mission, any set of eyes that could look around was good enough. And while I was concerned about them getting back alive, that was lower on Hristo's priority list.

I felt everyone's eyes land on the two of us. There were 7 people in each squad and I seemed to attract most of them. My Aura was able to catch the multitude of thoughts and feelings, including scrutiny, intimidation, and a bit of lust going Jasmine's way.

Hristo wasn't here. He had better things to worry about. So for now, these two squads were under our sole control, answering to us. Jasmine also wanted me to lead this operation.

I stood before the front podium, operating the Orb and projecting an image of a map on the sheer white wall next to me.

"I am Captain Cooper, and this is Colonel Jasmine. We're going to be your Handlers for this mission. Your objectives tonight will be simple, yet potentially dangerous. First, who are the squad leaders? Raise your hand."

I saw two hands go up after a moment of inaction. They were the two Authority 6s. I already knew who they were but wanted to address them anyway.

"Alright. First, Squad 1. Your target area will be a westward valley about 38 miles from here."

I pointed to one of the highlighted routes, "You will proceed to this location with two Hummers, four of you in one and three in the other. After arriving at the first checkpoint at the base of this hill, the squad leader along with the next two strongest knights will disembark in order to travel, on foot, to the recon site. You will ascend this hill and stop at the top once you can see the valley below. Then, you'll relay what you can see and wait for the sunrise, unless ordered otherwise. After I've collected enough intelligence from you, you will turn around and head home."

I paused and looked toward the squad.

"Any questions?"

"What are we looking for?"

"I'll get to that. Any other concerns about your objectives up to this point?"

"..."

It was silent, so I nodded.

"Alright. Now, Squad two. Your objective will be identical, except you have another location, here."

I pointed to another route, one that took Squad 2 about 53 miles away.

"With the trail and the location, you should be able to conduct this mission within the day. I'm certainly not going to have you camp out. Get to the checkpoint, proceed to the recon site on foot, and collect information. Any questions?"

"..."

More silence. This mission was easy. The hardest part about it was reading the map to get to

the right place, which they shouldn't have issues with.

I nodded.

"Alright. Now, allow me to describe to you exactly what you're looking for."

I operated the Orb again and projected an image. After extensive work on my part, I managed to create an image of a Bombardo, to scale, based on what I saw earlier. It was colored and everything, with textured details and all the menacing looks I remembered.

There were some shocked murmurs as I explained.

"This is a Bombardo. It's a newly discovered Scourge species that's as massive as it looks. These Bombardos can launch explosive projectiles across vast distances and pose a great threat to the safety of the Treehouse. I couldn't give a damn about anything else. Your job tonight is to search for any sign of these things. Since they're so massive you should be able to spot them from safe distances. Now, while they're laying down they can look deceptively like hills themselves. It's only when they stand that they are obvious from ground level. Squad 1, since you'll be on a hill, it should be easy for you to pick them out when the sun rises and daylight sheds some light on them. Squad 2, you won't have it as easy since you'll be on a plain. Still, I want you to do your best. Look for anything, even the slightest hint that might indicate that a Bombardo is present. Any questions?"

I finished my monologue, everyone in the room intently focused on the image of the Bombardo. I wouldn't have to worry about them forgetting what it looked like, especially since they'd know when they saw it out in the field. These things were very obvious.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

After some minutes though, nobody had any questions. The mission was simple, as was the target. I wasn't asking them for particular details about the amount of troops or royals, or what the present royals looked like, nor details about the encampment they set up. I just wanted to know how many Bombardos there were. That was it.

I continued.

"Keep in mind that these Bombardos are surrounded by an army. You'll keep your distance, but the danger of being spotted by a Scout is still present. Squad 2, it'll be up to you guys to find a more elevated position in the plains you'll be on, anything that might help you stay out of sight yet get a good view of anything in the area. Still, safety comes first. Don't go rolling in just to get spotted and chased by an army. Squad leaders, is everything I've said understood?"

"...Yes sir."

The two leaders nodded, eyes still on the image of the Bombardo.

I turned the Orb off, catching everyone's eyes again.

“Alright. Each squad will operate two hummers. Pack a day's worth of rations. Both squads will deploy in half an hour by the front gates. If there are any concerns or clarifications that I need to address, whether that's directions or otherwise, come up now. Otherwise, you're all dismissed to prepare."

With my word, the two squads rose from their chairs. Most of them headed out, but the map readers for each squad had questions about directions so I clarified things for them.

Before long everything was clarified. It was when they left that Jasmine finally spoke, the two of us alone in the room.

"Good job. You're a natural at ordering people around."

"In what way am I ordering them around?"

"It's in your tone."

She smiled when I glanced at her, standing and stretching.

"The hardest thing about these briefings is getting a bunch of shit from the soldiers that don't want to be told what to do by a summoner. Ironically, the more powerful the soldier, the less likely they'll care. It's the weak ones that get butthurt taking orders from a summoner. That's why we need to talk and carry ourselves a certain way. Give them no room to complain or challenge you. Own the room, take charge, show no weakness. You're really good at that."

"Hm, thanks I guess. Not that I'm really going out of my way to do so."

"Yes, it seems to come naturally to you. You're tall and built like a brick house, not to mention how powerful you are, so I'm sure it's easy to carry yourself as such."

"Heh."

I chuckled when she walked over and knocked on my abs. I followed her out when she exited, the two of us emerging from the headquarters to see our two squads packing their hummers.

Jasmine fell behind me as I strode in front of her, heading to the garage where I grabbed a bike. Those squads weren't the only ones deploying. In order to maintain communications with them and Jasmine, I would be heading out there to station myself between the three parties.

Jasmine spoke while I took my seat.

"Be careful out there, Cooper."

"I'm the last person to worry about on this mission."

"You're going out there alone. Usually the only people who do that are Chiefs or Brigadiers. And if Polly had anything to say about this, you wouldn't be going anywhere without at least a full squad to your back. I'm trusting that you'll keep risks to a minimum and stay invisible. Don't make me regret giving you this independence."

I powered on the bike before turning to her and smiling.

"Don't worry so much. If I were any dumber I would've died a while ago."

"Yes, that's what I'm betting on."

She smirked before we both turned our heads. The two squads were ready to go.

The half hour passed quickly. Soon enough the two hummers were by the gates ready to deploy. Jasmine retreated to headquarters, connecting to my Aerial and allowing me to link to the other two squads as well.

With some quick checks we were ready to go. I gave the signal.

"Deploy."

With that, the hummers drove off. I followed behind soon after, heading to my own target area.

While I wanted to be out there to facilitate communications, this was also a fantastic chance to recon yet another area I had suspicions about.

There was no reason I couldn't do both.

......

Some hours later, a little while before the sun peeked over the horizon, I approached my personal recon area. Comms had been quiet while the squads made their way out and with how fast my bike was, I made it to my area first.

My third target was a ravine to the west near the mountain range that separated the Treehouse

from the Stronghold. This ravine was long and was one of the routes I had thought about taking to sneak the infiltrators past the battlefields and get them to the eastern crossing.

However, I had reason to believe that the Scourge was probably using it for transportation purposes as well. I just wanted to verify.

"Liaison to Handler. I'm approaching the target area."

I chimed in on Jasmine's line. This recon of mine was exactly why she had been worried about me going out alone. It was dangerous but I was smart and my Crown was uniquely suited toward these kinds of tasks.

"Copy Liaison. Stay low, please."

"Will do."

I continued up the hillside that would lead to the ravine. At some point I ditched the bike as well, going the rest of the short way on foot.

Out here, I smelled none of the rotten odor of the fungus the Scourge was spreading everywhere. The air was crisp and the flora was dense.

However, I had an eerie feeling as I walked over the hill. After some time, I realized what was giving me that feeling.

The forest around me was dead silent.

Not a good sign, especially during the morning, so I activated my stealth and maintained it while cresting the hill.

I soon had a fantastic view of the ravine. And there, at the bottom where the hill across from me descended into the bottom of the hill I was on, I saw a legion.

There were easily tens of thousands of monsters, along with several camps that contained Royals. None of these camps were spreading that blight on the land, likely to maintain their secrecy up to this point. This army was using the rest of the war to distract the Treehouse.

More importantly, the army was moving.

Off into the distance I could see 14 Bombardos moving across the ravine with shocking silence. They were moving slowly, but they were moving. The rest of the thousands beneath them were stationary but the Bombardos cared not for what was beneath their insectoid legs, so entire crowds scrambled to move, yet some were still crushed.

I could barely feel or hear the slight quakes from their stomping. Not that it mattered. That wouldn't be what gave their position away.

What mattered was that I was right. They were gathering troops and preparing for an offensive that would level the Treehouse as a whole, built entirely around the newly introduced Bombardos. While this wasn't the largest army I had seen from the Scourge, the aura radiating from it was quite harrowing.

There was an Authority 10 here. However, the danger I sensed was greater than that produced from a single Authority 10.

In fact, not even 5 minutes after I crested the hill, I looked toward one of the tents and saw a Royal walk out.

Its body was purple, with two digitigrade legs and a faceless head. What substituted its face was a ring of teeth that protruded from the front of its oval head. Within that ring of teeth was a void of nothingness.

What I felt when I gazed upon that hole was sheer hopelessness. Not the same hopelessness that Anarchy instilled, but one fueled by despair and nihilism. It was relatively weak, not enough to affect me. I managed to wash away those feelings pretty quickly. However, what I immediately realized was that this thing had a powerful Aura rather far above mine and fueled by power I couldn't yet fathom.

If its Aura could affect me at all from a distance of at least two miles, I had to not only be within its area of effect, but it had to be at least Authority 10 like the other Royal not far from it. And the fact that I actually couldn't sense its power meant that I had no business being here.

So after merely 5 seconds of staring at it, I turned and darted off in the opposite direction. I activated my boots on top of that, making me fly down the hill and to my bike. Once I reached it and powered it on, I spun out and shot off into the distance, not so much as looking back.

Gradually, my stress diminished. In fact, it was only after I relaxed that I realized just how scared I was. My heart pounded in my chest even after I put miles between us.

More than that, I realized what it meant for me to not even understand how risky that had been. That thing's Aura was so powerful that I hadn't been able to sense the danger it posed. It was only from its looks and the faint feelings of despair I got that I surmised how powerful it should be. I didn't actually get an accurate read on its power. I only guessed.

That was fucking dangerous.

After I had traveled 10 miles, I finally heard some words from my Aerial.

"Squad 1 to Handler, we are approaching the checkpoint."

Those words helped me calm down a bit more. I pulled off to the side and clicked into the channel.

"Copy Squad 1. Continue on, but be advised. Things may be more dangerous than initially assumed. Be careful when cresting your hill, make your observations quick, and get out."

"...Copy."

I got my response before switching to Jasmine's channel.

"Come in, Handler."

"I'm here Liaison."

"I've got some bad news."

"I'm listening."

I took a few more breaths to calm my heart. My blood pressure must've hit a new high score because now I had a headache.

"There's a massive army in the ravine. From my rough guess, there's around 40 thousand troops. There are also 14 Bombardos, all of them currently making their way down the ravine at a slow pace. There may be more beyond but I'm not daring to check."

"...Copy Liaison. Is it that dangerous?"

"Yes. There are also at least two Authority 10s down there."

"...Fuck."

Jasmine went silent for a little while after cursing.

"...Copy. Did you see what they looked like?"

"I only saw one. It had a purple body, digitigrade legs, and a face with a black hole on it surrounded by a ring of spiky teeth."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. Liaison, repeat that description."

"...Purple body, digitigrade legs, a face with a black hole on it surrounded by spik-"

"Fuck!"

I was interrupted by another curse, my face falling.

"What is it, Handler?"

"...I'm not saying here. We'll talk more about this when you get back. Just know it's not good. You should also seriously consider calling the mission off."

"Squad 1 is already at their checkpoint, and Squad 2 will be arriving soon. Are you sure? If this is as bad as it's looking, we may need more information in order to convince the Brigadier to move."

"..."

"I'll defer to you, Jasmine, if you think it's too risky. I don't mind taking responsibility but I want your experienced advice."

"..."

She was silent, hesitating. We needed more information but now the lives of two squads were seriously at risk. Question was, did we take the risk so we could better convince someone as stupid as Alois, or did we preserve the two squads and rely on my sole observation lasting approximately 5 minutes.

"Come in Handler. We're crested the hill."

I switched channels as soon as I heard the voice. That was Squad 1.

"Go ahead, Squad 1. Tell me what you see, quickly."

"I see... There's a large army. Several thousand. I also see one of those Bombardos... Make it 4, actually. No, 5. There's also a few tents, I think."

"Copy. You can confirm the presence of Bombardos?"

"Yes, those are definitely Bombardos. One of them is a different color though. Instead of green, the fifth one is red. It also looks bigger."

I was silent for a bit. I wasn't sure what that meant but bigger and meaner wasn't a good sign in any of my books.

"Copy that, Squad 1. Tha-"

"Shit, there's a Scout."

I heard him curse, the channel going quiet for several seconds before coming back in full force.

"It's a cyclops! Get back to the hum- shit!"

"Squad 1, what's going on?"

"It destroyed the hummer!"

"Fuck..."

I cursed under my breath.

They were dead.

"Marley is dead... Fuck! Not like this!"

"..."

"Hurry up an- Agh! Handler! We need help!"

"..."

I was dead silent, the silence in the forest around me contrasting against the screams in my mind.

"There's a Royal... We're dead..."

"Take the Overkill pill."

"I... Dammit! Damn you!"

"..."

The channel went silent again, and then remained that way.

Like I had during my first recon mission with the Treehouse, both squads recieved Overkill pills. It was standard issue for such missions.

It would burn their life for unbelievable power.

It was suicide, but that was better than being Corrupted.

After about a minute of silence, I switched channels.

"Handler."

"Go ahead."

"Squad 1 has been wiped out."

"..."

"I'm pulling Squad 2 out."

With that I switched to the other channel.

"Handler to Squad 2, come in."

"..."

I waited, and got nothing but silence.

"Handler to Squad 2, come in."

"..."

More silence. Putting my Aerial down, I leaned back into the bike and drove off.

I sent one last message to Jasmine.

"Handler, Squad 2 is dark. I'm going to move a bit closer and try to hail them for a bit longer. If I don't get anything within two hours, I'm going to come back."

"...Copy, Liaison. Just don't get yourself killed too."

I didn't respond, simply rolling along my trail, continuing to hail Squad 2.

That went on until the sun rose, well beyond when they should've checked in.

Even after 4 hours, I heard nothing.

So I went back to the Treehouse, my heart heavier than lead.