Len landed in the open seat next to Rache. She snorted as soon as he landed. Her large, scaled tail twitched. Oh, that’s going for my head. It launched upwards, moving at him in the blink of an eye. Yep.

Len could have dodged it but he figured this conversation may go better if she thought she got the better of him at the start. He braced himself for the blow. Then it hit him, harder than he guessed, but nothing damaging. Len hammed the blow up a bit, letting the momentum carry him out of the seat for a second. Hoping to seal that feeling of satisfaction in Rache’s mind. He was going to need every advantage.

Len rubbed the back of his head as he sat back down. Rache turned her head, attempting to veil a smile. Good.

“That’s for scaring my guys. You know, the ones you probably singed on your little flight over.” She relaxed into her seat throwing an arm over the back of the seat. “What do you want? Not like we have much time.” Rache asked through the side of her mouth, another set of alarm bells rang out as if to make her point. She twirled a finger in the air.

“What? Can't I just have a friendly little chat with a beautiful,” Len rubbed the faux head wound, wincing slightly as he did, “ and powerful coworker?” Len asked, trying to sound as innocent as a schoolgirl.

Rache let out a single hearty HA. “What a day that would be. Two council members chatting without any agendas, just catching up and shooting the shit while we march to our inevitable deaths on the field of battle.” She closed her eyes and took a breath, continuing to exhale. “But alas, that day isn’t upon us yet.” She reopened her eyes and looked straight at Len. “What do you want?” She repeated slowly, each word of the question getting extra emphasis.

Len held back the big knowing smile he so desperately wanted to show. She and Jaren truly are a perfect match. He coughed, then answered her question.

”Something small. Terribly simple. Shouldn’t burden much at all. Just need to borrow one sub-level ten Support with stamina rechargeability. Especially one who doesn’t ask a whole lot of questions.”

Rache blinked. A few times actually. Her disbelief of such a blatant and frankly outlandish request was not as well hidden as her cheer was earlier. She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Is this one of your signature pranks? If so, it's in incredibly bad taste. You can’t just ask for something like that of a Commander. Not on the day of a Raid. Especially not on the drive over to the staging grounds. I don’t know how you idiots run the Fourth, but crap like this doesn’t fly in the Third. And it's my Legion's turn to handle the initial wave this time around.”

Rache moved from rubbing her nose to her temples, even more furiously. “I swear what is with you two today making ridiculous requests.”

Len’s head tilted. “You two? Who else asked you for something?”

“Your ex-wife.”

And that explains where Fennel’s squad went.

“She asked you to add a squad to your lineup,” Len said with a sigh.

She nodded. “Yep, the one Herman’s boy leads. I thought he was with you and Jaren.”

Well, at least she didn’t put him in too much danger. It's probably for the best, all things considered. His squad was gutted even before losing the twins and Liam. They’ll all probably make it through this. But how should I approach this now?

Len turned back to Rache once he finished thinking. “Yes, he is.”

“And that wasn’t a part of y’all’s plans, huh? First Ones above, I am so tired of all the damn politics. I didn’t become a Legion Commander to get involved in all this…whatever the hell it is.”

“Intrigue,” Len said.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, intrigue. I rose up to make sure I could save as many lives as I could. Both in the City and on the battlefield.”

Len’s ears perked up at that comment. There’s the way in. Need to play this right. Truth peppered with a well seasoned guilt trip. He cleared his throat after finding the right words. “And that’s exactly why I need the Support. To save some lives.”

“That’s generally what they do. But why do you need one? Jaren’s got plenty. Tiamat knows he’s got more than me at this point.”

“It’s for my own squad,” Len said flatly.

Rache’s head swiveled as if she had just been punched in the face. “Just not going to quit with the haymakers today. Since when do you have a squad? And why did you form it without a Support? That’s like rule number one.”

Len stared hard at her. “Because you let Lirae stage a squad that wasn’t fully prepared. They were missing three soldiers. And those three were on their way to Tiamantis until I stepped in. Three soldiers under level ten. Two of which just graduated. They would be eaten alive out there and you know it. But Lirae wanted to play her games and you didn’t stop to ask why. Now she’s endangering our people to get her way.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Rache’s face darkened. “That’s, no, she wouldn’t. Why?” Her knuckles popped as she balled her fists. She turned away.

One last nudge.

“I don’t know. Yet there is something I’m certain about.” Len pulled her back, his face solemn.

“You can save them, Rache. I’m going to have them join in the second wave. Should be safe, no. They will be safe with your squads on the field with them. They just need one Support. Trust me, this team is wild, they only need a little help.”

Rache stayed still for a moment. An eternal one by Len’s standards. He really needed this to work. Finally, she nodded, then held her hand up to her chin, her eyes moving side to side as she thought.

“Orso!” She shouted into the wagon.

A wulfen gene splicer popped his head out. “Yes Ma’am?”

“Find him a Support.”

Len cheered internally, making sure not to let it slip.

I won’t be outplayed, Lirae.

——

“Get your sheet ready kid!” Gerre yelled from the front of the wagon. The twins and I were strategizing while we waited. Not that there was much to do on that front. It seemed to boil down to me being at the front, pulling as much aggro from them with Hait assisting me and Tawny being our main source of damage. Brilliant, I know. Oh my dear sweet Ursa, I must rely upon you again. Help me keep these kids alive. I thought as I jumped into the driver’s seat.

Once out of the wagon, I saw what lay on the other side of the gate. Hundreds of splicers, fully geared, marched across the wide open space. A field completely devoid of any vegetation aside from sparse patches of grass. The troops gathered in large blocks, each maybe a hundred or so. It reminded me of how soldiers were depicted in Earth’s history, well how TV shows did at least. (Okay, it was mostly historical animes)

Empty wagons passed on by, off to gather more troops.

A wet cough reminded me that we stopped for a reason: the guard posted under the gate. A gnarly and scarred up dwarf with furred limbs stood. A pit grew in my stomach. Would it be weird if he looked over and just saw a barrel? Or a log. Cuz that sounds kind of nice right now.

He spoke without looking up at me. “Squad name and Legion.”

I swallowed. “Um, L7. Fifth Legion.”

He froze, then slowly raised his head to look up at me, brows furled. “Do you really think this is the time for jokes, boyo? Now what is your squad and Legion?”

“Kid’s not lying, Brost,” Gerre said.

The guard named Brost looked down at Gerre.

“I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard something about the Fifth getting a squad. Some might even say its me damned job.”

“Check his sheet,” Gerre said, stretching his arms.

The dwarf squinted at Gerre, then moved back to me.

After an awkward moment, a notification popped up.

[Share Your Character Sheet with: “Brost Blines”]

[Yes] [No]

Blines huh? Wonder if he’s Fennel’s family. I confirmed it. The guard's eyes glazed over. I decided it’d be best to give it a quick glance for myself. I was curious about what changed.

CHARACTER SHEET

Name: Liam Foster

Level: 4

Race: Human

Monster Gene: Mimic

Titles: Squad Captain of L7, Fifth Legion of Laurelhaven. Appointed by “Leonard Ainsworth”

I didn’t bother reading any further after seeing the new addition. Nothing else had changed. Titles eh? I wondered why I didn’t get any notification about that, but the answer was pretty clear. Tutor didn’t add it in.

The guard’s eyes widened. “Well, I’ll be Denn’s furry sack. The bastard actually made a squad. And it's headed up by a Level Four at that.” Brost shook his head. “Ainsworth seems as crazy as the rumors suggest. Sucks for you kid.”

I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. He looked down at the papers, ruffling through them.

“When did he set up this squad of yours? I don’t have an assignment for you.”

“Ten minutes ago, by my guess at least,” I answered.

“Of fecking course,” he mumbled to himself. “Never make a man’s life easy. Blasted Council. Selfish prods, the lot of them.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” A voice came from the bottom of the scaffolding. I looked down and saw the cause of the confusion. Len looked up at me and winked, before addressing the guard directly.

“Start of the Second Wave.”

The guard nodded, seeming to not care that he just insulted a member of this City Council everybody made a big deal about.

“Aye, Field Seven then.”

“Perfect. We’re meeting someone at Field Six.” Len clapped his hands together.

Then the blare of a war horn filled the air, making me and everyone around, flinch. Brost’s eyes shot open. Before I could ask Len what the horn was, he’d blasted off, heading for the top of the Wall from the looks of it.

The haggard dwarf turned back to me. “Move out NOW!”

Gerre pulled the wagon out of nowhere, making me almost lose my balance.

I looked up at the soldiers marching, but they weren’t marching anymore. They were jogging now. Their footsteps thundered out across the field, louder as the vibrations bounced off the outer wall.

Len landed next to me. “What’s going on?” I asked him.

He just shook his head and pointed out at the field. I followed his finger, then in the distance, maybe a mile ahead of the Legion, the field had darkened.

“They’re already here.”