The Revolution Council held an emergency meeting. The atmosphere was in its most tense position (by what Joshua heard for fifty years). The council room was filled with a deafening atmosphere as everyone tried to talk amongst one another and find solutions to their problems. The citizens outside had run in a panic, and some went on a mass migration outside of the city in fear of being caught and executed. Some decided it was best to leave the planet, as many had taken sanctuary on mining planets and agriculture planets; some even made their way into the United Republic City Planets.

Joshua stood on guard to make sure any event that could disturb this event would not happen. Once Grand Commander Lios entered the room, his silky robe swept across the floor, leaving clean mirrored tiles in his wake. Commander Peta sat next to him, and the other three also sat carefully. Some bit their fingernails while others rocked their legs, maybe in excitement or maybe in fear.

He raised his hand, and in solitude, everyone raised theirs too.

"We have come to a harsh time, my brothers and sisters." He lowered his hand. “An attack on the electoral building has happened, killing a few hundred and injuring thousands more. This attack has been blamed on us, and moving forward, we should not be surprised by prosecution, execution, and crimes that I cannot detail at this very moment.” He sombered.

Everyone either stayed silent or muttered to themselves. The children had their section and watched in anticipation of the upcoming news. Lips gasped, and sadly, he picked up his head, holding himself up tall.

"We must stay reserved; we cannot take brash attacks that will ruin our public opinion; we have no way of proving ourselves, and doing so may make us look worse; for now, we will keep the people safe, our number one priority.” He continued, “I do have to be truthful; we will have war; the outcome I did not want, but we will get; we can delay it for one year, ten years, hundred years, but it will come, just like we were foretold for every generation.” Lips warned carefully.

A door burst open, and running through, sweating down his body, was Prime’s assistant, another Spy. He gasped heavily and fell to his knees, putting his hands on his knees and standing up, using his hips to help him stand up.

"Bad news.” He said he was exasperated.

"Kurl, I suggest this be saved for later.”

“Pohl has used the explosion to use public opinion to take control of the city; he had just started a vicious campaign to kill and capture any reptiles in Caldera; not even the outskirts are safe; worst of all, he told me he knows where the city is, and an operation will be sent here in 3 months.” Kurl ignored Lios' request.

Everybody panicked, and all the guards had a hard time maintaining structure. In a last-ditch effort, Lios grunted towards Joshua. He sighed and rushed to the door, blocking it quickly before anybody could leave the room.

"YOU IDIOTS,” Lios screamed in anger; his voice boomed hard, and he snarled roughly and started hissing again.

Some of the political members tried using the side entrances, but the children had blocked those as well. Kurl fell to his knees and panted very heavily. Prime only stayed in his seat, his fingers crossing over one another as he watched. His sweat dropped to the floor, and the room’s heat became more intense.

Lios came to him on the floor as he walked to the crowd, glared at him aggressively, and continued to try and break the crowd of political members up; he did not want them to warn the people and cause a mass panic.

Kurl gasped even more and smiled when he faced the floor, maybe in confusion; maybe he was under some sort of spell, but he had seemed to go crazy.

"Everyone, please listen; we can fix this.” Lios tried to calm the crowd down.

"NO, THERE ISN’T!” A member screamed fearfully; he shuddered at the thought of being invaded. “We will be exterminated; our families, friends, everything will be gone.”

A few cried at the moment, but most were angered.

"This is for the best.” Another loudly exclaimed.

"A panic will create more tension; we will crumble under our skin; it is better if we.”

"We what?” Another question, people mumbled and HMM in acceptance, “We say it nicely; you think that'll work as well?"

Lios stuttered and retreated.

"Fine, I’ll let you leave, but what will happen if we tell them that they must pack immediately and leave immediately for the risk that they may get killed soon or get killed on the surface while on the run for their entire lives?" Lios explained.

Joshua watched the conversation and saw a few heads turn in confusion. It was true; when Prime revealed this news, it was over from that point on. No point of explanation was going to go down the right path for the revolution.

"I have an idea,” Prime said breathlessly. He stood from his chair, his eyes filled with determination.

"We strike them first," Prime announced.

Lios turned around suddenly to Prime; he limped slightly, and burn marks went across his scar. Joshua saw the skin move, and Prime healed himself slowly in front of everybody. He was shedding his skin right during that moment.

"We have to, Lios, and I know you don't agree, but we decided; we are a republic, so let's just choose right now.”

"You have no authority,” Lion said, pushing his face into Primes.

"ALL IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HANDS.”

Before anybody could react, a shot of hands rose by the nervous politicians. They knew what had to be done.

"I'm sorry, Lios, but it has to happen this way; you said it yourself; we cannot attain our freedom without war, and we will bring them war for all the hardships they caused us. Remember." He paused for a moment as more hands shot up. “REMEMBER.” HE screamed

Many hands shot up more and more, and one by one, they joined the war effort. The lion's mouth stumbled through words, jibbering and mumbling as he wondered what to say. He looked at himself through the reflection of the tile under him and pondered. He looked marvelous, yet weak.

So once everybody had raised their hands in defeat, so did Lios in solidarity. The children and Joshua were shocked by this, and Lios looked behind them with teary eyes. Peeta was almost about to cry as he looked at his leader.

"For us, we shall commit grave sins; are we ready to do so?" He hiccuped in a sad state.

Everybody kept their hands raised, and they all shuddered at the future ideas of the war.

"For the revolution.” Lios quietly said.

"FOR THE REVOLUTION!" everyone screamed, all but Prime, who stood there contemplating his deed.

—

Suddenly arriving was Grand Commander Croc, and Commander Ideo, Peeta, Lios, Prime, and Joshua all sat in a room together.

"So are we continuing with the plan?" Croc asked curiously.

Lios paused for a moment; he was just awestruck by the situation that had just happened. He was going to war soon, and his mind could not wrap around it.

"We must. Prime was right, and while it is hard to say they will blame us for every disaster, why don't we become the disaster they kept wishing for?" Peeta responded for Lios.

"Okay, now don't put everything on me.” Prime scoffed. “I gave a suggestion, and you all accepted... I don't want to kill as much as the next person, but soon we are going to be the victims, and if we don't strike first, we cannot win.”

Everyone stayed silent, and nobody dared to utter a single word.

"Who caused the explosion?” Joshua broke the silence.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Don't know, wasn't it us because we never made a plan together? Maybe another resistance group or some of the people who just felt extra violent.”

"Do you think that’s true?” IDEO coughed.

"No, I think it was themselves, accidental or on purpose; it worked according to Pohl’s plan. I was so stupid that I couldn't even see it. These past ten years, he has been building massive forces, a massive following, for him to become the new empire of the planet AND Caldera, and he’s forcing me to become his general.” Prime slammed his fist on the table. His eyes gleamed with excitement but also with anxiety.

"He told you about the attack three months ago,” Lios asked.

"It doesn't matter what he told me; he will attack. We should take all the civilians out of here, put them in a few emergency shelters, and help rehabilitate the children to human life.” Prime explained, “Once we strike," he paused. “It’s all gone, everything we have built.”

Everyone thought of the sacrifice they had to make. They knew the city was going to be gone soon. With Pohl’s rise to power and fascist leadership, there was no knowing what was going to happen.

"So let’s make a battle plan,” Croc asked, looking up. Everybody nodded their heads, but it was obvious that the room wasn't looking forward to these discussions.

"Prime, where would you suggest you were a spy?" Peeta looked forward to seeing Prime across the table.

"Ever since the new order of operations, there will be bases, defense posts, and relay posts. We have two ideas: we can hit hard, strike their communication, take control of the communications ourselves, and send individual teams to each base to clear it out.” Prime inquired.

"But?"Peeta doubtfully said.

Prime sighed, “We’re not strong enough; especially if a team comes across a commander, there is no way we will win.”

"But it is the total annihilation of many bases, you could say.” Croc realized.

"Yes, so it is a gamble. We’re bound to take some bases down with us, but it won't matter if the remnant remains. As long as even one base stands, Caldera belongs to humanity, and even then, if Madam Bourget, Birch, or even Cold is alive, it is over. Don't get me started on Pohl.”

"What other strategy?” Lios shook in anxiousness as he asked, hissing.

"We could do a normal strategy and declare battle; if we do, it'll be an all-out brawl that we can't win!" Prime spoke loudly.

Everyone was left scratching their heads. There were other strategies on board that they knew of, but these two seemed to be the most plausible.

"Battle from the sky?” Croc asked.

"No, they got some nice jets; we can't win a technological war.” Prime quickly shot back.

"WELL, WHAT CAN WE DO?" Croc raged. His teeth growled as his snout puffed hard smoke.

Everyone still stayed silent, pondering what they should do, until Lios looked at Joshua.

"Joshua, would you be valiant enough to help?" Lios was suddenly cut off by a glare from Joshua that struck a chord in his lungs and made him have a short breath for just a moment.

"No, I told you all I am unable to involve myself in YOUR wars. I train for three years, and you grant me freedom and help.”

"Well, if we are gone, you have no form or place to go; you think Caldera will help you.” Prime leaned in, his hands resting on each other as his elbows held up his arms.

Joshua looked at Prime but only sighed.

"I'll find a way; I’ll always do... but I can give helpful advice; show me what you know about them.”

Lios looked at Prime, who nodded. A report immediately came up detailing every single important member of the new fascist rule of Caldera and its important figures.

Prime stood up, ready to present each figure. On the virtual screen that moved through the air, its matter stretched through the room. They held a 5D face scan that anybody could see from any direction with its descriptions.

Commander Ideo pressed a button, and the lights turned off, revealing the entire subject in a full blue-light glow.

"First Madam Bourget, given reigns to the most land in Caldera, and next up to be Grand Commander, or Emperor of Caldera based on Pohl’s speech and mannerisms.”

Everybody looked at her photo; her hair was black now, with longer gray streaks. Her face appeared to have changed instantly as a result of the fire. She now held a hefty burn mark across her face, and it seemed Pohl’s protection failed to fully protect her. Her eye was burned over, and her flesh seemed to overlap with it; instead of covering it, she looked like she was wearing it with a semblance of pride.

"Robot Arm girl, huh?" Ideo laughed.

"No laughing matter, she has been trained from birth by the Bourget family; once the civil war between Cold and the Bourget family ended, they left in embarrassment from their loss. Only she stayed, studying, fighting, she continued her journey, and she was one of the big 3, along with me and Zi.” Prime continued, “Her arm was a prosthetic from birth. They surgically removed it and implemented it from motorcycle parts and other mechanical vehicles; they have somehow stopped poison from entering her body, and she is essentially a walking weapon. The Sword of Caldera''

"Wait for the Civil War?" Joshua asked curiously.

"Really bad tension, which brings me to Cold,” Prime said, pushing the remote. Cold remained in the photo with his face half-filled with his white mask, but bunches of information scattered everywhere.

"Cold is the opposite of Bourget's; he's a people-pleaser. That's why he's fine with Pohl’s rule because as long as the elites and the people are under control, he does not mind. He is energetic and ready for battle, and he is an even worse target than anybody else in my mind.” Prime explained deeply.

"Were you able to gather information on why the civil war happened?” Lios questioned.

"Not much; all I know were some conflicting ideologies. A fair battle happened between him and Senior Bourget around thirty years ago; Bourget died fighting him, and he remained moving forward. His abilities are also held secret, but based on what I've barely seen, it seems he can control the air around us, and he may be a reptile.”

This news shook the room as Ideo and Croc stood out of their seats. Peeta was left in shock, and Lios just sighed in despair.

"What the hell?" Croc cursed, and Ideo only fell back into his chair while Peeta remained standing.

"He's cold-blooded; I've seen his eyes; those are not humans, and the way he moves is a way no human can move,” Prime explained sadly, disappointed heavily.

Croc held his head and sighed.

"How could he do this, and for longer than fifty years? Is it really that hopeless? Where our people turn against us” Croc sighed in defeat; his anger had slowly faded, and he looked more or less defeated.

"A reptilian who can shape the matter around him in construction.” Joshua smiled. “What the hell is this place?"

Prime could only force a half-smile and slightly gasp while he chuckled.

"He is loyal though; there is no stopping him; most likely he is just brainwashed to do this bidding-its-horrible," Prime said, pushing his head away and holding back his emotions.

Prime pressed the remote to move on from this conversation. All the commanders felt the need to relax, to just retreat and leave forever, but they all stayed, whether it was by their own will or forcing themselves to try and become heroes.

"Madam Birch is next; she has a very dangerous ability to control trees; that's why she was granted control over all of the woodlands on this planet. She is the main reason why we can't escape Caldera because the moment we walk into the grasslands, she will know, and an immeasurable attack will happen.” Prime pushed his finger into his nose as any sign of hope slowed down.

Croc looked at everyone and said, “So we’re trapped.”

Nobody dared to say a word, and Prime pressed the button to quickly move on, showing Lieutenant C.

"Another reptile, but at least we know he is on their side. He is not much of a nuisance, just another sad reminder of where we currently are right now. He is marked by the reptile tag on his shirt, but he is somehow very well respected for his battles, though he sustained critical injuries in the fire and his current whereabouts are confirmed for him to be rested inside the ICU.”

A picture flashed of Lieutenant C breathing very heavily; an anxious Madam Bourget looked parallel to him, seemingly going to cry.

"Caring for a reptile.” Lios watched curiously and said, "Maybe they are humans."

Joshua looked at Prime, who twisted his head towards Lios.

"They all are, but remember.” He turned his head back towards the virtual screening. “They are our enemies; there is no need for sympathy, not now,” Prime said, biting his lip.

Prime pressed one more button, and Commander Pohl flashed before them all.

"Pohl is an interesting case; his ability is confusing, but I may have figured it out.” Prime examined, the rest keenly listened. “It seems he has fused himself with a form of light-matter that grants him the ability to absorb any form of higher power; as long as the attack cannot kill him, he can absorb it and power up the flames that he produces from within his body.”

"Meaning that?” Ideo questioned

"We cannot kill him; unless we hit him with one very strong attack or we send someone with godly levels of durability, he will not die, and he will just remain stronger.”

"So, what do we do?” Peeta asked.

Nobody could answer; the room felt sudden, and nobody could even comprehend what was going to happen next. Their nature showed pride and an existence of strength, but in reality, they remained weak and shriveled, with no thought on what to do, all except one, the only one who could make a change.

"I have an idea." Prime finally broke the silence, a smile stretching across his face.