Nibbling on some dried meats and thick, creamy cheese, it was not the fanciest meal Zan had ever eaten, but it was filling him. He drank water copiously as the meeting transpired:

"Okay," Colonel Winters said, opening the meeting to anyone who had concerns. "Where do we stand? Everyone feel good about this?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Zan had a thought: was it normal practice for a commanding officer to ask the enlisted what they thought about a battle plan? Then again, conditions were different. Among them were a fair few civilians who fled the villa's destruction. Perhaps Winters wanted to salvage as much local support as possible?

Or maybe, Zan told himself. It is none of that and Colonel Winters is just a standup guy?

Thinking odd thoughts to calm him down, Zan remained silent and said nothing.

"Zan. You feel good?" Winters asked, breaking Zan out from his idle thoughts.

"Yeah. I feel good about this, still. We don't cause trouble. We go in, we go out," Zan said of the situation.

Winters sighed. His resolve, though, remained strong. "Spoken true, Zan. I still don't feel fully confident in this plan. But we have our plausible deniability. If we can manage to get through without incident, we will be easily put the enemy behind us while linking up with reinforcements. It is everything we need. Careless? Maybe. Inconsiderate to property? Sure. Sorry. I'm rambling."

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A few others spoke up. Zan continued to eat while the others shared their concerns.

Taking control once again, Winters said, "How many of us have actually seen a Sunstar tower?"

One a couple of people raised their hands.

"What I thought. But you've all caught a glimpse of them by now, right? Huge. Imposing, too. Those towers are connected by shipping and receiving zones at the base of each tower. Sometimes, there are more than a single zone at the base of the tower. This is important. Why? Because different zones have different color call-signs. We have over a hundred in our host, including civilians. We want to give these fine folk no reason to grief us. We keep our distance, remain respectful, and give them no reason to attack. Am I understood? We are armed civilians under the king's banner. Rebels if we must go that route. But we have every right to be on this land as they do, royal charter or otherwise."

Knowing their place, the warriors nodded.

A few of the civilian coordinates departed in order to prepare the non-combatants for how they were to act during the upcoming situation. Zan wished the civilian aides' safety in their efforts; remembering how hard it was for him to balance the military and non-military end of things when this whole mess started, Zan had given up, and turned the reins over to the Wardens. Theirs was a difficult job. Zan sure as heck knew he didn't want it.

Joining the meeting late was Jiehong. He sat next to Zan. Slyly fist-bumping to show their solidarity, Zan felt happy to see his companion back.

"Rest good?" Zan whispered to Jiehong as Winters and the rest discussed matters.

"Gods. You have no feckin' idea," Jiehong said, a few petty laughs escaping. "Good to see you back, though. I was worried."

"I know. Whiskey told me. You would get up, look for me, then crash."

"That's it. Yeah. I couldn't rest knowing you might've been dead. I just... couldn't," Jiehong said, his expression grave.

Seeing his friend at truly being uncomfortable with the situation, Zan told him, "Worry no more. I am here and I am not going anywhere. Get used to it."

Tap-punching him ever so gently on his arm, Jiehong smiled. "I know, bro."